Hong Kong’s efforts to boost the number of newborns in the city should be considered in the context of talent retention relating to Hong Kong’s liveability. When the Census and Statistics Department reported in August that births in Hong Kong had fallen by an annualised 15.6 per cent to a historic low of fewer than 30,000, it injected a sharp sense of urgency into public discussions as Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu prepared to deliver his policy address. The government addressed concerns with...

The Houthis launched a deadly missile attack on Thursday on the presidential palace in the Yemeni government’s interim capital of Aden, as Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the recent dramatic escalation in the long-running war. Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised government it backs in Yemen have come under sustained Houthi attack of late, shifting the focus of the wider Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. The Iran-backed Houthis have seized swathes...

Trade between Brazil and China reached a record US$143 billion in the first nine months of the year, driven by Brazilian oil sales that surged after the war on Iran disrupted Gulf supply, according to a report by the Brazil-China Business Council. Brazilian exports to China rose 12 per cent to US$84.7 billion between January and September, while imports from China grew 9.9 per cent to US$58.6 billion, the council said in its quarterly analysis of government data. The resulting US$26.1 billion...

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife on Thursday carried out their first joint engagement since their surprise move back to the UK in August, with Meghan telling well-wishers: “It’s great to be back.” King Charles’ 42-year-old younger son and Meghan, 45 – who left Britain and quit royal duties in 2020 amid a bitter royal family feud – were greeted with cheers as they arrived in the central English city of Nottingham. The couple then stopped to chat and joke with the crowd as well as pose for...

Hong Kong authorities have uncovered alleged corner-cutting and false declarations involving fire-safety components in a contractor’s replacement of 48 lifts at two public housing estates. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said on Thursday that surprise inspections had found serious deficiencies in projects carried out by Taizoom Elevator (Hong Kong) at Tsui Ping (North) Estate in Kwun Tong and Pok Hong Estate in Sha Tin. It said 39 lifts replaced between May 2025 and July this...

Brussels is open to developing a powerful new trade weapon that could contain a kill switch that would quickly eject Chinese companies from the EU market, the bloc’s national leaders were told during a top level meeting in the Belgian capital on Thursday. There was broad support among the 27 members for such a tool, first laid out in a French-German joint paper last week, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signalling that her trade team could get to work on developing it,...

Former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro insisted on Thursday during an appearance in a New York court that torture allegations in a rewritten drug-trafficking indictment against him and his wife were “false accusations”. Maduro, shackled at the ankles, was brought to court to face the new charges accusing the couple of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein entered a “not guilty” plea on behalf of...