Proposed designated laws to streamline land-use approval procedures for the Northern Metropolis megaproject will not undermine the authority of Hong Kongs town planning body, some experts have argued while urging the government to establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to strengthen market confidence. Observers were responding to a package of six ...

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is leaving the fight with Iran and heading back to port, a US official familiar with the matter said, after a fire broke out in its laundry area and left at least two sailors with non-life-threatening injuries. The Ford will travel from its current location in the Red Sea to Souda Bay, on the Greek island of Crete, ...

A Japanese government agency has opened discussions on imposing a ban on children accessing social media sites, potentially following Australias lead in prohibiting under-16s from the most popular online platforms. Experts say it is far too early to determine whether the Australian experiment is a success and can be replicated in Japan, although there is a ...

The wealth management businesses of Chinese investment banks in Hong Kong are growing faster than those of international rivals, as a buoyant initial public offering (IPO) market and rising cross-border flows strengthen their competitive edge. Chinese investment banks are seeing accelerated growth because [their] base is smaller and the current market ...

A Chinese national and a Kenyan man were charged Tuesday with unlawfully dealing in wildlife species after they were found in possession of hundreds of live ants stored in specialised tubes. The case was the latest focused on the alleged smuggling of ants in the East African country, where authorities last year described a growing trend in the trafficking ...

Lawmakers in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have made Scotland the first part of the United Kingdom to allow terminally ill adults to end their lives. Members of the Edinburgh-based legislature voted 69 to 57 against a bill that would have let people in Scotland with six months or less to live seek help to end their life. ...

Nvidia is restarting the production of one of the companys chips that is designed to comply with US export restrictions on China, CEO Jensen Huang said at a press conference on Tuesday. The company had halted manufacturing last year of its H200 chip, which is based on its ageing Hopper technology, because of increasing regulatory hurdles in the US and ...

China and Japans long-standing rivalry has deep historic roots, and relations between the two have taken a significant turn for the worse in recent months. This article, the first in a three-part series, looks at how both countries are trying to turn soft power to their advantage in the battle to shape international opinion. The rise of Chinas soft power ...

US artificial intelligence and robotics firms have urged lawmakers to take action against Chinese robot manufacturers singling out Unitree Robotics citing increased competition and national security risks, in a sign that humanoid robots may emerge as a new battleground in the widening US-China tech rivalry. Chinas speed of advancement in humanoid robots ...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia and Iran brothers in hatred on Tuesday as he sought support from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a time when the Iran conflict has robbed momentum from US-brokered talks to end Russias invasion of Ukraine. During talks with Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Zelensky urged Ukraines allies not to forget about ...

In China this month, people have been lining up on streets to install an AI programme on their computers. Some had travelled from other cities. Others had waited for hours for engineers to set it up for them. There were even birth certificates given out upon installation. The programme is OpenClaw. Its logo is a red lobster. Chinese internet users quickly ...

The US military is monitoring 23 Chinese port projects and 12 space-enabling facilities across Latin America and considers every one of them a potential dual-use asset that could support Chinese military operations, the top US commander for South America told Congress on Tuesday. General Francis Donovan, head of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), made the ...

A US congressional committee said on Tuesday it has issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify behind closed doors in its probe of the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. Under the subpoena, Bondi would give a sworn deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on April 14. The Justice Department did not immediately ...

Several loud explosions were heard on Tuesday evening in Iraqs capital Baghdad, Agence France-Presse journalists reported, with a security official reporting a drone and rocket attack on the US embassy. In a restaurant in the city, where diners did not react to the initial sounds of the blasts, a witness said he saw detonations caused by the embassys air ...

Gerry Adams, one of Northern Irelands most prominent political figures, told Londons High Court on Tuesday he had never been a member of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army but said he would not distance himself from the group. The ex-leader of Sinn Fein, formerly the IRAs political wing and now the largest party in the Northern Irish Assembly, became ...

The apparent docking of two light US combat ships in Penang over the weekend has raised eyebrows among Malaysian government critics regarding the countrys position on the US-Israel war on Iran, and questions over the deployment of de-mining vessels thousands of miles from the conflict zone. The USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara were seen on Sunday at the ...

Hong Kong authorities have proposed designated laws to streamline procedures for changing land use in the Northern Metropolis megaproject, cutting the process from typically nine months to just two. Unveiled by the Development Bureau on Tuesday, the proposed designated legislation comprises six main subsidiary laws designed to remove bottlenecks in the ...

Singapores Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has kicked off his visit to Japan, where he is expected to address strategies with counterpart Sanae Takaichi on enhancing cooperation against a backdrop of economic uncertainty brought on by the Iran war. Both leaders are likely to tread cautiously in discussions to avoid antagonising any superpower, analysts say. ...

Fifteen Hong Kong public primary schools are at risk of closing after being banned from operating subsidised Primary One classes in the coming academic year due to insufficient enrolment. But Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also warned on Tuesday that more closures were expected if school operators refused to plan for mergers. The at-risk ...

Nvidias latest language processing chip, unveiled at the companys annual artificial intelligence conference, has opened a new frontier in the AI inference arms race, as the booming market for AI agents like OpenClaw presents a complex new reality for Chinas semiconductor industry, according to analysts. The Nvidia Groq 3 Language Processing Unit (LPU), ...

As heightened conflict in the Middle East disrupts global shipping, China and Russia are considering deeper cooperation on logistics including use of the Arctic shipping route to secure a more resilient supply chain. At the inaugural China-Russia Logistics Business Forum held in Moscow on Monday, officials and business leaders discussed bolstering ...

Worsening fuel shortages resulting from the war in the Middle East are threatening sacred funeral ceremonies in Thailand, where Buddhist temples are scrambling to obtain diesel for cremations. The abbot of Wat Saman Rattanaram in Chachoengsao province, about 80km (50 miles) east of Bangkok, warned that a suspension of cremation services was a real ...

China leads the world in patent applications for anti-drone technology, which has drawn heightened attention during the wars in Ukraine and Iran and a spate of suspicious sightings in the West, according to intellectual property law firm Mathys & Squire. Patent applications for anti-drone systems rose 27 per cent over the past year, with China submitting 82 ...

About 94 per cent of Hong Kongs students do not get enough daily exercise and 17.5 per cent are overweight, authorities have warned, urging schools and parents to tackle the growing fitness crisis together. The government report released on Tuesday also flagged low fruit and vegetable intake, poor vision health and excessive recreational screen time among ...

Indian investigators have arrested seven foreigners six Ukrainians and an American on suspicion of illegally crossing into neighbouring Myanmar to train armed militia groups, the public radio broadcaster reported on Tuesday. Myanmar descended into civil war after a junta seized power in a 2021 coup, with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic-minority armed ...