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Iran on Sunday said it closed the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel travelled on an unapproved route and was struck, warning that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a “severe response”. “A vessel that had jeopardised maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and brought to a halt,” the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement, without giv...
Barisan Nasional’s (BN) sweeping win in Johor is expected to embolden it within Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government while forcing Pakatan Harapan (PH) into a difficult postmortem over its waning appeal on the ground. The Election Commission announced BN’s victory of 48 seats, out of 56 up for grabs, with PH managing only eight. BN’s result was better than the 40 seats it secu...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Khushboo Razdan looks at how books shape public perceptions and inspire lifelong connections between the US and China even as their ...
Like many people outside the United States, I admire much of what it represents: open debate, strong institutions, energetic politics and the belief that public power should be restrained by rules. That is why watching the US today is so extraordinary. Consider US President Donald Trump’s meme coin. Nearly a million accounts that bought the $TRUMP coin have lost money, according to a report in The...
Taylor Swift shelled out six figures to cover the cost of NYPD officers and other city resources required to protect her massive Madison Square Garden wedding to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce earlier this month, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed. The Grammy winner “has paid already the cost of the permit that was lodged, which was over US$160,000 for that event and for the response t...
Taylor Swift shelled out six figures to cover the cost of NYPD officers and other city resources required to protect her massive Madison Square Garden wedding to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce earlier this month, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed. The Grammy winner “has paid already the cost of the permit that was lodged, which was over US$160,000 for that event and for the response t...
Shortly before US President Donald Trump ended a ceasefire with Iran this week, Israeli officials presented his team with intelligence indicating Tehran was hatching new plots to kill him. It was not the first such warning. US law enforcement and intelligence agencies have tracked evidence for years of Iranian efforts to target the president, with signals only increasing since the start of the war...
A runner was gored in the face and many more were fortunate to not be seriously injured during a chaotic bull run at Spain’s San Fermin festival on Saturday. The six bulls and accompanying steers charged through crowds of thrill-seekers who packed the narrow street course in Pamplona. The huge animals knocked down bodies to the cobblestones, and stumbling runners caused several pile-ups during the...
US Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles during a West Bank visit this week that he cast as an unfiltered look at the human toll of Israeli occupation as he weighs a 2028 presidential run. Speaking with reporters on Thursday in a Palestinian village, Khanna said his group’s van was surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles a day earlier w...
An “institutionalised” China-US G2 framework could offer a “structural guarantee” for global peace in a world beset by crises, a high-profile adviser to Beijing has said. Zheng Yongnian, a noted Chinese political scientist, said the world was faced with four intertwined challenges – geopolitical conflicts, increasingly “religionised” societies, imbalances in the global economy and the fading of th...
Generations of alumni returned to the stage on Saturday to mark the 45th anniversary of the Student of the Year Awards, celebrating a decades-long history of recognising high-achieving Hong Kong pupils who have gone on to become distinguished professionals, from medical experts and acclaimed musicians to Olympic athletes. Among the returning alumni was Dr Chan Mui-tong, a general surgeon in Hong K...
A tourist boat returning from an island trip in southern Vietnam capsized on Saturday, killing 15 Indian visitors, state media reported. The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members when it overturned about 400 metres (1,310 feet) from Hon May Rut Ngoai Island, which is near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities were quoted as saying. Eyewitnesses told local media ...
Hong Kong authorities have said that a street sign mistakenly spelled as “Observatoly” was due to a contractor relying on an “old, scratched” marker to make the new one, a slip-up that has amused residents online. Images shared by residents on social media showed the street sign for Observatory Road in Tsim Sha Tsui erroneously written as “Observatoly”, prompting online comments poking fun at the ...
The ashes of Chinese researcher Wang Danhao have been returned to his home in China, nearly four months after he died by suicide following questioning by US law enforcement. The remains of the 31-year-old University of Michigan (UMich) semiconductor scientist – remembered by colleagues as a gifted, hard-working researcher with a bright future – are now with his mother, his only immediate family me...
The Trump administration has subpoenaed several New York Times journalists after their report on security concerns involving the new Air Force One, according to the paper. The new jet, which President Donald Trump received as a gift from Qatar, entered service last week. The subpoenas issued on Friday seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday. Fed...
China’s landmark recovery of a reusable rocket has ignited heated debate on social media, with reactions ranging from awe at the rapid pace of Chinese space development to speculation over a more intense space race with the United States. This comes at a time of renewed optimism around the satellite sector, as commercial demand for internet constellations skyrockets. China made history on Friday b...
Zhang Qi, a ride-hailing driver based in Guangzhou, has turned to artificial intelligence this year to help his son make one of the most important decisions of his young life: choosing a university degree programme. Like millions of 18-year-olds across China, Zhang’s son recently received his university entrance exam results and had to navigate the country’s labyrinthine admissions system – choosi...
A Ying Wa College pupil who took home the Student of the Year Awards’ grand prize was among 40 outstanding peers who received top honours on Saturday, as the event organiser announced a major expansion to mark its 45th anniversary. Starting next year, the awards scheme will feature a new category for artificial intelligence (AI) literacy to underscore the responsible use of the technology by stude...
Scientists in northeast China say they have developed a “rapid and ultrasensitive” wearable dopamine sensor to monitor levels of the critical neurotransmitter. The smart patch could potentially be used for at-home tracking of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and depression, according to the research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenyang Institute of Automation. They said the pa...
Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing two and wounding 19 others, officials said, as Kyiv awaits supplies of air defence munitions after a shortage has left it exposed to Russian attacks. Eleven people were wounded in the capital, Kyiv, by an attack that used ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones. “Civilian infrastructure was hit even before the air raid ...
Hong Kong student numbers at UK private schools experienced a record decline after Britain imposed a 20 per cent tax on fees last year, with total enrolment falling by 17 per cent and new admissions down by 26 per cent. A consultant specialising in student recruitment for British private schools said enrolment levels had returned to those seen before Hong Kong’s emigration wave, with parents becom...
Hong Kong police have arrested 65 people, including 11 sex workers and 54 others involved in suspected illegal gambling, in a two-day joint crackdown with fire services and immigration authorities targeting triad-linked income sources. The force said on Saturday that another three people were issued summonses for running an illegal petrol station during the joint operation conducted on Thursday an...
The Chinese ambassador to India’s attempt at bridge-building has triggered a fierce nationalist backlash back home, including accusations that he has lost sight of his role. “The ambassador seems to have forgotten his actual job,” one social media user wrote this month of Xu Feihong, arguing that the envoy’s role was to make Indians more friendly towards China – not the other way round. Another to...
New Zealand and India announced on Saturday the creation of a strategic partnership encompassing defence and security, during a landmark visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon feted his guest with an indigenous Maori welcome and a guard of honour, seeking to expand relations after signing a free-trade pact in April that he has touted as an economic boon. Modi’s vis...
Hong Kong’s police chief has thrown his weight behind a controversial government reform of the appraisal system that will deny a pay rise to the bottom 5 per cent of performers, despite concerns raised by frontline officers. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that management would step up efforts to explain the new policy to staff through various internal channels. “As the h...
Hong Kong’s police chief has thrown his weight behind a controversial government reform of the appraisal system that will deny a pay rise to the bottom 5 per cent of performers, despite concerns raised by frontline officers. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that management would step up efforts to explain the new policy to staff through various internal channels. “As the h...
More than 130 flights between Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and Japan have been cancelled, while 10 high-speed rail services have been suspended as Typhoon Bavi barrels towards China’s east coast. Hong Kong International Airport’s webpage showed that 64 inbound flights and 71 outbound flights were cancelled on Saturday, with more than half scheduled to travel between the city and Taipei. Servi...
Turkey’s health ministry has fined more than 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out cesarean sections, suspending them from duty and forcing them to undergo training. The country has the highest rate of C-section births among the OECD’s 38 nations, according to the last available data from 2023, with around 615 such procedures out of every 1,000 live births that year. Medical professiona...
BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, has intensified efforts to promote its high-performance batteries and superfast charging technology around the world as it tests a car that it says boasts the world’s longest driving range in a journey from Rome to Hong Kong. A fleet of upgraded versions of the Z9GT, a car produced under BYD’s premium Denza brand, has been travelling across Eur...
Volkswagen Group’s deliveries in China slumped during the first half of 2026 to their lowest level in 16 years, as local electric vehicle (EV) brands further siphoned off buyers’ interest in petrol cars amid a slowing market. Through its three ventures with Chinese partners, the German car brand handed over a total of 971,000 units to customers in China between January and June, down 26.1 per cent...
