33 h. ago DeepSeek unveils AI model that uses visual perception to compress text input

DeepSeek on Monday released a new multimodal artificial intelligence model that can handle large and complex documents with significantly fewer tokens – the smallest unit of text that a model processes – by using visual perception as a compression medium for information. The open-source DeepSeek-OCR (optical character recognition) model, available via online developer platforms Hugging Face and GitHub, was the result of an “investigation into the role of vision encoders” to compress text for...

Politics

44 h. ago China’s soybean imports surge as orders to US hit zero and American farmers fret

China imported no soybeans from the United States in September, but total imports remained at high levels amid a recent escalation in the US-China trade war, the latest Chinese customs data showed. Last month, the world’s largest food buyer purchased 12.8 million tonnes of soybeans – a crop heavily reliant on imports for its livestock industry – with a notable surge from Argentina during a brief suspension of export taxes, according to the detailed customs data released on Monday. The absence of...

Events

48 h. ago Hong Kong’s social work, construction sectors hit as jobless rate rises to 3.9%

Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9 per cent between July and September, with higher unemployment in social work and construction, authorities said. Preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points over the preceding three-month period. This marks the highest rate since the three-month period between July and September 2022, when it was 4 per cent. Unemployment in the food and beverage sector remained...

Society

55 h. ago China reports 4.8% quarterly GDP growth, moving closer to annual target

China’s economy grew 4.8 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2025, staying in line with expectations and bringing the country closer to achieving its annual target despite rising external uncertainties. The closely watched figure for gross domestic product, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, came in just above the 4.76 per cent forecast in a survey of economists by Chinese financial data provider Wind. It marked a deceleration from the 5.2 per cent expansion...

Events

5 d. ago Trump threatens to ‘go in and kill’ Hamas if Gaza killings continue

US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to “go in and kill” Hamas if it keeps killing people in Gaza, in an apparent reference to recent shootings of Palestinian civilians following a ceasefire deal with Israel. Trump’s comments come just days after he said that the Hamas shootings – which include public executions – “didn’t bother me much” and described them as killings of gang members. “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go...

Events

7 d. ago ‘History shows otherwise’: Anwar casts doubts about Gaza ceasefire deal

As US President Donald Trump continues to hail the peace plan to end the Israel-Gaza conflict, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged caution, saying he was not invited to the ceasefire signing ceremony in Egypt due to his concerns over the deal’s details and its durability. On Monday, Israel began releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the deal, while Hamas militants released 20 surviving Israeli hostages kidnapped during its assault on southern Israel...

Events

8 d. ago SpaceX launches another test flight of its mega Starship rocket

SpaceX launched another of its mammoth Starship rockets on a test flight on Monday, striving to make it halfway around the world while releasing mock satellites as it did the last time. Starship – the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built – thundered into the evening sky from the southern tip of Texas just after 6.25pm local time, according to a live video feed. The booster was programmed to peel away and drop into the Gulf of Mexico, with the spacecraft skimming space before descending...

Events

9 d. ago Hamas begins releasing Gaza hostages as Trump arrives in Israel

Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday, sparking cheers of joy in Tel Aviv where a huge crowd was gathered to support hostage families. Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump after two years of war, Hamas is due to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The first seven living hostages were released by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, who then...

Politics

9 d. ago Coming home? Israel expects last hostages to be released early Monday

Israel expects all hostages held in Gaza to be freed early on Monday, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office said, adding that all surviving captives are to be released simultaneously. “The release of our hostages will begin early Monday morning. We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles,” Shosh Bedrosian told journalists on Sunday. Also on Monday, US President Donald Trump is due to...

Politics

9 d. ago Coming home? Israel expects last hostages to be released early on Monday

Israel expects all hostages held in Gaza to be freed early on Monday, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office said, adding that all surviving captives are to be released simultaneously. “The release of our hostages will begin early Monday morning. We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles,” Shosh Bedrosian told journalists on Sunday. Israel will begin releasing Palestinian prisoners once...

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s Gaza deal forged by diplomacy blitz, help from Arab and Muslim allies

After months of gridlock, US President Donald Trump finally landed a long-sought Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza - an agreement that only came together after a weeks-long diplomacy blitz and a whole lot of help from some Arab and Muslim allies. The breakthrough is designed to bring about a pause in the fighting unleashed by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The group is expected to release 48 hostages - about 20 of them believed to be alive - in the coming days. The...

Politics

1 week ago Trump says Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt and address the Israeli Knesset. Trump opened a White House cabinet meeting by discussing a deal reached on Wednesday under which the hostages held by Hamas militants are to be released in the first phase of a broader Gaza plan. He said he believed it would lead to “lasting peace.” Trump said under the plan, Gaza is going to be “slowly...

Politics

1 week ago Trump to head to Middle East, says hostages to be freed Monday or Tuesday

US President Donald Trump said he expected to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to celebrate the first phase of the Gaza peace deal and be there for the release of hostages by Hamas. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump said the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed group had “ended the war in Gaza”. The US leader added that “nobody’s going to be forced to leave” the Palestinian territory under his 20-point peace plan, which formed the basis for indirect negotiations...

Politics

2 w. ago FBI ‘analysed phone records of senators’ as part of Trump January 6 probe

The FBI in 2023 analysed phone records of more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into efforts by US President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to information released on Monday by Republican senators. The records enabled investigators to see basic information about the date and time of the calls but not the content of the communications, the senators said. The data encompassed several days during the week of January 6, 2021,...

Politics

3 w. ago Houthis claim missile strike on Dutch freighter in Gulf of Aden

Yemen’s Houthi rebels early on Wednesday claimed the attack that left a Dutch-flagged cargo ship ablaze and adrift in the Gulf of Aden, underlining the range of their weaponry and their campaign targeting shipping over the war between Israel and Hamas. The attack on Monday on the Minervagracht was the most serious assault by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, some distance from the Red Sea where they have sunk four vessels since November 2023. The attack also comes as Israel engages...

Events

3 w. ago Domestic helpers’ average salary rises 7.9% to HK$5,722 in 2025: Hong Kong survey

The average monthly salary offered to domestic helpers in Hong Kong has increased by 7.9 per cent to HK$5,722 (US$735) compared with the previous year, according to a survey by a local recruitment platform. HelperChoice, which released the survey findings on Monday, said that the upward trend in wages reflected a growing willingness among employers to offer competitive salaries to hire experienced helpers, particularly those already based in Hong Kong. “In 2025, we’re seeing a noticeable shift...

Economics

3 w. ago Domestic helpers’ average wage rises 7.9% to HK$5,722 in 2025: Hong Kong survey

The average monthly salary offered to domestic helpers in Hong Kong has increased by 7.9 per cent to HK$5,722 (US$735) compared with the previous year, according to a survey by a local recruitment platform. HelperChoice, which released the survey findings on Monday, said that the upward trend in wages reflected a growing willingness among employers to offer competitive salaries to hire experienced helpers, particularly those already based in Hong Kong. “In 2025, we’re seeing a noticeable shift...

Politics

3 w. ago China’s DeepSeek unveils experimental version of its AI foundation model

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has launched an “experimental” version of its V3 foundation model ahead of the country’s National Day holiday, as the Hangzhou-based company accelerates its product releases. On Monday, DeepSeek released V3.2-Exp and open-sourced it on developer platforms Hugging Face and Alibaba Group Holding-backed ModelScope. According to DeepSeek, this model enhanced training and inference efficiency while reducing application-programming-interface costs by...

Politics

3 w. ago Spread risk higher in young or advanced breast cancer cases: Hong Kong study

Women diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age or at a more advanced stage were at higher risk of the disease spreading to other parts of the body upon recurrence, a Hong Kong study has found. Non-profit organisation the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation released its latest registry report on Monday and urged women to perform self-examinations monthly. The report included data from more than 26,000 patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 2006 onwards. Part of the report examined risk...

Events

3 w. ago Will Duterte ever face trial? ICC case slowed by health claims and court delays

The release of charges against Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) has provided the most detailed public account yet of the killings tied to the former Philippine president’s bloody drug war, but the path to a full trial remains uncertain amid claims of his cognitive decline and his lawyers’ push to halt the case. On Monday, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor released a heavily redacted document dated July 4 detailing the accusations against Duterte, who has been detained...

Events