A large part of the phase one trade deal between China and the United States that entered into force almost one year ago was a “failure”, according to a new report, although “several elements are worth keeping and building upon”.The US and Ch...

One year ago, Sergeant Major Jakrapanth Thomma carried out Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting, killing 31 people after he opened fire at a shopping centre in Korat in the country’s northeast. His actions were sparked by a clash with his superior ...

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty on Monday to corruption charges at the resumption of his trial some six weeks before voters again pass judgment on his leadership.“I confirm the written answer submitted in my name,”...

America’s lobster exporters recovered from the Trump-era trade war with China to have a good 2020, but the industry is approaching one of the most critical times of the year with trepidation because of the coronavirus.The Lunar New Year is typicall...

The Philippines and the United States will meet this month to iron out differences over a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Manila’s top diplomat said, amid renewed concerns in the region over China’s assertive maritime agenda.The P...

Hong Kong’s East Rail line, already beset by signalling problems, ran into fresh difficulties on Monday as the first full workday use of its new nine-carriage trains was marred by a service disruption that lasted more than half an hour.The disrupti...

Police fired a water cannon at protesters in the Myanmar capital on Monday as tens of thousands of people across the country joined a third day of demonstrations against the military’s removal of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi a week ago.Calls to ...

China is set to allow some stranded Australian coal cargoes to unload, although it is unclear if the deliveries will be cleared by customs, according to a person familiar with the situation.The measure does not mean China is loosening its ban on Aust...

China’s market regulator has issued the final version of the country’s new antitrust guidelines targeting internet platforms, showing Beijing’s resolve to crack down on monopolistic practices such as forcing merchants to choose only one online ...

Police have rounded up 81 people in a crackdown on a triad-controlled syndicate that ran 14 illegal gambling and drug dens in Hong Kong that featured arcade machines for betting and offered free illegal drugs to attract customers.The force said the r...

An internet radio host linked to a fundraising campaign for young Hong Kong protesters to study in Taiwan has been hospitalised ahead of his first hearing on charges related to sedition.Prosecutors revealed that Edmund Wan Yiu-sing, better known as �...

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in northern Myanmar on Sunday, more than 700km from the antimilitary protests’ epicentre in the country’s largest city Yangon, with more protests expected on Monday.Protesters rallied peacefully in La...

Donald Trump’s defenders in the Senate rallied around the former president before his impeachment trial, dismissing it as a waste of time and arguing that the former president’s fiery speech before the US Capitol insurrection does not make him re...

Beijing and Suzhou will issue a total of 40 million yuan (US$6.2 million) in the latest trials of the nation’s digital currency this week in a bid to boost consumption over the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.The China Daily reported on Monday that...

Hong Kong health authorities have ordered more than 130 pupils and teachers into quarantine and mandatory testing for an entire secondary school community after two students were infected with the coronavirus, as 32 new Covid-19 cases were recorded c...

China’s top diplomat in Washington has accused the US of restricting the free flow of technology and information and creating “instability” around the world.In a lengthy interview with CNN on Sunday, ambassador Cui Tiankai said China was “ope...

An Australian journalist who worked as an anchor for Chinese state television has been formally arrested for “illegally supplying state secrets overseas”, six months after she was detained in China without explanation, Canberra said on Monday.Aus...

The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will re-engage with the much-maligned UN Human Rights Council that former president Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, US officials said. The decision reverses another Trum...

Last week, a previously obscure issue that has long vexed Hong Kong’s medical circles was suddenly thrust into the public limelight.It immediately triggered bitter rows in public and threatened to reopen old wounds in an embattled health sector tha...

Indonesia is on track to launch its own sovereign wealth fund after appointing an advisory board and getting investment commitments from 50 fund management entities, but one country is notably absent from the list of potential investors: China.The ne...

With only two non-establishment lawmakers left in the Legislative Council, one would think the pro-establishment camp had better things to do than fight their political adversaries who have been disqualified or have quit in protest. But Legco is on ...

In a blow that shook China’s human rights and legal circles, mainland Chinese lawyers Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu found themselves disbarred at the start of this year.Judicial officials turned up at their law firms with letters saying the two human ri...

Elaborately dressed couples promenaded around St Mark’s Square in the fog as Venice kicked off its celebrated carnival this weekend – without the usual crowds of tourists, absent because of the pandemic.“It’s totally surreal,” said 47-year-...

An award-winning former reporter has taken Chinese social media by storm after saying she suffered years of domestic violence at the hands of her husband.In a detailed description posted on social media platform WeChat on Saturday, Ma Jinyu, who gave...

Hong Kong’s love scammers hit on a new way to rake in millions last year by cutting down on the sweet talk while pushing their victims to put money into fake investments, police have warned.The confidence tricksters raked in HK$85 million (US$11 mi...

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise said that his security officers had thwarted an attempted coup, arresting more than 20 people in the process.The alleged plotters had aimed to kill Moise, the leader claimed in a press conference in the capital Port-...

The US Senate will pause former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial from Friday evening to Saturday evening this week to honour a request by a Trump lawyer who observes the Jewish Sabbath, a spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schum...

The Netherlands and parts of Germany were blanketed on Sunday by a snowstorm that disrupted planes and trains and put some coronavirus testing on hold.Britain was also bracing for heavy snow from what Dutch meteorologists have called Storm Darcy, whi...

George Shultz, Ronald Reagan’s genial secretary of State who identified a diplomatic opening that helped end the Cold War but contributed to a new brand of conflict by advocating pre-emptive strikes, has died. He was 100.An economics professor who ...

South Africa suspended the start of its AstraZeneca inoculation programme over concerns the shot does not work on a new variant, with WHO experts due to meet to discuss the vaccine already facing questions about its efficacy for over-65s.A trial show...

US President Joe Biden has made clear he will not unilaterally lift sanctions against Iran, saying it must first adhere to its nuclear deal commitments despite demands on Sunday from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.The exchange underscored th...

US President Joe Biden anticipates the US rivalry with China will take the form of “extreme competition” rather than conflict between the two world powers.Biden said in an excerpt of a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday that he has not spoken with...

A rescue ship with 422 migrants aboard, a small number of whom tested positive for Covid-19, was headed to a port in Sicily on Sunday.SOS Mediterranee, the humanitarian group which operates the rescue ship Ocean Viking, said Italy had granted the ves...

Four skiers have been killed and four others were rescued near Salt Lake City, Utah, in the deadliest snowslide in the United States in seven years, authorities said.Two groups of skiers, one of five and the other of three, were in Millcreek Canyon j...

[Sponsored Article] The prime aim of the MSc in business analytics offered by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is to give students a thorough understanding of both the theoretical aspects and real-world applications.    This recognise...

When Myanmar embarked on its democratic transition almost a decade ago, Erina Oo, now 31, was among the numerous youngsters who benefited.With a scholarship offered by a Western charity, she completed her undergraduate degree at a top university in H...

The US has proposed the first summit between the leaders of the “Quad” group, media reports said on Sunday, as the new administration looks to strengthen a framework that some observers believe could develop into a “mini-Nato” designed to cou...

The United States is conducting a joint exercise with Australia and Japan on Guam as it seeks to counter its increasing vulnerability to attack from Russia or China.The joint exercise at the Andersen Air Force Base, known as Cope North 2021, started ...

An aerial search was under way Sunday to find three experienced climbers who lost contact with base camp during their ascent of the world’s second-highest mountain in northern Pakistan, officials said.Karrar Haideri, a top official with the Alpine ...

Studies of coral reefs in the Paracel Islands suggest that the South China Sea started warming up in 1825, at the start of the industrial revolution, according to a study by Chinese scientists.That was the year the world’s first railway began opera...

Clubhouse, the popular audio-chat social networking app, has been quickly gaining in popularity among mainland Chinese users as it gives them a rare space to freely discuss such sensitive topics as Hong Kong and Xinjiang.Clubhouse, which received a b...

Indian authorities launched a search operation on Sunday after part of a mountain glacier broke, sending a massive flood of water and debris slamming into two dams and damaging a number of homes. At least 14 people were killed and 170 remain missing....

China’s foreign currency reserves fell slightly in January, official data showed on Sunday, likely due to valuation effects as the US dollar posted a small gain against a basket of major currencies.China’s foreign exchange reserves, the largest i...

Malaysia’s government has kicked off a plan to temporarily house migrant workers in near-empty hotels across the nation to tackle the worsening spread of Covid-19 cases due to workplace clusters.Malaysia’s Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry said ...

One of Hong Kong’s “cardboard grannies” was killed on Sunday morning after being struck by a truck in Sha Tin. It was at least the second traffic fatality since the start of the year involving the mostly elderly women who eke out a living by s...

Hundreds of thousands of people in southern and eastern parts of China are facing drinking water shortages as a result of months of reduced rainfall, the central government says.The Ministry of Water Resources said on Thursday that more than 500,000 ...

Tens of thousands of protesting farmers in India held a three-hour blockade of state and national highways as part of their agitation against a set of contentious farm laws they want repealed.Highways were blocked on Saturday in several places in the...

China’s military delivered a batch of Covid-19 vaccines to the Pakistan Army on Sunday, according to state media reports.The Chinese defence ministry said in a statement that it was the first time it had provided coronavirus vaccines to a foreign a...

China’s central government has urged local authorities to ease unduly strict Covid-19 prevention policies criticising them as unnecessary and counterproductive.A number of county and town-level government officials have introduced testing policies ...

It was back in 2017 when President Xi Jinping first raised the concept of Beijing’s “comprehensive jurisdiction” over Hong Kong.If anyone was still wondering what that would entail, the answer is all too clear in Beijing’s latest reaffirmatio...