German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalled support for a European Union-China trade deal, as rising tensions with the United States complicate Europe’s response to a growing flood of low-cost Chinese imports. Merz told German lawmakers on Wednesday...

Germany’s defence chief has called on the US to honour its security commitments to the Indo-Pacific and signalled that Berlin will keep raising its military presence in the region, while sharing concerns about “dangerous activities” in the Sout...

The havoc unleashed on global shipping by the US-Israel war on Iran has underlined China’s urgent need to fix its lack of a robust maritime insurance industry, a shipping expert has said. “In the maritime shipping sector, China’s industrial cha...

Massive carbon emissions from military activities and war-driven fossil fuel dependence are undermining the global energy transition, climate advocates warn as they point to the ongoing Iran conflict exacerbating this long-standing blind spot. Activi...

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz, though there have been no signs of Iran backing down. With...

In these turbulent times, focusing on the World Trade Organization’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, is a bit like trying to focus on a picnic sitting alongside a bar brawl, or listening to a lesson in pruning bonsai while ...

Hongkongers can expect thundery showers in the next few hours, the local weather forecaster has said. The Observatory issued the advisory notice at 3pm on Friday, urging the public to be aware of the weather change. “Areas of thundery showers now t...

Nepal’s rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on Friday after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year. The 35-year-old reformist and his Rastriya Swatantra P...

Kenya secured trade and infrastructure financing deals during Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng’s visit this week, but analysts cautioned that deepening ties were complicated by rising debt and Nairobi’s balancing act between global powers. The �...

Four weeks into the US-Israeli war on Iran, the crisis is beginning to bite in Malaysia, where Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has cut the monthly quota for subsidised petrol and food manufacturers are warning that surging diesel costs could force them ...

A Hong Kong court has dropped a charge against the former financial chief of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s flagship media company after he testified for the prosecution against his former employer in a fraud trial. The ruling came after the Court of Appeal...

Beijing Tong Ren Tang Healthcare Investment, a provider of healthcare services based on traditional Chinese medicine, postponed its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) on Friday amid tepid investor demand for its shares. The delay is the first of...

Eight people have been injured in a crash involving three vehicles in Hong Kong, according to police. The force was alerted to the traffic accident at around 12.30pm on Friday in Sha Tin, involving a KMB bus, a minibus and a private car on Siu Lek Yu...

An 84-year-old woman fell in love with an artificial-intelligence (AI) generated human, wrote ‘him’ love letters and spent 10 hours a day watching virtual human videos. Her story reflects the needs elderly people have for love and care. Zhang Yul...

After eight years in the deep freeze, the European Parliament is sending an official delegation to China next week in the clearest sign yet that Beijing’s targeted lobbying blitz of its members is paying off. Seven members from the parliament’s I...

Greater Bay Airlines has become the latest Hong Kong-based carrier to raise its fuel surcharges by 34 per cent amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with the fee for destinations other than mainland China set to hit HK$389 (US$50). China’s ...

Hong Kong authorities have extended the tender deadline to find new operators for Kai Tak Cruise Terminal by a month, after bidders requested more time to prepare for new management requirements and key performance indicators. The Culture, Sports and...

Chinese researchers have shown that a silicon quantum chip can carry out a full set of error-detecting logical operations – the first time this has been done and a key step towards building reliable quantum computers. The study, published in Nature...

Hong Kong authorities have arrested a man and seized more than 8,000 litres (2,100 gallons) of illegal fuel worth HK$250,000 (US$32,000), the latest in a string of similar cases amid conflict in the Middle East that has pushed up global oil prices. A...

Hong Kong’s heavy reliance on hiring workers from mainland China could lead to a “downgrade” of its status as an international hub, experts said, after data showed that 94.5 per cent of successful top talent scheme applicants came from across t...

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...

Philippine lawmakers have implored President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr to postpone this year’s Asean summit, as the country grapples with soaring fuel prices amid a global energy crisis. Analysts warn, however, that such a move would undermine Manila’...

Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices rose 1.6 per cent in February, marking the 11th straight month of positive movement for the residential property segment, as the city’s rents scaled another peak, according to official data. Since reversing a down...

Nuclear containment and regional ceasefires are the most viable entry points for potential negotiations between Washington and Tehran, according to a prominent Chinese expert on the Middle East. Niu Xinchun, director of the China-Arab Research Instit...

Tech giant Google has introduced a mobile version of its Gemini AI chatbot to Hong Kong users, with the service swiftly topping Apple’s app store chart. The roll-out on Thursday followed Google’s announcement last week that it would gradually bri...

Hong Kong has condemned the United Kingdom for undermining the city’s rule of law and meddling in local affairs after British authorities pledged to use “every opportunity” to press for the release of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who ...

In recent weeks, Singaporean Cindy has been troubled by an odour lingering in the air during her evening walks to the gym. “It’s the same situation every year, but I would say that the fogginess and burning smell have been getting stronger for th...

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) launched an action plan to enhance its current businesses and seek new growth in 2026, as the largest contract chipmaker in China aims to solidify its role as the backbone of the country’s self-...

Almost four weeks of unrelenting US and Israeli air strikes have severely weakened Tehran’s military, but what remains of its vast missile arsenal was being used more efficiently from hard-to-reach bases in eastern Iran. In the latest example, stri...

North Korea and Belarus’ strongmen leaders signed a “friendship and cooperation” treaty on Thursday after Kim Jong-un gave a lavish welcome to President Alexander Lukashenko on his maiden visit. Besides supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine...

At least 1,000 Japanese armed combat troops will set foot on Philippine soil next month for the first time in 81 years since World War II. Their return, as part of the joint Philippine-US Balikatan military training drills, also signals a dramatic sh...

China’s airlines are expected to add nearly 2,900 more China-Europe flights to their summer schedules compared with last year, analysts said, as the US-Israel war on Iran hands them an even greater competitive advantage over other global carriers. ...

The Mexican navy said on Thursday that it was searching for two boats transporting humanitarian aid for Cuba with nine crew of different nationalities on board. The vessels set sail last Friday from Isla Mujeres in Mexico’s southeastern state of Qu...

Amid uncertainty over the timing of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the world is watching closely to see where the two largest economies are leading us. At a time of cascading crises like wars, regional te...

A British police force said on Thursday it would reopen a probe into rape and sexual assault allegations made by women against self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate between 2014 and 2015. It is the latest in a slew of investigations into ...

A Chinese woman has amassed over one million followers after she posted her amazing sculptures crafted with nothing but her teeth. Chen Qin, 25, from central China’s Hubei province, attracted attention online after posting videos of her carrot scul...

The US Treasury Department plans to put US President Donald Trump’s signature on all new US paper currency, the agency announced on Thursday. The move would be a first for a sitting president, since traditionally, US paper currency carries the sign...

In the summer of 1998, the usually placid air at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s headquarters in Citibank Tower suddenly evaporated as regional currencies collapsed like dominoes. Rapacious speculators had shorted currencies such as the Thai bah...

Japan’s cherry trees are in full bloom, heralding the arrival of spring and the beginning of hanami picnics filled with food, festivities and fun. But stubborn inflation, the economic fallout from the war in Iran and looming unsettled weather have ...

US President Donald Trump said he would sign an order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers in a bid to alleviate disruptions at US airports with lawmakers in Congress deadlocked on how to end a partial government shutdown. “I am g...

The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call between a United Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in California, the agency said on Thursday, in the latest incident between a passenger jet and a military aircraft. T...

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) is lagging behind China’s national average in basic research, despite showing strong potential in sectors such as semiconductors and smart manufacturing, according to Deloitte. The cluster of cit...

US President Donald Trump denied on Thursday that he was desperate for a deal with Iran, swinging between threats and diplomacy, while presenting a series of “boats of oil” that reportedly made it through the blocked Strait of Hormuz as an Irania...

The scramble in Asia to secure Russian energy supplies – coupled with the temporary lifting of US sanctions – in the wake of the war in Iran has created a growing sense that Moscow might prove the main winner from the conflict. Earlier this week,...

Beijing is probably sighing with relief following US President Donald Trump’s postponement of his visit to China for “a month or so”. Initially, Trump had tried to threaten China for not joining a proposed naval escort campaign in the Strait of...

A 25-year-old woman who has been paraplegic since a failed suicide attempt underwent euthanasia in Spain on Thursday, after her father lost a lengthy legal battle to stop the procedure, Spanish media reported. Her case was the first to reach a Spanis...

A man who fled to China and his sister have been charged after an explosive device was left outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this month. Their mother was detained for deportation, having overstayed her visa, a federal prosecutor said...

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro cut a relaxed figure Thursday as he returned to a federal court in New York for his second appearance since his capture by US forces in an extraordinary nighttime raid. During the one-hour hearing, the judge...

China warned Mexico on Thursday it could impose retaliatory measures after concluding a formal investigation into tariffs Mexico imposed on more than 1,400 categories of Asian goods, in a dispute that threatens to complicate Mexico City’s parallel ...

Scientists have used a tiny plastic “obstacle course” to test how much sperm would struggle to navigate during sex in the weightlessness of space. Some particularly resilient sperm still made it through the course, suggesting that conceiving chil...