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The long-awaited initial public offering of Unitree Robotics, which values the Hangzhou-based firm at 60.99 billion yuan (US$9 billion), is set to serve as a valuation benchmark for China’s booming embodied-AI sector, buoyed by retail investor excitement and high-profile AI backers like DeepSeek. Widely billed as “mainland China’s first humanoid stock”, Unitree has priced its IPO on Shanghai’s Sta...
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China hits back at US with barrage of sanctions, drone industry curbs China has hit back against a round of US sanctions with a barrag...
A Malaysian court on Friday deferred charges against former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who could not attend his hearing in a multimillion-dollar corruption investigation after being admitted to hospital for a heart condition. Ismail Sabri, 66, has faced corruption accusations following the arrests of a senior aide and several others last February over alleged abuse of power and money laun...
China is expanding its role in the fight against HIV/Aids in Africa by funding new projects and backing local medicine manufacturing as part of its signature health initiative, the Health Silk Road. Beijing’s larger presence comes as traditional Western aid wanes following the closure of the US Agency for International Development and sweeping cuts to the World Health Organization and the Presiden...
At least five people were killed at a school near Thailand’s capital Bangkok on Friday morning after a student went on a gun rampage, with the tragedy shocking the nation and reopening questions over access to firearms. The 14-year-old suspect had killed his grandparents before opening fire at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, about an hour outside the capital, and then took his own life, officials ...
Seven people were killed at a Thai school near Bangkok on Friday morning after a student gunman went on a rampage, police said. The suspect also killed his grandparents before opening fire at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, around an hour outside the kingdom’s capital, in a mass shooting that has stunned the country and reopened questions over access to guns. “There are reports of seven deaths – t...
Seven people, both teachers and pupils, were killed at a Thai school near Bangkok on Friday morning after a student gunman went on a rampage, police said, in the country’s latest mass shooting. The attack occurred at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, around an hour outside the Thai capital. “There are reports of seven deaths – three teachers, three students, and one perpetrator – while 15 wounded ha...
Four people, including teachers and students, were killed in a school shooting in Thailand on Friday, Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said. The minister did not specify whether the four dead included the gunman, who police said had killed himself. The incident took place at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok. Pol...
At least one teacher was killed and four other people injured by a student who opened fire at a school in Thailand on Friday before killing himself, authorities said. Lt. Col. Dechrapee Kongdee Nonthaburi Provincial Police Commander confirmed the casualties and said the suspected gunman had committed suicide. Among those injured were one teacher and three students, he said. The incident took pla...
At least 10 students were wounded in a school shooting in a province just north of the Thai capital Bangkok on Friday, local media reported. “A shooting has occurred at a well-known high school in Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province. Initial reports indicate 10-15 people have been injured,” local broadcaster Thai PBS said. Police identified the perpetrator as a student. There were no further...
Temperatures in some parts of Hong Kong could hit 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) or above over the coming weekend under the influence of Tropical Cyclone Dolphin, according to the city’s forecaster, which warned residents to take precautions against heatstroke. The Hong Kong Observatory said weak winds would linger over the city on Friday, with hot weather persisting over the next few days and...
Temperatures in some parts of Hong Kong could hit 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) or above over the coming weekend under the influence of Tropical Cyclone Dolphin, according to the city’s forecaster, which warned residents to take precautions against heatstroke. The Hong Kong Observatory said weak winds would linger over the city on Friday, with hot weather persisting over the next few days and...
China’s central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are consolidating scattered overseas accounts into unified treasury hubs, with Hong Kong emerging as the preferred base amid a broader crackdown on outflows of state cash. Decades of overseas expansion had seen many SOEs build up assets in multiple jurisdictions, leaving cash management fragmented and making it harder for regulators and company headqu...
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years. The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and...
The Philippines is reopening Metro Manila to new outsourcing hubs as it tries to defend its place in the global services market and win more complex work from multinational companies. Officials, industry executives and property analysts say the move could help the country compete for higher-value offshore functions – from software engineering and finance to healthcare documentation, data work and ...
Professor Wang Gungwu is regarded internationally as an authority on Chinese history. The 95-year-old is best known for his explorations of Chinese history in the long view, and for his writings on the Chinese diaspora. He has been a professor at the National University of Singapore since 2007 and emeritus professor at the Australian National University since 1988. He was vice-chancellor of the Un...
A man in central China has gone viral for a series of “second-hand brat recycling” videos that are splitting public opinion, with some praising them as vital educational tools and others warning that they cause childhood trauma. Yan Zhengjun, known by the nickname “Uncle A Jun,” hails from Henan province and has amassed 1.6 million followers on a popular platform. Since 2021, Yan has created hundr...
A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state’s claims that the social media giant created a “public nuisance” and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay US$375 million in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other ...
Germans have emerged as some of Europe’s most hawkish voters on China, more likely to consider Beijing as a rival or an adversary than in any other major EU country, a new survey has shown. Published amid a bout of soul-searching in Berlin over whether to back a tougher approach towards China on trade, the findings suggest that the country’s citizens might not be opposed to such a shift. A combine...
From wealth and waterways to manufacturing, the Greater Bay Area possesses the essential ingredients to become an international yacht hub, with the integrated economic and business zone having more to offer than many other regions, according to an industry veteran. Luxury vessels could help unlock demand for the economy, and with its manifold strengths, Hong Kong could make a splash and turn the b...
When Massive Attack covered Seo Taiji & Boys’ “Regret of the Times” at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on August 1, the British band framed it as a tribute to a song that had once defied authoritarian control. Now, a South Korean city councillor wants to use a government audit to investigate the band over the performance, a move critics say risks reviving the very dynamic the song was written to r...
No longer confined to disputed islands or historical memory, the rivalry between Beijing and Tokyo has evolved into a fight for the global microphone, as both countries try to define each other’s international identity. Amid an escalating diplomatic crisis, China is intensifying its rhetoric against what it calls Japan’s “new militarism”, using World War II-era history to rally regional and global...
At just 18, Hong Kong tech enthusiasts Rexan Wong Chak-chi and Ken Mochizuki are both rushing to deliver their business ideas. However, their choices of launch pad could not be further apart. While Wong is eyeing Silicon Valley in the United States for better support, Mochizuki is keen to stay in the city and contribute to the local community. Their contrasting approaches highlight Hong Kong’s adv...
Chae Young-sun, a 69-year-old retired government employee living in the South Korean city of Gwangju, has stopped taking daily walks since a searing heatwave began gripping most parts of the country more than a month ago. “I’m worried about my health because it’s simply too hot to go for a walk,” he said. “Yesterday afternoon, I finally summoned the courage to take a short walk around my neighbour...
Gold prices have “explosive” upside potential, according to analysts, boding well for Hong Kong’s ambitions as a trading hub as Asian central banks continue to have a voracious appetite for stockpiling bullion. Supporting the outlook, Beijing – which has added to its gold reserve for 20 straight months – wants to better connect the Shanghai Gold Exchange to Hong Kong, and the South Korean central ...
Iran will seek to bar US and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they’re allowed to sail through it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway. The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy flows that have been throttled since the US and ...
Iran will seek to bar US and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they are allowed to use it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway. The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy flows that have been throttled since the US and Israel a...
A US woman from the Atlanta area is alleging that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labelling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her lawyers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly...
The United States has announced new tariffs and price floors on polysilicon and related products, targeting China’s dominance in key materials used in solar panels and semiconductor manufacturing. In a proclamation signed on Thursday, US President Donald Trump imposed a 15 per cent tariff, which will take effect after 120 days, and established a series of price floors to protect domestic manufactu...
US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday seeking to narrow birthright citizenship and intensify a crackdown on “birth tourism”, making a new attempt to restrict automatic citizenship after his original policy was rejected by the Supreme Court. Trump announced the measures unexpectedly during a White House event, describing the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling as “very unfort...
