Chinas top legislative body said it would require stronger regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) safety and ethics in an amendment to the countrys Cybersecurity Law. Wang Xiang, spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that the amendment draft had ...

A former wealth banker at Citigroup got the longest sentence in Singapores biggest money laundering case for his role in aiding the movement of illicit funds and obstructing justice. Wang Qiming, a former relationship manager at Citibank Singapore, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to four out of 10 charges. The prosecutor sought ...

Hong Kongs leader has called on the public and private sectors to encourage employees to vote in the coming Legislative Council election, describing it as their social responsibility. At the ceremony to launch the election on Thursday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu urged both public institutions and businesses to encourage employees to take part in the ...

A man in Singapore offered a woman S$5,000 (US$3,848) and a public apology after he was confronted for molesting her buttocks as he exited a lift with his wife. Chinese national Hu Guisheng, 39, was jailed for six days upon pleading guilty on Wednesday to one charge of outrage of modesty in the March 8 incident. The social visit pass holder was in a lift at ...

A video of a dog in southwestern China driving a four-wheeled mobility scooter has taken the internet by storm. The talented canine, who can also skateboard, turn on lights, and even take out the rubbish, has left many people amazed. Captured in Meishan, Sichuan province, the black dog was filmed standing on the scooter, paws on the steering wheel, barking ...

China could beat the United States to become the first country to find water on the moon, with all international payloads already handed over for its next robotic lunar mission which is slated for launch in August. Tang Yuhua, deputy chief designer for the Change-7 mission, said the spacecrafts development was progressing smoothly, with scientific ...

Hong Kong Ocean Park does not rule out shutting down its Water World facility to prevent further deficit and will actively consider if the government is willing to take over operating rights, its chairman has revealed. Paulo Pong Kin-yee admitted on Thursday that the theme parks HK$274.7 million (US$31.8 million) deficit over the past year was primarily ...

As China prepares to unveil its next five-year plan on Thursday, the mouthpiece of the countrys ruling Communist Party has styled the nations socialist system as a source of strength that powers the development of the vast Chinese economy and provides stability to the global economy. In an editorial published on Thursday morning, Peoples Daily said that ...

A collector has offered Malaysias growing trading-card community a chance to own a piece of Pokemon history after putting part of his rare trove up for sale at 1.87 million ringgit (US$441,993) or willing to trade it for a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S plus additional cash. Damiral Imran listed his collection on social media, where he described it as history, ...

Beijing is likely to view the growing defence cooperation between India, South Korea and Australia as a strategic effort to contain China in the Indo-Pacific, according to analysts. They said closer defence ties between the three reflected concerns over a possible security vacuum in case the United States reduced its military presence in the region. The ...

A Chinese national who United States authorities accuse of trafficking large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl into the US before being arrested and then escaping custody in Mexico was recaptured in Cuba, Mexican authorities said Wednesday. Zhi Dong Zhang, alias Brother Wang, was indicted in federal court in Atlanta in 2022 on drug trafficking and money ...

South Koreas former first lady Kim Keon-hee has again made headlines after revelations that she sat on a royal throne during a private palace visit triggering ridicule that she must have fancied herself a queen, given her oversized influence over her husband. Kim reportedly sat on the throne during a private tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal ...

Hong Kong airports north runway has been temporarily closed as two salvage vessels with an 80-member crew are set to arrive in the city to lift a crashed cargo plane that veered off its path and killed two people. The Airport Authority said that the north runway would be closed starting from 8am on Thursday, with the operation to salvage the aircraft, which ...

China should break free from Western discourse traps over issues such as state subsidies, democracy and the global order to challenge double standards about its rise, a former official policy adviser has urged. Ding Yifan, a former deputy director of the Institute of World Development, a government think tank, also said many Chinese scholars were reluctant ...

Global hotel chain operator Hilton plans to introduce new brands to mainland China, aiming to meet evolving lifestyle demands amid its rapid expansion in the worlds second-largest economy. Qian Jin, president of Hilton Greater China and Mongolia, said in an interview this week that the US hospitality group remained bullish on the mainlands market, where Gen ...

Millions of tonnes of discarded electronics from the United States are being shipped overseas, much of it to developing countries in Southeast Asia unprepared to safely handle hazardous waste, according to a new report released on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog. The Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN) said a two-year investigation found at ...

A Chinese man who had a gold straw worth 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) tailor-made for drinking milk tea accidentally dropped it while riding his electric bike. The man surnamed Shou, from eastern Chinas Zhejiang province, recently went viral because he asked for police help to look for the golden drinking implement. Shou was riding his electric bike home at ...

As Japans new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office, she wasted no time extending an olive branch to South Korea, calling it an important neighbour and praising its culture. But how long will the goodwill last? Concerns linger in South Korea that Takaichi, known for her nationalist leanings, may eventually adopt a more hawkish stance, risking again ...

Huawei Technologies on Wednesday released to consumers in China the latest version of its proprietary operating system, HarmonyOS 6, that enables direct file transfers between Huawei and Apple devices for the first time. HarmonyOS 6, which was initially made available to developers in June, is expected to be found in more than 90 Huawei devices including ...

Car sales in mainland China are likely to slide in 2026, breaking a six-year streak, if Beijing stops granting cash subsidies and tax incentives to buyers, according to a JPMorgan forecast that looms over the earnings outlook for the countrys 100-odd vehicle assemblers. We expect retail [car] sales to see flat growth next year in a bullish scenario, Nick ...

With an eye to transforming Cambodia into a Southeast Asian travel and cargo hub, a new US$2.3 billion airport developed by a venture affiliated with one of the countrys wealthiest men was opened at a grand ceremony near Phnom Penh, where officials and business leaders praised the project for enhancing regional connectivity and deepening links with Hong ...

The Chinese governments recent announcement of more export controls on rare earth-related items marks a significant shift in global economic statecraft. The new measures, covering a spectrum of rare earth elements, other critical materials and relevant processing technologies, have been justified as measures to safeguard national security and fulfil ...

The US military struck a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, expanding a controversial campaign against cartels that had been so far limited to the Caribbean Sea. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike in a social media post on Wednesday, saying two narco-terrorists were killed. Narco-terrorists intending ...

Speculation has grown that Chinas latest Type 076 amphibious warship, which will serve as a drone carrier and is capable of launching fixed-wing fighters, has begun testing its advanced electromagnetic catapult. The Sichuan, which is currently being fitted out at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, was pictured on Chinese social media with its ...

The director of the Louvre on Wednesday admitted there was inadequate security camera coverage of the outside walls of the museum, three days after a brazen daytime heist stunned the French capital. Senators grilled Laurence des Cars over how thieves were able on Sunday to make off with an estimated 88 million (US$102 million) in jewels from the ...