1 hour ago US safety agency investigators to assist Hong Kong with fatal plane crash probe

A United States’ transport safety agency is deploying five investigators to Hong Kong to assist with the city’s probe into the cargo plane crash that killed two security workers, while the four aircrew involved have met with local authorities. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent US government agency responsible for investigating civil transport accidents, said on social media that it would send its team to Hong Kong to assist with the probe into the plane crash. “The...

Events

4 h. ago Peru declares state of emergency in capital to combat spiralling crime

Peru’s interim president Jose Jeri announced a state of emergency in Lima and the neighbouring port of Callao on Tuesday, after weeks of anti-government protests over corruption and organised crime. “The state of emergency approved by the Council of Ministers will take effect at midnight on Wednesday and will last for 30 days in Metropolitan Lima and Callao,” Jeri said in an address to the nation broadcast by state television. Under the state of emergency, the government can send the army to...

Events

8 h. ago Japan Post stops forcing delivery staff to ride bicycles as punishment

Japan Post has scrapped a controversial practice of forcing delivery workers involved in minor accidents to complete their rounds by bicycle – even in extreme heat – after admitting the measure “could be perceived” as workplace harassment. The decision followed an internal investigation into an incident involving a delivery worker who was instructed to continue his rounds by bicycle for two weeks during a summer heatwave, despite daytime temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees...

Politics

8 h. ago Naked China boy running on all fours raises concerns over child welfare and safety

A Chinese boy was spotted running on all fours naked and behaving like a dog, while his parents dismissed government inquiries, claiming it was a form of “natural parenting.” On October 15, a video was posted online showing a naked boy running on all fours in a highway service area in southwestern China’s Sichuan province. Social media users were shocked to see the boy acting like a dog, picking up food from the ground with his mouth and sniffing it before eating. His parents were nearby,...

Politics

9 h. ago China's Innovent signs $11.4 billion cancer therapy deal with Japan's Takeda

China's Innovent signs $11.4 billion cancer therapy deal with Japan's Takeda  Reuters

Economics

11 h. ago Trump says Ukraine talks with Putin off for now, doesn’t want ‘wasted meeting’

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on hold because he doesn’t want it to be a “waste of time”. It was the latest twist in Trump’s stop-and-go effort to resolve the war in Ukraine. The decision to hold off on the meeting in Budapest, Hungary, which Trump had announced last week, was made following a call on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “I don’t want to have...

Politics

11 h. ago Can Trump’s pragmatism override China hawks to keep ties from rupture?

China’s rocky trade relationship with the United States was on full display this month as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports. Separately, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denounced China’s move to expand curbs on rare earth exports, calling it “a sign of how weak their economy is”. He also described Li Chenggang, one of China’s trade negotiators, as “pretty unhinged and very aggressive”. Trade ties between the rival powers remain fraught, even...

Politics

12 h. ago Can Trump’s gut instinct win over Xi Jinping at Apec summit?

US President Donald Trump is expected to approach his coming summit with Xi Jinping by relying on personal chemistry and his “gut”, but his ability to charm the Chinese leader will be limited at best, analysts and former government officials in Washington said on Tuesday. The first meeting in six years between the heads of the world’s two largest economies is expected to take place shortly before the October 31-November 1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea. Among the topics...

Politics

12 h. ago Can Donald Trump’s gut instinct win over Xi Jinping at Apec summit?

US President Donald Trump is expected to approach his coming summit with Xi Jinping by relying on personal chemistry and his “gut”, but his ability to charm the Chinese leader will be limited at best, analysts and former government officials in Washington said on Tuesday. The first meeting in six years between the heads of the world’s two largest economies is expected to take place shortly before the October 31-November 1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea. Among the topics...

Politics

12 h. ago Colombia court overturns Uribe’s conviction for bribery, witness tampering

An appeal court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of Colombian former president Alvaro Uribe for bribery and witness tampering for which he had been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest. Uribe, 73, has denied any wrongdoing. He was sentenced in August following a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. The court on Tuesday said the...

Events

15 h. ago California man Sun Yaoning to plead guilty to acting as Chinese agent

A California man has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government in Southern California while working as a campaign adviser for a local politician. Sun Yaoning, also known as Mike Sun, is expected to appear in court in Los Angeles on Monday to enter his plea under a deal with federal prosecutors, according to a copy of the agreement available in online court records. It was signed by Sun, his lawyer and a prosecutor earlier this month. If the plea is accepted...

Politics

16 h. ago Why China Is Worried About Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s New Prime Minister

Why China Is Worried About Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s New Prime Minister  Forbes

Politics

18 h. ago Newspaper Society of Hong Kong vows to safeguard interests, tackle challenges

The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong pledged on Tuesday to safeguard the interests of the industry and to tackle future challenges as the group elected its new leaders. “The society will, as always, continue to safeguard the interests of the industry, enhance professional standards and facilitate candid exchanges and dialogues on the industry’s future development and related issues between the industry and the government,” the society said in a statement. “No matter how challenging the outlook for...

Politics

19 h. ago Hong Kong’s John Lee champions Shaw Prize vision, pays tribute to late physicist

Hong Kong’s leader has said late entertainment mogul Run Run Shaw’s vision of celebrating education and the pursuit of knowledge with his prestigious science prize is central to the city government’s own aspirations. Speaking at the award ceremony for the prestigious Shaw Prize on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also paid his respects to late Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Chen-ning Yang, who was one of the local award’s founding council members. The award, dubbed the “Nobel...

Politics

21 h. ago Why Trump’s ‘best for business’ diplomacy will fail with Russia or China

“All I’ve done all my life is deals,” US President Donald Trump told the Gaza peace summit, going on to say “maybe this is going to be the greatest deal of them all”. Trump has cultivated his image on being the greatest deal-maker, a legacy central to his identity as a business tycoon and now fundamental to his reputation as a world leader. The ceasefire in Gaza has been framed as a crowning achievement in this repertoire. “Together we’ve achieved what everyone said was impossible, but at long...

Politics

21 h. ago ‘Stealth husband’: Japan PM Takaichi’s spouse shuns the spotlight

Taku Yamamoto, husband of Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, said he hopes to support his wife as a “stealth husband”, adding, “Unlike in the West, it is better for the partner to stay out of the spotlight here.” A former fellow Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Representatives, Yamamoto said he was initially “drawn to the contrast” between Takaichi’s tough exterior and her femininity. The couple, who married in 2004, divorced in 2017 over political differences but...

Events

23 h. ago Trump isn’t serious about deterring Beijing from attacking Taiwan: poll

Most people in Taiwan do not see US President Donald Trump as serious about deterring Beijing from a possible attack on the self-ruled island, according to a recent poll released on Tuesday. Asked whether Trump was willing to prevent mainland China from “invading Taiwan by force”, 44.8 per cent of the 1,070 respondents said no, while 34.3 per cent said yes in the poll conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation between October 13 and 15. And on a question as to whether the US leader was...

Politics

23 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

23 h. ago Will corruption backlash against Marcos reshape Philippine politics?

Public anger over corruption has boiled over in the Philippines, sending President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s approval ratings tumbling and potentially tilting the balance of power with his political rivals. The latest survey by Pulse Asia Research shows that Filipinos are increasingly blaming the government’s recent corruption scandals – from flood control “ghost projects” to lavish spending by politically connected contractors – for their daily struggles, such as inflation and inadequate...

Politics

24 h. ago Chipmaker CXMT eyes US$42 billion Shanghai listing, sources say

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) plans an initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai as soon as the first quarter of next year, eyeing a valuation of up to 300 billion yuan ($42.12 billion), according to two sources briefed on the matter. Founded in 2016 with government backing, CXMT leads China’s strategic push to build a foothold in a global DRAM market long dominated by companies from Japan, South Korea and the United States. China’s leading manufacturer of dynamic...

Economics