Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has charged a police superintendent over allegedly accepting a HK$1 million (US$127,599) bribe from a businessman, disclosing internal information and arranging for his younger brother to act as a scapegoat in speeding cases. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Tuesday revealed the charges against Leung Ka-man, 52, as well as his girlfriend and younger brother. According to the commission, Leung faces four charges: conspiracy for a public...

A free-trade agreement signed between India and New Zealand has marked yet another regional push towards diversification and away from overdependence on major powers. The deal, which comes after 15 years of on-and-off negotiations, gained urgency in recent weeks as Indian exporters contend with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and steep American tariffs that have rattled supply chains. New Zealand for its part has been pursuing a strategy to reduce dependence on China, its largest trading...

Battery makers and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers have seized on the Beijing Auto Show to showcase technologies promising shorter charging times in a race triggered by BYD and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL). Fast-charging technology has dominated the floor at the 10-day event which runs until May 3. Second-tier Chinese battery suppliers including CALB Group, EVE Energy and Sunwoda unveiled products capable of boosting power to 70 per cent, from a starting point of 10 per cent,...

A 21-year-old man from central China, whose greatest wish is for his parents to stop having more children, sells pork to support his six younger siblings. In April, Sun Pan, from Shaoyang in Hunan province, captured national attention for shouldering family responsibilities as the eldest son. According to the mainland media outlet Jimu News, his 18-year-old second sister suffered a childhood fall that disabled her right arm and his youngest brother, born this year, was diagnosed with Down...

Herman Susanto and Dwi Aksan were heading from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to the satellite city of Cikarang after a long day at work on Monday when disaster struck. Susanto, the head of the Indonesian Workers’ Federation, and his colleague, Aksan, were in the third carriage of a commuter train crammed with workers going home at around 9pm when it stopped to let passengers alight at Bekasi Timur station. The two men had hoped to rest before they reached their final stop, but instead, they found...

Foreign forces are using social media to spread the notion that young Chinese people should be “lying flat” and not working hard as they seek to undermine China’s development, the country’s top anti-espionage agency has warned. The Ministry of State Security cautioned that anti-China forces were trying to magnify social anxiety by continuously “promoting negative notions” that effort was futile and hard work made no gain. The intention was to “erode the spirit of perseverance among China’s youth...

Hong Kong’s exports rose by nearly 36 per cent year on year in March – the sharpest rate in more than five years – backed by what authorities described as “strong global demand” for AI-related electronic products and outpacing last month’s growth despite trade disruptions. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the total value of exports of goods rose by 35.8 per cent to HK$618.4 billion (US$78.9 billion) in March compared with the same month in 2025. Imports rose by 41.2 per cent to...