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US Attorney General Blanche defends colleague after Trump’s reflecting pool slam
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US Attorney General Blanche defends colleague after Trump’s reflecting pool slam

US Attorney General Todd Blanche said ⁠on Sunday that ⁠he backs top Washington prosecutor ⁠Jeanine Pirro, who was criticised by US President Donald Trump for the way she handled a case of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “I absolutely support US Attorney Pirro, as does President Trump,” Blanche said ‌on NBC’s Meet the Press programme. The Trump administration fast-tracked...

Attorney General Blanche publicly backs Pirro after Trump criticism over Reflecting Pool
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Attorney General Blanche publicly backs Pirro after Trump criticism over Reflecting Pool

US Attorney General Todd Blanche said ⁠on Sunday that ⁠he backs top Washington prosecutor ⁠Jeanine Pirro, who was criticised by US President Donald Trump for the way she handled a case of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “I absolutely support US Attorney Pirro, as does President Trump,” Blanche said ‌on NBC’s Meet the Press programme. The Trump administration fast-tracked...

5 dead, 4 seriously injured in head-on motorway collision in Ireland
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5 dead, 4 seriously injured in head-on motorway collision in Ireland

Five teenagers have died and four others have been seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a highway in Ireland, police said. Commissioner Justin Kelly described the head-on collision between two cars on the M9 as “horrific” and warned that “in some cases” cars are being driven on the wrong side of highways for social media likes. Police said they are investi...

Several dead and seriously injured in head-on motorway collision in Ireland
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Several dead and seriously injured in head-on motorway collision in Ireland

A number of people have died and others have been seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a highway in Ireland, Irish police said. Commissioner Justin Kelly described the head-on collision between two cars on the M9 as “horrific” and warned that “in some cases” cars are being driven on the wrong side of highways for social media likes. Police said they are in...

Thieves steal 4 Renaissance artworks worth millions in Sicilian museum robbery

Thieves steal 4 Renaissance artworks worth millions in Sicilian museum robbery

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Thieves stole four works attributed to Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina worth millions of euros from the regional museum in the city of Messina in Sicily while crowds gathered across town for the traditional Assumption holiday celebrations, cultural officials and Italian media said on Sunday. The thieves bypassed alarm and security systems on Saturday evening at the MuMe museum, making off...

US envoy Kushner visits Hamas leader in push for Gaza road map before Netanyahu meeting

US envoy Kushner visits Hamas leader in push for Gaza road map before Netanyahu meeting

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US negotiator and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with the Hamas chief on Sunday in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet Israel’s prime minister on Monday. The talks aim to salvage the new 15-point, US-backed road map for Hamas to disarm in Gaza and Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territory shattered...

Driver arrested after Hungary bus crash kills 12 people, injures at least 10

Driver arrested after Hungary bus crash kills 12 people, injures at least 10

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A passenger bus travelling on a highway in Hungary early on Sunday went off the road and into a ditch where it overturned, killing 12 and injuring others, police said. The bus, which was carrying a group of Polish tourists, was travelling on eastbound lanes near the town of Mezokeresztes when it overturned on the M3 motorway around 140km (87 miles) east of Hungary’s capital, Budapest, at around 1a...

Iran offers US$30,000 bounty for killing or capturing US soldiers

Iran offers US$30,000 bounty for killing or capturing US soldiers

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Iran’s military announced on Sunday that it was offering a bounty equivalent to US$30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers, with the reward doubled if carried out by a woman. Army chief Amir Hatami said the plan had been drawn up following a “large number of requests” to take part, according to the IRNA state news agency. There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during th...

BBC asks US court for help with testimony from the Trump family in defamation suit

BBC asks US court for help with testimony from the Trump family in defamation suit

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Britain’s BBC asked a US court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of US President Donald Trump’s family in connection with his US$10-billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, a court document showed. Lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jnr have “personal knowledge” and are likely to have records relevant t...

Customs steps in after woman claims beauty chain Opatra cheated her out of HK$60,000

Customs steps in after woman claims beauty chain Opatra cheated her out of HK$60,000

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Hong Kong customs has said it is actively following up on a case involving a London‑based beauty chain after a woman complained that she cheated into paying more than HK$60,000 (US$7,700) for products and raised concerns about the company’s operations. Opatra London’s outlet at Sha Tin New Town Plaza shopping centre posted a notice over the weekend saying that it had “temporarily suspended” operat...

Lee Kuan Yew’s Montblanc pen sells for US$360,000 in Singapore auction

Lee Kuan Yew’s Montblanc pen sells for US$360,000 in Singapore auction

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A silver Montblanc fountain pen owned by Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has sold for S$461,500 (US$360,000), nearly 10 times its highest estimate, after drawing 111 bids at an auction. Singapore auction house Hotlotz said the sterling silver Montblanc Meisterstuck No 146 fountain pen, engraved with “SM Lee Kuan Yew”, sold on Sunday at its “Interiors & Collectibles – August, Fine Art...

How a ‘rough’ and ‘crude’ Chinese cartoon ox went from box office zero to hero

How a ‘rough’ and ‘crude’ Chinese cartoon ox went from box office zero to hero

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A raw, handcrafted Chinese animation has become an unlikely box-office sensation despite being widely panned by critics and social media users. Niu Lai, or The Arrival of the Ox, has been criticised for its “rough” and “broken” style and a plot that many viewers found hard to follow. But the film has generated some of the loudest online discussion in recent days, despite the competition from two H...

Moscow strikes Ukrainian steel plant as Kyiv targets Russian economy

Moscow strikes Ukrainian steel plant as Kyiv targets Russian economy

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Russia carried out a wave of air strikes on Ukraine overnight, killing two people at a steel plant, and Kyiv launched a heavy drone attack on the Moscow region that killed one person and set ablaze a warehouse ‌used by Russia’s leading e-commerce retailer. Romania, which borders Ukraine, said an F-18 fighter on a Nato air policing mission had shot down a drone that breached its airspace during the...

Communist Party of China invokes Jiang’s legacy in call to rally round Xi’s leadership

Communist Party of China invokes Jiang’s legacy in call to rally round Xi’s leadership

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A leading Communist Party research group has invoked the legacy of China’s former leader Jiang Zemin in a call to rally round President Xi Jinping. The article by the Institute of Party History and Literature, published on Sunday in the party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, formed part of the commemorations of the centenary of Jiang’s birth and highlighted the importance of supporting the leadership ...

Boy, 13, among 16 arrested as Hong Kong police tackle juvenile crime

Boy, 13, among 16 arrested as Hong Kong police tackle juvenile crime

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Hong Kong police have arrested 16 people as part of efforts to clamp down on juvenile crime, with those apprehended including a 13‑year‑old boy linked to a shoplifting case involving stolen goods worth about HK$4,000 (US$510). Officers from the force’s New Territories South regional headquarters said on Sunday that the arrestees, aged 13 to 39, included 11 teenagers. They were apprehended on suspi...

Australian foreign minister defends multiculturalism, attacks far-right

Australian foreign minister defends multiculturalism, attacks far-right

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Australia’s foreign minister attacked the policies of the far-right One Nation party, arguing that its call for a monoculture would damage social cohesion at home and relations with friends and allies abroad. “The call for a monoculture is a call for Australia to curtail our choices and cut off our connections,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a speech on Friday in Sydney. “At a time where ext...

In Malaysia, DAP’s vote to stay in Anwar’s alliance secures stability – but at what cost?

In Malaysia, DAP’s vote to stay in Anwar’s alliance secures stability – but at what cost?

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A crucial ally of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling alliance voted on Sunday to stay in government, giving him breathing room after months of uncertainty over whether the biggest party in the coalition would remain in cabinet. But the Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) decision also raises the stakes for its own political survival. Analysts warn that the party risks further erosion of i...

US-China tech war is coming for AI’s plumbing

US-China tech war is coming for AI’s plumbing

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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly considering a ban on Chinese optical transceivers, signalling that the US-China tech war is expanding beyond the focus on semiconductor chips to shadow even the smallest link in the chain of essential artificial intelligence (AI) hardware. Optical transceivers are small devices that use fibre optic technology to send and receive data as ...

HKU, CityU secure spots in global university top 100

HKU, CityU secure spots in global university top 100

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Two Hong Kong universities have secured places in the top 100 of an academic ranking that assesses 1,000 institutions worldwide. The University of Hong Kong (HKU) rose five places from 67th last year to 62nd, while City University (CityU) climbed four places from 99th to 95th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy on Saturday. Launched in 2003, the a...

University of Hong Kong, CityU secure spots in global university top 100

University of Hong Kong, CityU secure spots in global university top 100

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Two Hong Kong universities have secured places in the top 100 of an academic ranking that assesses 1,000 institutions worldwide. The University of Hong Kong (HKU) rose five places from 67th last year to 62nd, while City University of Hong Kong (CityU) climbed four places from 99th to 95th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy on Saturday. Launched i...

Pakistan border sees 724 humanitarian trucks enter Afghanistan

Pakistan border sees 724 humanitarian trucks enter Afghanistan

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More than 700 trucks carrying international humanitarian aid arrived in Afghanistan via Pakistan despite a near-total closure of the land border between the two countries following clashes in October, the United Nations said on Sunday. The convoy was carrying “food and other critical humanitarian items,” Olga Cherevko, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCH...

From cargo to combat: China urged to prepare civilian ships for wartime use

From cargo to combat: China urged to prepare civilian ships for wartime use

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China should speed up plans to commandeer civilian ships for wartime operations, drawing lessons from Britain’s use of commercial vessels during the 1982 Falklands conflict, according to a defence researcher at Beijing’s top economic planning agency. As maritime security threats and great-power competition grow, Beijing should make greater use of civilian ships to support military operations, acco...

500 PLA summer camp cadets battle heat as they step out of their comfort zone

500 PLA summer camp cadets battle heat as they step out of their comfort zone

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Wilson Hui Chau-yuen, a 22-year-old final-year student at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, recalls that the scorching heat was the biggest enemy during an annual two-week summer camp organised by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison. “Even on the city’s hottest day, our training continued without pause including martial arts, bayonet practice and marching drills,” Hui said on Sunday, addi...

Is Hong Kong character at centre of new Disneyland show a pangolin?

Is Hong Kong character at centre of new Disneyland show a pangolin?

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Hong Kong Disneyland is collaborating with Pixar Animation Studios to offer an exclusive theatrical experience centred around a home-grown character, with the resort dropping clues in its concept art that suggest she could be a pangolin. The theme park announced on Sunday that a massive theatre space would be unveiled at Toy Story Land in the first half of 2027, with the theatrical experience to b...

Could Hong Kong character at centre of new Disneyland show be a pangolin?

Could Hong Kong character at centre of new Disneyland show be a pangolin?

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Hong Kong Disneyland is collaborating with Pixar Animation Studios to offer an exclusive theatrical experience centred around a home-grown character, with the resort dropping clues in its concept art that suggest she could be a pangolin. The theme park announced on Sunday that a massive theatre space would be unveiled at Toy Story Land in the first half of 2027, with the theatrical experience to b...

Hong Kong ex-manager charged over unauthorised access to confidential files at regulator

Hong Kong ex-manager charged over unauthorised access to confidential files at regulator

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Hong Kong’s corruption watchdog has charged a former manager at a financial regulator with unauthorised access to its internal computer system to view confidential case files and licensee data. Tong Ka-lei, 39, who previously worked in the enforcement division of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), faces 12 counts of obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain for herself...

Hong Kong ex-regulator manager charged over unauthorised access to confidential files

Hong Kong ex-regulator manager charged over unauthorised access to confidential files

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Hong Kong’s corruption watchdog has charged a former financial regulator manager with unauthorised access to the internal computer system to view confidential case files and licensee data. Tong Ka-lei, 39, who previously worked in the enforcement division of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), faces 12 counts of obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain for herself or a...

Tuning the body: why Hongkongers turn to supplements to keep their ‘engine’ running

Tuning the body: why Hongkongers turn to supplements to keep their ‘engine’ running

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In the first instalment of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on Hong Kong’s growing wellness trends, Lo Hoi-ying examines why younger residents are turning to supplements to boost energy, immunity and performance, as experts warn that excessive use should not replace a balanced diet. Tata Tse Yi-kwan spends around HK$2,000 (US$255) a month on supplements tailored to her different needs, i...