Alerts
Malaysia plans to spend 460 billion ringgit (US$112.6 billion) under its 2027 budget, expanding welfare assistance and tax relief while retaining fuel subsidies as households contend with higher living costs. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, presented the spending plan in ...
The European Union and China “reached an understanding” on trade in hybrid electric vehicles during marathon negotiations in Beijing on Friday, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement. Beijing is “willing to continue” fast-tracking licenses for rare earth mineral exports to Europe, while the s...
Polar researchers have used a would-be Chinese rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink to make a satellite video call between the Arctic and Antarctic – the first publicly reported test of the Guowang constellation. The call highlights the growing capabilities of the country’s satellite constellations, accord...
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of Britain’s King Charles, has benefited from £302,000 (US$399,000) in compensation after he was forced to end his mansion lease early over revelations about his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, Charles stripped Mountbatten-...
A 10-year-old Hong Kong girl filmed carrying heavy bags of beer will be placed in temporary care with her two siblings after welfare assessments found it would “not be suitable” for them to return home following the arrest of their parents on suspicion of ill-treating a child. Secretary for Labour a...
A Hong Kong news commentator accused of violating the national security law has denied exposing police intelligence operations, telling a court that details of his meeting with officers were already public knowledge before he posted them online. Wong Kwok-ngon, 72, who ran a YouTube commentary chann...
The EU removed Panama from its tax havens blacklist on Friday after the country made progress on sharing tax information and reformed a “harmful” regime of exemptions for foreign-source income. Vietnam was also removed after undertaking a series of reforms. The updated list now contains eight “non-c...
The Philippines is developing a national road map to combat child labour as part of a broader push across Southeast Asia, where poverty and insecure livelihoods continue to drive children into work despite government efforts to stamp out the practice. But analysts warn that policy commitments alone ...
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that three people were killed including a pilot, in attacks on Riyadh’s international airport, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed a series of attacks targeting the facility. The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has widened, with the Iran-backed ...
Hotel room rates across mainland China fell short of expectations during the National Day “golden week” holiday despite a tourism boom, as company officials and analysts called for stronger asset and revenue management to ease pricing pressure. Hotel tariffs remained largely unchanged from the previ...
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog is renewing its push to boost market liquidity, setting out further reforms as emerging markets grapple with capital outflow pressure amid a rally in US equities and a strengthening dollar. Speaking at a conference organised by the Asian Securities & Financial Markets...
Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The South Africa-born Pillay, 85 years old, was recognised for her efforts to promote peace and international law. The announcement was made by Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo on Friday. “At a time when the number of wars and conflict...
