12 h. ago Hong Kong will lead push for green fuel to elevate status as aviation hub: minister

Hong Kong will play a pivotal role in pushing for the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in an effort to raise the city’s status as an international aviation hub, the city’s transport chief has pledged. Speaking at the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s World Sustainability Symposium hosted in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan also said the government’s green fuel usage target of 1 to 2 per cent by 2030, announced after Chief Executive John...

Politics

36 h. ago Chinese loans fuel Angola’s future cities but analysts cautious over the costs

Since nearly three decades of civil war ended in 2002, Angola has been relying heavily on China – its key financier of post-war infrastructure – to help the southern African country’s government deliver on its promise of a million new homes. When the West was unwilling to finance its projects, Luanda secured loans from Chinese state banks under the so-called Angolan model, using its oil as collateral. Angola became the largest recipient of Chinese financing in Africa, attracting 270 loans worth...

Politics

37 h. ago Mainland Chinese buyers fuel 25% of Hong Kong home sales last quarter: Centaline

Mainland Chinese homebuyers remain a strong driving force in Hong Kong’s residential property market, spending HK$38 billion (US$4.9 billion) to account for 25 per cent of the city’s total home transactions in the third quarter, according to Centaline Property Agency. Buyers with names in pinyin – the mainland’s system of romanisation of Chinese script – registered 3,797 deals between July and September, up 7 per cent from the previous quarter, Centaline said in a report on Monday. It noted that...

Economics

3 d. ago Overseas expansion adds fuel to Chinese energy storage firms’ hunt for bosses

Openings at overseas energy storage operations flood John Yang’s screen anytime he browses recruitment websites, with listed giants and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alike offering salaries well above those typically found in China’s manufacturing sector. “Job seeking has never felt easier. The only worry is whether the new role could last beyond next year,” joked Yang, Thailand director at a Shenzhen-based energy storage firm. Yang’s experience reflects the recent, rapid overseas...

Economics

4 d. ago China allows more biofuel firms to export green aviation fuel, sources say

China allows more biofuel firms to export green aviation fuel, sources say  Reuters

Politics

4 d. ago US strikes on boats in Caribbean fuel speculation over missing fishermen

Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations has accused the US of killing innocent people in the Caribbean, citing local reports that two of the men in the latest boat bombing were Trinidadian fishermen. “People from different countries - Colombia, Trinidad, etc - are suffering the effects of these massacres,” ambassador Samuel Moncada told reporters at the UN on Thursday, while holding up the cover story of local Trinidadian newspaper Guardian on the deaths. The comments reflected Venezuela’s...

Events

8 d. ago A ‘ghost fleet’ of Japan’s rusting WII wrecks is poisoning this Pacific paradise

Beneath the turquoise waters of a remote Pacific atoll, a Japanese warship sunk more than 80 years ago has begun leaking fuel oil, threatening ecological disaster. The source of the leak is the Rio de Janeiro Maru, a huge vessel used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a submarine tender during World War II that was sunk by American bombers more than 80 years ago. Today, as oil streams from its rusting hulk, officials in the Chuuk Islands fear this may be just the first instance of hazardous waste...

Politics

8 d. ago A ‘ghost fleet’ of Japan’s rusting WWII wrecks is poisoning this Pacific paradise

Beneath the turquoise waters of a remote Pacific atoll, a Japanese warship sunk more than 80 years ago has begun leaking fuel oil, threatening ecological disaster. The source of the leak is the Rio de Janeiro Maru, a huge vessel used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a submarine tender during World War II that was sunk by American bombers more than 80 years ago. Today, as oil streams from its rusting hulk, officials in the Chuuk Islands fear this may be just the first instance of hazardous waste...

Events

9 d. ago Will plan for port in Pakistan with US involvement fuel regional tensions?

The United States is likely to seriously consider Pakistan’s proposal for a new port in the Arabian Sea and use it to ship the South Asian country’s rare minerals, even as observers warn of commercial and geopolitical risks of investing in a volatile region. Advisers to Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have approached US officials regarding the proposal for American investors to build and run the port in Pakistan, according to a Financial Times report last week. Located in Gwadar...

Events

3 w. ago Licence to fill: Malaysia’s new fuel subsidy limited to national ID card holders

Malaysia has rolled out a targeted fuel subsidy scheme that limits each citizen to 300 litres of discounted petrol per month, replacing a decades-old blanket subsidy that had become a political flashpoint and a fiscal drain. The new measure, launched on Tuesday, marks a significant policy shift by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, which hopes it will curb rampant fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries, misuse by foreigners and excessive consumption by wealthy Malaysians with...

Politics

3 w. ago Air India crash: father of pilot says investigators blame his son for fuel cut

The father of the crashed Air India flight’s captain said officials from India’s accident investigation bureau visited him last month and implied his son cut the fuel to the plane’s engines after take-off, correspondence obtained by Reuters showed. Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, 91, emailed the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) last week to say that Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) officials had visited him at home on August 30 “under the pretext of offering condolences”, and implied his...

Events

4 w. ago Fed’s rate cut to fuel property investment globally, but Hong Kong faces hurdles

The resumption of a policy easing cycle following the US Federal Reserve’s quarter-point interest-rate reduction is likely to spur more investments into property globally, according to analysts. For mainland China and Hong Kong, however, the impact could be less significant owing to fundamental and geopolitical strains, they added. “Rarely do central banks do ‘one and done’,” said Pamela Ambler, head of capital markets research for Asia-Pacific at JLL. “This [Fed] cut is likely to kick off a...

Politics