Live headlines from trusted global sources. Click any story to open it on the original website.
Indonesia’s new front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme has been welcomed by health advocates as a long-overdue measure to tackle excessive sugar, salt and fat intake. But experts said the labels were only a first step and would do little on their own to slow Indonesia’s growing burden of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other diet-related diseases. A decree issued by the health ministry on Ap...
A Henderson Land Development joint venture has won a five-year contract to operate the Central Harbourfront Event Space in Hong Kong, with a clause that would require the government to be compensated if the number of events falls short of its commitment. The Development Bureau on Thursday announced that Central Grand Limited (CGL), a joint venture between the property developer and concert organis...
The United States’ depleted stockpile of munitions from its war on Iran and limited production capacity will be a critical vulnerability against stronger adversaries, according to Chinese military observers. During the 39 days of war before the ceasefire, the US is estimated to have used about half of both its Patriot air defence missiles and the longer-range Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (T...
China’s fuerdai, or “second-generation rich”, are shaking off their notorious image and have become the favourite boss of some young people. The term fuerdai was invented in the 2000s and refers to the children of people who accumulated wealth following China’s reform and opening up in 1978. It was considered a pejorative term, often associated with the spoiled character and overindulgent lifestyl...
Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” principle can serve as a model around the world and represents the city’s biggest contribution to Beijing’s Global Governance Initiative, political heavyweight Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has said. Ip, the convenor of the government’s key decision-making Executive Council and a former lawmaker, made the remarks at a media briefing on Thursday ahead of the third edi...
The jailing of two Vietnamese men who brokered a sale of 900kg (2,000lbs) of pangolin scales from Africa destined for the Chinese market has returned the spotlight to the illicit trade in an animal that has been poached to the edge of extinction. Prized for its meat and scales, the pangolin has almost disappeared from forests and their hilly habitats of Africa and Asia. Conservationists estimate a...
A hotel operator’s planned entry into Xiongan New Area southwest of Beijing highlights a tentative but growing alignment between Hong Kong’s private sector and the state-backed development project, as leaders renew efforts to accelerate the zone’s transformation into a hi-tech growth hub. Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Eagle Holdings, said on Thursday...
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, marking a second consecutive decline across rolling three-month periods. The Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday the jobless rate stood at 3.7 per cent for January to March, down from 3.8 per cent in the preceding period from December to February. The underemployment rate als...
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, marking a second consecutive decline across rolling three-month periods. The Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday the jobless rate stood at 3.7 per cent for January to March, down from 3.8 per cent in the preceding period from December to February. The underemployment rate also edged down ...
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, marking a second consecutive decline across rolling three-month periods. The Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday the jobless rate stood at 3.7 per cent for January to March, down from 3.8 per cent in the preceding period from December to February. The underemployment rate also edged down ...
A common hand gesture in a South Korean army recruitment poster has prompted scrutiny of a little-known cultural sensitivity in the country. In the poster, a female model in a combat uniform poses with her hand resting under her chin. All quite innocent – except her thumb and index finger form a shape that many South Koreans associate with man-hating, according to The Korea Herald. The finger pinc...
A common hand gesture in a South Korean army recruitment poster has prompted scrutiny of a little-known cultural sensitivity in the country. In the poster, a female model in a combat uniform poses with her hand resting under her chin. All quite innocent – except her thumb and index finger form a shape that many South Koreans associate with man-hating, according to The Korea Herald. The finger pinc...
This year’s Auto China, the world’s largest car show, is likely to mark a watershed for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers as they push dozens of new premium models into the spotlight, challenging European manufacturers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Leading EV makers in mainland China, from BYD and Geely to Leapmotor and Nio, will showcase their latest models at the 10-day show, which starts in...
Turkish lawmakers passed a bill late on Wednesday that includes restricting access to social media platforms for children under 15, state media reported. The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity. Its passage comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, in a...
Hong Kong’s fire services declined to activate an emergency alert during the city’s deadliest inferno in decades, citing concerns that it might have caused confusion among trapped residents, a public inquiry has heard. An independent committee investigating last year’s disaster at Wang Fuk Court was also told on Thursday that the system, which would have triggered a loud, high-pitched alarm on mob...
A data breach at Yau Yat Chuen Garden City Club has compromised the personal information of more than 9,000 people, Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has found, urging organisations to review security measures and update software to close loopholes. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on Thursday also released a guide for parents and teachers to safeguard children’s online privacy ...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi complained she was not getting enough sleep, a veteran politician who met her on Thursday said. The remark came as Takaichi’s premiership recently reached the six-month mark. After winning her ruling party’s leadership election in October, putting her on course to become Japan’s first female prime minister, she vowed to “work, work, work, work and work”, a ph...
The Iran war has done in two months what years of climate policy could not: make green hydrogen look economically viable. Soaring oil and gas prices since February’s outbreak of hostilities have narrowed the cost gap between the zero-emission fuel and its fossil rivals, paving the way for wider uptake across Asia. The eight-week US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ...
In March 2024, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since 2007, lifting borrowing costs out of negative territory and calling time on decades of ultra-loose monetary policy as Japan emerged from a long period of entrenched deflation. At the time, inflation had been above the central bank’s 2 per cent target for 22 months. Fast forward to today, and inflationary pressures cont...
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had agreed not to execute eight women protesters in a sign of respect for him, while officials in Tehran denied the executions had been planned and accused the US president of spreading falsehoods. “Very good news,” Trump said in a social media post a day after granting a unilateral ceasefire in the war started by the US and Israel on Febru...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for China and Cambodia to “stand in closer solidarity, now more than ever” in the first-ever 2+2 strategic dialogue aimed at deepening mutual political and security ties. Speaking during a meeting in Phnom Penh, Wang also urged the two sides to further strengthen political and security cooperation to “firmly hold the reins of development and security in thei...
More than 80,000 people have signed a petition calling for a renewed investigation after a 19-year-old woman died by suicide in late February following a South Korean police decision to drop her sexual assault case. As of Thursday, the petition posted on the National Assembly site on April 16 has collected 80,900 signatures, surpassing the 50,000-signature threshold that requires the legislature t...
The ruler of one of Malaysia’s nine royal states said on Thursday that the government should continue to function “as usual”, using a speech to project calm after four powerful traditional chiefs claimed they had removed him in one of the country’s strangest palace disputes in years. The row began on Sunday, when the four chiefs publicly declared that Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the ruler of Neg...
Hong Kong police have arrested nine people over their alleged involvement in a travel insurance fraud syndicate that staged overseas accidents to claim more than HK$1.7 million (US$217,053). The force said on Thursday it had received a report from the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers in October concerning suspicious travel insurance claims, ranging from “a few thousand to tens of thousands of Hong...
Two local trains collided head-on in Denmark on Thursday, injuring 18 people, five of them critically injured, emergency services said. Two yellow and grey trains were seen at the site, both with visible damage to the front and facing each other in a wooded area, with rescue services describing “chaotic” scenes inside the carriages. “The two trains collided head-on, causing large damage to them a...
Two local trains collided head-on in Denmark on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people, four of whom were in a critical condition, the emergency service said. Public broadcaster DR showed images of two yellow and grey trains, both with visible damage to the front, facing each other in a wooded area. The incident happened north of Copenhagen, on a train line linking the towns of Hillerød and Kage...
Mainland China’s population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – those with assets exceeding US$30 million – has grown by 23 per cent over the past five years to 121,677, and is projected to expand a further 18.8 per cent to 144,602 by 2031, according to Knight Frank. Despite that growth, China’s share of global UHNWIs edged down by one percentage point to 17 per cent this year and was e...
In areas of southern Lebanon it has occupied since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been destroying homes it says were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group. But the demolitions were happening on such a wide scale that residents, Lebanese officials and UN peacekeepers were increasingly worried that large numbers of people displaced by the latest w...
A court has convicted an Italian man of human trafficking by tricking a Singaporean woman into sex work in Dubai, after rejecting his defence arguments attacking the victim. Achraf Arjaouy, 31, had claimed trial to one count of recruiting a person by means of deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Dubai. The victim’s identity is protected by a gag order. The prosecution’s case was tha...
