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Gold flows into Hong Kong eased to about 107 tonnes in July despite mainland corporate buyers pouring capital into new bullion vaults, as they bet on the city’s strategic ambition to establish itself as Asia’s premier hub for the precious metal. The city’s non-monetary gold imports fell about 18 per cent from June, a month that registered a decade-long high as banks built up inventory ahead of the...
More than 100 Hong Kong-based applicants have been affected by the indefinite postponement of US immigrant visa interviews worldwide, consultants have said, with student and travel applications also disrupted. The global pause, which marks a sharp tightening of legal immigration under the Trump administration, has left some Hong Kong applicants fearing the United States could scrap the entire path...
At least 100 Hong Kong-based applicants have been affected by the indefinite postponement of US immigrant visa interviews worldwide, immigration consultants say, with student and travel visa applications also disrupted. The global pause, which marks a sharp tightening of legal immigration under the Trump administration, has left some Hong Kong applicants fearing the US could scrap the entire immig...
The body of an unidentified person was found inside the wheel well of an aircraft at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 (KLIA2) on Thursday (Aug 27). The body, whose gender has yet to be determined, was discovered at about 6.55am in the wheel well of a flight from Tokyo, Japan, which landed at about 6.30am. It is learnt that the body, clad in jeans and a white shirt, was foun...
Three people have been injured and four cats have died after a power bank caught fire in a public housing flat in Hong Kong, forcing nearly 80 residents to evacuate into the street. Police said they received a report at 2.51am on Thursday from a resident that a power bank inside her flat at So Uk Estate in Cheung Sha Wan had caught fire and that she managed to escape in time. Multiple other calls ...
North Korea’s foreign ministry on Thursday denounced a US decision to approve the sale of missiles and related equipment to South Korea, vowing to respond “strongly and immediately” to hostile acts in various areas, state media Korean Central News Agency reported. The remarks come as US President Donald Trump renewed overtures to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressing interest in another mee...
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has arrested a boxer on suspicion of doxxing an opponent on social media platforms, disclosing the victim’s personal information and workplace without his consent. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said on Thursday that the 29-year-old suspect had twice targeted the victim, a man he had fought at a boxing tournament in early 2025. On two o...
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has arrested a boxer on suspicion of doxxing an opponent on social media platforms, disclosing the victim’s personal information and workplace without his consent. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said on Thursday that the 29-year-old suspect had twice targeted the victim, a man he had fought at a boxing tournament in early 2025. On two o...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Washington to help “remove interference and overcome obstacles” to high-level exchanges as the two sides prepare for President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the US next month. Meeting US Ambassador David Perdue in Beijing on Wednesday, Wang said both sides should put the Xi-Trump consensus into practice, focus on a positive agenda and manage differences ...
Beijing’s hundreds of thousands of weeping willows and poplars have been a welcome source of shelter from the fierce summer sun for more than four decades – but they may also be an unexpected source of pollution, according to new research. Scientists warned that this urban greenery may be “choking” the Chinese capital’s 20 million residents by increasing the levels of ozone in the city’s air. Smog...
Malaysia’s former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob pleaded not guilty in a Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Thursday to failing to declare millions of ringgit in local and foreign currencies and gold bars. The 66-year-old is the second ex-leader to face criminal charges since Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took office in 2022, pledging to root out entrenched corruption. Ismail Sabri’s charge under S...
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The lonely journey of a bull elephant trying to return to its jungle home has captured the hearts of Malaysians over the past week, putting a spotlight on the plight of wildlife struggling against deforestation and rapidly expanding human activity. The elephant – dubbed “Sulong” by Malaysians keenly following social media updates on his weeks-long journey – was first spotted by motorists on August...
The lonely journey of a bull elephant trying to return to its jungle home has captured the hearts of Malaysians over the past week, putting a spotlight on the plight of wildlife struggling against deforestation and rapidly expanding human activity. The elephant – dubbed “Sulong” by Malaysians keenly following social media updates on his weeks-long journey – was first spotted by motorists on August...
American pop icon Bruno Mars will return to Hong Kong for the first time in nearly a decade, with four shows planned at Kai Tak Stadium next May as part of a newly expanded Asia leg of his “Romantic Tour”. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter will perform on May 7, 8, 11 and 12 next year in Hong Kong on the Asian leg of the tour, alongside Singapore, Japan, Thailand and others, organiser Live Nati...
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is looking to push back national elections until the second half of next year, people familiar with the matter said, as state poll defeats and soured partnerships reveal his political vulnerability. That time frame would mark a significant delay. Just months ago, the 79-year-old leader was said to be mulling a snap election as soon as this October, perceiving...
South Korea’s police said on Thursday they were seeking indictments of seven transport ministry officials over the 2024 Jeju Air crash that killed all but two of the 181 people on board. The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into fl...
The assets managed by China’s private funds grew last month as those of its mutual funds shrank, with investors diversifying their portfolios amid a sell-off of semiconductor shares. The net assets under management (AUM) of domestic mutual funds shrank by 560 billion yuan (US$83.3 billion), or 1.4 per cent month on month, in July to 39.11 trillion yuan, according to data released by the Asset Mana...
Tokyo is experimenting with a radically faster way of buying new weapons – picking a domestically built interceptor drone less than three months after launching the procurement process. Analysts say this shift could help Japan respond more quickly to China’s expanding military capabilities. The defence ministry’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) announced on Tuesday that it had ...
A proper kitchen, a washing machine and a table where children can do their homework – these are some of the bare necessities that people expect for their homes. But for many families living in subdivided flats in Hong Kong, that is unfortunately not the reality. People in subdivided flats – dwellings created by dividing an existing flat into several smaller units, usually around 50 to 100 sq ft e...
Singapore’s new rules for messaging platforms mark a significant shift in the country’s fight against scams, placing greater responsibility on digital services to help stop fraudsters before they reach potential victims, as the government seeks stronger penalties for non-compliance. Analysts said the requirements could reduce the number of people exposed to scams and offer a potential model for ot...
Rescue teams struggled to reach the site of a massive Himalayan mudslide and flash flood on the China-Nepal border on Thursday as the toll from the disaster rose to 362 dead, with more than 1,000 missing. As of Thursday afternoon, three people were confirmed dead and 558 missing on the Chinese side, with 359 dead and at least 667 missing in Nepal. “Nearly 100” Chinese nationals were missing on the...
At least 292 people have been killed and more than 1,000 are missing after a massive Himalayan mudslide and flash flood struck the Gyirong Port area along the China-Nepal border on Wednesday. As of Thursday afternoon, three people were confirmed dead and 558 missing on the Chinese side, with 289 dead and more than 644 missing in Nepal. “Nearly 100” Chinese nationals were missing on the Nepalese si...
At least 180 people have been killed and more than 800 are missing after a massive Himalayan mudslide and flash flood struck the Gyirong Port area along the China-Nepal border on Wednesday. As of Thursday afternoon, three people are confirmed dead and 265 missing on the Chinese side, with 177 dead and over 644 missing in Nepal. The Nepali prime minister’s office said 484 tourists were missing, i...
A massive mudslide and flash flood struck the Gyirong Port area along the China-Nepal border on Wednesday, leaving at least 160 people dead and more than 1,000 missing across both sides of the divide. According to the latest official update from the Shigatse municipal government press conference on Thursday morning, three people have been confirmed dead and 558 remain missing on the Chinese side. ...
Sumo chiefs are planning measures to beat Japan’s increasingly punishing summer heat, including avoiding venues that do not have air conditioning and lightening the load on weary wrestlers. Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days. Hakata ward in the southwestern city of Fukuoka on We...
Singaporean police raided the local office of iron ore trader Radiant World last week and questioned some of the firm’s employees, according to people familiar with the matter, part of an investigation into the company’s transactions after some counterparties raised concerns about allegedly falsified documents. Several major commodity traders have cut ties with the company amid concerns that it pr...
Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Akeso announced on Wednesday that its immunotherapy drug had outperformed AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi in a head-to-head phase-three trial for biliary tract cancer. The result represents another breakthrough for Akeso’s ivonescimab – which has already been licensed by the US firm Summit Therapeutics in a multibillion-dollar deal – as China’s biopharma industry increasingly ...
Hong Kong has widened its lead over Singapore as Asia’s most international city, buoyed by gains in innovation and ideas, but still trails in attracting technology investment, a leading business chamber study has found. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce’s annual Asian Cities Internationality Index, released on Thursday, ranked Hong Kong first among 11 Asian cities with 74.6 out of 100 poin...
