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Surrounded by racks of colourful dresses and blazers in China’s manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao is on a mission to promote body positivity.She is part of a small but growing number of women in China challenging restrictive beauty standards, including thinness, pale skin and childlike features.Online, a frequently circulated saying claims that “there are no good women over 50 kilograms (110 pounds)”, while recent social media challenges have women squeezing into children’s clothes or showing off the coins they can stack on their collarbones.Yao makes fashionable, high-end clothing for plus-size women, offering a vibrant contrast to the poorly cut offerings normally available in “slimming” dark colours.”I want my customers to have clothes that express who they are inside, rather than soulless pieces that exist only to make them look thinner,” the 35-year-old told AFP.When it comes to clothing, most Chinese retailers focus on smaller sizes and “think that larger people don’t need fashion and don’t need beautiful clothes”, Yao said. “But we have work, we have families, we have respectable lives, and we also need some fancy clothes sometimes.”To promote her online store, Yao posts pictures of her outfits on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu app, often sporting leggings and tight-fitting workout tops she wears to climb the hills near her office.”Reject body anxiety,” Yao, who openly talks about weighing 100 kilograms, wrote in one post to her more than 15,000 followers. “So what if I wear a strappy top and have big arms?”- Embracing colour -Yao began selling plus-size clothing four years ago after returning to China from the United Kingdom, where she had worked for several years.”I found it especially hard to buy clothing here,” she told AFP.Items ordered online often failed to match sellers’ photos, and Yao grew sick of “very ugly clothes”.In her Guangzhou office and showroom this month, Yao showed off a Chinese-style pink silk jacket from her brand Yue Design, while modelling a bright green cardigan and skirt set.”I never post photos of myself wearing black online,” Yao said.By avoiding the colour traditionally recommended for larger women, she has also encouraged some of her customers to embrace brighter, more cheerful designs.While clothing options for plus-size shoppers remain limited, some Chinese brands have taken steps to be more inclusive in recent years.Lingerie brand Neiwai and loungewear company An Action A Day have featured larger models in their ads, though most of their items only cater to women up to 70 kilograms.- Body scrutiny -Aside from Yao, other influencers in China have found an audience eager for their posts about self-acceptance and photos of themselves enjoying clothing and food, despite the pressure to diet.On Xiaohongshu, the hashtag “reject body anxiety” appears in nearly 200,000 posts. But this is still a marked deviation from most body image content on Chinese social media.One recent popular format involves someone posting a photo of themselves and asking viewers for makeover tips.These posts often draw extreme scrutiny from commenters, who pick on people for flaws as specific as having a square jaw rather than the “ideal” pointed chin.With constant exposure to idealised body types, people “start to conflate the meaning of their own worth with what they look like,” Stephanie Ng, who runs Hong Kong-based mental health organisation Body Banter, told AFP.That has dangerous consequences, including extreme dieting and eating disorders, Ng said. There is little official data on eating disorders in China, but the prominent Shanghai Mental Health Center reported an increase from eight such patients in 2002 to 3,000 in 2021, according to state broadcaster CGTN.Even though Yao has built a loyal following, her posts can also attract cruel comments.”Daring to post an ugly photo showing your ring-shaped torso fat doesn’t equal confidence,” one commenter wrote under one of Yao’s workout posts.She told AFP that the criticism has only made her more determined.”I want to help women who are feeling self-hatred to look at themselves in a new way,” she said.

Nepal’s prime minister was in Beijing on Tuesday to meet Chinese leaders, seeking to expand infrastructure cooperation after breaking with the longstanding tradition of new leaders making their first official visit to neighbouring India.Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who returned to power in July after two previous terms in the top job, arrived in Beijing to kick off the trip Monday evening, footage on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed.The leader of the Himalayan republic is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang during his visit, which will last until Thursday.Beijing’s foreign ministry said last week that Xi and Oli would “have in-depth exchanges of views on deepening our traditional friendship”.That includes expanding cooperation under the Belt and Road project — Xi’s flagship international infrastructure initiative — and “exchanges and cooperation in various fields”, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.Pradeep Gyawali, deputy secretary of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), told AFP the visit would centre on prior investment deals — including for the recently finished construction of an international airport in tourist hub Pokhara.Oli has sought to walk a fine line between neighbours China and India, the world’s two most populous nations, but has favoured Beijing in an effort to cut Kathmandu’s historical reliance on New Delhi.Nepali media reported that Oli likely chose Beijing as his first destination due to the absence of a formal invitation from New Delhi.Nepal’s foreign ministry said Oli will “exchange views on matters of mutual interest” with his Chinese counterparts during the trip.He will also deliver a keynote address at China’s prestigious Peking University and speak at a bilateral business forum, the ministry said.India accounted for nearly 65 percent of Nepal’s total trade in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to customs data.China’s trade share was about 15 percent, though Chinese companies lead in some industries — including a 70 percent share of Nepal’s burgeoning electric vehicle market.India has the highest foreign investment in Nepal, pumping in more than $750 million last year, with China investing more than $250 million, according to Nepal’s central bank.

Paris stocks wobbled and the euro fell Monday as a budget standoff in France fueled concern about the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.Positive data from China helped boost equity markets elsewhere, with Germany’s DAX index hitting a record above 19,900 points.Oil prices rose on hopes of higher Chinese demand, while on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged fresh records too.The euro sat near 14-month lows as opposition to France’s belt-tightening draft budget threatens to topple the government.Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces the risk of being deposed by a hostile parliament as his government presents a social security financing plan Monday that has the opposition up in arms.Lacking a majority, Barnier used executive powers to force through the legislation without a vote.The move exposes him to a no-confidence vote, likely on Wednesday, with the left wing and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen saying they will back a motion bringing down the government.Le Pen “has the power to destroy Barnier and his mission to get France on a sustainable fiscal track,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.The yield on French government debt rose in another sign of investor concern. France must now pay as much to borrow for 10 years as Greece.Paris stocks, which wobbled in afternoon trading, ended the day flat.They were also weighed down by Stellantis, the multi-brand auto giant, whose shares fell more than six percent after chief executive Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned.US stocks closed mostly higher, with Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital noting the market remains in good shape.Among individual companies, Super Micro Computer surged 28.7 percent after a committee found “no evidence” of misconduct at the firm. Shares in Intel slipped 0.5 percent after the chipmaker, which has struggled to tap into the growth of artificial intelligence that has fueled the rise of rival Nvidia, announced that chief executive Pat Gelsinger had retired.Asian traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s reelection warning that he would hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs on his first day in office as US president.Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.The figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a lengthy slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.”The big unknown is whether the stimulus efforts will have a long-lasting effect or just a short-term boost,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.Tokyo rose and the yen held recent gains at around 150 per dollar on increasing bets of another Bank of Japan interest rate increase, after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei business daily published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track.”- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,782.00 points (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,047.15 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 19,403.95 (close) London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 at 8,312.89 (close)Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 7,236.89 (close) Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.6 percent at 19,933.62 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 38,513.02 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,550.29 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,363.98 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0499 from $1.0580Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2654 from $1.2739Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.54 yen from 149.60 yen on FridayEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.97 from 83.04 penceBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $71.83 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $68.10 per barrelburs-rl/rlp/bys/

A Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death for a multi-billion-dollar fraud will learn Tuesday whether her life will be spared, as an appeal court reaches its verdict on one of the biggest corruption cases in history. Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this year of embezzling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) — which prosecutors said she controlled — and condemned to die for fraud totalling $27 billion.In her official handwritten appeal of more than five pages seen by AFP, Lan said that the death sentence was “too severe and harsh”, asking the court to consider a more “lenient and humane approach”.Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in SCB lost money, shocking the communist nation and prompting rare protests from the victims.  According to Vietnamese law, Lan could escape the death penalty if she proactively returns three-quarters of the embezzled assets and is judged to have co-operated sufficiently with authorities.But prosecutors have argued that she has not met the conditions, and emphasised her crime’s consequences were “huge and without precedent”.Lan, who founded real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, told the court in Ho Chi Minh City that “the quickest way” to repay the stolen funds would be “to liquidate SCB, and sell our assets to repay SBV and the people”.”I feel pained due to the waste of national resources,” Lan said last week, adding she felt “very embarrassed to be charged with this crime”. Lan owned just five percent of shares in SCB on paper, but at her trial the court concluded that she effectively controlled more than 90 percent through family, friends and staff. The State Bank said in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilise it, without revealing how much.Among the assets that Lan and Van Thinh Phat own are a shopping mall, a harbour and luxurious housing complexes in business hub Ho Chi Minh City.During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam amounted to $27 billion — equivalent to around six percent of the country’s 2023 GDP.Lan and dozens of defendants, including senior central bank officials were arrested as part of a national corruption crackdown dubbed the “burning furnace” that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam’s business elite.A total of 47 other defendants have requested reduced sentences at the appeal.Last month, Lan was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case.

The United States announced new export restrictions Monday targeting China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, drawing swift condemnation from Beijing as competition deepens between the world’s two biggest economies.The move expands Washington’s efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in advanced weapons systems and in artificial intelligence.The announcement comes weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, where he is expected to bolster Washington’s hawkish stance on China.”The United States has taken significant steps to protect our technology from being used by our adversaries in ways that threaten our national security,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a statement.He added that Washington will keep working with allies and partners “to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how so they aren’t used to undermine our national security.”Beijing vowed Monday to defend its interests, with a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson saying the United States “abuses export control measures” and has “hindered normal economic and trade exchanges.”The latest US rules include a restriction of sales to 140 companies, including Chinese chip firms Piotech and SiCarrier, without additional permission.They also impact Naura Technology Group, which makes chip production equipment, according to the Commerce Department.Others include entities in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.The new US rules also include controls on two dozen types of chip-making equipment and three kinds of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors.”We are constantly talking to our allies and partners as well as reassessing and updating our controls,” noted Under Secretary of Commerce for industry and security Alan Estevez.- Military focus -Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP that the latest actions confirm “the trajectory of US policy rather than significantly stepping up control efforts.””The significance of the additions is lessened given proposals from the incoming Trump administration,” he added, noting the president-elect has vowed drastic actions that dwarf these latest restrictions on chip technologies.Monday’s restrictions further a policy that began under Trump’s first administration to prevent China from becoming a leading tech economy.On Monday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stressed that President Joe Biden’s administration has been especially tough in “strategically addressing China’s military modernization through export controls.”The Commerce Department said that the fresh restrictions are meant to slow China’s development of advanced AI that could “change the future of warfare,” and impair China’s development of its own semiconductor ecosystem.But the agency maintained that this is in line with Washington’s “small yard, high fence” policy, which targets restrictions strategically — an approach that Chinese President Xi Jinping criticized last month.Calls to further close the semiconductor supply chain have grown since the world became increasingly aware of the powers of AI, with the launch of ChatGPT.

Paris stocks wavered and the euro fell Monday as a budget standoff in France fuelled concern about the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.Positive data from China helped boost equity markets elsewhere, with Germany’s DAX index hitting a record above 19,700 points. Oil prices jumped more than one percent on hopes of higher Chinese demand.The euro sat near 14-month lows as opposition to France’s belt-tightening draft budget threatens to topple the government.Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces the risk of being deposed by a hostile National Assembly as his government presents a social security financing plan Monday that has the opposition up in arms.Lacking a majority, Barnier used executive powers to force through the legislation without a vote. The move exposes him to a possible no-confidence vote within days, with the left wing and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen willing to back that motion bringing down the government.Le Pen “has the power to destroy Barnier and his mission to get France on a sustainable fiscal track”, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB. Paris stocks, which spent much of the day lower, edged higher in afternoon trading.Paris was also weighed down by Stellantis, the multi-brand auto giant, whose shares slid more than seven percent after chief executive Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned.Wall Street stocks opened higher after the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session Friday. Shares in Intel rose 3.6 percent after the chipmaker, which has struggled to tap into the growth of artificial intelligence that has fuelled the rise of rival Nvidia, after it announced that chief executive Pat Gelsinger has retired.Asian traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election warning that he would hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs on his first day in office as US president.Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.”The big unknown is whether the stimulus efforts will have a long-lasting effect or just a short-term boost,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. Tokyo rose and the yen held recent gains at around 150 per dollar on increasing bets of another Bank of Japan interest-rate increase after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.- Key figures around 1430 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 44,986.75 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,045.45New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 19,297.07 London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 at 8,317.99 Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,250.22 Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.3 percent at 19,886.87Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 38,513.02 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,550.29 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,363.98 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0494 from $1.0580Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2699 from $1.2739Dollar/yen: UP at 150.09 yen from 149.60 yen on FridayEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.83 from 83.04 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.1 percent at $72.60 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $68.83 per barrelburs-rl/lth

Paris stocks and the euro fell Monday as a budget standoff in France fuelled concern about the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.Positive data from China helped boost equity markets elsewhere, with Germany’s DAX index hitting a record above 19,700 points. Oil prices jumped on hopes of higher Chinese demand.That followed a strong lead from Asian markets and the United States, where the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session Friday. The euro sat near 14-month lows as opposition to France’s belt-tightening draft budget threatens to topple the government.Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces the risk of being deposed by a hostile National Assembly as his government presents a social security financing plan Monday that has the opposition up in arms.Lacking a majority, Barnier could use executive powers to force through the legislation. Such a move would likely expose him to a no-confidence vote within days, with the left wing and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen willing to back that motion bringing down the government.Le Pen “has the power to destroy Barnier and his mission to get France on a sustainable fiscal track”, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB. Paris was weighed down also by Stellantis, the multi-brand auto giant, whose shares slid more than seven percent after chief executive Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned.Asian traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election warning that he would hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs on his first day in office as US president.Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.”The big unknown is whether the stimulus efforts will have a long-lasting effect or just a short-term boost,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. Tokyo rose and the yen held recent gains at around 150 per dollar on increasing bets of another Bank of Japan interest-rate increase after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.- Key figures around 1050 GMT -London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,286.86 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,199.79 Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 19,711.63Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 38,513.02 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,550.29 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,363.98 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,910.65 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0517 from $1.0580Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2706 from $1.2739Dollar/yen: UP at 150.30 yen from 149.60 yen on FridayEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.80 from 83.04 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $72.50 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $68.61 per barrel

Markets rose across Asia on Monday with traders cheered by healthy Chinese data, while the euro and Paris stocks tumbled as a budget standoff in France fuelled concerns about the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.Traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election and warning that he will hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs.They took their cue from New York, where the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session.Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.”The last two months of PMI data offered early signs of green shoots following the recent policy pivot and subsequent stimulus programmes,” said Anna Zhou and Helen Qiao at Bank of America Global Research.”We expect policymakers to step up easing measures next year, including the continuation of the equipment upgrade and consumer goods subsidy programmes, which should help support the manufacturing sector amid deteriorating external demand.”Some commentators also pointed to optimism that Trump could take a more pragmatic approach to tariffs, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying after a phone call with the Republican: “There will not be a potential tariff war.”Still, investors were keeping a wary eye on developments as the US president-elect puts his cabinet together.”Advanced Northeast Asian economies consistently run merchandise trade surpluses with the US,” said analysts at Moody’s Analytics. “While falling short of China’s $280 billion surplus with the US, or the EU’s $207 billion surplus, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan each run surpluses large enough to notice, putting them in the firing line of new tariffs.”There were also gains on Monday in Sydney, Mumbai, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Bangkok.Tokyo rose as the yen held recent gains around 150 per dollar, as bets increase on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.Paris stocks shed more than one percent and the euro sat around 14-month lows on concerns about France’s budget standoff.Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces the risk of being deposed by a hostile National Assembly as his government presents a social security financing plan Monday that has the opposition up in arms.Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a Sunday newspaper that her party would not necessarily vote to topple Barnier’s government — so long as he agreed to negotiate.Le Pen’s parliamentary bloc holds the key to the survival of the minority centre-right administration and in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, she insisted her position was to “remain constructive”.But if Barnier refused to negotiate with her party, he would have taken the “decision to trigger the vote of no confidence” himself, she said.Shares in London and Frankfurt opened slightly lower.- Key figures around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 38,513.02 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,550.29 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,363.98 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,281.22Dollar/yen: UP at 150.10 yen from 149.60 yen on FridayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0505 from $1.0580Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2685 from $1.2739Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.82 from 83.04 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $68.62 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $72.48 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,910.65 (close)

Equities rose across Asia on Monday following another record day on Wall Street, with traders also cheered by data suggesting China’s economic malaise is showing signs of easing.The positive start to the week was not felt in the euro, however, as a budget standoff in France fuelled concerns about the fragile government of the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.Traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election and warning that he will hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs.They took their cue from New York, where the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session.Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.”The last two months of PMI data offered early signs of green shoots following the recent policy pivot and subsequent stimulus programmes,” said Anna Zhou and Helen Qiao at Bank of America Global Research.”We expect policymakers to step up easing measures next year, including the continuation of the equipment upgrade and consumer goods subsidy programmes, which should help support the manufacturing sector amid deteriorating external demand.”Some commentators also pointed to optimism that Trump could take a more pragmatic approach to tariffs, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying after a phone call with the Republican: “There will not be a potential tariff war.”Still, investors were keeping a wary eye on developments as the US president-elect puts his cabinet together.”Advanced Northeast Asian economies consistently run merchandise trade surpluses with the US,” said analysts at Moody’s Analytics. “While falling short of China’s $280 billion surplus with the US, or the EU’s $207 billion surplus, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan each run surpluses large enough to notice, putting them in the firing line of new tariffs.”There were also gains on Monday in Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.Japan was flat as the yen held recent gains around 150 per dollar, as bets on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike increase after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.The euro remained stuck around 14-month lows on concerns about the budget standoff in Paris.Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a Sunday newspaper that her party would not necessarily vote to topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government — so long as he agreed to negotiate.Le Pen’s far-right parliamentary bloc holds the key to the survival of Barnier’s minority centre-right administration, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of snap parliamentary elections.In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, National Rally chief Le Pen insisted that her position was to “remain constructive” with a flashpoint budget vote looming on Monday.But if Barnier refused to negotiate with her party, he would have taken the “decision to trigger the vote of no confidence” himself, she said.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 38,220.01 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,559.00Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,355.15Dollar/yen: UP at 150.53 yen from 149.60 yen on FridayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0530 from $1.0580Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2690 from $1.2739Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.98 from 83.04 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $68.14 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $71.94 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,910.65 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,287.30 (close)

Blazing flames light the sky as Indian farmer Ali Sher burns his fields to clear them for new crops, a common but illegal practice that is fuelling deadly pollution killing millions.Burning strips the fertility of fields, has a ruinous impact on India’s economy and sends plumes of acrid smoke packed with dangerous cancer-causing particles drifting over a densely-populated belt of northern India, including capital New Delhi’s 30 million people.But it is cheap — for farmers at least — to carry out.Small-scale growers like Sher with less than two hectares (five acres) of land — who make up 86 percent of Indian farms, according to the World Economic Forum — say alternatives to burning simply do not allow them to make the profit they need to survive.The 55-year-old farmer is just one of the many thousands who torch the stubble left after their rice harvest to prepare the fields to plant a winter crop of wheat.”I am scared of the authorities finding out, but I can’t help it,” said Sher, from Haryana’s Jind district, as black plumes rose from his fields some 115 kilometres (70 miles) from the capital.He faces a hefty fine and loss of critical government farming subsidies if caught.But he said that burning provided the only way to clear the land in time to ensure wheat seeds are planted in the narrow weather window.”If I don’t plant the wheat now, it will be too late,” he said.Several studies indicate that farm fires turn the air in Delhi — a city already choked by too many polluting vehicles and regularly ranked as the worst capital city in the world for air quality  –- even more lethal.- Toxic smog -Those fires form a key part of the toxic smog impacting the health of millions, which, along with vehicle and factory emissions, create choking air that surges to more than 50 times the World Health Organization recommended limit of hazardous PM2.5 pollutants.A study in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths in India to air pollution in 2019.India’s federal government has pumped in millions of dollars of subsidies to encourage modern machinery to stop the burning.That includes baling machines that gather the straw into blocks, as well as combined ploughing and planting tools, which return the stubble back into the soil while sowing the next crop.It makes economic sense on paper for the longterm, but the wider cost of burning is vast.One study by global consultancy firm Dalberg estimates air pollution overall drives losses to the tune of $95 billion annually, or roughly three percent of the country’s GDP.Burning fields also “reduces water retention and soil fertility by 25 to 30 percent”, according to the UN Environment Programme, thus requiring farmers to pay more in expensive fertilisers and irrigation systems.But small-scale farmers say the numbers do not add up for them.They cannot afford to buy the tractors needed, so they must rely on costly contractors to clear their fields.Rice and wheat farmer Ajay Saini said that slices into his already limited profits.”We spend money from our pockets in paying the contractor,” he said, adding that the straw bales collected had tumbled in value too.In a farming economy shifting from animal husbandry to tractors, straw bales once used for animal bedding and winter fodder are needed far less.”A small farmer burns his field out of necessity,” he said.Saini said he waited for two weeks for a contractor to clear his land, but they focused on big farms, and he could not afford to delay planting.”I called several times, but he just would not come to a small farm like mine,” he said. “If the moisture in the field is all gone, how will the wheat grow?” – ‘Land will become barren’ -Some farmers are slowly shifting to better practices.Farm fires have reduced by as much as half since 2017, according to some government estimates.Naresh, a farmer in his 60s who uses only one name, said he had stopped burning his fields.”It will only hurt us,” he said. “The microorganisms in the soil die, and our land will become barren.”The switch was aided by the Spanish rice exporting company Ebro, which buys his rice.In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, Ebro supported several farmers in Naresh’s village to form a cooperative, providing them with a free seeder machine.Farmers had to promise not to set fire to their fields, and instead spray stubble with a natural fungal spray speeding up decomposition, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.That also reduces the need for fertilisers as it “recycles nutrients back into the soil”, said Ebro official Surendra Pal, working to ensure the company’s rice meets tougher European standards.  But for now, many farmers say burning is the only real option.”We know that it is bad for our fields,” said farmer Balkar Singh, from Haryana’s Panipat district. “We only do it because we have no other choice.”