Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

Millions worldwide celebrate Chinese New Year

Millions of people celebrated Chinese New Year on Monday by traveling home for the traditional New Year's Eve dinner and reuniting with families in their hometowns. The official Spring Festival public holidays run from Feb 15 to 23. The Chinese New Year travel rush kicked off on February 2 and will last 40 days. Officials expect a record 9.5 billion domestic trips during the 40-day period, up from about 9.02 billion in 2025.

Tarique Rahman sworn in as Bangladesh's prime minister

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman was sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday, marking a significant political shift in the South Asian nation after a period of turmoil. Rahman, 60, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman, takes office following his party's sweeping parliamentary election victory. Breaking with tradition, the open-air swearing-in ceremony was held at the South Plaza of the national parliament building, rather than at the Bangabhaban, the president's official residence. President Mohammed Shahabuddin presided as Rahman and his 49-member council of ministers took oaths in the presence of senior political figures, diplomats, and civil and military officials.

South Korean court sentences ex-President Yoon to life in prison for insurrection

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been convicted of insurrection and sentenced to life in prison by the Seoul Central District Court for his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024, a move prosecutors said threatened South Korea's democratic order. The conviction is among the most significant legal judgments in the country's modern political history. Yoon was impeached and removed from office in April 2025 after the martial law decree sparked widespread protests and a constitutional crisis.

Sanae Takaichi officially reelected as Japanese PM at the Diet

Sanae Takaichi, president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected the country's 105th prime minister on Wednesday by lawmakers in parliament. At a special Diet session convened that day, the lower house and the upper house held separate prime ministerial appointment votes. In the House of Representatives vote, Takaichi secured 354 votes in the first round, defeating Junya Ogawa, head of the main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), who received 50 votes, along with other rival candidates. The House of Councillors headed to a runoff vote after no candidate secured a majority in the first round. Takaichi then led with 125 votes, followed by Ogawa with 65.

China Space Station grows tomatoes

As China celebrated the 2026 Spring Festival, the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission aboard the Tiangong space station received a remarkable gift: a thriving harvest of tomatoes grown in orbit. The device that nurtures these plants is an aeroponic cultivation system developed by a research team at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center. The aeroponic device was delivered to the space station by the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft in July 2025. Astronaut Zhang Hongzhang gave a tour of what he calls a "healing corner" on the Tiangong, showing tomato plants thriving. According to the CMG report, its primary mission is to validate key technologies for efficient plant cultivation in microgravity.

(COVER: The Shantou 2026 Spring Festival Grand Fireworks Display in Shantou, Guangdong Province, on February 18, 2026. /CFP)