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For the first time, the complete court records from the Tokyo Trial have been published in Chinese, offering the public in China a detailed look at Japanese war crimes, according to state media. The translation, which spans 40 volumes, took a team of hundreds more than a decade to produce. It filled “a critical gap in domestic historical records”, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday. The...
The dying wish of a 20-year-old Chinese food delivery rider, who lost his life while rescuing drowning strangers, moved many online and prompted his company to fulfil it. Jin Xiaowu, from southwestern China’s Guizhou province, died while saving a father and son on May 27. Jin and his colleague Wang Fangyang were walking along the river after finishing their delivery shifts when they suddenly heard...
Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. The authorities in Crimea on Friday declared an “emergency situation” in a bid to ease the fallout from increasing aerial attacks on the illegally annexed peninsula. “A decisio...
Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major night-time attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. The previ...
When Japan quietly deployed members of its elite airborne brigade for parachute drills in the Philippines’ northernmost province facing Taiwan earlier this month, the exercise was not vigorously publicised by officials on either side. The drills on Batan Island in the Philippines’ Batanes were part of the Kamandag countrywide mission, jointly hosted by Filipino and US Marine Corps until Wednesday....
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency and police have jointly arrested 19 people, including serving footballers and coaches, over illegal bookmaking, with one player accused of both fixing matches and handling illicit bets. Principal investigator Bill Ng Siu-kei of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Friday that the agency and police had busted a local syndicate run by indivi...
Only half of Malaysian women who were married or in a sexual relationship polled in a nationwide survey said they could refuse sex with their spouse or partner, with those who gave in saying they believed it was their marital duty or that they were guided by their faith. The survey, commissioned by Muslim women’s advocacy group SIS Forum and released on Thursday, polled 1,004 women above 18 years ...
Who would have imagined that just over 100 days could so change the world? The US-Israeli “war of choice” on Iran has fundamentally – perhaps, permanently – shifted the global balances of economic, military and political power, and not in America’s favour. Mix the direct impact of this gratuitous military conflict with the broader effects on global security, efforts to mitigate climate change, con...
Singapore’s cooling strategy, pioneered by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, has come in for praise in Europe, which is sweltering under a deadly heatwave. Even Tesla founder and world’s first trillionaire Elon Musk has weighed in, calling the late statesman “a genius”. Record-breaking temperatures in countries including Britain, France and Germany have killed dozens, overwhelmed hospitals and...
Hong Kong continued to draw US and European firms to expand their businesses in the city in the first half of this year, the latest data shows, adding new momentum to its superconnector role. A total of 413 companies either set up local entities or expanded their businesses in Hong Kong in the first six months of 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent, government investment promo...
A potential hi-tech upgrade to BeiDou-based rail monitoring systems could better protect and track containers on the transcontinental China-Europe railway express, according to the developers of a new mountable device. A team drawn from various state-owned railway enterprises said the device could overcome long-standing logistics challenges in real-time rail container tracking and improve security...
A South Korean court sentenced former first lady Kim Keon-hee, already serving time for corruption, to another seven years’ imprisonment on Friday in a jobs-for-gifts scandal. Kim, 53, was found guilty of accepting “high-value precious metals” in exchange for favours in personnel appointments, according to the live-streamed ruling. The court said she “unhesitatingly accepted valuables of a kind th...
A Hong Kong beautician has admitted tricking two women into forced labour and confinement in Southeast Asia by offering them free flights and accommodation and promising a lucrative reward for transporting 48 million baht (US$1.4 million) more than a year ago. Poon Sum-yi, 33, pleaded guilty at the District Court on Friday to a count of fraud for luring the two victims into travelling to Thailand,...
Malaysia is seeking compensation of 226 million euros (US$257 million) from a Norwegian defence firm after a deal to deliver a naval missile system was cancelled, despite the Southeast Asian country having paid about 95 per cent of the contract value. The claim comprised 129.86 million euros in direct losses, including payments already made by the government, and 96.26 million euros for additional...
Former Israeli defence chief Gadi Eisenkot is emerging as the main rival to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, months ahead of the nation’s parliamentary elections. Eisenkot’s new centrist party, Yashar! (Hebrew for “Straight!”), has rapidly been gaining popularity in opinion polls. It is currently second behind Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud. Israelis must elect a new parliament by Octobe...
Iran and the United States may have entered a temporary ceasefire, but uncertainty over the agreement continues to cast a shadow over the operations of Chinese businesses across the Gulf region. While the deal has raised hopes that business activity could gradually resume, many traders and investors remain reluctant to make long-term commitments. For Abbas Shi, a Chinese businessman who has been h...
A 50-year-old woman died and three other people were hospitalised after a fire in a Hong Kong flat on Friday that authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning power strip. Police said the blaze broke out at Valiant Court in Ho Man Tin at around 10.04am. Fire services were immediately deployed to the scene and the blaze in the 11th-floor flat was quickly put out. “A preliminary investigation sho...
A 50-year-old woman has died in the wake of a fire at a Hong Kong flat, with three others hospitalised. Police said the fire broke out at Valiant Court in Ho Man Tin at around 10.04am on Friday. Fire services were immediately deployed to the scene and the blaze was reportedly extinguished soon thereafter. The force said three women and a man were rescued from the building. They were rushed to Kwon...
China has issued the tech industry’s first code of conduct for smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence, following public outrage over videos taken by users covertly filming strangers with the increasingly popular devices. The voluntary code calls on smart eyewear manufacturers to adopt a “minimum data collection” approach, provide clear indicators when cameras or microphones are active, a...
Hong Kong authorities have officially extended the buy-back offer to the only block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze after more than three-quarters of households indicated their intention to sell their flats to the government. Owners of 78 per cent of the flats at the other seven blocks at the Tai Po estate have already signed letters of acceptance to sell their homes under the resettleme...
The administrator of Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court estate, which was destroyed in a deadly fire last November, has finally pledged to hold a long-awaited homeowners’ meeting in July after repeated delays. In a notice issued to the estate’s residents on Friday, Hop On Management Company said it had decided not to appeal against a ruling by the Lands Tribunal this month, which dismissed the company’s e...
Spurred by the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs), Chinese carmakers are consolidating their foothold in the global auto market, prompting international banks like Goldman Sachs to significantly raise their export forecasts. Buoyant overseas shipments have also effectively created a cushion against falling domestic deliveries and an expected overall sales decline for Chinese automotive g...
At a time of worsening global security, East Asia could eclipse a Europe “no longer worth emulating” and become the benchmark for peace and economic growth, according to a prominent Chinese political scientist. Yan Xuetong, honorary president of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said the widening rift between the United States and its European allies ...
A 19-year-old influencer in China has announced he has been admitted to top-tier Boston University, with tuition and living costs to be covered entirely by himself, as he has earned money through his online activities in recent years. Zhong Meimei, born Zhong Yusheng, shot to fame in May 2020 when he released his first batch of videos in which he mimicked female teachers at primary and middle scho...
A penthouse at CK Asset Holdings’ luxury residential project in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels has been sold via tender for HK$380.77 million (US$48.5 million), according to a statement from the flagship property developer of tycoon Li Ka-shing, underscoring the rebound in the city’s high-end residential segment. Unit 10 on the 20th floor of 21 Borrett Road in the upscale district in Central fetched HK$12...
Malaysia’s ruling Malay party was pulled into a sensitive palace row on the eve of Johor’s nomination day after a veteran figure quit Umno and accused the southern state’s royal household of influencing the timing of a snap election. The controversy lands at a difficult moment for the United Malays National Organisation, the Malay nationalist party that anchors Barisan Nasional (BN). It is trying ...
Hong Kong police have arrested a minibus driver for dangerous driving after his vehicle fatally hit a cyclist in North district. Police received a report of the incident in Ta Kwu Ling at 6.27am on Friday. Emergency personnel found the man unconscious at the scene, having sustained serious head injuries. He was taken to North District Hospital in Sheung Shui, where he was pronounced dead at 6.59am...
