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When a deadly blast rocked a small town in central China this week, killing 26 and injuring 61, hundreds of fireworks factories in the surrounding area were in peak production season for overseas orders, including for the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, industry insiders said. They added that fireworks producers in Liuyang, Hunan province – often called the “fireworks capital...
A young woman tourist in China died after falling from a “cliff swing” ride after her warning that the safety rope was not tied tightly enough was ignored. The heart-wrenching accident went viral on mainland social media and was viewed more than 200 million times. It sparked public rage and calls for safety supervision for adventure activities to be strengthened. On May 5, the municipal government...
A Hong Kong homemaker sits alone at a pinball machine, engrossed in the game for an hour to kill time before picking up her sons from school for lunch on a weekday morning at a shopping centre in Sham Shui Po. The 47-year-old mother-of-two, who only identified herself as Mrs Cheung, said she played pinball machines at least twice a week at Dragon Centre, including once on the weekend with her fami...
A Hong Kong homemaker sits alone at a pinball machine, engrossed in the game for an hour to kill time before picking up her sons from school for lunch on a weekday morning at a shopping centre in Sham Shui Po. The 47-year-old mother-of-two, who only identified herself as Mrs Cheung, said she played pinball machines at least twice a week at Dragon Centre, including once on the weekend with her fami...
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per ...
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per ...
Two Australian women “kept a female slave” after travelling to Syria in 2014 to support Islamic State, police said on Friday after the pair were charged in Melbourne. The women returned to Australia on Thursday evening for the first time in almost a decade, travelling from a Syrian detention camp where they were stranded after the group’s collapse. They were immediately arrested after their Qatar ...
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told US President Donald Trump on Thursday that his country’s rare earth reserves are open to investment from China and any other nation willing to process the minerals on Brazilian soil, resisting pressure to side with Washington in its contest with Beijing over critical mineral supply chains. “We have no preference. What we want is to share with whoe...
Beijing’s tighter oversight of vicious price competition in the automotive sector is expected to increase borrowing pressure on mainland carmakers and accelerate the exit of weaker, debt-laden players amid softening consumer demand, according to S&P Global Ratings. The warning is likely to deepen bearish sentiment surrounding mainland China’s more than 100 car assemblers, many of which have been a...
The United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, but Iran said the situation returned to normal while the US said it did not want to escalate. The renewed hostilities broke out as Washington was awaiting Iran’s response to a US proposal that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program...
The United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, but Iran said the situation returned to normal while the US said it did not want to escalate. The renewed hostilities broke out as Washington was awaiting Iran’s response to a US proposal that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program...
The US military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday, targeting sites it said were responsible for attacking US forces in what it called unprovoked hostilities by Tehran. Earlier, Iran’s top joint military command said the US had violated a ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz, and by striking civilian areas. “US Cent...
US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the US-Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the second instalment of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we weigh the odds of a major deal for Boeing aircraft afte...
Russia and Ukraine launched major attacks on each other Friday, with a two-day unilateral ceasefire that Moscow had declared around its World War II commemorations appearing to be in tatters. Ukraine never said it would abide by Moscow’s call to halt strikes and lambasted Russian leader Vladimir Putin for only wanting to pause fighting so he could stage a grand parade on Red Square on Saturday. Ky...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday warned Russia’s allies against attending its May 9 World War II victory parade, as Moscow doubled down on its threat to strike Kyiv on the day. Moscow has unilaterally declared a ceasefire from May 8 to 10 in its war on Ukraine but the Russian army has urged residents to leave Kyiv in case of a potential retaliatory strike on the day. “We have als...
The Trump administration is inviting CEOs from Nvidia, Apple, Exxon, Boeing and other big companies to accompany the president on his trip to China next week, Semafor reported on Thursday. Executives from Qualcomm, Blackstone, Citigroup and Visa are also on the invitation list, according to the report. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was invited. Qualc...
The Trump administration is inviting CEOs from Nvidia, Apple, Exxon, Boeing and other big companies to accompany the president on his trip to China next week, Semafor reported on Thursday. Executives from Qualcomm, Blackstone, Citigroup and Visa are also on the invitation list, according to the report. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was invited. Qualc...
The Trump administration is inviting CEOs from Nvidia, Apple, Exxon, Boeing and other big companies to accompany the president on his trip to China next week, Semafor reported on Thursday. Executives from Qualcomm, Blackstone, Citigroup and Visa are also on the invitation list, according to the report. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was invited. Qualc...
When the United States and the Philippines opened this year’s Balikatan exercises, the message travelled far beyond the parade ground. More than 17,000 troops are taking part in drills set to run until May 8. What matters is where the drills unfold, who has joined and what kind of regional habit they are helping to normalise. Japan took part in its first Balitakan live-fire exercises. Australia, C...
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the European Union must ratify its trade deal with the United States by July 4 or face “much higher” tariffs, after European officials fell short of agreement on the pact. The US president said he spoke to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen about the issue and “agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immedia...
The White House called Star Wars star Mark Hamill “one sick individual” on Thursday after an AI-generated image of US President Donald Trump in a shallow grave was posted on one of the actor’s social media accounts. “If Only” was inscribed on the image of Trump lying with his eyes closed next to a gravestone, surrounded by daisies, with the inscription “Donald J Trump 1946-2024”. The image was...
The White House called Star Wars star Mark Hamill “one sick individual” on Thursday after an AI-generated image of US President Donald Trump in a shallow grave was posted on one of the actor’s social media accounts. “If Only” was inscribed on the image of Trump lying with his eyes closed next to a gravestone, surrounded by daisies, with the inscription “Donald J Trump 1946-2024”. The image was...
Paris’ public prosecutor has opened a judicial investigation into Elon Musk’s X social media platform, a new step in an investigation over alleged abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. The latest legal development puts investigating judges in charge of the probe and follows tech billionaire Musk’s failure to appear at an April 20 summons for question...
Paris’ public prosecutor has opened a judicial investigation into Elon Musk’s X social media platform, a new step in an investigation over alleged abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. The latest legal development puts investigating judges in charge of the investigation and follows tech billionaire Musk’s failure to appear at an April 20 summons for ...
French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and his social platform X for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok. The Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it has opened an investigation into X on charges including complicity in possessing...
The man who threw petrol bombs at a pro-Israel rally last year in Colorado, setting several people aflame including a woman who later died from her burns, was sentenced on Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison but said he wished to be executed. Mohamed Soliman, 46, an Egyptian national, pleaded guilty to 101 charges brought by state prosecutors, including first-degree murder, then apol...
The man who threw petrol bombs at a pro-Israel rally last year in Colorado, setting several people aflame including a woman who later died from her burns, was sentenced on Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison but said he wished to be executed. Mohamed Soliman, 46, an Egyptian national, pleaded guilty to 101 charges brought by state prosecutors, including first-degree murder, then apol...
The man who threw petrol bombs at a pro-Israel rally last year in Colorado, setting several people aflame including a woman who later died from her burns, was sentenced on Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison but said he wished to be executed. Mohamed Soliman, 46, an Egyptian national, pleaded guilty to 101 charges brought by state prosecutors, including first-degree murder, then apol...
A man accused of a firebomb attack that killed one person and injured a dozen others while they were demonstrating in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza has pleaded guilty to murder and other charges. Mohamed Sabry Soliman entered the pleas on Thursday in Boulder County District Court. He now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole in the attack in downtown Bo...
The Trump administration has expanded its pressure campaign against Cuba into the critical minerals sector, sanctioning a nickel joint venture tied to Canadian miner Sherritt International in a move that could reverberate through China-linked battery supply chains. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Thursday against Moa Nickel SA, a joint venture between Sherritt and Cuba’s stat...
