The United Arab Emirates is expected to continue making high-risk geopolitical moves with potentially high rewards, following its exit from the Opec oil cartel, as the small but extremely wealthy Gulf state strives to become a global power. Framed by...

Dianjiang, a small county tucked away in southwestern China’s Chongqing, was transformed into a bustling live music hub in April as fans flocked to a concert headlined by Mandopop stars, including Jeff Chang. Such scenes are no longer unusual. Once...

Hong Kong recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in mainland Chinese visitors on the first day of the “golden week” Labour Day holiday, with more than 300,000 inbound trips made throughout the day. Meanwhile, the number of Hongkongers leavi...

At the December premiere of the Chinese-dubbed 1957 Billy Wilder classic Witness for the Prosecution in a Shanghai cinema, dubbing artist Qiao Zhen voiced a more immediate mystery: “Do you still enjoy Chinese-dubbed films?” When audience members,...

Not a sudden, major crash but a series of mini-crises. That, according to some, is the prospect facing the global economy and financial system in the wake of conflict in the Middle East. But what if these mini-crises cascade into a collective collaps...

A celebrity cat in China which died following a medical blunder has prompted the hospital involved to offer compensation and provide free sterilisation for stray cats. The feline’s owner, Deng Feng, a Shenzhen-based cattery operator and pet influen...

Japan and South Korea are closing ranks as they prepare for high-level meetings aimed at steadying ties amid growing regional volatility, with analysts saying the diplomatic push reflects shared concern over China, North Korea and the reliability of ...

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that banning some pro-Palestinian marches could be justified, especially when they call for the intifada to spread. Labour leader Starmer is under pressure to act afte...

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence with Anew Labs, a drug-discovery unit that has begun presenting its AI-designed therapies at international conferences. The unit – also known as Anew Therapeutic...

Hezbollah’s cheap fibre-optic drones are creating new challenges for Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, forcing the military to adapt its tactics against an increasingly lethal threat. The Israeli military – considered one of the most advanced i...

More than 800 families displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire have expressed an interest in visiting their homes again after being allowed to return to the estate in recent weeks, a senior Hong Kong official has said. The government also expressed confi...

Taiwanese opposition leader Cheng Li-wun is preparing to visit the United States in June, aiming to leverage the political momentum from last month’s meeting with Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Cheng, who heads the main opposition pa...

A pact between India and Russia on reciprocal access to military facilities is expected to boost Moscow’s influence in the Indian Ocean and increase New Delhi’s presence in the Arctic. However, it does not mean the two countries’ bases will be ...

Hong Kong authorities have issued four HK$3,000 (US$383) fines in the first two days of an expanded ban on alternative smoking products, while assuring the public that inspectors will not conduct arbitrary body searches to enforce the law. Manny Lam ...

Nearly half of the notices filed to deactivate firefighting systems over the past two years involved works that lasted longer than the maximum two months allowed under rules introduced after Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, official data has...

An old Thai proverb says, “If you love your cow, tie it up; if you love your child, beat them”. It is meant to convey that a loving and responsible guardian should discipline their child and that corporal punishment is an act of care as sensible ...

Japan and Vietnam are set to agree to boost their partnership in economic security in leaders’ talks on Saturday, as Japan seeks to strengthen supply chains for critical resources amid its diplomatic spat with China and the Middle East crisis. As T...

Southeast Asian growers can now ship durians to China faster than before using a new cold-storage rail service linking Thailand, Laos and southwest China’s Yunnan province, slashing prices for the pungent fruit. The first goods train laden with dur...

Eight technology companies, including Google, Nvidia and SpaceX, have struck deals with the Pentagon to help the US military gain an edge on the battlefield. “These agreements accelerate the transformation towards establishing the United States mil...

With his broad smile, Tatsumi Hokuto helps an elderly woman in a Japanese care home almost effortlessly to her feet and makes sure she is steady. At first glance, Hokuto cuts an unlikely figure for a carer role: a powerfully built 27-year-old in tigh...

“You could do with some international exposure. China, maybe,” a law firm partner said as we stood over the water cooler. His offhand comment was so blasé. I wasn’t sure what unsettled me more – the comment or my reaction to it. Was it xenop...

Residents of Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court have been wrestling with a fresh sense of loss after returning to homes ravaged in last November’s fire, as they were forced to choose what to save under practical constraints and within a three-hour window...

A growing trend in China allows young people dealing with break-ups to create digital replicas of their ex-partners using artificial intelligence. These AI-powered “exes” can mimic their former partner’s tone, catchphrases and even subtle lingu...

When Malaysia’s government announced a ban on two books in mid-April, the move raised eyebrows, with some questioning the intent of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration and his reformist credentials. The home affairs ministry on April 16...

The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s threat as he clashes with the German leader over the US war with Iran. Trump had threaten...

Fujian province, the closest mainland Chinese province to Taiwan, is an important site for Beijing’s messaging towards the island. In the first of a two-part series, Xinlu Liang examines how Beijing is framing the executions of Communist Party spie...

Hong Kong is increasingly being urged to develop a comprehensive population policy. Academics, policymakers and business leaders warn that rapid ageing, low fertility and a shrinking labour force threaten the city’s competitiveness, and call for mo...

China’s top UN diplomat slammed the US on Friday over its coercive behaviour, sanctioning of Chinese vessels and firms and for starting the Iran war along with Israel as Beijing assumed the rotating one-month presidency of the UN Security Council. ...

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order expanding sanctions on Cuba, authorising penalties not only against Cuban officials but also on foreign companies and financial institutions that do business with the island. The order sig...

The United States on Friday announced fresh sanctions on entities and individuals it said were involved in trading Iranian petroleum, including a China-based oil terminal operator and a Chinese national, as it ramped up pressure on Tehran to end the ...

After being forced to check his Academy Award on a transatlantic flight, recent winner Pavel Talankin’s Oscar went missing before an airline tracked it down two days later. Talankin, who co-directed the best documentary winner Mr Nobody Against Put...

US President Donald Trump told Congress on Friday that the hostilities in Iran “have terminated” following the ceasefire starting April 7, with the deadline for a congressional authorisation of the war looming. “There has been no exchange of fi...

US President Donald Trump sang the praises of King Charles after the latter’s state visit this week. He even lifted some tariffs on Scotch whisky as a favour to the British monarch. The king delivered a diplomatic masterclass on the trip, mixing pr...

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25 per cent, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment. Trump said in the post that the EU ...

A small plane crashed in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people aboard, officials said on Friday. The crash happened on Thursday night in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles (65km) southwest of Austin, Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said on social...

The US stock market is rising towards more records on Friday after Apple, Estee Lauder and other big companies became the latest to deliver fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. Modest dips for oil prices also helped to ste...

We have selected six of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile exposes smuggling ring that shipp...

Uber has announced it is acquiring the Hong Kong-based online cab-hailing platform FlyTaxi to expand its taxi services, ahead of the implementation of a regulatory regime for ride-hailing services later this year. In a statement on Friday, Uber said ...

Japan has overhauled its overseas arms transfer regulations, a move analysts said paves the way for the country to export high-end weapons and defence platforms, including sixth-generation fighter jets. On April 21, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Taka...

Japan’s relaxation of its weapons-export rules opens a path for talks that could one day lead to Tokyo supplying military equipment to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion, Kyiv’s ambassador to Japan said. “This allows us to talk,” Yurii L...

Hong Kong authorities are investigating a suspicious fire that broke out in a residential flat, after a man died when he fell from the building and an elderly woman was overcome due to heavy smoke. Police received a report of the fire on Friday at ar...

Singapore and Thailand ranked among the world’s “least miserable” economies in an annual index compiled by a Johns Hopkins University economist, who said Southeast Asia was one of the “healthiest economic neighbourhoods” in the world. The 2...

More Hong Kong permanent residents will soon be able to drive to Macau for work, sightseeing, family visits and business as the two cities move to expand an existing scheme to make better use of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The Transport Depart...

A train hit a car in Indonesia on Friday, killing four people including two children, police said, days after another deadly train crash outside the capital Jakarta. The driver of the car involved in the collision in Central Java province did not see...

A man who is believed to have struck a 17-year-old high school student in the face with a hammer in Tokyo earlier this week was arrested on Friday after a manhunt on suspicion of attempted murder, according to local police. Teruyuki Takabayashi, 44, ...

The need for the United States to start offloading some of its global responsibilities did not begin with Donald Trump. More than a decade ago, when working as a journalist and graduate student, I heard from political scientists and other observers o...

The recent launch of the World Data Organization in Beijing added another node to a growing network of bodies headquartered in China with international participation and cross-border mandates. China is fostering these lenders, institutions and interg...

Hong Kong police have arrested a taxi driver for dangerous driving on the first of the five-day mainland Chinese Labour Day “golden week” holiday, after he was caught reaching speeds of 160km/h (99.4mph) and completing a 42km ride in just half an...

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs and a senior national energy official have held meetings with CLP Holdings chairman Michael Kadoorie, with observers saying it signalled the firm was expected to help minimise livelihood disruptions amid the...

A Chinese boycott of the “World Cup of mathematics” this year could be decisive, according to a co-organiser of a petition calling for the event to be moved out of the United States this year. Ila Varma, a University of Toronto mathematician and ...