Beijing has given strong backing to the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying recognition of the group as the legitimate government of the war-torn nation would come “when conditions are ripe”. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered the promise of e...

China’s coronavirus curbs are disrupting the supply of fertiliser to the country’s northeastern breadbasket, just a month before spring planting, and pose a threat to this year’s corn and soybean crops. Farmers typically have fertiliser prepare...

When Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu took to the catwalk last week dressed in a floor-length gown with a plunging neckline, online trolls were quick to comment that she had “put on weight”. On Instagram, where she has nearly five million follow...

Hong Kong medical experts have said incentives such as the easing of social-distancing curbs should be considered if the government wants to encourage residents to take part in a mass at-home Covid-19 testing exercise. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Chen...

A coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai is forcing many of its 26 million residents to rely on group chats and shared online documents to source food and daily necessities. Horace Lu, a 32-year-old public relations professional in Shanghai, did not expect...

Two of Ukraine’s military helicopters struck a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, a Russian official said, making the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian soil since Moscow invaded its neighbour in late February....

Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plan to sign a security pact with Beijing. A day after officials from the two countries initialled a draft agreeme...

In China’s southern Guangdong province, a teacher was told by her school that she must somehow find four unvaccinated individuals aged 60 or older and get them to take Covid-19 shots to help boost the district’s elderly inoculation rate. Otherwis...

The second phase of Shanghai’s lockdown began on Friday, but the authorities said restrictions would remain in place in other areas of the city. The first phase of the lockdown, which began in areas to the east and south of the Huangpu River on Mon...

US antitrust chiefs voiced support for an American crackdown on gatekeeper tech giants a week after the European Union reached a deal reining in the likes of Google and Meta Platforms Inc. Jonathan Kanter, the head of the Justice Department’s antit...

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that Australia will send armoured Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky specifically asked for them while appealing to Australian lawmakers for more help in the country’s war ...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made John Sullivan’s tough job as US envoy to Moscow even harder as he grapples with the Kremlin’s nuclear sabre-rattling and threats to sever relations while keeping his embassy running on one-tenth the normal ...

Two people suffered burns and another two were injured jumping from a sixth-floor window after a blaze broke out in a Hong Kong residential building on Friday morning. The fire started at 7.35am in a 172 sq ft subdivided flat on the sixth floor of th...

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed his cautious approach to China-US relations in his remarks that Beijing is in “an awkward position” over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to observers. Chinese diplomatic observers said ...

The Canadian International School Hong Kong (CDNIS) hosted the second annual Hong Kong Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on March 12. In a world full of negative headlines, the 2022 SDG Summit was a breath of fresh air, and a sign that Asia�...

Thousands of people travelled between Malaysia and Singapore in cars, motorcycles and by foot on Friday after the land border separating the two nations reopened fully for the first time in two years. The causeway links, one of the world’s busiest ...

Taiwanese pop superstar Jay Chou’s mother is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of the top Chinese bulletproof coffee brand. Star Plus Legend Holdings, which sells the “Modong” line of beverages, has filed a listing application with the ...

China’s factory activity slumped at the fastest pace in two years in March, as the domestic coronavirus resurgence and the economic fallout from the Ukraine war triggered sharp falls in production and demand, a business survey showed on Friday. The...

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s series of high-profile meetings during a week-long visit to the US shows Washington’s intention to continue with its focus on the Indo-Pacific even as it is preoccupied with developments in Europe, analy...

[Sponsored Article] With rapid change affecting so many aspects of the business world, senior managers and leaders can’t afford to rest on their laurels.  Whatever their experience and previous qualifications, they must view continuing profe...

Police officers were ready to arrest Will Smith after he attacked comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, the show’s producer said Thursday. In his first public comments since the shocking episode that marred Hollywood’s most important evening, Will P...

Chinese scientists say they have designed a new Covid-19 test which is more reliable than antigen tests but is cheaper, faster and more convenient than nucleic tests. Since the emergence of the highly infectious and fast spreading Omicron variant, th...

A robotic dog acting as a public messenger to dispense Covid-19 prevention advice in Shanghai went viral as the city continued to fight its worst outbreak so far. The robot was carrying a loudspeaker on its back and strolling around a residential com...

Thousands of residents have started travelling back to Hong Kong while holidaymakers race to book flights to faraway destinations as authorities eased some of the city’s tough Covid-19 travel curbs. From Friday, the compulsory quarantine period for...

The man behind a decade-old maple syrup theft, the subject of an episode of Netflix’s Dirty Money show, will have to pay C$9 million (US$7.2 million) in fines, Canada’s top court said on Thursday, upholding an earlier ruling by a lower court. A g...

Chinese state television has shown footage of day-and-night drills by the People’s Liberation Army along the coasts of the East China and South China seas, which defence analysts said had been stepped up this year to counter the US Navy’s increas...

Washington’s top trade envoy came under fire from lawmakers on Thursday in a second day of testimony about US President Joe Biden’s policies to improve economic engagement with more countries as a way to counter China’s growing influence. Much ...

Former justice minister Fu Zhenghua has been expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from public office, the anti-corruption watchdog said on Thursday. Fu, 67, had been detained in September and placed under investigation for corruption amid ...

Sri Lanka’s capital was under heavy security on Friday after hundreds of protesters tried to storm the president’s home in a night of violence and anger at a dire economic crisis. The South Asian nation is seeing severe shortages of essentials, s...

The United States is increasingly outmatched, outfinanced and outmanoeuvred by China for influence in the Western Hemisphere, lawmakers, government officials and regional experts said at a Senate hearing on Thursday. “China has a plan. We don’t h...

US President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin may have fired some of his advisers or put them under house arrest, and that it’s an “open question” as to whether Putin is fully informed on his military’s performance in Ukraine. Bid...

The central Chinese government played an “unprecedented role” over the past year in efforts to direct the outcome of elections in Hong Kong, the US State Department said on Thursday. That finding was one of several included in the annual Hong Kon...

US President Joe Biden on Thursday launched the largest release ever from the country’s emergency oil reserve and challenged oil companies to drill more in an attempt to bring down fuel prices that have soared during Russia’s war with Ukraine. St...

Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago. An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome – the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree Thursday demanding payment for natural gas in roubles but appeared to temper the order by allowing dollar and euro payments through a designated bank, the latest twist over energy supplies that Europe ...

The Chinese foreign ministry has hit back at Britain and the United States over reports criticising Hong Kong’s political and legal systems, demanding the two countries stop interfering in the city’s affairs and smearing its national security law...

Russian troops have left the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said Thursday as heavy fighting raged on the outskirts...

China’s continued use of lockdowns to eliminate a new wave of coronavirus infections sweeping the country will take a heavy toll on the economy that could be similar to the aftermath of the initial 2020 outbreak, analysts said. Beijing has set an e...

China’s top chip foundries are pushing ahead with capacity expansion plans, helped by record-high revenues and profits on the back of strong demand and in the face of US threats to further restrict their access to advanced technologies. Semiconduct...

The Australian government is to announce that a new port will be built in the strategically important city of Darwin after the current facilities were leased to a Chinese company, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday. It’s u...

China has accused the United States of breaking a promise by conducting military activity in the South China Sea. In response to a recent patrol flight by US Indo-Pacific Commander John C Aquilino in the disputed waters, Defence Ministry spokesman Wu...

Billionaire Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) will launch its satellite broadband service in the Philippines, a first in Southeast Asia, the trade secretary said on Thursday. SpaceX’s business permit application is being pr...

Hong Kong’s iconic Ngong Ping 360 cable car had a near 80 per cent jump in the number of visitors last year, even though Covid-19 measures have restricted operations and tourism remains largely non-existent. The company revealed on Thursday that 46...

China will soon have a lunar observatory that will form part of a radio telescope covering an area 30 times the size of the Earth, according to scientists involved in the project. The unprecedented infrastructure, which they said could be ready in ab...

Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley and the richest city in southern Guangdong province, has become the prime example of how Beijing’s dynamic zero-Covid-19 strategy is implemented on the ground, after the metropolis put the highly contagious Omicro...

With assault weapons ready, US and Filipino marines sprang from amphibious vehicles and transport helicopters to defend an island from potential aggressors in a war exercise and show of American firepower staged on Thursday in the northern Philippine...

TikTok owner ByteDance has denied claims on Chinese social media that it raked in more advertising revenue last year than all of the country’s television channels combined. The post, published on Wednesday by the online account “Daily Innovati...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s two-day visit to New Delhi was due to begin Thursday amid an all-out attempt by international diplomats to exert pressure on India over its stance towards Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. A statement by Britai...

China’s debilitated domestic tourism industry could be further clobbered by weak consumption during the coming holiday as the masses refrain from travelling far and spending while record numbers of coronavirus cases continue to spur lockdowns acros...