For years, Washington described India as an indispensable partner, a democratic counterweight to China and a strategic anchor in the Indo-Pacific. Then the US Navy killed three Indian sailors and Americas top diplomat could not even bring himself to apologise. Indias External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised the deaths directly with US Secretary of ...

Malaysia and Thailand are edging closer to resolving a tit-for-tat seafood safety dispute, offering a lifeline to exporters after weeks of halted shipments and retaliatory restrictions on Thai shrimp and Malaysian sea bass. Tentative signs of a way out emerged on Wednesday when Malaysian officials confirmed that their Thai counterparts had returned a ...

Hong Kong plans to introduce mandatory health checks for commercial vehicle drivers aged 65 or above by the middle of next year, tightening both the age threshold and the frequency of assessments to improve road safety. Undersecretary for Transport and Logistics Liu Chun-san told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that authorities would also establish a ...

Hong Kongs top court has dismissed a legal challenge against a law barring calls to boycott the citys patriots-only elections, ruling that the prohibition is necessary to counter organised campaigns seeking to undermine the establishment following the enactment of the national security law. In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, five Court of Final Appeal ...

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. PLA scientists propose a plan to destroy US carrier groups from 3,000km away As the United States quietly pulls its most precious military assets away from the coasts of ...

Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker and actor Raymond Wong Pak-ming has begun serving his five-month prison sentence for insider trading after relinquishing his bail. The 80-year-old told West Kowloon Court on Wednesday that he would spend time behind bars while awaiting an appeal in the High Court. Wong, a prominent figure in Hong Kongs film industry for decades, ...

A revolutionary who once declared she was no bird in a cage became both an assassin and Chinas first female doctor of law. Born in 1891, Zheng Yuxiu grew up in an influential household. Her father served the Qing (16441912) government, her grandfather was a Hong Kong merchant, and her well-educated mother came from a military family. From childhood, Zheng ...

A new political party called Restore Britain is threatening the rise of Nigel Farages hard-right group, with a tougher anti-immigrant stance and the backing of tech trillionaire Elon Musk. Led by businessman and ex-football chairman Rupert Lowe, Restore is tipped to deprive Farages Reform UK party of victory over the ruling Labour Party in a crunch special ...

The leaders of the worlds richest democracies are talking about how to tackle some of the worlds biggest problems this week, but hot mics at the G7 summit revealed that conversations also covered lighter fare. Sports. Cigarettes. The weather. And something about Greenland? As world leaders made their way into conference rooms at a lakeside resort, ...

Captain Raman Kapoor was loading oil at an Iraqi port when word reached him that the United States and Iran were at war. Within hours, his tanker was trapped north of the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew members aboard, as missiles began arcing across the sky overhead. We were stuck inside the war zone and everyone was so scared and clueless about what to do, ...

A group of Malaysian tourists is facing intense backlash for filming strangers and mocking locals in China as smelly, sparking debate on travel etiquette and national image. The clips, which also appeared to show the visitors shouting insults in Malay while travelling in the country, were allegedly first posted on TikTok by user @ekyn.wong. They were later ...

Scientists have known for decades that massive undersea flows called turbidity currents can reshape ocean floors and damage the vital cables which carry global internet traffic. But how they form and behave has remained elusive until now. An international team led by Tsinghua University has found that these flows are more common than previously believed, ...

Hong Kong teachers will have to complete at least 30 hours of digital education training every three years, as authorities unveil a blueprint to boost the use of technology in schools. As part of the initiative, primary and secondary schools will also be required to incorporate digital elements into their annual school development plans, while an innovation ...

A major bakery chain has been hit by a ransomware attack on its internal network, prompting Hong Kongs privacy watchdog to seek details to assess the risk of a potential data leak. Kee Wah Bakery, known for its local and Chinese pastries, revealed the incident on Tuesday, after its internal network malfunctioned on Friday last week. A preliminary ...

With the card-collecting hobby turning into a moneymaking venture with thousands of ringgit moved in single transactions, Malaysias tax authorities are keeping a close eye out for any tax discrepancies and doing audits to clarify statuses. The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) said it is aware of the growing market for high-value collectibles, in particular ...

When Celine Teo feels homesick, she visits Singaporean eatery Vanda Room in Beijings central business district to enjoy delicacies such as chicken rice and laksa. Being able to enjoy a familiar dish abroad always brings a sense of comfort and connection to home, said the 25-year-old undergraduate, who has lived in China for four years. But Teo worries these ...

Some may feel a lump in their throats as they watch Hong Kongs first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, make history, but few see it as anything more than an inspirational story for our youth. In reality, space, which can feel lofty and far away to pragmatic Hongkongers, could hold the key to our citys economic future. In my previous column, we discussed why Hong Kong ...

Taiwans recent launch of Himars rockets westwards towards the Taiwan Strait highlights how the islands defensive strategy is shifting to the use of mobile strike weapons to disrupt a mainland Chinese attack before it reaches shore. The exercise on June 10 was the first time the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System had been launched in the direction of ...

Alcohol has played a central role in human culture for at least 10,000 years, with the earliest known alcoholic beverage a rice wine originating from the Henan province of central China. However, much of our understanding of these early adult beverages is superficial at best. Recently, a handful of studies from China are shedding light on what the oldest ...

An asteroid discovered by a Hong Kong-born astronomer has been named after a firefighter who died in the citys deadliest blaze in decades, with his fiance expressing gratitude for a move that turned him into an eternal star. Ho Waiho, 37, was killed in the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po last November while helping to evacuate residents. To honour his ...

One of President Donald Trumps pet beauty projects for Washington was supposed to make the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool look blue, like part of the US flag. Enter Mother Nature. Algae has proliferated in the water, turning it a swampy green. Can you see it in my photos? Oh well, Ill just use a filter to hide the algae, said Farrah Lu, a 43-year-old ...

The expected reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under a US-Iran ceasefire framework could ease pressure on South Koreas energy-dependent economy while creating a thornier diplomatic problem for Seoul: how much should it contribute to securing the waterway? That question is likely to shadow President Lee Jae Myungs visit to the Group of Seven summit this week ...

SpaceX roared past Amazons market valuation on Tuesday and briefly topped that of Microsoft, rapidly scaling the list of the worlds most valuable companies on a topsy-turvy trading day fuelled by frenzied action in the firms newly listed option contracts. SpaceX shares rose 4.8 per cent to close at US$201.80, giving Elon Musks company a market value of ...

The race for artificial intelligence has hardened into a two-power contest between the United States and China, fought over rare earths, data and the rules governing the technology, with Latin America and Europe sidelined, Brazils top foreign policy adviser said on Tuesday. Celso Amorim, a former foreign and defence minister, made the case at the Forte de ...

As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, Chinas firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the second part of this three-part series, we look at whether China and the EU ...