67 h. ago China’s Hard Line on Jimmy Lai Undercuts Trump’s Release Calls

China’s Hard Line on Jimmy Lai Undercuts Trump’s Release Calls  Bloomberg.com

Politics

4 d. ago Trump urges Xi to show leniency for Jimmy Lai as Britain summons China’s ambassador

Britain’s government on Monday summoned China’s ambassador to the UK to protest the conviction of British citizen Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on national security charges in Hong Kong, while US President Donald Trump said he urged leniency for Lai in a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump told reporters, without specifying exactly when he spoke with Xi. “He’s an older man, and he’s not well. So I did put...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘No bomb does what this is doing’: Trump calls fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order (EO) designating illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid driving the US overdose crisis, as a weapon of mass destruction. The EO issued by the White House asserted that “Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic” due to its extreme potency. “Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose”, it said. The order highlights the national...

Events

4 d. ago Trump calls fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction: ‘no bomb does what this is doing’

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order (EO) designating illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid driving the US overdose crisis, as a weapon of mass destruction. The EO issued by the White House asserted that “illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic” due to its extreme potency. “Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose,” it said. The order highlights the national...

Events

7 d. ago Exclusive | Trump’s OK of AI Chip Sales in China Called ‘Dangerous’ By Senate Democrats

Exclusive | Trump’s OK of AI Chip Sales in China Called ‘Dangerous’ By Senate Democrats  The Wall Street Journal

Politics

7 d. ago Thailand’s PM says no ceasefire with Cambodia yet after Trump call

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul confirmed on Friday that there was no ceasefire yet with Cambodia and said he had spoken by telephone with US President Donald Trump and told him Bangkok was not the aggressor in the conflict with its neighbour. Anutin said Trump told him he wanted the two countries to return to a ceasefire first agreed on in July. He added that the US president had not indicated that trade tariffs would be used as part of his efforts to end the fighting. Anutin’s remarks...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump says Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to cease all shooting

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed “to cease all shooting” effective on Friday, US President Donald Trump said after he held a call with the countries’ leaders. “Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on social media. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said earlier on Friday that he had spoken by telephone with Trump, though he noted at the time that a ceasefire had not yet been confirmed. Anutin said he told Trump that Bangkok...

Politics

7 d. ago Cambodia reports Thai bombing even as Trump says both have agreed to cease fighting

Cambodia said on Saturday that Thailand continued dropping bombs in its territory hours after US President Donald Trump said the neighbours had agreed to stop fighting. “On December 13, the Thai military used two F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs” on a number of targets, the Cambodian defense ministry said in a social media post. “Thai military aircraft have not stopped bombing yet,” it said. Trump said on Friday he had spoken by phone with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, who both...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump says Thailand, Cambodia have agreed to ceasefire but fighting continues

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders had agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes, even as Thai and Cambodian officials suggested there was still work to do to get the ceasefire that the US administration had helped broker earlier this year back on track. Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. “They have agreed...

Politics

7 d. ago Thailand, Cambodia both report attacks day after Trump’s claim of renewed ceasefire

Bangkok said Cambodian forces killed four Thai soldiers on Saturday, after the prime minister denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce was agreed to end days of deadly fighting. Cambodia and Thailand both reported attacks on Saturday, including on civilian areas, the day after Trump said that the two nations had agreed to renew a truce. Violence between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800 km (500...

Events

7 d. ago Thailand, Cambodia both report attacks after Trump’s claim of renewed ceasefire

Bangkok said Cambodian forces killed four Thai soldiers on Saturday, after the prime minister denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce was agreed to end days of deadly fighting. Cambodia and Thailand both reported attacks on Saturday, including on civilian areas, the day after Trump said that the two nations had agreed to renew a truce. Violence between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800 km (500...

Events

7 d. ago Cambodia suspends all border crossings with Thailand amid more deadly clashes

Cambodia suspended all of its border crossings with Thailand on Saturday, as the two countries remained locked in a deadly military conflict. “The Royal Government of Cambodia has decided to fully suspend all entry and exit movements at all Cambodia-Thailand border crossings, effective immediately and until further notice,” Cambodia’s interior ministry said in a statement. A spokesman justified the move with the protection of the country. Fighting between the two nations along their shared...

Events

8 d. ago Trump and Modi have ‘warm’ phone call – but 2025 unlikely to end with a trade deal

Despite a high-level phone call between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 2025 is likely to end without the long-promised US-India trade deal, as the “America first” leader continues to stall the agreement while working to cement improved ties with Beijing. The call came just days after Modi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the Indian Prime Minister described his conversation with Trump as “warm and engaging” in a social media post,...

Politics

8 d. ago Senator calls for Nvidia CEO to testify on Trump approval for China chip sales

Senator calls for Nvidia CEO to testify on Trump approval for China chip sales  Reuters

Politics

8 d. ago Trump calls media reports on his health ‘seditious, perhaps even treasonous’

US President Donald Trump has blasted media reports questioning his state of health as “seditious, perhaps even treasonous”, sparking pushback on Wednesday by one of the major outlets behind the stories. In a long, late-night social media post, the oldest elected president in US history raged about stories in The New York Times and elsewhere suggesting that at the age of 79 he is slowing down. “There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump to call Thailand, Cambodia leaders and ‘stop war’ along disputed border

President Donald Trump said he plans to reach out to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia as more than half a million people flee a revived border clash, one of eight conflicts the US leader says he has ended with tariff threats. Fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which has killed at least 11 people, erupted over the weekend along their 800km frontier, with both sides exchanging artillery fire and Thailand using F-16 fighter jets after accusing Cambodia of firing rockets into...

Politics

1 week ago Trump slams ‘decaying’ Europe and pushes Ukraine on elections

US President Donald Trump deepened his rift with Europe in an interview published Tuesday, calling it “decaying” and blasting key allies as “weak” over immigration and Ukraine. Speaking to Politico, Trump also called on Ukraine to hold elections despite Russia’s invasion and questioned whether the country is truly democratic under President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump doubled down on his recent extraordinary criticisms of Europe, following the release of the new US national security strategy last...

Politics

1 week ago Trump blasts ‘decaying’ and ‘weak’ Europe, pushes Ukraine on elections

US President Donald Trump blasted Europe as “decaying” and “weak” on immigration and Ukraine in an interview published Tuesday, deepening a rift between the United States and some of its oldest allies. Speaking to Politico, Trump also called on war-battered Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold elections despite Russia’s invasion and said that Moscow had the “upper hand”. Trump’s comments doubled down on extraordinary criticism of top US partners in his administration’s new national...

Politics

1 week ago Trump blasts ‘decaying’ and ‘weak’ Europe, pushes Ukraine to hold elections

US President Donald Trump blasted Europe as “decaying” and “weak” on immigration and Ukraine in an interview published Tuesday, deepening a rift between the United States and some of its oldest allies. Speaking to Politico, Trump also called on war-battered Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold elections despite Russia’s invasion and said that Moscow had the “upper hand”. Trump’s comments doubled down on extraordinary criticism of top US partners in his administration’s new national...

Politics

1 week ago How Hong Kong can distinguish itself as a climate finance hub

For decades, New York and London have defined the flow of global capital. But while markets still chase short-term returns in US equities, the next great wave of productive investment is taking shape in East Asia, led by China’s financing, manufacturing and export of the clean technologies that are remaking the global economy. That contrast has only widened. As the United States retreats from climate leadership, China has doubled down. A day after US President Donald Trump called climate change...

Politics