1 hour ago Australia posts US$659,000 reward for gunman’s arrest over police killings

Australia posted a US$659,000 reward on Saturday for the arrest of a gunman on the run for a 12th day after allegedly killing two police officers. Police in the eastern state of Victoria said they were offering the “life-changing” amount in their hunt for the 56-year-old fugitive, Desmond Freeman. Freeman is accused of opening fire when police arrived at his home in Victoria with a search warrant. The shooting killed 59-year-old detective Neal Thompson and 35-year-old senior constable Vadim de...

Events

10 h. ago Canada’s Carney unveils billions in relief hit by Trump and China tariffs

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday rolled out a multibillion-dollar relief package for businesses battered by tariffs imposed by both the US and China. Carney said his government will invest C$5 billion (US$3.6 billion) through a new fund to help firms adapt, diversify and grow, as well as boost Business Development Bank of Canada loans for small and medium-sized businesses and expand a loan facility for tariff-hit large enterprises. He also said his government would waive 2026 model...

Politics

13 h. ago Google hit with US$3.45 billion EU antitrust fine over adtech practices

Alphabet’s Google was hit with a €2.95 billion (US$3.45 billion) EU antitrust fine on Friday for anticompetitive practices in its lucrative adtech business, marking its fourth penalty in its decade-long fight with EU competition regulators. The move by the European Commission was triggered by a complaint from the European Publishers Council and comes amid a threat by US President Donald Trump to retaliate against the European Union for any push against Big Tech. The EU competition enforcer had...

Economics

13 h. ago EU hits Google with US$3.45 billion fine, drawing tariff threat from Trump

The EU on Friday slapped Google with a massive €2.95 billion (US$3.45 billion) antitrust fine for favouring its own advertising services, drawing a furious rebuke from US President Donald Trump and a threat of fresh tariffs against Europe. Google vowed to appeal the decision by the European Commission, which accused the US firm of distorting competition in the 27-nation bloc. “Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behaviour is illegal...

Economics

15 h. ago Was Philippine police chief sacked for rejecting ‘overpriced’ gun deal?

A controversy over an alleged overpriced firearms deal has intensified in the Philippines, with insiders claiming that national police chief Nicolas Torre III was removed from his post for rejecting a proposed procurement of 80,000 assault rifles – a transaction some believe was padded by billions of pesos. While officials framed Torre’s dismissal as an administrative matter, multiple sources told This Week in Asia he was sacked for rejecting the “overpriced” 8 billion Philippine peso (US$140...

Economics

15 h. ago Hiring stalls as US firms hold back expansion amid economic uncertainty

US employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labour market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The Labor Department said on Friday that hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July and came in below the roughly 80,000 economists had expected for August. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3 per cent, also worse than expected and the highest level since 2021, the Labor Department reported on Friday. When the department put out a disappointing...

Economics

18 h. ago China hits EU pork imports with temporary duties of up to 62%

China hits EU pork imports with temporary duties of up to 62%  Financial Times

Events

19 h. ago Belt and Road Summit marks a decade of deals as Hong Kong eyes new chapter of collaboration

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Co-organised by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 10th Belt and Road Summit will return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 10-11.  Bringing together over 90 speakers from 18 Belt and Road economies, this year’s two-day programme continues a ten-year run of policy dialogue, business exchange and investment matchmaking under the theme “Collaborate for...

Politics

20 h. ago 2 Italian swimmers warned, banned from Singapore after airport shoplifting bust

Two Italian swimmers have been given a 12-month conditional warning and banned from re-entering Singapore after they were caught shoplifting three bottles of perfume from a duty-free shop at Changi airport last month. Singapore police on Thursday confirmed media reports that Chiara Tarantino, 22, and Benedetta Pilato, 20, had been arrested on August 14 for shoplifting, CNA reported. The pair had been in Singapore to compete in the World Aquatics Championships, in which Pilato won a bronze for...

Events

20 h. ago Chinese man detained for ‘inappropriate comments’ about Victory Day parade

A man in the central province of Hubei was detained for allegedly making “inappropriate comments” about China’s Victory Day military parade and spreading rumours. According to cyber police in the city of Xiangyang, the 47-year-old man, surnamed Meng, made slanderous and derogatory remarks on Wednesday while commenting on a social media post about the parade held in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. When others expressed patriotic sentiment, Meng “insulted them and...

Politics

22 h. ago Hong Kong father suspected of murdering his 2 children has depression: court

A Hong Kong father who allegedly killed his two young children before a failed suicide attempt last month is suffering from depression, a court has heard. Salesman Chen Guocheng, 40, appeared in Kowloon City Court for the first time on Friday to face two counts of murder, as prosecutors asked for a 12-week adjournment for police to conduct further inquiries. A psychiatric report issued by Queen Elizabeth Hospital found Chen to be suicidal but fit to attend hearings, the court heard. Deputy...

Events

22 h. ago Hong Kong father suspected of murdering his children has depression, court hears

A Hong Kong father who allegedly killed his two young children before a failed suicide attempt last month is suffering from depression, a court has heard. Salesman Chen Guocheng, 40, appeared in Kowloon City Court for the first time on Friday to face two counts of murder, as prosecutors asked for a 12-week adjournment to allow police to conduct further inquiries. A psychiatric report issued by Queen Elizabeth Hospital found Chen to be suicidal but fit to attend hearings, the court heard. Deputy...

Events

25 h. ago Thaksin flies to Dubai after missing Singapore airport landing deadline

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made a sudden and surprising departure from the country on Thursday, just five days before a court ruling that could open him up to a new prison sentence. Thaksin told Thai immigration authorities at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport that his private jet was headed for Singapore. A police statement confirmed his plane was allowed to take off shortly after 7pm because he had no arrest warrant or court order preventing him from leaving the...

Events

25 h. ago Thailand’s Thaksin flies to Dubai after missing Singapore landing deadline

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made a sudden and surprising departure from the country on Thursday, just five days before a court ruling that could open him up to a new prison sentence. Thaksin told Thai immigration authorities at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport that his private jet was headed for Singapore. A police statement confirmed his plane was allowed to take off shortly after 7pm because he had no arrest warrant or court order preventing him from leaving the...

Events

32 h. ago U.S. House passes Uyghur Policy Act supporting victims of persecution by China

U.S. House passes Uyghur Policy Act supporting victims of persecution by China  Radio Free Asia

Events

34 h. ago 2 Koreans and a Swiss national among 16 dead in Lisbon tram crash

Portuguese authorities were investigating on Thursday what caused a Lisbon funicular railway popular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22 when it crashed into a building. The Prosecutor General’s office said coroners had so far identified the bodies of five Portuguese, two South Koreans and one Swiss national, without disclosing further details of those killed. Portugal’s judicial police chief, Luis Neves, said there was a “high degree of certainty”...

Events

35 h. ago Tariff instability and a break with China is hitting American companies hard, and homegrown manufacturer John Deere is no exception

Tariff instability and a break with China is hitting American companies hard, and homegrown manufacturer John Deere is no exception  Fortune

Economics

40 h. ago Afghan earthquake deaths top 2,200, survivors face aid crunch

Rescuers on Thursday pulled bodies from the rubble of homes razed in Afghanistan’s earthquakes as the confirmed death toll topped 2,200, while homeless survivors faced a bleak future with global aid agencies warning of dwindling resources. Search operations continued in the quake-hit mountainous eastern areas, the Taliban administration said, announcing a new death toll of 2,205 with at least 3,640 people injured. “Everything we had has been destroyed,” said Aalem Jan, whose house in the...

Events

41 h. ago Hong Kong police deploy drones to enhance road safety in accident

Hong Kong police will, for the first time, deploy drones to detect traffic violations starting on Sunday, with the aim of enhancing road safety in accident-prone areas. The initiative was announced during a briefing in which the force also revealed that the number of fatal crashes in the first seven months of this year had dropped by 47 per cent compared to last year, totalling 288 cases. Similarly, the number of people seriously injured in these accidents fell by 45 per cent, from 587 to...

Events

42 h. ago Indonesian working at Asean body fired for ‘inciting’ police HQ to be burnt

An Indonesian staff member of an Asean parliamentary body has been fired and named a criminal suspect after allegedly posting a video urging protesters to set fire to the national police headquarters in Jakarta, amid escalating unrest triggered by a fatal accident involving a police armoured vehicle. Laras Faizati Khairunnisa, 26, was arrested on Monday and detained a day later following a police investigation into her social media post, which authorities said had incited demonstrators to burn...

Events