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South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos are gaining renewed momentum this year, triggered by a steady recovery in inbound tourism and expectations of a surge in Chinese group travel in the second half, according to a recent analysis by Shinhan Securities. Unlike other tourism segments that move with domestic consumption, casino performance is closely tied to inbound flows, making the pace of Chinese ...
The universe teems with planets, yet their origins and evolution remain among science’s most enduring mysteries. Theoretical astrophysicist Shigeru Ida of the Institute of Science Tokyo has spent more than four decades in this field – and is now bringing his expertise to China. Ida, a former president of the Astronomical Society of Japan, has led the Japanese Society for Origins of Life and Astrob...
A man in southwestern China has been detained after he skydived from the top of a high-rise building in a residential community. According to a statement by the police authority of Chenghua district in Sichuan province, the 23-year-old man, surnamed Ren, skydived from the top of a tall residential building at 11pm on June 30 in an effort to boost traffic to his social media account. He shared the ...
Hong Kong’s robust tutoring and exam drilling culture contributed to the exceptional performance of local students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) exams, principals have said, after the city surpassed the average global score by nearly 20 per cent. At least 73 students from 17 Hong Kong schools achieved perfect scores in the latest IB Diploma Programme this year, with official data showing...
Brokers expect HSBC Holdings, a staple in the portfolios of Hongkongers, to see a large increase in interest from both local and international investors, as the stock’s minimum trading unit is set to change as part of the stock exchange’s board-lot reform process. Investors have long sought the change for the stock – known as a “widow and orphan” stock, as it pays a high dividend while bearing low...
India’s free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom will take effect on Wednesday, offering businesses on both sides immediate tariff relief while giving New Delhi an early test of the concessions, compliance demands and implementation challenges it may face in future deals with other Western powers. UK exports in sectors such as luxury vehicles and spirits are expected to benefit, while Indian t...
The United States and Iran each asserted Monday they controlled the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks stretching across the wider Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy to end the war. The attacks, sparked by Iran striking a container ship Sunday in the strait off the coast of Oman, again underlined that the waterway that once saw a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natur...
The United States and Iran each asserted Monday they controlled the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks stretching across the wider Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy to end the war. The attacks, sparked by Iran striking a container ship Sunday in the strait off the coast of Oman, again underlined that the waterway that once saw a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natur...
The United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran on Sunday over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing earlier in the weekend. Iran responded with attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman – the nation on the other side of the strait that Tehran has pressed to collaborate in managing shipping traffic. The ...
The US military said it has launched another round of strikes against Iran “to degrade their ability to attack commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz”. The strikes, which took place overnight on Sunday into Monday, came after attacks by the US military on Sunday morning in response to an Iranian strike on a container ship in the critical waterway the day before. Iran responded to ...
Senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalisation, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine wha...
US Senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalisation, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he has undergone a battery of tests as doctors try to determine what led to his fall. He explained the long silence about his condition by...
Some of Hong Kong’s largest developers, including Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) and Wheelock Properties, are set to release new units in residential projects this month amid an expected cooling of price increases. SHKP, the city’s largest developer in terms of market capitalisation, released the price list for 120 units at its Garden Regency project in Kam Tin North in the New Territories on Tues...
Wu Shicun is the founding president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies and chairman of the Huayang Centre for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance. In this interview, the first in a series about the South China Sea dispute, he discusses ways Beijing can respond to rival claimants. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions ser...
Hong Kong needs to give some serious and creative thought as to how best we, as a community, are going to draw a line under the events of the 2019-20 protest movement. That this was a serious and sad episode in our history cannot be denied or avoided. Thousands of well-meaning ordinary individuals joined public demonstrations, many for the first time in their lives. Whatever the flaws of the gover...
German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a 29-year-old man who is accused of holding a woman hostage in a Berlin supermarket for more than 11 hours over the weekend. The man was charged on Sunday with kidnapping for ransom, in conjunction with attempted aggravated extortion and dangerous bodily harm. The man allegedly took the female supermarket employee hostage and threatened her insi...
German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a 29-year-old man who is accused of holding a woman hostage in a Berlin supermarket for more than 11 hours over the weekend. The man was charged on Sunday with kidnapping for ransom, in conjunction with attempted aggravated extortion and dangerous bodily harm. The man allegedly took the female supermarket employee hostage and threatened her insi...
A blaze that tore through a packed Bangkok bar has killed at least 27 people and left nearly two dozen more in critical condition, with distraught friends and relatives on Monday dreading finding loved ones among the victims of the deadliest blaze to hit Thailand’s capital in over a decade. Images shared on social media of the inferno, which erupted late on Sunday night, show flames shooting out f...
A blaze that tore through a packed Bangkok bar has killed at least 27 people and left nearly two dozen more in critical condition, with distraught friends and relatives dreading on Monday finding loved ones among the victims of the deadliest blaze to hit Thailand’s capital in over a decade. Images shared on social media of the inferno, which erupted late on Sunday night, show flames shooting out f...
A blaze that ripped through a packed Bangkok bar has killed at least 27 people and left nearly two dozen more in critical condition, with distraught relatives on Monday morning searching for loved ones among the dead from the worst fire to strike the Thai capital’s nightlife in over a decade. Images of the inferno shared on social media show flames shooting out from the entrance of the Na Ladprao ...
An explosive fire at a popular pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok has killed 27 people, with another 22 injured in critical condition, officials said on Monday, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years. “We have recovered 27 bodies, others are being sent to hospital,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site of the fire that broke out just befo...
A huge fire engulfed a pub in Bangkok early on Monday morning, killing at least 27 people before firefighters brought the blaze under control, officials said. Footage shared online by first responders shows a huge blaze raging at the pub in the northern part of the Thai capital. Local media identified the venue as Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, described by Sky News as a popular local venue. People a...
Parts of the United Kingdom are at “exceptional” risk of wildfires as the heatwave continues, experts have warned. Areas in southern England and the Midlands are highlighted as being at the highest risk, according to Natural England. Its fire severity index shows the area of “exceptional” risk is set to increase and spread to the southeast and east of England by the middle of the week, while most ...
Parts of the United Kingdom are at “exceptional” risk of wildfires as the heatwave continues, experts have warned. Areas in southern England and the Midlands are highlighted as being at highest risk, according to Natural England. Its fire severity index shows the area of “exceptional” risk is set to increase and spread to the South East and east of England by the middle of the week while most of t...
Police in Canada were searching on Sunday for the suspect or suspects involved in a shooting at a Latino music festival in Toronto that left two people dead and four others seriously injured. “Police are continuing their investigation at the scene,” City Councillor Josh Matlow said on social media, alluding to the attack on Saturday night. The final day of the Salsa on St Clair festival, Sunday, w...
Police in Canada were searching on Sunday for the suspect or suspects involved in a shooting at a Latino music festival in Toronto that left two people dead and four others seriously injured. “Police are continuing their investigation at the scene,” City Councillor Josh Matlow said on social media, alluding to the attack on Saturday night. The final day of the Salsa on St Clair festival, Sunday, w...
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced fresh changes to Ukraine’s government, saying he had offered a new and important position to the former premier. Zelensky, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to ...
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced fresh changes to Ukraine’s government, saying he had offered a new and important position to the former premier. Zelensky, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to ...
Israel will hold national elections on October 27, the last date allowed by law, its parliament said on Sunday, with the vote widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership since the Gaza war erupted. The Knesset, as parliament is known, is set to end its current term on July 17, allowing the ruling coalition to complete a full four-year term for the first time in de...
Israel is set to hold parliamentary elections on October 27, several local outlets reported on Sunday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks another term following a volatile few years marked by the war in Gaza. The next election is to be held by October 27 under the law but earlier dates had also been under discussion. Opinion polls suggest it could prove difficult for both Netanyahu’s camp ...
