America just dropped fresh bombs on your wallet

UK, France, Canada move to ban imports from Israeli settlements

The United Kingdom, France, and Canada joined forces on Tuesday to ban imports of goods and some services from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where…

Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first post-Handover leader, dies at 89

Former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa has died at the age of 89. The city’s first leader following its 1997 Handover from Britain passed…

Contractors will bear repair costs for lift defects at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong development chief says

Hong Kong’s development chief has said that government contractors will bear the full repair costs for faulty lift work in a redeveloped building at Queen…

The new world order just started

China’s top court posts guidelines on deepfakes, voice cloning, algorithmic price discrimination

China’s top court issued guidelines on Monday covering a range of emerging pitfalls associated with artificial intelligence, including unauthorised deepfakes and voice cloning, state media…

Nepal flood death toll rises to 1,357 as rescuers scour tunnels

The death toll from Nepal’s devastating flood rose on Tuesday to 1,357, with 5,326 people still missing, the country’s disaster authority said nearly two weeks…

Cheaper CAR-T therapy drawing global cancer patients to China

At 25, Michael Walters had already endured unsuccessful lymphoma treatments in New Zealand. A Melbourne hospital quoted up to US$600,000 for CAR-T therapy. He paid…

China’s Uzbekistan jet sale tests Russia’s grip on Central Asia

Uzbekistan has confirmed that it operates Chinese J-10CE fighter jets — turning months of speculation into a significant development for Central Asia’s defense market. The…

Will Korea deploy to Middle East?

Convict or fete? The world is splitting on Myanmar’s generals

Two Myanmars appeared on the world stage this month. In Geneva, the United Nations’ human rights chief, its Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, and the…

More than half of registered visitors to Sai Kung trail fail to turn up on 1st weekend of booking system

More than half of the registered visitors to a hiking hotspot in Sai Kung failed to turn up on the first weekend of a trial…

Disciplinary board postpones hearing against fire safety firms over Tai Po blaze

A disciplinary board has postponed a hearing for two fire safety contractors said to have failed to properly manage disabled fire safety systems before Wang…

Is Indonesia’s largest Muslim group getting too close to power?

The 35th Congress of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) — one of Indonesia’s largest and most influential mass Muslim organizations — has drawn to a consequential close.…

Not all foreign influence in the Philippines is malign

Foreign influence operations in the Philippines have drawn increasing concern, ranging from soft power diplomacy to covert manipulation of institutions. Much of the alarm focuses…

Prabowo’s personal diplomacy is costing Indonesia

A diplomat friend recently told me a small story that says more about Indonesian foreign policy than most position papers. President Prabowo Subianto was already…

Not stopping 9/11 was catastrophic but bigger mistakes came later

The September 11 2001 terrorist attacks were unlike anything the world had seen before. For America, and the watching world, September 11 (or 9/11) seemed…

They just raided your wallet

Japan’s Lockheed scandal revisited

In December 1957, an American businessman stepped off a plane onto the tarmac of a chilly Tokyo International Airport at Haneda. Exhausted by the long…

Commercial Radio fined HK$120,000 over failure to broadcast hourly news, weather reports

A Hong Kong radio station has been fined HK$120,000 for failing to broadcast certain hourly news and weather reports since 2022, the city’s broadcasting watchdog…