Live headlines from trusted global sources. Click any story to open it on the original website.
China has tested a satellite engine with a record-breaking operating life, a key technology that could help propel the world’s largest communications, military and deep-space spacecraft into their intended orbits faster and more reliably. The upgraded engine, developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology in Xian, can produce 750 newtons of thrust, according to Chinese media rep...
Adli Hakimi knows the first obstacle in Johor’s state election is not the ballot box, but the Causeway. The 26-year-old nurse is among Johor’s workers based in the city state – often called “SGD fighters” online for earning stronger Singapore-dollar wages – who are weighing leave, shifts and border queues before polling day on July 11. For Malaysia, the challenge is keeping immigration glitches an...
Germany does not have to shy away from talking up its record on defence spending, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, when asked about US President Donald Trump calling Germany’s past efforts “ridiculous”. The issue of defence spending has loomed large as Nato leaders prepare to gather next week in Ankara, where Europeans aim to set aside strife with Trump over Iran and Greenland and show...
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday said Malaysia would maintain its legal pursuit of Jho Low even if the fugitive financier were to receive a US presidential pardon. Low, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, was charged in 2018 with conspiring to launder billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund and violating anti-bribery laws in Malaysia. He also reportedly used the stolen...
The mother of Siranudh “Psi” Scott, the 29-year-old scion whose childhood abuse accusations against his brother triggered public sympathy and revealed a rupture inside one of Thailand’s richest families, on Friday dropped her “ungrateful child’’ lawsuit against her younger son as she appealed for space to “heal’’ her family. Chiranuj Bhirombhakdi filed a lawsuit in February against Psi under a 190...
The mother of Siranudh “Psi” Scott, the 29-year-old scion whose childhood abuse accusations against his brother triggered public sympathy and revealed a rupture inside one of Thailand’s richest families, on Friday dropped her “ungrateful child’’ lawsuit against her younger son as she appealed for space to “heal’’ her family. Chiranuj Bhirombhakdi filed a lawsuit in February against Psi under a 190...
High-profile conservative commentator Tucker Carlson’s split with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party will jeopardise the party’s prospects in the US midterm elections and intensify the quarrel over its identity and direction, according to an official Chinese think tank. The former Fox News host has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the current administration, in particular...
There will be parades and speeches, fireworks and barbecues, and a healthy dose of patriotism. This Fourth of July, Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of their country’s independence from the British empire. Many remain unaware of when their continental republic became an empire of its own. Neither will many of them know that at the turn of the 20th century, the founding principle of the De...
Hong Kong is positioning itself as a middleman in the fast-growing global space economy, senior officials and experts have said, noting the city can turn its financial markets, common law system and dispute-resolution capabilities into a commercial advantage. At the 2026 Colloquium on International Law on Friday, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said Hong Kong’s “sharpest competitive edge”...
Chinese autonomous-driving startup Momenta drew massive subscription numbers for its HK$5.89 billion (US$751 million) initial public offering in Hong Kong, even as it competed against five other issuers launching their IPOs at the same time. The Suzhou-based company’s bookbuilding closed on Friday. Preliminary figures showed that it attracted nearly 210,000 subscription applications, with the publ...
Chinese companies are seeking more fresh university graduates with backgrounds in artificial intelligence this year because widespread use of the technology is making their businesses more efficient, according to a recruitment portal based in Beijing. In the first five months of this year, nearly four out of every 10 job postings targeting fresh graduates were AI-related, compared with nearly thre...
Chinese researchers are using “a huge amount” of government funding to buy personal items, including home appliances and skincare products, and claiming them as laboratory expenses, according to a recent paper. Two researchers at the People’s Public Security University of China in Beijing highlighted the issue in a study published in the Journal of Guizhou Police College. Their analysis of 70 audi...
Cybersecurity experts have called on authorities to impose fines on firms that suffer data breaches, after the personal information of more than 1 million people linked to a leading Hong Kong appliance distributor was maliciously encrypted. They made the comments on Friday, a day after the city’s privacy watchdog announced it had launched an investigation into the breach, which was initially repor...
Interpol on Friday named the suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia. It identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine, as the suspect in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest. Monaco authorities have not identified any of the three people wounded in Monday’s explosion at a residential building entrance but...
Hong Kong authorities have approved the city’s first three subdivided units to comply with official minimum standards, with the successful applicant urging landlords to seek professional help to avoid wasting time and money. Hayson Chan Hin-hay said the Housing Bureau had approved his three subdivided units in a flat in Sham Shui Po as “basic housing units” last week. Chan, chairman of the Hong Ko...
The head of a top UN security think tank has warned that the international community, along with industry, must pivot to pragmatic dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, as a major global regulatory convention remains unlikely in the short term. “Machine warfare is coming,” said Robin Geiss, director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (Unidir), during a lecture ...
A Hong Kong man has been found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of murdering his girlfriend after jurors accepted his claim that he may have mistakenly beaten her to death while trying to help her lose weight by keeping her awake overnight. A High Court jury on Friday ruled by a majority of 5:2 that Ng Ka-sing, 29, was not guilty of murdering his 30-year-old partner Yip Tsz-ching at their 700 ...
A Hong Kong man has been found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of murdering his girlfriend after jurors accepted his claim that he may have mistakenly beaten her to death while trying to help her lose weight by keeping her awake overnight. A High Court jury on Friday ruled by a majority of 5:2 that Ng Ka-sing, 29, was not guilty of murdering his 30-year-old partner Yip Tsz-ching at their 700 ...
A Hong Kong man has been found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of murdering his girlfriend after jurors accepted his claim that he may have mistakenly beaten her to death while trying to help her lose weight by keeping her awake overnight. A High Court jury on Friday ruled by a majority of 5:2 that Ng Ka-sing, 29, was not guilty of murdering his 30-year-old partner Yip Tsz-ching at their 700 ...
Chinese President Xi Jinping has promoted two generals, the first time he has done so in nearly a year. The announcement follows Beijing’s far-reaching anti-corruption probe targeting the military leadership. Zhang Shuguang, who was promoted from the rank of lieutenant general to full general, has also been named as the new head of the Central Military Commission’s Discipline Inspection Commission...
Chinese President Xi Jinping has promoted two generals, the first time he has done so in nearly a year. The announcement follows Beijing’s far-reaching anti-corruption probe targeting the military leadership. More to follow …
India’s decision to resume tourist visas for Bangladeshi nationals marks the clearest sign yet of a thaw in strained ties, but analysts say the deeper test will be whether trade links can be rebuilt while Dhaka courts Chinese investment near India’s sensitive eastern flank. India began accepting tourist visa applications from Bangladeshis on Sunday, nearly two years after services were suspended i...
China is a country that boasts daily naps despite its stressful work rhythm. In fact, such breaks are a traditional practice dating back thousands of years. According to a survey by the China Sleep Research Society published in March, 72 per cent of Chinese people like an afternoon nap lasting at least 30 minutes. The benefits of afternoon naps have been documented in China’s earliest medicine tex...
China’s Fujian aircraft carrier is likely to be the world’s first carrier equipped with an anti-torpedo torpedo (ATT) system, which would represent a world-leading hard-kill capability, a Chinese military magazine claims. Commissioned in November, the Fujian is the third carrier – and the first entirely designed in China – for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. One of its distinguishing feat...
China’s electric vehicle (EV) king BYD has leapfrogged once more over Tesla to become the world’s largest battery-powered car manufacturer, spurred by its surging overseas shipments, despite posting an 8.2 per cent year-on-year drop in deliveries. As BYD gained the upper hand in the race against the US carmaker, it is the latest signal that China’s prowess in EVs is increasingly recognised by cons...
Washington has recently approved a proposed US$22.3 million sale of additional Hellfire missiles to Singapore, with the US State Department declaring that the transfer and associated arms support “will not alter the basic military balance in the region”. While observers say the sale is a routine purchase by the city state for training and to replenish an advanced arsenal, America’s language on the...
A Hong Kong court has awarded more than HK$251,000 (US$32,000) to the family of a domestic helper who was dismissed by her employer in 2019 after being diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and later died. The years-long legal battle involving the late helper, Baby Jane Allas, came to an end on Friday when the District Court ordered her former employer, Jamil Bushra, to pay damages. Bushra had f...
A Hong Kong court has awarded more than HK$251,000 to the family of a domestic helper who was dismissed by her employer in 2019 after being diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and later died. The years-long legal battle involving the late helper, Baby Jane Allas, came to an end on Friday when the District Court ordered her former employer, Jamil Bushra, to pay damages. Bushra had fired Allas i...
Attacks on Chinese citizens and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa tend to increase in the years following a rise in Chinese investment, according to a new study by researchers at the School of Overseas Security and Protection at the Chinese People’s Police University. However, the authors stressed that the findings should not be interpreted as evidence that Chinese investment itself caused violence...
Expectant mothers in Hong Kong requiring government antenatal services will only need to visit public hospitals, rather than maternal and child health centres, under a change taking effect on Monday. Health authorities announced on Friday that antenatal services currently provided by maternal and child health centres, managed by the Department of Health, will be transferred to public hospitals und...
