17 h. ago Retreating globally, US finds a new arena to flex power – at home

The Donald Trump administration is executing not merely a restructuring but a fundamental redefinition of American military purpose. The clearest evidence emerged in June, when the US president deployed 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles alongside 4,000 federalised National Guard troops to confront immigration enforcement protests – without California Governor Gavin Newsom’s consent. A federal judge subsequently ruled that this deployment violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which...

Politics

18 h. ago Belarusian model reportedly killed in Myanmar went there on her own: Thai police

Thai immigration officials have denied claims that a Belarusian model was abducted while in Bangkok and forcibly taken to Myanmar, where tabloids claim she was reportedly killed by a criminal gang. The unconfirmed death of 26-year-old Vera Kravtsova has gained international attention in recent days after Russian and British tabloids reported that, following her arrival in Thailand, she was kidnapped and brought to northern Myanmar, where she was tortured and had her organs harvested while being...

Events

32 h. ago Colombia court overturns Uribe’s conviction for bribery, witness tampering

An appeal court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of Colombian former president Alvaro Uribe for bribery and witness tampering for which he had been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest. Uribe, 73, has denied any wrongdoing. He was sentenced in August following a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. The court on Tuesday said the...

Events

39 h. ago China’s Quiet Strategy in Bulgaria: Economic Appeal, Political Constraints

China’s Quiet Strategy in Bulgaria: Economic Appeal, Political Constraints  German Marshall Fund of the United States

Politics

48 h. ago Hong Kong minister admits procurement vigilance ‘below expectations’, vows reform

Civil servants’ vigilance in guarding against potential procurement scams falls short of public expectations, Hong Kong’s treasury minister has admitted, pledging to conduct site visits and prevent the process from becoming a “robotic” arrangement of “checking boxes”. But Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu stressed on Tuesday that the principle of “the lowest bidder wins” did not apply to government procurement procedures this time around and denied that...

Politics

49 h. ago Singer Soyou denies intoxication after US flight ‘racial prejudice’ row

South Korean singer Soyou, 34, formerly of girl group Sistar, has denied online claims that she was drunk on a US flight where she said she experienced racial discrimination, clarifying that the incident stemmed from a language misunderstanding rather than alcohol consumption. In a social media post on Monday, Soyou said she only had “a small amount of alcohol served with a meal” at the airport lounge before boarding. “I was not intoxicated, and I boarded without any issue or restriction,” she...

Events

52 h. ago Outrage in China as reports surface of human teeth found in sausages, dim sum

Multiple instances of diners discovering human teeth in food have reignited food safety concerns in China. On October 13, a woman reported finding a row of three artificial human teeth in a sausage she bought for her child in northeastern China’s Jilin province. She bought the grilled sausage from an outdoor stall. Initially, the vendor denied that the teeth were present when the sausage was sold but later apologised after local market supervision authorities became involved. On the same day,...

Politics

53 h. ago US appeal court lets Trump send National Guard troops to Portland

A divided US appeal court ruled on Monday that US President Donald Trump can send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, despite objections by the leaders of the city and state, giving the Republican president an important legal victory as he dispatches military forces to a growing number of Democratic-led locales. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department’s request to put on hold a judge’s order that had blocked the deployment while a legal...

Politics

53 h. ago US appeals court says Trump can deploy National Guard troops in Portland

A divided US appeals court ruled on Monday that Donald Trump can send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, despite objections by the leaders of the city and state, giving the Republican president an important legal victory as he dispatches military forces to a growing number of Democratic-led locales. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department’s request to put on hold a judge’s order that had blocked the deployment while a legal challenge to...

Politics

3 d. ago Flu’s spread across Asia prompts Hong Kong groups to join vaccination appeal

Medical organisations and politicians in Hong Kong, Macau and other parts of Asia have issued a joint appeal to take preventive steps against the spread of influenza across the continent, with a local expert calling on residents to get vaccinated early. Dr Mike Kwan Yat-wah, president of the Asian Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, said on Sunday that influenza was spreading not only in Hong Kong, but in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore. “After the Covid-19...

Politics

4 d. ago Why a US$70 day trip to Johor is now Singaporeans’ favourite leisure hack

Every month, Rachel Tan, a 53-year-old Singaporean tutor, boards a bus across the 1km (0.6 mile) causeway for a day trip to Malaysia’s Johor state, where she stocks up on groceries and treats herself to lunch and a film. Thanks to streamlined immigration procedures, she rarely needs to present her passport, using a QR code to pass the checkpoint before catching a complimentary shuttle bus that whisks her to R&F Mall. The entire day out, including shopping, typically costs her about 300 ringgit...

Politics

4 d. ago Indian film ‘Dupki’ premieres at Beijing children festival without its cast; director says denied visa

Indian film ‘Dupki’ premieres at Beijing children festival without its cast; director says denied visa  The Indian Express

Politics

4 d. ago Indian film ‘Dupki’ premieres at Beijing festival without its cast; director says denied visa

Indian film ‘Dupki’ premieres at Beijing festival without its cast; director says denied visa  The Indian Express

Politics

5 d. ago Malaysia football suspends a top official over Fifa eligibility scandal

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said on Friday it had suspended its secretary general and will form an independent committee to investigate a “technical error” that led to Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, suspending seven naturalised players of the national team over the alleged use of doctored documents. During a heated press conference, FAM and its legal team denied it had committed forgery, but declined to address repeated questions from reporters on how the players were...

Politics

7 d. ago MSI fervently denies RTX 5090 sales in China after pallets of illicit GPUs spotted in the country — company says it has identified 'unauthorized distribution unrelated to our sales policy'

MSI fervently denies RTX 5090 sales in China after pallets of illicit GPUs spotted in the country — company says it has identified 'unauthorized distribution unrelated to our sales policy'  Tom's Hardware

Events

7 d. ago UK’s Starmer to release security statements after China spying case collapse

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday promised to release evidence provided to prosecutors by a senior official, seeking to distance ministers from the collapse of a China spying case which has led to weeks of criticism. In an unexpected move last month, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped charges against two men who had denied passing politically sensitive information to a Chinese intelligence agent. The CPS said the decision was made because the additional evidence it...

Events

8 d. ago DJI appeals inclusion on Pentagon’s ‘Chinese military companies’ list

Chinese drone maker DJI has appealed a US federal court’s decision that it should remain on the Pentagon’s blacklist of companies allegedly linked to China’s military. The Shenzhen-based company filed the appeal on Monday to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. DJI filed a lawsuit last October, arguing that it is not owned or controlled by the Chinese military and does not contribute to China’s defence industrial base. The drone manufacturer, which sells over half of all US commercial...

Events

8 d. ago Alex Jones loses appeal over US$1.4 billion Sandy Hook defamation

The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a US$1.4 billion judgment awarded to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Connecticut over the Infowars website founder’s false statements that the 2012 incident was a hoax. The justices turned away his appeal of the Connecticut Appellate Court’s decision in a defamation lawsuit against him to uphold most of the judgment issued by a judge and jury in 2022 to...

Economics

8 d. ago 16 arrested in Hong Kong in crackdown on domestic helpers breaching work terms

Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested 16 people, most of whom are foreign domestic helpers suspected of engaging in other jobs during their free time or while overstaying. Senior Immigration Officer Fu Chit-ho said on Tuesday that the 16 people comprised 10 suspected illegal workers and six alleged employers arrested over a three-day period since Sunday in a citywide “Swordfish Operation” targeting foreign domestic helpers breaching their conditions of stay. Fu said the suspected illegal...

Events

8 d. ago Top Hong Kong barrister, 74, denies endangering road safety by careless driving

A veteran Hong Kong barrister has denied endangering the safety of road users by crossing a double white line while driving last year, saying that pedestrians who “dashed out” from the pavement should also take the blame. Senior Counsel Alan Hoo, who was a member of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 2003 to 2023, on Tuesday stood trial at Eastern Court on charges of careless driving and failing to give information on demand. The trial heard the...

Transport