Nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals who were sent back from Malaysia arrived in the country’s largest city on Sunday despite warnings from the UN refugee agency and rights groups that conditions for return remain unsafe.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, triggering widespread opposition and plunging large parts of the country into conflict.
The returnees, including 86 women, have been convicted of…
Authorities in the Chinese capital are releasing more than a billion parasitic wasps and encouraging caterpillar-catching competitions to try to contain the spread of the invasive North American fall webworm.
The caterpillars have blanketed trees in Beijing and surrounding areas this summer, spinning clouds of greyish-white webs as they eat their way through foliage.
The insects are the fuzzy larval stage of Hyphantria cunea and metamorphose into adult white moths.
While not harmful to…
In the third instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Aidyn Fitzpatrick speaks to a Hong Kong fencer studying TCM and local practitioners to see how athletes, both elite and amateur, are using TCM alongside Western medicine for smarter injury recovery.
Fresh off helping Hong Kong clinch a bronze medal in the women’s foil team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, fencer Janelle Leung Ya-lei – ranked 53rd in the world – knows the fine margin between…
It is no secret that Chinese emperors had many women in their lives, and the imperial concubine system was a significant feature of feudal social structures.
Ming-era (1368–1644) emperors could have upwards of 9,000 consorts, ostensibly to ensure an heir. Unfortunately, these women often existed in gilded prisons, barred from leaving the palace grounds and frequently subject to the wrath of a cruel emperor.
However, one leader stands out for doing just the opposite; the Hongzhi Emperor (r....
Hong Kong will begin importing hundreds of foreign domestic carers as early as the second half of 2027 under a new pilot scheme, with their pay up to 20 per cent higher than that of domestic helpers, the city’s labour minister has said.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Sunday that the carers would be equipped with both specialised elderly care skills and general domestic capabilities, and would first need to complete a 150-hour course in their home country.
“We now…
Hong Kong’s first Legislative Council president following the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 has suggested reviewing the number of seats in Legco, citing the need to use public funds properly.
Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai also said on Sunday that Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities had discussed the development of a plot at the two cities’ border before the 1997 handover, but the plan failed because of opposition within the government.
Fan made the remarks during an appearance on a radio...
Taipei’s dilemma over its history during World War II appeared to deepen as Beijing and Washington looked to the Flying Tigers as a source of connection and goodwill during last month’s Xi–Trump summit.
US President Donald Trump’s description of China as an American ally during the war has raised concerns in Taiwan that what could have been a valuable historical connection with the United States ended up benefiting Beijing’s ties with Washington.
The dilemma resurfaced after Trump and Chinese...
Russia struck a bridge in Kyiv on Sunday soon after Germany’s chancellor arrived in Ukraine’s capital on a surprise visit to demonstrate European support in the face of an upsurge in attacks.
Air raid sirens blared across Kyiv, urging residents to shelter soon after Friedrich Merz arrived under tight security, with warnings of approaching Russian attack drones.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko then confirmed that a strike had damaged the road surface on the Northern Bridge – one of several…
More than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s eight-year-olds could be short-sighted by 2028, optometrists have predicted, citing a shrinking “hyperopic reserve” that normally helps delay nearsightedness.
The Hong Kong Association of Private Practice Optometrists released the findings on Sunday from a screening of more than 3,500 pupils at eight primary schools conducted between November and May, urging parents to begin comprehensive eye checks when children turned three.
The association found that 67...
When the Auspicious Ark entered Dakar, Senegal, on September 25, the scene looked closer to a public health mission than a naval deployment. Senegalese people and members of the Chinese community were waiting at the port as the vessel arrived for the first visit by a Chinese naval hospital ship to Senegal.
The Auspicious Ark is a PLA Navy vessel. That places the visit within a wider Chinese maritime presence in Africa, something more often associated with anti-piracy patrols, port calls,...
Beijing has hit back at a US lawmaker’s criticism of coffee chain Starbucks for opening its first stores in Xinjiang, rejecting the allegation that China has committed human rights abuses against the far-western region’s mostly Muslim Uygur population.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Saturday said claims of “genocide” in Xinjiang were a “blatant lie” and accused the “US group” who raised the suggestions of attacking Beijing for political purposes.
“Today’s Xinjiang enjoys social...
A cluster of whale and whale shark strandings across Indonesia – five in the past three weeks alone – has raised questions over whether such incidents are becoming more frequent, with experts pointing to a mix of environmental shifts, human activity and improved reporting as possible explanations.
On September 25, a whale shark became stranded and died on a beach in Aceh province, just days after a decomposed whale carcass was discovered in a mangrove in Riau province. Another whale was found...
Despite signs that Hong Kong property prices could have bottomed out and begun rebounding in August, market sources said at least 100 secondary residential homes were sold at a loss in September, up from at least 81 the previous month.
Hong Kong’s property market dodged an immediate setback from the US Federal Reserve’s rate increase in September, and agents estimated that home prices could end the year 15 per cent higher than a year earlier. The positive trend, however, did not generally…
A flight bound for Okinawa returned to Hong Kong airport on Sunday morning after its landing gear was suspected to have failed to fully retract after take-off.
Hong Kong Airlines said the crew of flight HX676, which departed at 8.57am, decided to return to ensure safety, in line with standard procedures.
“[The flight] encountered a suspected incomplete landing gear retraction issue after take-off,” the airline said.
The aircraft landed safely at 10am, with no injuries reported on board. The...
Funds raised through initial public offerings in Hong Kong more than doubled year on year to over HK$388 billion (US$49.4 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, already surpassing the total amount for the whole of last year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has said.
Adding to the positive outlook, Clara Chan Ka-chai, CEO of the government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), noted on Sunday that more than 30 of its portfolio firms were preparing to apply for Hong Kong…
A 20-year-old US marine was arrested on Sunday in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, police said.
Davin Ballard stationed at the Futenma Airbase is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday at a hotel in Naha, according to the Okinawa prefectural police. The suspect has denied the charges, they added.
Ballard was seen entering the hotel with Yagi, who was found dead on Saturday morning,...
Huge billboards on the walls of Tehran mocking US President Donald Trump and depicting American drones under the boot of an Iranian soldier are providing a chronicle of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.
Khaneh-ye Tarrahan, or Designers’ House, produces the billboards with anti-US messaging for prominent locations in Tehran where they are seen daily by large crowds of passers-by, including the city’s famed Valiasr Square.
The team created a towering portrayal of Trump’s lips sewn…
Three male students have been detained by police in connection with the murder of a Form Four female student whose body was discovered at a school in Yong Peng, Malaysia’s Johor state, on Saturday.
The victim, identified as 16-year-old Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, was found dead inside the school hall at around 5.30pm, Sinar Harian reported.
Police arrested the three 16-year-old suspects, who attend the same school as the victim, just hours after the body was uncovered.
On Sunday, one…
Small independent bookstores tucked away in walk-up tenement buildings above neon-lit streets have long made Mong Kok a sanctuary for Hong Kong book lovers, until recently when one after another was forced to close due to economic headwinds or political uncertainty.
Defying the trend, 41-year-old bibliophile Grace Lau invested a six-figure sum to launch New Year Bookshop, a move driven by passion and lower rents that some in the community regarded as a bold gamble on the neighbourhood’s…
Hong Kong should enact laws on data governance and underlying safety standards to ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), experts have said, as the government pledged to tackle disputes or crimes involving the technology’s application with tailored legislation.
They also said that legislation was needed to define liability boundaries, which could bolster business and public confidence in expanding its adoption.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his recent policy...
For months, the air over West Kalimantan has been thick enough to taste. Now, some of the province’s residents are taking the government to court over it.
Indonesia’s worst wildfire season in 11 years has been sending plumes of toxic haze drifting across borders to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines since at least August.
But nowhere has been worse hit than West Kalimantan, where more than 48,000 hectares (185 square miles) of land and forest have burned since the start of the year,...
Future settlers on Mars would need houses, but they must either spend huge sums transporting construction materials from Earth or use enormous amounts of energy to melt Martian soil into bricks.
Scientists in Hong Kong say they have developed a quick and low-cost “living” building material made from genetically engineered yeast, gelatin and sand that can be 3D printed under conditions simulating the Martian environment.
Their study, published online last month in Chem Circularity, an...
Malaysia is proving to be a middle ground for many Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors looking to buy property in a country that provides the stability Singapore offers, but with competitive price points similar to those found in Thailand, according to analysts.
Data from Juwai IQI, a property portal with 7 million listings across 111 countries, showed that in the first half of 2026, Malaysia was the fourth-highest destination for inquiries received from Chinese buyers. That compared…
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff said he was “deeply disturbed” by a student’s 2024 rape allegation that has drawn national outrage.
“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said in a video message released on Saturday, saying the university must “do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe” from happening again.
Lawyers for a Jane Doe last month filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university, its leaders, the Chi Phi fraternity,…
From cooking and attending hospital visits to doing the actual quarrelling, paid “life stand-ins” are stepping in to manage these tasks, along with errands and awkward moments that many young Chinese would rather avoid.
This trend, known as the “stand-in economy,” is gaining traction among time-strapped consumers who are willing to pay for convenience when daily responsibilities exceed their time, patience, or expertise.
First widely reported by mainland media in 2024, the movement has since...
Two decades after stepping away from the spotlight, iconic actress Joey Wong made an unexpected return to the screen – not through a traditional production, but via artificial intelligence-powered reconstruction.
In a two-minute video by NetEase this summer, Wong, one of the most well-known actresses of the 1980s and 90s, had some of her most celebrated roles recreated, including the beautiful ghost in A Chinese Ghost Story and an alluring snake demon in Green Snake.
The revival is just the…
Final-year students invited to recruiters’ apartments for help with their applications. Coffee dates with alumni who promise to explain how the company works. Inappropriate interview questions about boyfriends, marriage plans and sex lives.
For young women in Japan, looking for a job has long entailed submitting themselves to the skewed power dynamics of the recruitment process.
And before Thursday, no official legal safeguards existed to protect these jobseekers from such...
Since July, Hong Kong has permitted dogs in approved dining premises under a tightly regulated scheme. More than 2,200 restaurants applied, with more than 980 taking part within the first month. On the surface, these are straightforward changes to the rules around where dogs are allowed. But they reflect something more significant: a changing relationship between Hong Kong and the dogs who also call it home.
Small companion breeds are familiar in urban life, while larger dogs, local mixed…
US President Donald Trump shared online the supposed phone number of a Republican US senator on Saturday in an escalating dispute over making daylight saving time permanent.
In a social media post, the president urged people to call a phone number he said belonged to Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who opposes the Trump-backed Sunshine Protection Act. The act would end the twice-yearly practice of changing clocks by one hour.
Trump says most Americans want more afternoon sunlight,...
Hong Kong is playing a central role as part of a broader regional hub for research breakthroughs, the head of a leading global cancer organisation has said, adding that the city’s success in reducing its smoking rate has set an example for others to follow.
Cary Adams, CEO of the Union for International Cancer Control, praised the city’s tobacco control efforts as the organisation held the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong for the first time late last month.
“We’ve all become aware globally...
As floodwaters surged from Bangkok’s drains, Fon’s car sank faster than her hopes of escaping the floods unscathed. She had bought it less than a month earlier.
“I woke up at 5am but it was too late,” the 24-year-old said, recalling her decision last weekend to wait until dawn to move her car to a nearby shopping centre. “My car was already submerged. I hadn’t even started making the payments and it’s gone.”
Relentless rain paralysed Thailand’s capital this September, dumping a month’s worth…
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs was set to retain power and form a pro-Ukrainian coalition after his centrist United List secured the biggest parliamentary election victory since Latvia regained independence in 1991.
With 97 per cent of ballots counted after Saturday’s election in the Nato and European Union country bordering Russia, United List was on 35.3 per cent, enough for 42 seats in the 100-seat parliament.
A businessman and amateur rally driver, Kulbergs, 47, came to power…
From online-gambling rings in eSwatini to SIM swapping in Kenya and cybercrime networks in Zambia, a wave of cross-border fraud is drawing African governments and China into closer security cooperation.
China hosted East African security ministers and police chiefs in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on September 10 for talks on terrorism, kidnapping, online fraud and other cross-border threats.
China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, said Beijing would strengthen law-enforcement...
When one of my seniors from medical school was pregnant during her surgical residency, she planned the exact date of her C-section so she could complete her training on time. When I asked why she didn’t consider taking maternity leave to recuperate afterwards, she said she couldn’t bring herself to lag behind her peers. “I didn’t want motherhood to slow me down,” she said.
In medicine, it is common for women to delay childbearing until after their early career years, often into their...
The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major staff shake-up since Christa Pike’s stunning failed execution left her unconscious and on a ventilator at a hospital.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will step down this month, Lee said. Some of the governor’s fellow Republicans and other elected officials had been urging a change in leadership.
It was the second time since May that Tennessee has not been…
Authorities have launched a probe into the building quality of a luxury residential development in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive neighbourhoods in the Southern district after receiving a complaint from an owner that insufficient steel bars were used during construction.
The Buildings Department said on Saturday it was “highly concerned about the incident” relating to One Stanley in Stanley, but stressed that its previous inspections did not find any imminent danger.
The department said it...
Christie’s auctioneer Rupert Banner leans forward with practised showmanship as bidding stalls on a rare Yongzheng bowl near New York’s iconic Rockefeller Centre. He pauses as if willing offers from thin air, scanning dozens of in-person buyers and phone banks connecting with China, London, Texas.
It will be a bad look if the frenzy abates for this delicate peach-decorated bowl highlighted on Christie’s glossy Chinese sale catalogue and online advertising. But bidding soon resumes with a...
Yemen’s Houthis claimed an attack on an oil facility near the Saudi capital on Saturday, where flames and smoke were seen, and accused the Gulf kingdom of striking Sanaa dozens of times.
The foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive last month.
Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting “Saudi…
The US is set to deploy one of its signature anti-ship missile systems to the Japanese island closest to Taiwan, an unprecedented move that comes as tensions in the region between Beijing and Tokyo continue to simmer.
The ground-based US uncrewed missile platform known as the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) will be deployed on Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture during biennial joint exercises this month, according to the regional bureau of the Japanese...
As global adoption of the open-source RISC-V chip architecture accelerates, US intellectual property provider MIPS is collaborating with Chinese firms at an unprecedented level, according to a senior executive, highlighting how cross-border cooperation persists despite intense tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
MIPS, which was acquired by US chipmaker GlobalFoundries last year, was driving RISC-V standardisation “very closely with China”, chief technology officer Yankin Tanurhan…
North Korea said on Saturday it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it claimed has manoeuvrable flight capabilities designed to evade missile defences in South Korea and Japan. The latest test comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over border landmine blasts.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said her brother supervised the test of the missile, which she described as strategic, implying it was designed to deliver nuclear...
Hong Kong public universities will raise undergraduate tuition fees for non-local students studying general courses by up to 26 per cent in the 2027-28 academic year, marking the sharpest increase in recent years as institutions adjust to an expanded quota.
Non-local students admitted to the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) medicine and dentistry programmes will face the steepest jump, with annual tuition rising by 137 per cent to HK$590,000 (US$75,187) to recover the high costs of clinical...
Hong Kong police have busted a burglary syndicate that recruited illegal immigrants and is believed to be behind at least 25 break-ins across the city in recent weeks, with stolen cash and valuables exceeding HK$3.6 million (US$458,773).
Six people aged 31 to 45 – five mainlanders and a local resident – were arrested in a Friday operation following a review of surveillance footage, police said.
Three of the mainland suspects, all men, were illegal immigrants. Another two – a couple – are...
Chinese troops have taken part in a mass multinational exercise in Russia featuring new anti-drone and ground robot systems – drills that Russian state media said “applied lessons” from the Ukraine war.
The troops were among more than 47,000 military personnel involved in the Tsentr-2026 – or Centre-2026 – drills in the central western Chelyabinsk region from Monday until Saturday.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said the strategic command-and-staff exercise applied combat lessons from the...
Thirty-one years ago, Hongkonger Raymond Lo Shu-yuen was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer and had a quarter of the organ removed.
Now 75, Lo said the illness, despite its physical and mental toll, had taught him invaluable lessons about ageing, health and making the most of life.
“I can say that the cancer itself saved me,” he said.
“Why? If I did not have this illness, I would not have changed my past lifestyle such as working hard like a dog, eating a lot of junk food, doing no…
The botanical societies of the United States and China have signed a plant science cooperation initiative, vowing to strengthen bilateral ties and foster an open scientific community to tackle global issues.
The joint initiative was signed during a Sino-American botany conference last month in Taian, in China’s eastern Shandong province, which brought together hundreds of experts from institutions in both countries.
The conference, held from September 19 to 23, aimed to “further deepen…
A 60-year-old woman in China has captured attention on social media for giving birth to a baby girl, just two years after welcoming a son.
She made the decision to have children at a later stage in life after enduring the loss of her only child four years ago, as reported by the Red Star News.
The infant girl, weighing 2.8kg, was born on September 17 through caesarean section at Zhumadian Central Hospital in Henan province, central China.
Her mother, identified by the surname Zhang, expressed...
Hong Kong’s stronger economic performance over the past year was the reason for raising the monthly minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers by 2.35 per cent, the labour minister has said, amid disappointment from both unions and employers’ groups.
Defending the government’s decision to raise the monthly minimum wage to HK$5,220 (US$665), Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the government sought to keep the annual adjustment mechanism “balanced and acceptable”.
Speaking...
The European Union’s demand that Britain raise tariffs on Chinese cars exposes an awkward truth about post-Brexit trade. Britain might have left the EU, but it cannot easily escape the bloc’s industrial policy.
According to the Financial Times, EU officials have told Prime Minister Andy Burnham that Britain needs to align more closely with EU trade policy towards China if it wants British manufacturers to avoid discriminatory treatment under the bloc’s proposed “Made in Europe” rules. The...
Pakistani troops are expected to take over various defensive functions for Saudi Arabia to enable the Middle East country to fight an all-out war aimed at defeating Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
According to defence analysts, Pakistani troops are not expected to participate directly in ground offensives against the Houthis being planned by Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s squabbling government factions.
Instead, their primary objective would be to free up Saudi forces to focus on what is likely…
Nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals who were sent back from Malaysia arrived in the country’s largest city on Sunday despite warnings from the UN refugee agency and rights groups that conditions for return remain unsafe.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, triggering widespread opposition and plunging large parts of the country into conflict.
The returnees, including 86 women, have been convicted of…
Authorities in the Chinese capital are releasing more than a billion parasitic wasps and encouraging caterpillar-catching competitions to try to contain the spread of the invasive North American fall webworm.
The caterpillars have blanketed trees in Beijing and surrounding areas this summer, spinning clouds of greyish-white webs as they eat their way through foliage.
The insects are the fuzzy larval stage of Hyphantria cunea and metamorphose into adult white moths.
While not harmful to…
In the third instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Aidyn Fitzpatrick speaks to a Hong Kong fencer studying TCM and local practitioners to see how athletes, both elite and amateur, are using TCM alongside Western medicine for smarter injury recovery.
Fresh off helping Hong Kong clinch a bronze medal in the women’s foil team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, fencer Janelle Leung Ya-lei – ranked 53rd in the world – knows the fine margin between…
It is no secret that Chinese emperors had many women in their lives, and the imperial concubine system was a significant feature of feudal social structures.
Ming-era (1368–1644) emperors could have upwards of 9,000 consorts, ostensibly to ensure an heir. Unfortunately, these women often existed in gilded prisons, barred from leaving the palace grounds and frequently subject to the wrath of a cruel emperor.
However, one leader stands out for doing just the opposite; the Hongzhi Emperor (r....
Hong Kong will begin importing hundreds of foreign domestic carers as early as the second half of 2027 under a new pilot scheme, with their pay up to 20 per cent higher than that of domestic helpers, the city’s labour minister has said.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Sunday that the carers would be equipped with both specialised elderly care skills and general domestic capabilities, and would first need to complete a 150-hour course in their home country.
“We now…
Hong Kong’s first Legislative Council president following the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 has suggested reviewing the number of seats in Legco, citing the need to use public funds properly.
Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai also said on Sunday that Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities had discussed the development of a plot at the two cities’ border before the 1997 handover, but the plan failed because of opposition within the government.
Fan made the remarks during an appearance on a radio...
Taipei’s dilemma over its history during World War II appeared to deepen as Beijing and Washington looked to the Flying Tigers as a source of connection and goodwill during last month’s Xi–Trump summit.
US President Donald Trump’s description of China as an American ally during the war has raised concerns in Taiwan that what could have been a valuable historical connection with the United States ended up benefiting Beijing’s ties with Washington.
The dilemma resurfaced after Trump and Chinese...
Russia struck a bridge in Kyiv on Sunday soon after Germany’s chancellor arrived in Ukraine’s capital on a surprise visit to demonstrate European support in the face of an upsurge in attacks.
Air raid sirens blared across Kyiv, urging residents to shelter soon after Friedrich Merz arrived under tight security, with warnings of approaching Russian attack drones.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko then confirmed that a strike had damaged the road surface on the Northern Bridge – one of several…
More than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s eight-year-olds could be short-sighted by 2028, optometrists have predicted, citing a shrinking “hyperopic reserve” that normally helps delay nearsightedness.
The Hong Kong Association of Private Practice Optometrists released the findings on Sunday from a screening of more than 3,500 pupils at eight primary schools conducted between November and May, urging parents to begin comprehensive eye checks when children turned three.
The association found that 67...
When the Auspicious Ark entered Dakar, Senegal, on September 25, the scene looked closer to a public health mission than a naval deployment. Senegalese people and members of the Chinese community were waiting at the port as the vessel arrived for the first visit by a Chinese naval hospital ship to Senegal.
The Auspicious Ark is a PLA Navy vessel. That places the visit within a wider Chinese maritime presence in Africa, something more often associated with anti-piracy patrols, port calls,...
Beijing has hit back at a US lawmaker’s criticism of coffee chain Starbucks for opening its first stores in Xinjiang, rejecting the allegation that China has committed human rights abuses against the far-western region’s mostly Muslim Uygur population.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Saturday said claims of “genocide” in Xinjiang were a “blatant lie” and accused the “US group” who raised the suggestions of attacking Beijing for political purposes.
“Today’s Xinjiang enjoys social...
A cluster of whale and whale shark strandings across Indonesia – five in the past three weeks alone – has raised questions over whether such incidents are becoming more frequent, with experts pointing to a mix of environmental shifts, human activity and improved reporting as possible explanations.
On September 25, a whale shark became stranded and died on a beach in Aceh province, just days after a decomposed whale carcass was discovered in a mangrove in Riau province. Another whale was found...
Despite signs that Hong Kong property prices could have bottomed out and begun rebounding in August, market sources said at least 100 secondary residential homes were sold at a loss in September, up from at least 81 the previous month.
Hong Kong’s property market dodged an immediate setback from the US Federal Reserve’s rate increase in September, and agents estimated that home prices could end the year 15 per cent higher than a year earlier. The positive trend, however, did not generally…
A flight bound for Okinawa returned to Hong Kong airport on Sunday morning after its landing gear was suspected to have failed to fully retract after take-off.
Hong Kong Airlines said the crew of flight HX676, which departed at 8.57am, decided to return to ensure safety, in line with standard procedures.
“[The flight] encountered a suspected incomplete landing gear retraction issue after take-off,” the airline said.
The aircraft landed safely at 10am, with no injuries reported on board. The...
Funds raised through initial public offerings in Hong Kong more than doubled year on year to over HK$388 billion (US$49.4 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, already surpassing the total amount for the whole of last year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has said.
Adding to the positive outlook, Clara Chan Ka-chai, CEO of the government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), noted on Sunday that more than 30 of its portfolio firms were preparing to apply for Hong Kong…
A 20-year-old US marine was arrested on Sunday in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, police said.
Davin Ballard stationed at the Futenma Airbase is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday at a hotel in Naha, according to the Okinawa prefectural police. The suspect has denied the charges, they added.
Ballard was seen entering the hotel with Yagi, who was found dead on Saturday morning,...
Huge billboards on the walls of Tehran mocking US President Donald Trump and depicting American drones under the boot of an Iranian soldier are providing a chronicle of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.
Khaneh-ye Tarrahan, or Designers’ House, produces the billboards with anti-US messaging for prominent locations in Tehran where they are seen daily by large crowds of passers-by, including the city’s famed Valiasr Square.
The team created a towering portrayal of Trump’s lips sewn…
Three male students have been detained by police in connection with the murder of a Form Four female student whose body was discovered at a school in Yong Peng, Malaysia’s Johor state, on Saturday.
The victim, identified as 16-year-old Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, was found dead inside the school hall at around 5.30pm, Sinar Harian reported.
Police arrested the three 16-year-old suspects, who attend the same school as the victim, just hours after the body was uncovered.
On Sunday, one…
Small independent bookstores tucked away in walk-up tenement buildings above neon-lit streets have long made Mong Kok a sanctuary for Hong Kong book lovers, until recently when one after another was forced to close due to economic headwinds or political uncertainty.
Defying the trend, 41-year-old bibliophile Grace Lau invested a six-figure sum to launch New Year Bookshop, a move driven by passion and lower rents that some in the community regarded as a bold gamble on the neighbourhood’s…
Hong Kong should enact laws on data governance and underlying safety standards to ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), experts have said, as the government pledged to tackle disputes or crimes involving the technology’s application with tailored legislation.
They also said that legislation was needed to define liability boundaries, which could bolster business and public confidence in expanding its adoption.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his recent policy...
For months, the air over West Kalimantan has been thick enough to taste. Now, some of the province’s residents are taking the government to court over it.
Indonesia’s worst wildfire season in 11 years has been sending plumes of toxic haze drifting across borders to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines since at least August.
But nowhere has been worse hit than West Kalimantan, where more than 48,000 hectares (185 square miles) of land and forest have burned since the start of the year,...
Future settlers on Mars would need houses, but they must either spend huge sums transporting construction materials from Earth or use enormous amounts of energy to melt Martian soil into bricks.
Scientists in Hong Kong say they have developed a quick and low-cost “living” building material made from genetically engineered yeast, gelatin and sand that can be 3D printed under conditions simulating the Martian environment.
Their study, published online last month in Chem Circularity, an...
Malaysia is proving to be a middle ground for many Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors looking to buy property in a country that provides the stability Singapore offers, but with competitive price points similar to those found in Thailand, according to analysts.
Data from Juwai IQI, a property portal with 7 million listings across 111 countries, showed that in the first half of 2026, Malaysia was the fourth-highest destination for inquiries received from Chinese buyers. That compared…
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff said he was “deeply disturbed” by a student’s 2024 rape allegation that has drawn national outrage.
“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said in a video message released on Saturday, saying the university must “do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe” from happening again.
Lawyers for a Jane Doe last month filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university, its leaders, the Chi Phi fraternity,…
From cooking and attending hospital visits to doing the actual quarrelling, paid “life stand-ins” are stepping in to manage these tasks, along with errands and awkward moments that many young Chinese would rather avoid.
This trend, known as the “stand-in economy,” is gaining traction among time-strapped consumers who are willing to pay for convenience when daily responsibilities exceed their time, patience, or expertise.
First widely reported by mainland media in 2024, the movement has since...
Two decades after stepping away from the spotlight, iconic actress Joey Wong made an unexpected return to the screen – not through a traditional production, but via artificial intelligence-powered reconstruction.
In a two-minute video by NetEase this summer, Wong, one of the most well-known actresses of the 1980s and 90s, had some of her most celebrated roles recreated, including the beautiful ghost in A Chinese Ghost Story and an alluring snake demon in Green Snake.
The revival is just the…
Final-year students invited to recruiters’ apartments for help with their applications. Coffee dates with alumni who promise to explain how the company works. Inappropriate interview questions about boyfriends, marriage plans and sex lives.
For young women in Japan, looking for a job has long entailed submitting themselves to the skewed power dynamics of the recruitment process.
And before Thursday, no official legal safeguards existed to protect these jobseekers from such...
Since July, Hong Kong has permitted dogs in approved dining premises under a tightly regulated scheme. More than 2,200 restaurants applied, with more than 980 taking part within the first month. On the surface, these are straightforward changes to the rules around where dogs are allowed. But they reflect something more significant: a changing relationship between Hong Kong and the dogs who also call it home.
Small companion breeds are familiar in urban life, while larger dogs, local mixed…
US President Donald Trump shared online the supposed phone number of a Republican US senator on Saturday in an escalating dispute over making daylight saving time permanent.
In a social media post, the president urged people to call a phone number he said belonged to Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who opposes the Trump-backed Sunshine Protection Act. The act would end the twice-yearly practice of changing clocks by one hour.
Trump says most Americans want more afternoon sunlight,...
Hong Kong is playing a central role as part of a broader regional hub for research breakthroughs, the head of a leading global cancer organisation has said, adding that the city’s success in reducing its smoking rate has set an example for others to follow.
Cary Adams, CEO of the Union for International Cancer Control, praised the city’s tobacco control efforts as the organisation held the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong for the first time late last month.
“We’ve all become aware globally...
As floodwaters surged from Bangkok’s drains, Fon’s car sank faster than her hopes of escaping the floods unscathed. She had bought it less than a month earlier.
“I woke up at 5am but it was too late,” the 24-year-old said, recalling her decision last weekend to wait until dawn to move her car to a nearby shopping centre. “My car was already submerged. I hadn’t even started making the payments and it’s gone.”
Relentless rain paralysed Thailand’s capital this September, dumping a month’s worth…
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs was set to retain power and form a pro-Ukrainian coalition after his centrist United List secured the biggest parliamentary election victory since Latvia regained independence in 1991.
With 97 per cent of ballots counted after Saturday’s election in the Nato and European Union country bordering Russia, United List was on 35.3 per cent, enough for 42 seats in the 100-seat parliament.
A businessman and amateur rally driver, Kulbergs, 47, came to power…
From online-gambling rings in eSwatini to SIM swapping in Kenya and cybercrime networks in Zambia, a wave of cross-border fraud is drawing African governments and China into closer security cooperation.
China hosted East African security ministers and police chiefs in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on September 10 for talks on terrorism, kidnapping, online fraud and other cross-border threats.
China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, said Beijing would strengthen law-enforcement...
When one of my seniors from medical school was pregnant during her surgical residency, she planned the exact date of her C-section so she could complete her training on time. When I asked why she didn’t consider taking maternity leave to recuperate afterwards, she said she couldn’t bring herself to lag behind her peers. “I didn’t want motherhood to slow me down,” she said.
In medicine, it is common for women to delay childbearing until after their early career years, often into their...
The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major staff shake-up since Christa Pike’s stunning failed execution left her unconscious and on a ventilator at a hospital.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will step down this month, Lee said. Some of the governor’s fellow Republicans and other elected officials had been urging a change in leadership.
It was the second time since May that Tennessee has not been…
Authorities have launched a probe into the building quality of a luxury residential development in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive neighbourhoods in the Southern district after receiving a complaint from an owner that insufficient steel bars were used during construction.
The Buildings Department said on Saturday it was “highly concerned about the incident” relating to One Stanley in Stanley, but stressed that its previous inspections did not find any imminent danger.
The department said it...
Christie’s auctioneer Rupert Banner leans forward with practised showmanship as bidding stalls on a rare Yongzheng bowl near New York’s iconic Rockefeller Centre. He pauses as if willing offers from thin air, scanning dozens of in-person buyers and phone banks connecting with China, London, Texas.
It will be a bad look if the frenzy abates for this delicate peach-decorated bowl highlighted on Christie’s glossy Chinese sale catalogue and online advertising. But bidding soon resumes with a...
Yemen’s Houthis claimed an attack on an oil facility near the Saudi capital on Saturday, where flames and smoke were seen, and accused the Gulf kingdom of striking Sanaa dozens of times.
The foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive last month.
Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting “Saudi…
The US is set to deploy one of its signature anti-ship missile systems to the Japanese island closest to Taiwan, an unprecedented move that comes as tensions in the region between Beijing and Tokyo continue to simmer.
The ground-based US uncrewed missile platform known as the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) will be deployed on Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture during biennial joint exercises this month, according to the regional bureau of the Japanese...
As global adoption of the open-source RISC-V chip architecture accelerates, US intellectual property provider MIPS is collaborating with Chinese firms at an unprecedented level, according to a senior executive, highlighting how cross-border cooperation persists despite intense tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
MIPS, which was acquired by US chipmaker GlobalFoundries last year, was driving RISC-V standardisation “very closely with China”, chief technology officer Yankin Tanurhan…
North Korea said on Saturday it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it claimed has manoeuvrable flight capabilities designed to evade missile defences in South Korea and Japan. The latest test comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over border landmine blasts.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said her brother supervised the test of the missile, which she described as strategic, implying it was designed to deliver nuclear...
Hong Kong public universities will raise undergraduate tuition fees for non-local students studying general courses by up to 26 per cent in the 2027-28 academic year, marking the sharpest increase in recent years as institutions adjust to an expanded quota.
Non-local students admitted to the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) medicine and dentistry programmes will face the steepest jump, with annual tuition rising by 137 per cent to HK$590,000 (US$75,187) to recover the high costs of clinical...
Hong Kong police have busted a burglary syndicate that recruited illegal immigrants and is believed to be behind at least 25 break-ins across the city in recent weeks, with stolen cash and valuables exceeding HK$3.6 million (US$458,773).
Six people aged 31 to 45 – five mainlanders and a local resident – were arrested in a Friday operation following a review of surveillance footage, police said.
Three of the mainland suspects, all men, were illegal immigrants. Another two – a couple – are...
Chinese troops have taken part in a mass multinational exercise in Russia featuring new anti-drone and ground robot systems – drills that Russian state media said “applied lessons” from the Ukraine war.
The troops were among more than 47,000 military personnel involved in the Tsentr-2026 – or Centre-2026 – drills in the central western Chelyabinsk region from Monday until Saturday.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said the strategic command-and-staff exercise applied combat lessons from the...
Thirty-one years ago, Hongkonger Raymond Lo Shu-yuen was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer and had a quarter of the organ removed.
Now 75, Lo said the illness, despite its physical and mental toll, had taught him invaluable lessons about ageing, health and making the most of life.
“I can say that the cancer itself saved me,” he said.
“Why? If I did not have this illness, I would not have changed my past lifestyle such as working hard like a dog, eating a lot of junk food, doing no…
The botanical societies of the United States and China have signed a plant science cooperation initiative, vowing to strengthen bilateral ties and foster an open scientific community to tackle global issues.
The joint initiative was signed during a Sino-American botany conference last month in Taian, in China’s eastern Shandong province, which brought together hundreds of experts from institutions in both countries.
The conference, held from September 19 to 23, aimed to “further deepen…
A 60-year-old woman in China has captured attention on social media for giving birth to a baby girl, just two years after welcoming a son.
She made the decision to have children at a later stage in life after enduring the loss of her only child four years ago, as reported by the Red Star News.
The infant girl, weighing 2.8kg, was born on September 17 through caesarean section at Zhumadian Central Hospital in Henan province, central China.
Her mother, identified by the surname Zhang, expressed...
Hong Kong’s stronger economic performance over the past year was the reason for raising the monthly minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers by 2.35 per cent, the labour minister has said, amid disappointment from both unions and employers’ groups.
Defending the government’s decision to raise the monthly minimum wage to HK$5,220 (US$665), Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the government sought to keep the annual adjustment mechanism “balanced and acceptable”.
Speaking...
The European Union’s demand that Britain raise tariffs on Chinese cars exposes an awkward truth about post-Brexit trade. Britain might have left the EU, but it cannot easily escape the bloc’s industrial policy.
According to the Financial Times, EU officials have told Prime Minister Andy Burnham that Britain needs to align more closely with EU trade policy towards China if it wants British manufacturers to avoid discriminatory treatment under the bloc’s proposed “Made in Europe” rules. The...
Pakistani troops are expected to take over various defensive functions for Saudi Arabia to enable the Middle East country to fight an all-out war aimed at defeating Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
According to defence analysts, Pakistani troops are not expected to participate directly in ground offensives against the Houthis being planned by Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s squabbling government factions.
Instead, their primary objective would be to free up Saudi forces to focus on what is likely…