In a two-part special, 101 East explores Asia’s role in the booming multimillion-dollar dinosaur fossil trade.
The global demand for dinosaur fossils is booming, with increasing interest from wealthy collectors across Asia. In 2024, a Stegosaurus skeleton was sold at an auction in New York for a record $44.6m.
Fossil hunters are raking in profits, while Asian buyers bond over their collections and see fossils as a way to educate the next generation about history.
However, some academics say the commercial fossil trade is unethical and harmful to science.
Zhang Anda won a tense deciding frame on the black to beat Zhou Yuelong and reach the World Grand Prix final in Hong Kong.
Zhang came out on top in the first of two all-Chinese semi-finals, winning a scrappy final frame to beat Zhou 6-5.
He will play either world champion Zhao Xintong or Xiao Guodong in Sunday’s final.
World number 23 Zhang had to battle hard to make it past his less experienced countryman to reach his fourth ranking final.
Zhou, who beat England’s Ali Carter in a decider to reach the last four, was well placed to win the final frame but ran out of position on the blue when he looked set to clear up for victory.
Zhang scored two centuries – 102 and 121 – and three breaks of more than 50 as he came from behind three times to edge into a 5-4 lead.
Zhou responded with a break of 82 to force the decider but his hunt for an elusive maiden ranking title continues.
Vice President Kassim Shettima on Saturday arrived in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to condole with the government and people of the state over Tuesday’s attack on the Woro community in Kaiama Local Government.
READ ALSO: UN, US Condemn Kwara Attack As Türkiye Vows Military Support
Shettima’s aircraft landed at the General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport at about 10:30 in the morning.
Accompanying the vice president were the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, Senator Ali Ndume, and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
Shettima was received at the airport by the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Salihu; and the Senator representing Kwara North Senatorial District, Sadiq Umar.
Others were the member representing Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Mukhtar Sagaya; security commanders, some members of the state legislative and executive councils, and local government chairmen.
Others were the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Sunday Fagbemi and other party executive members.
Gunmen killed dozens of people, burned shops and a traditional ruler’s home, and wounded people fled into the bushes after the late Tuesday attack.
The refusal of the villagers to be indoctrinated by an extremist group, Mahmuda, was said to have led to indiscriminate shooting, as two vehicles belonging to the village head were used by the bandits to transport many villagers who were abducted.
The attack on Woro Village in Kwara State came after the military recently carried out operations in the area against what it called “terrorist elements”.
The gunmen also wounded people fled into the bushes after the late Tuesday attack.
Last month, the military said it had launched “sustained coordinated offensive operations against terrorist elements” in Kwara State.
“Troops also stormed remote camps hitherto inaccessible to security forces where several abandoned camps and logistics enablers were destroyed, significantly degrading the terrorists,” the military said in a January 30 statement.
In response to the latest security woes, Kwara State imposed curfews in certain areas and closed schools for several weeks before ordering them to reopen on Monday.
Already, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has visited the community.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says his side’s humbling defeat by France on Thursday will be “for nothing” if they do not get a response against Italy next weekend.
Ireland were beaten 36-14 at the Stade de France to begin their 2026 Six Nations campaign in a game when Farrell was without several regular starters through injury.
The loss, however, was Ireland’s fourth defeat by double-digits in the past 12 months and the side have now dropped to fifth in the world rankings, their lowest position since March 2022.
“I said during the week that whatever happens it has to stand to us because it’s another experience for a different enough group, with all the injuries,” said Farrell.
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Despite Ireland’s struggles against the game’s biggest sides – they have lost seven of their past nine against France, South Africa, New Zealand and England – they have not been beaten by anyone other than that quartet since February 2021.
The side will, therefore, be expected to get back on track against Italy in Dublin on 14 February, but Farrell says whatever the result there needs to be a “response” to the France performance back at the Aviva Stadium.
“I think it was going to be challenging anyway,” he said.
“Italy are not the Italy of old. I think we all realise that. I think they’re a good team.
Ireland v Italy
2026 Six Nations
Saturday, 14 February, 14:10 GMT
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Thanks to their unusual Thursday start to the campaign, Ireland will have nine days to prepare for the visit of the Azzurri.
While the injury count was high coming into the tournament, Farrell felt his side came through their opener relatively unscathed despite “wounded pride, bangs and bruises”, but a fierce selection debate can still be expected.
Farrell rolled the dice to an extent against Les Bleus, dropping James Lowe in favour of Jacob Stockdale and giving Cian Prendergast an opportunity to start in the back row.
Given the nature of the result and the fact that those coming off the bench lifted the performance, admittedly with result already decided, there will be calls for even greater change, but Farrell says he will look at the “in-depth reality” of the game before making decisions.
“It’s obviously at the forefront of our mind, selection and how we get the best response for that,” he added.
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Richard Winton
BBC Sport at Cortina Curling Stadium
Team GB’s mixed doubles curlers moved to the brink of the Winter Olympics semi-finals with three matches still to play, as a statement victory over heavyweights Canada maintained their 100% record.
US honorary coach, hype man and rapper Snoop Dogg was not in the house on Saturday, but Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds made their own headlines, roaring into a 5-1 lead after just three ends before closing out a 7-5 triumph.
The sense is six wins should be enough for a place in the last four and the British pair have already hit that mark to sit top of the round-robin standings.
Three points in the opening end set the tone – and sent a cascade of noise rolling down from the wooden bleachers in the quirky Cortina Curling Stadium – and a series of judicious shots ensured the Scots kept their opponents at arms length.
The GB pair led 5-2 at the halfway interval, before two more fabulous closing throws by Dodds left it at 7-3 with two ends remaining.
Canada were done at that stage, and looked poised to concede as Dodds lined up a final stone to take a point in the seventh. But a rare overthrow instead gifted them two and extended the contest.
Lahore, Pakistan – As funerals were held on Saturday for more than 30 people killed in a suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad, analysts warned the attack could be part of a broader attempt to inflame sectarian tensions in the country.
A suicide bomber struck the Khadija Tul Kubra Mosque, a Shia place of worship, in the Tarlai Kalan area of southeastern Islamabad during Friday prayers.
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In a statement, the Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospitals after rescue teams reached the site.
Hours later, a splinter faction of the ISIL (ISIS) group in Pakistan claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel, releasing an image it said showed the attacker holding a gun, his face covered and eyes blurred.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said mosque security guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fire before detonating explosives among worshippers. He alleged the attacker had been travelling to and from Afghanistan.
Security officials on Saturday told Al Jazeera that several key arrests had been made, including close family members of the suicide bomber in Peshawar and Karachi. They did not clarify whether there was evidence of their involvement in the plot.
Capital under fire?
Islamabad had seen a relative lull in violence in past years, but things have changed in recent months. The bombing marked the second major attack in the federal capital since a suicide blast targeted a district court in November last year.
Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based analyst on conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said ISIL’s Pakistan branch, referred to as ISPP, claimed responsibility for what appears to be its deadliest operation in the country since its formation in May 2019.
“Since its formation, ISPP has carried out approximately 100 attacks, more than two-thirds of which occurred in Balochistan. These attacks include three suicide bombings targeting Afghan Taliban members, police, and security forces in Balochistan,” Sayed, founder of the Oxus Watch research platform, told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan has witnessed a steady rise in violence from fighters over the past three years. Data released by the Pak Institute of Peace Studies for 2025 recorded 699 attacks nationwide, a 34 percent increase compared with the previous year.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of United States forces, of providing a haven to armed groups that launch attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan soil.
The Afghan Taliban condemned Friday’s mosque bombing and have consistently denied sheltering anti-Pakistan fighters.
In October, this very issue ignited the deadliest border clashes between the two sides in years, which killed dozens of people and led to evacuations on both sides.
A United Nations report last year stated that the Afghan Taliban provides support to the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, which has carried out multiple attacks across Pakistan.
The report also said the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has ties with both the TTP and ISIL’s affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP), indicating a convergence of groups with distinct but intersecting agendas.
Just days ago, Pakistan’s military concluded a weeklong security operation in the restive southwestern Balochistan province, claiming the deaths of 216 fighters in targeted offensives.
A military statement on Thursday said it followed the province-wide attacks by the separatist BLA carried out to “destabilise the peace of Balochistan”.
Fahad Nabeel, who heads the Islamabad-based consultancy Geopolitical Insights, said Pakistan is likely to maintain its hardened stance towards Kabul, citing what he described as Afghanistan’s failure to act against anti-Pakistan fighter groups.
He added that officials would probably share preliminary findings of the investigation and point to a possible Afghan link.
“The upward trajectory of terrorist attacks witnessed last year is expected to continue this year. Serious efforts need to be made to identify networks of facilitators based in and around major urban centres, who are facilitating militant groups to carry out terrorist attacks,” Nabeel told Al Jazeera.
Sectarian fault lines
Manzar Zaidi, a Lahore-based security analyst, cautioned against equating the latest bombing with the district court attack last year.
Mourners offer funeral prayers as they stand around the coffin of a Shia Muslim, a day after a suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad on February 7, 2026 [AFP]
“The last year’s attack was essentially a target on a state institution, whereas this one was plainly sectarian in nature, something that has certainly gone done in the recent times, and that is why I will urge caution against a knee-jerk reaction to conflate the two incidents,” he told Al Jazeera.
Shia make up more than 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of about 250 million. The country has experienced periodic bouts of sectarian violence, particularly in Kurram district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
Regional tensions have added to domestic anxieties.
Zaidi said armed groups in the region backed by Iran remain alert amid “the simmering geopolitical tensions”.
“For Pakistan, it really has to keep a close eye on how things develop in Kurram region, where things can get out of control and there could be a fallout. The region currently has an uneasy peace; that can easily be instabilised,” he said.
Kurram, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan, has a roughly equal Sunni and Shia population. It has long been a flashpoint for sectarian clashes and witnessed prolonged fighting last year.
Nabeel said a timely conclusion to the investigation could shape the government’s response and help prevent the attack from becoming a trigger for wider sectarian unrest.
“However, the possibility of low-intensity sectarian targeting in different parts of the country is likely,” he warned.
Sayed added that an examination of Pakistani nationals who joined ISIL and affiliated groups shows that many came from anti-Shia Sunni armed organisations.
