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Hong Kong’s police and anti-corruption agency have charged seven individuals and two companies with 25 offences, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice, and tax evasion in connection with the city’s most deadly blaze in recent history. The defendants appeared at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday to face charges brought by p...
China’s military mouthpiece has highlighted the “dangers of AI sycophancy” – where artificial intelligence systems alter the facts to match user biases – and called for action to prevent this from harming People’s Liberation Army operations. An article in PLA Daily on Tuesday said the tendency for AI models to cater to user preferences – even endorsing blatant errors over objective facts – posed a...
China’s motorcycle industry legend Zhang Xue has invited a 31-year-old cancer-stricken fan to an overseas motorsport competition after learning about the man’s bleak prognosis. Zhang, who was little known to most of the public last year, rose to international fame months ago for achieving an unprecedented victory for the country in a world-class race. The turning point was in March when French rid...
China is launching a nationwide training programme to help humanoid robots move from dance performances and marathon races into factories, warehouses and hospitals, as Beijing steps up efforts to commercialise the technology. The goal is to accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots and embodied AI in real-world production and service environments, giving local governments and state-owned enterp...
Hong Kong has recorded a surge in Mpox cases linked to a gay-friendly sauna and fitness club in Mong Kok, prompting health authorities to launch a targeted vaccination outreach programme for high-risk groups. The Centre for Health Protection has contacted more than 300 people who visited the venue since May for medical surveillance and urged anyone who visited during that period to call its dedica...
Thousands of Iranians in the southern port town of Sirik have lost access to drinking water after US strikes hit two reservoirs in the area, Iranian state media said on Wednesday. The United States carried out strikes on the southern cities of Jask and Sirik and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, after what Washington said was Iran’s downing of a US Army Apache helicopter over Gulf waters. T...
China’s factory gate prices rose by the most since 2022, surpassing expectations, as higher oil costs stemming from the war in Iran help manufacturers escape years of deflation. The producer price index rose by 3.9 per cent from a year earlier in May, more than the 3.5 per cent forecast of economists surveyed by Wind. Consumer prices rose by 1.2 per cent, the same as in April and below the 1.4 per...
Mainland Chinese maritime authorities detected what appear to be Japanese surveillance aircraft southeast of Taiwan on Monday as Beijing stepped up patrols around the waters. Two fixed-wing aircraft appeared to belong to the Japan Coast Guard and were spotted during a mainland Chinese maritime task force patrol southeast of Taiwan, according to a video published on Tuesday by Yuyuan Tantian, a soc...
Mainland Chinese maritime authorities detected what analysts believed to be Japanese surveillance aircraft southeast of Taiwan on Monday, after Beijing bolstered patrols around the waters following border talks between Japan and the Philippines. Beijing’s maritime law enforcement twice detected what appeared to be fixed-wing aircraft belonging to the Japan Coast Guard during its patrol southeast o...
Prabowo Subianto has brought one of Indonesia’s most prominent labour leaders into his administration, giving organised labour a voice inside the presidential palace while also fuelling concerns that the country’s unions are being pulled away from street-level activism. Said Iqbal, former president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI), defended his appointment as special adviser on l...
Hong Kong has proposed doubling the size of a digital technology hub in its Northern Metropolis megaproject and allowing landmark towers of up to about 250 metres (820 feet) tall, sparking concerns among environmentalists about risks to migratory birds. The revised proposal for Lau Fau Shan, to be discussed by the Yuen Long District Council’s town planning and development committee on Thursday, wo...
Hong Kong has proposed doubling the size of a digital technology hub in its Northern Metropolis megaproject and allowing landmark towers of up to 250 metres (820 feet) tall, sparking concerns among environmentalists about risks to migratory birds. The revised proposal for Lau Fau Shan, to be discussed by the Yuen Long District Council’s town planning and development committee on Thursday, would ex...
Hong Kong authorities have proposed doubling the size of a planned digital technology hub in Lau Fau Shan under the city’s Northern Metropolis megaproject, while landmark buildings would be permitted to reach up to about 250 metres (820 feet) in height under the initiative. The amended proposal, which will be discussed by the Yuen Long District Council’s town planning and development committee on ...
Multiple attackers killed 12 people and wounded at least nine in a late-night mass shooting in Johannesburg, police said Wednesday, the latest in such attacks that have shaken the South African city. Police said they believe more than 10 suspects were driven in a minibus to an informal settlement in the Cleveland suburb of Johannesburg late on Tuesday night and once there, opened fire on people. S...
The European Commission has declared its trade and economic relationship with China “unsustainable”, pointing to a daily trade deficit of €1 billion (US$1.16 billion) and Chinese manufacturing overcapacity that puts millions of jobs across various sectors at risk. However, a clear-eyed analysis reveals this premise to be entirely flawed. The narrative spun by Brussels is a desperate attempt to wea...
A Hong Kong co-led global study has found that a targeted therapy can keep more than half of advanced lung cancer patients alive without disease progression for at least seven years, marking a step towards turning the deadly illness into a chronic condition. Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Wednesday released the findings of their study, which looked into the efficacy of the...
Four Indonesian soldiers found guilty of an acid attack that left an activist blind in one eye were sentenced on Wednesday to up to three years in prison by a military court, with a judge calling their actions “arrogant”. The four, all members of the military’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), were found guilty of premeditated assault for the attack in March that left Andrie Yunus, 27, blind ...
A proposed university town in Hong Kong will set aside vacant land to capitalise on future opportunities arising from social and technological changes, a minister has said, days after a top official revealed that the project size could be tripled to 300 hectares (741 acres). Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Wednesday told the Legislative Council that the proposed university town, ...
A dismissed high-ranking Filipino police officer convicted of orchestrating the 2016 killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was arrested in the Philippine capital of Manila after nearly two years on the run, authorities said on Wednesday. President Lee Jae Myung welcomed the arrest, vowing to seek justice for criminals targeting South Koreans abroad and expressing gratitude to officials i...
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is set to visit the Russian city of Kazan next week in a trip that would mark the first high-level talks between leaders from both sides since the city state imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, sources have confirmed. Wong will attend the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit from June 17 to June 19 to mark the 35th anniversary of dialogue r...
A young Chinese man suffered acute kidney failure after working out too intensely, prompting a doctor to warn fitness enthusiasts to slow down. The 23-year-old university student from central China’s Henan province reportedly developed rhabdomyolysis, a serious condition where damaged muscle fibres break down rapidly. He was also diagnosed with acute kidney failure, which is a complication of rhab...
Almost 20,000 people have signed an online petition in Japan to protest against US President Donald Trump and the White House using manga and anime characters in posts on social media. In the latest example, a video on Truth Social uploaded on Saturday depicts Trump as ninja Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto, sparking a furious reaction from some fans of the popular series. The clip is part of an AI-gene...
A teacher in Hong Kong has been spared a criminal conviction for slapping her 13-year-old son during a heated dispute last year after entering into a three-year good behaviour bond. The 35-year-old was bound over for HK$1,000 (US$128) at Kwun Tong Court on Wednesday for three years on a charge of assault by a person in charge of a child or young person. Court documents identified her only as MBC a...
We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s EV giants challenge Tesla in race to commercialise humanoid robots Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are opening a new front in their battle with Tesla: humanoid robots. After...
The death of a 17-year-old who was filmed after being swept out to sea at a popular tourist spot has prompted soul-searching in Indonesia about the bystander effect. Elmi Febrianti had been visiting the Apparalang tourist site in Bulukumba regency with her family on Sunday when she ventured to a clifftop known as a popular selfie vantage point and was struck by a large wave that dragged her out to...
An eight-year-old girl has died after collapsing at her home on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Emergency personnel arrived at the house in Lo Uk Tsuen Village, Pui O, and found the child unconscious after police received a report from her mother at 8.27am on Wednesday. Paramedics took her to Mui Wo Clinic for resuscitation before she was airlifted to Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan. She was pronounced de...
An acid attack against a woman doctor has sent shock waves through Pakistan’s medical sector, sparking strikes and a protest demanding safety and justice for the victim. A man threw acid at Mahnoor Nasir at her hospital in the southern city of Quetta on Saturday, causing burns to 7 per cent of her body, according to the provincial chief minister’s office. Officers killed the suspected perpetrator,...
The race for California governor in November will be a battle between a Democrat promising to cement the state’s status as a stronghold of liberal policies and a Republican pledging to dramatically reverse course in America’s most populous state. Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator backed by President Donald Trump, has won enough votes to advance to the general election, Associa...
Sydney’s new A$5.6 billion (US$4 billion) airport will open to passengers in October after more than a decade of planning, adding red-eye flight options from Australia’s largest city as the existing hub operates under night curfew restrictions. The current airport, located closer to Sydney’s central business district, can host take-offs and landings only until 11pm and after 6am due to tough n...
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is raising an uncomfortable question for Asian governments: could the virus travel through the region’s airports before health systems detect it? While experts say the risk of a major outbreak in Asia remains low, the latest flare-up has renewed scrutiny of whether hospitals, contact tracers and border surveillance systems remain re...
