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US President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a truce deal proposed by Iran that Tehran said could have reopened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within a week. The waterway is key to the world’s energy supply and is now central to the conflict between the US and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months. “I reject their proposal,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “They...
Pope Leo on Saturday celebrated an open-air mass in front of hundreds of thousands of faithful in Paris after riding in the Popemobile along the iconic Champs Elysees to the cheers of huge crowds clutching French and Vatican flags. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots, on the first official papal visit to France...
When Donald Trump arrives in Shenzhen for the November Apec summit, he will face a Chinese leader even more confident than the one who left Washington this week after a state visit heavy on pageantry but light on concrete deliverables. Experts attributed this confidence to three key factors – a newly upgraded bilateral framework seeking a “constructive relationship of strategic stability based on ...
The Brics-founded New Development Bank could help launch a fund by the end of the year to guarantee cheap loans for poor families in Africa and Latin America, Brazil’s social development minister said. The scheme would be the Shanghai-based lender’s first financial commitment to Brazil’s global anti-hunger alliance, an initiative sidelined by Washington’s presidency of the G20 this year. Wellingto...
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding about 30 others, officials said, in a sign of increasing violence in the region bordering Afghanistan. The attack occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial...
The Xi-Trump summit may prove more significant for stabilising relations and opening space for further negotiations between the world’s two largest economies than for its immediate trade outcomes, analysts said, pointing to the significance of a new dialogue on artificial intelligence. With the two leaders expected to meet again in the coming months, attention could shift from extending the latest...
Over a private tea in the White House Red Room to mark the end of Xi Jinping’s state visit, US President Donald Trump struck a relaxed tone, marvelling across the table at how fast the Chinese leader had made the trip to America. “It’s a very fast plane … the fastest plane,” Trump said, in footage captured after the White House TV press pool resumed coverage following a court ruling that restored ...
The new US-Denmark-Greenland security agreement could narrow China’s room to engage in the Arctic – particularly in resource-rich Greenland – and potentially push Beijing closer to Russia, Chinese experts on the matter said. According to observers, the deal – signed on Tuesday – could have the broader effect of accelerating the securitisation of the Arctic and making Western Arctic states more cau...
Hong Kong district councillor Peggy Wong Pik-kiu has resigned from office and several other community roles citing health reasons, following mounting controversy over her team’s alleged proxy-vote collection before last year’s fatal Wang Fuk Court inferno. Wong, a directly elected district councillor for the Tai Po South constituency, also stepped down from her duties as a member of the Tai Po Sou...
A 44-year-old woman in Hong Kong has been arrested on suspicion of child abuse after dashcam footage appeared to show her shoving a boy into a roadside railing. A police force spokesman said on Saturday that the woman was arrested on Friday afternoon in Western district after a widely circulated dashcam video drew the force’s attention. In the video seen by the South China Morning Post, the woman ...
A government-hosted Mid-Autumn Festival light show at a nullah in Hong Kong has sparked widespread online criticism, with revellers complaining of foul smells and poor execution. Social media was awash with criticism on Saturday, just hours after the opening night of the two-day “Yuen Long Flood Barrier and Nullah Improvement Scheme – Mid-Autumn Light Show” organised by the Drainage Services Depar...
Six people have died, the Greek fire brigade said on Saturday, after a two-storey residential building in a tourist area of central Athens collapsed following an explosion which the capital’s mayor said was likely linked to gas infrastructure. Emergency crews in heavy gear and red helmets assisted by rescue dogs, cameras and sensors found the bodies of six people, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis ...
Two people have died and another four are missing after a residential building collapsed following an explosion in a tourist area of central Athens, a Greek fire brigade official said on Saturday. The blast on Friday destroyed a two-storey building in Plaka, near some of Athens’ most visited sites including the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus, injuring three people, damaging nearby houses, sho...
A Chinese doctoral graduate in medicine left her promising hospital job to embrace a “less meritocratic” lifestyle as a part-time freelancer. Liu Zihan, 31, delivers food, performs at a pub, sells breakfast, and explores a variety of part-time jobs that captivate her interests while providing for her living expenses. Before leaving her full-time employment in February, Liu served as a psychiatrist...
Just a month after Saudi Arabia signed a regional mutual defence deal with Pakistan and Turkey, attacks by Yemen’s Houthis against the kingdom’s energy infrastructure and military sites are testing the pact’s limits. At a hastily convened meeting of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in Riyadh on Friday, military chiefs of the three parties reaffirmed their commitment to collective defence, accordi...
Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and forcing thousands to leave their homes. Bangkok is flood-prone, especially during the monsoon season, but waters rarely linger for long. Nonetheless, the city’s drainage is notoriously ill-equipped to handl...
First ladies Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump opened a new front in US-China exchanges this week, with their unusually frequent and spontaneous interactions putting a more personal face on ties during the presidential summit in Washington. The pair charted a parallel path of soft power diplomacy – sharing conversations, cultural outings and moments of apparent warmth during a visit otherwise shadowed...
Hikers flocking to a popular geological attraction in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung over the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend have called for real-time displays showing when time slots are available under a trial registration system. A day after the large influx of visitors, the High Island Geo Trail’s Po Pin Chau section continued to draw lines of visitors on Saturday morning – the second day of an extended we...
China’s technology companies face a question that no pricing strategy can answer: what will their success do to their trading partners? In Europe, that question has become politically urgent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warns of a “second China shock”, linking persistent trade imbalances to the erosion of Europe’s industrial base. Europe’s dispute carries a broader warning: ...
Hong Kong police are investigating a case of voyeurism after three suspected pinhole cameras were found in the changing rooms of a 24/7 Fitness branch in Sha Tin. The force said on Saturday that officers were alerted at 5.11pm on Friday to a suspected pinhole camera attached with black tape to the false ceiling of a changing room at the gym on Lek Yuen Street. Upon searching, officers discovered t...
EnerVenue, a start-up co-founded by Full Vision Capital, the family office of Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit, has begun manufacturing a new battery it expects to challenge existing energy-storage technologies dominated by mainland Chinese players, amid surging global demand for green energy. The California-based company can now produce 250 megawatt-hours (MWh) of nickel-hydrogen batteries annua...
Hong Kong’s development minister has promised a public account of her bureau’s oversight of the Queen Mary Hospital lift saga, while stopping short of saying whether a new accountability system for department heads would be invoked. Nearly two weeks after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu tasked the Development Bureau with submitting a report within a month, Secretary for Development Bernadette Lin...
Hong Kong’s development minister has pledged to give a public account of whether her bureau failed to properly oversee faulty lift installations at Queen Mary Hospital’s new block, but has stopped short of confirming whether a new accountability system for heads of departments will be invoked to probe the saga. Nearly two weeks after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu tasked the Development Bureau w...
Hong Kong’s development minister has pledged to give a public account of whether her bureau failed to properly oversee faulty lift installations at Queen Mary Hospital’s new block, but stopped short of confirming if a new accountability system for heads of departments would be invoked to probe the saga. Almost two weeks after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu tasked the Development Bureau with subm...
As AI becomes an increasingly important part of China’s economic transformation, economists and industry leaders are raising concerns about two potential risks: inflated valuations for humanoid robotics companies and the technology widening the wealth gap between rich and poor. Daniel Zhang, managing partner of FirstLight Capital and former chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group Holding, said the sharp...
Hong Kong’s finance chief has predicted a positive market response to the Xi-Trump summit, saying that mitigating geopolitical uncertainties would bolster investor confidence, while local business representatives expect that greater stability in bilateral ties may reinforce the city’s role as a connector. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po made the prediction on a radio programme on Saturday, aft...
Hong Kong’s finance chief has predicted a positive market response to the Xi-Trump summit, saying the mitigation of geopolitical uncertainties will bolster investor confidence. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po made his prediction on a radio programme on Saturday, a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a three-day visit to Washington to meet with US counterpart Donald Trump, with pr...
For over two decades, Pakistan has waged countless counterterrorism campaigns against Taliban and Baloch insurgents in its western regions bordering Afghanistan and Iran, yet remains mired in a cycle of violence it cannot break. Scores of soldiers, policemen and civilians are killed every month in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, where near-daily a...
Taiwan’s transfer of a former coastguard vessel to the Philippines has triggered a dual controversy – raising concerns over the interests of Taiwanese fishermen and prompting strong criticism from Beijing. The matter centres on a 61-metre (200-foot) retired cutter handed over to the Philippine Coast Guard through a non-governmental organisation on Monday, as Taipei and Manila expand practical mari...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States was crucial to maintaining the overall stability of China-US relations and aimed at putting the relationship on an equal footing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who accompanied Xi on the three-day trip to Washington, gave the assessment on Saturday, expanding on relations between the two countries. According to state news agency Xinhua, ...
