Pakistan hunting separatists after deadly Balochistan attacks

Pakistan forces were hunting on Sunday for the separatists behind a string of coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan province, with the government vowing to retaliate after more than 120 people were killed.
Around a dozen sites where the attacks took place – including the provincial capital Quetta – remained sealed off, with troops combing the area a day after militants stormed banks, jails and military installations, killing at least 18 civilians and 15 security personnel, according to the…

Hong Kong tourism chief targets more than 50 million visitors in 2026

Hong Kong’s tourism chief has struck an upbeat note on tourist arrivals during Lunar New Year and expressed confidence that visitor numbers will cross the 50 million mark by the end of the year.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said she was optimistic about a year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals over the Lunar New Year “golden week” holiday in mainland China, which runs from February 15 to 23 this year.
She noted that a larger gap between Christmas and Lunar…

Was General Zhang Youxia one of the ‘big rats’ eating China’s military budget?

In its latest efforts to reinforce the Communist Party line in China’s armed forces, the PLA Daily took aim at one particular invasive species: “big rats”.
The rats were eating away at the PLA’s budget and undermining combat readiness, the military mouthpiece said, and had to be eradicated.
“[We] must take strong and forceful measures to crack down on corrupt practices that undermine the building of combat abilities, and thoroughly investigate and root out those ‘big rats’ who tamper with…

Soaring Hong Kong rents: tenants pay more – and fight for shrinking space

For business owner Tracy Sung, flat-hunting in Hong Kong was complicated by two things – her pets and the intense competition in the rental market.
Sung, who used to live in a 500 sq ft flat in Happy Valley, had to offer more than the landlord’s asking price to secure an 800 sq ft property in Tseung Kwan O. The 28-year-old is paying about HK$35,000 (US$4,480) a month for her new home, compared with HK$28,000 previously.
The neighbourhood in Hang Hau offered what she considered the most…

Viral video of Chinese man extracting gold from SIM cards triggers sales boom

A man in southeastern China who extracted 191 grams of gold from discarded SIM cards has sparked a sales frenzy.
However, the man has warned of the serious safety risks involved in the process.
Known online as “Qiao”, the man hails from Huizhou, Guangdong province, and specialises in refining precious scrap metal.

On January 20, he posted a video showcasing his gold refining process, which gained more than five million views.
In the clip, Qiao pours used SIM cards into barrels filled with…

Hong Kong’s public expenditure growth cannot exceed revenue rise: Paul Chan

Hong Kong’s public expenditure growth should not exceed that of its revenue despite signs of improving finances, Paul Chan Mo-po has said, while noting that the market expects increased government investment to speed up economic development.
But the financial secretary on Sunday also painted a rosy picture for the city’s retail sector, revealing that sales figures for December, set to be released on Tuesday, would show that growth was continuing to rise.
The value of total retail sales in…

Hong Kong’s SHKP rolls out 350 Sierra Sea flats after sell-outs in world’s priciest market

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hong Kong’s largest developer by market capitalisation, puts another 350 units on sale in its Sierra Sea project after four rounds of sold-out flats in January, reflecting returning buyer appetite in the world’s most expensive property market.
The batch at phase 2B included 244 two-bedroom and 106 three-bedroom units, with discounted prices ranging from HK$4.6 million (US$590,000) to HK$9.74 million, according to sales documents released on Wednesday. The average…

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

Myanmar’s junta called for ex-civil servants who quit their jobs in protest over the coup five years ago to report back to work, pledging to remove absent state employees from “blacklists” on Sunday.
After the military snatched power in a coup on February 1, 2021, tens of thousands of public workers, including doctors and government administrators, left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.
Some found private employment, while others joined pro-democracy rebels defying the military in a…

Hong Kong road accident scam reports double to over 70 in a week: Chris Tang

The number of suspected scams involving unusually high and belated compensation claims for minor or non-existent traffic accidents in Hong Kong has doubled to more than 70 in less than a week, according to the security minister.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told a radio programme on Sunday that the increase was recorded after publicity efforts by the force.
Authorities on Tuesday said they had recently received reports of drivers facing sudden massive civil claims, long after…

China’s deflation near-miss isn’t the economic story of 2025

China did not slip into outright deflation last year and that in itself matters. When weak global demand, geopolitical frictions and a prolonged property correction weighed heavily on sentiment, consumer prices stayed marginally positive. The latest data suggests an economy not in free fall but navigating a transition towards more balanced and sustainable growth, albeit at a subdued pace.
December’s inflation figures underline this point. Consumer prices rose by 0.8 per cent year on year, the…

Saudi Arabia set to redraw economic road map as megaprojects scale down

Almost a decade after launching the Vision 2030 programme to diversify its oil-dependent economy, Saudi Arabia is redirecting its spending away from attention-grabbing futuristic urban projects into sectors that hold more promise to deliver results.
Since last year, the programme has undergone a review following a US$8 billion writedown at the end of 2024. The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has scaled down glitzy projects significantly, such as the US$500 billion 170km (105 mile) long…

Chinese man crafts equine figure from 2,600 metres of aluminium to celebrate Year of the Horse

A man in China has used more than 2,600 metres of aluminium thread to weave a horse ornament as a gesture to welcome the Year of the Horse.
The golden figurine is named Mythical Horse Embracing Auspiciousness according to its creator, Yang Guang.
Its front two legs are lifted high, two back legs stand on the ground and its head is turned back. The animal’s saddle and the bridle are vibrant in colour.

Yang, an aluminium artist based in Qingzhou of Shandong province, eastern China, told the media…

In China, is ‘family’ becoming a legal shield for rape?

It started out as a family reunion story but soon took a darker turn.
A 45-year-old woman, identified only by her surname Bu, had lost contact with her family for more than a decade. She was found in late 2024 in a rural area in Heshun county in the central Chinese province of Shanxi, more than 100km (62 miles) from her home.
Bu had an advanced university education but she also had a history of mental illness, and the discovery that she had given birth to several children with a villager raised…

‘Technical issue’ forces Hong Kong-bound Cathay flight to return to Kaohsiung

A Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific flight had to return to Kaohsiung after take-off on Sunday morning due to a technical problem, with around 200 passengers affected.
A Cathay Pacific spokesman confirmed flight CX449 returned to the Taiwanese city shortly after departure due to an unspecified “technical issue”.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank our customers for their understanding and patience,” the spokesman said.
The flight took off from Kaohsiung at 7.46am on…

How Marius Hoiby went from living in Norway royal family’s ‘gilded cage’ to alleged rapist

Marius Borg Hoiby, the son of Norway’s future queen from a previous relationship, was initially welcomed into the royal family, but now, facing trial accused of four rapes, he has become a liability.
The 29-year-old, who was born before his mother Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby married Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, goes on trial in Oslo’s district court on Tuesday accused of 38 counts, including four rapes and assaults against ex-girlfriends.
He was arrested on August 4, 2024, suspected of assaulting…

End of an era as US, Russia prepare to exit final nuclear arms treaty

Come Thursday, barring a last-minute change, the final treaty in the world that restricted nuclear weapon deployment will be over.
New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is set to expire, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers.
The expiration comes as President Donald Trump, vowing “America first”, smashes through international agreements that limit the United States, although in the case of New START,…

‘Optimus chain’: Chinese suppliers form the backbone of Tesla’s humanoid robot initiative

Elon Musk wants to bring the production of its Optimus robot to the US amid electric carmaker Tesla’s plan to pivot towards manufacturing humanoids, smart machines that could one day serve as part of the workforce at American factories.
That ambitious initiative, however, was expected to remain dependent on China’s vast and fast-developing robotics supply chain into the foreseeable future, even as the final assembly of Optimus would be established in the US, according to analysts and industry…

A tale of two cities: Singapore, Hong Kong and their contrasting paths

In a new memoir No Borders: Journeys Across Islands And Continents, renowned historian Wang Gungwu traces his life across Malaya, London, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, sharing both personal anecdotes and perspectives on the changes in China and the modern world. In the excerpt below, Wang reflects on his impressions of Singapore after arriving from Hong Kong with his wife Margaret in the 1990s, the differences between the two cities, and his work on contemporary China with Singapore’s…

Book on Guandan, China poker-like game, accepted into Harvard Library; nation’s premier is a fan

The English version of a book about the popular poker-like Chinese card game Guandan has been accepted by libraries at top universities in the United States.
The acceptance marks a milestone in efforts to spread knowledge about the game to the world.
The Essence of Guandan, or Guandan Xin Fa in Chinese, was written by Yu Mingyang, an economics professor from the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

Its Chinese version was published in 2023, with the…

India calls Modi’s Israel visit mention in Epstein email ‘trashy ruminations’

India’s government dismissed a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel made by Jeffrey Epstein in an email in 2017.
The US Justice Department released 3 million pages of material related to the late financier, a convicted sex offender, on Friday.
In an email addressed to a Y. Jabor in July 2017, Epstein referred to Modi’s trip to Israel, saying the Indian prime minister “took advice. and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president. They had met a few weeks…