A screen displaying market results outside the Bombay Stock Exchange this year. The two main stock indexes in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, are up 10 percent over the past six months.
Japan, one of the world’s most stable democracies, is experiencing unusually rapid change. Shigeru Ishiba’s departure could herald a leadership crisis.
EPA/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement handout
Some 400 state and federal agents gathered outside the factory complex before lining workers up inside
A South Korean worker who witnessed a massive immigration operation at a car factory in Georgia has told the BBC of panic and confusion as federal agents descended on the site and arrested hundreds.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, was at the factory which is jointly owned by Hyundai and LG Energy when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 475 people, including 300 South Korean nationals, with some being led away in chains.
He said he first became aware of the Thursday morning raid when he and his colleagues received a deluge of phone calls from company bosses. "Multiple phone lines were ringing and the message was to shut down operations," he said.
As news spread of the raid, the largest of its kind since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the man said panicked family members tried to contact the workers.
"They were detained and they left all their cell phones in the office. They were getting calls, but we couldn't answer because [the office] was locked," he said.
According to US officials, some workers tried to flee including several who jumped into a nearby sewage pond. They were separated into groups based on nationality and visa status, before being processed and loaded onto multiple coaches.
Some 400 state and federal agents had gathered outside the sprawling $7.6bn factory complex, which is about half an hour from the city of Savannah, before entering the site at around 10:30 on Thursday.
The 3,000-acre complex opened last year and workers there assemble electric vehicles. Immigration officials had been investigating alleged illegal employment practices at an electric vehicle battery plant that is being built in the compound.
The operation ultimately become the largest single-site immigration enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations, officials said, adding that hundreds of people who were not legally allowed to work in the US were detained.
BBC Verify has been reviewing footage posted on social media and apparently filmed inside the battery plant.
One video shows men lined up in a room as a masked man, wearing a vest with the initials HSI - Homeland Security Investigations - and holding a walkie-talkie, tells them: "We're Homeland Security, we have a search warrant for the whole site. We need construction to cease immediately, we need all work to end on the site right now."
BBC Verify met the worker, who is legally entitled to work in the United States, in Savannah, the nearest city to the massive car factory.
The man said he was "shocked but not surprised" by the immigration operation. He said the vast majority of the workers detained were mechanics installing production lines at the site, and were employed by a contractor.
He also said a minority of those arrested had been sent from head office in Seoul and had been carrying out training, which the BBC has not been able to confirm.
The man said he believed nearly all the workers had some legal right to be in the US, but were on the wrong type of visas or their right to work had expired.
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The operation ultimately become the largest single-site immigration enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations, officials said
The BBC has contacted both Hyundai and LG Energy for comment.
In a joint statement released after the raid, Hyundai and LG energy said they were "co-operating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding activity at our construction site. To assist their work, we have paused construction."
Hyundai also said that "based on our current understanding, none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company".
It added it "is committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market where we operate".
BBC Verify has also contacted the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment and for more details about exactly why the workers were detained and what they were doing at the plant.
On Friday, the day after the raid, the ICE agent in charge of the operation, Steven Schrank said all 475 detainees were "illegally present in the United States".
He said they were workers "who have entered through a variety of different means into the United States, some illegally crossed the border, some that came in through visa waiver and were prohibited from working, some that had visas and overstayed their visas".
Watch: ICE was 'just doing its job' with Hyundai arrests, Trump says
The raid, dubbed by officials "Operation Low Voltage", targeted an electric battery plant which was being built on the same site as an existing Hyundai car factory.
ICE has released footage of the raid showing federal agents arriving in armoured vehicles and lining up workers outside the factory, with some shown chained together before being loaded onto coaches.
Other images show two men in a river apparently trying to escape, and another man being hauled out of the water by agents who are speaking to him in Spanish.
The worker we spoke to said he had sympathy for those who had been detained, but he said a crackdown was not a surprise under the Trump administration. "Their slogan is America first, and if you work in America legally, you won't have an issue," he said.
The man said the time and administrative hurdles involved in obtaining US visas had encouraged foreign companies to cut corners in order to finish projects on time, but they might now need to reassess.
"I mean, after this happened, many companies will think again about investing in the United States because setting up a new project might take so much longer than before," he said, adding that many of those who were detained were specialists and finding local workers to replace them would not be easy.
When the BBC visited the site over the weekend there were few visible signs of Thursday's raid, although two security teams asked us to move on as we filmed from the side of the road.
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The sprawling $7.6bn factory complex is about half an hour from the city of Savannah
The electric car factory in Ellabell, Georgia is a huge complex that dominates the landscape and has been a major source of employment since the project was announced in 2022.
Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp has hailed the $7.6bn complex, describing it as the largest economic development project in the state's history.
The impact of the venture has been reflected in the resurgence of the Korean American Association of Greater Savannah. "It's a growing community," said Cho Dahye, the association's president.
Ms Dahye, who became a US citizen in the 1980s and is also known by her American name Ruby Gould, said the ICE arrests had left people shocked.
She hopes the raid on her doorstep would not have a wider impact on US-South Korean relations. "It's very shocking to me and the image of a global, well-known company," she said.
South Korea's government says it has concluded talks with the US to release its citizens detained in a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.
The chief of staff of South Korea's president said a chartered plane would be sent to bring the detainees home if administration procedures were completed.
Kang Hoon-sik said the authorities were trying to improve the visa system to prevent such incidents in the future.
US officials detained 475 people - more than 300 of them South Korean nationals - who they said were found to be illegally working at the battery facility, one of the largest foreign investment projects in the state.
The White House has defended the operation, dismissing concerns that the raid could deter foreign investment.
"They were illegal aliens and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] was just doing its job," President Donald Trump said following the raids on Friday.
Video released by ICE officials showed Asian workers shackled in front of a building, with some wearing yellow vests with names such as "Hyundai" and "LG CNS".
"People on short-term or recreational visas are not authorized to work in the US," ICE said, adding that the raid was necessary to protect American jobs.
"This operation sends a clear message that those who exploit the system and undermine our workforce will be held accountable," Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Steven Schrank said in a statement on Saturday.
South Korea, a close US ally, has pledged tens of billions of dollars in American manufacturing investment, partly to offset tariffs.
The timing of the raid, as the two governments engage in sensitive trade talks, has raised concern in Seoul.
Trump has actively encouraged major investments from other countries while also tightening visa allocations for foreign companies.
LG Energy Solution, which operates the plant with Hyundai, says many of the LG employees arrested were on business trips with various visas or under a visa waiver programme.
The company has said it is suspending most business trips to the US and directing employees on assignment in the US to return home immediately.
South Korean media widely described the raid as a "shock," with the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper warning it could have "a chilling effect on the activities of our businesses in the United States".
The factory, which makes new electric vehicles, had been touted by Georgia's Republican governor as the biggest economic development project in the state's history, employing 1,200 people.
The arrested workers are being held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia.
LG Energy Solution said 47 of its employees and about 250 workers for contractors at the joint venture factory were detained.
John Burton in 1980, when he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served four terms in Congress but chose not to seek a fifth in 1982, citing depression and dependence on crack cocaine and nitrous oxide.
Margaret feels a 'wonderful sense of achievement' after pursuing a career in later life
Margaret has lived in a different country from her husband for the past 15 years.
She lives in London and he lives in Australia. The travelling between continents means the time she and Peter see each other ranges from once a year to every 18 months.
Despite the distance and the time between visits, they remain a faithful and happy couple.
"I've made a whole set of new friends and I live in my cosy flat in London alone. So I've done all of that while still staying married, it's been a wonderful experience," she told Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.
Living in a different home to your partner isn't that unusual, the term even has its own acronym - LAT - to describe couples "living apart together".
But, the proportion of people married or in a civil partnership living apart is very low at 3%, according to official figures.
Margaret believes you can still have a fulfilling marriage, even when you don't share a home.
Many high-profile couples have also spoken openly about choosing to live apart.
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For many years Ashley Graham lived in New York while her filmmaker husband was in Los Angeles
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her writer and director husband Brad Falchuk spent the early part of their marriage in separate homes which Paltrow said helped keep the relationship fresh.
Model Ashley Graham and her husband Justin Ervin lived apart for many years in a long-distance relationship as did actor Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton during their 13-year relationship.
Recently, Abbott Elementary actress Sheryl Lee Ralph revealed that she and her husband have been living on opposite coasts of the US for almost 20 years as her work requires her to live in Hollywood and her husband, as Pennsylvania's state senator, needs to be in Philadelphia.
For Margaret, life was very different 15 years ago. She lived in Australia and didn't work outside the home and looked after her four children, while her husband Peter was a full-time doctor who was financially responsible for the family.
When she turned 57, Margaret went back to university, graduating with a PhD in applied linguistics.
After finishing her studies, and the children had left home, she believed this was time to do something different, and decided to move to London.
"It became obvious that Peter and I had different goals for that stage in our lives. He wanted to stay in the family home, continue working, whereas I saw it as an opportunity."
She is now an Education Officer at the Royal College of Surgeons.
"I've got onto the career ladder when most people are thinking of retiring.
"Yes you can get a full time job at the age of 60 if you want. Yes, you can live in another country and do all of these exciting things, even move to a different continent."
Margaret Murphy
Peter and Margaret at the airport before Margaret moved to London.
But Margaret stresses it hasn't all been smooth sailing for the couple.
"On a personal level, the disadvantages are, for Peter, that he's still living in the same family home in Brisbane, and he doesn't socialise that well on his own, and he may feel a bit lonely there. And for me, the disadvantage is the lack of companionship; I don't have that."
She saysthe key to making it work has been talking regularly.
"I tell Peter everything about my life in London, my work, my new friends, my travels.
"It's given him another dimension in life, the same for me when he comes over to London, he loves it."
Woman's Hour listener Kerry, said she'd been with her partner for three years and they'd agreed at the start to never co-habit as a way to keep their "freedom and independence".
"We bought houses close to one another and have housemates to help with the mortgages."
They do eventually plan to marry and even then Kerry says she wouldn't change their living arrangements.
"It works incredibly well for both of us and feels like the strongest relationship either of us has had as a result."
Ammanda Major, Clinical Quality Director for Relate at Family Action, says that this arrangement is not for everyone, but for married couples set on living apart, it can have benefits.
"It provides some space, some place to go back to where you can maintain your own interests, maintain their own sense of identity."
"It can be a useful way of supporting people to feel that whilst I am married to you, I have my own space, I have my own interests, and that I come together with my spouse when that feels appropriate for us."
How to live apart and stay together
Be firm that this is a decision both parties really want, not to feel pressured because it suits one partner and not another
Have some ground rules in place that have been fully discussed
Check in regularly to make sure both parties feel it is still working
This could mean discussing what days are spent together, managing a sexual relationship or managing children if they are involved
Have very clear communication with your partner at all times
Advice provided by the Clinical Quality Director at Relate, a relationship counselling service.
Prime Minister François Bayrou (left) may be on his way out, after calling a confidence vote in himself
France's parliament – deadlocked for a year and more poisonously divided than it has been in decades – looks set to throw out yet another prime minister on Monday.
But the acute sense of drama surrounding this latest vote of confidence inside Paris's Assemblée Nationale is counterbalanced by a despondent consensus that the almost inevitable removal of 74-year-old François Bayrou, after nine relatively ineffectual months in office, will do nothing to break France's political stalemate.
"It's a disaster. The situation is absolutely blocked," veteran political commentator Bruno Cautrès told the BBC.
Others have been even harsher in their diagnosis.
Marine Le Pen, parliamentary leader of the hard-right National Rally party, accused Bayrou of committing "political suicide".
The prime minister, a consensus-seeking figure from south-west France with a tendency to frown and to bluster, initiated Monday's surprise vote himself, seeking, as he explained it, to "shock" politicians into agreeing on a way to tackle the country's looming debt crisis.
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Efforts to cut the state budget have sparked protests in France over the years
Describing France's spiralling national debt as "a terribly dangerous period… a time of hesitation and turmoil", Bayrou warned there was a "high risk of disorder and chaos" if parliament failed to back his austerity budget with its aim to slash government spending by €44bn (£38bn).
Bayrou says young people will be saddled with years of debt payments "for the sake of the comfort of boomers", if France fails to tackle a national debt of 114% of its annual economic output.
But Bayrou's gamble – variously characterised as a kamikaze gesture, a pointless Cassandra-like prophecy, and an attempt to end his political career with a heroic act of self-sacrifice – looks almost certain to end in failure later on Monday.
Despite some frantic last-minute discussions, it appears clear Bayrou simply doesn't have the votes.
At the heart of this "crisis" – a word that seems to have spent an entire year dominating French newspaper headlines – is President Emmanuel Macron's widely derided decision, in June 2024, to call a snap parliamentary election in order to "clarify" the balance of power in parliament.
The result was the exact opposite of clarity. French voters, increasingly unhappy with their brash, eloquent young president, edged towards the extremes, leaving Macron floundering with a weakened minority centrist government, and a parliament so divided that today many rival MPs cannot even bear to shake each other's hands.
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Polls suggest President Macron's popularity is at its lowest level since he took office in 2017
So, what next?
Far from the parliamentary power struggles on the left bank of Paris's River Seine, the mood across France appears to be drifting towards the right and the far right.
"Jordan, Jordan," shouted several hundred people crowding around the 29-year-old leader of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, as he arrived at a large agricultural fair in Chalons-en-Champagne, east of Paris.
For an hour, Bardella inched through the crowd, taking selfies with his admirers.
"He seems like a good bloke. Someone you could get a drink with. France is struggling. We pay too many taxes, and we don't understand how they're spent. And prices keeping rising," said Christian Magri, 44, a computer programmer.
"[Bardella] is going to overhaul our country. I'm not at all racist, but I feel that in France we already have a lot of people waiting for housing and we can't take in all the wretched of the world," said a woman named Christine.
Jordan Bardella (centre) was mobbed on arrival at the agricultural fair
"He's a handsome man. His ideas are good. There are too many immigrants coming here. Mr Bardella… wants to put French people first," said Nadine, 61, who, like many others in the crowd, declined to give her surname.
At some point, in the crush, I managed to reach Bardella and asked if he thought that – after Monday's confidence vote - there might be another snap election that could see him emerge as France's next prime minister.
"We're working on it. This country has been deadlocked for over a year. It is dangerous to leave France drifting like this and to let those who've been in power for decades destroy the country. We want to do our best to stop mass immigration into France. If we come to power tomorrow, we will implement a referendum on the issue of immigration," he said.
And yet few in France believe that President Macron will call another early parliamentary election, or indeed that he will step down from his own role before his term ends in 2027.
More likely is another attempt to find a path towards a functioning minority government. Having repeatedly tried to cut deals on the right, some wonder if Macron might try something new.
Reuters
Let's Block Everything is a grassroots call for a huge, nationwide protest on 10 September
"We think that it's time for the president to give the left a try because we will have a different method. We will try to reach compromises. We've proposed a budget that will make savings but also make investments for the future, for a green transition… while also taxing the richest persons on their fortunes," said Arthur Delaport, a Socialist Party MP from Normandy.
While speculation continues about who Macron might chose as his next prime minister, other challenges are looming.
There is growing focus here on the prospect, not just of significant industrial action in the coming weeks, but of a wave of street protests. A fledgling grass-roots movement, calling itself "Let's Block Everything," has been active on social media, urging French people to bring the country to a standstill this Wednesday.
"There is a bubble of exasperation in the country," explained the commentator, Bruno Cautrès, offering a warning to Macron.
"Macron has been extremely, extremely active at the international level, particularly with Ukraine these last two weeks. And I think that it is time that Macron is talking to the French. Because…. there is a very high level of anger, frustration, tensions."
The UK's most senior trade unionist is calling on the government to demonstrate "whose side it is on" following the Labour reshuffle.
The General Secretary of the TUC, Paul Nowak, will tell his annual conference in Brighton today that the government must do more for working class communities.
He will argue that Labour's promise of change at the last election doesn't feel like "a lived reality".
He will say that the Labour government needs to make what he calls "the right political choices" to persuade voters that it is on their side.
He will call for the two child benefit cap to be lifted - paid for by new taxes on wealth.
There is a similar message from Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite union - though her warning to Labour has financial as well as political consequences.
At her own union's conference in the summer, delegates voted overwhelmingly to re-examine its relationship with Labour.
She has now told the BBC that at a future Unite conference, there will be an opportunity to sever a long-standing link which is worth around £1.3m a year to Labour.
She said: "Instinctively, workers don't feel that Labour is on their side. We will be giving our members the opportunity to vote on whether to remain part of Labour when the time comes.
"If that vote was today, I think they'd vote to disaffiliate. There's no doubt about that in my mind."
Ms Graham predicted that Reform UK would be the chief beneficiaries if Labour failed to improve standards of living. She argued that "unless Labour do something quite radical", then "they are going to find themselves in huge difficulty."
She added: "They've got about a year to get this right. And if they don't do that, people will start moving away from them, and I don't believe they'll go back."
The warnings come as the leader of the UK's biggest trade union Christina McAnea said it would be a "huge mistake" for the government to water down its Employment Rights Bill, which is due to become law in a few weeks.
The legislation would be a major shake-up of workers' rights, including protection against unfair dismissal and a ban on "exploitative" zero-hours contracts.
McAnea said she is concerned that ministers are no longer committed to implementing the bill in full, following Angela Rayner's resignation and the cabinet reshuffle.
Labour has said it is delivering the biggest uplift in workers' rights in a generation and that wages are now rising faster than prices.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the next phase of government will focus on "delivery, delivery, delivery" of its promises.
Government plans to move migrants from asylum hotels to former military barracks is the lead for Metro. Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that his department is considering using sites as "temporary accommodation" for people who arrive on small boats.
The i Paper also leads with "fast-tracked" plans to close migrants hotels, as PM Keir Starmer faces warnings from Red Wall Labour MPs to take a "tougher approach" to the issue. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calls the record number of Channel crossings this year "utterly unacceptable".
The number of migrants arriving in the UK by small boat this year surpassed 30,000 on the new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's first day in office, the Daily Mail reports. More than 1,000 arrived on Saturday, the second-highest number to enter the country in a 24-hour period, according to the paper.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says gangs are "wreaking havoc", as the Daily Express also reports on the number of migrants arriving in the UK by small boat this year reaching 30,000.
Starmer has appointed "Blairites" to key positions in a bid to boost economic growth, the Times reports. Figures from Labour's "reforming right flank" have been handed control of main economic departments, as they seek to push through welfare reforms and ease net-zero regulation, according to the paper.
Union chiefs have "vowed to fight" for a workers' rights bill following Angela Rayner's resignation, the Daily Telegraph reports. The prime minister has "been put on notice" that he must not "water down" the bill following the cabinet reshuffle.
Senior Labour figures have warned the prime minister to "stop making mistakes", following Angela Rayner's resignation. Emily Thornberry, who the paper describes as a "potential contender" for the party's deputy leadership role, warns Starmer that more gaffes could "hand our country to Farage".
The Daily Mirror asks Reform UK leader Nigel Farage: "How much tax do you pay?" The paper reports that Farage has been "slammed" by union chiefs for refusing to publish his tax returns, despite other party leaders doing so.
A judge has "sparked fury" after wishing an extremist "all the best" as he prepares to walk free, according to the Sun.
The UK is facing "autumn mayhem", according to the Daily Star, as Storm Amy is set to "batter Britain" with 65mph gales and torrential rain. Two more storms are set to hit the country this autumn, the paper reports.
China is preparing to reopen its bond market to major Russian energy groups, according to the Financial Times, in a sign of "deepening diplomatic and economic ties between Beijing and Moscow". It would be the first Russian corporate fundraising in mainland China since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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