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Port of LA, key US point for China imports has best-ever quarter despite trade uncertainty

The Port of Los Angeles, the largest container port in the United States and the country’s leading gateway for imports from China and other Asian countries, had its busiest three-month period on record from July through to September, despite persistent uncertainty over tariffs and shifting global trade supply chains. “If there was ever a time for a drum roll, this is it,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, during a media briefing on Friday. “July through September...

Trump says US to get diesel from Russia in stunning bid to ease prices

President Donald Trump said that he has struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of US pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. Trump said on social media on Friday that he struck the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump announced that Russia will immediately supply more...

Omani Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash plane into Israeli airport, UAE says

An Omani Flydubai co-pilot had intended to seize a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight and crash it into a terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on September 30 in a suicide attack before he ‌was thwarted by the captain, the UAE attorney general said on Friday. Attorney General Hamad Saif al Shamsi’s statement did not appear to implicate Flydubai in any wrongdoing and contained the most detailed account yet from prosecutors about what they believe to have happened. Flydubai was not immediately available for...

US slaps sanctions on ICC, hours after ex-judge wins Nobel

US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies. The court denounced the move as an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order” and called on its 125 member states to take action to defend it. “The court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the...

Hong Kong lawmakers back 5-year plan as firms urged to align with blueprint

Hong Kong’s legislature has passed motions supporting the city’s first five-year plan and thanking Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu for his latest policy address, while Beijing’s top representative in the city urged mainland Chinese enterprises to align themselves with the government’s blueprint. At the close of a three-day Legislative Council debate on Friday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki thanked lawmakers for their suggestions, saying they would help improve governance. “The process of...

Developer of One Stanley pledges 6-year warranty and checks amid steel bar probe

The developer of One Stanley has offered flat owners a six-year structural warranty and free independent property inspections amid an investigation into suspected steel reinforcement deficiencies at the seaside luxury residential development in southern Hong Kong. K Wise, a subsidiary of One Stanley developer K&K Property, addressed the brewing scandal on Friday, a week after allegations of substandard work were reported by a local property media outlet, issuing a statement outlining remedial...

Travel agencies tout Huanggang Port tours, but security chief urges later visits

Hong Kong travel agencies are offering tours featuring “five-minute clearance” at the revamped Huanggang Port when it opens on Monday, but the security chief has urged those who do not need to use the crossing immediately to delay their visits. Three days before the port’s official opening, the South China Morning Post on Friday found a number of tour packages advertised on social media that promoted the redeveloped border checkpoint as a new attraction for trips to mainland China. An...