Principal arrested in China after allegedly beating boy, 7, so severely he later died in hospital from brain damage
The principal of an early education centre in southern China is arrested after allegedly beating a boy to death for breaking a no-running rule then covering it up by claiming the 7-year-old ‘fell’. ⌘ Read more

Philippines: Making a splash in the ‘mermaiding’ subculture that’s got fans hooked worldwide
People are finding peace and acceptance in the tranquil pastime, ‘Everyone can be a mermaid!’ Filipino mermaiding and free-diving teacher says. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong police arrest unemployed man over indecent assault of 12-year-old girl at park toilet
The 56-year-old accused the girl of breaking a swing, then lured her to a toilet where he allegedly molested her, says police. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: Hong Kong logs over 1,000 cases for ninth day as Macau shuts gaming hubs, restricts eateries to combat surge in infections
Health officials in Hong Kong confirm 1,650 Covid-19 cases, including 128 imported infections, and one additional death ⌘ Read more

Obesity among Hong Kong children increased during coronavirus pandemic due to unhealthy lifestyle, survey shows
Number of overweight or obese children aged between nine and 13 rises from seven per cent to 24 per cent. ⌘ Read more

EU leaders to set war-torn Ukraine on road to membership
European leaders were expected to formally accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU, a bold geopolitical move triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ⌘ Read more

Don’t bring cannabis to Indonesia, Thai embassy tells tourists
Thailand became the first Asian nation to decriminalise cannabis earlier this month. But tourists caught smuggling it into Indonesia could face the death penalty. ⌘ Read more

Russian TV protester Marina Ovsyannikova in exile says caught in ‘information war’
When Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova stormed a live TV broadcast to denounce the war in Ukraine, she expected a backlash from Russia – but not so much from the rest of the world. ⌘ Read more

Amid record-breaking floods in China, premier calls for stepped up disaster control and relief
Executive meeting of the State Council told more extreme weather predicted and everything must be done to ensure ‘safety of people’s lives and property’. ⌘ Read more

Shenzhen tightens Covid-19 controls with 48-hour negative test result required to use public transport after three new cases found
Shenzhen residents will need to present negative nucleic acid test results issued within 48 hours to take the subway, or travel by taxi and other public transport, according to a government notice issued on Thursday. ⌘ Read more

Afghanistan earthquake: Rescuers race to save trapped survivors as UN, US and EU offer help
Desperate rescuers battled against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble after a powerful quake struck a mountainous border region of Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people. ⌘ Read more

Ghislaine Maxwell deserves 30-55 years in prison: US prosecutors
The 60-year-old British socialite was convicted in December of sex trafficking and other crimes after a month-long trial. ⌘ Read more

Polio back in UK after virus detected in London sewage samples
Health officials in Britain warned parents to ensure their children have been vaccinated against polio after the virus that causes the disease was found in London sewage samples. ⌘ Read more

Exclusive interview: Hong Kong’s leader-designate John Lee says ‘I am a pragmatic person’ and ‘I will be open to everybody’
In a wide-ranging interview, John Lee describes his approach to governing, his views of the civil service and the priorities of his incoming administration. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia’s palm oil output recovery hopes dashed as fertiliser, worker shortages persist
Fertiliser prices surged over the last year on logistics snarl-ups and the Ukraine war while an intake of foreign labourers was approved, there’s a prolonged delay in getting them. ⌘ Read more

BN(O) scheme: more than 8,500 Hong Kong students estimated to have applied for school places in Britain since September, according to UK report
Influx attributed to BN(O) scheme offering pathway to citizenship, with Nottinghamshire getting the most applications. ⌘ Read more

China child abuse: three teachers detained after viral video emerges of two toddlers with their hands tied behind their backs
Police in eastern China detained three teachers after a video emerged of two toddlers being held with their hands tied behind their backs. ⌘ Read more

Are Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong expats still living the dream? Burnout, stress and loneliness rife since Covid-19, survey says
Almost 12,000 expatriates around the world were interviewed, including in the Asia-Pacific region, for a well-being survey. 95 per cent of ‘top managers’ in Singapore mentioned burnout symptoms while almost half the Hong Kong respondents were planning to return home. ⌘ Read more

G7 pledges to counter ‘state-driven censorship’ and help protect journalists
‘Around the world, journalists face harassment and violence for their work, and press freedom is being restricted online and offline,’ say media ministers from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain. ⌘ Read more

US Capitol riot hearings to take break as new evidence floods in
Lawmakers investing the January 6 attack have received a glut of new video footage of Trump and his family from a documentary filmmaker. ⌘ Read more

Long Covid: children can have lingering symptoms but the chances are low, study finds
Team in Denmark found children who had been infected were more likely to have experienced at least one symptom for two months or longer than those who had not. ⌘ Read more

To keep up with China, Pentagon must cut red tape and embrace latest technology, top US official says
Beijing has recognised importance of producing ‘more of the high-technology goods they want in their own economy’, says Defence Innovation Unit chief Michael Brown. ⌘ Read more

Russian troops ‘executed’ photographer in Ukraine, press group says
Reporters Without Borders says Maksim Levin was probably killed by one or two gunshots from close range, while evidence suggests his friend Oleksiy Chernyshov may have been burned alive. ⌘ Read more

Russia’s Sergey Lavrov in Iran to discuss nuclear deal, cooperation
Two countries – both under Western sanctions and sitting on some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves – had earlier discussed swapping energy supplies. ⌘ Read more

‘It can create life’: Chinese team claim stem cell breakthrough in mice study
Researchers say they turned one type of stem cell into another that can develop into all types in the body. ⌘ Read more

How the US can help end Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
Afghanistan faces a severe food and humanitarian crisis, with deaths expected to outstrip those during the 20-year war. If the US has concerns that aid funding will leak to the Taliban, it should work with UN agencies to carry out badly needed relief activities. ⌘ Read more

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall are getting a divorce, US media report says
The split is unlikely to alter the ownership structure of businesses he holds stakes in, including the parent companies of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal. ⌘ Read more

Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee promises more aggressive approach to countering ‘fearmongering and badmouthing’ by city’s critics
Incoming chief executive will attend November’s Apec summit in Bangkok, send delegations overseas to ‘tell the true Hong Kong story’. ⌘ Read more

Incoming leader John Lee working on strategy to reopen Hong Kong border with mainland China, may reduce quarantine for arrivals
John Lee concedes scrapping curbs may take time to achieve but says his administration can set interim goals towards that end. ⌘ Read more

Saudi crown prince visits Türkiye for first time since Jamal Khashoggi murder
An analyst called it ‘one of the most significant visits to Ankara by a foreign leader in almost a decade’, as the two major rivals seek to revive ties. ⌘ Read more

Joe Biden’s trade chief Katherine Tai calls China tariffs ‘significant’ leverage
Tai says removing the duties is likely to have a limited effect on inflation, indicating she is pushing for the president to maintain tariff pressure on Beijing. ⌘ Read more

Japan raps China, Russia warships’ ‘show of force’ during Asean meeting
Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi warned against such actions, calling them ‘sabre-rattling tactics’ against his nation, and expressed concerns about Chinese warplanes in Taiwan’s air zone. ⌘ Read more

Chinese rights advocate Xu Zhiyong on trial for state subversion amid secrecy and tight security
Xu’s sister reports being taken away by unidentified men in the middle of the night and denied necessities for nine hours before her brother’s trial. ⌘ Read more

False Covid positives leave more than 130 people stranded overnight at Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
Only three infections confirmed upon verification, after on-site service provider Sunrise Diagnostic submits ‘abnormal’ 136 positive results. ⌘ Read more

US-China relations: Beijing has own ‘trade weapons’ to counter Xinjiang ‘forced labour’ law
China has the power to take countermeasures against Washington’s ‘arbitrary’ forced labour law, including imposing its own trade bans and suing the US at the World Trade Organization, experts say. ⌘ Read more

Indonesia deports Japanese Covid fraud suspect – US$7.3 million in government funds stolen
Mitsuhiro Taniguchi is accused of taking part in a fraud scheme that netted several million dollars in government funds intended for small Japanese businesses affected by coronavirus. ⌘ Read more

Uneasy times for Hongkongers making their home in mainland China
Rising Chinese nationalism and distrust after the city’s social unrest have left some Hong Kong people with an identity crisis. ⌘ Read more

Senior Beijing official with over 30 years’ experience in Hong Kong affairs appointed to deputy role in nation’s top advisory body
Zhang Xiaoming, former executive deputy director of state-level Hong Kong office, made deputy secretary general of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. ⌘ Read more

At BRICS forum, China’s Xi Jinping takes aim at West over Russia sanctions
Sanctions politicise and weaponise the economy, Chinese president says in video address. ⌘ Read more

Microsoft supports Hong Kong start-ups in partnership with Science Park, Cyberport
More than 40 local start-ups have joined the programme, including AI-powered marine trash-collecting robot maker Clearbot and algorithmic trading marketplace AlgoBot. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong Palace Museum can help foster sense of national identity among residents, outgoing leader says
Chief Executive Carrie Lam says venue could also act as ‘cultural connector’ by showcasing Chinese culture, history for rest of the world. ⌘ Read more

Cash-strapped Pakistan scores IMF financial aid win – but millions of people may face ruin, analysts say
Analysts say energy price hikes after renewal of IMF support package may push many more people into poverty and wreak havoc among 5.2 million small and medium-sized businesses. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob unveils more handouts for low-income families as Najib, Anwar take aim at rising prices
Payments will be disbursed along with 1.11 billion ringgit to be handed out in the second of four tranches of direct aid budgeted for this year. Announcement came hours after the opposition threatened a mass demonstration. ⌘ Read more

Owner of Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant could claim compensation if vessel had been insured, analysts say
Experts say owner could seek compensation for total loss, but that it might leave vessel in South China Sea as salvage costs would exceed ship’s market value. ⌘ Read more

Coronavirus: French face Covid-19 upsurge, other Europeans see increase
French vaccination chief said there was no doubt about an upsurge as daily new cases reached 95,000. Other European countries are also seeing an increase. Centre being built centre in Britain to develop vaccines against new variants. ⌘ Read more

Quirky China: woman stops washing hair to avoid baldness, lost mother finds missing daughter by chance, man gives mouth-to-mouth to drunk friend
Quirky China: a man insisted on giving drunk friend mouth-to-mouth, a lost woman asked for directions only to find her missing daughter and fearing baldness a woman takes internet advice and stops washing hair. ⌘ Read more

Tech war: Shenzhen recruits Japanese semiconductor heavyweight as China moves to challenge US, Korean dominance in memory chips
A Shenzhen memory chip start-up has named Japanese industry veteran Yukio Sakamoto as its chief strategy officer, the latest sign of China’s ambitious efforts to challenge US, Korean dominance in DRAMs. ⌘ Read more

Myanmar minister joins Asean defence meeting as junta shifts Suu Kyi trial to prison
More than 600 civic groups appealed against inviting General Mya Tun Oo, accusing him of complicity in violence by Myanmar’s military as it seeks to crush opposition to its seizure of power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. ⌘ Read more

China’s electricity demand soars as heatwaves bake northern, central provinces
Millions reach for the air conditioner as temperatures approach 40 degrees Celsius, while floods continue to swallow southern region. ⌘ Read more

China inflation: Li Keqiang says ‘prudent’ economic policy, bumper wheat harvest leaves room to tackle risks
Premier Li Keqiang says China has refrained from ‘excessive’ money printing in recent years to prevent inflation and create room to counter new challenges. ⌘ Read more