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Apple leads China smartphone sales after launch of iPhone 18 Pro. Can the momentum last?
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Apple leads China smartphone sales after launch of iPhone 18 Pro. Can the momentum last?

Apple has claimed the top spot in China’s smartphone market following the release of its iPhone 18 Pro series, giving a potential boost to a sluggish handset market weighed down by weak consumer demand and soaring component costs. Sales of the new Pro models in their first three days after launching on September 18 were 12 per cent higher than sales of the iPhone 17 Pro line-up during its entire f...

Seoul residents up in arms over school for North Korean defectors
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Seoul residents up in arms over school for North Korean defectors

Residents of a district in the South Korean capital of Seoul are up in arms over plans to build a permanent school for North Korean defectors in their neighbourhood. The dispute escalated to the point where the school’s principal dropped to her knees to beg protesters to “embrace the children”, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported. Yeomyung School, which educates middle and high school students who f...

Can India curb childhood obesity by banning junk food near schools?
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Can India curb childhood obesity by banning junk food near schools?

Shivanjali Singh has worked hard to raise two healthy, athletic children in India, but worries about their ability to resist the lure of junk food constantly surrounding them. Her children, aged 14 and 10, are national-level skaters and have grown up on home-cooked food and drinks such as coconut water rather than fizzy drinks and crisps. Yet Singh, who lives in Noida in the National Capital Regio...

Hong Kong’s IPO haul in first 9 months smashes record despite Nasdaq’s fundraising lead
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Hong Kong’s IPO haul in first 9 months smashes record despite Nasdaq’s fundraising lead

Funds raised through Hong Kong initial public offerings (IPOs) doubled in the first nine months of 2026, reaching the highest level for the period since records began in 1980. A total of 112 companies raised US$48.4 billion on Hong Kong’s main board during the first nine months, according to data released by LSEG Data & Analytics on Wednesday. A further two companies listed on the city’s Growth En...

EU weighs sweeping new trade powers against China before make-or-break October

EU weighs sweeping new trade powers against China before make-or-break October

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Brussels and Berlin are steeling themselves for a make-or-break October with China, as the mood towards Beijing hardens in both capitals. The month ahead could help set the course of the increasingly thorny EU-China relationship for years to come, as Europe gears up to present a slew of new tools for countering Beijing’s trade practices, likely to come in December. Before then, EU trade chief Maro...

Passengers foil bid to crash Israel-bound flight after co-pilot stabs captain

Passengers foil bid to crash Israel-bound flight after co-pilot stabs captain

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Passengers on a ⁠flydubai flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after customers and crew foiled a co-pilot’s attempt to ⁠crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said, in a struggle that began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots...

Diverted flydubai flight may be attempted ‘terror attack’ by co-pilot: Israeli officials

Diverted flydubai flight may be attempted ‘terror attack’ by co-pilot: Israeli officials

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The co-pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv is believed to have stabbed the captain in a possible attempted “terror attack” on Wednesday, forcing the plane to divert to Saudi Arabia where it landed safely, three Israeli officials have said. They said the cabin crew entered the cockpit and took control of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Ar...

Diverted flydubai flight may be attempted ‘terror attack’ by 1 pilot: Israeli officials

Diverted flydubai flight may be attempted ‘terror attack’ by 1 pilot: Israeli officials

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The Israeli government believes an incident on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Arabia after sending emergency signals on Wednesday, may have been an attempted “terror attack” by one of the pilots, according to two Israeli officials. The two Israeli officials said the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the captain before cabin crew entered the cockpit an...

FlyDubai flight to Israel diverted to Saudi Arabia after incident in cockpit

FlyDubai flight to Israel diverted to Saudi Arabia after incident in cockpit

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A commercial plane travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane’s two pilots, and everyone on board was safe. The plane l...

Behind closed doors, a fatal beating exposes Malaysia’s parallel boarding school rules

Behind closed doors, a fatal beating exposes Malaysia’s parallel boarding school rules

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The death of a 14-year-old student at a Malaysian boarding school has renewed scrutiny over student safety, raising questions over whether reforms introduced after the high-profile death of Zara Qairina Mahathir last year have changed what happens behind dormitory doors. Police in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, have detained two 16-year-old students as they investigate the death of Muhammad Idlan F...

Hong Kong to expand IP financing sandbox after 7 firms secure cheaper loans

Hong Kong to expand IP financing sandbox after 7 firms secure cheaper loans

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The Hong Kong government has pledged to expand its intellectual property (IP) financing sandbox scheme by adding more participating banks and enterprises, after seven corporate users found that a nine-month trial helped lower their borrowing costs. “This will help refine the IP ecosystem, including valuation practices, professional service costs, supporting measures and market awareness,” Carmen C...

Singapore jails man for slapping preschooler at bus stop over rude gesture

Singapore jails man for slapping preschooler at bus stop over rude gesture

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A man became angry after a four-year-old boy pointed his middle finger at him while he was picking up his son from preschool in Singapore. He pursued the boy to a nearby bus stop that was crowded with other young kids, grabbed the boy by the arm and slapped him hard on both cheeks. The boy, who was his son’s schoolmate, suffered bruises on his face and ringing in his ear, on top of emotional traum...

China’s 2030 solid-state battery goal, Chinese carmakers see boost in Europe: 7 EV reads

China’s 2030 solid-state battery goal, Chinese carmakers see boost in Europe: 7 EV reads

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We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. As Chinese carmakers diversify beyond CATL, Beijing warns of market overreaction A publication under China’s industry ministry has pushed back against market chatter of “de-CATLisation” ...

China’s DeepSeek open-sources tools to help Huawei chips supplant Nvidia in AI

China’s DeepSeek open-sources tools to help Huawei chips supplant Nvidia in AI

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Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek on Wednesday open-sourced a suite of core tools tailored for Huawei Technologies’ Ascend AI chips, marking a step forward in the country’s push to end dependence on processors from US giant Nvidia amid US export curbs. Hangzhou-based DeepSeek released six software modules that mirror its prior open-source tools for Nvidia’s AI chips, aiming to buil...

Philippines urged to adopt Malaysia’s lasting tourism strategy

Philippines urged to adopt Malaysia’s lasting tourism strategy

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Philippine senators have urged the Department of Tourism to stick with a single marketing campaign to build long-term international recognition, pointing to long-running successes such as Malaysia’s “Truly Asia” tagline. Newly appointed Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay was asked about her plans for the current slogan, “Love the Philippines”, during a departmental budget hearing on Monday, the ...

China’s R&D spending hits record 2.8% of GDP, beating OECD average for the first time

China’s R&D spending hits record 2.8% of GDP, beating OECD average for the first time

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For the first time, China’s spending on research and development as a share of gross domestic product has surpassed the average for Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members – a trend one analyst expects to continue as Beijing seeks to strengthen technological self-reliance amid intensifying global competition. R&D expenditure exceeded 3.92 trillion yuan (US$584.8 billio...

Hong Kong urged to boost private housing supply as student demand jumps 45%

Hong Kong urged to boost private housing supply as student demand jumps 45%

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Hong Kong authorities are facing calls to increase the proportion of private housing in selected districts and work more closely with developers to expand accommodation for non-local students. The government forecasts annual demand for non-local student housing at 2,310 flats over the next decade, 45 per cent higher than last year’s estimate, according to the latest Long-Term Housing Strategy prog...

US social media users urge Koreans to unmask Cornell sexual assault suspect Winston Lee

US social media users urge Koreans to unmask Cornell sexual assault suspect Winston Lee

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The sprawling online hunt for information about Winston Lee, a Korean student who is among seven defendants in a Cornell University sexual assault lawsuit, is increasingly crossing borders, with English-speaking social media users calling on their Korean counterparts to help uncover more information about him. As the “Cornell 7” case continues to draw intense attention across the United States, Le...

Chinese firms trail global peers on profits, but AI power boom offers bright spot: Natixis

Chinese firms trail global peers on profits, but AI power boom offers bright spot: Natixis

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China’s corporate sector remains considerably weaker than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the country is emerging as a key beneficiary of the global artificial intelligence boom thanks to its ample power capacity, according to a Natixis survey of thousands of firms and a separate research report. Profit margins at Chinese firms had stabilised at about 4.5 per cent for the first half of 20...

There’s been buzz around Carney for a prize long coveted by Trump

There’s been buzz around Carney for a prize long coveted by Trump

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Mark Carney built a global profile in 2026 by standing up to US President Donald Trump. If some prediction-market traders and prominent admirers are right, the Canadian prime minister could end the year with the Nobel Peace Prize and Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Carney briefly became the favourite Monday for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Kalshi, a US-based prediction market, when traders on...

HSBC unveils RedCoin as name of Hong Kong stablecoin for 3.3 million PayMe users

HSBC unveils RedCoin as name of Hong Kong stablecoin for 3.3 million PayMe users

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HSBC on Wednesday named its stablecoin offering HSBC RedCoin, paving the way for Hong Kong’s biggest lender to make the coin available to the more than 3.3 million users of its PayMe app for money transfers, shopping and dining. When launched before the end of the year, the stablecoin would be offered only through PayMe and HSBC’s Hong Kong mobile banking app, HSBC said. The bank said it was optim...

HSBC unveils RedCoin as name of its Hong Kong stablecoin for 3.3 million PayMe users

HSBC unveils RedCoin as name of its Hong Kong stablecoin for 3.3 million PayMe users

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HSBC on Wednesday named its stablecoin offering HSBC RedCoin, paving the way for Hong Kong’s biggest lender to make the coin available to the more than 3.3 million users of its PayMe app for money transfers, shopping and dining. When launched before the end of the year, the stablecoin would be offered only through PayMe and HSBC’s Hong Kong mobile banking app, HSBC said. The bank said it was optim...

Slow is beautiful: China launches war against AI drama, goes beyond algorithms

Slow is beautiful: China launches war against AI drama, goes beyond algorithms

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China’s broadcasting regulator has called for greater support for live-action dramas as the government seeks to steer the booming microdrama industry towards higher-quality production and tighter rights safeguards amid the rapid rise of AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) has created innovation and production possibilities for microdramas, while also posing challenges over content quality and rights ...

Pentagon picks Boeing to build new carrier fighter jet to replace F/A-18

Pentagon picks Boeing to build new carrier fighter jet to replace F/A-18

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The Pentagon has chosen Boeing to build the US Navy’s next-generation fighter jets in a contract valued at US$20 billion, officials announced Tuesday. The contract is to produce F/A-XX aircraft or “strike fighters” under the “Next Generation Air Dominance Program,” a Pentagon statement said, adding that the new jets would replace the legacy Super Hornets fleet beginning in the 2030s. The announcem...

Malaysia’s Mahathir in hospital for observation a day after wife’s death

Malaysia’s Mahathir in hospital for observation a day after wife’s death

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Malaysia’s two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has been admitted to hospital for observation, his office confirmed on Wednesday, in the latest health scare involving the 101-year-old. Mahathir was admitted to the National Heart Institute on Tuesday night, barely a day after his wife of 70 years, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, died at the same hospital. It is unclear why the former leader was admitt...

US Supreme Court lets Trump resume deportations to third countries

US Supreme Court lets Trump resume deportations to third countries

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The US Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump’s administration continue swiftly deporting people to countries other than their own for now, while the justices consider whether the policy is legal. The apparent 6-3 order temporarily lifts lower court requirements for migrants to get a chance to object before being sent to countries to which they have no ties. The Supreme Court will hea...

Boom News founder Tang Ho-wing, 1 other arrested by Hong Kong national security police

Boom News founder Tang Ho-wing, 1 other arrested by Hong Kong national security police

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Hong Kong national security police have arrested two people, including the founder of online media outlet Boom News on suspicion of “incitement by spreading disinformation”, the South China Morning Post has learned A source familiar with the matter said journalist Tang Ho-wing, the 37-year-old founder of Boom News, was apprehended at around 7am on Wednesday, along with one other person. “The Natio...

Boom News founder Tang Ho-wing arrested by Hong Kong national security police

Boom News founder Tang Ho-wing arrested by Hong Kong national security police

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Hong Kong national security police have arrested the founder of online media outlet Boom News on suspicion of “incitement by spreading disinformation”, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source said journalist Tang Ho-wing, the 37-year-old founder of Boom News, was apprehended at around 7am on Wednesday. Tang, known to internet users as “Boom head” or Bobby, was previously a journ...