Huawei Technologies on Friday introduced open-source software that it claimed can significantly improve the utilisation rate of artificial intelligence chips, marking the latest effort by Chinese companies to achieve world-class AI training capabilit...

Beijing’s recent fury directed towards Japan is hammering home a point on Taiwan to the wider world, especially the United States and its allies, analysts in mainland China have suggested. Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ...

A bizarre ancient courtship ritual practised by some of China’s ethnic groups involved a test of love where only a deep and painful bite was seen as a true expression of affection. This practice, known as yao shou ding qing, or “biting the hand t...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued for former lawmaker Zaldy Co and 17 others accused of involvement in anomalous infrastructure projects. The move marks the first major enforcement action s...

The Chinese and Russian militaries have pledged to deepen cooperation in sensitive areas including missile defence, following high-level talks in Moscow involving China’s top general. General Zhang Youxia, the first-ranking vice-chairman of China�...

As countries and economies around the world scramble for a slice of the growing artificial intelligence pie, Southeast Asia is also aiming to usher in a new dawn of higher productivity, fuelled by more investment and research opportunities in the tec...

A grizzly bear attacked a group of schoolchildren and teachers on a walking trail in British Columbia, Canada, injuring 11 people, two of them critically. The attack happened on Thursday afternoon in Bella Coola, 700km (435 miles) northwest of Vancou...

A buyer bearing the same name as veteran investor Xu Liusheng is the latest owner of a luxury home in Hong Kong after acquiring a HK$342 million (US$43.9 million) unit in the affluent Southern district, with the transaction adding to a growing list o...

As South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa convenes the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, two things are likely to be on many minds: the empty chair and the spirit of ubuntu. Wikipedia defines the ubuntu philosophy as encompassing “the interde...

Nearly half of Japanese full-time workers in their 20s engage in oshikatsu – a practice that involves devoting time to pop or sports idols, anime characters or hobbies such as collecting model trains – according to a recent recruitment survey. Th...

Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested 34 people, including 13 former domestic helpers who overstayed their visas, during an operation to crack down on illegal labour. The three-day operation was the third in two months in which current and for...

A senior official in Malaysia’s northern state of Kedah has defended the use of Chinese characters on a foundation stone for a tyre plant, after the inscription drew criticism in a country where public displays of Chinese text can become flashpoint...

Leaders from the world’s wealthiest and largest economies will gather in Johannesburg for the Group of 20 summit this weekend, as geopolitical friction threatens to derail the event. There are tensions over Washington’s unprecedented total boycot...

A court in Japan has ordered the Tokyo metropolitan government to pay 39 million yen (US$247,970) in damages to the family of a Nepalese man who died after being excessively restrained by police eight years ago. Arjun Bahadur Singh was arrested in 20...

A Hong Kong charity founded by a former city leader has relocated its headquarters to a 104-year-old historic site at a nominal premium of HK$1,000 (US$128), with the organisation saying it hopes to inherit the location’s “spirit of philanthropy�...

Malaysian rapper Namewee has been criticised by Taiwanese model Sprite Fang for seeking part-time jobs amid ongoing investigations into the death of social media influencer Iris Hsieh, Oriental Daily reported. In a social media post on Wednesday, Fan...

The cryptocurrency market extended a more than month-long retreat during Asia trading on Friday. Market bellwether bitcoin dropped as much as 2.1 per cent to reach below US$86,000 for the first time since April, as the market struggled to find new bu...

Rising tensions between China and Japan have caused uncertainty in the tourism sector, with both mainland and Hong Kong authorities cautioning against travel to the country. Nearly half a million air tickets from the mainland to Japan were recently c...

Malaysia’s embattled football association has been plunged deeper into crisis after the government suspended fresh funding over a document-forgery scandal that has embarrassed the football-mad nation. Football’s governing body, Fifa, has issued f...

China is preparing for an unprecedented wave of new university graduates next summer – a record 12.7 million outgoing students – intensifying pressure on an already strained job market and a slowing economy. The 2026 cohort will be about 4 per ce...

Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and OpenAI on Friday announced an agreement to design and build artificial intelligence data centre hardware, the latest in a string of infrastructure deals for the US creator of ChatGPT. Foxconn, the world’s lar...

Two giant, furry Labubu balloons will debut next week at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. A brown Labubu and a pink Mokoko, both part of the Labubu family, will be the lead features on Chinese toymaker Pop Mart International�...

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, said it will use all possible legal means to take back control of the company, putting pressure on the Dutch government to do more to restore the rights of the Chinese shareholder. I...

Chinese scientists and engineers are shrinking one of the most complex and expensive technologies in modern chipmaking down to desktop size and using it to manufacture 14-nanometre chips. While 14-nm chips no longer represent the cutting edge – com...

A ramen eatery cook in Japan was attacked by a bear, suffered injuries, but still calmly made food preparations with his blood-covered face, shocking many online. Japan witnessed a surge in bear attacks this year. At least 13 people have been killed ...

Hong Kong police have arrested two men after reclassifying an industrial accident involving collapsed scaffolding that killed two workers and injured three others last year as manslaughter. A 48-year-old foreman and a 58-year-old worker, who were tak...

Miss Mexico was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand on Friday, strutting to victory after the beauty pageant’s host had publicly chastised her, among several dramatic missteps in the run-up to the final stage. Contestants from Ivory Coast, the Philip...

Mandi, the Alibaba Health-backed consumer healthcare arm being spun off from mainland drug maker 3SBio, filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong on Friday, betting that its market-leading minoxidil hair-loss products will attract investors. ...

Hong Kong authorities will set key performance indicators (KPIs) for a planned government-owned company intended to drive the development of the San Tin Technopole and grant its subsidiaries greater flexibility to meet the needs of enterprises. Kevin...

Plunder, corruption and bribery charges were recommended against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s cousin for his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. The Department of Public Works and Highways sought these charges against former...

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...

Japan’s export of lethal weapons sent an “extremely dangerous signal” indicating expanded military capabilities, Chinese observers and media said on Thursday as relations between the two countries continued to nosedive. The assessment followed ...

Tesla’s reported plan to stop using Chinese-made components in US-built cars aligns with a “significant strategy” in national industrial policy, with some American giants seeking to “completely de-risk” supply chains amid an increasingly te...

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has met a delegation led by HSBC Group CEO Georges Elhedery, marking his second meeting with the bank’s leadership in eight months. But the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office did not reveal what was discus...

This article was first published on November 21, 1985 By James Sun Families to be evacuated The Housing Authority is expected to announce today (November 21, 1985) an intensive redevelopment programme for 26 substandard estate blocks from which more ...

The Philippines’ deepening flood-control corruption scandal has now drawn in one of the country’s most influential religious groups, with a mass mobilisation by members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) church offering a revealing glimpse into the p...

A Miss Universe contestant who dramatically fell off stage on Wednesday during a preliminary round of the pageant was doing fine and recovering in hospital, the organisation’s leader said. Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Henry was walking across the stage w...

When it deemed remarks on Taiwan by Japan’s new prime minister as provocative, China did not just issue a diplomatic rebuke to Tokyo; it deployed an economic arsenal, and what began as a bilateral spat has since spiralled into a full-blown crisis. ...

Mere days after her election as Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi delivered a policy speech declaring that a major priority was to build a strong and resilient economy. Since then, her administration has ushered in a rapid-fire series of p...

An emotional message scribbled on a paper trash bag left on a high-speed train by a mother, expressing her frustration over her teenage child’s addiction to electronic devices, has sparked widespread discussion about parenting on mainland social me...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused half a dozen Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers - all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community - called on US military members to uphold the Co...

King Leung King-chung was just like many other Hongkongers used to a comfortable life with plenty of entertainment options and different cuisines close at hand – moving to the Arabian Desert to set up a business was the furthest thing from his mind...

China has launched a campaign to preserve historical sites on the disputed Woody Island, or Yongxing Island in Chinese, as Beijing looks to cement its territorial claims in the South China Sea. A team of conservation scientists and technicians from t...

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol may have begun laying the ideological groundwork for a self-coup long before his failed attempt to impose martial law last December, according to newly disclosed legal documents. Political analysts say t...

Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funnelling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former US president Barack Ob...

The White House on Thursday defended US President Donald Trump after he called a female reporter “piggy” as she questioned him about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the president’s remarks reflected his frankness and tra...

Washington needs to accelerate arms sales to Taiwan and help establish a regional contingency stockpile for its defence, the US Senate heard on Thursday. Such steps would help implement provisions in a landmark 2022 law – the Taiwan Enhanced Resili...

Washington should tighten its export controls by adding inspection staff and plugging loopholes to slow Beijing’s chipmaking advances and curb evasion efforts with support from allies such as the Netherlands and Japan, US lawmakers and experts said...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks with a top US Army official on Thursday he was ready for “honest” work with Washington on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, while European allies pushed back against punishing concessions to...

China’s lending since the turn of the century has been “vastly” larger than previously understood, with loans and grants increasingly going to developed countries including the United States – the largest recipient – according to a new repo...