A teenage boy shot dead two staff members and injured two other people, including a student, at a school in northeast Brazil on Tuesday, prompting panicked students to try to escape over a wall, authorities and a witness said. A 13-year-old boy was arrested over the attack at Sao Jose Institute in Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state, the local government ...

For decades, the Strait of Hormuz has been a narrow passage with a big footprint. Whenever it comes under tension, the world is reminded that energy security is less a policy construct than an everyday reality for Asias economies, factories and prices. For China, Japan, South Korea, India and Southeast Asia, it has always been more than just a Middle ...

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it suspects some rare human-to-human transmission of the deadly hantavirus took place between very close contacts on board a luxury cruise ship hit by seven confirmed or suspected cases. Human-to-human transmission is not common, and the UN health agency reiterated that the risk to the wider public was low ...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that fake images of her generated by artificial intelligence were circulating online, warning that such false photos could deceive the public and target people unable to defend themselves. Meloni said in a statement that several fake photos of her had been created with AI and passed off as real by ...

Panamas foreign minister has called on a group of opposition lawmakers visiting China to deliver a firm message defending the countrys sovereignty, as tensions over a wave of detentions of Panamanian-flagged vessels show no signs of easing. Javier Martinez-Acha Vasquez said on Monday that the lawmakers should relay a clear message to their Chinese ...

Hong Kongs security chief has reaffirmed that fire services will act as the gatekeeper for safety after a legal vacuum was exposed during an inquiry into the citys deadliest fire in decades, stressing the departments existing manpower could cope with expanded oversight duties. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Tuesday reiterated the pledge ...

After years of debate over whether claw and pinball machines encourage high-stakes gambling, Hong Kong has finally proposed stricter oversight to curb gaming, particularly among teenagers. Cases of addiction linked to these machines are rising in the city, but drawing a clear distinction between gaming and gambling remains difficult. As Hong Kong prepares ...

For most military powers, proving the success of ones technology in real combat almost always requires undertaking the grave risks of war and human casualties. In the case of the Peoples Liberation Army, Beijing continues to exercise great caution about joining any armed conflict, and the past few decades have brought astounding progress yet an extremely ...

Japans defence minister pledged to deepen military cooperation with the Philippines during a visit Tuesday to Manila, aiming for the early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers to the archipelago nation. The two countries shared grievances over Chinese territorial claims have seen them draw increasingly close in recent years, including the signing of a ...

An articulated truck caught fire inside the undersea tunnel of the Hong KongZhuhaiMacau Bridge forcing the temporary closure of city-bound lanes and disrupting traffic on Tuesday evening. The blaze was reported before 8pm in the tunnel tube of the 55km (34.17 miles) cross-border bridge. Video footage showed flames beneath the cargo truck and thick smoke ...

The Philippine House of Representatives has moved Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpios impeachment closer to a decisive vote, the first step in a week-long process that will test whether allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr have enough support to send the case to a Senate trial. The House placed the impeachment on its plenary agenda on Tuesday, a day ...

One in five people in Hong Kong feels lonely, with about 520,000 self-isolating and unwilling to confide in family, friends or even artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, a survey has found. The Hong Kong Family Welfare Society on Tuesday released the survey results, which also showed the citys family well-being index at 6.09, slightly up from 6.06 in 2024. ...

China has unveiled a new supercomputer built from entirely home-grown CPUs, with the aim of beating the worlds fastest machine while sidestepping US export controls. Known as Lingsheng or LineShine, it is designed to reach 2 exaflops or two quintillion calculations per second edging past the 1.8-exaflop El Capitan, the current record holder at the ...

A prominent hedge fund manager took advantage of a banks wholesale collective failure to prevent illicit trading, making HK$1.7 million (US$217,012) in a single day by using confidential information to sell shares in a Hong Kong fashion house nine years ago, prosecutors alleged on Tuesday. British-born investor Simon Sadler is on trial at the District Court ...

The Chinese navy has unveiled a new anti-drone air defence system, state media reported on Monday. In recent years, drones have fundamentally transformed naval warfare and emerged as a significant threat to modern warships in conflicts such as Russias war against Ukraine and the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. State broadcaster CCTV said a finalisation test ...

Hong Kong property transactions surged to a four-month high in April, while the value and volume of home sales hit their highest level in 24 months, according to the latest official data, underscoring the resilience of the citys real estate sector amid uncertainties over interest rates and the US-Israel war on Iran. A total of 8,692 transactions across ...

Hong Kong education authorities have contacted a school after its newly tightened rules and penalties on mobile phone use triggered an outcry among students. Under the new measures, due to take effect in the coming weeks, Form Three and Four students at the boys school Kwun Tong Maryknoll College will be banned from using mobile phones on campus, with ...

Indonesia is moving to reshape its ride-hailing industry from the inside, with officials saying the state has acquired stakes in app companies as President Prabowo Subianto seeks to raise drivers earnings and rein in commission fees. The move could mark a significant shift in one of Southeast Asias biggest on-demand economies, where millions of drivers for ...

On a small island off eastern China, a group of mothers is rewriting the rules of work and family life. Known as the Female Knights, this determined band of women has turned food delivery into a path to financial independence and self-empowerment. Qushan Island, in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, has a population of around 55,000. Its main industries are ...

Four years after Shanghais harsh citywide lockdown, there are signs the citys expatriate population which thinned significantly during the pandemic is starting to rebound, though with a notably different demographic profile. The sound of English, Korean and French is once again often heard drifting through the plane-tree-lined streets of Shanghais former ...

South Koreas first home-grown combat aircraft, the KF-21, still has a long way to go competing globally against products from the US, Europe and China, analysts said, as the fighter jet finally rolls out. In March, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) officially unveiled the first production unit of the KF-21 Boramae, placing Seoul in an elite group of now ...

Swedens government said on Tuesday it would push forward with a plan to form a new spy agency targeting overseas threats, part of a wider reset prompted by Russias war in Ukraine. The new agency would be called Swedens foreign intelligence service (UND) and would start operations in January 2027, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told a press ...

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) say they have developed a world-first nasal spray that delivers neurotherapeutic powder directly to the brain as first aid for ischemic stroke patients, with clinical trials expected by 2030. The treatment is intended for initial use by paramedics, before being rolled out to high-risk groups in care ...

Japan and Australia agreed to step up collaboration in areas including critical minerals, defence and energy security, tackling Chinas dominance of rare earths and fuel-supply disruptions caused by the Iran war. Australia and Japan are taking action to protect our economies from future economic shocks and uncertainty, Australian Prime Minister Anthony ...