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US President Donald Trump deflected criticisms about a decision to secretly fly him out of Turkey on a different aircraft while the White House indicated he was aboard Air Force One, saying the Secret Service and military demanded it in response to unspecified safety threats. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do...
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix’s potential deal to offload a packaging plant in southwest China is part of a strategic pivot towards higher-margin artificial intelligence (AI) memory products, according to analysts. But a sale might not be straightforward, as the memory chip giant would need to navigate valuation hurdles and a volatile chip cycle, they cautioned. SK Hynix said on Monday it was “l...
The rivalry between two of Indonesia’s former presidents is moving onto the political ground where their alliance was first forged, with Joko Widodo’s youngest son preparing to contest the constituency held by Megawati Sukarnoputri’s daughter. Kaesang Pangarep plans to seek a parliamentary seat in Central Java V in 2029. The constituency has been represented since 2009 by House Speaker Puan Mahara...
The time-honoured Chinese creamy candy brand White Rabbit recently went viral for its iconic wrapper design, but the brand, having pursued an active rebranding strategy and collaborations, offers much more than its traditional legacy. A netizen on X, under the handle @weeabob, shared a post featuring the candy’s classic blue, red, and white wrapper, praising it as an “absolute masterstroke of grap...
When it comes to bad prognostication, no one can beat Fortune, which came up with the mother of all “Hong Kong is doomed” narratives. In June 1995, the magazine ran its infamous “The Death of Hong Kong” cover story, predicting its demise following the 1997 handover to China. Stephen Roach, veteran China watcher and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, seems determined to follow in its footsteps...
Two people from mainland China were arrested six days after illegally landing in Taiwan by inflatable boat, raising fresh concerns over the island’s coastal security amid its biggest annual military drill. The timing of the incident has drawn scrutiny. The two men arrived just before the 10-day Han Kuang exercise, which began on August 5, and remained at large for nearly a week before being arrest...
As the government completes a public consultation exercise to craft the city’s own five-year plan to align with national development, the first of this five-part series looks at key questions, starting with the need for such a blueprint. Economist Heiwai Tang has a line he likes to use on free-market purists: “The market is almost always right, but it’s not always right.” While Hong Kong has long ...
A visit by Vietnam’s top leader To Lam to Australia and New Zealand this week is expected to lead to stronger maritime security cooperation, especially in intelligence-sharing and joint patrols. The Vietnamese president is seeking to bolster partnerships and strengthen cooperation in science and technology, according to a government statement. During Lam’s six-day trip, which ends on Friday, he is...
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast towards Japan early on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, days before the planned start of massive US-South Korea joint drills. The 11-day exercises due to begin on Monday are a regular fixture of the summer calendar, designed to steel the United States and South Korea for defence against the nuclear-armed North. Pyongyang calls them rehearsa...
North Korea fired a possible ballistic missile towards the sea on Wednesday, Japan’s Defence Ministry said, the second such weapons launch in less than a week. The Defence Ministry said the suspected weapon has landed in the water. Yonhap news agency, citing South Korea’s military, reported that North Korea fired an unidentified projectile off North Korea’s east coast. The missile appeared to have...
Having marked its 99th anniversary on August 1, the People’s Liberation Army is now just a year away from its centenary goals, with its evolution highlighting the past, present and future of China’s military strategy. In the sixth part of a series, Gabriel Dominguez looks at Beijing’s evolving aircraft carrier doctrine. Debate over China’s aircraft carrier ambitions has long centred on how many ca...
The White House has formally lifted the ban on TikTok on US government devices after the Justice Department determined that the version operated by the platform’s new US joint venture is no longer covered by a 2022 prohibition targeting applications controlled by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in a memo dated Monday, rescinded a 2023 d...
The resignation of Indian education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month, yielding to pressure from the “cockroach” youth protests, was an example of democracy in action. Outraged over the leaking of the medical school entrance exam question paper, protesters, led by a group calling itself the Cockroach Janata Party, demanded accountability and reforms. At least 20 young people had taken their o...
Diego Maradona showed “warning signs” that went unheeded during the home hospitalisation leading up to his death in 2020, a witness on Tuesday told the trial examining the Argentine football legend’s demise. Seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since mid-April in Argentina for potential negligence that may have contributed to his death. The World Cup winner died of heart failure and a...
The United States has stepped up scrutiny of China’s overseas lending, warning that the lack of transparency surrounding Chinese loans could increase the risk of unexpected defaults and debt restructuring in emerging markets. In its 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released on Tuesday, the US State Department said China had failed to meet its minimum transparency requirements, citing deficiencies i...
A US helicopter on Tuesday fired missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran’s ports, the United States military said. The US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired on and disabled the M/V Vela Nova “after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media, adding th...
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 10 people overnight and wounded dozens, Kyiv said on Tuesday, accusing Moscow of launching North Korean missiles in the raid. The allegation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned – without providing evidence – that Moscow was receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang. Russia has turned to North Korea f...
Facebook owner Meta Platforms is set to fully unwind its acquisition of Chinese-founded artificial intelligence platform Manus, more than three months after Beijing blocked the deal on national security grounds, capping off another high-profile decoupling between the US and China in the critical area of AI. On Tuesday, Manus wrote in a note to users that it would delete data by “certain users” gen...
Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries. The move comes after Israel sent an aid and disaster response delegation to Venezuela in June following devastating twin earthquakes that left thousands dead. It also follows the United States’ toppling of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro...
Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the US consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the US consulate in Toronto this year. Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a car linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday m...
Around 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the United Nations said on Tuesday, urging an end to such “discrimination”. The Taliban administration, recognised solely by Russia, has imposed a series of restrictions on women that the United Nations has characterised as “gender apartheid”. Girls cannot study beyon...
Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to challenge its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors are undermining the ability to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes. The complaint – filed in the Southern District of New York – says that US President Donald Tr...
The Trump administration’s export-control licensing regime is achieving little strategic benefit while costing the United States billions of dollars in lost exports and undermining American companies’ global market share, according to a new business survey. “Months-long licensing delays are costing the United States billions of dollars in exports and eroding American market share globally,” the US...
When Manli Ho saw her father’s name being used to advertise US$40,000 houses in his hometown in China, she was outraged. “He Saved 18,000 Jewish Lives in WWII. His Hometown Has Homes for $40,000,” one headline on the now-removed English-language webpage read. Manli Ho, 75, is the daughter of Ho Feng-shan, the Chinese diplomat widely known in the West as the “Chinese Schindler” for issuing thousand...
When Manli Ho saw her father’s name being used to advertise US$40,000 houses in his hometown in China, she was outraged. “He Saved 18,000 Jewish Lives in WWII. His Hometown Has Homes for $40,000,” one headline on the now-removed English-language webpage read. Manli Ho, 75, is the daughter of Ho Feng-shan, the Chinese diplomat widely known in the West as the “Chinese Schindler” for issuing thousand...
Hong Kong authorities have defended the city’s childhood vaccination programme after the United States scaled back its immunisation recommendations, stressing that public health policies should not be “arbitrarily altered”. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Tuesday that all public health policies and medical recommendations had to be based on scientific evidence. “Vaccination schedule...
Baptist University has said it is reviewing the security of its information technology (IT) systems after a ransomware group claimed online to have illegally accessed the Hong Kong institution’s data. The allegations were made by “The Gentlemen”, an advanced cybercrime group that first appeared in the middle of last year. Cybersecurity monitoring platforms reported that about 1,900 credentials lin...
Moscow on Tuesday freed a former US marine jailed in Russia since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon for the ailing American based on humanitarian reasons, US officials said. The White House and the State Department had urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he can receive medical treatment in the United States. Gilman was being held in a prison in Voronezh, abo...
