Beijing has pledged to support Hong Kong in better integrating into and serving national development in the latest five-year blueprint while backing the city to become a high-end talent hub and enhance its law-based governance. The fourth plenum of the Communist Partys Central Committee, which concluded last Thursday, focused on formulating Chinas 15th ...

Indonesia has been urged to exercise caution before sending troops to join an international stabilisation force (ISF) in war-torn Gaza, part of a US-led ceasefire plan, as questions swirl around the forces mandate, financing, duration and leadership. President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly said publicly that the worlds largest Muslim-majority nation is ...

Deep-sea animals in the Pacific Ring of Fire off Japan are rapidly growing and adapting, scientists observed in crewed submersible dives. Creatures in the deep, dark ocean have evolved diverse strategies to survive, adapting to varying depths and nutrient availability. The team from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Tokyo University of Marine ...

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has decided to focus development of the e-HKD on wholesale applications because the central bank digital currency (CBDC) has stronger potential value in large transactions than in daily retail use. The citys de facto central bank announced the decision on Tuesday after a second phase of e-HKD trials that tested its ...

Australian opposition leader Sussan Ley on Tuesday condemned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for wearing a Joy Division T-shirt despite the origin of the UK post-punk bands name. Ley said Australians expect their prime minister to show judgment, respect and leadership but have got the opposite from Albanese. Arriving back in Australia from his overseas ...

The Chinese planning season is in full swing. Ahead of the formal release of the 15th five-year plan (running from 2026 to 2030) next March, early signs coming out of the just-completed fourth plenum of the Communist Party suggest that it will be more of the same: a focus on continuing Chinas extraordinary industrial and technological ascendancy, driven by ...

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a former teacher to 2 years in jail for engaging in obscene acts with her son and producing suggestive videos involving her children, with the presiding judge slamming her for breaching the trust placed in her as a mother. The District Court on Tuesday sentenced the mother of three on two counts of gross indecency towards a ...