Live headlines from trusted global sources. Click any story to open it on the original website.
Deploying artificial intelligence on Hong Kong’s 1823 complaint platform will reduce public frustration and strengthen governance, but authorities must also guard against privacy leaks, lawmakers and an expert have said. They described the AI measures announced on Thursday as a step in the right direction, saying the technology could reduce residents’ waiting times and help direct cases to the app...
Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fell 0.46 per cent in July, halting a 13-month upswing, according to the latest official data. The index tracking second-hand homes slipped to 321.5 in July from 323 in June, Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) data showed on Thursday. It was the first decline in 16 months, following a drop in April last year. Prices were flat that May, then climbed steadily for ...
Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fell 0.46 per cent in July, halting a 13-month upswing, according to the latest official data. The index tracking second-hand homes slipped to 321.5 in July from 323 in June, Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) data showed on Thursday. It was the first decline in 16 months – since April last year. Prices were flat in May last year before climbing steadily for 13 ...
Okinawa’s governor election next month is set to be a major test of whether Japan’s ruling party can win over voters from a prefecture that has long opposed its security agenda and the heavy US military presence on its islands. A victory by Genta Koja, the Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidate, would likely help smooth ties between Okinawa and Tokyo and weaken resistance against the planned re...
Tiger Brokers and Futu Holdings, two of the region’s largest online brokerages, posted robust second-quarter growth as they expanded overseas to absorb Beijing’s toughest crackdown yet on illegal cross-border stock trading. UP Fintech Holding, parent of Tiger Brokers, reported on Wednesday that revenue rose 31.4 per cent year on year to a record US$182.3 million. Net income attributable to shareho...
US President Donald Trump on Thursday hinted at sanctioning Chinese banks over their commercial links with Iran, just weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington for a bilateral summit. “Who said I’m not?” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about why the US had not sanctioned Chinese banks for their dealings with Iranian entities. “Well, I don’t have to anno...
Peter Cullen, a prolific voice actor who enlivened scores of television series, specials and films, including Optimus Prime in the syndicated 1984 series Transformers and Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh cartoon franchise, has died. He was 85. His agent, Kevin Motley, said Cullen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. “His family asks that you honour his remarkable legacy by serving your commu...
The United States should take a leaf out of Beijing’s industrial playbook and strategically open up specific sectors to Chinese investment while ensuring that technology transfers occur, US industrial policy and supply chain experts said at an event on Thursday. The assessment comes as Washington mulls new broad restrictions on Chinese technology, including a proposed prohibition on the sale of ca...
Chinese and US officials are discussing whether business leaders will join President Xi Jinping’s delegation to the United States next month, as the two sides prepare to extend a one-year trade agreement reached in Busan last October, according to people familiar with the talks. The negotiations come as Xi is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on September 24. Trump travelled...
In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue...
New US restrictions on mailed ballots took effect on Thursday, leaving state and local election officials racing to comply – or persuade a federal judge to intervene – weeks before millions of ballots are due to be sent to voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. The US Postal Service rules require election authorities to assign unique bar codes to outgoing and return ballot envelopes, submit...
New US restrictions on mailed ballots took effect on Thursday, leaving state and local election officials racing to comply – or persuade a federal judge to intervene – weeks before millions of ballots are due to be sent to voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. The US Postal Service rules require election authorities to assign unique bar codes to outgoing and return ballot envelopes, submit...
The US Federal Aviation Administration is taking steps to fire two air traffic controllers determined to have left their shifts early before an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The moves are in keeping with a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on controllers leaving shifts...
Canada has awarded 64 global scholars with C$504 million (US$362 million) in funding to relocate their work to Canadian universities and advance projects in areas such as health and artificial intelligence. Some 48 of the researchers were poached from the US, including from elite institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other 16 researchers are com...
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States, as he escalated his trade war with Canada. The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the US geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow along, however. Trump has been floating the ...
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States, as he exacerbates his trade war with Canada. The Republican president signed an executive order that updated the lake’s name for the US geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however. The move is reminiscent of his move...
Defence lawyers for social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate argued that Thursday if Romania was OK with them being out of jail as they challenged sex charges, then the US should free them too as they fought extradition to the United Kingdom. The brothers have remained in a federal detention centre in Miami since they were arrested July 18 on rape and sex-trafficking charges from the UK. T...
Brazil will not be able to make rare earth magnets from its own raw materials before 2032, the coordinator of the country’s main magnet pilot plant said on Wednesday, leaving China’s near monopoly on the technology intact for years to come. Andre Luis Pimenta de Faria, who runs the plant for Senai, the research and training arm of Brazil’s national industry confederation, told a public policy pane...
The US military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, an American defence official in Europe and a Nato official said, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in Nato countries to a potential Russian attack. The US defence official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missil...
The United Kingdom has seen a spike in the number of migrants applying for citizenship and permanent settlement ahead of a planned government clampdown. Government data shows what appears to be a rush to secure residency rights in response to changes announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that would force migrants to wait longer before they can gain them. The Home Office said 199,628 people w...
A Hong Kong police officer has been charged with misconduct after allegedly sending obscene messages and photos to a woman friend of a suspect in a criminal investigation. Officers from the New Territories South regional crime unit detained the 32‑year‑old man in Tuen Mun on August 20, a police spokesman said on Thursday. During an investigation into a case in May last year, the officer from Kwai ...
A Hong Kong police officer has been charged with misconduct after allegedly sending obscene messages and photos to a woman friend of a suspect in a criminal investigation. Officers from the New Territories South regional crime unit detained the 32‑year‑old man in Tuen Mun on August 20, a police spokesman said on Thursday. During an investigation into a case in May last year, the officer from Kwai ...
American singer and rapper Post Malone has postponed his coming Hong Kong show, prompting complaints from disappointed fans in mainland China who said they had already booked holiday leave and hotels. Announcing the decision on social media on Thursday, concert organiser Live Nation Hong Kong said the September 16 show at Kai Tak Stadium had been postponed. The statement, which gave no reason for ...
American singer and rapper Post Malone has postponed his coming Hong Kong show, prompting complaints from disappointed fans in mainland China who said they had already booked holiday leave and hotels. Announcing the decision on social media on Thursday, concert organiser Live Nation Hong Kong said the September 16 show at Kai Tak Stadium had been postponed. The statement, which gave no reason for ...
While extreme weather is disrupting nuclear power generation in some parts of the world, it is unlikely to derail China’s rapid expansion in the sector, according to an industry specialist. The unusually hot and dry summer has disrupted reactors across Europe, forcing units to shut down from France to Romania, as river levels have fallen and water temperatures risen. France – where nuclear account...
The United States has imposed sweeping sanctions on nearly 60 Iran-linked entities, spanning digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping, as Washington seeks to “sever every economic lifeline” that sustains Tehran. Beijing denounced the measures, with the Chinese foreign ministry calling them “illegal unilateral sanctions” and vowing to “take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard ...
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has died, Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported on Thursday. Mladic, 84, who had suffered several strokes in recent months, was serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after overseeing the Srebrenica slaughter, Europe’s...
Hong Kong fans and cultural figures have paid tribute to Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama following her death at 97, saying her legacy will inspire generations to come. Among those expressing sadness on Thursday were West Kowloon Cultural District Authority board chairman Bernard Chan and local design studio AllRightsReserved. Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, former CEO of developer New World Develo...
Hong Kong fans and cultural figures have paid tribute to Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama following her death at 97, saying her legacy will inspire generations to come. Among those expressing sadness on Thursday were West Kowloon Cultural District Authority board chairman Bernard Chan and local design studio AllRightsReserved. Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, former CEO of developer New World Develo...
India is turning to its private industry to help produce missiles, hoping a wider manufacturing base can cut its import dependence while boosting its defence export capacity and deterrence against Pakistan and China. But India’s push towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing is still a distant goal, according to analysts, citing its missile supply chain’s dependence on imported components, wh...
