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America’s latest defence strategy worryingly downgrades the importance of the Indo-Pacific, a US senator warned on Saturday, even as the Pentagon chief delivered a speech reassuring allies of commitment at a defence forum in Singapore. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a staunch critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran, told a media round table at the Shangri-La Dialogue that she was concerned the Trump ad...
A retired American teacher is planning to travel to China in late summer for a reunion with a female farmer he assisted decades ago. In 1999, Ronald Sakolsky, then teaching English in China, was inspired by Inner Mongolian farmer Yin Yuzhen’s battle against desertification and donated US$5,000 to support her tree-planting efforts in the Maowusu Desert. This contribution enabled Yin to plant some o...
Hong Kong authorities will crack down on flavoured tobacco substances in the next phase of their enhanced smoking control measures, with the health minister describing such products as a “poisoned chalice” designed to hook younger people. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau warned on Saturday that flavoured tobacco was mostly delivered through e-cigarettes, with additives containing menthol or sugar...
Hong Kong authorities will crack down on flavoured tobacco substances in the next phase of its enhanced smoking control measures, with the health minister describing such products as a “poisoned chalice” designed to hook younger people. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau warned on Saturday that flavoured tobacco was mostly delivered through e-cigarettes, with additives containing menthol or sugar-c...
Hong Kong authorities have slashed the time needed to send emergency mobile alerts to residents from an hour to 15 minutes under a HK$150 million (US$19 million) system, while messages can now be tailored to specific districts, the security chief has revealed. A hearing session into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in April exposed the lengthy time needed to trigger the alert. But security chief Chr...
Hong Kong authorities have slashed the time needed to send emergency mobile alerts to residents from an hour to 15 minutes under a HK$150 million (US$19 million) system, while messages can now be tailored to specific districts, the security chief has revealed. A hearing session into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in April had exposed the lengthy time needed to trigger the alert. But security chief...
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth softened his tone towards China in his speech on Saturday to the Shangri-La defence forum compared with the previous year. Speaking two weeks after the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing, Hegseth also adopted a cautious stance on US arms sales to Taiwan when questioned about the highly sensitive issue and did not mention the island a...
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth softened his tone towards China in his speech on Saturday to the Shangri-La defence forum compared with the previous year. Speaking two weeks after the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing, Hegseth also adopted a cautious stance on US arms sales to Taiwan when questioned about the highly sensitive issue and did not mention the island a...
A professor at a private university in South Korea’s Daejeon has been disciplined and removed from all teaching duties after allegedly making sexually inappropriate remarks to students during class. According to the university on Friday, the school’s foundation recently finalised disciplinary measures against the professor, identified only by the surname B. The university said B has been barred fr...
Venture capitalists and industrial giants in China are aggressively backing developers of dexterous robotic hands – the toughest bottleneck in the global humanoid hardware arms race – in a funding blitz that is rapidly driving up start-up valuations. The latest capital injection was announced on Friday by Xynova. The Hangzhou-based start-up said it had completed a series A round from investors inc...
The Trump administration’s immigration surge into US cities last year resulted in 668,000 job losses, creating a “chilling effect” that pervaded local economies, hurt businesses and affected American-born workers, according to a report from the Brookings Institution. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign adopted “shock and awe” tactics that were broader and far more visible than previou...
Singapore’s Union of Security Employees (USE) said on Thursday that it “stands firmly behind” the security guards involved in a confrontation with a Hong Kong school principal in which he swore at them. The secondary school principal, Lee Cheuk‑hing, who was on a trip to Singapore with a group of students, was seen arguing with the guards over a parking matter at SAFRA Jurong, a recreational club,...
Implementation details of a policy to allow Hong Kong-registered yachts to berth more easily at designated mainland Chinese ports in the Greater Bay Area will be unveiled by Beijing in “mid-June” at the earliest, sources have said, with the anticipated move already drawing interest from local charter companies keen to tailor tours for affluent clients. The South China Morning Post also learned on ...
Implementation details of a policy to allow Hong Kong-registered yachts to berth more easily at designated mainland Chinese ports in the Greater Bay Area will be unveiled by Beijing in “mid-June” at the earliest, sources have said, with the anticipated move already drawing interest from local charter companies keen to tailor tours for affluent clients. The South China Morning Post also learned on ...
Implementation details of a policy to allow Hong Kong-registered yachts to berth more easily at designated mainland ports in the Greater Bay Area will be unveiled by Beijing in “mid-June” at the earliest, sources have said, with the anticipated move already drawing interest from local charter companies keen to tailor tours for affluent clients. The South China Morning Post also learned on Saturday...
Hong Kong-registered yachts can berth more easily in designated mainland Chinese ports in the Greater Bay Area, as Beijing has waived customs guarantees and simplified administrative procedures. In a directive published on Saturday night, the State Council revamped its maritime policies, allowing Hong Kong and Macau leisure yachts to enter designated mainland ports “exempt from customs guarantees”...
The success of Wang Fuk Court residents’ attempt to seek compensation for losses arising from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hinge significantly on the findings of the independent committee investigating the disaster as claimants must prove negligence was involved, experts have said. The experts’ comments came after some residents of the Tai Po estate said that recently released docume...
A research team from northwestern China has released a new algorithm that could fundamentally change how drone swarms hunt and destroy enemy targets. The algorithm, known as HG-STR (Heterogeneous Graph Spatio-Temporal Reasoning), promises to allow a fleet of fixed-wing drones to autonomously search a vast battlefield and eliminate every single enemy, even when their communications are being jammed...
Indonesia lost nearly US$1 trillion in resource wealth over a 34-year period due to deceptive trade practices, President Prabowo Subianto declared in parliament on May 20. That same day, a set of new export controls was unveiled. Foreign-exchange earnings would be locked in Indonesian banks for a prescribed time limit and producers of coal, palm oil and ferroalloys would be required to route sales...
The upgrading of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan underscores how the allies are future-proofing their ties amid growing uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific, analysts say. “This milestone reflects the strength, depth and breadth of our ties as we respond to the evolving challenges and opportunities of our time,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Thursday at ...
Microchip development has always been a race to build smaller and smaller transistors – the fundamental components of chip circuits. Now China’s Huawei Technologies wants to change the game entirely. Faced with US tech export restrictions that block its access to the world’s most advanced chipmaking machinery, Huawei is proposing a fundamental shift in semiconductor progress: stop obsessing over h...
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday morning, just two weeks after a summit between the presidents of China and the United States. The speech was expected to be a barometer of the summit’s outcomes between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump. Here are some of the main points from Hegseth’s address. Tough on China, ...
A recent controversy surrounding a surau (prayer hall) in Malaysia appeared straightforward at first. A resident of Taman Seraya, Selangor state, raised concerns about the noise and congestion, particularly during prayer times. Police subsequently investigated the complaint as an attempt to incite provocation and disrupt social harmony. The surau management’s escalation of the complaint to alleged...
Stepping into the former trading hall in Exchange Square on Thursday was like walking through a doorway into the 1980s. Brokers, wearing the iconic red jackets of the period, stood alongside Cathay Pacific Airways flight attendants in retro uniforms, evoking memories of the hall before its closure. The special gong-striking ceremony in Central marked the 40th anniversary of the merger of Hong Kong...
Recent moves by companies such as Gardenia and H&M to shift some operations from Singapore across the Causeway have put the spotlight on Malaysia’s growing appeal as a more affordable base for businesses facing high costs and a tight labour market in the city state. But while the trend may look like an easy win for its neighbour – bringing investment, jobs and spillover opportunities – analysts sa...
Hong Kong’s taxi trade has warned that 10 per cent of the cab owners in the city could soon default on vehicle mortgages as licence values plunge, with many drivers switching to the new ride-hailing regime where 10,000 permits will be issued. The market value of a taxi licence has plunged over the past two decades, from a historic high of HK$7.66 million (US$970,163) in 2009 to HK$2.62 million for...
One of the most dreaded terms in dentistry is “root canal,” but at least we get to enjoy the perks of modern medicine. Now, imagine enduring that painful process nearly 60,000 years ago. An international team of scientists believes they have found evidence that Neanderthals, the closest relatives of modern humans, deliberately drilled a hole in a lower molar tooth to remove infected tissue. The di...
This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account below. Get real-time updates and exclusive reporting. Subscribe now with great savings to stay ahead. Defence ministers, military chiefs, diplomats and analysts have gathered in Singapore this weekend for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, where regional security challenges will be discussed and a flurry...
This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account below. Get real-time updates and exclusive reporting. Subscribe now with great savings to stay ahead. Defence ministers, military chiefs, diplomats and analysts have gathered in Singapore this weekend for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, where regional security challenges will be discussed and a flurry...
This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account below. Get real-time updates and exclusive reporting. Subscribe now with great savings to stay ahead. Defence ministers, military chiefs, diplomats and analysts have gathered in Singapore this weekend for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, where regional security challenges will be discussed and a flurry...
