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The United States is not disengaging from Asia and is instead “digging in” to maintain a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, but wants its partners to shoulder more responsibility for their defence, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday. Seeking to counter concerns about Washington’s reliability, Elbridge Colby, Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, reiterated the US interest ...
New Delhi has issued names for 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh on its official maps, including sensitive sites near the disputed border with China, in a move that an analyst warned could complicate efforts to repair bilateral ties. The Indian government announced the move on Friday, just a day after officials from the two countries held a working-level consultation in New Delhi to discuss border...
The story of a devoted couple from central China, where the husband has lovingly cared for his severely paraplegic wife for 25 years, has touched the hearts of millions on social media throughout mainland China. The couple live in Pingdingshan, Henan province. In 2001, 36-year-old Jia Fang suffered a horrific fall from a cliff while riding a pedicab, resulting in paralysis from the chest down, as ...
Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, has thrown its weight behind flying cars after its aviation battery system cleared a major safety test. A successful roll-out of passenger-carrying drone batteries, backed by CATL’s innovation drive and manufacturing heft, would bolster China’s leading position in the renewable energy sector and th...
A China Southern Airlines flight was forced to abandon its departure and return to the gate at Shenzhen airport over the weekend after the Airbus A321 aircraft was struck by lightning while taxiing. Flight CZ3209, bound for the city of Wuxi in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, was waiting on the ground during a heavy thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon when the incident occurred, according to a rep...
Scheduled drone performances at tourist attractions and events across China have been grounded as the country steps up scrutiny of low-altitude aviation, although in many cases no clear reason was given for the cancellation. Tourist attractions and event organisers in 11 provinces and regions, including Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan, took the unusual step last week of annou...
Landslides and floods caused by non-stop monsoon rains have killed at least 12 people in the Philippines, while eight more were missing and thirteen injured, authorities said. More than half a million people in 33 provinces have been affected by the southwest monsoon that has been enhanced by two tropical cyclones, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The agenc...
Hong Kong residents raising goats, sheep and cattle in the New Territories must get a licence under a proposed regulation which aims to reduce nuisance and hygiene problems affecting neighbours amid the acceleration of urban development projects such as the Northern Metropolis. The plan was revealed in an Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) document, scheduled to be discussed...
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed a Nato-like defence agreement in Mecca as the United States’ war on Iran prompts countries in the region to rethink security arrangements. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement stipulates that “any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all”, the three countries said in a joint statement. Saudi Crown Prince ...
China’s central government has invited dozens of scientific, technological and academic experts to its annual summer retreat, highlighting how the country is focusing on innovation and breaking through “chokepoints” amid fierce competition with the US. According to state news agency Xinhua, the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council, China’s cabinet, invited 60 experts to the se...
Signs of recovery in Hong Kong’s real estate industry are becoming more apparent, so much so that key indicators in parts of the sector are experiencing some of the fastest growth rates in the Asia-Pacific. In the hotel market, average daily rates, which were declining in annualised terms for most of 2025, grew 9.5 per cent in the first half of this year. This was the third-fastest growth rate amo...
A former procurement manager at Tse Sui Luen Jewellery in Hong Kong has pleaded guilty to stealing diamonds worth more than HK$11 million (US$1.4 million) from suppliers over six years by manipulating consignment records to fund his gambling habit. The High Court heard on Monday that Mui Ka-fai, 63, obtained small diamonds from the jeweller’s regular suppliers and resold them once or twice a month...
More than 70 per cent of Hong Kong working professionals use artificial intelligence (AI) tools on a daily or weekly basis, more than double the global average, but junior staff also harbour deeper anxiety over job security amid its growing adoption, a survey has found. The study conducted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) surveyed 3,722 working professionals in the cit...
More than 70 per cent of Hong Kong working professionals use artificial intelligence (AI) tools on a weekly basis, more than double the global average, but junior staff also harbour deeper anxiety over job security amid its growing adoption, a survey has found. The study conducted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) surveyed 3,722 working professionals in the city between...
A Malaysian lawmaker is offering a 5,000 ringgit (US$1,200) bounty for the person responsible for an arson attack which left an elderly woman in critical condition in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. The 62-year-old counter staff suffered 50 per cent burns to her body after an unidentified individual doused her in what police believe was petrol and set her on fire at a lottery shop in Kepong, a su...
A Malaysian lawmaker is offering a 5,000 ringgit (US$1,200) reward to catch the person responsible for an arson attack which left an elderly woman in critical condition in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. The 62-year-old counter staff suffered 50 per cent burns to her body after an unidentified individual doused her in what police believe was petrol and set her on fire at a lottery shop in Kepong,...
Indonesia’s top Islamic clerical body has warned men not to wear “women’s clothing” for Independence Day festivities despite a long-standing tradition of men in dresses playing football as part of the annual fun. Amid a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation, the influential Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said in a statement such behaviour was “haram” or ...
The Hong Kong Bar Association has filed a judicial challenge against a disciplinary panel’s decision to clear barrister and former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee of professional misconduct over her participation in a 2019 anti-government protest. The association’s council on Friday applied for a judicial review of the disciplinary tribunal’s decision that Ng’s conviction for taking part ...
China’s rare earth producers have reported or anticipated hefty first-half profits, with Beijing’s use of the strategically critical minerals as leverage in tense relations with Japan and the United States not appearing to impede normal trade. The geopolitical factor – US President Donald Trump announced more than US$2 billion of domestic mining investment on Friday, widely viewed as diversifying ...
An Indonesian minister has called for better protection of students after nearly 1,000 weapons were found at a private school in South Jakarta. Police seized 995 airsoft guns and one live firearm from a school run by the Harapan Ibu Islamic School Foundation on Friday, Antara news agency reported. The foundation’s former chair, identified only by the initials IWD, has been called in for questionin...
A former Thai MP on Monday shot dead a local government official in broad daylight over a financial dispute before being arrested and confessing to journalists at the police station. The shooting came less than a week after a teenager’s deadly rampage at a school in the same province reignited debate over gun control. Chalong Riewrang shot at a senior provincial official and his driver, said Major...
A gunman was arrested after firing shots at a local government office on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital on Monday, officials said, just days after a teenager’s killing rampage at a school in the same province reignited debate over gun control. The provincial police commander, Major General Dejrapee Kongdee, said the suspected gunman, a former lawmaker, shot at a senior provincial official a...
Hong Kong police have arrested eight people over an alleged compensated-dating scam syndicate that cheated victims, including teachers and healthcare workers, out of HK$6.2 million (US$790,000) by telling them they had to pay a “legal fee” to formalise contracts to become “sugar babies”. Police said on Monday that they had investigated 80 cases involving scammers who used compensated dating as a p...
Chinese researchers have found a safe way to shrink advanced tumours from an aggressive form of liver cancer, an advance that could see microbubbles used to enhance current treatments. The tiny gas-filled bubbles, typically a few micrometres in diameter, were originally designed as contrast agents in ultrasound imaging, but scientists have recently been exploring their therapeutic potential. Accor...
Two individuals in Beijing found themselves trapped in a mountain but refused rescue due to a superstition that responding to strangers brings bad luck. The police and firefighters in the Huairou district received a call on the evening of July 29, reporting that two neighbours from a nearby village had gone missing while foraging for herbs in a wild mountain area. The pair, a 73-year-old man and a...
Malaysia is seeking to elevate its economic partnership with South Korea beyond traditional manufacturing and trade by positioning itself as a long-term strategic partner in high-value industries, ranging from semiconductors and AI to electric vehicles, renewable energy and the fast-growing global halal economy. In an interview with The Korea Times, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA...
A Hong Kong court has endorsed a final attempt by 11 jailed opposition politicians and activists to clear their names, following their convictions for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security trial. In a written judgment delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal identified five legal issues that deserved further scrutiny by the Court of Final Appeal over the appellants’ invol...
A Hong Kong court has endorsed a final attempt by 11 jailed opposition politicians and activists to clear their name, following their convictions for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security trial. In a written judgment delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal identified five legal issues that deserved further scrutiny by the Court of Final Appeal over the appellants’ involv...
The haze is back in Malaysia – with at least two states registering unhealthy air readings on Monday as raging forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia send clouds of smoke northwards. Transboundary haze is a long-standing problem in Southeast Asia, particularly affecting Malaysia and Singapore due to their proximity to Indonesia, where vast tracts of forests and agricultural land become fire hotspo...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Why Beijing struggles to win Indian hearts and minds despite diplomatic thaw Though the relationship between the Chinese and Indian governments has been thawing, Beijing has yet to win over the India...
