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Japan has voiced concern about the United States’ campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), exposing a diplomatic bind for Tokyo as it seeks to defend a tribunal it has long championed without provoking its most important security ally. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday that Japan “places great importance on the eradication and prevent...
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that arch foe Iran has freed an American citizen detained since December 2024 and allowed her to leave the country. “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” Trump posted on social media, adding: “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” Trump – who in recent days has ordered a resumption of strikes again...
Setting a timer to take a short break after every 25 minutes of study, compiling a “mistakes booklet” to learn from past errors and using artificial intelligence to boost English skills are among the strategies used by top scorers in this year’s university entrance exam in Hong Kong. However, some of the 24 high achievers of this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams said they would no...
A former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was sentenced to more than three years in prison for lying to federal investigators looking into whether he shared confidential data with Chinese intelligence operatives, the Justice Department said. John Harold Rogers, 64, was convicted at trial on February 3 of making false statements to investigators about sharing information on...
The United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday to curb its ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as US President Donald Trump warned he could widen attacks unless the Islamic republic returned to talks. US Central Command said the strikes began at 1900 GMT and targeted Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting the vital wat...
Washington is moving to strengthen its artificial intelligence posture towards China, with lawmakers advancing new export control bills and the Trump administration deepening cooperation with leading US AI firms as concerns grow that Beijing is rapidly closing the technological gap. A senior Anthropic executive said on Wednesday that the United States holds a six-to-nine-month lead in frontier AI ...
On July 12, a coalition of 14 nations – the United States, Philippines, Australia, Canada, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and seven European states including Germany, Italy and the Baltic nations – issued a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea ruling at The Hague in 2016. The document recycled familiar arguments, urging compliance with the ruling and framing it as a cornerst...
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening programme for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best”. The screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he said. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be tested. In ...
The United States’ nominee for director of national intelligence told lawmakers on Wednesday he could be “extremely helpful” in shaping economic strategy with China during a confirmation hearing that framed Beijing as a leading economic and geopolitical challenge. Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, appeared before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on his nomination,...
US President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, faced tense bipartisan questioning at a US Senate panel on Wednesday about the roll-out of the Epstein files and a settlement that gave the president sweeping tax immunity. Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, was pressed by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas about the Justice Department’s decision to settle Trum...
French lawmakers on Wednesday adopted a bill that will create a legal right to assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses, capping an intense ethical and political debate. The legislation will, under strict conditions, allow a person who requests it to receive a lethal substance. The substance could be self-administered or, if the person is physically unable to do so, administered by a d...
The European Union has accused China – along with Russia – of trying to “reshape the global order in line with their interests” and “fostering a return to a sphere-of-influence logic”, in an explosive new position paper that contains some of the bloc’s strongest ever official criticism of Beijing. The paper, which was adopted by the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Monday without any announcement, acc...
China’s global image has rebounded from its pandemic-era lows, with international views of both the country and President Xi Jinping improving as confidence in the United States has declined, according to a new Pew Research Centre survey. The survey, released on Wednesday, polled more than 45,000 people across 37 countries spanning every region of the world, including many advanced economies and e...
A man who threatened on social media in May to shoot Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage was arrested, London police said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over the security of politicians following the killing of Ann Widdecombe, a former member of parliament. The man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sending threatening communications to a member of parliament, the Metropolitan Police said. “I...
While a score of seven points out of a maximum of 42 in Hong Kong’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams might seem low to some, for non-verbal student Tam Chun-yu it is a massive accomplishment, achieved by typing his answers with just one finger. At the Hong Kong Red Cross John F Kennedy Centre, Tam, 20, was among candidates receiving their DSE results on Wednesday, securing level 2 passes...
Police in Vietnam said on Wednesday they had arrested three executives of a publishing house that released a book on Ho Chi Minh, the revered founder of the country’s Communist Party. The author of Stories with Thanh - A New Account of Light, former telecoms executive Nguyen Thanh Nam, was arrested on anti-state charges in early July, along with an influencer who promoted the book on his social me...
Five months and at least two ceasefires into the US-Israeli war on Iran, hostilities have intensified again, with US President Donald Trump reimposing a naval blockade on Iranian ports and American forces trading fresh strikes with Tehran. The renewed cycle is testing both Tehran’s resilience and Washington’s appetite for a prolonged conflict, prompting some analysts to draw uncomfortable parallel...
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US lawmakers push for fewer tax breaks to reduce reliance on China technology A growing number of US lawmakers see the tax code as a way to shift corporate America’s reliance on Chinese techno...
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US lawmakers push for fewer tax breaks to reduce reliance on China technology A growing number of US lawmakers see the tax code as a way to shift corporate America’s reliance on Chinese techno...
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has set up its first clinical trial centre outside Hong Kong, teaming up with mainland Chinese authorities to strengthen research collaboration and help develop the Greater Bay Area into an international hub for medical innovation. The Greater Bay Area Clinical Trial Centre, located at the Nansha branch of Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, was establishe...
A woman accused of splashing excrement onto a neighbour’s air conditioner and damaging their security camera in Hong Kong has been found guilty of criminal damage by throwing offensive matter onto private property. Suen Siu-fong, a 59-year-old housewife, was convicted of both charges at Eastern Court on Wednesday following a trial. The court heard that a security camera had been installed on a 15t...
For Manaal Khan, the gruelling journey of taking Hong Kong’s university entrance examination was not just an academic challenge but also a linguistic trial. Born in Pakistan and raised in Hong Kong, Khan kept going through her difficult days at secondary school by holding on to her dream of becoming a modern-day Sherlock Holmes by joining the police force. “As a kid, I loved reading Sherlock Holme...
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he was leaving the United Kingdom “in better shape than I found it” as he fielded questions, criticism and even a bit of praise from lawmakers in the House of Commons for the last time on Wednesday. Starmer, who leaves office next week, bid farewell to the boisterous weekly Prime Minister’s Questions sessions where he has traded barbs with opposition politicia...
Residents of Hong Kong’s blaze-ravaged Wang Fuk Court would still have died even if the housing estate’s fire alarms had been working during last year’s inferno, a contractor has suggested, prompting the judge overseeing a public inquiry into the disaster to question whether he was attempting to evade responsibility. Legal counsel for a director of fire service contractor China Status Development ...
Thai police said on Wednesday they had arrested the manager of a boxing camp for trafficking underage boys for sex, and were searching for a Norwegian also believed to have been involved. Police raided the day camp in Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok, on Tuesday and took 12 children into protection, the Central Investigation Bureau said in a statement. The 28-year-old manager has admitted cha...
In the high‑stakes space race between the United States and China, the decisive advantage could come down to a metal cap that few outside the industry have ever heard of: the propellant tank dome. An ellipsoidal bulkhead several metres wide but only millimetres thick, the dome must withstand extreme internal pressures, vibration and shock. The rounded, capsule-like end cap is also very difficult t...
A former law student has been jailed for nearly three years for taking part in a riot during the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong, after a judge overturned her acquittal and found her guilty based on “overwhelming” circumstantial evidence. Alice Tong Ka-yan, 27, was sentenced at the District Court on Wednesday to two years and 10 months’ imprisonment for rioting. Her lawyers had said in ...
Several top scorers in Hong Kong’s university entrance examinations overcame personal adversity to achieve their exceptional grades, with an almost entirely blind student vowing to become a legal advocate for the vulnerable and four others driven to study medicine by the trauma of childhood illnesses and witnessing friends suffer. Secondary Six students across the city received their results for t...
OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman has signalled that the company was prepared to slash the price of its latest artificial intelligence models, as competition intensifies with US rival Anthropic and a growing wave of cheaper, rapidly advancing Chinese alternatives. In a social media post on Tuesday, Altman noted that OpenAI’s flagship GPT-5.6 Sol was already “half the price” of Anthropic’s Claude F...
When Shabir Ahmed, a convicted leader in one of Britain’s grooming gang cases, was released from prison this month and allowed to stay in the country rather than being deported to Pakistan, the political fallout extended well beyond a single immigration dispute. The case has become a test for the ruling Labour party, which is under pressure both as the government responsible for deportation policy...
