Superstitious tourists from Hong Kong and China have been cancelling their trips to Japan, partly due to a manga – first published in the 1990s – predicting that a major catastrophe will hit the country in July. We take a closer look.

Before “Come Fall in Love: The DDLJ Musical” hits the stage in Manchester, we catch up with one of the stars to talk about bringing this iconic love story – and Bollywood’s longest-running film, starring Shah Rukh Khan – to life on stage. We also reveal which Indian restaurant has earned its first three Michelin stars. Plus, we explore the potential impact on Chinese e-commerce businesses as the EU considers a €2 fee on small parcels. 

A 90-day truce in the US-China trade war has officially begun, with both sides temporarily lowering sky-high tariffs on each other's goods. But there's still a lot of uncertainty facing global trade. Yuka Royer speaks with Louise Loo, China lead at Oxford Economics, about what came out of the recent tit-for-tat tariff tussle and what to expect next.  

As the tit-for-tat continues between India and Pakistan following New Delhi’s response to April’s terror attack on civilians in Kashmir, we speak to Christopher Clary, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, to discuss whether diplomacy can help ease the tensions between the nuclear powers. We also find out how Islamabad has managed to sustain its influence on the global stage, as India inches closer to the West. 

China has instrumentalised the UN, Interpol and Western law enforcement to hunt down and intimidate government critics living abroad, according to a new worldwide investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. In a series of reports, the ICIJ sheds new light on China's long-running "transnational repression". One of its lead authors speaks to FRANCE 24 about their findings. 

In the aftermath of this week's deadly terror attack in Kashmir, relations between India and Pakistan have worsened. In this edition of Access Asia, the spokesperson for the opposition National Congress Party in India calls for unity, while acknowledging that the intent of the attack was to divide along religious lines. We also report on how the staunchly Catholic Philippines is grappling with the loss of Pope Francis.

On April 17,1975, a hardline Communist command led by Pol Pot swept into Phnom Penh and overthrew the US-backed military government of General Lon Nol. The Khmer Rouge went on to write the darkest chapter in Cambodia's history, committing one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. More than two million people were killed during their four-year rule, as they carried out mass killings and forced labour in their pursuit of radical ideologies. 

How far can reality TV go to engage viewers? Back in the 1990s, a hugely popular variety show in Japan featured a 22-year-old aspiring comedian having to survive solely on magazine sweepstakes, alone and naked in a small room for 15 months. His ordeal was recently revived in the British documentary film "The Contestant". In this edition, Nasubi reflects on the disturbing TV show and shares his thoughts on today's social media craze, with FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer. 

The US president's "Liberation Day" tariffs have hit Asian nations particularly hard, including America's closest partners like Japan and South Korea. Six Southeast Asian economies were slapped with much higher tariffs than they had expected, of up to 49 percent. Yuka Royer asks the Asia Centre's Jean-François Di Meglio about their implications and what Donald Trump is trying to achieve in his attempt to reshape the global trading order.

On this week's Access Asia, we focus on how Elon Musk is targeting sweet spots in Asia with Tesla sales taking a hit in Europe and the United States. However, bad news for Tesla is good news for China's electric vehicle maker BYD. Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl over what conflicts of interest exist for billionaire Musk, who is advising US President Donald Trump during his second term in office.