Polls began closing across the United States on Tuesday evening in midterm elections that will decide whether US President Donald Trump’s Republicans keep control of Congress, after a day of voting disrupted by floods and machine glitches but largely free of the problems many had feared. The first polls closed at 6pm Eastern Time (7am Hong Kong time), with most states following over the next several hours. The last state to close polls will be Alaska, at 1am Eastern Time (2pm Hong Kong time)....

Amid continuously escalating tensions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday accused a handful of Philippine politicians of “egregious, irrational and intolerable” conduct, urging Manila to rein in their anti-China rhetoric, state media reported. Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro, as China-Philippines relations were currently facing what he described as “malicious interference”, according to Xinhua. “Some Philippine...

Hongkongers moving to the United Kingdom under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme will be exempt from plans to double the qualifying period for settlement to 10 years, according to an official announcement. But they will still face stricter English-language requirements and tighter rules on criminal records, alongside existing conditions such as completing five years of continuous residence and passing the Life in the UK test. British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday outlined...

Last week, Somaliland, a breakaway region that declared independence from Somalia in 1991, welcomed its first ambassador from Israel. Diplomat Michael Lotem presented his credentials in Hargeisa, while officials laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy. The ceremony, announced by Israel’s foreign ministry on Sunday, formalised a relationship that began with mutual recognition in December. Somalia, the African Union, Arab states and China strongly oppose the move, reaffirming Somaliland as...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China warns EU not to ‘fantasise’ on trade approach after ‘kill switch’ threat Beijing warned Brussels not to “fantasise” that taking a hard line will force it into concessions, as the bloc confirmed plans for a gung-ho new “kill switch” that would allow Brussels to “immediately” kick China...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Air China scrambles to fly stranded passengers out of fuel-starved Cuba As a US oil embargo deepened Cuba’s energy crisis, dozens of Air China passengers found themselves stranded on the island. Read the full story here. 2. Paraguay tech minister defies Beijing sanctions, vows to...

Zhang Shengmin, China’s most senior uniformed general, met Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov in Beijing on Tuesday in his first publicly reported meeting with a foreign official since he became a member of the Politburo. Zhang, the vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), pledged to deepen military cooperation and strategic coordination with Russia during the meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. He was elected to the Politburo last week at a key Communist Party...

Hong Kong could be in store for its first real taste of autumn early next week, with temperatures forecast to dip below 20 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) as a strong northeast monsoon approaches the Guangdong coast. The Hong Kong Observatory said the monsoon would bring windy conditions to the region over the weekend, with offshore areas and high ground expected to experience strong winds at times on Saturday. Temperatures across southern China were expected to fall between early and midweek...

A Chinese court has begun hearings in a defamation case filed by authorities and institutes in Beijing and Wuhan against the US state of Missouri over accusations tied to Covid-19. In a notice on Monday, the Wuhan Intermediate People’s Court said it held a hearing on Friday and legal proceedings were continuing. The case was jointly filed on April 30, 2025 by the Wuhan government in Hubei province, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and its subordinate entity, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV),...

US artificial intelligence giant Anthropic’s initial public offering prospectus has exposed a vast profitability gap between it and rivals Z.ai and MiniMax, highlighting the challenges facing China’s AI model developers in turning technological advances into sustainable businesses. The Claude developer’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week revealed a significant financial advantage over its most direct Chinese counterparts, despite the latter’s continued...

China appears to be testing a stealthy new trimaran at sea, according to a photograph circulating on social media, in what could be a further effort to develop unconventional naval platforms. The image first emerged on Weibo on Sunday and appears to show a vessel featuring an inverted wave-piercing bow, three-hull design and angular superstructure surfaces that could be intended to reduce its radar signature. The vessel, which is fitted with a prominent antenna mast and multiple dome-shaped...

Five Hong Kong universities have been ranked among Asia’s top 10, with three of them in the top five for the first time in more than a decade and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) retaining its No 1 spot, according to an annual UK survey. Meanwhile, three universities in mainland China were ranked in the top 10. Peking University held on to second place, Tsinghua University leapt from ninth to third and Fudan University dropped from fifth to sixth, giving the mainland two universities in the top...

Think you can steer a drone using nothing more than your own concentrated thoughts? It may sound like science fiction, but mind-controlled drone-flying is one of the free activities the public can take part in at the upcoming Being Human Festival in Hong Kong. Running from November 5 to 15, the festival is the first Hong Kong edition of the UK’s national festival of the humanities, which was founded in 2014. Organised by the University of Hong Kong (HKU)’s Faculty of Arts under the theme...

China has pledged to work with Pakistan to advance “high-level security cooperation” and ensure the safety of a joint flagship infrastructure project that has become a target for terrorists. That was the message Liu Haixing, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, conveyed in talks with Pakistan defence forces chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, as part of his first official visit to the South Asian country since taking office just over a year ago. In...

Hong Kong journalists may have to rely on judicial reviews if the government refuses to provide land records under a proposed new system, although authorities have vowed to simplify applications and deliver records in as little as one to two working days. Officials made the pledge on Tuesday as lawmakers raised concerns over possible restrictions on media access during the first meeting of a Legislative Council subcommittee examining eight pieces of subsidiary legislation for the proposed land...

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will launch its first free, district-based dementia screening programme next year, using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered retinal imaging to detect early signs of cognitive decline in 2,700 older residents within two years. The programme will be implemented in Wong Tai Sin, which has one of the highest proportion of elderly residents among Hong Kong’s 18 districts. Participants identified as being at risk will be paired with volunteers to receive...

Hong Kong homeowners’ pushback against proposals to limit proxy votes and restrict meeting attendance to relatives has prompted authorities to study alternatives to resolve estate management issues behind the deadly Tai Po fire. In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Tuesday, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau revealed the findings of its month-long public consultation on amendments to the Building Management Ordinance, part of proposed reforms after the Wang Fuk Court fire that...

A People’s Liberation Army air defence unit has for the first time intercepted two new types of missile simultaneously during a drill – including one that made a sudden change of direction, according to state television. The CCTV report on Monday said it was a rapid response operation by the ground-based Shenwei Missile Battalion – under the PLA Central Theatre Command Air Force – which is equipped with Hongqing surface-to-air missiles. It did not disclose the type of missiles intercepted or any...

China’s embassy in Papua New Guinea has disputed reports that a suspected Chinese-made artillery shell was found in a shipping container in Port Moresby, saying the object was instead a shell-shaped wine bottle. The embassy said in a social media post on Tuesday it was awaiting the official findings of an investigation by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC). It cited an on-site verification by a company involved in the case, which said the object was a wine bottle. “It poses no...

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng said that building Hong Kong “remains a key strategy for China” as he outlined four ways for the city to boost its long-term prospects and support the country’s development. The city should strengthen its role as a centre for international finance and the offshore yuan market, promote high-quality economic and social development, support technological innovation and align with China’s 15th five-year plan, he said in a video address to the Global Financial Leaders’...

Hong Kong’s economy grew by 5.2 per cent year on year in the third quarter, marking its 15th consecutive quarter of expansion, while retail sales rose by 6.4 per cent in September. For the first three quarters combined, the economy expanded by 5.1 per cent, its fastest growth for the period in five years, advance estimates released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday showed. This compared with increases of 4.2 per cent in the second quarter and 5.9 per cent in the first. On a...

Hong Kong will launch a 30,000-place youth employment and internship programme in the first quarter of 2027. Before applications open, the government should decide what it is buying: a temporary increase in headcount or a durable increase in professional capability. The distinction matters because the entry-level labour market is already changing. According to an annual survey by Baptist University, the starting-pay advantage of bachelor’s degree holders over sub-degree graduates narrowed by 17...

This article was first published on November 4, 2011. China a step closer to building its own space station by Stephen Chen Encouraged by yesterday (November 3, 2011) morning’s historic rendezvous and docking of the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft, Chinese authorities said construction of a space station will begin as soon as 2013. “We will do two more rendezvous and docking flights next year,” said Wu Ping (武平), spokeswoman for the manned space programme, at a press conference in Beijing yesterday....

An anticancer drug developed by Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical took centre stage in a late-breaking oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid last week. Researchers said the drug, iza-bren, showed a significant advantage over platinum-based chemotherapy in a phase 3 randomised, double-blind clinical trial conducted at 73 hospitals in China and involving 432 patients with advanced lung cancer. The median progression-free survival (PFS) – the length of...

Beijing says it will introduce extra measures, as needed, to bolster Hong Kong as an international financial centre, with Vice-Premier He Lifeng pledging continued support in a speech on Tuesday. Delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the 2026 Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong via video link, He said finance was the most important leg of the city’s “four centres and one highland” agenda and stressed that using the advantages of the “one country, two systems”...

Travellers flying from Hangzhou or Wuhan to overseas destinations via Hong Kong on different airlines can have their baggage checked through to the final destination under a newly launched service that aims to streamline connections between mainland Chinese cities and other countries. Under the new one-stop service that launched on Tuesday, travellers departing from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport or Wuhan Tianhe International Airport will not need to check in their baggage again when...

Hong Kong’s transport authorities have launched an investigation into a four-hour outage of the parking meter system that affected about half of all machines across the city and have ordered operator HKT to submit a report. The Transport Department also said that motorists who paid for parking during the outage between 8.20am and 12.15pm on Tuesday would receive a refund. The department said preliminary investigations showed that a system software update conducted in the early hours of Tuesday...

China’s “Lipstick King” has traded make-up swatches for artificial intelligence. Top live-streamer Li Jiaqi on Monday evening teamed up with an executive from Alibaba Group Holding to pitch AI subscriptions, selling nearly 100,000 monthly packages in just 30 minutes, according to data provided by the e-commerce giant. The broadcast on Taobao and Tmall – Alibaba’s largest domestic online marketplace – marked the first time generative AI products have taken centre stage during the annual Singles’...

A Hong Kong district councillor has been sentenced to 2½ years in jail for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 2011, with the judge noting he had shown no remorse towards a victim he claimed to have loved. District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi on Tuesday noted that Sei Chun-hing, a 39-year-old Yuen Long district council member, was aware of the “red line” of having sex with a minor when they started dating in October 2010. At the time, she was 13 and Sei was 23. Chan noted that,...

The United States has attacked an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of covert, limited strikes ahead of the US midterm elections, as President Donald Trump signalled progress in talks with Tehran and mediators continue pushing for dialogue. A Chinese analyst said Washington faced no urgency to negotiate with an anxious Tehran, with the outcome of the midterms and Trump’s strategy still undecided. Iran’s Qeshm Island was struck on Monday, The Wall Street Journal...