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Top negotiators from the United States, Iran and Pakistan have begun talks in Switzerland to try to secure a fragile ceasefire and reach a deal on the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme. The US team is led by Vice-President J.D. Vance, who arrived in Burgenstock, the resort hosting the talks, on Sunday. He joined special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law,...
Top negotiators from the United States, Iran and Pakistan have arrived in Switzerland ahead of talks that aim to secure the fragile ceasefire and reach a deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme. The US team was led by Vice-President J.D. Vance, who arrived in Burgenstock near Lucerne, the resort hosting the talks on Sunday. He joined special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President ...
Top negotiators from the United States, Iran and Pakistan have arrived in Switzerland ahead of talks that aim to secure the fragile ceasefire and reach a deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme. The US team was led by Vice-President J.D. Vance, who arrived in Burgenstock, the resort hosting the talks on Sunday. He joined special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’...
A taxi driver in central China won widespread praise online after racing an unconscious child to the hospital, running red lights and driving against traffic. The incident unfolded in Wuhan, Hubei province, on June 5, according to the mainland media outlet Ping An Hubei. The three-year-old girl, identified by the pseudonym Yanyan, had developed a fever at home before suddenly losing consciousness....
Mainland Chinese firms at the cutting edge of technology are increasingly using Hong Kong as a “strategic adaptation ground” to transform themselves into multinational companies, the finance chief has said. Following his trip to attend a forum and visit tech companies in Shanghai and Nanjing last week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that mainland tech companies expanding into i...
Mainland Chinese technology giants in cutting-edge fields are increasingly treating Hong Kong as a “strategic adaptation ground” to transform themselves into global multinational enterprises, the city’s finance chief has said. Following his trip to attend a forum and visit tech companies in Shanghai and Nanjing last week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that mainland technology ...
Hong Kong will consider expanding priority community care to include dementia patients and residents aged over 60 who care for people with severe disabilities in a bid to better identify high-risk cases, the city’s welfare chief has said. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Sunday that authorities were reviewing the screening criteria used to identify high-risk elderly indiv...
Hong Kong will consider expanding priority community care to include dementia patients and carers aged over 60 of people with severe disabilities, the city’s welfare chief has said, in a bid to better identify high-risk cases vulnerable to tragedy. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Sunday that authorities were actively reviewing the screening criteria used to identify high...
Hong Kong residents living in the villages of Ho Sheung Heung and Yin Kong in Sheung Shui will be allowed to convert their entire houses into restaurants, guest houses or shops without prior application under a pilot scheme aimed at boosting rural tourism. The relevant urban planning work is scheduled to begin in the third quarter this year, and the government will consider expanding the scheme to...
The South Korean government and defence players are making last-ditch efforts to win Canada’s next-generation submarine project worth up to 60 trillion won (US$39.14 billion), as Ottawa is expected to select a preferred bidder by the end of this month. Under the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, the Royal Canadian Navy’s ageing fleet of four Victoria-class submarines will be replaced with 12 new ...
For decades, moving Benin’s cotton harvest from the north of the country to its southern ports was a slow, difficult journey along unpaved roads. Benin is Africa’s largest cotton producer, but it lacked the infrastructure needed to connect its northern cotton-growing belt to the coast and processing plants in the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) near Cotonou, the country’s largest city and econom...
Within a week of its release, Netflix’s new Korean drama Teach You a Lesson, directed by Hong Jong-chan, topped the platform’s global non-English rankings for the week of June 1 to 7. Adapted from the popular webtoon Get Schooled (2020), the 10-episode series about a government-backed vigilante unit trying to fix the wrongs in schools has quickly become a highly rated breakout hit. Described in a ...
A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off on Sunday as Iranian negotiators and US Vice-President J.D. Vance arrived in the Swiss host city, even as Tehran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Before boarding his flight to Europe, Vance told reporters he hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Leban...
Hong Kong is the only place in the country able to replicate the short-window growth model that US tech giant SpaceX used, former city leader Leung Chun-ying has said, calling for the development of local professional services for the emerging aerospace industry. Leung, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body, also said H...
Hong Kong is the only place in China capable of replicating the financing model of US tech giant SpaceX, which leverages market forces to grow rapidly, former leader Leung Chun-ying has said, urging the city to develop professional services for the emerging aerospace industry. Leung, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory bod...
Theatre chain Golden Village (GV) and film distributor Clover Films have added eight more screenings of Dear You in its original Teochew language in Singapore. The additional screenings will take place from June 25 to 29 at GVmax at GV VivoCity. Tickets will go on sale at 3pm on June 22 via GV’s box office counters and online channels. The move comes after all eight of the Chinese film’s previousl...
Hong Kong families are turning away from long-standing summer school favourites in Britain and North America amid soaring airfares, with education consultants reporting a sharp surge in demand for alternatives in Asia. Applications for British summer schools fell 35 per cent this year as Hong Kong parents balk at soaring airfares, fuelled by the war in Iran, according to Samuel Chan Sze-ming, foun...
Danny Loong did not fully grieve his father’s death until he became a parent himself. For two decades after his father’s passing, Loong remembered him mostly as a provider and disciplinarian: a man who pushed hard, cared quietly and offered little by way of tenderness. “He would ask me, ‘How come you’re not this, or that? How come you’re not studying hard enough?’ So when he passed away, I missed ...
Thailand’s crackdown on a loophole that effectively bypasses its restrictions on land ownership by foreigners is causing prospective buyers to delay purchase decisions on luxury villas in resort destinations such as Phuket and Koh Samui, according to agents. Bangkok has stepped up its scrutiny of business and property ownership in the country, with the Department of Business Development (DBD) flag...
US Donald Trump has sparred with most of his fellow Group of Seven leaders at some point. But Italy’s Giorgia Meloni this week did something none of them dared: she escalated. Unlike Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez, one of the few leaders in Europe who has made political capital of being berated by Trump, the Italian prime minister had stood out as one of the few Europeans he actually liked: an ou...
A China-led team has developed an AI system to detect space hurricanes, a phenomenon in the Earth’s upper atmosphere that can disrupt satellite signals, radar and radio communications. While the hurricane-like atmospheric phenomenon can have major space weather effects, detection has so far relied on a tedious process of studying satellite images manually. The team said it had developed a new deep...
Cross-border biotech deals between China and the United States are becoming more complicated and could face a modest slowdown as Washington steps up efforts to restrict investment and technology transfers, according to industry analysts. “There will be more geopolitical scrutiny going forward. This scrutiny may lead to slightly fewer deals than without it,” said Diederik Stadig, senior healthcare ...
Hong Kong’s universities are often celebrated for their global rankings, research output and international reputation. Yet behind these achievements lies a quieter, more fundamental question: how do we define academic excellence and are we measuring the right things? Academic life is driven by intrinsic motivations. Scholars are guided by curiosity, a pursuit of excellence and a commitment to prof...
Hong Kong election authorities have stopped compiling voter turnout data by age and sex, citing a lack of operational need, in a move that has raised concerns about undermining the transparency of polls. Analysts and politicians said such statistics were valuable for election hopefuls in understanding voter demographics and formulating policy suggestions, while authorities could use the data to im...
A former Chinese e-commerce executive in the final stages of a rare disease is still working 12-hour days, devoting what time he has left to accelerating the search for a cure. Cai Lei, 48, a former vice-president of JD.com, one of China’s largest e-commerce companies, has spent seven years battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable disease that progressively attacks motor neurons....
She was among five girls in Japan believed to have beaten a boy so severely that he required hospital treatment. Yet her most pressing concern was how much money the group should demand from him. To find an answer, she turned to artificial intelligence. The alleged assault took place in January in Hachioji, a city in western Greater Tokyo. For experts, the case has exposed a disturbing pattern: Ja...
Orchard Towers, a building in Singapore once notorious enough to earn the nickname “Four Floors of Whores”, has found an unlikely new tenant. On weekends, the site of former nightclubs, illegal massage parlours and at least one murder is now flooded with church-goers. Cornerstone Community Church officially opened weekly services at the Orchard Road landmark in January after buying six units on th...
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering his political future on Sunday, after rival Andy Burnham’s decisive election victory to parliament prompted more ministers in the governing Labour Party to call for him to go. Struggling with some of the lowest popularity ratings for any British leader in modern political history, Starmer could decide as soon as Monday whether to step aside or f...
British business minister Peter Kyle said Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reflecting on the “political realities” after party rival Andy Burnham was elected to Parliament, setting up a potential leadership challenge. Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday, Kyle said he had no reason to believe Starmer was planning to announce his resignation on Monday, but that it would be “delusional” not to think hi...
Britain’s Observer newspaper said Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to resign on Monday and set out a timetable for his departure, though a government source said Starmer remained focused on getting on with the job of governing. The threat to Starmer’s position, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when his rival Andy Burnham won a seat in parliament that would a...
