4 h. ago US confirms Chinese boy in federal custody, but his whereabouts remain unknown

More than a week after US immigration authorities separated 6-year-old Yuanxin from his father during a routine check-in with ICE in New York, it has been confirmed that the child has been placed in the custody of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. However, his location still remains unknown. The ORR, a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, is almost always the agency that takes custody of immigrant children classified as unaccompanied or separated minors...

Politics

4 h. ago US confirms Chinese boy Yuanxin, 6, is in federal custody. But where is he?

More than a week after US immigration authorities separated 6-year-old Yuanxin from his father during a routine check-in with ICE in New York, it has been confirmed that the child has been placed in the custody of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. However, his location still remains unknown. The ORR, a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, is almost always the agency that takes custody of immigrant children classified as unaccompanied or separated minors...

Politics

15 h. ago Hong Kong fire: dead Indonesian helper found huddled with ward hailed as selfless

The last time Sugeng Widodo spoke to his wife, Indonesian domestic worker Sri Wahyuni, something did not feel right for him. It was around 1pm Hong Kong time on November 26, just a few hours before a devastating fire would rip through Wang Fuk Court in the city’s Tai Po district, killing at least 159 people. Wahyuni, 42, would be among the dead – her body found in a room on a fourth-floor flat at the estate, hugging her employer, a 93-year-old woman, according to Widodo, citing information...

Events

20 h. ago Chinese boy lost after US detention, helper’s last call in fire: weekly roundup

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. Japan’s Sanae Takaichi moves to ease weeks of tensions with China over the Taiwan Strait After weeks of turmoil in relations with China, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sought to dial down tensions with Beijing over a...

Events

61 h. ago Filipino helper on her second day of work when Tai Po fire hit; escapes with baby

Filipino domestic helper Rhodora Alcaraz arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday last week and went straight to work at her employer’s flat in Tai Po, finding herself battling flames a day later to make a miraculous escape with a three-month-old baby in her arms. The 27-year-old is now in an intensive care unit, unable to speak above a whisper, after suffering injuries, including to her throat, which made her feel like she had “poison pouring down her throat”. Last week, she arrived from her Central...

Events

3 d. ago ‘She asked me to forgive her’: Indonesian helper in Tai Po fire makes last call

Suyitno first saw the news of a deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on social media last Wednesday afternoon. Yet, despite the harrowing footage of the estate engulfed in billowing smoke and leaping flames, Suyitno, who lives in the Indonesian city of Malang in East Java and whose wife was working in Hong Kong as a domestic helper, was not immediately concerned. He did not recognise the location as the workplace of his 39-year-old wife Erawati, who had been living on and...

Events

5 d. ago China boy, 14, acts like ancient scholar, turns bedroom into museum of artefacts

A 14-year-old Chinese boy who turned his bedroom into a small history museum and spoke like an ancient scholar has attracted an army of followers online. The secondary school student from central China’s Henan province, Xie Zhaoyutong, loves ancient Chinese history and literature and has filled his bedroom with his antique collections. A recent video of Xie passionately introducing his collections went viral online. It attracted 837,000 likes and 40,000 comments. Xie collects pottery, china,...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong Medical Council overturns decision to end inquiry into alleged blunder

Hong Kong’s embattled Medical Council has overturned its earlier decision to terminate an inquiry, delayed for 15 years, into a paediatrician accused of a blunder that left a mainland Chinese boy permanently disabled. The council decided on Saturday to revoke its previous ruling made on October 28 to permanently stay the proceedings of the disciplinary inquiry into Dr Sit Sou-chi following a 4½-hour review hearing. Council chairwoman Dr Grace Tang Wai-king announced the decision at the end of...

Politics

3 w. ago China boy, 12, loses digestive system due to surgical error meant to remove tumour

A young boy in eastern China, whose digestive system was nearly entirely removed due to a medical blunder, is now surviving on intravenous (IV) nutrition, attracting significant attention and sympathy from mainland social media. The boy was admitted to Chengwu County People’s Hospital in Shandong province on October 26, 2023, at the age of 10 after experiencing severe pain when a classmate accidentally bumped into his stomach on the school playground. During a routine examination, doctors...

Politics

4 w. ago China ‘underpants man’ hailed for rescue of elderly neighbours from fire in undies

An 18-year-old Chinese boy has been hailed as “Underpants Man” after he rescued an elderly couple from a fire wearing only his briefs. Senior pupil, Zhu Ye, at the Tongliang No 2 Secondary School in southwestern China’s Chongqing municipality, discovered that his neighbour’s flat was on fire on the evening of October 16. With no time to put on clothes, he rushed to the flat in his underpants and found an elderly couple inside. It turned out that the old man was charging his electric wheelchair,...

Events

4 w. ago China ‘underpants man’ hailed for rescuing neighbours from fire in briefs

An 18-year-old Chinese boy has been hailed as “Underpants Man” after he rescued an elderly couple from a fire wearing only his briefs. Senior pupil, Zhu Ye, at the Tongliang No 2 Secondary School in southwestern China’s Chongqing municipality, discovered that his neighbour’s flat was on fire on the evening of October 16. With no time to put on clothes, he rushed to the flat in his underpants and found an elderly couple inside. It turned out that the old man was charging his electric wheelchair,...

Events