Top Asian News 4:52 a.m. GMT

Fast fashion, laptops and toys are likely to cost more due to US tariffs on Chinese imports

A sweeping new U.S. tariff on products made in China is expected to increase the prices American consumers pay for a wide array of products, from the ultra-cheap apparel sold on online shopping platforms to toys and electronic devices such as computers and cellphones. An additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods took effect Tuesday, while the U.S. Postal Service announced it will stop accepting parcels inbound from China and Hong Kong until further notice. The previous day, President Donald Trump agreed to pause his threatened tariffs against Mexico and Canada for 30 days following negotiations on Trump’s demands for the North American nations to take steps to reduce illegal immigration and the flow of drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S.

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google

BEIJING (AP) — China announced retaliatory tariffs on select American imports and an antitrust investigation into Google on Tuesday, just minutes after a sweeping levy on Chinese products imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect. American tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico were also set to go into effect Tuesday before Trump agreed to a 30-day pause, as the two countries acted to address his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump planned to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days. “It is being scheduled and will happen very soon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

China launches an antitrust probe into Google. Here’s what it means

HONG KONG (AP) — The Chinese government’s move to open an antitrust probe into Google is the latest development in a long and tangled relationship that goes back to the early 2000s. The investigation was one of a flurry of Chinese retaliatory measures announced Tuesday in response to a 10% tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on imports from China. Others included tariffs on American liquified natural gas and other products, and the placing of two other American firms on an unreliable entity list that could bar them from investing in China. Here is a look at Google’s history in China and what the antitrust probe could mean for the company: Google launched the Chinese-language search engine google.cn in 2006.

India PM Modi’s party seeks to oust anti-corruption crusader in New Delhi state elections

NEW DELHI (AP) — Thousands begin voting in the Indian capital’s state legislature election on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party trying to unseat a powerful regional group that has ruled New Delhi for over a decade. Voters walked to polling booths on a cold, wintry morning to cast their ballots across the sprawling capital. Manish Sisodia, a key Aam Aadmi Party leader, and others offered prayers in a temple before voting. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is up against the AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, which runs New Delhi and has built a vast support base on its welfare policies and an anti-corruption movement.

AP PHOTOS: Hundreds join an order of naked, armed holy men at Hindu festival

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Thousands of devotees jostle behind bamboo fences to get a glimpse of the grand procession of the naked, ash-smeared and armed Hindu holy men. The Naga Sadhus are the highlight of the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering now underway in northern India. Worshipers jump over the barriers, running past police and paramilitary personnel, to seek the blessings of the holy men. On the festival’s most auspicious days, these ascetics walk in such processions to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers with the mythical Saraswati. When they bathe, untying their hair, devotees jump into the rivers to touch the the water that washed the sadhus’ bodies.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims and a philanthropist, dies at 88

PARIS (AP) — The Aga Khan, who became the spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries, died Tuesday. He was 88. His Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced that His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, died in Portugal surrounded by his family. His successor was designated in his will, which will be read in the presence of his family and religious leaders in Lisbon before the name is made public.

Tiger Woods says his mother has died. He called Kultida Woods a ‘force of nature’

Kultida Woods, the Thai-born mother of Tiger Woods who instilled his dominant spirit and encouraged him to wear a red shirt on Sunday as his power color, died Tuesday. Woods announced the death of his 80-year-old mother in a social media post. He did not disclose a cause or other details. She was at his indoor TMRW Golf League match last week in South Florida, where she lived. He described her as a “force of nature” who was his biggest supporter from the time she drove him to junior golf tournaments in California to being there for his 15 major championships, often wearing her wide-brimmed visor and sunglasses.

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka marks independence day as new president pledges to rebuild the country

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Debt-stricken Sri Lanka marked its 77th independence anniversary on Tuesday with a military parade, while the country’s newly elected president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, pledged to heal Sri Lanka’s economic woes by the end of his five-year term. Sri Lanka, which gained independence from Britain in 1948, suffered its worst economic crisis in 2022, forcing the island nation to declare bankruptcy. It also suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans amid a foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and hourslong power cuts.

Making climate-friendly lifestyle choices isn’t always easy. India learned the hard way

BENGALURU, India (AP) — For nearly four years, India’s government pushed an initiative to get people to think about how to make lifestyle choices that pollute less, like cycling instead of driving or using less plastic. But in the country’s yearly budget announcement last weekend, the once-flagship program failed to get a mention — or any promise of future funding. The Lifestyle for Environment Initiative — or Mission Life as it’s more commonly known — was once championed by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior ministers as a major step toward the country’s climate goals. The idea was to get the whole population working to slash emissions by cutting electricity use or skipping unnecessary private car journeys.

Parts of northern Japan have 4 feet of snow and more is falling

TOKYO (AP) — Record-breaking snowfall fell on Japan ‘s northern main island of Hokkaido, disrupting traffic, causing airport closures and delaying deliveries on Tuesday. The Hokkaido prefectural government said record-breaking snowfall has been observed especially in the eastern regions of the island, including Obihiro and Kushiro, whose city offices received dozens of calls for help from drivers whose vehicles had stalled in the snow. The heavy snow and traffic disruptions came just as a popular snow festival began in Sapporo in southern Hokkaido, although the city did not face major disruptions. Television footage showed residents shoveling snow and passengers pushing vehicles that got stuck.