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Reviving Kuala Lumpur: can Malaysia modernise without pricing out its past?
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Reviving Kuala Lumpur: can Malaysia modernise without pricing out its past?

A yellowing receipt, framed behind glass near the entrance of Abdul Razak Gold House, records an address that no longer officially exists: “63 Ampang Street, Kuala Lumpur (Malaya)”. The shop’s modern glass frontage, polished counters and gleaming bullion cases give little away about its history. But step inside and that simple receipt serves as a small window onto pre-independence Malaysia. For si...

‘Green miracle’: US teacher returns to China after 26 years to find donation grew into forest
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‘Green miracle’: US teacher returns to China after 26 years to find donation grew into forest

A retired American teacher has reunited with a Chinese farmer 26 years after their initial encounter, returning to the once-barren sandy landscape transformed by his generous donation into a lush green environment. In 1999, Ronald Sakolsky, now 67, was teaching English in Luoyang, Henan province, central-eastern China, when he discovered Inner Mongolian farmer Yin Yuzhen’s efforts to combat desert...

Human-wildlife clashes on the rise in China’s Giant Panda National Park
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Human-wildlife clashes on the rise in China’s Giant Panda National Park

Friction between humans and wild animals at China’s Giant Panda National Park intensified significantly over the past decade as conservation efforts expanded, a new study has found. Farmers reported increasing losses between 2015 and 2024, stemming from damage to property and crops as well as attacks on humans and livestock. The team behind the study said the issue had become the most prominent ch...

Human-wild animal clashes on the rise in China’s Giant Panda National Park
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Human-wild animal clashes on the rise in China’s Giant Panda National Park

Friction between humans and wild animals at China’s Giant Panda National Park intensified significantly over the past decade as conservation efforts expanded, a new study has found. Farmers reported increasing losses between 2015 and 2024 stemming from damage to property and crops as well as attacks on humans and livestock. The team behind the study said the issue had become the most prominent cha...

JD.com’s US$1.3b expansion could test Hong Kong’s footfall-driven retail property model

JD.com’s US$1.3b expansion could test Hong Kong’s footfall-driven retail property model

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JD.com’s rapid expansion in Hong Kong could challenge the property model that has long made the city’s busiest streets and shopping centres its most valuable, analysts say. The Chinese e-commerce giant has invested more than HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in Hong Kong property over the past two years, building a network of stores, warehouses and other assets that analysts said could reduce the imp...

Former UN official says Hong Kong’s low fertility offers opportunity. Here’s how

Former UN official says Hong Kong’s low fertility offers opportunity. Here’s how

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Hong Kong’s low fertility rate is an opportunity rather than a challenge and gives the city a chance to become a global leader in building a child-friendly environment, a former UN resident coordinator in China has said. Siddharth Chatterjee, who held the role from 2021 until March this year, said Hong Kong could create a “pioneering blueprint” for others to follow if it could earn the status of a...

‘Chilling effect’: Japan’s whistle-blowers weigh high price of speaking out

‘Chilling effect’: Japan’s whistle-blowers weigh high price of speaking out

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Yutaka Kato* knew there would be risks when he reported suspected misconduct by his employer to Japanese authorities. What he did not expect, he said, was a 47.88 million yen (US$300,000) damages claim from that employer – the Japanese subsidiary of US-listed medical device manufacturer STAAR Surgical – along with the prospect of years in court and the uncertainty of whether he would ever return t...

North Korea’s defence minister dismissed in reshuffle of military leadership

North Korea’s defence minister dismissed in reshuffle of military leadership

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North Korea’s defence minister has been dismissed as part of a reshuffle of the country’s military leadership, state media reported Sunday. The “structural reorganisation plans” were decided during a meeting on Saturday led by Kim Jong-un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. No Kwang-chol was not only dismissed as defence minister but also demoted in the ruling party leadership to “first v...

Is the Irtysh River the choke-free Arctic shipping gateway that China needs?

Is the Irtysh River the choke-free Arctic shipping gateway that China needs?

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As conflicts around the world highlight the vulnerability of global shipping lanes, China and Russia are reportedly weighing the possibility of turning a vast river into an inland cargo route to the rest of the world. At the heart of this ambition is the 4,248km (2,640-mile) Irtysh River, which originates in China’s western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and runs through Kazakhstan before flowin...

Jason Arday’s death is not just a ‘woke Cambridge’ tragedy

Jason Arday’s death is not just a ‘woke Cambridge’ tragedy

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Three weeks ago, I watched with horror the car crash of Cambridge professor Jason Arday’s public unravelling. You know the story: allegations about plagiarism; then more accusations, headlines and people announcing they had always felt “something was off”. It was less an investigation than a very British public audit involving spreadsheets, screenshots and the enthusiasm normally reserved for catc...

Trump steps up stunts as US midterms loom

Trump steps up stunts as US midterms loom

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From trolling Canada about a lake to suddenly talking about Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump’s recent distractions speak louder than words. The former reality television star has long been known for his reliance upon a simple tactic: when you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation. But the 80-year-old’s recent stunts appear to be even more targeted than usual at wrestling the ...

Far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos deported after immigration arrest in US

Far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos deported after immigration arrest in US

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British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported back to the UK after his arrest by American immigration authorities, US officials said on Saturday. The US Department of Homeland Security said Yiannopoulos was returned to his home country on Friday after being accused of overstaying after entering the US legally in May 2019. An immigration judge had issued a final order of removal...

Nepal floods: rescuers send air pipe into tunnel with trapped workers

Nepal floods: rescuers send air pipe into tunnel with trapped workers

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Nepali army rescuers broke through to a hydropower tunnel on Saturday and began pumping air and sending a camera inside, raising hopes of reaching workers trapped since devastating floods struck the site three days earlier. Nepal’s government says more than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside tunnels at hydropower projects, with rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites....

Man held after laundry capsules dumped into pond, killing catfish and injuring turtles

Man held after laundry capsules dumped into pond, killing catfish and injuring turtles

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Hong Kong police have arrested a 42-year-old man after he allegedly dumped laundry capsules into a pond, killing a catfish and injuring 30 turtles in Ma On Shan, the South China Morning Post has learned. Police said on Saturday that officers were alerted on Wednesday by a security guard who found a large amount of foam in a pond at a residential estate on Kam Ying Road where turtles were kept. The...

Chinese coastguard has 0.3% chance of using weapons in disputed waters, war game suggests

Chinese coastguard has 0.3% chance of using weapons in disputed waters, war game suggests

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A Chinese coastguard ship is shielding a cluster of fishing boats when several small, fast vessels begin circling – sometimes darting closer, sometimes backing off. Are they just curious fishermen? Or are they probing for a weak spot, trying to lure the patrol ship into a trap? In the real world, a split-second decision could escalate a tense maritime stand-off into something far more dangerous. T...

Xi, Putin to meet in Bishkek for Power of Siberia 2 pipeline talks: Kremlin

Xi, Putin to meet in Bishkek for Power of Siberia 2 pipeline talks: Kremlin

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss the Power of Siberia 2 project in a meeting in Bishkek on Monday, according to the Kremlin. The meeting in Kyrgyzstan’s capital will be their second face-to-face talks this year, following Putin’s trip to Beijing shortly after a visit there by US President Donald Trump. “The issue will be discussed bilaterally,”...

Japan probes 39kg of bread dumped in national park

Japan probes 39kg of bread dumped in national park

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A total of 39kg (85 lbs) of bread was recently dumped along a roadside in a national park in western Japan, prompting police to investigate who discarded it and why. The loaves were left near crash barriers in Daisen-Oki National Park in Tottori Prefecture between August 14 and 20. The incident has prompted the spread of fake images and videos attempting to link the dumping to a sharp increase in ...

Scientists probe if herpes virus is killing sardines off South Africa

Scientists probe if herpes virus is killing sardines off South Africa

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Scientists in South Africa are investigating why masses of sardines have washed up dead or dying along parts of the country’s west and south coast – and if a herpes virus detected in the fish is responsible. The mass mortality of sardines this month has so far stumped the country’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, though scientists have come to at least one conclusion: it is ...

What Japan’s coming fighter jet deployment to India means for China

What Japan’s coming fighter jet deployment to India means for China

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Japan plans to deploy fighter jets in India for the first time next month, a decision experts say reflects Tokyo’s desire to strengthen security cooperation with “like-minded” countries in the Indo-Pacific region as it ramps up defence spending in response to China’s growing military power. According to a Japan Air Self-Defence Force announcement on Tuesday, Tokyo will conduct a joint training exe...

Hong Kong’s Diocesan Boys’ School to become first to offer 3 university pathways

Hong Kong’s Diocesan Boys’ School to become first to offer 3 university pathways

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Hong Kong’s elite Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) is set to offer the International Advanced Level curriculum from 2027, becoming the city’s first school to offer three university pathways if it secures the Education Bureau’s approval. Headmaster Ronnie Cheng Kay-yen made the announcement on Saturday at a Primary One admission talk on campus, after the school obtained approval from Cambridge Internati...

Soldiers’ mutiny rocks Niger capital, but junta says back in control

Soldiers’ mutiny rocks Niger capital, but junta says back in control

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Mutinying soldiers led armed clashes in Niger’s capital on Saturday, alarming residents, but the ruling junta said it had largely wrested back control after hours of heavy exchanges around some of its most sensitive sites. While the fighting had subsided later on Saturday, the rebel troops were said by a regional security source and an African diplomatic source to be holed up in an airbase near th...

Clashes in Niger after troops try to storm presidential palace

Clashes in Niger after troops try to storm presidential palace

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Clashes erupted in Niger’s capital on Saturday between the presidential guard and elements of the armed forces, after a night of heavy gunfire in parts of the city. Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta that has struggled to contain jihadist violence, which has blighted the west African country for around a decade. “There was an attempt by insurgents from the Nigerien armed forc...

China’s Middle East policy at a crossroads 6 months into US-Israeli war on Iran

China’s Middle East policy at a crossroads 6 months into US-Israeli war on Iran

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Gulf states are making a strategic pivot as the war in Iran drags on into its sixth month but observers warned that their shift towards self-reliant defence networks could test China’s “involvement without commitment” strategy in the region. The war has forced Gulf leaders to face the reality that neither the United States nor China is able to protect them from attacks by Iran. On Wednesday, the I...

Hong Kong school opens at new Tai Po campus after deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze

Hong Kong school opens at new Tai Po campus after deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze

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Nearly 600 pupils and their teachers at a Hong Kong primary school closed after the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze will be reunited at a newly renovated campus in Tai Po, ending months spent across two temporary sites. Tai Po Baptist Public School, formerly located near Wang Fuk Court, opened its new premises at Fu Shin Estate on Saturday, with pupils, teachers and parents expressing relief at finall...

China-Nepal floods: police officer filmed guiding people away from stricken border post

China-Nepal floods: police officer filmed guiding people away from stricken border post

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Video footage taken moments before a catastrophic mudslide hit a border post in Tibet shows how one police officer stationed there tried to guide civilians to safety. The clip, which shows the officer trying to direct people away from the police station at Gyirong Port, went viral online in China over the weekend. State broadcaster CCTV said the officer, whom it named as Huang Peng, also rushed in...

Driven by ‘deep love’: China family’s 3,500km drive for son’s university marks life milestone

Driven by ‘deep love’: China family’s 3,500km drive for son’s university marks life milestone

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A family embarked on a remarkable 3,500km journey from eastern China to the northwestern region of the country to help their son commence his university life, garnering significant attention online and receiving a wealth of good wishes. The boy graduated from high school in Zaozhuang, Shandong province, this summer before being accepted at Xinjiang Second Medical College in Karamay, a prominent ci...

Russian drone strike near Kyiv kills at least 37

Russian drone strike near Kyiv kills at least 37

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At least 37 people have died after a Russian drone struck a warehouse near Kyiv’s western suburbs overnight, sparking a huge fire and explosions, authorities said on Saturday. The warehouse appeared to have been storing “explosive objects”, Ukrainian prosecutors said, opening an investigation into criminal negligence. Officials did not give details about the nature of the facility. Both Russia and...

Russian drone strike near Kyiv kills at least 27

Russian drone strike near Kyiv kills at least 27

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At least 27 people have died after a Russian drone struck a warehouse near Kyiv’s western suburbs overnight, sparking a huge fire and explosions, authorities said on Saturday. The warehouse appeared to have been storing “explosive objects”, Ukrainian prosecutors said, opening an investigation into criminal negligence. Officials did not give details about the nature of the facility. Both Russia and...

Temasek backs Singapore Airlines’ Air India investment amid growing scrutiny

Temasek backs Singapore Airlines’ Air India investment amid growing scrutiny

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Singapore state investor Temasek, the ⁠majority shareholder of Singapore Airlines , on Saturday backed the airline’s investment in Air India, as scrutiny grows over its stake in the loss-making Indian carrier. Air India’s request for about US$1.5 billion in fresh equity from owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines was ‌first reported by Reuters this week. Singapore Airlines owns 25.1 per cent of I...