News Desk

For 60 years, San Diego’s Timken Museum of Art has stood in Balboa Park — a travertine-clad Modernist jewel box showcasing priceless Russian icons and masterworks from the likes of Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and Fragonard, floating among the park’s exuberant Spanish Revival fantasies. But beneath its calm exterior lies an architectural mystery that has captivated Stephen Buck and Keith York, local architecture lovers who have spent the last year obsessively piecing together evidence suggesting that the Timken’s true authorship has been misunderstood, if not deliberately obscured, since the day it opened in 1965.

Their investigation — which has caught the attention of the soon-to-expand museum, not to mention the city’s tight-knit cultural community — began with a secret. In 2013, York, founder of Modern San Diego, a digital archive devoted to the region’s Midcentury design, received a call from one of San Diego’s most respected architects, Robert Mosher. Then in his 90s, Mosher asked to meet for lunch in La Jolla. “I have something I need to tell you,” he said.

Mosher, recorded by York (who was sworn to secrecy until after Mosher’s death in 2015) recounted a story told to him decades earlier by his friend and colleague Richard Kelly, the lighting designer of some of American modernism’s most iconic buildings, including Philip Johnson’s Glass House, Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum and Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building. Kelly had been hired to design the lighting for the Timken. But according to Mosher, during an early meeting Walter Ames, the project’s patron, made a surprising suggestion to Kelly: “You’re the architect — why don’t you design it yourself?”

Kelly, who trained at the Yale School of Architecture but had never designed a building, found himself out of his depth, Mosher added. He turned to his close friend and frequent collaborator Johnson, who helped him sketch a concept that Kelly would refine into a design Ames approved. The plans were handed off to San Diego’s Frank L. Hope & Associates to produce the working drawings.

When completed, the rigorously composed, historically inspired stone pavilion bore all the hallmarks of Johnson and Kelly’s more than half dozen collaborations. Yet when the Timken opened, only Hope’s firm was credited. One of Hope’s architects, John R. Mock, later took credit as the leader of the design. This remained the accepted story until last December, when Buck, a medical research entrepreneur and architecture buff, stumbled on a long-ago post by York about Mosher’s tale. He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Architect Philip Johnson with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in front of New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 1977.

(Dave Pickoff / Associated Press)

“Why would someone like Robert Mosher, at the end of his life, make this up?” Buck asked. “If he was telling the truth, this is one of the most important uncredited works of Midcentury architecture in California.”

Buck and York joined forces, combing through Kelly’s archives at Yale (with Yale student Macarena Fernandez Diaz) and through the Timken’s own files. In addition to evidence of copious correspondence between Ames, Kelly and Johnson, they found Kelly’s detailed architectural drawings of the museum, and a 1959 contract asking Kelly to prepare elevations, plans and other design-related documents. Hope’s firm, according to a separate contract, would “prepare working drawings.” Together the body of evidence seemed to confirm much of Mosher’s story.

It also pointed to why Kelly (and potentially Johnson) was left out. In one letter, Ames wrote that “due to local political cross currents, it was advisable that all plans be filed locally.” In other words, bringing in East Coast modernists like Kelly and Johnson risked a public outcry. “Ames wanted the best design he could get,” Buck says. “But he also wanted the museum built.”

The Timken definitely feels familiar to someone who has visited several Johnson/Kelly collaborations: the bronze accents, the H-shaped pavilion, the glass walls that allow you to see straight through the building, and the pristine travertine — light-colored limestone that originated from the same quarry in Tivoli, Italy, used for Johnson’s New York State Theater (renamed the David H. Koch Theater in 2008) at Lincoln Center. All echo the minimalist precision and classical proportions of their museums across the country. At the Timken, Kelly incorporated downlighting to accentuate the building’s travertine walls, and engineered grids of soffits and louvers that wash the galleries in soft, ethereal light.

Keith York of Modern San Diego.

(Keith York)

“He was experimenting — making light itself architectural,” says York. This was a trademark of Kelly’s, notes Dietrich Neumann, professor of the history of modern architecture and urbanism at Brown University and author of “The Structure of Light: Richard Kelly and the Illumination of Modern Architecture.” “He emphasized materials in a very skillful way. His lighting creates spatial depth. You get a different idea of what the architecture consists of.” Neumann notes that Johnson liked to exclaim: “Kelly is my guru. He’s the greatest lighting designer ever.”

Noted Buck: “There’s nothing in Frank Hope’s body of work that resembles this.” Hope’s firm is best known for its designs of McGill Hall at UC San Diego, the Union-Tribune Building in Mission Valley, and the all-concrete San Diego Stadium, later known as Qualcomm Stadium.

When Buck and York presented their findings to the Timken’s leadership earlier this year, the initial response was enthusiastic. But as the museum began its own review, the tone grew more cautious. Trustees revisited Buck and York’s research and conducted checks in the Timken’s archives. Executive director Megan Pogue later summarized their position in a letter to the researchers:

Stephen Buck at the Timken Museum of Art.

(Stephen Buck)

“Based on these findings, we reached the unfortunate conclusion that Mr. Johnson was not ultimately involved in the building’s design, although the specific architect or architects within Frank Hope & Associates responsible for the final design seem to remain unidentified. We continue to welcome and encourage further scholarly investigation into this question, particularly given that John Mock has long been credited as the architect — an attribution he personally confirmed in recent years.”

When asked later why the museum didn’t confirm or deny Kelly’s connection, Pogue noted, “Everything in our files is that he was limited to the lighting.” When pressed on the research unearthed at Yale, she acknowledged, “we were so focused on Philip Johnson I don’t know that we did as deep a dive on this issue.”

“I can find no reason why they wouldn’t want to look through this research [at Yale] and come to their own conclusion,” responded Buck.

The interior of a gallery at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego.

(Timken Museum of Art)

Behind the scenes, practical considerations loom. The Timken is preparing to launch an underground expansion designed by Gensler, which will double its square footage and provide much-needed new exhibition, office and learning spaces. It’s a process that has taken seven years to navigate through the city’s (and Balboa Park’s) public process. The adjacent San Diego Museum of Art is about to embark on its own expansion, replacing Mosher’s west wing with a design by Norman Foster.

“Any new attention, especially about the building’s authorship, could reignite old debates,” Pogue said in an earlier interview. “We’re fascinated by this history, but we have to be careful about how it’s shared.” After consulting with the board, Pogue later noted that proof of a new architect, particularly someone of Johnson’s stature, “could be really good for the museum.”

The museum’s nebulous, careful positioning in many ways mirrors the politics that may have buried Kelly’s and Johnson’s involvement six decades ago. In the early 1960s, Ames faced fierce opposition from civic groups, who decried modernism as a threat to Balboa Park’s Spanish heart. To get his project approved, he appears to have localized the credit.

“It’s the same story, says York. “Silence as strategy. But silence also erases the people who made this building extraordinary.”

Neumann pointed to the long history of architectural creators who have been left out, whether it be a firm owner taking credit for his underlings’ work or a name being omitted to avoid political crosswinds. “It’s a system driven by the old idea of the master architect … and the actual work is often done by others,” he says.

Neither Buck nor York wants to strip all credit from Hope’s firm. “We think of it as a collaboration,” York says. “Together they made something greater than the sum of its parts.”

While the pair are confident that their research has proven Kelly’s authorship, Johnson’s role remains a mystery.

“We know Johnson and Kelly were working together at exactly this time,” says Buck. “Whether or not his name appears on a drawing, it’s clear that he was advising.”

Until that evidence emerges, the Timken remains an architectural whodunit.

“We’re always searching for this elusive drawing by Philip Johnson that’s gonna be a smoking gun,” says Buck. “But this wasn’t necessarily a formal thing. Sometimes that piece of paper doesn’t exist.”

‘I am a terrorist’

A UK activist group has released a video of protesters who were arrested by police for supporting Palestine Action, as part of a campaign calling on the government to lift the ‘disproportionate’ ban. A major legal challenge is currently underway on whether the ban was lawful.

No immediate response from Venezuela after President Trump’s makes the announcement on social media on Saturday.

A popular guest on today’s Saturday Kitchen was called an “idiot” by his co-star for disliking a particular cuisine

Bob Mortimer’s Gone Fishing co-star Paul Whitehouse branded him an “idiot” in a cheeky message sent into this week’s edition of Saturday Kitchen.

On today’s programme (Saturday, 29th November), presenter Matt Tebbutt welcomed the beloved comedian and writer alongside celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

Whilst fans of the BBC cookery programme were thrilled to see Bob return to the kitchen, his selection of food hell sparked controversy.

Opting for a traditional steak and kidney pie with double peas as his food heaven, his admission that he isn’t keen on Italian cuisine triggered some criticism in the studio.

Bob’s mate and Gone Fishing co-star joined the scolding in his video message, branding the comedy icon an “idiot” for his dislike of pasta and pizza, reports the Express.

Paul’s message kicked off with another dig at Bob’s food preferences, as he remembered the “preposterous and quite disgusting” kebab he created in the latest series of Gone Fishing.

He then dared Matt to prepare a “really nice one with lots of chilli sauce” to compensate for the culinary catastrophe by the lake.

The fellow comedy icon continued lambasting his co-star: “Also, Bob, you claim that Italian food is rubbish.

“I mean, you’re just an idiot. What are you going to do about that?”

Paul then delivered his trademark impersonation of the third member of the Gone Fishing team, Ted the Patterdale Terrier, whom he joked is “after” Bob. “I’m gonna get you Mortimer,” he declared, mimicking Ted’s charming underbite.

“Where’s my briefcase? It’s full of pasta!”

Back in the studio, Bob took the jest in stride, flashing a mischievous grin as Matt laughed.

“That looked like the ramblings of a madman!” the host quipped.

Bob concurred: “He packed a lot in there, didn’t he? He told me he enjoyed the kebab on the day, so…”

He then defended his contentious food preferences: “I’ve been set up with this Italian thing. I said I didn’t like pizza and somehow it’s become all Italians.

“That’s my fault,” Matt admitted. “But it’s funny, let’s run with it!”

Luckily, Bob got his wish and was served a scrumptious steak and kidney pie by guest chef Jamie after 67 percent of viewers voted for food heaven.

Saturday Kitchen airs from 10am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo, visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque as part of his four-day trip to Turkiye. Officially called the Sultanahmet Mosque, it was built in the sixth century and has great significance to both Christians and Muslims.

United States President Donald Trump has said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the countries escalate.

There was no immediate response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media post on Saturday.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s post comes amid weeks of escalating rhetoric by senior US officials against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

While the Trump administration has said it is targeting Venezuela as part of a push to combat drug trafficking, experts and human rights observers have warned that Washington appears to be laying the groundwork for an attempt to unlawfully remove Maduro from power.

The US has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and carried out a series of deadly bombings on vessels it accused of being involved in drug trafficking, killing dozens of people in what United Nations experts have described as extrajudicial killings.

Earlier this week, Trump also warned that he would start targeting Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” soon.

During a speech broadcast on national television on Thursday, Maduro said Venezuelans would not be intimidated.

More to come …

AFTER separating from her husband Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford has opened up about needing therapy in the aftermath of their shock split.

Ruth and Eamonn, both 65, were together for 27 years and married for 14 when they decided to part ways last year.

It was revealed that the pair were over and they were in the process of divorcing back in May 2024, with this still currently ongoing.

Ruth, who is known for hosting Loose Women on ITV, has now opened up about needing therapy after their split.

While Eamonn moved on and got into a relationship with counsellor Katie Alexander, who is 22 years his junior, Ruth was attending counselling sessions and focused on her healing.

Speaking to woman&home, Ruth said: “I started counselling when Eamonn and I separated, and I’m still having it.

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“It is very powerful and very useful. It gives me tools to deal with things.”

She went on to say: “My counsellor has probably seen us on TV, but she doesn’t know either of us so doesn’t get involved and doesn’t judge.

“She just listens and says, ‘Have you thought about this?’ or ‘Why did you feel like that?’ 

“I think I know myself very well, so it has just been calming.

“It makes me question how I’m feeling,” she added.

Ruth then added: “When my sister died, friends suggested counselling and I said, ‘I don’t [want] just [for someone] to tell me that I’m really sad,’ and I still feel like that. 

“The end of a very long relationship takes a lot of unravelling. Counselling helps you move on from it, to not be held back.”

Ruth and Eamonn announced their split in the spring of 2024 after months of arguing.

Leaving their £2.5million family home in Weybridge, Eamonn soon went public with his new partner Katie.

Asked about whether she would get into a new relationship, Ruth said: “Never say never.”

Speaking to the magazine, she said: “I haven’t been put off having a relationship.

“I haven’t even been put off marriage, but I’m definitely not actively looking, and part of that is because I’ve realised I’m actually quite good on my own.

“I am independent and quite strong.”

Ruth went on: “It has taken me a bit of time [to realise that] and I don’t know what lies ahead, but that chapter now feels quite exciting.

“It’s not as scary as I thought.”

Elsewhere in her interview, Ruth said she once saw “darkness” but now sees light where she did not before.

“Do you crumble? Do you lay down and die? Oh no, not I. I will survive,” she said.

Ruth and Eamonn are not yet officially divorced, with reports swirling that they are currently at war over their money.

The January issue of woman&home is on sale December 4 2025

Activist Greta Thunberg and the UN’s Francesca Albanese joined hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters in Genoa on Friday, as nationwide strikes took place across Italy over Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s proposed military spending and support for Israel.

“Tiny Chef needs your help.”

That was the title of a YouTube clip shared by the creators of the small, green, 7-inch animated favorite nicknamed “Cheffie,” which showed the miniature culinary whiz crying as he announced the cancellation of his Nickelodeon series “The Tiny Chef Show.” The stop-motion series, created by Rachel Larsen and Ozlem Akturk, appears to have been axed in the process of the $8-billion merger between Nickelodeon’s parent company, Paramount Global, and Skydance Media. (Representatives for Nickelodeon did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.)

“It was a phone call and zero explanation,” Larsen says. “In a way, we didn’t expect that because the show was doing really well.

“We were a year away from the last season by the time we got the phone call that they weren’t going to pick up another season. So we were basically in production purgatory,” she adds. “We often didn’t have a salary, but we kept working just to keep the socials alive.”

In an Instagram post on June 24, the creators asked the series’ fans, known as Cheffers, to contribute to a crowdfunding effort to keep “The Tiny Chef Show” alive. With $130,000 (and counting) in one-time donations, the launch of a fan club with 10,500 recurring monthly members, a line of merchandise including tote bags, plush toys and mugs and a number of brand partnerships in the works, Larsen, Azturk and their 20-person team have remained afloat — but it hasn’t been easy.

“It’s our second family,” Akturk says. “We’re just trying to figure out how to make this sustainable long term.”

In that, the artists behind “The Tiny Chef Show” join the legions of creators navigating the choppy waters of a media landscape seemingly constantly in flux, where awards — the series has two Children’s and Family Emmys to its name — and strong ratings don’t always translate into stability. “When it first aired, it was performing really well with older kids too, so they were putting it on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.,” Larsen says. “Every report we got was that it did really well, it was popular, and the retention rate from the previous show that kids were watching was 90-something percent.”

Tiny Chef reacts to the cancellation of “The Tiny Chef Show.”

(Rachel Larsen)

It was, for a time, a rollicking trajectory. Larsen and Akturk met in 2016 on the set of Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs,” and by 2018 had launched the web- and Instagram-based, stop-motion animation concept based on a tiny vegetarian chef.

“Back in 2018, we funded it ourselves,” says Akturk. “I was freelancing, Rachel was working on [animated series] ‘Kiri and Lou,’ and we just put our own money into it. Then we put it out on social media … It was more of a test, like, ‘What can two people do without a crew, and without money?’”

A book deal with Penguin Random House allowed the pair to move from New Zealand to the U.S. and film more material, which in turn attracted the interest of Imagine Entertainment and Kristen Bell, among others: “On the Hollywood side, enough inquiries were coming in that convinced us, ‘This is something,’” Akturk says.

By 2020, Nickelodeon had given the green light to a season of eight 22-minute episodes, which premiered on Sept. 9, 2022. Another order, this time for expanded 30-minute episodes, soon followed.

“The hilarious thing is, we thought everything was solved at that point, and we were going to be financially taken care of, and it would be all uphill from there,” Larsen says. “And it just wasn’t.”

In this respect, “The Tiny Chef Show” is a microcosm of the uncertainty that’s plagued both the Hollywood and the broader economy during a series of protracted challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic and the writers’ and actors’ strikes to the decline of linear television viewership and the rise of artificial intelligence. For example, “The Tiny Chef Show” began streaming on Netflix late last year, a move that had previously saved shows such as “Cobra Kai” from cancellation. But thus far, Larsen and Akturk are in the dark about the deal, which hasn’t led to any immediate prospects of revival. “The Tiny Chef Show” is a labor of love, which adds to the challenge of making it independently. As Larsen, who directs each episode, explains, “A minute of content takes probably three to four weeks to produce, just from conception, writing the script, getting it recorded, having an audio edit, getting it animated, going into postproduction, then being ready. We’re a smaller operation, so we don’t get economy of scale in that way.” Nor is living and working in L.A. cheap. At the end of 2024, the pair downsized to a smaller studio.

Still, striking out on one’s own has its perks, and Larsen and Akturk remain committed to keeping Tiny Chef cooking as long as they can. “We work best when we’re free agents, and we can do whatever we want,” Larsen says. “And, you know, the way we started it is how we want to keep doing this.”

In the Philippines, a massive corruption scandal is triggering street protests and putting pressure on the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The population’s increasing exposure to typhoons, floods and rising sea-levels has seen the government allocate $9.5bn of taxpayer funds to more than 9,800 flood-control projects in the last three years.

But recent audits reveal widespread cases of structures being grossly incomplete or non-existent.

Multiple government officials are accused of pocketing huge kickbacks, funding lavish lifestyles.

101 East investigates how the most vulnerable are being flooded by corruption in the Philippines.

ASEAN is attempting to secure a foothold in the global semiconductor and electric-vehicle battery industries. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand have each announced concrete industrial commitments that signal an ambition to move deeper into high-value manufacturing. These efforts carry strategic implications because semiconductors, power electronics, and batteries are essential inputs for artificial intelligence, renewable energy systems, and modern defense industries. The region now faces a growing set of geopolitical and engineering pressures that directly affect planned projects, cost structures, and national industrial strategies.

This piece documents the most significant national developments in 2024 and 2025, outlines precise vulnerabilities, and provides realistic mitigation measures for decision makers.

Strategic Context

In October 2025 China announced additional controls on rare-earth exports and related processing technologies. This decision briefly tightened the market for rare earth magnets and separated oxides that are crucial for EV motors and semiconductor equipment. Although Beijing later delayed parts of the policy’s implementation, the message was clear. Critical inputs can be restricted with little warning.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have continued to adjust export controls on chip-making equipment. Any further tightening directly affects the cost and feasibility of new packaging and test facilities across ASEAN. The strategic environment surrounding high technology has therefore become volatile and has placed pressure on firms hoping to expand into advanced electronics production.

Malaysia: Penang’s Advanced Packaging Ambitions

Malaysia is pursuing one of the most aggressive semiconductor upgrade strategies in Southeast Asia. Penang’s “Silicon Island” project and the new Green Tech Park represent a deliberate shift from assembly to higher-value packaging and design. Approved semiconductor-related investments reportedly exceeded RM 70 billion between January 2024 and June 2025. Investments include Infineon’s silicon carbide expansion and Carsem’s advanced packaging facilities for AI-related chips.

Advanced packaging and testing lines in Malaysia’s semiconductor clusters still depend on specialized lithography subsystems, ultra-high-purity precursor chemicals, and precision metrology equipment. These imports are increasingly vulnerable because Malaysia’s new export-control regime now requires notifications for high-performance AI chips and equipment, creating possible bottlenecks and compliance burdens. For example, Malaysia’s July 2025 directive made exporters notify authorities at least 30 days in advance when shipping U.S.-origin high-performance AI chips, signaling that regulatory headwinds may also apply upstream in tool and component supply chains. Without expedited import lanes, delays in receiving critical equipment would postpone factory commissioning in locations such as Penang, driving up capital costs through extended financing periods.

The Malaysian government must fast-track customs and import lanes for critical equipment, co-finance spare-parts pools for fabs, and invest in infrastructure near semiconductor clusters such as high-quality water, power reliability, and waste treatment. In parallel, public-private training centers should train large numbers of precision-manufacturing engineers.

Indonesia: Nickel Dominance and Downstream Battery Production

Indonesia has used its dominant nickel reserves to pull in major EV battery investments. The flagship project is the nearly USD 6 billion joint venture between Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) and Indonesia Battery Corporation in West Java. According to a June 2025 Reuters report, the facility is scheduled to begin operations by late 2026 with a starting capacity of 6.9 GWh, with an expansion path toward 15 GWh or more. This scale demonstrates Indonesia’s ambition to anchor the region’s battery ecosystem, but it also highlights the limits of upstream advantage.

Despite controlling the raw material, Indonesia’s battery value chain is not yet integrated. The CATL–IBC project will still depend heavily on imported precursor chemicals, cathode active materials, and high-precision manufacturing equipment. Reuters noted that while Indonesia has rapidly expanded nickel processing, the country has not built the full suite of midstream capabilities required for stable cell production. Critical reagents and machinery remain tied to suppliers in China, South Korea, and Japan.

This dependency introduces substantial strategic risk. A February 2025 C4ADS report found that Chinese companies control roughly 75 percent of Indonesia’s nickel-refining capacity. That concentration means that although production occurs on Indonesian soil, operational control, technology flows, and strategic decisions often originate in external corporate or policy environments. Any shift in Chinese domestic policy, export priorities, or commercial strategy could ripple through Indonesia’s downstream battery plans and disrupt cell production timelines.

Given these vulnerabilities, Indonesia must accelerate the development of domestic precursor and cathode material facilities to reduce exposure to foreign suppliers. Battery-plant construction should also be sequenced with upgrades to grid capacity, wastewater management, and environmental controls, since these engineering systems remain bottlenecks in several industrial zones. Finally, manufacturers should design production lines with modularity so they can switch battery chemistries if global markets or reagent availability changes.

Thailand: Converting an Automotive Giant into an EV Hub

Thailand is moving quickly to convert its dominant automotive industry into an electric-vehicle hub. The Board of Investment’s EV 3.5 package, announced in 2025, offers tax incentives, consumer subsidies, and import-duty relief through 2027 for manufacturers that commit to local production. This policy has already shifted investment patterns. BYD opened a USD 490 million plant in Rayong in mid-2025 with capacity for 150,000 EVs annually, marking one of the largest EV manufacturing commitments in Southeast Asia. Domestic EV registrations also surged to roughly 70,000 units in 2024, up from fewer than 10,000 in 2021.

Despite these gains, Thailand’s EV ecosystem remains dependent on imported battery cells, semiconductor components, and rare-earth magnets. ASEAN Briefing’s September 2025 assessment found that Thailand still lacks mid-stream capabilities such as cathode production, electrolyte processing, and advanced battery-testing facilities. This dependence exposes the sector to the same vulnerabilities faced by regional semiconductor clusters.

These components also move through logistics systems designed for traditional automotive supply chains. Laem Chabang Port remains optimized for bulk auto parts rather than high-value lithium-ion cells. EV assemblers reported delays in 2025 due to congestion and manual customs checks on sensitive components during peak export periods. Even minor slowdowns disrupt just-in-time assembly and raise operational costs.

To protect its emerging EV advantage, Thailand must expand bonded logistics zones for battery components, accelerate port digitization, and cooperate with ASEAN partners to harmonize battery standards. Without these measures, Thailand’s EV ambitions will remain vulnerable to supply-chain friction and regulatory fragmentation.

Regional Risk Map

1. Material-concentration risk. China’s export controls on rare earths and magnets create leverage points. ASEAN must map critical-element dependencies and invest in regional recycling and stockpiles.
2. Equipment-and-technology risk. Restrictive export regimes on chip-making tools raise project execution risk. ASEAN governments should establish pooled spare-parts procurement, trusted procurement corridors, and diplomatic waiver channels.
3. Infrastructure-and-skills risk. All three countries face co-investment requirements in power, water, waste, and vocational training aligned with advanced manufacturing. ASEAN-level funding mechanisms and mutual recognition of professional certifications would reduce friction.

ASEAN stands at a pivotal moment. The opportunities to capture semiconductor back-end, EV battery manufacturing, and higher-value electronics are real. Malaysia’s move into advanced packaging, Indonesia’s downstream battery strategy, and Thailand’s EV pivot are promising. They are also fragile. Each depends on imported tools, materials, and specialized skills that can be disrupted by geopolitical shifts.

The region’s success will depend on how quickly leaders can reduce those vulnerabilities through strategic infrastructure investment, targeted industrial policy, regional standardization, and coordinated risk management. Without these measures, factories across ASEAN will remain profitable in calm markets but exposed during periods of geopolitical tension.

Apple TV has launched a rare Black Friday deal that sees the subscription cost cut in half for six months.

Apple TV has unveiled a rare Black Friday deal that’s slashed its subscription cost by half. Across this Black Friday weekend, new and eligible returning subscribers can join Apple TV for £4.99 per month for six months.

This marks a 50% discount from the usual £9.99 and grants full access to series such as Slow Horses, Severance, Ted Lasso and The Studio, all while saving a cool £30. However, Apple TV has issued a ‘last chance’ warning to claim the deal before it expires on Monday, December 1.

It makes Apple TV the most affordable major streaming service when compared to the basic plans of Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video, which all now cost £5.99. After the six-month promotional period, Apple TV will revert to its usual price of £9.99 per month unless cancelled.

Those who take advantage of this offer will be able to stream every episode of titles including Pluribus, the new sci-fi drama from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Emma Thompson’s mystery thriller Down Cemetery Road, based on Slow Horses author Mick Herron’s debut novel, is also streaming now.

Coming to Apple TV soon are Brad Pitt’s F1 (December 12), Hijack season two (January 14), and Godzilla series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season two (February 27). It comes as Apple’s streaming service quietly underwent a significant change in October, dropping the ‘+’ from its name and rebranding simply as Apple TV, reports Wales Online.

Get Apple TV half price for Black Friday

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TV fans can get Apple TV half price for six months as it drops from £9.99 to £4.99 until December 1.

The Apple TV half price deal is also available for Sky customers when subscribing via the Apple TV app, as part of Sky’s Black Friday sale. The provider has cut several TV packages to their ‘lowest ever price’, offering free Netflix subscriptions and more than 100 channels with options like the Essential TV and 500Mbps Full Fibre Broadband bundle (£35).

Apple TV has had a record-breaking year for its original content, with season two of Severance surpassing Ted Lasso to become the platform’s most-watched series ever. It also dominated the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, bagging a total of 22 wins for Severance, Slow Horses and The Studio.

The latter made Emmys history by scooping 13 awards – the highest ever for a comedy series – including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor for Seth Rogen. However, while Apple TV’s library is brimming with original content, it doesn’t offer the endless blockbusters and classic films found on rivals like Netflix or major Disney+ franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel.

What it does provide are exclusive titles featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt and Matthew McConaughey, as well as legendary filmmakers like Martin Scorsese. Customers can enjoy 50% off Apple TV when signing up by December 1.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — Russia has designated Human Rights Watch as an “undesirable foreign organization,” the nation’s Ministry of Justice announced Friday.

This decision means the organization, which was founded in 1978, is banned from operating in Russia. HRW is in 78 nations.

“Designating rights groups undesirable is brazen and cynical,” Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said in a news release. “It only redoubles our determination to document the Russian authorities’ human rights violations and war crimes, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”

HRW has documented human rights violations in Russia and the military committing war crimes in Ukraine.

“For over three decades, Human Rights Watch’s work on post-Soviet Russia has pressed the government to uphold human rights and freedoms,” Bolopion said. “Our work hasn’t changed, but what’s changed, dramatically, is the government’s full-throttled embrace of dictatorial policies, its staggering rise in repression, and the scope of the war crimes its forces are committing in Ukraine.”

In 2015, Russia introduced the “undesirable” law to silence independent media, opposition groups and foreign organizations.

Russian authorities have designated at least 280 organizations as “undesirable,” including the Moscow Times. Courts have issued administrative and criminal sentences, including in their absence, against several hundred people, HRW said.

“Undesirable” organizations, as determined by the Prosecutor’s Office, undermine Russia’s security, defense or constitutional order.

The Prosecutor General’s Office banned HRW on Nov. 10.

Those who continue to engage with these organizations, in Russia or abroad, may face administrative and criminal penalties, including a maximum six-year prison sentence. The authorities interpret “engagement” widely and arbitrarily, HRW said.

The organization leaders risk up to six years, according to Russian law.

In 2021, Andrei Pivovarov, a political activist, was sentenced to four years in prison for social media posts, which the authorities said promoted Open Russia, a political opposition movement designated “undesirable.” Russian authorities released and expelled him from the country in 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange with Western nations.

In May 2025, a Moscow court sentenced Grigory Melkonyants, a prominent Russian rights defender and election monitor, to five years in prison after authorities wrongly equated the Russian election monitoring group Golos with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, which were designated “undesirable” in 2021.

After the initial full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, HRW was among several international organizations and non-government organizations with offices shut down in Moscow.

HRW had operated in Russia since 1992 with the breakup of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, HRW began working there in 1978.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a rapporteur for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe, have criticized the legislation.

Major Israeli offensive has also destroyed roads, water networks and private property.

Israeli forces have wounded more than 200 Palestinians in raids on the West Bank governorate of Tubas, as a major offensive on northern parts of the occupied territory that began on Wednesday continues to inflict widespread destruction.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) told Al Jazeera that 78 of the people wounded in Israeli attacks on Tubas since Wednesday required treatment in hospital.

After withdrawing from Tammun and Far’a refugee camp on Friday, Israeli soldiers have shifted the focus of raids to the city of Tubas, as well as the nearby villages of Aqqaba and Tayaseer.

Local officials said Israeli forces have detained nearly 200 Palestinians in the past four days. Most were interrogated on site and let go, but at least eight people were arrested and taken to Israeli military jails.

At least nine Palestinians were detained in other military raids in Qalqilya, Jenin and Nablus. The Wafa news agency quoted local sources as saying on Saturday that two children and a woman were among five arrested at dawn in Qalqilya.

Violent raids by Israeli soldiers and attacks by armed settlers have escalated since October 2023, with 47 army incursions taking place on average every day across the occupied West Bank in November.

The mayor of Tammun told Al Jazeera that while the town in the Tubas governorate was subject to dozens of raids in the past couple of years, the ones this week were the worst in terms of scale, destruction and violence.

He said that more than 1.5km (one mile) of roads have been torn up, water networks destroyed, private property vandalised and people severely beaten, repeating the pattern of other major Israeli military attacks across the occupied West Bank.

In the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers have been advancing in a major offensive launched in January, Israeli bulldozers are making way for the demolition of at least 23 more Palestinian homes.

This comes several days after they issued notices claiming that the demolitions were necessary to ensure “freedom of movement” for the Israeli forces within the camp – even though the area remains largely empty as most families have been displaced.

The condemned buildings were home to 340 Palestinians. Only 47 of them, mostly women, were allowed to retrieve their belongings on Thursday.

A member of the Jenin Refugee Camp Services Committee told Al Jazeera that residents were given two hours to collect possessions, and some could not even recognise their homes due to the level of destruction after the Israeli assault.

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said on Friday its fighters carried out a series of attacks on Israeli soldiers during raids in Jenin and Tubas.

The group said its fighters in Tubas targeted an Israeli foot patrol with an antipersonnel explosive device in the Wadi al-Tayaseer area. Fighters detonated explosives against Israeli military vehicles in the al-Ziyoud and al-Bir areas of the town of Silat al-Harithiya in Jenin, it added.

Since October 2023, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 1,086 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including 223 children. At least 251 were killed in 2025.

At least 10,662 Palestinians have also been wounded since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, with more than 20,500 rounded up. As of the beginning of November, there were 9,204 Palestinians in Israeli jails, 3,368 of whom are detained without charges.

Palestinian deaths have also surged in the custody of both the Israeli army and the Israel Prison Service, with at least 94 deaths documented since October 2023.

A nepo baby with two very famous actor parents has bagged herself a role in the new Peaky Blinders movie – can you guess who her mum and dad are?

Ruby, 27, has followed in her parents footsteps as an actor and according to IMDB, she’s set to star as Agnes Shelby in the upcoming film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

The highly-anticipated project is a direct continuation of the BBC One television series and has an epic cast.

Cillian Murphy is back in the role of Thomas Shelby alongside Stephen Graham, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee and Ian Peck.

Ruby joins other actors who are new to the Peaky Blinders world, including Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Jay Lycurgo and Barry Keoghan.

Her actor and filmmaker father is best known for his motion capture roles working with animation and voice work for computer generated characters.

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He’s starred in massive Hollywood films including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and the Planet of the Apes reboot series.

His work has garnered him several BAFTA awards, a Daytime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe nomination.

Meanwhile, his wife also has an impressive resume, having appeared in massive shows including The Crown, Bridgerton and Grantchester.

And she most recently entertained fans in the BBC drama Riot Women, written by Happy Valley’s Sally Wainwright.

Have you guessed who Ruby’s famous parents are?

That’s right, it’s none other than Gollum actor Andy Serkis and his wife Lorraine Ashbourne.

As well as the projects previously mentioned, Andy has starred in other big projects including Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Batman and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The couple got married back in 2002 and live in London with their three children, Ruby, Sonny and Louis.

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis has already starred in some big productions, having bagged small roles in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies thanks to her dad.

She’s since carved out her own career with projects such as drama comedy film La Cha Cha and most recently, Netflix film Steve, alongside Cillian.

Ruby is also set to appear on stage at The Hampstead Theatre in Indian Ink, alongside Felicity Kendal and Gavi Singh Chera.

A synopsis for the play reads: “Satirising the self-importance of both academia and the ruling class, Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink is an evocative meditation on art and love, exploring how creativity can bridge even the most profound cultural barriers.”

Both of Ruby’s brothers, Sonny and Louis, have also bagged the nepo tag and ran with it, and are also acting.

Sonny has appeared in mini series Masters of the Air, The Witcher, The War Below and Young Wallander.

While Louis is best-known for his role as Alex in the 2019 fantasy adventure film The Kid Who Would Be King.

Back in 2017, Andy directed the film Breathe, which is a true story about the love between Robin and Diana Cavendish.

Many fans thought the film was inspired by Andy and Lorraine’s own love story, having been married for 23 years.

However, Andy has clarified the project was inspired by the Cavendish’s story and the power of their love to overcome adversity.

Hong Kong began a five-day mourning period on Saturday, after at least 128 people were killed in fires at a high-rise apartment complex. Officials held a three-minute silence as residents laid flowers near the towers. Authorities say around 200 people are still missing.

Some 44,000 people displaced by flooding across the country as relief operations intensify amid widespread destruction.

Sri Lanka has made an appeal for international assistance as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing.

The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes across the country, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said on Saturday.

Although Cyclone Ditwah was heading towards neighbouring India to the north on Saturday, more landslides have hit the central district of Kandy, 115km (70 miles) east of the capital Colombo, with the main access road under water at several locations.

DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of members of the army, navy and air force as he announced the latest casualty figures.

“Relief operations with the help of the armed forces are under way,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo.

Mahesh Gunasekara, the secretary-general of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, said many people have been stranded in various flood-hit areas as rescue crews are trying to reach them.

“Relief needs have been increasing. After two days, water has still been swelling,” he said.

“Although the cyclone is slowly moving away from the country, it is not over for us yet,” Gunasekara added.

Flooding prompted authorities to issue evacuation orders for those living along the banks of the Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean from Colombo.

The Kelani burst its banks on Friday evening, forcing hundreds of people into temporary shelters, the DMC said.

The government issued an appeal for international help and asked Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to support nearly half a million affected people.

Officials said Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya had met with Colombo-based diplomats to update them on the situation and seek the help of their governments.

India was the first to respond, sending two planeloads of relief supplies, while an Indian warship already in Colombo on a previously planned goodwill visit donated its rations to help victims.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the deaths in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was ready to send more aid.

“We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves,” Modi said on X.

While rain had eased in most parts of Sri Lanka on Saturday, including the capital, parts of the island’s north were still experiencing showers due to the residual effects of Cyclone Ditwah.

DMC officials said they expected flood levels to exceed those recorded in 2016, when 71 people were killed nationwide.

This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains.

In December, 17 people died in flooding and landslides.

Joseph Kosinski didn’t want to direct “F1” unless he was able to do it the hard way. That was the germ of an idea for what would eventually become one of the biggest hits of 2025: Create a movie about an underdog Formula One team that didn’t fake being at F1 races, but actually became a part of them.

“It was kind of like, ‘Yes, this is a little insane,’” said Kosinski, “‘but if we can pull it off, we’ll get something totally unique.’”

Kosinski doesn’t present as your average adrenaline junkie. He’s mellow and looks like he could work at a bank — in fact, he pursued architecture before finding a calling in film as a David Fincher protégé. Kosinski was trusted with blockbusters from his debut, 2010’s “Tron: Legacy,” and in 2022 broke through with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which strapped Tom Cruise and other insurance liabilities into actual fighter jets as an alternative to relying on CGI.

“I think on ‘Maverick,’” Kosinski said, “I found out that the audience does appreciate when you shoot something for real. They can tell the difference between something done on a soundstage and done in a real situation. It’s something we are very attuned to and connect to.”

“F1” tells the story of Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a leathery road dog of a driver who gets called back into Formula One by an old racing friend (Javier Bardem), who’s now the owner of a struggling team, desperate for a Hail Mary. The film is partially based in reality; the Hayes character is inspired by Martin Donnelly, whose promising career was cut short in 1990 by a gruesome crash. It’s also partially based in a fantasy in which someone old enough to have seen the 1966 epic “Grand Prix” in theaters would be allowed to sit in the driver’s seat of a modern F1 team.

Director Joseph Kosinski on the set of “F1.”

(Apple TV)

But the fantasy elements were designed to be offset by a hyperrealism that’s rarely afforded to film productions — not just in the ability to feature the actual teams and drivers, but also to film a significant portion of the movie at the races themselves. It helped that the production had Lewis Hamilton, one of the best drivers in the history of the sport, on board as a producer to help grease the wheels with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of F1. Even with Hamilton, though, Apple — which ultimately spent over $200 million on the movie — had to prove to the FIA that they could set up at an event like the fabled British Grand Prix at Silverstone and not cause a pileup.

“We had to rehearse the blocking and staging for about two weeks with a stopwatch in front of the FIA to prove to them that we could actually shoot a scene and get off the track before the race started,” said Kosinski, referring to a crucial scene when the characters played by Pitt and Tobias Menzies first meet.

Unlike “Maverick,” in which military pilots flew the jets, “F1” features driving from Brad Pitt and co-star Damson Idris, in some sense because it was the only way to get the shots they needed. “They’ve got four cameras in front of them that are whipping around and they’re having to do their lines and perform,” said Kosinski. “But mostly they’re trying not to die in front of 100,000 people.”

Every department — from the actors to craft services — had to learn how to operate at dangerous speeds and with higher stakes. Ben Munro, who did the production design with Mark Tildesley, explained that, normally, his department would have two weeks to build a set; in some cases on “F1,” such as a scene filmed at the McLaren headquarters, they would have just 12 hours, overnight.

“When you try to integrate with the real world, ultimate control becomes harder,” Munro said. “And as filmmakers, we’re used to being in ultimate control.”

The “F1” team developed new cameras to capture the film’s ultra-realistic high-speed racing.

(Apple TV)

The camera team too had to be adaptable and mobile (no VistaVision here), all while figuring out how to capture footage at 180 miles per hour that couldn’t be covered with more than a few takes. “First, we had to make a camera that didn’t exist yet,” said Claudio Miranda, the film’s cinematographer.

Miranda, who won an Oscar for “Life of Pi,” worked with Sony to develop small, agile “sensor-on-a-stick” cameras with Imax-worthy lenses to place around the cars. Coverage became essential — there were 16 camera positions to capture as much as possible. With both the racing itself and the hoopla around race weekend, the usual filmmaking mindset simply had to change: “I’m not always able to shoot sunset for this shot, or backlight for this quarter,” said Miranda, describing his thinking. “We traded all that in for the realism of the movie. But I think that’s unbeatable.”

Other than a few spinouts (and a stray Brad Pitt fan ruining a shot to get a selfie), the production was miraculously accident-free, despite taking almost two years to film. That may be due in part to the fact that, if you squint, it turns out that a film crew is similar enough to an F1 team to fit right in.

“Everyone had to be prepared for those nine-minute shoot windows in the same way that you’d have to be ready for a pit stop,” Kosinski said. “There was a really interesting kinship. And we really did feel like the 11th team after spending two seasons with them.”

The moment that sticks with Miranda is from the end of the production, in Abu Dhabi, when all the real F1 teams got their cars out for one grand scene together — a million-dollar setup, to undersell it by a few digits. “In the beginning, it did feel like we were this annoying little buzzard,” Miranda said. “I think that’s why I got really emotional when everyone wanted to help us out in the final race and bring the cars out. Because it felt like, at the end, we were kind of loved.”

At least 128 people died and 200 remain missing after the towers housing 4,600 people were engulfed by flames.

People in Hong Kong are mourning the deaths of at least 128 people who died in the region’s largest blaze in decades in an eight-apartment residential complex.

The flags outside the central government offices were lowered to half-mast on Saturday as Hong Kong leader John Lee, other officials and civil servants, all dressed in black, gathered to pay their respects to those lost at the Wang Fuk Court estate since the fire on Wednesday.

Condolence books have been set up at 18 points around the former British colony for the public to pay their respects, officials said.

At the site of the residential complex, families and mourners gathered to lay flowers.

By Friday, only 39 of the victims had been identified, leaving families with the morbid task of looking at the photographs of the deceased taken by rescue workers.

The number of victims could still dramatically rise as some 200 people remain missing, with authorities declaring the end of the search for survivors on Friday.

But identification work and search for remains continues, as Lee said the government is setting up a fund with 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($39m) in capital to help the residents.

The local community is also pitching in, with hundreds of volunteers mobilising to help the victims, including by distributing food and other essential items. Some of China’s biggest companies have pledged donations as well.

The Wang Fuk Court fire marks Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze.

At least 11 people have been arrested in connection with the tragedy, according to local authorities.

They include two directors and an engineering consultant of the firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on the towers for more than a year, who are accused of manslaughter for using unsafe materials.

The towers, located in the northern district of Tai Po, were undergoing renovations, with the highly flammable bamboo scaffolding and green mesh used to cover the building believed to be a major facilitator of the quick spread of the blaze.

Most of the victims were found in two towers in the complex, with seven of the eight towers suffering extensive damage, including from flammable foam boards used by the maintenance company to seal and protect windows.

The deadly incident has prompted comparisons with the blaze at the Grenfell Tower in London that killed 72 people in 2017, with the fire blamed on flammable cladding on the tower’s exterior, as well as on failings by the government and the construction industry.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the horrific fire in Hong Kong,” the Grenfell United survivors’ group said in a short statement on social media.

“To the families, friends and communities, we stand with you. You are not alone.”