The US imposed tariffs as high as 12.5 per cent on 60 trading partners, including China, after President Donald Trump adopted a different method for pursuing his global trade war. The levies, which are related to forced labour, replaced a temporary 1...

Life insurance sales in Hong Kong rose 51 per cent in the first quarter to another record high, driven by affluent customers from mainland China and overseas buying policies for wealth transfer, protection and medical needs. The industry wrote HK$141...

South Korea has returned a pair of Qing dynasty (1644-1911) marble sculptures to China, a symbolic gesture as the two nations work to repair bilateral ties through cultural diplomacy. The male and female lions, each standing 1.9 metres (6ft) tall and...

China has added 14 entities from the European Union to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Effective immediately, the order means the export of dual-use items – products with civilian as well as military applicati...

Japan’s move to establish a new bureau to boost defence cooperation with allies is part of Tokyo’s wider policy to deepen deterrence against China, analysts say, adding that the internal reform was also long overdue for the government. The new un...

First, the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a Diet Coke shortage in India by squeezing supplies of aluminium cans, triggering an unusual wave of “Diet Coke parties” in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. But now, the fizzy drink is getti...

China-Philippine clashes continued near the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal for the second day on Friday, as Beijing started military drills in the South China Sea that are expected to run until the end of the month. “On July 24, the China Coast ...

US global asset managers, including BlackRock, have expanded stakes in mainland Chinese pharmaceutical contractor WuXi AppTec over the past two months, betting that a surge in weight-loss drug manufacturing orders will lift earnings in the first half...

A ⁠South ⁠Korean court ⁠on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former ‌wife Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won (US$644 million) in a divorce-related property division case, lower than a previous 1.38 trillion won ⁠award that...

Chinese unicorn Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 model trails far behind top American rivals in its ability to launch cyberattacks, joint British-US government research shows, challenging Washington’s brewing anxiety over the rapid rise of Chinese open-sour...

From massive typhoons and severe floods to scorching heat, China is being hit by a barrage of extreme weather events. Behind this surge in volatility lies a brewing “super” El Nino, according to researchers. Scientists warn that we are only seein...

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will raise fuel surcharges by up to 41 per cent on most passenger flights from August, citing escalating tensions in the Middle East. The airline said on Friday that the higher passenger and cargo fuel su...

A Hong Kong woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity after a fire broke out in her Mong Kok flat, killing three cats and two dogs. Investigators said on Friday that the 56-year-old, surnamed Chan, had left her Tung Choi Street flat ...

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, will resign on Friday halfway through his term, according to his spokesman. The president’s office is a largely ceremonial post and Shahabuddin is quit...

Thousands of visitors have flocked to an animation, comics and games fair in Hong Kong, drawn to Hello Kitty plush toys, Spider-Man figurines and spinning top contests, among other collectibles and interactive activities. The five-day Ani-Com & Games...

Young people in China are homemaking kombucha, reviving a 1980s fad from the previous generation after the drink became a globally recognised health product. In recent years, kombucha has gone viral in Western countries as a commercial beverage, endo...

China unveiled its 15th five-year plan for renewable energy on Thursday. Below are the key targets outlined in the blueprint, which was released jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration. See origi...

London’s mayor and police chief have used a drop in recorded street crime to reassure tourists the city is safe and counter an online narrative depicting Britain’s capital as a lawless dystopia. The city’s Metropolitan Police force said “neig...

Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States was ⁠summoned by the ⁠US State Department to explain ⁠Kuala Lumpur’s position on Israel, state media reported, citing the country’s foreign minister. Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Ambassado...

China’s securities watchdog has pledged to channel more medium- and long-term capital into the country’s stock markets and fortify financial defences against external shocks, as authorities move aggressively to stabilise sentiment following recen...

The six candidates vying to lead the United Nations stressed the importance of restoring the credibility of an organisation in crisis during a restrained debate Thursday, one week before the selection process formally starts. With the campaign strugg...

Barely four months into its implementation, South Korea’s new labour-friendly law is coming under growing scrutiny as workers’ demands for bonuses tied to a fixed percentage of corporate profits spread across the country. If left unchecked, criti...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please conside...

Joseph Chang Yanfeng was ordained bishop of Chifeng in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Wednesday, highlighting the uneasy diplomatic engagement between Beijing and the Vatican on the sensitive issue of Catholic appointments. Ac...

Kozo Okamoto, the Japanese militant who took part in a deadly attack on Tel Aviv’s airport more than five decades ago, died on Thursday in Beirut, the Palestinian group that had been protecting him said. He was 78. The Popular Front for the Liberat...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet pledged to step up a crackdown on transnational online scam networks, but warned the criminal syndicates were adapting by fracturing into smaller, decentralised cells across the region. Authorities had already shut ...

Simon Johnson is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he won a joint Nobel Prize for economics in 2024 for his research into how institu...

A potent cocktail of domestic and international political headwinds continues to weigh on the Philippines’ economic recovery, even as inflation eased in June. Economists point to turmoil in the Senate and a recent corruption scandal that rocked the...

Laura Loomer, an ardent ally of US President Donald Trump with a reputation for incendiary social media commentary, sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday after a dramatic turnaround on the war that could have political reve...

Hong Kong could see more monkey encounters during the animals’ mating season, an expert has said, after one was spotted on MTR tracks for a second day in a row. The MTR Corporation, the city’s rail operator, said staff found a monkey loitering ne...

HSBC has agreed to sell its Singapore life and health insurance business to Germany’s Allianz for S$2.7 billion (US$2.08 billion), with the deal expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, HSBC Group announced on Friday morning before the s...

Typhoon Noul is expected to come closest to Hong Kong between Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to the city’s weather forecaster, which will issue the No 1 warning signal on Friday evening. The Hong Kong Observatory said that signal woul...

Australia said on Friday it would pump an additional US$3.2 billion into building the country’s nuclear-powered submarines, part of a controversial defence pact with the United States and Britain. Under the 2021 Aukus deal, Australia’s most expen...

Almost two years after six travellers died and one survivor was left blind from suspected methanol-tainted drinks in Laos, the criminal case is finally moving forward, with charges filed against a distillery owner – as victims’ families continue ...

Officials talking about artificial intelligence (AI) often speak in terms of the next industrial revolution or existential risks. Such rhetoric ultimately does little to capture how AI filters into the ordinary workings of a city like Hong Kong. The ...

Two Chinese nationals pleaded guilty to allegedly shipping more than 500 turtles to Hong Kong in violation of American wildlife law, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday. Kin Keung Ho pleaded guilty on Thursday while Lihua Owen Ma pleaded gu...

A Chinese man suffered from vision loss after over a thousand mites infected his eyes, and it turned out that his life habits were to blame. The 36-year-old man in central Hubei province, surnamed Yu, experienced eye discomfort. His eyes felt dry, it...

China’s A-share market has seen another high-profile divorce case result in a massive asset split, involving the transfer of 6 billion yuan (US$886 million) – the highest this year – and raising concerns over corporate governance stability and ...

China has unveiled its latest ambitious space-based computing network designed to process satellite data in orbit using AI before sending the results to Earth. Xingshu, or “Star Hub”, will eventually comprise around 1,000 satellites, according to...

Hong Kong resident Yau Suk-ming was startled in her kitchen when her daughter turned on a countertop blender and a rat leapt out into the open. The rodent scurried away before the 74-year-old retiree could catch it, but she was not surprised as she h...

Canada’s decision to join the next-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) as an observer has eased Tokyo’s fears over its fighter jet future, while Germany is also reported to be exploring membership of the project, which already involves ...

More than one-third of Americans see China, and not the United States, as the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), according to a Pew Research Centre survey released on Thursday, as US President Donald Trump confirmed the technology would b...

Ackbar Abbas, a Hong Kong-born scholar whose influence extended beyond academia to shape artists, filmmakers, writers and many others, died on July 13 at the age of 84 after a brief battle with cancer. Over decades of teaching at the University of Ho...

Even as local retail spending remains resilient, Hong Kong consumers are shopping more across the border in mainland China, drawn by lower prices and wider adoption of digital payments, according to data from payment giant UnionPay International. Off...

Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday over leaked medical school entrance exam papers that protesters say enabled cheating, but demonstrations demanding the education minister’s resignation were set to continue in th...

The White House threw a US-Saudi Arabia nuclear deal into question on Thursday, a day after it was signed, emphasising that it depended on the oil-rich Gulf country recognising Israel under a 2020 diplomatic initiative. “The Civil Nuclear Deal … ...

There is a change in the skies and waters around Taiwan. In the first half of this year, the number of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets detected near the island more than halved year on year to 1,334. It was a three-year low and marked t...

US senators broadly agree that Chinese connected vehicles should be kept off American roads. But a bipartisan attempt to codify and expand existing restrictions has exposed divisions over whether the proposed ban could ensnare European carmakers and ...

The United States imposed late on Thursday a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 economies, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, hours before a temporary 10 per cent blanket levy was due to expire. The tariffs, ra...

Mid-July should have been a moment of quiet satisfaction in Beijing. Fresh data showed China’s favourability surpassing that of the United States in 25 of 37 nations surveyed by Pew Research Centre, including key European countries. Domestically, t...