Newborn Town, a little-known mainland Chinese company focused on social apps for markets outside China, wants to help people hook up in the metaverse.After launching beta testing last November, the Hong Kong-listed company released more details on Thursday about a feature called Meta Town, that will be incorporated into its dating app Yumy.The app has had over 30 million worldwide downloads since launching in early 2021, with some of the best performing markets being Egypt, United Arab Emirates…

China, Iran and Russia have carried out three days of joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman, their second such exercise since 2019.“China sent the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, the comprehensive supply ship Taihu, ship-borne helicopters and 40 members of the Marine Corps of the PLA Navy to take part in the drills,” the defence ministry in Beijing announced on Thursday.The exercise, held from Tuesday to Thursday, aimed to demonstrate the capability of the three nations to “jointly safeguard…

Beijing has responded to reports that a missing Indian teenager was “abducted” by Chinese forces in a disputed border area by saying China remained committed to combating border trespassing.With the territorial row between the two countries continuing into another year, Indian media reported on Thursday that 17-year-old Miram Taron from the disputed Arunachal Pradesh, or Zangnan – “South Tibet” as China calls it – was kidnapped by the Chinese army.Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on…

Malaysian police have said they will seal off major thoroughfares and suspend services in 24 metro stations around downtown Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to prevent a mass rally against the country’s under-fire anti-graft chief, with officials warning the demonstration is “against the law”.Civil society groups and the youth wings of major opposition parties had planned a protest at 11am on Saturday to call for the immediate resignation of Azam Baki, the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti…

A survey in South Korea found that two-thirds of respondents sided with the United States in its rivalry with China, with only 4 per cent favouring Beijing.Asked which country they supported in the growing rivalry, 68 per cent chose the US, in a survey commissioned by the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper and conducted by the Asia Research Institute at Seoul National University.As for which country was expected to come out on top in the great power competition, 54 per cent said the US, against 12…

Former district councillor Lester Shum has apologised to the court for calling on others to take revenge against Hong Kong police for the death of a university student near the site of a clearance operation during the social unrest in 2019.Through his defence counsel Albert Wong, Shum admitted to civil contempt of court on Friday, and also apologised for publishing a Facebook post which suggested the force had “murdered” Chow Tsz-lok, a 22-year-old student who died after falling off a car park…

Adele has postponed a 24-date Las Vegas residency hours before it was to start, citing delivery delays and coronavirus illness in her crew. The chart-topping British singer said she was “gutted” and promised to reschedule the shows.In a video message posted on social media, a tearful Adele said: “I’m so sorry but my show ain’t ready.”“We’ve tried absolutely everything that we can to pull it together in time and for it to be good enough for you but we’ve been absolutely destroyed by delivery…