Man arrested over suspected spiked drink

RTHK - Nov 3, 2026

Police have arrested a 61-year-old man suspected of adding an unknown substance to a 33-year-old woman's drink at a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui. Police received a report just before 5am on Sunday that a woman had fallen ill after drinking a beverage at a bar on Mody Road, with suspicions that the drink had been spiked. She was conscious and taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment. The Yau Tsim Criminal Investigation Support Team took up the case and made the arrest in Central on Monday. The man is being held for further questioning on suspicion of administering poison with intent to harm. Japanese former adult film star turned DJ, Mao Hamasaki, has said she fell ill after having a drink that she said had been tampered with during a Halloween event. Edited by Tony Sabine

Read full article

More News

OpenAI executive urges caution in China-US AI talks, warns of distillation threats

A top OpenAI executive said on Monday that Washington needs to be “clear-eyed” and “aware” about sharing information with Beijing during coming talks on artificial intelligence (AI), while also warning about the threat posed by alleged Chinese distillation attacks. “Be very clear-eyed. Be very aware of what information you are able to expect in return for what you are sharing, and start to build a foundation,” said Caroline Zier, OpenAI’s deputy lead for national security, during a discussion at...

OpenAI executive urges caution in China-US AI talks, warns of distillation threats

US midterm elections 2026: all you need to know

Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, in midterm elections that could reshape the final two years of Donald Trump’s second term as president. Control of both chambers of Congress is in play, along with 36 governorships. Polls suggest Democrats go into the vote with an advantage, but the outcome will hinge on a few dozen closely fought races. More than 100 million people are expected to vote if turnout matches the 2022 midterms. By October 12, a record US$3.8 billion had been spent on...

US midterm elections 2026: all you need to know

Will ‘strategic stability’ with China go out the window if Trump loses the midterms?

US President Donald Trump is likely to continue on a path of trying to stabilise ties with Beijing – even if the Democrats flip the House of Representatives, according to analysts. But they said if the Republicans lost control of the House in this week’s midterm elections, the framework of “strategic stability” agreed to by Washington and Beijing could be put to the test. One Chinese academic warned that other Republicans could pose the biggest risk to Sino-American ties in Trump’s final two...

Will ‘strategic stability’ with China go out the window if Trump loses the midterms?

Long delays for Hong Kong court cases demand urgent action

Justice delayed, it is often said, is justice denied. If that is true, many court users in Hong Kong are being failed by the system. Those involved in criminal cases at the Court of First Instance must wait 358 days on average for the hearing, the judiciary revealed last week. The figure for the District Court is 354 days, way above the court’s 100-day target. This is a cause of concern. The glacial process has prompted the Law Society to call for drastic measures. Justin Yuen Hoi-ying, chairman...

Long delays for Hong Kong court cases demand urgent action

US midterm elections: Trump ends campaign, calls Democrats ‘most dangerous ever’

US President Donald Trump ended the midterm campaign season on Monday by calling the Democratic Party’s candidates the “most extreme and dangerous” in American history, the day before voters decide which party controls Congress. Speaking at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, which reopened after a renovation by his administration, Trump called the elections “the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime”. “These are the most dangerous candidates ever put up,” he...

US midterm elections: Trump ends campaign, calls Democrats ‘most dangerous ever’

As AI solves maths puzzles faster than humans, mathematicians face uncertain future

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now solving maths puzzles that have long stumped humans, prompting mathematicians around the world, including in China, to ponder not only whether machines will replace them, but also what achievement and research in their field will mean in the future. In early October, OpenAI released manuscripts showing progress on 372 categories of mathematical problems, including many which have long defied solutions. This week, the American AI firm announced three further...

As AI solves maths puzzles faster than humans, mathematicians face uncertain future

Northern Metropolis land clearance linked to surge in stray animals, study finds

Over 40 per cent of stray animals taken in by shelters in Hong Kong in the first half of the year came from the Northern Metropolis development area, a study has found, with volunteers warning that more than 1,000 face abandonment as land resumption accelerates. The Animal Welfare Advocacy Alliance, which released the findings on Monday, called for a review of euthanasia policies, the relaunch of a “trap-neuter-resettlement” programme, and the introduction of a positive duty of care for...

Northern Metropolis land clearance linked to surge in stray animals, study finds

How Xi Jinping and Communist Party elders shaped key plenum document addressing wrongdoing

Retired cadres were consulted during the eight-month drafting of a landmark document on building China’s Communist Party endorsed at a major political meeting in Beijing last week, according to state media. A detailed account published by Xinhua on Monday gave a behind-the-scenes look into how the 20th Central Committee finalised its resolution on “persevering with full and rigorous party self-governance”, adopted at the fifth plenum, which ended on Thursday. The 17,000-Chinese character,...

How Xi Jinping and Communist Party elders shaped key plenum document addressing wrongdoing

Legal body’s new Hong Kong office targets developing Southeast Asian economies

An international legal body’s new regional office in Hong Kong aims to help developing Southeast Asian economies and promote the wider use of uniform commercial law across the Asia-Pacific, its secretary general has said. Ignacio Tirado, secretary general of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), said its new Asia-Pacific Liaison Office was receiving financial support from the Hong Kong government and seeking additional sponsors. He was speaking after the...

Legal body’s new Hong Kong office targets developing Southeast Asian economies

Echoes of Rome in ancient China? What Beijing’s 1,800-year-old ship find reveals

Three ancient wooden boats unearthed in Beijing and dating back about 1,800 years offer new evidence of shipbuilding technology and cultural exchanges between ancient China and the rest of the world, according to researchers. The researchers unveiled details of “the first physical evidence of ancient inland water transport” in the Chinese capital at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Beijing Public Archaeology Season on Saturday, according to an official social media account of the Beijing...

Echoes of Rome in ancient China? What Beijing’s 1,800-year-old ship find reveals

‘Queen of the Chinese’, drone war fears, cancer drug on sale: 7 US-China relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. The ‘Queen of the Chinese’ and a forgotten history on the US-Mexico border Interest in the history of the Chinese community in the Lone Star State is growing. “There’s a real resurrection in understanding the influence of the Chinese in Texas,” Linda Chew, a retired judge in the US state’s...

‘Queen of the Chinese’, drone war fears, cancer drug on sale: 7 US-China relations reads

China’s EDA champion buys start-up to address weak link, support Huawei’s Tau Scaling Law

Empyrean Technology, China’s top provider of electronic design automation (EDA) tools, plans to acquire a majority stake in a domestic start-up, reinforcing Beijing’s drive for tech self-sufficiency and bolstering support for Huawei Technologies’ semiconductor ambitions. The Beijing-based firm said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing on Sunday that it would acquire a 50.38 per cent stake in Easy-Logic Technology for 218.8 million yuan (US$33 million). Once completed, the start-up would be...

China’s EDA champion buys start-up to address weak link, support Huawei’s Tau Scaling Law

Recommended