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Zelensky seeks to ease US tensions as Trump accuses him of stalling peace
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Zelensky seeks to ease US tensions as Trump accuses him of stalling peace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with top US envoys Sunday to try to ease tensions, as Donald Trump accused his counterpart of not wanting to end the war with Russia. Zelensky spoke to US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as both Russia and Ukraine hit each other’s energy sites, with Moscow leaving thousands without power and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on St Pet...

Zelensky speaks to US envoys amid Trump spat after warning US not to side with Russia
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Zelensky speaks to US envoys amid Trump spat after warning US not to side with Russia

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the midst of his spat with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, saying “a lot depends on America” as he earlier warned Washington not to side with Moscow in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. The wartime leader spoke to the US officials as both Russia and Ukraine hit each other’s energy sites, with Moscow l...

DR Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak spreads to eighth province
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DR Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak spreads to eighth province

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to an eighth province in the country’s north, authorities said on Sunday. The Health Ministry has recorded two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi province, bordering Central African Republic. The ministry said both patients were men in their 20s living in the Wapinda health zone, which borders Bas-Uele province, where Ebola case...

Macron condemns ‘unbridled’ violence as France faces fresh street clashes
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Macron condemns ‘unbridled’ violence as France faces fresh street clashes

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday slammed the “unbridled” violence that erupted in cost-of-living demonstrations across the country, as police battled protesters and looters in new clashes in Paris. Nearly 2,400 people were arrested Saturday in unrest that represented some of the worst urban violence in France in years, with almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured, seven seriously, the ...

Paris police in new battles with protesters and looters

Paris police in new battles with protesters and looters

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French police battled protesters and looters for a second day Sunday as the country reeled from the violent chaos left by a day of cost-of-living demonstrations in which 2,000 people were arrested nationwide. Paris city workers had not finished clearing up the torched cars, smashed shopfronts and burnt debris from Saturday’s unrest when the new troubles started and political recriminations erupted...

Trump endorses ‘great warrior’ Netanyahu as tight Israeli election looms

Trump endorses ‘great warrior’ Netanyahu as tight Israeli election looms

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US President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu as the long-time Israeli prime minister struggles for an edge in next week’s parliamentary election. Trump praised Netanyahu as a “great warrior prime minister” and peace partner, crediting him with joining the United States in launching strikes on Iran in February. The conflict, in its seventh month, has disrupted energy mar...

Trump endorses ally Netanyahu in Israeli election, praising ‘great warrior prime minister’

Trump endorses ally Netanyahu in Israeli election, praising ‘great warrior prime minister’

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US President Donald Trump on ⁠Sunday endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu ⁠as the long-time Israeli prime minister struggles for an edge in next week’s parliamentary election. Trump praised Netanyahu as a “great warrior prime minister” and peace partner, crediting him with joining the United States in launching strikes on Iran in February. The conflict, in ‌its seventh month, has disrupted energy ...

Lifts at 74 more buildings serviced by Taizoom lack safety parts, taking total to 152

Lifts at 74 more buildings serviced by Taizoom lack safety parts, taking total to 152

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Hong Kong authorities have said lifts at 74 more private buildings installed by Taizoom Elevator are missing crucial door frame components, taking the total of affected properties to 152. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department provided the updated figures on Sunday night as citywide inspections of all lifts handled by Taizoom were carried out. The door frame components help protect lift...

Lithuanians take shelter, Nato jets scramble as suspected drone explodes

Lithuanians take shelter, Nato jets scramble as suspected drone explodes

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A suspected drone exploded over Lithuania ⁠after triggering an alert that forced residents in northern and central areas to seek shelter for an hour on Sunday morning, the president and other defence officials said. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said later it regretted the incident in Lithuania’s airspace, adding that it may have resulted from Russian ‌electronic warfare diverting drones off course. ...

Hong Kong to review Peak lighting installation after outcry over felled trees

Hong Kong to review Peak lighting installation after outcry over felled trees

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Hong Kong tourism authorities have pledged to review the roll-out of a lighting project along a trail on The Peak after mounting complaints that flowers and trees were chopped down to make way for the installations. But the Tourism Board defended the project, saying it had consulted local residents and sought advice from tree experts to minimise the impact on the surrounding environment. In a stat...

China urged to copy Pentagon’s hi-tech warfare project without US conflicts of interest

China urged to copy Pentagon’s hi-tech warfare project without US conflicts of interest

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China has been urged to learn from a Pentagon project to assess future warfare but warned to avoid the potential conflicts of interest and other shortcomings of the US defence review. Project Meridian, launched late last month, is designed to identify future battlefield requirements and prioritise investment, with a focus on areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, directed energ...

The AI promise was automation. The reality? Managing digital workers

The AI promise was automation. The reality? Managing digital workers

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When artificial intelligence agents first arrived, they came with a tantalising promise: autonomous “digital workers” that would finally free humans from corporate drudgery. As businesses across Asia are discovering, however, the reality is quite the opposite – more work, new friction and a whole new layer of management. When Xiao Mengjie, an AI product marketing manager at a Big Tech firm in Shan...

Elderly Hong Kong couple die in suspected suicide pact over Parkinson’s diagnosis

Elderly Hong Kong couple die in suspected suicide pact over Parkinson’s diagnosis

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Hong Kong police are investigating a suspected suicide pact after an elderly couple were found dead in a public housing flat on Sunday, following the woman’s Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Police received a report at 2.39pm on Sunday that a man and a woman had been found unconscious inside a flat at King Wing House in Shan King Estate in Tuen Mun. A tray of burnt charcoal was found at the scene. T...

Hurricane Trudy threatens Mexican coast with flooding, mudslides

Hurricane Trudy threatens Mexican coast with flooding, mudslides

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Hurricane Trudy lashed parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast with heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday as the US National Hurricane Centre warned of potentially life-threatening flooding and mudslides. A hurricane warning remained in effect from Manzanillo in Colima state to Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco. The latest NHC data showed the Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165kph) ...

Katie Zacharia and Mao Ning – a study in contrasts in US and China media strategies

Katie Zacharia and Mao Ning – a study in contrasts in US and China media strategies

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Katie Zacharia may have lasted just five days as the White House press secretary but still managed to set off a diplomatic incident with China. In an interview with a conservative commentator on Thursday, Zacharia referred to China as a place that “doesn’t even have proper toilets”. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning responded a day later with a smile and a brief, pointed invitation. “W...

Why Plato-to-Nato Western myth is being resurrected

Why Plato-to-Nato Western myth is being resurrected

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Standing before the Acropolis in Athens earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the West’s story “the greatest story ever known to man”. But didn’t Hollywood tell us the greatest story ever told was that of Jesus of Nazareth? The decisions of the coming decade, Rubio said, “will determine whether the West maintains its place at the head of the world or resigns itself to a futu...

Pope Leo pledges return to duties following lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo pledges return to duties following lung cancer surgery

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Pope Leo pledged on Sunday to slowly resume his usual activities as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics as he greeted crowds in St. Peter’s Square during his first public event since undergoing surgery for lung cancer five days ago. The 71-year-old pontiff had an ‌operation on Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, fuelling speculation about how his illness might change hi...

How a hospital ship helps buoy China’s strategic mission in Africa

How a hospital ship helps buoy China’s strategic mission in Africa

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By the time the Chinese navy hospital ship had docked in the Guinean capital Conakry earlier this month, patients were already queuing for free consultations. The queues in front of the Auspicious Ark were so long that some people were told to come back the next day, according to Guinean media reports. The ship, operated by the PLA Navy, offers a range of medical services wherever it stops, includ...

Second-hand smartphone traders eye Hong Kong as springboard for global exports

Second-hand smartphone traders eye Hong Kong as springboard for global exports

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A pavilion dedicated to second-hand smartphones has made its debut at a Hong Kong trade show now under way, drawing international recycling platforms, refurbishers and automated kiosk operators hoping to use the city as a springboard to export used devices to other markets. The inaugural Global Mobile Exchange Pavilion, co-hosted by the Hong Kong International Communications Electronic Chamber (HK...

5 dogs found dead near San Tin fish ponds in suspected poisoning case

5 dogs found dead near San Tin fish ponds in suspected poisoning case

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Hong Kong police have launched an animal cruelty investigation after five dogs were found dead near fish ponds in the northern New Territories, with sources saying the animals may have been poisoned. The force received a report on Sunday morning from a passer-by who spotted four dog carcasses at a fish pond in San Tin, near Mai Po, and suspected the animals had been mistreated. When officers arriv...

Saudi closes Riyadh skyscraper as chopper pilots killed near Yemen

Saudi closes Riyadh skyscraper as chopper pilots killed near Yemen

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Riyadh’s Kingdom Centre skyscraper ordered remote working for office tenants on Sunday following repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi-led coalition said two pilots were killed in a crash near the Yemen border. The imposing, 99-storey landmark announced “mandatory” remote working until further notice. No reason was given for the order, but it comes a week after 13 people were kille...

Hong Kong excels at medical research. So what is holding it back?

Hong Kong excels at medical research. So what is holding it back?

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In the first of a four-part Health Matters wellness series on frontier medicine in Hong Kong, Elizabeth Cheung looks into how the city can turn world-class research into real-world treatments and what it needs to become a global biomedical innovation hub. Raymond Tong Kai-yu spent a decade overcoming challenges in cost and production to develop a device that could change lives: a robotic hand that...

Japan readies Martian moon mission to uncover origins of life

Japan readies Martian moon mission to uncover origins of life

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Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars’s moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. The uncrewed Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a collaboration with US and European space agencies as well as numerous universities and tech companies, could also help lay the gro...

20 restaurants prosecuted for allowing dogs without permits since scheme launched

20 restaurants prosecuted for allowing dogs without permits since scheme launched

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Hong Kong authorities have prosecuted 20 restaurants for unlawfully allowing dogs onto their premises since the city’s dog-friendly dining scheme launched in July. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said on Sunday that seven people had also been prosecuted for bringing dogs into eateries without permission, while four others were prosecuted for failing to keep their pets securely leashe...

Hong Kong’s primary residential market sees wave of launches, successful sales

Hong Kong’s primary residential market sees wave of launches, successful sales

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Hong Kong homebuyers are poised to see new residential launches in the coming days and weeks following a sell-out weekend of more than 360 flats in two major projects in the city. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), one of Hong Kong’s major developers and landlords, was set to hold a second round of sales for Sierra Sea Phase 2C(2) in Shap Sze Heung, which is between Sai Kung and Ma On Shan, with 152 ...

Why stealing pumpkins for newlyweds is a blessing in ancient Chinese tradition

Why stealing pumpkins for newlyweds is a blessing in ancient Chinese tradition

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In ancient China, welcoming autumn could involve stealing pumpkins, sitting on giant hanging scales and eating extra meat – rituals reflecting how people connected seasonal change with fertility, health and good fortune. Historical records show that during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), groups of young people would gather on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival to sneak into fields and take pumpkin...

Qian Jiang, former Johns Hopkins’ eye institute expert, joins hospital in China

Qian Jiang, former Johns Hopkins’ eye institute expert, joins hospital in China

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Professor Qian Jiang, a senior eye expert at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, has moved back to China full time to pursue research on eye transplants. For more than two decades, Qian built and ran the genetic data hub at Johns Hopkins’ renowned Wilmer Eye Institute. He was welcomed at a ceremony on October 5 at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, part of Zhejiang University, the h...

Rokid launches ‘no man’s land’ retail experience with Hong Kong flagship store opening

Rokid launches ‘no man’s land’ retail experience with Hong Kong flagship store opening

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When shoppers step into Rokid’s brand new flagship store in Hong Kong, they are greeted not by eager sales associates, but by glowing monitor screens and a robotic system waiting at the exit. In what the Chinese augmented reality (AR) gadget pioneer called an experiment in “no man’s land” retail, customers navigate the entire journey independently: testing artificial intelligence smart glasses, ma...

Huanggang Port swarmed by holiday rush with reports of 2-hour waits

Huanggang Port swarmed by holiday rush with reports of 2-hour waits

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Massive holiday crowds swamped the revamped Huanggang Port on Sunday during its first real test over the festival long weekend, with some travellers reporting two-hour waits. Outbound passenger traffic was “exceptionally heavy” between 10am and 2pm, with more than 30,000 departures, according to the Immigration Department. The surge prompted officers to open all inspection counters and implement a...