In Pakistans southwestern mountains, pickup trucks loaded with plastic cans of fuel smuggled from Iran line dusty roads as youngsters unload the containers, fill smaller cans and strap them onto motorbikes to supply nearby markets. The illicit trade has long thrived in the region but is feeling the knock-on effects of the war which has engulfed the Middle ...

Hong Kongs education authorities plan to establish an internationally benchmarked version of the citys university entrance exam on a pilot basis to allow foreign students to apply for admission to higher education institutions both locally and in mainland China. They revealed that technical explorations and studies with relevant bodies on developing the ...

Hong Kongs labour chief has said geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have made the city, with its relative security and stability, a more attractive place for global talent, including those from Gulf countries. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han highlighted the governments efforts in recent years to attract talent, dismissing concerns ...

As Chinese science makes great strides, some US China hawks have been sounding the alarm. In their view, Chinese scientific progress is a significant national security threat to the United States, as it signals the relative decline of US scientific dominance and potentially creates dependence on China. In one extreme case of this view, Leland Miller, a ...

Cosco Shipping Ports, a unit of state-owned giant Cosco Shipping, reported modest earnings growth for 2025, as management expects to expand in emerging markets amid rising geopolitical risks to global trade. Net profit rose 1.1 per cent to US$312.1 million, and revenue increased 11 per cent to US$1.67 billion, according to its 2025 results. Total container ...

A delegation from Chinas Peoples Liberation Army will travel to Brussels next week for talks with the European Union and Nato amid heightened concerns over global security caused by the war in Iran. The EU-China Security and Defence Consultations will take place next Tuesday, official sources confirmed, with the talks between Nato and the PLAs Office for ...

A former Hong Kong lawmaker on trial for allegedly inciting subversion has denied abetting criminal activity by supporting mainland Chinese dissidents, accusing Beijing of levelling false charges against them. Prosecutors on Wednesday challenged Lee Cheuk-yans claim that he had no intention to incite others to overthrow the mainlands communist rule when he ...

Hong Kongs Airport Authority is partnering with a private company to develop a HK$300 million (US$38.28 million) art storage facility set to open next year, as the city looks to cement its position as a global hub for trading valuable works. Speaking at a contract signing ceremony on Wednesday, authority CEO Vivian Cheung Kar-fay said Hong Kong was the ...

Hong Kong customs officers have seized 986 smuggled live turtles worth about HK$1 million (US$127,620) from a private car attempting to leave the city, arresting the driver and a passenger. Officers discovered the turtles hidden in seven black plastic bags in the vehicles boot at the Hong KongZhuhaiMacau Bridge control point on Tuesday. A 42-year-old driver ...

China is offering solar energy to Cuba, an old ally left without power amid the US oil embargo, in a show of strength for Chinese renewable-energy credentials and a sign of Beijings economic footprint in Latin America. Beijings ambassador to Cuba, Hua Xin, on Monday outlined joint energy projects in progress as part of an effort to ease a complex power ...

The Hong Kong Tourism Board will allocate three-quarters of its resources to overseas markets this year in a strategic shift aimed at diversifying visitor demographics and attracting more overnight high spenders to the city. The board also revealed on Wednesday that it would launch a new global campaign by the end of April to promote Hong Kong as a unique ...

Israels defence minister said on Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian intelligence minister Esmail Khatib. Israel Katz announced Khatibs killing and said that significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts, without elaborating. There has been no confirmation from Iran regarding Khatibs reported death. Katz said he and ...

The United States inclusion of Southeast Asian countries among economic partners it intends to investigate for unfair trade practices is expected to push the region further from Washingtons orbit. The probes, announced last week, could lead to new levies imposed on countries, based on allegations of forced labour and trade surpluses, even as the Donald ...

Turbulence in the global oil market caused by the war in Iran revealed a quiet shift that could reshape global energy security: the rapid rise of electric vehicles. Global uptake of electric vehicle fleets has led to avoided oil consumption rising to the equivalent of 70 per cent of Irans exports in 2025, according to a new report. Last year, EVs worldwide ...

Hong Kongs jobless rate dipped by 0.1 percentage point over the past three months to 3.8 per cent, with unemployment dropping in the retail, accommodation, and foundation and superstructure sectors. The sustained growth momentum of the Hong Kong economy should continue to support the overall labour market, though employment situations in some local sectors ...

Iranian authorities executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said on Wednesday, in the first such execution announced since the war with Israel and the United States broke out. The death sentence of a spy for the Zionist regime, who had been providing images and information about the countrys sensitive locations to Mossad officers, was ...

Malaysias medical tourism sector could receive a boost amid the widening conflict in the Middle East as potential patients look for safer alternatives in Asia, according to a private healthcare company. Dubai, the main medical hub in the region, has been under Iranian missile and drone retaliatory attacks since the US and Israel began air strikes on the ...

In ancient China there was a unique and quirky profession: if someone committed a crime and was sentenced to flogging, they could hire another person to take the punishment on their behalf. During the Ming dynasty (13681644), flogging was a form of punishment in which court officials were publicly beaten with heavy rods. The striking end of the rod was ...

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported projectile impact on the grounds of the countrys only operational nuclear power plant that caused no damage. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening, the Vienna-based agency ...

The chief designer on the J-20 stealth fighter jet has been removed from the website of Chinas national research institute, amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector. Yang Wei, 62, had been listed as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the top academic body for science and technology. But as of Monday, his name was no ...

Singapore sits just one degree north of the equator, where the air rarely drops below 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity clings year round. It is, by most measures, one of the worst places on Earth to cool a data centre. Yet the city state crams more into its small footprint than almost anywhere else. Home to more than 70 facilities and ...

Distrust in Australian police among Queenslands Indian diaspora is set to deepen after an officer was caught on body camera hurling expletives at an Uber driver, leading the victim to sue the force in federal court. The officer said, f*****g Indians, mate, they are a bunch of f*****g perverts to a colleague in 2023, before they charged the man with ...

Tencent Holdingss net income stayed largely in line with analyst expectations in the fourth quarter of 2025, registering a 17 per cent jump amid an artificial intelligence boom that is reshaping the global economy and fuelling a frenzy in China. The tech giants quarterly profits reached 64.7 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) on a non-IFRS basis, just shy of ...

Hong Kong could introduce pilot schemes for booking campsites in the city before the National Day holiday in October, as authorities revealed that 32 people were prosecuted for offences in Sai Kungs country parks over the Chinese New Year holiday period. Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that most ...

In April 2020, as the world struggled with the Covid-19 pandemic and soldiers from India and China moved towards a large-scale border stand-off, New Delhi amended its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to require prior government approval for all investments from countries sharing a land border with India a measure directed at China. Nearly six years ...