Hong Kong’s sole legal betting operator had earmarked HK$1 billion (US$127.7 million) and hired 180 people to develop a basketball wagering system, but will now take a financial hit after the government announced this week it was halting plans for its roll-out, a source has said.
The source close to the Hong Kong Jockey Club told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that it had already invested HK$400 million for preparatory work, including setting up a dedicated basketball betting system,...
China and Vietnam should stand together against unilateralism and protectionism and jointly counter global challenges, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam’s top leader on Wednesday, as energy concerns intensify amid the Iran conflict.
“Both sides should uphold the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes, jointly oppose unilateralism and protectionism, safeguard the global free trade system and keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded,” Xi said,...
Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to enhance the city’s governance in public security and safety, and carry out systemic reform following the deadly Tai Po fire, describing it as a key task in safeguarding national security.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s remarks came after Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, said people with “ulterior motives” had exploited the city’s deadliest blaze in decades to stir up social unrest and called for vigilance against national...
US President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns that the ongoing war on Iran will derail his coming visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo aired on Wednesday, Trump said he did not think the war would change the dynamic of his coming visit to China.
“[Xi is] somebody that needs oil. We don’t,” he said.
Trump said he exchanged letters with Xi, asking that China not to give weapons to Iran. “He wrote a letter saying that...
Japan has said it will establish a financial framework worth about US$10 billion to help Asian countries procure energy resources and bolster their stockpiles as Middle East tensions drive prices higher and disrupt supply chains.
The support, aimed at preventing knock-on effects on Japan’s own supply chains, would be channelled mainly through state-backed financial institutions such as Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.
Announcing the plan on...
A Chinese deep-sea mission has successfully tested an advanced device capable of cutting through underwater structures such as submarine cable at a depth of thousands of metres.
The “Haiyang Dizhi 2” research vessel completed its first deep-sea scientific mission of 2026 last Saturday, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The expedition included a cutting test of a deep-sea electro-hydrostatic actuator at a depth of 3,500 metres (11,483 feet), using technology that has drawn attention...
As Islamabad prepares to host a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran, Pakistani mediators are seeking ways to extricate the Gulf monarchies from the conflict, according to a well-placed diplomatic source.
While the success of those efforts depends largely on the outcome of talks that US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday could resume by the end of the week, Pakistan’s mediation has produced a second confidence-building phone call in a week between the Iranian and...
Russia can help China and other nations weather energy supply disruptions stemming from the war in Iran, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
“Russia can, without a doubt, compensate for the shortfall in resources that has arisen”, Lavrov told reporters in response to a question about the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. He also said that Chinese-Russian ties are “unshakeable in the face of any storms”.
Lavrov confirmed that Russian...
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Vietnamese leader To Lam are the latest world leaders to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid global trade tensions and the war in Iran.
Xi also this week met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The president of Mozambique arrives in China this week as well.
US President Donald Trump delayed his trip to China to May 14-15 in order to focus on the conflict in the Middle...
Amid escalating turmoil in the Middle East and mounting global uncertainty, Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged China and Russia to elevate their strategic partnership to new heights by deepening “all-around cooperation” and reinvigorating the authority of the United Nations.
During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing on Wednesday, he cast the growing bilateral relationship as a stabilising force in a volatile world, rooted in history, driven by strategic...
In a rare public protest in Singapore, hundreds gathered in Hong Lim Park over the weekend to denounce the “US war machine”. They brandished placards and banners, including one with horns drawn on US presidents past and present captioned: “This is what terrorists look like.”
The demonstration, which required organisers to get permission from the authorities, came as public sentiment in the region sours against Washington. Observers attribute this to the perception that the US has become...
A breakthrough in India’s nuclear power research has been hailed as a defining moment for the country’s energy programme and a step towards self-reliance.
Earlier this month, Indian scientists revealed they had achieved criticality, a state of self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, at the Kalpakkam prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) in Tamil Nadu state.
The programme promises to harness India’s abundant thorium reserves, which constitute around 25 per cent of global deposits, advancing its...
We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Tesla outraces China’s BYD in pure electric car sales to regain world’s top spot
Tesla has regained the global pure electric vehicle (EV) crown for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2024, after its deliveries rose 6.5 per cent year on year in the three months ending March.
2....
A leaked plan to grant the US military sweeping overflight access to Indonesia’s airspace has triggered a domestic backlash over concerns that Jakarta is “colluding with the aggressor” amid Washington’s war on Iran.
Analysts say the defence document, first reported by New Delhi-based newspaper the Sunday Guardian, raises concerns that President Prabowo Subianto may be trading away Indonesia’s strategic independence.
The proposal, which reportedly emerged following a meeting in February between...
DBS Bank (Hong Kong) has agreed to pay about HK$2.62 billion (US$334 million) for six floors at The Center – once the world’s most expensive skyscraper – marking the city’s largest office transaction so far this year.
The lender acquired the 26th, 32nd, 36th, 37th, 56th and 76th floors late last month, with the deal registered on Tuesday, according to Land Registry records. The purchase adds 151,934 sq ft of gross floor area, DBS said in a statement on Wednesday.
The price works out to roughly...
American views on China have softened ahead of a high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in May, with positive sentiment nearly doubling since 2023, a survey by the Pew Research Centre has found.
While a significant majority of Americans still regard China as a competitor to the US rather than a partner, fewer call the world’s second largest economy an adversary than in 2025, according to the survey, which was conducted in March and released on...
Just over a month has passed since the first missiles of Operation Epic Fury killed, on the very first day, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 150 schoolgirls and school staff, and most of Iran’s military (40) and political leadership and days since a precarious ceasefire went into effect. The attacks have not only destroyed vital infrastructure More
I was born in the American South in 1942 “in the land of the free and the home of the brave” (as the final stanza of the national anthem puts it). Francis Scott Key wrote those words in 1814. However, they were not true then, or in 1942, or today in Donald Trump’s all too reactionary More
With the war on Iran partially paused, this might be a good time to turn to the war on crypto. Everyone knows crypto, that giant cesspool masquerading as an alternative currency or a great investment opportunity. As many of us have pointed out, the idea that Bitcoin would ever be an alternative currency was close More
Last week, President Trump threatened Iran’s 93 million people with annihilation. This week, we’ve largely moved on, if only to keep up with the whipsawing events of the Iran War – now paused, or maybe not, hit refresh on Trump’s social media page to find out. But I’m still stuck in last week. Maybe because More
Prologue: threatening civilization Pope Leo XIV criticized the delusions of omnipotence that US and Israel display in fighting their illegal and immoral war against Iran. Trump even threatened Iran with extinction. On April 7, 2026, he said: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, More
A lot of people argue that we Brits should stop obsessing over the United States. After all, we have enough on our plate, not least energy bills set to jump another 20% in July, and a right-wing press determined to see the back of Keir Starmer. But for all our domestic troubles, we are not—yet—the More
The reality of empire “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Position the imperial death star, commands the demented emperor. Fortunately, Trump almost immediately did a TACO from his April 7 message, pulling back with announcement of a two-week ceasefire with Iran. No doubt, the implications of an apocalyptic attack More
Over the weekend, vice president J.D. Vance sojourned to Islamabad to negotiate an end to the Iran War. Given that the U.S. and Israel sabotaged the two previous negotiations with the Persian nation, Iran had good reason to be skeptical. It was correct. The U.S. diplomatic amateurs utterly failed to understand who has the upper More
As the recently announced truce between the U.S.-Israel and Iran hobbles along, one must wonder if the two-week cease-fire will hold, let alone lead to a genuine, long-term peace agreement. Among the numerous initial stumbling blocks is Iran’s claim that the ceasefire agreement covers Lebanon, while the U.S. and Israel insist it does not cover More
Are The Terminator, The Matrix and other such films entertainment, or are they prophecy? With the fast progress of artificial intelligence over the last few years, that’s become a real question of real concern to real people. Out at the edges of the opinion bell curve, we have “doomers” on one end and extreme “optimists” More
Israel’s spy chief pledged more covert efforts to try to topple Iran’s government, a tacit acknowledgment the countries’ conflict would continue even as the US pursues a new round of peace negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
David Barnea, the head of Mossad, said Israel had not expected that its bombardment of Iranian military, nuclear and infrastructure sites, waged in concert with the US, would be enough to end Iran’s 47-year-old clerical-led rule.
“Our mission has yet to be completed,” he...
Major General Feng Yufang, a leading missile scientist with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, died on Monday at the age of 63, according to state media and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
The official CAE website confirmed that Feng, one of its academicians, died on April 13. Although it did not give a cause of death, an article by state media outlet China Daily on Tuesday stated that he died of illness.
With a career spanning nearly 40 years in military equipment...
Britain’s King Charles will have tea and a private meeting with President Donald Trump during his US state visit later this month, as the UK government hopes his “soft power” can heal a damaging rift between the allies caused by the Iran war.
The monarch and his wife Queen Camilla head across the Atlantic on April 27, a four-day trip ostensibly to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain but one that now has far greater significance amid a growing spat between Trump and Prime...
Hong Kong authorities should consider the impact of technological developments when drafting policies, observers have said, noting the government’s decision to halt plans for basketball betting reflected a lack of thorough discussion.
Their remarks on Tuesday followed the government announcing the suspension over concerns about new “prediction market” gambling while warning that it was illegal for Hongkongers to bet on sports events on such trading platforms.
An amendment bill to the Betting...
As the US imposes its own blockade on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of talks with Iran at the weekend, we take a look at how major economies in Asia and Europe could be affected by further restrictions on passage through one of the world’s most critical choke points for energy supplies.
Who is most vulnerable in this energy crisis?
According to a recent report by Japanese investment bank Nomura, the regions most exposed to the tensions in the Persian Gulf are Asian...
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports is not a tactic to force China to pressure Iran into a peace deal, according to analysts.
Rather, the US aimed to end the war through showing its maritime supremacy over the world’s most vital energy chokepoint, they argued.
Washington began to enforce the blockade on Monday, drawing threats of retaliation from Tehran.
It remains unclear how fully the blockade can be enforced. The US Navy currently has at least 15 ships in the region, including an aircraft...
After more than 20 hours of high-level negotiations in Islamabad, US Vice-President J.D. Vance confirmed that Washington and Tehran were walking away without a deal. Iran reportedly refused to accept US terms on its nuclear programme, laying bare the deep strategic divides that continue to stall diplomatic solutions to the conflict.
However, the venue tells a larger story. India has long been seen as South Asia’s most globally networked actor and has maintained ties with Washington, Tel Aviv,...
The fest opens Thursday with "It Would Be Night in Caracas" at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Lincoln Park. The lineup features films from more than 20 Latin American countries — including four from Chicago filmmakers.
Young has advocated for police raid reforms. Her appointment to the Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability needs City Council approval.
Serve Robotics is apologizing to West Town neighbors after one of its robots smashed through the glass at a bus shelter in March. A company spokesperson said its devices are now treating bus shelters "with additional caution."
US President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, will accompany the president on his trip next month to China, a spokeswoman for the family organisation said on Tuesday.
Two sources earlier said members of Trump’s family, including Eric, were considering joining Trump on his highly anticipated May 14-15 visit, potentially to contribute to US-China business relations.
The spokeswoman said that Eric, who manages his father’s business empire, would go in a personal capacity.
“Eric...
Brazil will require foreign partners to process rare earth minerals domestically as a condition for access to its reserves, a senior government official said this week, setting terms that could reshape how Chinese and Western firms compete for resources the country has long exported raw.
“Our doors of Brazil to foreign investment are open, but our position has matured,” Leonardo Durans, a senior official at Brazil’s industry ministry, said at a press conference with international media on...
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