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On Sunday morning, Jais, a farmer in Ketapang, West Kalimantan on Borneo island – the province hardest-hit by raging forest fires – was en route to his farm when he found an orangutan writhing on the ground in a weak state on a palm-oil plantation near the fire site. “It was very weak, then I gave it water,” said Jais, who only goes by one name. Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haz...
Hong Kong police have arrested 321 people, including a 13-year-old, and seized HK$130 million (US$16.5 million) worth of suspected illegal drugs during a seven-week citywide crackdown. Code-named “Tailbacker”, the operation ran from July 12 to August 29, and uncovered 234 drug-related cases, police said on Sunday. The 321 suspects, aged between 13 and 72, comprised 228 men, 65 women and 28 minors....
Earlier this month, when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened sanctions against any nation continuing to purchase Iranian crude oil, he did not name China. He did not need to. China, the Islamic Republic’s largest oil customer, is squarely in Washington’s crosshairs. The US has already unveiled new sanctions against 60 individuals, companies and vessels linked to Iranian trade, including...
Hong Kong authorities are facing a growing backlash after seizing a “fighting dog” from its owner following a neighbour’s complaint and detaining it for behavioural evaluation. It was the second dog with pit bull lineage that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department had seized in a week. The department’s actions came amid heightened public concern over canine management, following a ...
For many, losing hair isn’t just a cosmetic worry – it is a deeply personal struggle that can chip away at confidence, social life and mental health. Now, a surprising candidate is offering new hope: a pill originally designed to treat arthritis. The condition is called alopecia areata. It is an autoimmune disease where the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing unpred...
An independent Hong Kong bookstore has shut its doors six weeks after a national security police raid, drawing long queues of customers on its final day following four years in business. Readers wound down the dim staircase of a Prince Edward tenement building on Sunday afternoon, with some waiting up to 45 minutes to enter the third-floor bookstore, Have a Nice Stay. The closure followed a mid-Ju...
Shanghai has named career finance official Zhu Zhongming as the municipal government’s new party chief, an appointment that puts him in line to become the city’s next mayor. The appointment was announced on Saturday in a social media post that said he had chaired a meeting of the city government’s party leadership group. Zhu replaces the current mayor, Gong Zheng, in the post. However, the city’s ...
In the third instalment of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on Hong Kong’s growing wellness trends, Victor Ting examines how wearable devices are reshaping personal healthcare in the city, as experts caution that they should not replace professional medical advice. Alice Wong had little idea how seriously ill she might become until unusual patterns on her smartwatch prompted her to seek ...
Hong Kong authorities are making a final push to persuade 45 holdout homeowners at fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court to join a government buyout scheme before Monday afternoon’s deadline. As of noon on Sunday, 1,939 of the estate’s 1,984 flat owners – or 97.7 per cent – had submitted acceptance letters, while 77.7 per cent had signed formal sale and purchase agreements, according to the government. This...
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday introduced measures to address rising living costs and support businesses, including restoring higher quotas for subsidised petrol and diesel purchases, as well as more funding for schools and small traders. The measures are expected to take effect on September 1, Anwar said in a televised address. “The economic growth of the country must be ret...
Uzbekistan has confirmed that it has become the second foreign country to operate China’s J-10CE fighter, marking another breakthrough for Beijing’s advanced combat aircraft exports and a potentially significant inroad into a Central Asian defence market long dominated by Russian warplanes. Reports previously suggested that Uzbekistan had ordered 24 J-10CEs, although neither country confirmed the ...
Uzbekistan confirmed that it has become the second foreign country to acquire the J-10CE fighter, as Beijing makes inroads into a Central Asian market previously dominated by Russian warplanes. Reports had previously suggested Uzbekistan had ordered 24 J-10CEs, although neither country has confirmed the deal. However, at least six of the jets were shown in footage released by the Uzbek president’s...
Hong Kong lawmakers will hold a three-day joint debate in early October on the city’s annual policy address and first five-year plan, with Legislative Council president Starry Lee Wai-king seeking to extend the session so legislators have enough time to reflect residents’ views. The Legco earlier announced a combined debate from October 7 to 9, requested by the government, to cover both the motion...
Chinese audiences have been captivated by a new South Korean dating show that features young people battling serious illnesses, drawing inspiration from their courageous pursuit of love. The dating reality show, Love Against Time, released by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) this summer, has gone viral on Chinese social media. While various dating reality shows have long served as a hallmark of...
The 102-year-old mother of the late Cantopop icon Anita Mui Yim-fong died on Sunday morning after collapsing at her home in Hong Kong. Tam Mei‑kam was being fed liquid oatmeal by her domestic helper at about 10.30am when she suddenly collapsed in her Causeway Bay flat. The helper, a 31-year-old Indonesian woman, immediately called police. Paramedics and officers arrived at her home in the Leigyinn...
Leading chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has joined a growing list of Chinese technology companies suing the US government over their additions to Pentagon blacklists, as legal experts said US courts had shown a willingness to hold the Department of Defence to account. Recent rulings involving Chinese tech firms including lidar sensor maker Hesai Group, drone manufacturer DJI and biot...
Pakistan’s prime minister said eight officials were suspended and called for criminal proceedings against them, after 14 infants were killed in a fire in a maternity ward in a hospital in the country’s capital. A preliminary report conducted by a four-person committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif found the deadly blaze had engulfed the unit “within approximately two minutes” just after ...
The closure of Canada’s “lifeboat” migration scheme for Hongkongers has left some applicants who are struggling to meet permanent residency requirements in limbo, prompting others to consider alternative destinations such as the US and Britain. Hong Kong-based immigration agents made this observation on Sunday after Ottawa announced on Friday that its dedicated pathways for Hongkongers would stop ...
Wuliangye, China’s second-largest liquor producer, is a household name. But Yibin, the lower-tier city in Sichuan province home to the famous baijiu maker, has long flown under the radar. So when I received an invitation earlier this month for a media trip to Yibin, the first question that sprang to mind was: where exactly is it? Tucked away behind the hills of western China, we had to fly to Chen...
As the waters of the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers recede, leaving behind mud, debris and damaged infrastructure, a familiar pattern is visible in Nepal. When disaster strikes, the country’s usual political divisions, cronyism and institutional mistrust give way, for a while, to real unity. Across party lines, political leaders worked around the clock alongside security forces. Digital channels o...
In the quiet of a Peking University research room, shelves groan under the weight of 60 thick volumes. Stacked, they stand taller than an average human. Inside their pages lie details of more than 23,000 ancient Chinese bronze vessels, weapons, chariot fittings and ritual objects that left China’s shores long ago and now sit in museums, private collections and auction houses across nearly 30 count...
Drinks, music, vibes … what else can a bar offer to attract customers? One in China’s capital, Beijing, is betting on unlimited access to artificial intelligence models. The AGI Bar in the Zhongguancun tech hub, known as China’s Silicon Valley, was packed with laptop-using customers on a recent night. One of the first things many did after ordering a drink was to connect to the in-house Wi-fi and ...
Venezuelan hardliners and opposition forces alike criticised acting president Delcy Rodriguez for agreeing to grant the US exclusive access to the country’s valuable oil resources. She may be betting that the deal with US President Donald Trump is her ticket to a tighter grip on power. One potential advantage for Rodriguez is if the deal to give the US majority control over 65 billion barrels of V...
Hong Kong police are investigating social media videos that appear to show a dog trapped inside a running washing machine. Police confirmed on Sunday that they had received a report the previous night about a video circulating on a social media platform showing a suspect treating a dog inappropriately. Two Instagram stories that surfaced on Saturday night show a dog inside a front-loading washing ...
Hong Kong police are investigating social media videos that appear to show a dog trapped inside an operating washing machine. Police confirmed on Sunday that they had received a report the previous night about a video circulating on a social media platform showing a suspect treating a dog inappropriately. Two Instagram stories that surfaced on Saturday night showed a dog inside a front-loading was...
At Tower Records in Tokyo’s Shibuya district earlier this month, fans flocked to a pop-up store set up for Filipino boy band SB19, buying exclusive merchandise including limited-edition CDs, T-shirts, stickers and phone straps. Due to overwhelming demand, the store ran for an additional five days. During the band’s tour in Japan, SB19 met fans in Yokohama and performed in Tokyo and Osaka during th...
A shooting at a rave in the northern Swiss canton of Aargau left one person dead and five wounded early on Sunday, local police and media reported. Police said they are looking for potentially more than one suspect. Aargau cantonal police wrote earlier on social media that a 22-year-old woman died of injuries at the scene in Aarau, the canton’s capital. Four men and one woman, between 24 and 27 ye...
One person was killed and five others were wounded, some of them seriously, in a shooting at a rave party in northern Switzerland, local police said on Sunday. “The search for the perpetrators, whose identities are currently unknown, is under way,” they said on social media, adding that the motives and exact circumstances were not yet known. Earlier, officers said the incident in Aarau, north of Z...
A number of people were hit by gunfire near a rave in northern Switzerland overnight, local police said on Sunday. The incident in Aarau, north of Zurich, left “multiple victims” and prompted a “large-scale” police response, officers said on social media, without elaborating. Swiss newspaper Blick reported on its website that the shots were fired before 3am (local time) on the sidelines of the Aar...
China and the Philippines have been urged to resume joint South China Sea energy exploration as a way of easing tensions in the disputed waters. A joint report by Chinese and Philippine analysts also said the two countries should work together in other “low-sensitivity” areas such as marine environmental protection and combating crime at sea. The report, published on Monday by the Shanghai Institu...
