Family offices in the Asia-Pacific have seen their wealth grow faster than global peers this year, as they have shown a greater willingness to invest in private equity and risky new asset classes such as cryptocurrencies, according to the 2021 Global...

Popular Chinese cryptocurrency news outlets ChainNews and Odaily have become inaccessible, as Beijing continues its crackdown on the trading and mining of virtual assets.ChainNews tweeted on Monday that its website would suspend service for eight to ...

Cathay Pacific finally began to stanch its massive monthly operating losses and came “close” to breaking even between July and October, despite ongoing pandemic-related restrictions continuing to hamper its business, the airline said on Wednesday...

Talks between Foodpanda, one of the leading food delivery platforms in Hong Kong, and its couriers on setting a standard base pay will resume on Thursday after a seven-hour discussion ended in deadlock.A group of eight food courier representatives an...

Hong Kong police have arrested a 20-year-old man after seizing HK$3.2 million (US$410,900) worth of narcotics in a New Territories flat he was allegedly using to manufacture crack cocaine.The haul was found shortly after officers intercepted the man ...

Police in China arrested a suspect for allegedly scamming over 300,000 yuan (US$47,000) from a woman using the central bank’s new digital currency.The suspect called the victim earlier this month and impersonated police to obtain her personal infor...

Japanese researchers have crafted a “super clone” of an Afghan mural destroyed by the Taliban, using a mix of traditional and digital techniques that they hope will salvage the work’s “spirit” for future generations.Not a single fragment re...

Some 200 workers and six subcontractors involved in building a new terminal for Hong Kong International Airport’s planned third runway are owed nearly HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) in overdue wages and project costs, a lawmaker has said amid an ...

Construction of a railway in southwestern China from Sichuan province to Tibet is still on track despite having to navigate areas where extreme heat from the Earth’s crust has made working close to impossible.A significant proportion of its route i...

Hu Siqin had a promising career in Shanghai with a Fortune 500 company and more than enough money, but something was missing under the bright lights of the big city, a sense of what she calls “roots”.So the 33-year-old chucked it all in to lay do...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said it plans to purchase South Korean-made mid-range surface-to-air missiles in a deal worth US$3.5 billion, a major boon to the East Asian country’s defence exports.The UAE’s Ministry of Defence on Tuesday twe...

US Senator Marco Rubio placed holds on President Joe Biden’s ambassador picks for China and Spain, a procedural move that will add to the delays the White House has faced getting its envoys to embassies around the world.Nicholas Burns, Biden’s no...

The European Union has postponed a confidential plan to upgrade its trade ties with Taiwan, in a sign of internal uncertainty over how best to balance ties with Taipei and Beijing.On Friday, Brussels was preparing to announce a new strategic format f...

Strict new Covid-19 restrictions come into force in Beijing on Wednesday, requiring negative tests for visitors to China’s capital and dramatically cutting domestic flights as the city raises the drawbridge against the coronavirus in the lead-up to...

Australia will need to be able to conduct ministerial discussions with China as part of a process for the world’s second-largest economy to join a regional trade agreement, trade minister Dan Tehan said.“You have to able to sit down and work thro...

The Biden administration’s competition with China for influence didn’t get off to a great start in Africa.In August, the top US diplomat planned a visit, only to postpone it because of the turmoil in Afghanistan that preoccupied Washington. Now, ...

A Hong Kong husband and wife have been jailed for five years and four months each for abusing a friend’s young daughter, who died malnourished and covered with more than 70 bruises, abrasions and scars while in their care.Housewife Or Ching-man and...

Authorities in Canada said at least one person died and two were missing and in torrential rains that trapped motorists in mudslides, forced thousands to evacuate their homes and cut off Vancouver from the rest of the country.Search and rescue teams ...

Foreign tourists have been welcomed back to India after pandemic travel bans, but intrepid travellers will have to brave the intense pollution season to visit the country’s most famous attraction.Around the palatial gardens of the Taj Mahal, air qu...

Consistent falls in the number of births in some regions in China of more than 10 per cent this year have prompted further concerns of a deepening population crisis, underlining suggestions that support measures to address the issue have been ineffec...

Miramax filed a lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino over the director’s plans to create and auction off a series of NFTs based on his work on Pulp Fiction.The entertainment company alleges that Tarantino’s planned offerings violate the copyrights i...

More children in Hong Kong are expected to get vaccinated against Covid-19, with a government advisory panel on Monday recommending lowering the minium age for recipients of the Chinese-produced Sinovac jab from 18 to three.Authorities were also urge...

Islamic State claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala that killed three people and left several dozen wounded.The police earlier blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group active in eastern Democ...

FedEx, the global package delivery giant, has given up any hope of reopening its Hong Kong pilot base, blaming coronavirus policies that have left “no clear timeline” for when the city will return to normal.In a company memo revealing that a Janu...

Waste pickers pushing metal carts as they scour the streets for scraps of cardboard is a familiar sight in Hong Kong, and long associated with desperation and poverty.But one charity aims to end the stigmatisation and negative stereotypes surrounding...

The Philippines reported an 11-month daily low in Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, even as authorities scrapped the mandatory use of face shields.The Department of Health said only 849 new Covid-19 cases were recorded on Tuesday, pushing the country’s to...

Hong Kong Disneyland was closed on Wednesday following the issuance of a compulsory Covid-19 testing order after a recent overseas arrival who visited on Sunday tested positive for the virus.The patient, a 29-year-old domestic helper who arrived from...

News organisations could be pulled from China’s new “white list” of approved internet news providers if they violate “information security”, a senior Chinese internet regulator said on Tuesday.“For those who are already on the list of app...

It has been nearly a year since the first jabs against Covid-19 were carried out in Europe, yet in much of the continent infections and deaths are on the rise.The World Health Organization warns that Europe is once again the epicentre of the pandemic...

Hong Kong law enforcement agencies have stepped up sting operations targeting those who trick their customers, lie about their qualifications or overcharge, with officers going out in disguise as members of the public.Those caught so far this year in...

It can be almost impossible to sell a property in Asia after it was home to an ‘unnatural death’, but, thankfully, a group of intrepid freelancers in China will make sure the place is not haunted — for a price.In China, a small industry of “h...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday clarified his apparent reference to an “independent” Taiwan, saying the US position on Chinese sovereignty has not changed.Biden’s latest in a series of mixed messages about the island – which is claimed by Chin...

The United States and China have reached an agreement to relax visa restrictions on their respective foreign correspondents, the US State Department said on Tuesday, confirming reports by Chinese state media.The agreement will see both sides agree to...

China will allow the mixing of Covid-19 vaccines for its booster shots drive, with an “an optimal immunisation combination” to be introduced very soon, a senior health official said.The new strategy will help to reduce severe illness and deaths f...

An 86-year-old woman who survived mass round-ups and massacres of Jews as a child in Romania was crowned on Tuesday Israel’s “Miss Holocaust Survivor”.Ten women in their 80s and 90s took part in the special pageant, sponsored by a local foundat...

American journalist Danny Fenster, who was freed after nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, arrived on Tuesday in the United States for an emotional reunion with his family.Fenster, who was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labo...

In a landmark resolution released on Tuesday, the Communist Party endorsed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s major overhauls on Hong Kong and firm stand on Taiwan as the right decisions for the party and the country.In the full text of the resolution ...

The United States has asked China to release oil reserves to help stabilise soaring international crude oil prices as part of ongoing discussions on economic cooperation between the two countries.The US wants China to join it in releasing crude oil r...

Crowds will once again fill New York’s Times Square this New Year’s Eve, with proof of Covid-19 vaccination required for revellers who want to watch the ball drop in person, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.“Yes, we are proud to announce ...

China’s Communist Party has reiterated its official verdicts on the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.That is according to a new historical resolution adopted by its top leadership last week, only the third such resolut...

China intends to boost international cooperation to acquire critical farm produce while trying to diversify sources of grain, as food-supply security remains a pressing concern for the top leadership.The call by the National Development and Reform Co...

Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq fought back tears as he told British lawmakers on Tuesday he had “lost my career to racism”, detailing widespread discrimination within the English game in an emotional testimony.An independent report found ...

A woman from Argentina is being characterised by researchers as a “hope patient” after her own immune system appears to have cured the 30-year old of her own HIV.The patient becomes just the second documented person whose immune system combated t...

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed during their virtual summit this week to launch a series of high-level arms control talks, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.Sullivan said in a discussio...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden both emphasised the importance of cooperation when they met for a virtual summit on Tuesday.While a full transcript of the meeting, which lasted over 3½ hours and covered a wide range of ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden met in a virtual summit on Tuesday, their first “face-to-face” meeting since Biden entered the White House.The meeting lasted more than 3½ hours, and statements issued by both sides d...

Historically, when it comes to statistics, China’s record is not great. It has been criticised for altering statistics, even by internal economists, and there have been reports of cases in which local officials have altered economic figures in the ...

Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with electoral fraud, adding another case to the many she is already facing, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.On Monday, the election commission appointed by the country’s ruling ...

Italy believes it should have been asked to approve the purchase of a military drones company by Chinese investors, and will issue a complaint that could eventually sink the deal if it does not get a satisfactory explanation, three sources have said....

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged his US counterpart Joe Biden to take responsibility and help get Washington’s policy on China back to a “rational and pragmatic track” in their first virtual summit.While Xi and Biden talked about the need for...