A China-led team of researchers has developed a powerful brain implant electrode array that is as soft as brain tissue, thinner than a strand of hair and more durable than anything before it. In animal trials, a new flexible brain implant recorded neural activity with unprecedented long-term clarity and remained safely functional inside the body for 18 ...

A top US trade official took a veiled swipe at China on Thursday for a range of unfair trade practices, but also criticised the United States for being asleep at the wheel for far too long. They subsidised, they dumped, they erected regulatory barriers, they supported state-owned enterprises, they used every tool available to build their industries and ...

Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chius leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijings 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation exercise has just started. But what is the nations 15th five-year plan, why is it important and whats Hong Kongs role? Chinas five-year plan responds to great changes unseen in a ...

Alex Doran, a 28-year-old corporate strategist, is cheering for the US national team and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its initial win against Paraguay last week, while acknowledging that his team is unlikely to go all the way. While he does not expect to attend a match in person involving tickets costing thousands of US dollars, he has been ...

An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later. ...

SpaceXs bankers are preparing to meet investors as early as next week to discuss a bond offering of at least US$20 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as Elon Musks newly public company seeks funding for an ambitious and capital-intensive AI expansion. SpaceXs AI ambitions come with a steep price tag, requiring tens of billions ...

An attack on Thursday on the airport and military airbase in Nigers capital killed 11 members of the security forces and two civilians, the government said in a statement, without identifying the perpetrators. The first explosions were heard at around 6am local time, witnesses said, and sporadic gunfire was still audible nearly two hours later at the ...

New York City leaders including Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday vowed to work to put an end to the 150-year-old horse carriage industry in the wake of a teenagers death. Romanch Mahajan, 18, was killed when a Central Park carriage horse bolted from its driver while he was on a family trip celebrating his high school graduation. Mahajan jumped out of the ...

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a three-year-old boy ended up in a crocodile enclosure at a zoo in central England on Thursday, resulting in him sustaining critical injuries, police said. Cambridgeshire Police said officers were called following reports of an incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a zoo near Huntingdon, ...

Hong Kong property tycoon Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has said he is very optimistic about the future of China due to its stability as he received the Game Changer Award from the Asia Society for his contributions to the countrys development. At a fireside chat on Thursday after receiving the award from the city leader, the 90-year-old founder and chairman of ...

A US$300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran has emerged as a flashpoint in a newly reached ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran, raising fresh questions over who will ultimately bear the cost. Outlined in a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the United States and Iran after more than 100 days of conflict, the fund commits ...

North Koreas Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, condemned a G7 call for the countrys denuclearisation as a violation of its constitution and an infringement of sovereignty, state media KCNA said on Thursday. Kim said denuclearisation was an irreversibly finalised agenda that could never be realised, and that nuclear possession was North ...

A Vietnamese police operation rescued about 400 pet cats destined for the dinner plate, uncovering a nationwide racket fuelling the countrys rampant pet meat trade that uses a criminal corridor running from the south to the north. Hundreds of desperate cat owners rushed to a Ho Chi Minh police headquarters over the weekend to see if their lost pet was among ...

The British ambassador to China has paid a rare visit to a Chinese communist heartland where President Xi Jinping performed hard labour as a young man. Ambassador Peter Wilson on Wednesday visited Yanan in the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi along with Lu Kang, vice-minister of the Communist Partys International Department, the department said. ...

Trials are under way in China to roll out autonomous navigation and other smart shipping solutions to slash logistics costs ahead of the opening of the landmark Pinglu Canal, which will link its landlocked southwestern regions to Southeast Asia to spur trade and connectivity. Intelligent barges and other vessels have been tested on the artificial waterway ...

Two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London found guilty of spying on activists were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail on Thursday. Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 65, an administrative manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), was sentenced to eight years in prison for assisting a foreign intelligence service at the Old ...

A sharp sell-off in Indonesian assets has taken on a political tone online, with some social media users alleging, without evidence, that Singapore stands to gain from a Sell Indonesia narrative around Southeast Asias biggest economy. The rupiah has slipped to multiple record lows and weakened about 8 per cent this year, crossing a key level and trading ...

A Thai police officer who tried to flee after allegedly shooting his wife and her mother with his service weapon outside a gym was chased down and detained by two fitness trainers. Responding to reports of gunshots, officers from Nang Rong Police Station arrived at the two-storey fitness centre owned by the shooters wife behind Sra Ya Ma Market in Buriram ...

Israels foreign minister said on Thursday that he was severing all contact with the European Unions top diplomat Kaja Kallas over reported remarks in which she allegedly compared Israel to the apartheid regime that once ruled South Africa. Diplomatic relations between Israel and the EU have come under heavy strain since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, ...

Chinese state media and influencers have pushed back on criticism of hit indie movie Dear You, which has been described as a tool to expand Beijings influence over the Chinese diaspora. The Chinese medias counterpunch this week came in the countdown to the movies release in Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets on Thursday. The film, which is in the ...

Towngas customers are facing higher bills as Hong Kongs largest piped-gas provider will raise tariffs by 4.4 per cent in August, citing higher operating costs, while pledging no further changes over the next two years. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company (Towngas) said on Thursday that the tariff increase would result in about half of its commercial and ...

More than 90 per cent of mainland Chinese families moving to Hong Kong under the citys talent visa schemes have cited their childrens education as the primary reason for relocating, according to a survey. The survey by Beacon Group, one of the citys largest tutoring and college admissions consultancies, was published on Thursday and showed that nearly 80 ...

Doctors in southern China had to remove two 10cm-long living worms from the arm of an anguished woman after she reported a big lump. The woman, surnamed Wang, said the lump, which first appeared on her arm a year ago, got bigger and bigger. Eventually, it ballooned to the size of a quail egg. Wang said the sharp pain from the swollen mass prompted her to ...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at Nato allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe whose outcome will depend on how fast the Europeans take responsibility for their own security. This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly towards Europe ...

Hong Kongs Housing Authority will roll out two schemes in September to promote the effective use of subsidised homes by allowing owners to lease properties without paying a premium and encouraging elderly owners to swap properties for a smaller or remote flat. The two initiatives received a green light from the subsidised housing committee of the citys ...