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China’s top anti-espionage agency on Monday warned gamers that a company with overseas defence ties may be obtaining geospatial data via an augmented reality game. The warning quoted media reports about “the militarisation of civilian data” that said billions of environmental scans from a popular mobile phone game were being used to train AI models with potential battlefield applications. In a soc...
As more patients recover from the world’s largest recorded Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, doctors are beginning to piece together how the rare virus behaves, offering the clearest picture yet of one of the disease’s least-studied strains. The number of recoveries reported by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) health authorities almost doubled in a week, rising to 148 on Thursday from 80 on June 18, ev...
China is providing an additional 100 million yuan (US$14.7 million) worth of relief items to Venezuela after two earthquakes last week left at least 1,450 dead, including eight Chinese citizens. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Monday said Beijing had decided to furnish the relief items in addition to cash aid already extended to the country. China had also provided satellite image...
Hong Kong has proposed a statutory seven-day cooling-off period and a 14-day refund window for prepaid beauty and fitness contracts as part of the efforts to strengthen consumer protection amid persistent complaints against unfair trade practices and high-pressure sales tactics. The measures form part of three major policy recommendations suggested by the government as it launched a two-month publ...
More than 80 per cent of owners of the fire-ravaged housing estate, Wang Fuk Court, have accepted the Hong Kong government’s buy-back offer, a day before the deadline for them to secure priority flat selection under a special sales plan. The Housing Bureau said in a statement on Monday that it had received a total of 1,635 signed letters of acceptance, accounting for about 82.4 per cent of the tot...
Malaysia has narrowed its search for a replacement anti-ship missile system to four potential suppliers after Norway revoked an export licence for a deal that Kuala Lumpur said was already more than 90 per cent paid for. The cancellation came after Oslo tightened arms-export rules in a shift that analysts say reveals how access to advanced arms can depend as much on supplier-country politics as on...
An anti-narcotics police officer in China who has been working on the frontline without obscuring her identity for the past nine years, incurring more than 10 injuries, has won massive admiration from the mainland public. Li Xiangli is the only female police station chief in Yunnan province, located in the southwestern part of the country. She and her 47 colleagues are stationed at a checkpoint in...
Overnight ground operations and strikes by Pakistani forces have killed at least 36 civilians and injured more than 160 others, Afghan officials said on Monday, as tensions between the neighbours further escalated. One official said the attacks would be met with retaliation. Pakistani security forces carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late on Sunday, followed by s...
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] This year’s event drew more than 60,000 visits over two days at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Around 120 shortlisted teams from primary and secondary schools presented inventions that combine AI with other technologies to tackle everyday challenges. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Prof...
A Hong Kong physiotherapist has been scammed out of HK$5 million (US$637,570) after falling victim to an online investment trap that involved helping a virtual “beautiful assistant” hit sales targets, police have said. The case, revealed by police on Monday via their Facebook page, was among more than 80 reports of online investment scams received in the past week, with total losses exceeding HK$8...
The People’s Liberation Army said it dispatched vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea in response to a joint US-Philippine maritime drill in the waters near Scarborough Shoal over the weekend. The PLA’s statement came a day after Manila said four Chinese vessels monitored a US-Philippine maritime exercise near the disputed shoal, which was reported by Philippine media on Monday. A week ago, ...
A labour saga in Singapore involving migrant workers going unpaid for months after a contractor fled the country has raised questions about wage policies for unskilled staff, even as authorities respond with the speed and efficiency emblematic of the city state. Last week, hundreds of migrant workers in services such as air-conditioning, plumbing and construction showed up at the Minister of Manpo...
Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing’s back-to-back visits to India and China have been described as an effort to avoid becoming overdependent on either country, but analysts said there was little reason to think it would erode Beijing’s “overarching influence”. The former military leader’s visit to India was his first trip abroad since assuming the presidency in April and saw the two countries agree...
Malaysia’s push to attract Chinese tourists is increasingly being shaped by the same forces influencing their itineraries: short-form videos, lifestyle apps, online personalities and newly opened routes from cities beyond China’s largest travel hubs. Tourism Malaysia confirmed the focus in a statement, saying its Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign in China encompassed “digital marketing, key opinion lea...
Malaysia’s bet on Chinese tourists is increasingly being shaped by the same forces influencing their itineraries: short videos, lifestyle apps, online personalities and newly opened routes from beyond China’s biggest cities. Tourism Malaysia confirmed the focus, saying its Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign in China included “digital marketing, key opinion leader (KOL) collaborations, short-video conten...
A Hong Kong national security police officer has admitted filming upskirt footage of a woman and attempting to grab a colleague’s handgun in an apparent bid to harm himself after his arrest last year. West Kowloon Court heard on Monday that Constable Ko Chun-chung, 40, felt ashamed and was unable to face the consequences after being caught for the offence against the woman on January 15, 2025. He ...
The critical window for finding survivors of powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela narrowed further on Monday, with time running out for those still buried beneath the debris. The death toll has surpassed 1,450 and nearly 200 buildings have completely collapsed. A man and his teen son were found alive under the rubble Sunday by French and American rescue teams in Caraballeda, a town abou...
Hong Kong has relaxed its licensing requirements for rural holiday camps and village guest houses, allowing greater flexibility in building and fire safety requirements for some properties to encourage more tourist accommodation options outside urban areas. The Home Affairs Department on Monday published two new licence application guides: a first-of-its-kind stand-alone guide tailored specificall...
Every few minutes, the mortuary owner’s phone rings. Since a record-smashing heatwave started taking lives and storage space for bodies in Paris and beyond, the funeral directors and mourning families calling him mostly have the same question: do you have room for one more? With all 32 places in his cold room taken, Zouhaeir Hertelli reluctantly has to gently say “Non”, over and over and over agai...
Malaysia has set up a special task force to tackle potential disruptions on the causeway linking Johor to Singapore ahead of a state election next month. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said ensuring smooth cross-border movement is his ministry’s “highest priority” as tens of thousands of Malaysians are expected to return home to cast their votes in the Johor state election on July 11....
A Hong Kong school has activated its crisis management team to provide counselling support in response to the death of an 11-year-old boy during a training run over the weekend, while the institution’s leaders are set to meet education officials. Hong Kong Adventist Academy, a private Christian school in Sai Kung’s Clear Water Bay, confirmed on Monday that one of its students had died from heatstr...
South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI megaprojects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments worth more than US$576 billion over several years. The announcement marks Lee’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seoul metropol...
South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI megaprojects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments spanning hundreds of billions of dollars over several years. The announcement marks Lee’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seou...
A panel of a glass bridge at a popular tourist site in central China was cracked by a teenager wielding an umbrella, raising concerns about its quality among the public. On June 20, a visitor at the Baoquan Cliff World Scenic Area, a national 5A-rated tourism destination in Henan province, reported being evacuated by staff as soon as they stepped onto the signature glass bridge. This rating is the...
Nasa is racing to save an ageing telescope from falling back to Earth with a daring rescue mission. The US$30 million salvage operation gets under way as soon as this week with the planned launch of a robotic lifesaver. Nasa hired start-up Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe’s biggest explosions. A thre...
The head of Hong Kong’s Harbourfront Commission has called for improvements to the proposal to reclaim land for a popular tourist selfie spot in Kennedy Town, saying the current design failed to fit the neighbourhood’s ambience. Ivan Ho Man-yiu, the advisory body’s chairman, said on Monday that the design of a proposed offshore walkway at Kennedy Town Praya should reflect the “city mood” of the di...
Hong Kong’s M+ museum has offered ticket holders one free entry in the next three months after poor crowd management led to hours-long queues for an exhibition that opened at the weekend, prompting a wave of customer complaints. The venue’s “Design Ah! Experience the Wonder of Everyday Design” exhibition in West Kowloon Cultural District drew thousands of visitors on Sunday, who paid either HK$190...
Desalination has always been an energy-hungry way of turning saltwater into freshwater, making it largely the preserve of wealthy countries with abundant fossil fuel reserves. Yet, an outdoor demonstration prototype in China has managed to exhibit year-long stability with zero utility energy costs, thanks to a new type of photothermal material. The researchers developed an innovative method to wea...
Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island. Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region. The agreement commits Australia to gr...
Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island. Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region. The agreement commits Australia to gr...
