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Hong Kong will introduce security arrangements, including contingency plans for potential terrorist attacks, for the coming Apec meeting to ensure it is held safely and smoothly while minimising disruption to residents’ daily lives, the security chief has said. The Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting will be held in the city for the first time on October 20 and 21, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhi...
Hong Kong’s Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) is considering an appeal against the non-custodial sentence of an engineer held liable for faulty lift installation work in Queen Mary Hospital’s new clinical block. The department said on Thursday it was seeking legal advice on whether to apply for a review of lift engineer Law Wing-chai’s sentence after he was deemed responsible fo...
CNN, MS NOW and Politico requested an urgent court hearing on Thursday after their reporters were barred from the White House despite a judge’s order that their access be restored. “This morning journalists from each of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico attempted to enter the White House and were turned away,” the news outlets said in a court filing. “Plaintiffs respectfully request that the court set a h...
A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional. In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organisations filed contesting the...
A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional. In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organisations filed contesting the...
Tencent Holdings on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a mobile payment app targeting foreign visitors, as the tech giant seeks to capture China’s growing inbound tourism market ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen. Developed by Tencent’s WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo allowed international travellers to make payments at tens of millions of shops, restaurants and attraction...
Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the islands known to Britain as the Falklands and to Argentines as the Malvinas, calling it a key issue for his nation and urging the parties to find a “peaceful solution” as tensions with London over the disputed archipelago grow. “The Malvinas for us is a national cause,” Milei, a strong ally of US President Donald...
Italy’s Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation paving the way for a return to nuclear power nearly four decades after the Chernobyl disaster prompted the country to abandon atomic energy. The measure cleared the upper house 81-51 with seven abstentions. It marks a major step in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s drive to bolster energy security and meet climate goals, even though the constru...
Thailand’s teenage guitar sensation Nene Royal won the US$1 million top prize on America’s Got Talent, capping a viral run that made the 16-year-old a national celebrity and drew support from across her home country. Rattikarn Amloy, better known by her stage name Nene Royal, was crowned the winner during Wednesday’s live results show, beating nine other finalists after emerging as the clear favou...
A video clip showing uniformed US military personnel on their hands and knees making last-minute adjustments to a red carpet has gone viral online, as President Donald Trump rolled out a lavish welcome for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews. The 12-second clip, which circulated widely on US social media, captured several service members hurriedly smoothing and cleaning the 30...
Hong Kong police are searching for a woman after the body of her colleague was found on a chair outside a commercial building in Tsim Sha Tsui early on Thursday. Officers also arrested a 28-year-old bar worker, charging him with unlawful burial of a body, operating a drug den and failing to produce proof of identity. He told police he had helped the woman, who also worked at the bar, move the body...
Hong Kong police are searching for a Chinese woman after a man’s body was found on a chair outside a commercial building in Tsim Sha Tsui early on Thursday. Officers also arrested a 28-year-old bar staff member and charged him with illegally handling a corpse. He told police he had helped the woman move the body to the car park. Police said they received a report at about 1.40am on Thursday of an ...
With the balance of power shifting between the US and China, the success of this week’s summit hinges not on headline-grabbing deals, but on practical, cautious consensus under a new strategic stability framework, according to Chinese researchers. Media outlets in China have given heavy coverage to President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States, highlighting its “historic, milestone signi...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s proposal for a phased approach to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes is a pragmatic response, analysts say, but prospects for gaining its arch-rival’s acceptance remain uncertain. In a keynote speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Lee laid out a long-term, step-by-step sequence for pursuing the ultimate goal of North Korea’s denuclearisation. ...
When the weather turns warm around June, people all across China gather for the annual Dragon Boat Festival, and one of the most famous dishes from the celebration is the zongzi. Zongzi is a rice dumpling with a delicious filling, wrapped in bamboo leaves before being cooked. The leaves add aroma and flavour to the rice. In mid-August, a group of scientists from China announced they had discovered...
With China and the US agreeing to extend a tariff truce that was set to expire in November – and US President Donald Trump giving his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, a personal welcome on the tarmac – analysts say the Chinese leader’s state visit has begun on a positive note. The extension will run for two months through January 10, a sign the world’s two largest economies are willing to negotiat...
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the country would hold elections as part of a transition to “full democracy”, but did not give a specific date for the vote. “I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela,” said Rodriguez, who came to power after American forces captured then-President Ni...
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the country would hold elections as part of a transition to “full democracy”, but did not give a specific date for the vote. “I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela,” said Rodriguez, who came to power after American forces captured then-President Ni...
Toey Wattana Mongkhonnam began thinking about outfitting his family home in Thailand’s northeastern province of Yasothon with solar panels during the Covid-19 pandemic. In his household of five, electricity use rises with the day’s heat, and the monthly bill could range from 1,000 to 1,500 baht (US$30 to US$45). “Back then, I checked prices and a rooftop panel system that could put out enough powe...
“Whoever wins with AI wins,” US President Donald Trump has declared, dismissing warnings about the risks of developing artificial intelligence too rapidly and citing rivalry with China. The technological competition is real. China has reason to fear becoming dependent on America for advanced chips and AI technology, particularly as Washington has repeatedly restricted its access to cutting-edge se...
While major powers compete in militarised space races and state-led megaprojects, a group comprising a Russian astronaut trainer, Chinese science educators and Malaysian collaborators is laying the groundwork for an international youth space camp. Set to be held in Penang’s rainforest eco-park in late 2027 at the earliest, the week-long programme will gather youth from around the region to inspire...
While major powers compete in militarised space races and state-led megaprojects, a group comprising a Russian astronaut trainer, Chinese science educators and Malaysian collaborators is laying the groundwork for an international youth space camp. Set to be held in Penang’s rainforest eco-park in late 2027 at the earliest, the week-long programme will gather youth from around the region to inspire...
An autonomous OpenAI programme infiltrated an Australian government health website in June in an “unacceptable” breach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The artificial intelligence agent accessed public and non-public files of the health statistics service, he told reporters in New York on Wednesday. OpenAI did not raise the alarm with the Australian government until September, when it sent a...
Chinese President Xi Jinping was greeted on the tarmac by his American counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday – a rare gesture ahead of their summit. It is Xi’s first state visit to the United States in over a decade and the two leaders met each other at Joint Base Andrews just after 6pm, alongside their wives Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan. Here are the key takeaways. 1. Trade truce extended As Xi ...
Hong Kong’s existing animal welfare laws are no longer “fit for purpose” to deal with issues around pet abandonment and strays, legal experts have said, urging authorities to expedite long-delayed reforms to the city’s ordinances following a spate of dog attacks. The calls echo comments by Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan, who said on Wednesday that authorities would look at whet...
Washington is increasingly turning to South Korea to ease ammunition supply bottlenecks triggered by wars in the Middle East and Europe, potentially accelerating Seoul’s integration into the US defence industrial base. Analysts say the United States may struggle to replenish stockpiles quickly enough if conflicts in Iran and Ukraine drag on, creating opportunities for South Korea’s defence industr...
The heads of major artificial intelligence firms pleaded with the United Nations on Wednesday to save the world or at least its people – by somehow regulating the fast-expanding technology that they have been designing. “If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” said Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic. And from his competitor Sam Altman, CEO of O...
The heads of major artificial intelligence firms pleaded with the United Nations on Wednesday to save the world or at least its people – by somehow regulating the fast-expanding technology that they have been designing. “If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” said Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic. And from his competitor Sam Altman, CEO of O...
Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan shared a light moment with Melania Trump on Wednesday as the two women renewed an acquaintance dating back to the Trumps’ first term in the White House. The first ladies smiled as they greeted each other at the foot of the aircraft stairs at Joint Base Andrews, where Peng arrived with President Xi Jinping for a visit to Washington. Walking behind their husbands along...
Turkey will hand over control of its base in Bashiqa in northern Iraq to Baghdad, the Turkish presidency announced on Wednesday in a joint statement with its neighbour. “In light of progress achieved by these security measures implemented by Iraq, Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to the Federal Government of Iraq in accordance with the agreed mechanism and timetable,...
