Chinese police have dismantled more than 1,000 gangs and detained about 8,200 suspects, just 10 days after the country’s top security official announced a year-long campaign against organised crime. The Ministry of Public Security said on Monday that the crackdown focused on crimes that had evolved into “more covert” forms and spread rapidly online. “New types of crimes such as online predatory lending, soft-violence debt collection … coerced consumption and online harassment have become major...

A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader ⁠Bashar al-Assad ⁠to death on Tuesday ⁠after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against ‌Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters...

China has detained several Japanese nationals, including top executives of companies with offices in China, for allegedly violating export restrictions on dual-use goods, Japanese newspaper The Mainichi said, citing multiple sources. Dual-use items comprise goods, software and technologies with both civilian and military applications, including critical minerals essential for manufacturing drones and advanced semiconductors. The detentions follow a string of enforcement measures, including the...

Amid widespread store closures by foreign fast-fashion players in China, US apparel brand Gap is defying industry headwinds. It plans to open 50 new stores in mainland China this year and return to Hong Kong by year’s end, following a localisation overhaul that has attracted more Chinese consumers. This expansion comes at a time when the world’s second-largest consumer market faces sluggish overall retail sales, with brands such as Zara and H&M scaling back their number of stores. With Gap...

The cremations of the victims of the Debsirin school shooting in the Thai province of Nonthaburi had barely begun when another body was added to the country’s rising toll from gun violence. On Monday morning, a former MP for Nonthaburi fired four rounds at a local official inside a car – then calmly strode away, the pistol tucked back into his belt. Police Colonel Thongchai Yenprasert was shot over an alleged money dispute by 71-year-old Chalong Riewrang, a three-time lawmaker with deep...

A South Korean actress has apologised for the controversy surrounding her great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese ties during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, a day after calling the accusations “groundless”. “After further checking, we have confirmed that records of great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho being listed as a councillor of the Daejong Chinmokhoe in 1916 actually existed,” Anh Ha-young’s agency Bistrus Entertainment said on Tuesday, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. “We sincerely apologise for...

Power supply and air-conditioning disruptions across parts of Hong Kong have left residents sweltering in the extreme heat, with outages occurring at a housing estate, an office building and even a funeral home. In Yuen Long, about 2,400 households in Shui Pin Wai Estate and the surrounding area were left without power after an underground cable developed a fault at around 4am on Tuesday. Writing on social media, one resident said: “I cannot believe I have to live without electricity in Hong...