7 h. ago ‘They laughed at us’: Filipino seafarers left adrift by US deportations

The Trump administration’s widening immigration enforcement in the United States has led to gruelling grilling and mass deportations of Filipino seafarers over unproven child pornography accusations, sparking calls for transparency and justice from labour advocacy groups. Marcelo Morales was resting in his cabin on the cruise ship Carnival Sunshine docked at Norfolk, Virginia, when two armed agents of the US Customs and Border Protection picked him up for an “interview” on June 28. “I spent...

Politics

9 h. ago ‘Chilling’ corruption over flood projects in Philippines fuels campus activism

A growing wave of anger in the Philippines over corruption-tainted flood control projects is spurring activism among university students and other Filipinos that observers say evokes the spirit of past political uprisings. At the University of the Philippines’ main campus in Quezon City, over 3,000 students and lecturers left their classrooms to rally on Friday against what they described as systemic corruption. The university has long been a cradle of student activism and political dissent. Its...

Events

10 h. ago Dying Chinese man leaves savings to ex, sends farewell love letter despite break

A dying man in China left his savings to his ailing ex-girlfriend, along with a heartfelt farewell letter that touched the hearts of many online. The 22-year-old Hu Xinyao, from Chongqing in southwestern China, had been battling a vascular disease for eight years, which progressively led to kidney failure. Last year, Hu met Xiao through a mutual friend, according to the mainland media outlet Ziniu News. Xiao, an auxiliary police officer from Inner Mongolia, was known for his gentle, introverted...

Economics

39 h. ago Cat mutilations in Japan spotlight growing animal abuse crisis

Police in southern Japan are investigating what animal welfare advocates fear is a pattern of deliberate cruelty, after at least 10 stray cats were found with a leg amputated and left untreated. The first case surfaced roughly a year ago in Niihama, Ehime prefecture, where a stray was spotted with a front leg severed just above the knee. Since then, similar injuries have been reported on multiple cats in the area, with the most recent victim brought to a veterinary clinic in August. Kaoru...

Events

51 h. ago Disney Cruise delay in Singapore leaves Hong Kong passengers frustrated, in limbo

Hong Kong passengers are left in limbo and disappointed after shipbuilding issues forced the maiden voyage of Disney’s latest cruise ship in Singapore to be delayed, with some struggling to manage pre-booked flights and hotel rooms. Disney Adventure, a new cruise ship still being built and operated by Disney Cruise Line, was originally set to launch on its maiden voyage from Singapore, its home port, in December 2025. But some passengers said they had received an email in recent days telling...

Politics

52 h. ago Intel chip architect Su Fei returns to China after 20 years in the US

After nearly two decades shaping Intel’s chip designs, one of its leading semiconductor architects has left the United States to join Tsinghua University as a full-time professor. Su Fei, a veteran engineer in chip testing and semiconductor reliability, is now the Xing-Hua endowed chair professor at his alma mater’s school of integrated circuits, according to the faculty webpage. At Intel, Su’s work spanned the entire chip life cycle – from early concept to mass production – with a focus on...

Events

3 d. ago Why did Harvard top mathematician Liu Jun leave the US for China?

When it was officially announced in late August that statistician Liu Jun had left Harvard University and joined Tsinghua University in Beijing, speculation ran rampant. Was it political tension? Research funding cuts? A backlash against Chinese academics in the US? For Liu, the answer is simple – and deeply personal. It “has nothing to do with Trump”, he said in an email to the South China Morning Post, explaining that his decision was not out of political protest or professional...

Politics

3 d. ago As aid runs thin, Afghanistan’s quakes spell ‘intergenerational’ crisis

Earthquakes that flattened villages in eastern Afghanistan this month destroyed homes and livestock, the only assets owned by most families, leaving survivors with almost nothing to rebuild as aid runs thin. At least 2,200 people were killed and more than half a million affected when a powerful earthquake struck the region on the night of August 31 followed by a series of strong aftershocks. The quakes have left tens of thousands of people homeless, with some fearing further landslides. Abdul...

Events

3 d. ago China’s Fujian carrier leaves port, adding to signs it will soon enter service

China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has left its shipyard again, according to images from Chinese social media, adding to speculation that it will soon enter military service. On Wednesday afternoon, photos and videos posted on social media platforms showed the Fujian starting its engines and emitting thick smoke before slowly departing from the Changxing Island dock at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. Previously, the ship underwent three months of maintenance. State media reported...

Politics

3 d. ago I left investment banking in New York to chase my dream in China. Here, it feels doable.

I left investment banking in New York to chase my dream in China. Here, it feels doable.  Business Insider

Economics

3 d. ago Prince Harry has tea with King Charles in first meeting in over a year

Britain’s Prince Harry joined his father, King Charles, for tea on Wednesday at his Clarence House home in London, the first time they have met in well over a year. The two have been distant since Harry and his wife, Meghan, left royal life and moved to California in 2020 and then publicly aired grievances about his family. Harry was driven through the gates of Charles’ London home following an earlier engagement at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London. The Duke of...

Politics

4 d. ago Nepal’s Gen Z accuse people with political agendas for chaos in capital

Kathmandu awoke to a drizzle on Wednesday, but it could not wash away the smouldering wreckage left by unprecedented arson and looting a day earlier that followed anti-corruption protests in Nepal’s capital. Fires consumed public institutions, historic buildings and private businesses – including the Supreme Court, the Singha Durbar government complex, the Kantipur media house and a luxury hotel – as what began as Gen Z-led peaceful protests spiralled into attacks that observers fear may be part...

Politics

4 d. ago Fishing for intelligence: US plan puts Filipinos at risk in South China Sea

A US proposal to train Filipino fishermen as informants, tasked with reporting illegal fishing and environmental degradation by foreign vessels, has triggered concern that civilians could be thrust into the front lines of the South China Sea dispute. Jonathan Fritz, US principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, outlined the initiative during a round-table discussion at the US embassy in Manila on Thursday. Despite Washington’s recent overhaul of its foreign...

Events

4 d. ago After Israel’s Qatar air strikes, the Gulf questions its US dependence

The Gulf Arab monarchies have been left reeling after the United States, their decades-long security guarantor, seemingly did nothing to prevent Tuesday’s unprecedented Israeli air strikes on Qatar, home to the region’s largest American military base. Describing the attack as a “pivotal moment” for the Gulf, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called for a collective regional response after Israeli jets targeted Hamas negotiators in Doha. The strikes have exposed a...

Politics

4 d. ago France’s Macron names loyalist Lecornu as new prime minister

French President Emmanuel Macron named loyalist Sebastien Lecornu, a one-time conservative protégé who rallied behind his 2017 presidential run, as prime minister on Tuesday, defying expectations he might tack towards the left. The choice of Lecornu, 39, indicates Macron’s determination to press on with a minority government that stands firmly behind his pro-business economic reform agenda, under which taxes on business and the wealthy have been cut and the retirement age raised. Macron was...

Politics

5 d. ago Hong Kong court backs lesbian couple on registering as parents of son together

A Hong Kong court has ruled it unlawful for authorities to bar a lesbian couple from registering together as parents of their son conceived through fertility treatment, saying it violates the boy’s privacy and family rights. In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, the Court of First Instance sided with the women seeking legal recognition of their parental status after their success in a previous legal bid left major questions regarding their rights and obligations unanswered. The pair, a Chinese...

Events

5 d. ago 9 pig heads left outside Paris mosques, French police investigate as hate crime

At least nine pigs’ heads were found outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, the French capital’s police chief said – an incident that has sparked alarm over rising anti-Muslim hatred. “Pig heads have been left in front of certain mosques Four in Paris and five in the inner suburbs,” Laurent Nunez told a press conference, adding that police were not “ruling out the possibility of finding more”. There may be parallels with past incidents linked to “foreign interference” Nunez...

Events

5 d. ago A Man From China Pursued U.S. Asylum. Deportation Sent Him Home Again

A Man From China Pursued U.S. Asylum. Deportation Sent Him Home Again  The New York Times

Events

5 d. ago Deported, Harassed, Unbroken: One Man’s Relentless Fight to Escape China

Deported, Harassed, Unbroken: One Man’s Relentless Fight to Escape China  The New York Times

Events

5 d. ago After 40 years in US, pioneering mathematician Zhongwei Shen returns to China

Pioneering Chinese-American mathematician Zhongwei Shen has left the United States to take up a chair professorship at Westlake University in Hangzhou. He joined Westlake’s School of Science in July to continue decades of research on partial differential equations and harmonic analysis – mathematical fields that form the backbone of modelling the natural world, according to the university website. Shen, who was admitted to Peking University as a maths major at just 14, has spent 40 years in the...

Politics