Recent mishaps involving the USS Gerald R. Ford suggest Americas military is overstretched and its industrial base has been weakened, according to Chinese analysts. The warship the worlds most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been supporting the US operation against Iran in the Red Sea. But US media reported this week that it would head to ...

Sir Anthony Mason, one of Hong Kongs first and greatest justices to sit on our Court of Final Appeal, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 100. Not only was he a towering jurist in the common law world, but his contribution to Hong Kongs legal system, particularly in its formative post-1997 years, was both profound and enduring. Sir Anthony served on the ...

Tokyos meteorologists declared the start of the much-loved cherry blossom season in the Japanese capital on Thursday, as residents prepare to host outdoor picnics under dazzling floral displays. The cherry season for Tokyo starts when the official sample tree at Yasukuni Shrine opens at least five flowers. Today, the blooming of the Somei Yoshino cherry ...

CK Hutchison Holdings, one of the flagship companies owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shings family, reported a 7 per cent increase in underlying profit for 2025, as the company predicted its businesses would face new and perhaps unforeseen challenges in 2026. The ports-to-telecoms conglomerate said on Thursday that underlying profit reached HK$22.3 ...

As war rages in the Middle East thousands of miles from the Philippines, a senior military official has urged Manila to reflect on its own vulnerabilities, stressing that military modernisation should not be mere lip service. Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr earlier this week called on the country to strengthen its air defences, particularly systems ...

Beijing has accused Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of glorifying Japanese colonial rule in a recent speech. The Peoples Liberation Army also stepped up the number of sorties by aircraft around the island after Lai made the comments on Saturday at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of Taiwans first direct elections. Lai, from the ...

Oil prices surged about 10 per cent and Chinese stocks fell on Thursday as widening conflict in the Middle East created new concerns about global energy supplies. Brent crude, the global benchmark, touched US$117 a barrel, having risen 60 per cent since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index and the mainland CSI 300 ...

A tower crane collapsed at a construction site in Kwai Chung in Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon, killing the operator and hitting a vehicle on the ground. The accident occurred at 4.27pm near Pik Kwai House at Kwai Chung Estate. Authorities said they had received multiple reports that vehicles were hit, with possible casualties. Emergency crews are on ...

GLP, a global operator and investor in logistics, digital infrastructure, renewable energy and finance, is deepening its commitment to Chinas growth, projecting as much as a 50 per cent rise in logistics rental rates, supported by stronger domestic consumption and wider adoption of alternative energies. Angela Zhao, CEO of GLP China, said the countrys 15th ...

As the war in Iran rages and the consequences of the shock to commodity markets become clearer, the vulnerability of Asias economies tops the list of concerns in the research reports of investment banks. The regions reliance on energy imports from the Gulf has come under scrutiny. The facts speak for themselves. Three-quarters of the oil supplies that ...

Chinese authorities have renewed their push for stricter oversight of the electric vehicle (EV) market, urging carmakers to move away from aggressive discounting and focus instead on technological innovation. The directive comes as domestic manufacturers struggle with cooling demand and the phasing out of long-standing government subsidies. At a high-level ...

Chinas urban youth unemployment rate fell in February for the sixth consecutive month, though the marginal improvement provides little reprieve for jobseekers in a challenging post-holiday labour market. The jobless rate for the 16-to-24 age group, excluding students, edged down to 16.1 per cent in February from 16.3 per cent in January, according to data ...

The UK government has confirmed that stricter English language requirements for immigrants announced earlier this month will not apply to Hongkongers applying through the British National (Overseas) visa pathway. The clarification from Minister for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp came after more than 30 MPs sent a letter to the Home Office last month ...

The first two months of 2026 saw a record number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, despite fewer crossing attempts towards Europe, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At least 655 people died or went missing in January and February - more than double the 287 recorded for the same period last year. NGOs and ...

We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Are you ready, Army? Free BTS concert to mark a K-pop comeback like no other The seven-member group made up of members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will stage a ...

Thailands new parliament elected Anutin Charnvirakul as prime minister on Thursday, keeping the conservative in the top office after his party routed its election rivals with a nationalist campaign. The Southeast Asian nations next government will have to handle the fallout from the Middle East conflict, sluggish economic growth and lingering border ...

Malaysian police are on a hunt for thieves who stole 30 urns from a funeral home in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan, in a bizarre case with possible links to a cross-border criminal group holding the ashes of deceased for ransom. The Xiao En memorial park reported the incident in late February, when it discovered that at least 15 urns had gone missing ...

The United Nations has warned the conflict in the Middle East is sending shock waves from the fertiliser industry to food prices, as countries across the northern hemisphere including China enter their spring planting seasons. If the conflict lasts longer than three months, the impact would become significantly more serious, affecting input costs in ...

A coffee shop in China is offering a new type of Americano which includes eggs brewed in child urine, a drink believed to be of nutritional value. The shop in Dongyang city in eastern Chinas Zhejiang province recently began to offer the special brew, claiming it was popular. Costing 28 yuan (US$4) per cup, the outlet sold more than 100 cups a day at ...

Zhang Jinshui, a pioneering scientist in remote sensing who led major R&D programmes in China and was instrumental in enhancing the countrys food security with satellite technologies, has died at the age of 47. Zhang, a professor and doctoral supervisor in the faculty of geographical science at Beijing Normal University, died in Beijing on March 9 following ...

A social media post showing a cafe charging 2,000 won (US$1.35) for restroom use without a purchase has sparked heated debate online in South Korea. The image featured a screenshot of a self-order kiosk displaying a menu item reading restroom use without ordering, priced at 2,000 won per person per visit. The post also drew mixed reactions in an online ...

Cambodia is importing more fuel from suppliers in Singapore and Malaysia to make up for supply shortfalls from Vietnam and China, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as the US-Israeli war on Iran squeezes fuel availability globally. About a third of the 6,300 petrol stations in the country of nearly 18 million people closed last week due to uncertainty ...

Hong Kong businessman Jason Poon Cheuk-hung, his wife and four others have been arrested on suspicion of defrauding an enterprise financing scheme out of HK$6 million (US$765,500) during the Covid-19 pandemic, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source confirmed to the SCMP on Thursday that construction businessman Poon, 56, and his 54-year-old wife ...

Philippine police have foiled a school shooting and rescued seven students radicalised by foreigners online to stage an attack in Laguna province near Manila, as calls grow to enhance parental safeguards against digital threats. Officers rounded up the suspects five boys and two girls, aged 12 to 17 on February 2 after receiving a tip-off about the ...

Timing is everything in modern warfare, where even a nanoseconds delay can make the difference between hitting or missing a target in a coordinated drone or missile attack. China may now have taken a major step forward in this field with the mass production of the worlds smallest atomic clock something the researchers behind it say could transform drone ...