Japan is reeling from a Russian espionage scandal that has laid bare how easily industrial secrets can slip through the countrys grasp, just as Tokyo is pushing to strengthen its laws against spying. Police in the Japanese capital referred a case to prosecutors on January 20 involving a former Russian trade official suspected of violating Japans laws on ...

A Hong Kong resident has lost more than HK$4 million (US$512,148) to scammers after trying to sell a rug for HK$100 on online marketplace Carousell, according to police. The force also said on Monday that more than 110 cases of online shopping scams linked to the trading platform took place between January 24 and 30, with the total amount of money involved ...

A sudden and catastrophic collapse at a major bridge construction site in Chinas eastern Jiangsu province has left two workers dead, three others missing and a critical regional infrastructure project in disarray. At 5.46pm on Monday, a significant section of the under-construction Yuegang Bridge collapsed in Yancheng Citys Xiangshui County when the main ...

In the town of OSmach, along Cambodias northern border with Thailand, stands a compound of abandoned buildings that were battered by shelling during recent weeks of armed clashes. The site, now occupied by Thai troops, had served as one of Cambodias notorious scam centres, according to Thai officials. A six-storey building, shown to journalists and ...

Rescuers praised a teenage boys superhuman survival instincts after he swam four hours through choppy waters off Australia to find help for his family. The 13-year-old boy swam 4km (2.5 miles) back to shore to raise the alarm after his mother and two younger siblings were swept out to sea while kayaking and paddleboarding near the Western Australian tourist ...

Chinas chief builder of commercial aircraft will display its full product line including the home-grown C919, the companys marquee narrowbody airliner at the Singapore Airshow as it seeks to widen its footprint in Southeast Asia. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) has set up a C919 at the twice-yearly expo, according to independent ...

Bill and Hillary Clinton will testify in a US House investigation surrounding deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman for the ex-president said, heading off a potential vote to hold the couple in contempt. They had originally refused to appear before lawmakers examining how authorities handled earlier investigations into the disgraced financier, ...

Chinas energy-drinks giant Eastroc Beverage neither rose nor fell in its debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday amid investor caution following regulatory scrutiny of poor-quality listing applications. Shares of the Shenzhen-based company, which makes an alternative to Red Bull, opened at HK$248, matching the offer price. Eastroc raised HK$10.14 billion (US$1.3 ...

Chinas commercial space sector has entered a new frontier. In January, a private Chinese aerospace company unveiled the test capsule of what is set to become the countrys first commercially developed crewed spacecraft, with plans for crewed flights by 2028 and bookings already taken from private space tourists. The project reflects a decisive shift in ...

Japans government plans to revive the military ranks used by its armed forces before and during World War II, in a symbolic gesture to please conservatives that analysts warn could stoke regional tensions. The plan, first floated in November after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had struck a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), appeared ...

The only full-time delivery rider in a remote county in the Tibet region of southwestern China delivers up to 200 orders a day while juggling multiple roles. Huang Kaihong, 24, who is known as Chinas loneliest rider, works in Medog, a county of Nyingchi, once the last place in the country to be linked by a road. Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas and ...

Hong Kongs tourism sector is bracing for a 6 per cent rise in mainland Chinese visitors during the Lunar New Year holiday, as travel to the city regains momentum. Tickets for high-speed trains from major mainland cities to Hong Kong have been selling fast in the days leading up to the festive period an upbeat sign for some hoteliers expecting a full house ...

Chinese open-source artificial intelligence models are being adopted by OpenClaw, the global hit AI agent, for their favourable balance of cost and performance, according to industry experts. OpenClaw, which has been a runaway success since its late 2025 launch, announced on Friday that it was offering Chinese start-up Moonshot AIs latest Kimi K2.5 and Kimi ...

Elon Musks SpaceX has taken over his artificial intelligence company xAI in a merger aimed at deploying space-based data centres, a statement said on Monday. The acquisition combines SpaceXs rocket capabilities with xAIs AI technology to create what Musk in the statement called the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth. ...

When the first cohort of elite foreign captains parachuted into Chinese airlines in the 2000s, their sky-high pay sometimes reaching 1 million yuan a year raised eyebrows among their Chinese counterparts. These hotshot aviators, with their international exposure and qualifications, enjoyed a stratospheric level of success in the burgeoning Chinese market. ...

Central Asias water insecurity may seem a distant concern. But its rivers underpin Eurasian trade corridors, sustain global food markets and power regional energy systems. As water stress worsens, this is no longer just an environmental issue but a strategic threat across Eurasia demanding urgent attention in Beijing, Brussels and beyond. Central Asia is ...

Queens University Belfast on Monday cut ties with former US Senator George Mitchell over his links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying it was no longer appropriate to remain associated with the key figure in the Northern Ireland peace deal. The university said its decision followed new information on Mitchell released in the latest trove of ...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced backlash over his trip to China amid claims that the UK government has been tricked by Beijing. Conservative former security minister Tom Tugendhat raised the issue of Chinese sanctions on British parliamentarians after Starmer announced that all restrictions had been lifted on current members. Tugendhat, former ...

Chinas state-owned aluminium giant Chalco and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto have agreed to buy a controlling stake in Brazils Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio (CBA) in a deal valued at US$886 million, marking one of the most significant foreign acquisitions in Brazils metals sector in recent years and reinforcing Chinas growing footprint in the countrys ...

The Russian captain of a container ship that crashed into a US tanker off the east coast of Britain in March last year was found guilty in a London court on Monday of causing the death of a crew member through gross negligence. Vladimir Motin, 59, was captain of the Solong when it hit the Stena Immaculate tanker, which was anchored and carrying just over ...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin America relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US wont rule out pressuring Venezuela to curb China, Russia ties In the wake of the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3, ...

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for Britains former ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, to be removed from parliaments upper chamber after new reports emerged of his ties with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson, a prominent figure in Starmers Labour Party for decades, was fired from his envoy role last year after previous ...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] The world is at a demographic crossroads. Fertility rates have fallen below replacement levels in two-thirds of the global population, threatening economic stability, cultural continuity, and sustainable development. This is no longer a regional challengeit is a global ...

A Chinese student accused of having drugged and raped his girlfriend numerous times while filming her went on trial in Germany on Monday, in the latest case that recalls the plight of French woman Gisele Pelicot. Prosecutors believe that it was only due to coincidence that the Chinese woman did not die during the ordeal and have charged the 27-year-old ...