46 m. ago Lifeline or trash? Taiwan safety guide sparks fierce debate amid Beijing threat

Taiwan’s updated crisis and war survival guide has ignited fierce political debate, hailed by officials as a lifeline amid Beijing’s mounting military pressure but blasted by critics as costly propaganda prompting fear rather than readiness. Mass distribution of In Case of Crisis: Taiwan’s National Public Safety Guide – quickly dubbed the “little orange book” – began late last month, targeting 9.83 million households. The 29-page comic-style publication explains how to stockpile food and water,...

Events

1 hour ago ‘Like a ghost town’: Hong Kong neighbourhood struggles to adjust after fatal fire

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has been put out, but the sight of the charred remains of Wang Fuk Court’s housing blocks still conjures up painful emotions and all too vivid memories for many people in the surrounding neighbourhood. The fire started on Wednesday last week, raging for 43 hours and engulfing seven of the estate’s eight towers before it was extinguished. At least 159 people died in the inferno. On Friday, residents from the nearby Kwong Fuk Estate public housing complex were...

Events

4 h. ago US Supreme Court to weigh Trump bid to limit birthright citizenship

The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide the legality of President Donald Trump’s directive to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States, a contentious part of his efforts to curb immigration and a step that would alter how a 19th century constitutional provision has long been understood. The justices took up a Justice Department appeal of a lower court’s ruling that blocked Trump’s executive order telling US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US...

Politics

5 h. ago US judge orders release of grand jury transcripts in Epstein case

A US federal judge on Friday ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the investigation in Florida of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department requested the unsealing of the transcripts after US President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring the public release of all government records regarding Epstein. Grand jury proceedings are generally kept secret and a previous Justice Department request to unseal the transcripts from Epstein’s Florida case...

Events

6 h. ago Hawaiʻi's biggest shipper is shifting its China business model

Hawaiʻi's biggest shipper is shifting its China business model  Hawaii Public Radio

Politics

9 h. ago EU hits Musk’s X with US$140 million fine, risking Trump’s ire

The European Union hit Elon Musk’s X with a €120 million (US$140 million) fine on Friday for breaking its digital rules, in a move that risks a fresh clash with US President Donald Trump’s administration. The high-profile probe into the social media platform was seen as a test of the EU’s resolve to police Big Tech. US Vice-President J.D. Vance fired a warning against “attacking” US firms through “censorship” before the penalty was even made public. Imposing the first fine under its powerful...

Events

9 h. ago US vaccine advisers say not all newborns need hepatitis B shot

A group of vaccine advisers on Friday scrapped a long-standing recommendation that all US children receive the hepatitis B shot at birth, a major policy win for health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr that disease experts say will reverse decades of public health gains. The committee voted to keep the birth dose only for infants whose mothers test positive for the virus, replacing the 1991 universal recommendation that has protected all children from hepatitis B infections, which can lead to...

Politics

12 h. ago Legco election hopefuls scale back campaigning in Hong Kong fire aftermath

Candidates started campaigning again this week for Hong Kong’s coming Legislative Council election, but opted for a more subdued approach, including fewer street booths and volunteers, in the aftermath of last week’s deadly fire in Tai Po. Some Legco hopefuls also unveiled new policy platforms in the run-up to Sunday’s poll, such as calling for a thorough investigation into the fire and enhanced building safety oversight. As of Friday, two major political parties also said they were facing...

Politics

12 h. ago Returned from China, an Indonesian village chief held a rural volleyball tournament

Returned from China, an Indonesian village chief held a rural volleyball tournament  PR Newswire

Politics

13 h. ago ‘If Jesus were born in America now’: church’s nativity challenges ICE policy

Mother Mary wearing a respirator mask to protect herself from tear gas. Baby Jesus with zip-tied hands, wrapped in a thin blanket that looks like aluminium foil. Masked centurions with sunglasses and green vests labelled “ICE”. This is how the Lake Street Church of Evanston in suburban Chicago chose to assemble its nativity scene for the Christmas season. The church and its leaders have been vocal critics of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz and expressed a message with their...

Events

14 h. ago Moore Threads, named 'China's Nvidia', soars 425% in blockbuster debut

Moore Threads, named 'China's Nvidia', soars 425% in blockbuster debut  Euronews.com

Politics

14 h. ago Singapore organisers in limbo over work visa ban on foreign performers

For about two years, six nights a week, performers from mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia have entertained hundreds of guests at the HaveFun Live Show in Singapore, but its organisers are now in a fix ahead of coming work permit changes. On Monday, the manpower ministry announced that a scheme allowing foreign performers a work permit of up to six months at public entertainment outlets in Singapore would cease in June after enforcement operations uncovered syndicates abusing the scheme. A...

Politics

15 h. ago Hong Kong steps up mental health support for Tai Po fire victims

Hong Kong authorities will step up mental health support for people affected by the Tai Po fire, the city’s deadliest blaze in several decades, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has announced, with about two-thirds of patients having been discharged from hospitals. Ten days since the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court, Secretary of Health Lo Chung-mau said on Friday that all 79 patients admitted to hospital due to the fire were considered no longer at risk, but noted some expressed feelings of guilt...

Events

15 h. ago Hong Kong to focus on mental health support after fire, seek smoking ban at sites

Hong Kong authorities will make mental health support for people affected by the Tai Po blaze a priority in the aftermath of the tragedy, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has announced, as the government said it intended to push for a blanket ban on smoking at construction sites. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Lee said that not only the residents of Wang Fuk Court, but the entire community could move out of deep sorrow with proper mental health support. “Everyone is experiencing this...

Events

15 h. ago China’s economic focus in 2026: what to expect as leaders prep for major meeting

As the Chinese leadership prepares to set the economic agenda for the year ahead, analysts expect Beijing to mostly maintain this year’s policy tone but say it could tolerate a slightly lower growth target. Chinese leaders will hold a closed-door meeting to discuss next year’s main policy goals during the central economic work conference, which usually takes place in early or mid-December. “To address the demand slump, we expect Beijing to maintain its proactive fiscal policy stance, with a...

Politics

17 h. ago Moore Threads aspires to become ‘leading global player’ in AI chips after IPO

Moore Threads, a five-year-old graphics processing unit (GPU) developer created by Nvidia’s former China chief, aspires to become one of the leading global players in artificial intelligence chip development, its founder and CEO Zhang Jianzhong said. Zhang, Nvidia’s China general manager from 2006 to 2020, was quoted as saying by the official Shanghai Securities Journal that the start-up would introduce a new-generation chip each year to provide key hardware for China’s AI development. “Our goal...

Politics

18 h. ago Why Gulf region’s dreams of aviation domination are built on sand

We should call it the “Neom factor”: the force that transforms reasonable aggressive ambition into hallucinogenic fantasyland. It glared out at me last week in a Financial Times headline: “Three ‘Heathrows’ of growth: the unstoppable rise of Middle East airports”. In short, Dubai, Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi in aggregate have airport expansion plans to lift passenger capacity almost threefold to around 750 million a year over the coming decades. In the words of Paul Griffiths, chief...

Politics

19 h. ago Bali mulls Airbnb ban to put a lid on revenue leak, overtourism

Bali is considering a ban on Airbnb’s accommodation, its latest attempt to impose order on a resort island struggling to cope with a record surge in tourism. Use of Airbnb-style rentals has exploded in recent years, eroding tax revenue from hotels even as foreign arrivals boom, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster told state news agency Antara. The proliferation of unregistered villas and guest houses in turn hampers the government’s ability to raise revenue to fund public services, he was quoted as...

Society

19 h. ago 500 Hong Kong primary pupils resume classes in university facilities after fire

About 500 primary school pupils of Tai Po Baptist Public School (TPBPS) have resumed classes in temporary classrooms set up on the premises of the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), with most students returning to their normal routines ten days after the deadly blaze in their district. EdUHK president John Lee Chi-kin said on Friday the university had offered its gymnasium and converted activity rooms into about 10 temporary classrooms, while a university psychologist shared that the...

Events

24 h. ago Moore Threads shares dazzle with fivefold jump in Shanghai debut

Moore Threads Technology surged by more than fivefold in Shanghai, as enthusiastic investors vied to get shares of the Beijing-based semiconductor supplier used in artificial intelligence, helping to mark the second-biggest trading debut in China’s stock market this year. Moore’s shares began trading at 650 yuan amid a declining market, a 468 per cent jump from their initial public offering (IPO) price of 114.28 yuan. China’s benchmark CSI300 Index slipped 0.1 per cent. The surge in Moore...

Politics