Unrest flares as lawmakers in France support increasing the number of French nationals eligible to cast ballots in the territory’s elections

More than 130 people have been arrested in New Caledonia, the government said, after violent protests rocked the French Pacific archipelago and Paris adopted the constitutional changes that angered pro-independence forces.

Protests against the changes turned violent on Monday night, with shots fired at security forces, vehicles torched and shops looted in the worst unrest the French overseas territory has seen since the 1980s.

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Plans for a sprawling factory in rural Michigan making batteries for electric cars offer an economic lifeline, but for some residents there is a big problem: the parent company is in China

Set among green rolling hills and tall pines, Lori Brock’s storybook farm encapsulates northern Michigan. A five-day-old mare bucks around a pen, while small black pigs roam through a barn and donkeys graze in fields bordered by white fences.

It is a bucolic way of life in Green Township, but one that Brock and many of her neighbours believe could be threatened by an unlikely adversary – China’s Communist party.

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Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila

The record-breaking heatwave that scorched the Philippines in April would have been impossible without the climate crisis, scientists have found. Searing heat above 40C (104F) struck across Asia in April, causing deaths, water shortages, crop losses and widespread school closures.

The extreme heat was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine, the study found. The scientists said the high temperatures compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where displaced people are living in overcrowded shelters with little access to water.

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Nearly 20 missing after monsoon rains trigger flash floods, sending torrents of volcanic material and mud down slopes of Mount Merapi volcano

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 37 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said.

Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday.

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Sources say Singapore-based online fashion retailer founded in China prefers a float in New York but faces tougher scrutiny than expected

The fast-fashion company Shein is stepping up preparations for a London listing after its attempt to float in New York faced regulatory hurdles and pushback from US lawmakers, sources have told Reuters.

The online clothing retailer plans to update China’s securities regulator on the change of the initial public offering (IPO) venue and file with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as soon as this month, said one source.

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President likely to add sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells to range of levies set up under Donald Trump

Joe Biden is expected as early as next week to announce fresh tariffs on Chinese trade, with levies focused on strategic sectors including electric vehicles, in a review of measures first put into place under Donald Trump .

An announcement planned for Tuesday will keep the blanket tax rises introduced by the president’s predecessor but supplement them with targeted levies on industries connected to EVs, including batteries and solar cells, according to reports.

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Organised in a deliberately loose fashion, tokuryū pose fresh problems for police, as years of crackdowns see the appeal of a yakuza life fade

Watching three masked men smash their way into a luxury watch shop in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district in broad daylight, some onlookers assumed they were witnessing a TV drama or movie shoot.

But the heist in May 2023 was real. It was carried out by a group of teenagers aged between 16 and 19 who were recruited online, and part of a new crime phenomenon called tokuryū by authorities that is growing as Japan’s yakuza clans decline.

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Coconut biodiesel offers a cheaper alternative to fuel imports and scientists in the Pacific country are looking at how to use it more widely

On Karkar island in Papua New Guinea, hundreds of coconut trees stand tall, stretching far into the distance.

Decades ago, the fruit was a lucrative export but over the years it has become less prized on international markets. Now, the small island off the north coast of the country, is putting coconuts to another use.

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Troubled airline had earlier cancelled flights to Australia and New Zealand, citing ‘maintenance’ requirements

Vanuatu has put its national carrier, Air Vanuatu, into voluntary liquidation, after it cancelled flights to Australia and New Zealand, leaving tourists stranded.

The Pacific island’s government made the decisions after representatives from accounting firm EY arrived in Port Vila on Thursday and conducted initial assessments of the airline’s financials.

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