Shoshana Bryen, Asia Times contributor, dies

Shoshana Bryen, senior director of Washington’s Jewish Policy Center and editor of inFOCUS Quarterly, died on Thursday, July 16, 2026. She was a longtime contributor to…

Germany’s conservatives face a self-inflicted crisis

Subscribe now with a one-month trial for only $1, then enjoy the first year at an exclusive rate of just $99. The Spahn affair hits Germany…

They’re finally waking up

Trump spins China meddling intel to justify election takeover bid

Four months out from the critical November midterms, President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address on Thursday night (July 16) attempting to sow doubt about the integrity…

Tai Po fire: Gov’t has ‘unshirkable responsibility’ over fatal blaze, lawyer says as probe concludes

A public inquiry committee’s lawyer has said that the government had an “unshirkable responsibility” over last year’s deadly Tai Po fire as he delivered closing…

Hong Kong issues first HK$3,000 fine as construction site smoking ban takes effect

Hong Kong has enforced a blanket smoking ban at construction sites, with authorities issuing one HK$3,000 fixed penalty notice as of noon on the first…

Lawmakers pass bill to allow joint-clearance at revamped border crossing in ‘fastest’ round of legislative scrutiny since electoral revamp

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) passed a bill that will allow for a joint-clearance arrangement at the revamped Huanggang Port border crossing with China. The…

Trump has no good escalation options left against Iran

In a moment of brazen hubris in the Oval Office last year, US President Donald Trump railed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He accused Zelensky…

Protest filed over ‘racist’ China state media video portraying the Philippines as a monkey

Manila lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing on Friday over a “racist” video posted by Chinese state media portraying the Philippines as a cartoon monkey.…

ASEAN’s AI race is officially underway

AI cities abound in ASEAN regional headlines, as if the future had already arrived. Numbers pale compared to spending in the US, where the so-called…

EU plans to pay China to help Ukraine kill Russians

The Financial Times published a piece on July 15 alleging that “Ukraine to buy Chinese drone parts with EU funds.” According to the newspaper’s sources,…

Three Hong Kong independent booksellers released on bail after sedition arrests, raids

Three staff members of independent bookstores, who were arrested on suspicion of committing a sedition offence on Wednesday, have been released on bail, according to…

India’s AI moment more about deployment than discovery

For three decades, India was the world’s back office. During the next three decades, it may become the world’s AI workshop. That possibility lies behind…

‘Law is clear’: Booksellers must ensure books are lawful, says security chief after arrests – but won’t give list of banned titles

Hong Kong’s security chief has said booksellers have the responsibility to ensure the titles they sell do not threaten national security, following this week’s raids…

China’s desert mock-up rehearses a US warship’s death at sea

This month, multiple media outlets reported that satellite imagery showed a detailed, full-scale replica of a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in China’s remote…

China’s Xi Jinping says AI should not be dominated by one country

Artificial intelligence should not be dominated by a single country, China’s President Xi Jinping said Friday, urging international cooperation on its development at a major…

A chip of one’s own

“Custom chip” is the new buzzword. Everyone is getting into it. The big and the small. The public and the private. Companies that never built…

They just failed to launch

Tai Po fire inquiry: Gov’t lawyer says ‘deliberate cheating’ by contractors caused blaze and its rapid spread

“Deliberate cheating” by renovation contractors and professionals with oversight authority caused last year’s massive Tai Po fire and its rapid spread, a lawyer representing the…

Power of Siberia 2 deadlock belies Russia-China ‘no-limits’ pact

Power of Siberia 2, a landmark natural gas pipeline that would link Russia and China, has hit a deadlock, with a gas-price gap so vast…