56 m. ago Historic diamond brooch abandoned by defeated Napoleon to go up for sale

A diamond brooch owned and abandoned by Napoleon Bonaparte after the Battle of Waterloo will go up for auction for the first time. The brooch, made of nearly 100 diamonds, was left behind after the emperor fled Waterloo’s battlefield to return to Paris, and was given to the king of Prussia three days later as part of the trophies his armies took back. The Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, was Napoleon’s final defeat. The brooch will go under the hammer for the first time in Sotheby’s The Royal and...

Culture

4 h. ago Crater suggests a huge asteroid hit Guangdong 10,000 years ago

Scientists have confirmed that a large crater in China’s southern Guangdong province formed as a result of an asteroid impact around 10,000 years ago, at a time when human civilisation was undergoing rapid development. The Jinlin crater, located near the city of Zhaoqing, is just the fifth confirmed impact crater in China and the first one to be identified in the country’s southern region. Through analysis of the tilted bowl-shaped crater on a hillside with a diameter of about 900 metres (2,952...

Events

6 h. ago ‘Rape, sexual violence’: women in Australia’s military sue government

Women in Australia’s defence forces (ADF) launched a class-action lawsuit on Friday alleging widespread and systematic sexual violence, harassment and discrimination. The case was served against the Australian government on behalf of women subjected to abuse at any time in a 21-year period between November 2003 and May 2025. “The threat of war often isn’t the biggest safety fear for female ADF personnel; it is the threat of sexual violence in their workplace,” said lawyer Josh Aylward of legal...

Events

9 h. ago Trump to meet China's Xi for the first time in second term as trade deal remains elusive

Trump to meet China's Xi for the first time in second term as trade deal remains elusive  CNBC

Politics

11 h. ago China Commerce Minister Says US and China Can Find Solutions

China Commerce Minister Says US and China Can Find Solutions  Bloomberg.com

Politics

11 h. ago Myanmar scam farm ‘worse than death’, China’s superfast chip: SCMP’s 7 highlights

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 consider subscribing. 1. China’s analogue AI chip could work 1,000 times faster than Nvidia GPU: study Chinese scientists have created a superfast analogue chip that can solve complex maths problems for advanced scientific tasks and artificial intelligence...

Events

12 h. ago Overseas renminbi lending surges as China steps up campaign to de

Overseas renminbi lending surges as China steps up campaign to de-dollarise  Financial Times

Politics

13 h. ago Clippy 2.0? Microsoft unveils Mico, an AI character for Copilot users

Clippy, the animated paper clip that annoyed Microsoft Office users nearly three decades ago, might have just been ahead of its time. Microsoft introduced a new artificial intelligence character called Mico (pronounced MEE-koh) on Thursday, a floating cartoon face shaped like a blob or flame that would embody the software giant’s Copilot virtual assistant and marked the latest attempt by tech companies to imbue their AI chatbots with more of a personality. Copilot’s new emoji-like exterior comes...

Politics

13 h. ago Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation testing drones in railway tunnels to cut tedious work

Hong Kong rail operator the MTR Corporation is testing the use of drones for tasks such as tunnel inspections to slash the time to complete “repetitive” and “tedious” jobs. The tests, carried out in the tunnel from Admiralty to the Exhibition Centre station on the East Rail line, have been proceeding satisfactorily, according to the rail giant. It is also planning to apply to authorities to expand the tests to cover open sections of the line. The MTR said the trial was one of 38 “sandbox”...

Events

14 h. ago How strategic planning is powering China’s green energy transition

Recently, some major Western media outlets have focused on China’s embrace of clean energy technologies. Between the lines of the rhetoric on China becoming an “electrostate”, there is palpable anxiety about US President Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” approach and the partisan political landscape. The New York Times highlighted one of China’s longest ultra-high-voltage power lines, stretching from the far northwest remote desert to the populous southeast, noting that these power lines are...

Politics

14 h. ago Letter: UK is right to prioritise trade ahead of hunt for Chinese spies

Letter: UK is right to prioritise trade ahead of hunt for Chinese spies  Financial Times

Politics

16 h. ago U.S. Will Investigate China’s Compliance With 2020 Trade Deal

U.S. Will Investigate China’s Compliance With 2020 Trade Deal  The New York Times

Economics

16 h. ago Trump to meet Xi in South Korea next Thursday as part of key Asia trip

US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30 in South Korea, the White House confirmed. “On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Thursday. The meeting between the two leaders will take place at the end of a trip by the US president to Asia, which will begin in Malaysia, continue to Japan and...

Politics

17 h. ago FirstFT: Indian and Chinese refineries pause most purchases of Russian oil

FirstFT: Indian and Chinese refineries pause most purchases of Russian oil  Financial Times

Politics

18 h. ago China and Russia reportedly using ‘sex warfare’ to spy on Silicon Valley; Elon Musk reacts

China and Russia reportedly using ‘sex warfare’ to spy on Silicon Valley; Elon Musk reacts  Times of India

Events

22 h. ago US to probe China’s compliance with 2020 trade deal, New York Times reports

US to probe China’s compliance with 2020 trade deal, New York Times reports  Reuters

Politics

22 h. ago U.S. to Begin Investigation Into China’s Compliance With 2020 Trade Deal

U.S. to Begin Investigation Into China’s Compliance With 2020 Trade Deal  The New York Times

Economics

23 h. ago How Beijing Buys Control — One Loan, One Port, One Warship at a Time

How Beijing Buys Control — One Loan, One Port, One Warship at a Time  Times Now

Events

23 h. ago Taiwan’s new opposition leader risks US ire with soft tone on China

Taiwan’s new opposition leader risks US ire with soft tone on China  Financial Times

Politics

24 h. ago China’s State Oil Giants Halt Seaborne Russian Crude Imports After New U.S. Sanctions – Reuters

China’s State Oil Giants Halt Seaborne Russian Crude Imports After New U.S. Sanctions – Reuters  The Moscow Times

Politics