Why some Wang Fuk Court owners have refused buy-back deal even as deadline nears
SCMP

Why some Wang Fuk Court owners have refused buy-back deal even as deadline nears

As the deadline approaches for homeowners to accept the Hong Kong government’s deal to buy back their flats at fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, some who refuse to sell have said the offer cannot make up for the loss of their property and communal bonds. With the clock ticking to the August 31 cut-off date, the South China Morning Post spoke to six residents determined not to sell their homes at the de...

‘The butcher may be gone, but to many he is a hero’: victims condemn glorification of Mladić
The Guardian

‘The butcher may be gone, but to many he is a hero’: victims condemn glorification of Mladić

Architect of Srebrenica genocide is dead but those scarred by his atrocities say his ideology is still shockingly pervasiveTo most of the world, he was and will always be the “Butcher of Bosnia”, a grim epithet but one that still fails to fully convey the evil and horror inflicted on its people by Gen Ratko Mladić, who died in prison on Thursday.As commander of the Bosnian Serb forces, Mladić was ...

China tests GJ-21 stealth drone as Sichuan Type 076 warship carries out sea trials
SCMP

China tests GJ-21 stealth drone as Sichuan Type 076 warship carries out sea trials

China’s GJ-21 large stealth attack drone has been spotted on flight tests this month, as the country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship – the vessel that will launch the drone – enters its final sea trials. The GJ-21, the naval variant of the GJ-11 stealth attack drone, first appeared at China’s Victory Day parade in September last year and has made rare public appearances since then. Comput...

What we know about the Australians missing in the Nepal floods
The Guardian

What we know about the Australians missing in the Nepal floods

More than 40 Australians are among several thousand people unaccounted for after catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-Tibet borderHow the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded – a visual guideGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn 11-year-old child, an ADF member and many other pilgrims and trekkers have been named among the Australians missing after deadly flash floods ...

Search continues as number missing in Nepal-Tibet floods rises to 2,478 – as it happened

Search continues as number missing in Nepal-Tibet floods rises to 2,478 – as it happened

The Guardian

This live blog is now closed‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding.“Two helicopters have been dis...

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; Nepal asks for specialised and technical help – latest updates

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; Nepal asks for specialised and technical help – latest updates

The Guardian

Chinese rescue team reaches all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex to find ‘nothing but ruins’‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hy...

Iranian leaders admit economic toll of war with US as trade drops 35%

Iranian leaders admit economic toll of war with US as trade drops 35%

SCMP

Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the United States, with the supreme leader calling on the government to address the hardship while the president reported foreign trade has shrunk 35 per cent due to the American sanctions and blockade. The warnings came even as other leaders threaten the US with military retaliation and declarations that the Iranian navy maintains co...

Chinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the dead

Chinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the dead

The Guardian

Nepal and China continue arduous search and rescue operations in flood-hit HimalayasVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedNepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updatesA Chinese rescue team has reached the all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex for the first time and found “nothing but ruins” as Nepal and China continue their arduous rescue operations in the flood-hit Himalayas.Surv...

How the Philippines missed a Korean gambling racket worth US$3.8 billion

How the Philippines missed a Korean gambling racket worth US$3.8 billion

SCMP

The Philippines spent years dismantling Chinese-linked gambling compounds in dramatic, headline-grabbing raids. But all the while, and with far less scrutiny, South Korean syndicates were building a parallel industry worth billions of US dollars – one that a spate of recent arrests suggests is still very much intact. The most recent involved a 29-year-old Korean woman named Kim Young-sun, who auth...

White House teleprompter operator fined, forfeits winnings for betting on Trump’s words

White House teleprompter operator fined, forfeits winnings for betting on Trump’s words

SCMP

A former White House teleprompter operator accused of using inside knowledge to make bets on the prediction market Kalshi has been ordered to turn over more than US$100,000 in profits and pay a US$65,000 fine as part of a settlement with federal authorities. The settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced on Friday, also dealt Gabriel Perez a three-year trading ban. Perez w...

Judge throws out confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, man accused of plotting 9/11 attack

CBS News

Coming up on 25 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the effort to bring to justice the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has hit a major obstacle. CBS News has learned a military judge ruled this week that his confessions made to FBI agents at Guantanamo Bay were not voluntary and cannot be used at his trial, now set for June of 2028. Those FBI agents are featured in an upc...

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; bodies recovered down rivers in India – latest updates

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; bodies recovered down rivers in India – latest updates

The Guardian

Nepal reverses earlier decision and says foreign teams will be allowed to help with rescue efforts‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower ...

China hospital joins nightclubs in offering marriage services to fight low wedding rates

China hospital joins nightclubs in offering marriage services to fight low wedding rates

SCMP

Following temples and nightclubs, a Chinese bank and a hospital have recently begun offering marriage registration services, igniting discussions on the Chinese government’s commitment to promoting nuptials. In August, a branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China, located in the northern municipality of Tianjin, became the country’s first bank to provide marriage registration services. While onlin...

Hong Kong’s long-term wealth hub status safe from mainland investment curbs: JPMorgan exec

Hong Kong’s long-term wealth hub status safe from mainland investment curbs: JPMorgan exec

SCMP

Beijing’s recent curbs on cross-border investment and a tax shift targeting overseas insurance gains may create short-term uncertainty, but they will not undermine Hong Kong’s long-term competitiveness as a major wealth management hub, according to a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase. Kwang Kam-shing, Hong Kong CEO and chairwoman of North Asia at the biggest bank by assets in the United States, s...

National Park Service supports Trump’s arch even though it would have ‘adverse effects’ on other DC monuments, report says – as it happened

National Park Service supports Trump’s arch even though it would have ‘adverse effects’ on other DC monuments, report says – as it happened

The Guardian

This live blog is now closed.Trump arch will alter sightlines of many Washington DC landmarks, report saysSign up for the US Breaking News emailA reminder that we are covering the latest out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Kevin Warsh – the new chair of the Federal Reserve – will deliver his first speech as the head of the US central bank at the annual economic policy symposium.As my col...

Indians turn to AI gurus for answers: ‘ChatGPT is not judging you’

Indians turn to AI gurus for answers: ‘ChatGPT is not judging you’

SCMP

When Kripa Vaidyanathan’s 27-year-old niece died in an Alaska car crash in 2024, her family in Chennai, India, felt shell-shocked. They questioned why this tragedy would befall them when they had such “immense faith in God”. Vaidyanathan, a yoga instructor, helped her grieving sister get face time with a high-profile guru whom she hoped would help. “But he told her this was the work of karma and s...

Taipei’s debt hardball carries a clear warning for its remaining allies

Taipei’s debt hardball carries a clear warning for its remaining allies

SCMP

In contemporary discourse, the bogeyman of “debt traps” is almost exclusively tied to Beijing. Western media, think tanks, NGOs and policymakers from Washington to Brussels frequently warn developing nations of the perils of bilateral loans from China. Yet, Grenada’s debt dispute from a decade ago and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG) current troubles offer a starkly different, and often ignore...