At least 19 people were killed in a clash at a nightclub in the town of Sorong in Indonesia’s West Papua province, police said on Tuesday, with most dying after the venue caught fire.One victim was stabbed and 18 more died in the blaze at the Doubl...

No sooner had Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas surprised fans with the news that they’d had a baby via surrogacy last week, than internet trolls were attacking the 39-year-old Indian actress for “outsourcing” childbirth.Some accused Chopra of “...

Indonesia will hold its next general election on February 14, 2024, easing speculation that President Joko Widodo would seek to extend his second term in the world’s largest Muslim democracy.Parliament agreed with the government and the election co...

China on Tuesday announced its lowest combined total of local and imported symptomatic Covid-19 infections in eight weeks.The National Health Commission reported 18 local symptomatic infections and 27 imported symptomatic cases, the combined figure o...

Hong Kong’s leader confirmed on Tuesday that she had extended the suspension of Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, until the conclusion of an inquiry into his attendance at a now-infamous birthday party.Chief Executive Carrie Lam Chen...

Singapore’s central bank said on Tuesday it was tightening its monetary policy settings, in an out-of-cycle move, as global supply constraints and brisk economic demand fan inflation risks.The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) manages monetary ...

Many Hong Kong artists experimenting with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are finding the technology gives them more control over their artwork, but some say it is challenging working within the complex and volatile world of cryptocurrencies, according to...

China has published trial rules for the approval of gene-edited plants, paving the way for faster improvements to crops.The new guidelines, published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs late on Monday, come amid a raft of measures aimed ...

Taiwanese Vice-President William Lai left for Honduras on Tuesday to attend the swearing-in of its new leader and shore up the shaky relationship between Taipei and one of its few remaining diplomatic allies.Honduras is one of only 14 countries to ma...

The late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung’s feuding family is working towards a final signed agreement aimed at settling an ongoing court fight over his HK$11.3 billion estate.The High Court on Tuesday heard that parties were “very, very clos...

The opposition leader in Australia said on Tuesday its relationship with China will remain difficult even if his centre-left Labor Party wins power at elections for the first time in almost a decade.Anthony Albanese addressed the National Press Club ...

All-too familiar political rumblings are once again being heard in Malaysia, as the country prepares for its fourth statewide election in the Covid-19 era.The upcoming vote in the country’s second most populous state of Johor comes after Chief Mini...

The US-China relationship is becoming increasingly adversarial, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who on Monday criticised the Chinese government for being “more assertive and aggressive” than in previous decades.During a virtual ...

The first few weeks of the year saw several important developments in China’s relations with North Korea, underlining Beijing’s deepening dilemma over its unruly communist neighbour.Last week, amid food shortages and economic hardship, Pyongyang ...

A minibus crashed into a van in Hong Kong’s New Territories on Tuesday morning, leaving 11 people slightly injured.The accident happened at 9.55am at the junction of Lei Muk Road and Castle Peak Road in Kwai Chung, according to a police spokesman. ...

The Biden administration is readying a US export rule used against Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei that could curb Russia’s access to global electronics supplies if President Vladimir Putin decides to invade Ukraine.While it is unclear how ...

Hong Kong’s leader has defended her decision not to wear a mask at press conferences amid a worrying Omicron outbreak, saying her goal in shedding the face covering was to let residents “feel her emotions”.Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said her ch...

Hong Kong police have arrested two more employees of a scandal-hit child protection group over accusations of abuse, taking the total number of suspects implicated to 20.The number of victims at the Mong Kok residential home run by the Hong Kong Soci...

Hongkongers crossing the border into neighbouring Shenzhen will face stricter quarantine arrangements beginning on Wednesday, while authorities in the financial hub have put another block at a public housing estate under lockdown in a bid to contain ...

US actress Evan Rachel Wood has accused goth rocker Marilyn Manson of raping her on camera during the filming of a music video for his 2007 hit single Heart-Shaped Glasses.Wood made the allegations – which Manson denies – in Phoenix Rising, an HB...

As the United States grapples with the 5G roll-out affecting airlines, a European Union watchdog warned on Monday the EU faces much bigger economic and security threats unless member countries step up cooperation.The alarm bells are included in a spe...

Starwave Dancing Academy hosted a special dance workshop for students with Down’s syndrome or autism — together with their parents — as part of a collaboration with a local charity, with sponsorship from Operation Santa Claus (OSC).“Some stud...

The US is commissioning a study of China’s military recruitment, including identifying its weaknesses, to assess how confident the country is in its capacity to carry out missions.The US Congress’ website has invited tenders to compile a report f...

South Korea’s daily count of new coronavirus cases topped 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant, which became dominant last week, spreads rapidly despite the recent extension of strict social-distancing rules...

Stringent social-distancing curbs amid the fifth wave of the coronavirus are expected to hammer Hong Kong’s economy in the first quarter of this year as experts predict a marked slowdown in growth.The forecast followed the city’s battle against a...

The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope arrived at its observation post 1 million miles from Earth on Monday, a month after it lifted off on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe.On command, the James Webb Space Telescope fired its ...

A senior scientist involved in the drafting of one of the most costly science projects in China said the project should be postponed immediately because it had funded studies with little scientific value.Rao Yi, a member in the expert committee of th...

Covid-19 has been with us for two years, but I have only met two people who have been infected. One is my son who lives in Paris, who has just come down with the virus for a second time. The first time was the Alpha variant and now it’s Omicron.It�...

Seven US military personnel were hurt on Monday when an F-35C warplane had a “landing mishap” on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea and the pilot ejected, the US Navy said.A US Navy statement said the incident...

The US government said on Monday that its recent report dismissing China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea was meant, in part, to help more countries challenge Beijing on this front, and that Washington would not accept any of the claims.The...

US President Joe Biden declared “total” unity among Western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on deterring Russia from an attack against Ukraine, while the Pentagon said 8,500 US troops were put on standby for possible deployment to...

Telecoms giant China Mobile is suing a former senior executive it accuses of fleeing to Canada amid an investigation into alleged fraud that it says cost hundreds of millions of yuan, and is laying claim to Vancouver real estate it believes he bought...

Bob Dylan sold his entire back catalogue of recorded music along with “the rights to multiple future new releases” to Sony Music Entertainment, the company announced on Monday, the latest high-profile deal of the recent music rights purchasing ru...

Faced with economic headwinds and mounting competition, the employment prospects for university graduates in China declined for the second consecutive quarter at the end of last year, falling to the lowest point since early months of the coronavirus ...

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’ assertion that China might use a Russian invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to launch aggression of its own in the Indo-Pacific has sparked debate in Australia, with a former prime minister calling Truss’ r...

Burkina Faso’s army said it had ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed the country’s borders.The announcement on Monday cited the deterioration of th...

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing further allegations of rule-breaking parties during the pandemic, after his office confirmed staff had gathered in Downing Street to celebrate his birthday during the first lockdown in 2020.Up to 30 ...

The British government announced on Monday that it is scrapping coronavirus travel testing requirements for the vaccinated, news hailed by the travel industry as a big step back to normality.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “to show that this...

Researchers at one of China’s top universities have claimed success in a rocket test that might help fill a technology gap in the country’s drive to design and develop a jet engine.In an announcement on its website, Tsinghua University said engin...

After several rounds of security talks between Russia, the United States and Nato yielded no substantial progress, all sides seem to have buried any hope for a turnaround in the diplomatic and security stalemate.Another attempt to defuse the security...

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina from considering race in undergraduate admissions in a case that imperils affirmative action policies widely used to increase the numbe...

An alliance between the United States and Japan to ban exports of sensitive technology to China risks upending trade ties between Beijing and Tokyo and would be “complex” to implement, analysts say, as the global battle for tech supremacy intensi...

Jake Ross paid a mother in the Philippines to sexually abuse her children while he watched it live, 8,800 miles (14,162km) away.Now the US man will be paying with the rest of his life.On Friday, Ross, of McDowell County, North Carolina, was sentenced...

Zhejiang province, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is putting into place preferential tax policies and will promote hard tech industries such as integrated circuits and digital security in 2022, as it seeks to bolster government effor...

Complaints about poor communication, improper hygiene and shoddy testing arrangements at locked down blocks in a Hong Kong public housing estate continued to mount on Monday, with some residents voicing fears of getting infected.They were among 35,00...

China’s duty-free market is forecast to grow fourfold to 258 billion yuan (US$40 billion) in 2025, a new report says, as the government looks to boost domestic consumption to shore up the economy.The duty-free market in China was estimated to be wo...

Minority and religious leaders of Xinjiang should uphold ethnic unity and “guide religions to adapt to China’s socialist society”, the region’s new Communist Party chief has said.The call from Ma Xingrui – just four weeks into his new role ...

The new owner of struggling Hong Kong franchised bus firms Citybus and New World First Bus has sold its 27-year stake in contactless payment company Octopus Holdings.Without revealing the proceeds of the sale, Bravo Transport Services said it sold 2....

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr might be the front runner in opinion polls for the Philippine presidential election in May, but it can’t be because he has won over voters with his stance on Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea.That’s be...

China on Monday dismissed a report suggesting President Xi Jinping may have asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.As tension escalates between Moscow and the West amid fears of a Ru...