We have selected five 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. The TCM influencers demystifying ancient Chinese healing practices for Gen Z The rise of Chinamaxxing and a growing appetite for cupping reels and the like has launched traditional ...

Hong Kong has ranked as the second-most globally competitive economy its best performance in seven years climbing one spot from last year to place behind Singapore. The ranking, released by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) on Thursday, put the city ahead of 68 other economies out of 70 surveyed. Hong Kongs ...

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek closed its first-ever external fundraising in an unusual and high-stakes deal that could not only reshape the countrys AI landscape but also offer a rare glimpse into how one of Chinas most valuable AI start-ups will navigate its next phase of growth, sources and analysts said. Hangzhou-based DeepSeek now ...

Keir Starmer isnt on the ballot, but the UK prime ministers future is on the line in a special election on Thursday. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker, and the leading contender is Andy Burnham of the governing Labour Party, the current mayor of Greater Manchester and oddsmakers favourite to be the next prime ...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited Russias Kazan with a message about Asean centrality and a more urgent national problem behind it keeping fuel supply secure as global energy uncertainties linger. The two-day Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit has turned into a small but telling test of Washingtons influence in Southeast Asia, according to ...

A Singaporean man is facing jail time for sending an edited photo of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on fire to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loongs Facebook page while mentioning a bomb. Andie Tan Kok Yong, a 35-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of knowingly sending a false message under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and ...

Young people from China are visiting South Korea for cheaper and better beauty services that last for only one day, reflecting a change in overseas tourism desires. On Chinas social media, many are sharing the three must-do things while travelling in South Korea: colour analysis, make-up and hairstyle and taking an identity (ID) photograph. Unlike the ...

The Middle East conflict has shaken up the global energy supply chain and Beijing needs to do more to protect shipments such as finding alternative routes and boosting escort capabilities, according to industry analysts. Lu Ruquan, president of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economics and Technology Research Institute, said the country should ...

Ukrainian drones hit Moscows oil refinery for the second time this week while Russia fired missiles into Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought support from the US and Europe to reach a peace deal. Moscow downed over five dozen drones on Thursday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram, and a Reuters witness saw flames and plumes of smoke over the ...

The deaths in quick succession of three rugby players in Malaysia have put renewed focus on the risks of competing in extreme heat and humidity, as climate change pushes temperatures higher across Southeast Asia. On May 23, prop Azlan Azhari, playing for Kedahs state team against Johor in the 2026 Agong Cup, a local interstate tournament, collapsed about ...

A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death. The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it did not sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday. Visitors who viewed the trees gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham over the ...

Chinese ambassador to the United States Xie Feng on Wednesday proposed to increase the limit of tariff-free goods under the newly created US-China Board of Trade from the existing US$30 billion to US$300 billion a 10-fold rise in non-sensitive trade covered by the mechanism. Addressing a gathering at the US-China Business Council gala in Washington, Xie ...

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has clarified rules for unprofitable artificial intelligence model developers wanting to go public, as Chinas large language model (LLM) firms scramble for fresh capital in an intense race with US labs. LLM developers can go public on the Shanghai bourses Star Market under a set of listing standards that require them to ...

Scientists have found the oldest known evidence of the plague, which sparked deadly outbreaks dating back about 5,500 years ago some 200 years earlier than previously thought. The disease has sickened humans for thousands of years and wiped out a significant chunk of Europes population in the 14th century during whats known as the Black Death. Though rare, ...

When Yuriko Koike was Japans environment minister in 2005, she was hailed by legions of salarymen as they shed ties and jackets in summer during the Cool Biz national energy-saving campaign that she helped to launch. Now, as Tokyo governor, Koike has taken the idea a step further: shorts in the office. In April, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it ...

A teenager thrown to the ground Wednesday when a Central Park carriage horse bolted away from its driver has died, according to police. The 18-year-old was riding in the horse-drawn carriage with three other passengers when the accident happened just before 3pm, according to the New York Police Department. At least two passengers were sent flying out of the ...

Hong Kong has been hit by more heavy downpours, with flooding risks persisting, but the Observatory expects conditions to improve during the Tuen Ng Festival. The Hong Kong Observatory cancelled an amber rainstorm warning at 9.25am on Thursday after it was issued following more than 30mm (1.2 inches) of rain within an hour. In Sai Kung East, hourly rainfall ...

A leading green group has urged Hong Kong to align with coming national standards on excessive packaging, warning that the city generated at least 2.7 million kg (5.9 million lbs) of waste from e-commerce parcels last year. The call coincided with an online survey by non-profit group The Green Earth, which found that 60 per cent of respondents in Hong Kong ...

The Hong Kong government has launched a public consultation on the citys first five-year development plan, a blueprint aimed at aligning with Chinas newly approved 15th five-year plan. Officials have promised a macroscopic, strategic and forward-looking road map that will guide Hong Kongs economic and social development for the rest of this decade. That ...

I seldom, if ever, assume people in general do a particular thing, unless, of course, I do it too. But if it is a criminal act, then I assume in general that nobody would do it. There is a peculiarity, it seems, with taking office supplies home, like a pen, or a soda, or a coffee capsule. Apparently, some people think it is no big deal, or even that there ...

Hong Kong graduates believe the citys finance industry is its most attractive and stable sector, making them more optimistic about career opportunities than their global peers, according to a study by the CFA Institute, which trains investment managers. The New York-based institutes 2026 Graduate Outlook Survey, released on Wednesday, found that 71 per cent ...

China poses a threat to Americas senior citizens through drug supply chains, financial scams and data privacy, a congressional hearing highlighted on Wednesday, with lawmakers and witnesses framing it as a national security issue. Fifty years ago, we never would have given the Soviets the kind of leeway we give China: the access they have to our economy and ...

On a summer evening in 2011, two high-speed trains hurtling through the Chinese countryside met in a fireball of twisted metal and shattered glass. The Wenzhou disaster, as it came to be known, killed 40 people and injured nearly 200. The official inquiry traced the catastrophe to a lightning strike that had fried a trackside circuit, making one train ...

A male midwife in eastern China has won praise for his professionalism and striking looks while defying relatives who dismissed his career choice as embarrassing. Zhang Jintao, 25, from Yiwu in Zhejiang province, became a midwife at a leading provincial hospital after graduating from university. According to Southern Daily, men accounted for just three per ...

Iran and the US have signed a peace deal that will take immediate effect, with Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting its naval blockade, Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced. Sharif, a chief mediator since the US and Israel entered the war with Iran at the end of February, made the announcement in a social media post on ...