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US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, at a time of rising tensions over Iran, sanctions, tariffs and Taiwan, shows how far the Hormuz crisis has travelled beyond the battlefield. What began as a regional war is now touching energy markets, currency politics and the balance of influence between Washington and Beijing. The US is trying to keep Gulf and Asian partners anchored to the US dolla...
The US has charged seven Chinese executives and four of the world’s largest shipping container companies with conspiring to restrict supply, raising the price of containers during the Covid-19 pandemic, Department of Justice officials said on Tuesday. The companies together manufacture about 95 per cent of the world’s standard dry shipping containers and conspired to restrict output and fix p...
The US government will permanently drop tax claims against US President Donald Trump, according to a settlement document made public Tuesday, in an extraordinary use of executive power that could effectively help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct. As part of the settlement deal meant to resolve Trump’s US$10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue...
The US government will permanently drop tax claims against President Donald Trump, according to a settlement document that is part of a deal to resolve Trump’s US$10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. As part of the settlement agreement, the US is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organisat...
The United States is expected to unseal criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro on Wednesday in a move that could further deepen tensions between Washington and Havana and inject new strain into an already volatile regional relationship. Multiple US media outlets, citing US Justice Department sources, have reported that federal prosecutors in Miami are preparing an indictment tied...
US President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary shortly after early voting began in an increasingly personal and expensive run-off against incumbent Senator John Cornyn. “Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas – KEN PAXTON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!,” Trump said ...
A top commander of US forces in the Middle East avoided taking responsibility on Tuesday for an attack on a school in Iran that left 155 people dead on day one of the war, insisting a “complex” probe continues. Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told a congressional oversight panel that “the school itself is located on an active IRGC cruise missile base”, making th...
Norwegian authorities on Tuesday announced that bird flu has been documented in a polar bear for the first time in Europe, in the Svalbard region in the Arctic. The H5N5 variant of the virus was detected in samples taken from a male bear about one year old and a walrus found dead in mid-May on the icy archipelago, around 1,000km (600 miles) from the North Pole, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute s...
Smoking will be banned at construction sites in Hong Kong from July 17 under a government proposal sent to the legislature following the deadly blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court last November. The government introduced three amendments to existing ordinances to improve fire safety at the sites on Tuesday. “Since the tragic fire which occurred in Tai Po in November 2025, there has been strong commun...
Smoking will be banned at all construction sites in Hong Kong from July 17 under a government proposal sent to the legislature following the deadly blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court last November. The government introduced three amendments to existing ordinances to improve fire safety at the sites on Tuesday. “Since the tragic fire which occurred in Tai Po in November 2025, there has been strong co...
The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on an Iranian foreign currency exchange house and what it said were front companies overseeing transactions on behalf of Iranian banks as the US maintains pressure on Tehran. The move came after Iran said its latest peace proposal to the United States over the US-Israeli led war that started February 28 involved ending hostilities on al...
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night for a visit aimed at deepening the two sides’ comprehensive partnership, four days after the Chinese capital hosted US President Donald Trump. This is the Russian leader’s 25th visit to China. More to follow …
The founder of the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge has called for a quota system to be implemented during public holidays to protect the city’s natural resources, saying recent scenes of overcrowding left him feeling “quite disturbed”. Andre Blumberg, who created the now-famous 298km ultra-marathon covering Hong Kong’s four major trails, said the city should consider adopting a reservation s...
One of Thailand’s richest men dismissed his cousin from the Singha beer business empire on Tuesday, the company said, after days of controversy over allegations the man had sexually abused his own brother. Environmental activist Siranudh Scott, a scion of the Bhirombhakdi family who control the beer brand ubiquitous in Thailand, posted an emotional video on his social media page this month accusin...
Hong Kong authorities have prepared a quarantine facility on Lantau Island as they step up efforts to guard against the potential spread of the deadly Ebola virus following an outbreak in Central Africa. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Tuesday it was working closely with stakeholders to implement stringent prevention and control measures after the World Health Organization (WHO) dec...
With new data suggesting a global retreat from US Treasuries in March – the first full month of the US-Israel war on Iran – market worries are on the rise over whether the sell-off could deepen, as interest rate decisions under new Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh, US debt sustainability and prolonged Middle East tensions raise investor concerns. Analysts are currently weighing mounting inflation...
Security officers from the Philippine Senate are being investigated for firing their weapons without provocation as a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court sought refuge in the building, officials said on Tuesday. Senator Ronald dela Rosa briefly sought refuge in the Senate last week while asking the Philippine Supreme Court to stop an attempt by government agents to arrest him. The f...
Chinese researchers have built a wireless power transmission system capable of beaming kilowatt-level energy to multiple moving targets simultaneously, potentially a major step towards building space-based solar power stations. The team completed a groundbreaking full-chain ground verification platform for such a system in 2022 and have now successfully tested the ability to beam power to multiple...
Spain’s former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for influence peddling and crimes allegedly committed in connection with the bailout of a small airline, according to a court on Tuesday. The move adds to pressure on current Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, already weakened by corruption investigations involving family members and senio...
A Pakistani court sentenced a man to death on Tuesday for murdering a teenage influencer last year after she had repeatedly rejected his advances. Sana Yousaf’s murder in June drew nationwide condemnation and reignited debate over women’s safety, after some online comments – alongside condolences – blamed her for her own death. A judge announced to a cramped Islamabad courtroom on Tuesday afternoo...
Hong Kong should prioritise hydrogen adoption and related services to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a think tank report has said, including setting up refuelling stations for heavy vehicles in container terminals and industrial areas. The policy research report, released on Tuesday by Our Hong Kong Foundation, set out nine recommendations to advance hydrogen use in the city, covering vehicle ...
At last week’s summit in Beijing, the presidents of China and the United States pledged to steer towards a stable and constructive relationship. The two sides announced new joint trade and investment councils. This combination of high-level commitment and institutional progress has stirred hopes that long-running bilateral economic tensions will ease substantially, if not take a turn for the bette...
The Iranian embassy in Beijing has released an animated rap video featuring internet memes and pop culture to mock US leaders and celebrate Iran’s warm ties with China. The two-minute video What is the East? was published on Monday afternoon and had drawn over 370,000 views by noon the next day. It also carried a strong message of Eastern unity and leaned heavily into millennial and Gen Z nostalgi...
The Philippines’ claim that it is now among the middle tier of Southeast Asian maritime powers after two decades of modernisation has come into question, with analysts saying that its navy still lacks enough firepower and reach to match regional rivals. Rear Admiral Joe Anthony C. Orbe, commander of the Philippine Fleet, told reporters on Tuesday that the country’s navy had attained the status of ...
Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel. The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein Square in central Tehran, according to rep...
China and the United States will hold a formal dialogue on improving governance of artificial intelligence, as the two countries seek to manage the risks posed by the rapidly evolving technology. During US President Donald Trump’s state visit to China last week, he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had “constructive exchanges” on AI, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Tuesd...
A recent meeting between Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su signals a potential loosening of US chip export policies, which could reopen high-end semiconductor sales, including artificial intelligence chips, to select Chinese firms, according to analysts. During their meeting on Monday, He reiterated that Beijing welcomed continued foreign investment, accor...
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will largely complete the main structure of a new station on the Tung Chung line by the first half of 2027, using “community-friendly” construction measures to reduce noise. The rail giant said on Tuesday that it would finish boring a 1.3km (0.8-mile) tunnel in the next three months and complete most of the main structure of Tung Chung West station by the first half of ...
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will largely complete the main structure of a new station on the Tung Chung line by the first half of 2027, using “community-friendly” construction measures to reduce noise. The rail giant said on Tuesday that it would finish boring a 1.3km (0.8-mile) tunnel by the third quarter of this year and complete most of Tung Chung West station by the first half of next year. Th...
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will largely complete a new station on the Tung Chung line by the first half of 2027, using “community-friendly” construction measures to reduce noise. The rail giant said on Tuesday that it would finish boring a 1.3-kilometre (0.8-mile) tunnel by the third quarter of this year and complete most of Tung Chung West station by the first half of next year. The new station ...
