Beijing underlines its jurisdiction and desire for urgent action by laying down targets for incoming Hong Kong leader, analysts say
‘The new team must have the sense of a mission to deliver after taking up their positions in July,’ one expert says. ⌘ Read more

Will Malaysia see a fresh influx of Rohingya refugees as life in Bangladesh, Myanmar gets worse?
Over 600 Rohingya were arrested trying to reach Malaysia in the past seven months – and activists say desperate conditions in Myanmar and Bangladesh are forcing more to risk the perilous sea voyage. ⌘ Read more

Colombia elects former guerilla Gustavo Petro as first leftist president
Petro beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of some 719,975 votes. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: elderly Hongkongers turn to expressive arts therapy to ease pandemic blues
The treatment has helped elderly residents suffering from long Covid open up and come out of their shell, says therapist Janet Li Wai-chong. ⌘ Read more

Next US election may prove most dangerous time for Taiwan, warns veteran US diplomat Chas Freeman
Richard Nixon’s former interpreter says Beijing may view the election of a supporter of Taiwan’s independence as something it must respond to ⌘ Read more

EU seeks to release Ukrainian grain stuck due to Russia’s sea blockade
The EU supports efforts by the United Nations to broker a deal to resume Ukraine’s sea exports in return for easing Russian food and fertiliser exports, but that would need Moscow’s green light. ⌘ Read more

Ukraine war: Rabat urges ‘fair trial’ for Moroccan appealing death penalty
Brahim Saadoun, a Moroccan citizen born in 2000, was sentenced to death on June 9 along with two British men by a court in Donetsk, a self-proclaimed statelet in eastern Ukraine. ⌘ Read more

World swimming’s governing body bans transgender athletes from women’s events
Fina members voted 71.5 per cent in favour of its new ‘gender inclusion policy’ that only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. ⌘ Read more

Macron to lose French parliament majority in blow for reform plans, projections indicate
The French president was set to lose his majority after major election gains by a newly formed left-wing alliance and the far-right. ⌘ Read more

Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis arrested in Italy over sexual assault claims
The alleged victim had been staying with Haggis ahead of the festival, prosecutors said. ‘The suspect allegedly forced the young woman … to undergo sexual intercourse,’ they said. ⌘ Read more

After British journalist’s murder in the Amazon, can his vision survive?
Dom Phillips wrote about Brazil for 15 years and asked President Jair Bolsonaro in 2019 how he intended to demonstrate Brazil’s commitment to protect the Amazon region. ⌘ Read more

Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid to visit Türkiye amid security jitters
Israel has warned its citizens against travel to Türkiye, citing suspected assassination or abduction plots by Iran. ⌘ Read more

How the US’ Xinjiang labour law has crippled China’s cotton industry before even entering effect
Even though the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act does not take effect until Tuesday, traders in China’s Xinjiang region say losses have been mounting for months, as buyers shun what was once prized as the world’s most expensive cotton. ⌘ Read more

US: China ‘engages in unfair trade practices’ but tariffs serve ‘no strategic purpose’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said China ‘engages in range of unfair trade practices’ but ‘the tariffs we inherited, some serve no strategic purpose’. ⌘ Read more

‘True Independence Day’: US parades, speeches, commemorate ‘end of slavery’
Citizens across the country are marking ‘Juneteenth’, the June 19, 1865 end of the legal enslavement of black Americans. ⌘ Read more

Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee vows US sanctions will not interfere with safeguarding national security
John Lee says sanctions imposed by ‘some bullying countries’ will not deter him and his government from their ‘must-fulfil’ responsibility. ⌘ Read more

China chalks up success in push to promote favoured candidates on international bodies
The country’s representative has secured another term on a leading UN maritime body that rules on important economic and political disputes. ⌘ Read more

Who will help John Lee run Hong Kong? A quick guide to old and new faces on his governing team
Among 21 key figures, seven are from incumbent administration, two have been promoted from undersecretary, six are serving or recently retired civil servants, and another six are newcomers. ⌘ Read more

China names Han ex-environmental protection officer to head ethnic affairs office
Pan Yue will be the second member of China’s dominant ethnic group to head the office responsible for minorities. ⌘ Read more

Kelly Holmes, 52, British Olympic athletics champion, comes out as gay after ‘years of heartache’
Dame Kelly, a former army officer who won two golds in Athens in 2004, said she had known she was gay since she was 17 but hid her sexuality over fear of repercussions. ⌘ Read more

Resuming quarantine-free travel with mainland China to be top priority, Hong Kong’s incoming health minister says
Dr Lo Chung-mau says he intends to form anti-epidemic measures rooted in evidence to reconnect Hong Kong with mainland China and the wider world. ⌘ Read more

Philippines: Duterte’s daughter Sara sworn in early as vice-president
Sara Duterte-Carpio’s six-year term with President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jnr does not officially start until June 30, when he will be inaugurated. Marcos was at Sunday’s swearing in event, as was current leader President Rodrigo Duterte. ⌘ Read more

URA to spend HK$500 million renovating 4 older areas of Hong Kong, with focus on preventive maintenance of ageing buildings
Urban Renewal Authority to focus on Kowloon City, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po, among other areas, over five years ⌘ Read more

Chinese President Xi Jinping says country has won an ‘overwhelming’ victory in corruption battle – but warns more work is needed to tackle problem
In a speech to the Politburo, Xi says he hopes that officials will not even by tempted by corrupt activities. ⌘ Read more

Germany plans for more coal amid Russia gas supply drop: ‘bitter but necessary’
Nation will try to compensate for gas reduction by increasing the burning of coal, a more polluting fossil fuel. ⌘ Read more

‘Lessons to be learned for Ukraine’: Dutch PM apologises to Bosnia peacekeepers
Mark Rutte apologised to Dutch UN peacekeepers overwhelmed in 1995 by Serb forces; veterans were right to ask, ‘where was the world?’. ⌘ Read more

Hit TV show brings back forgotten ancient Chinese ceremony involving intricate calligraphy and patterns in whipped tea
A popular period drama showing an ancient form of drinkable art called chabaixi, literally meaning ‘a hundred tricks with tea’ has renewed interest in the long-forgotten art. ⌘ Read more

Japan: 5.2 magnitude earthquake hits west coast’s Ishikawa, ‘no tsunami threat’
The quake struck a few minutes after 3pm local time Sunday. The government was gathering information but said initial reports indicated no major damage and nuclear facilities were operating normally. ⌘ Read more

Disappeared Chinese coal tycoon who took on top judge to hear appeal verdict
Case relates to judicial scandal involving lost court papers, a celebrity whistle-blower and a jailed judge who ruled on Zhao’s mining dispute with state firm. ⌘ Read more

Japan debates getting a nuclear submarine – but Kishida’s ‘not so sure’
Opposition parties have called for Japan to acquire the capability ‘to increase deterrence’ amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Chinese military assertiveness. ⌘ Read more

China scientists find a grain of hope in climate change rice research
Study identifies a pair of genes in the staple that could be tweaked to improve its tolerance to heat stress. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong’s border control measures are not tenable, city should decide whether to fully reopen by end of year, Carrie Lam says
‘If the city is still sticking to the existing border control measures in the coming half-year, or by the end of this year, I will be a bit worried,’ Lam says. ⌘ Read more

From Australia to India, massive passenger demand sparks travel chaos
As borders reopen, travel has sprang back with such voracity that it’s resulted in an unprecedented labour crunch for the aviation industry. ⌘ Read more

Apple workers vote to form tech giant’s first-ever US union
It wasn’t the first time employees at an Apple store had tried to unionise, but it was the first attempt that resulted in a vote. ⌘ Read more

The chicken or the egg? It was probably Asian rice that domesticated the famous fowl
A new study argues that chickens were first domesticated in Thailand about 3,500 years ago thanks to environmental changes made by ancient rice farms. ⌘ Read more

China urges IMF to approve US$1.4 billion Zambia bailout, but told it must reach deal with other lenders
China is the African country’s biggest lender and is a key player in efforts to resolve its debt problems. ⌘ Read more

France faces chaos without me, Macron tells voters
The French president and his proxies took on an apocalyptic tone as the country heads to the polls for the second round of a parliamentary election. ⌘ Read more

Australia to get US-made nuclear submarines by 2030, opposition leader claims
Peter Dutton said on Sunday that the United States ‘would pull out every stop’ to support Australia acquiring nuclear submarines ‘as quickly as possible’. ⌘ Read more

Thailand’s looking to legalise same-sex unions, but will it embrace full marriage equality?
A bill that would legalise same-sex marriage won initial approval from Thai lawmakers this week despite opposition from the government, which wants civil partnerships for LGBT people instead. ⌘ Read more

Ukraine war ‘could take years’, Nato chief warns
The Nato chief’s comments came amid intensified Russian assaults after the EU recommended granting Ukraine candidate status to join the bloc. ⌘ Read more

Beijing approves Hong Kong Chief Executive-elect John Lee’s cabinet line-up
Long-time bureaucrat Eric Chan becomes chief secretary, Financial Secretary Paul Chan to stay in current post. ⌘ Read more

Is abortion legal in China, how common is it and why is it controversial?
The procedure is legal and widely available across the country but it is also used as a means of population and social control. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia wants to fight inflation with GST. Will it cost Ismail Sabri at the polls?
With more people needing financial aid, the Malaysian government is trying to widen its revenue sources to can boost social welfare, analysts say. ⌘ Read more

Wheelchair-friendly places and foster homes: father’s love conquers life of hard knocks for this Hong Kong family
Father of two Chris Cheng, 44, has muscular dystrophy and has to call on foster care to raise his sons, but still tries his best to remain a key part of their lives. ⌘ Read more

Australia’s China bias and colonial blinkers mean it fails to see big picture for Pacific islands’ development
Canberra had chosen symbolic gestures and feeble investments over more practical initiatives now being offered by Beijing to Pacific island nations. Australia must shed its colonial mindset and stop claiming to always have the moral high ground over China. ⌘ Read more

‘Find a sperm donor’: Chinese doctor shocked to find failed-pregnancy patient is married to son of her paternal aunt
A video of a college-educated patient who married her cousin and telling a doctor about a string of failed pregnancies sparks online debate. ⌘ Read more

From shoot-outs on Hong Kong streets to online scams raking in billions: police chief Raymond Siu digs into three decades of crime
Police chief remembers day he was called to robbery carried out by notorious ‘king of thieves’ Kai Yip. ⌘ Read more

Will Indonesia’s Jokowi start his own political party to cement his legacy?
The president’s lobby group Projo says it may register as a political party as talk swirls of officials mulling a constitutional change to allow third terms. ⌘ Read more

US, China talks in Luxembourg may set stage for Biden-Xi face-to-face summit
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi met in Europe’s Luxembourg on Monday, the 4th in-person meeting of US-China officials in 15 months. ⌘ Read more

Health of Hong Kong’s poor is in the hands of the whole of society, not just the heathcare sector
Marked health inequalities exist in wealthy Hong Kong, and government intervention alone is not enough to address them. Civil society and businesses play a major role in the improvement of living and working conditions, thereby minimising illness and injury. ⌘ Read more

Warplanes hit Hamas sites in Gaza in retaliation to rocket fire, Israeli army says
On Saturday evening, Defence Minister Benny Gantz suspended an increase in Israeli entry permits for Gazan workers in response to the rocket fire. ⌘ Read more

Chinese firm’s hopes of resolving royalties row at massive DR Congo copper and cobalt mine hits political hurdle
Chinese mining company denies that court-appointed administrator has taken control of operation. ⌘ Read more

Bitcoin’s cascading losses accelerate in record-breaking rout
Largest cryptocurrency tumbles as much as 13 per cent on Saturday, breaching US$18,000, as sell-off quickens. ⌘ Read more

Spain battles to bring fires under control as it swelters in heatwave
Dry and windy conditions have caused fires in several areas, with Zamora, near the border with Portugal, among the worst hit. ⌘ Read more

Defrocked Chilean priest sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing minors
Oscar Munoz, 60, was sentenced by a criminal court in the capital Santiago. Pope Francis expelled Munoz from the church in 2019. ⌘ Read more

Ukraine plans to resume peace talks with Russia by August, officials say
The country will be in a better position to negotiate at that time, Kyiv’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, said in an interview with US broadcaster Voice of America. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: vaccine roll-out for American children under 5 close after CDC panel vote
US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to roll out the vaccines to the under-5 age groups as early as next week. ⌘ Read more

‘Bloodsicles’ and ice baths: How US zookeepers coax animals through heatwaves
Siberian tigers Yuri and Nikita at the Denver Zoo, who are supposed to mate, suffer most during Denver’s intensifying heatwaves. ⌘ Read more

Kate Bush classic Running Up That Hill tops UK chart after 37 years
The British singer’s 1985 track has enjoyed a renaissance globally after featuring in the hit Netflix sci-fi horror series Stranger Things. ⌘ Read more

Gunman, 70, kills 3 senior citizens during potluck dinner at Alabama church
Police say the suspect, Robert Findlay Smith, showed up for the dinner, pulled out a handgun and fatally shot three of the elderly participants, one of whom died in his wife’s arms. ⌘ Read more

Biden, China’s Xi ‘will talk’ says US president, weighing action on tariffs
Biden said he would be talking to Xi and was ‘in the process’ of making a decision about the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports. ⌘ Read more

US billionaire Warren Buffett’s last charity private lunch sees record US$19 million bid
A wealthy person has bid a whopping US$19 million to eat at a New York steakhouse with Warren Buffett, 91, in his last such auction for San Francisco charity Glide. ⌘ Read more

Beijing is likely to step up its campaign to ‘reunify’ with Taiwan, analysts say
Chance of an armed conflict is higher than five years ago as PLA ‘will soon be equipped with the tools needed’ to attack the island, analyst says. ⌘ Read more

Russia frees Ukraine medic who filmed Mariupol horror, saved both sides’ people
Yuliia Paievska, known as Taira, used a body camera to record her team’s efforts to save the wounded and was held captive for three months. President Zelensky said ‘we will keep working to free everyone’. ⌘ Read more

Boris sings out for Ukraine: UK PM Johnson says nation deserves to host Eurovision
British PM says Ukraine, winner of this year’s contest, ‘can have it’, ‘should have it’ in 2023. European Broadcasting Union has ruled the event cannot take place in the war-torn country, but its public broadcaster wants more negotiations. ⌘ Read more

Masks, Covid-19 test kits, plastic bottles: more than 9,000kg of litter found on Hong Kong’s hiking trails, seashore last year, green group says
Plastic bottles, bottle lids and buoys top three types of rubbish commonly found on seashore, while cigarettes, tissue paper and food packaging dot hiking trails, green group Ecobus says. ⌘ Read more

Chinese disciplinary watchdog to investigate after bank protesters flagged as health risk
The Zhengzhou commission for discipline inspection says it has started a probe into why angry depositors found their health codes had suddenly turned red. ⌘ Read more

UK begins electronically tagging migrants coming via ‘unnecessary, dangerous routes’
The 12-month pilot scheme involves electronically tagging some people arriving on small boats or in the back of lorries. On Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights granted an injunction preventing the departure of a UK-chartered aircraft carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda. ⌘ Read more

Fraudsters swindled HK$1.28 billion from more than 6,000 Hongkongers through online, phone scams in first 4 months of year
Nearly one-fourth of money victims lost was swindled through email fraud, while phone scammers pocketed HK$280 million. ⌘ Read more

Singapore’s Pink Dot gay pride rally returns, as MP from ruling party attends for first time – and in a pink T-shirt
After two years of Covid postponements, LGBT event returns, with excitement that archaic colonial-era Section 377A Penal Code law criminalising sex between men will soon be repealed. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong’s buyers snap up 70 per cent of new homes on offer, casting aside HKMA’s 75-point interest hike as banks deferred raising mortgage rates
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank kept their prime rates unchanged this week, even after the city’s de facto central bank raised its base rate by 75 basis points. ⌘ Read more

Chinese President Xi Jinping warns against international decoupling in Russia speech
Xi address to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum also included warnings against decoupling and the use of sanctions. ⌘ Read more

Total recall: Chinese wife nurses stroke-stricken husband back from the brink using the power of love
Chinese social media falls in love with an elderly couple who battled together to overcome a terrible medical condition ⌘ Read more

‘Never seen such floods in her life’: 41 dead, millions stranded in India, Bangladesh
Floods are a regular menace in low-lying Bangladesh, but experts say climate change is increasing frequency, ferocity, unpredictability. ⌘ Read more

The way we wed: How Indian brides are reinventing ceremonies to push for gender equality
Modern brides are doing away with practices such as looking sad as they leave their families, and changing their surnames after marriage. ⌘ Read more

Biden urges China, other major economies to step up climate action, as US and EU join global methane cuts pledge
China a notable absentee from 13 inaugural members of Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway agreed upon at the forum. ⌘ Read more

‘My mum was a bit worried’: reality show idea to bring German mother-in-law to China to live with couple sparks national debate
A reality show situation where a couple in China suggested moving the German husband’s mother to live with them sparked a national debate. ⌘ Read more

Woman arrested for making anti-Asian remarks, pepper spraying 4 people in New York
Madeline Barker was charged with hate crimes over the June 11 attack in which she pepper-sprayed four Asian women. ⌘ Read more

China to tighten grip on social media comments, requiring sites to employ sufficient content moderators
The draft regulation demands platforms to employ a content moderation team commensurate with the scale of the services. ⌘ Read more

Greater Bay Area: can China ‘integrate’ Hong Kong into its southern economic powerhouse?
Some Hongkongers are trying their luck on the mainland and excited about the opportunities, but for others the idea of integration is ‘unconvincing’. ⌘ Read more

China’s latest hot export is a US$50 toy Russian fighter jet that ‘will never break’, helped by social media such as TikTok
The fighter jet toy, with a price tag of less than US$50 on e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon, has gained popularity for its affordability and durability. ⌘ Read more

Oil-producing Gulf nations are pursuing greener energy. What does this mean for Asia?
Most of Asia’s electricity needs come from oil-producing Gulf nations, which are trying to position themselves as leaders in the development of green energy. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: sixth wave could come in September, but with less impact, Hong Kong labour minister says
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong makes forecast, warning city’s immunity barrier could have waned by then. ⌘ Read more

Huge blaze at Shanghai Sinopec plant kills one
Roaring fire at one of China’s biggest refining and petrochemicals plants started around 4am. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: 150 Hong Kong passengers in logistics nightmare after Amsterdam airport staff shortfall, tough quarantine rules in city leave them ‘scared, helpless and clueless’
Some 150 passengers lost their baggage in transit or had to scramble to rebook flights with Amsterdam route into the city hit by delays. ⌘ Read more

Hey, Hong Kong – how about we stop being racist and include foreign domestic workers in the consumption voucher scheme?
Excluding foreign domestic workers from the extended consumption voucher scheme is not only heartless but hurts Hong Kong’s image. A city with a good soul should care about the most deserving and vulnerable. ⌘ Read more

SpaceX fires workers behind letter criticising Elon Musk’s behaviour
The open letter called the rocket-launch firm CEO’s behaviour and tweets ‘a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us’. ⌘ Read more

‘I need a room’: overseas Hong Kong students struggling to book quarantine hotels for summer return to city
Bulk of 66 quarantine hotels fully booked until end of July, while some hotels on new list of designated facilities only have availability from middle of August. ⌘ Read more

Handsome returns: China tourism official with ‘movie-star good looks’ becomes internet sensation after donning ancient costumes to promote home city
A Chinese tourism chief who combined his dashing good looks with role-play costume videos to woo visitors to his home city has become an online celebrity. ⌘ Read more

China’s Covid-19 health code system is ripe for abuse and must not outlast the pandemic
A recent scandal in Henan province that saw protesters issued bogus red health codes to restrict their movements shows how open the system is to misuse. ⌘ Read more

Google co-founder Sergey Brin seeks divorce from second wife Nicole Shanahan after 3 years of marriage
The world’s sixth-richest person filed a petition for dissolution of his marriage to Shanahan, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. ⌘ Read more

Why Singapore may be edging closer to scrapping Section 377A criminalising gay sex – and what would happen if it did
Surveys show growing support for abolishing the colonial-era law that makes sex between men illegal, but other policies could be tightened to appease the city state’s conservatives if it is scrapped. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong vs Shenzhen: a technology tale of 2 cities, and a game of catch-up
Shenzhen’s economy surpassed Hong Kong’s for the first time in 2018 on the back of its rising status as the country’s technology hub. ⌘ Read more

China manufacturing: fresh lay-offs in the Pearl River Delta add to worries over economic slowdown
In the Pearl River Delta, factories are laying off workers and young people are struggling to find casual jobs as China’s export machine slows amid multiple headwinds. ⌘ Read more

BTS: US$3.5 million Proof album purchase shows V’s fans in China are undeterred by Beijing’s K-Culture crackdown
The group purchase of more than 170,000 copies was made on the first day of the release of BTS’ new album ‘Proof’ last week despite Beijing tightening its grip over the consumption of South Korean content and fandom culture. ⌘ Read more

Elon Musk envisions remaking Twitter in WeChat’s image
‘You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can re-create that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success.’ ⌘ Read more

Former Japanese politician’s appeal against drug trafficking conviction to be heard in Chinese court
Takuma Sakuragi was detained at Guangdong airport in 2013 carrying a suitcase containing more than 3kg (7.3lbs) of meth. ⌘ Read more

TikTok moves US user data to Oracle servers amid concerns over China
The move comes as US media reports that such data was repeatedly accessed by China-based ByteDance staff, according to leaked audio from internal meetings. ⌘ Read more

Emmanuel Macron’s awkward moment with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky becomes internet meme
‘So much love and only six howitzers?’ In a widely shared image, the French president appears to be hugging his frosty Ukrainian counterpart – who is not reciprocating ⌘ Read more

How China inadvertently became the dominant power in Central Asia – and is radically reshaping the region
Central Asia sits at the heart of China’s foreign policy, not because of any expansionist ambitions but because it is an extension of domestic challenges in Xinjiang. To build a strong economic environment to support Xinjiang, Beijing has been transforming Central Asia through infrastructure projects. ⌘ Read more