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

New US Senate bill proposes expansion of Taiwan military aid
The legislation sends ‘a clear message to Beijing not to make the same mistakes with Taiwan that Vladimir Putin has made in Ukraine’, says one of its authors. ⌘ Read more

US musician reunited with stolen 262-year-old violin
MingHuan Xu’s 1760 Gagliano was recovered undamaged, along with another violin made by Oliver Radke in 1994 and her son’s half-size cello. ⌘ Read more

Boris Johnson makes surprise Ukraine visit, says Russia taking heavy losses
The British PM pledged to train Ukrainian soldiers to use new military equipment with a programme that could ‘change the equation of this war’. ⌘ Read more

Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee finalises cabinet line-up, submits list to Beijing for consideration
John Lee pledges to announce the list once it receives the green light from Beijing. ⌘ Read more

Chinese scientists want to build a powerful telescope to find dark matter
The ambitious project – known as VLAST – aims to achieve 10 times the sensitivity of Nasa’s Fermi Large Area Telescope, but it still needs government approval. ⌘ Read more

Fukushima disaster not state’s fault, Japan top court decides
Ruling leaves Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, solely responsible for slightly over US$10.5 million in damages in four lawsuits. ⌘ Read more

G20 to raise US$1.5 billion for global pandemic fund, host Indonesia says
The money will finance efforts such as surveillance, research, and better access to vaccination for lower-to-middle income countries, health officials said. About US$1.1 billion has been pledged so far. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong Town Planning Board rejects proposal to switch 2 prime sites at former Kai Tak airport from commercial to housing use
Keeping the commercial plots would be good for the city’s long-term economic development, some board members said. ⌘ Read more

China, US gas trade increase could help lift relations from ‘worst in history’, ex-official says
Growing energy trade between China and the US could form a ‘community of shared interests’, according to Zou Ji, amid strained ties between Beijing and Washington. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong health experts propose 5 key groups, including animal care workers, be vaccinated against monkeypox before exposure
Pre-exposure jab considered for five target groups, but should not be given within four weeks before or after a Covid-19 vaccine is administered. ⌘ Read more

NetEase’s new game Diablo Immortal banned from new posts on Weibo just a week before hotly-anticipated release
Diablo Immortal ’s Chinese version is due to be launched on PC, iOS and Android devices on June 23. ⌘ Read more

Malaysian lawyers’ ‘walk for judicial independence’ gets off on the wrong foot
Hundreds of lawyers, angry about ‘anti-corruption’ probe into judge who convicted former PM Najib Razak in 1MDB scandal, were unable to begin protest walk as police blocked two car park exits. ⌘ Read more

Climate change: Hong Kong government must step up efforts to develop EV charging infrastructure to meet 2050 carbon-neutral goal, panel hears
Hong Kong needs to inject greater urgency into efforts to develop electric-vehicle charging infrastructure to keep up with soaring sales and meet its 2050 carbon-neutrality goal. ⌘ Read more

Tesla’s Elon Musk sued by investor in ‘toxic’ workplace discrimination accusation
The lawsuit accuses the defendants – Musk, 11 Tesla board members and the company – of failing to address and remedy the red flags concerning internal reports of discrimination and harassment. ⌘ Read more

Chinese mRNA booster fights Omicron 4 times better than inactivated Covid-19 vaccines, researchers say
AWcorna vaccine produced 4.4 times more Omicron antibodies than for those boosted with Sinovac, scientists behind clinical trial write in Cell Research journal. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong Palace Museum previews opening shows featuring national treasures loaned by Beijing
Ahead of its opening to the public on July 2, the US$450 million museum gives a preview of three of its nine inaugural exhibitions, including national treasures loaned by the Palace Museum in Beijing. ⌘ Read more

Candidates running for Hong Kong arts body will need to get nominations from powerful Election Committee to ensure ‘national security elements’ addressed
Change will bring the Arts Development Council poll in line with others held under Beijing’s ‘patriots-only’ electoral shake-up, the Home Affairs Bureau says. ⌘ Read more

China hit by floods, heatwaves and a tornado, with more weather misery on the way
Severe storm and flooding alerts go out in seven southern regions, with central and northern China to see extreme heat continuing into next week. ⌘ Read more

China must ‘optimise’ zero-Covid policy or firms will be ‘unwilling to invest’, says ex-finance minister
China’s former finance minister Lou Jiwei says Beijing must fine-tune its response to the latest Omicron outbreak to restore investor confidence and arrest flagging economic growth. ⌘ Read more

South Korea’s BTS band break taboos but are seen by many as doing more abroad to battle discrimination than at home. Why?
The group is often criticised for speaking out more overseas than in their own country, but supporters say the seven are constrained by a conservative society and managers’ ‘fear’ of repercussions. ⌘ Read more

EU backs Ukraine’s membership bid as war brings huge historic shift
Ukraine EU candidacy signals major change in European geopolitics – ‘Europe can create a new history of freedom’ President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Leaders of EU countries are expected to endorse the decision at a summit next week. ⌘ Read more

Chinese President Xi Jinping to host virtual BRICS summit
The event takes place in the shadow of Russia’s war in Ukraine and Moscow is keen to develop links with other emerging economies after being hit by sanctions. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong protests: provision deeming zip ties ‘fit for unlawful purposes’ can be interpreted broadly, prosecutor argues in top court
People can be caught for carrying a pen to forge signatures, senior prosecutor argues. ⌘ Read more

UK approves US extradition of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange
British interior minister Priti Patel’s decision does not mean the end of Australian-born journalist’s legal battle, which has been going on for more than a decade. Assange is wanted by the US on 18 counts. ⌘ Read more

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Tangshan restaurant attack suspect was wanted by Chinese authorities over previous crimes
One of the man accused of attacking women in a restaurant was named as a fugitive in court records over a previous assault. ⌘ Read more

On Taiwan’s frontline islands ‘life goes on’ as jets scream overhead
In the sleepy fishing towns, many locals are sanguine, despite the frequent PLA fighters flying over the Taiwan Strait. ⌘ Read more

WWII sex slave issue looms large over South Korea’s ties with Japan ⌘ Read more

Father-of-2 labours as a decorator by day and a chauffeur by night to make 7 deprived kids’ lives better
Big-hearted Chinese man holds down two jobs for nearly a decade so he can provide for his own family – and seven more disadvantaged children. ⌘ Read more

Chinese PLA’s invasion of Taiwan: at hand or too costly to consider?
Taiwan’s rough terrain, heavily fortified islet outposts and Beijing’s own concerns about mass casualties and image might deter assault, say experts ⌘ Read more

Japan’s new tougher cyberbullying laws prompted after Hana Kimura’s suicide sparks free speech debate
Anyone convicted of using abusive language to insult a person in a public setting, including online, now face up to one year behind bars or a fine of up to US$2,236. Previously, a conviction could have led to a maximum prison term of 30 days or a fine of US$75. ⌘ Read more