Solar power boom in Pakistan undercuts coal-fired plants built by China

The rise of decentralised solar power has prompted a Pakistani think tank to call for China to play a leading role in Pakistan’s energy transition, creating a model for other countries in the Global South. However, a Chinese energy scholar has questioned whether its vision is too expensive to be true.
An increasing flow of cheap Chinese solar panels to the South Asian nation is undercutting demand for power from coal-fired plants that China helped finance and leading to a vicious cycle of…

Body found in Malaysia amid search for missing British backpacker

Malaysian authorities have found the body of an unidentified foreign man in a suburb on the outskirts of its capital, Kuala Lumpur, where police have been searching for a British backpacker who went missing last week.
Local police launched a search operation in the affluent neighbourhood of Bangsar in a bid to find Jordan Johnson-Doyle after his father filed a missing persons report on Monday.
The 25-year-old reportedly went missing on May 27 after taking part in a quiz night at a pub in the…

India’s Modi unlikely to attend G7 in Canada as strained relations persist

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to skip this month’s G7 summit in Canada – the first time in six years that he would miss the gathering – in a move seen by observers as a reflection of ongoing bilateral tensions despite the recent change in government in Ottawa.
The June 15–17 meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven advanced economies – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – will be held in Kananaskis, Alberta. Although India is not…