Ten countries – including the “Five Eyes” allies – have called for an immediate end to “unjust prosecutions” under Hong Kong’s national security law after opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was jailed for 10 years, while the government has urged foreign forces to stop their “baseless malicious attacks”. The foreign ministers of the 10 countries issued a joint statement on Friday, a day after the High Court sentenced Wong over his role in a global campaign to instigate sanctions against...

The European Union and the United States plan to revive talks about China after a two-year hiatus, according to multiple people familiar with the planning. The dialogue had stalled since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, but after being approached by Washington, talks are expected in the first week of December, despite the deterioration in transatlantic relations in the meantime. The once-regular forum was used to discuss areas of shared concern with regard to Beijing. During Joe Biden’s...

Thomas Markle, the father of Prince Harry’s wife Meghan, was arrested on Friday morning by federal agents in Florida on charges related to child sexual abuse material, people familiar with the matter said. The people who confirmed his arrest were not authorised to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Markle, 82, was taken into custody at the retirement home where he lives near Tampa. The arrest comes after a stash of child porn was allegedly found at...

Bomb threats warning “the clock ⁠is ticking” were sent to TV stations across Europe on Friday, prompting evacuations and programming to be suspended. Warnings were sent to Irish broadcaster RTE, Britain’s Sky, Bulgarian private station Nova TV and others, the companies said. No bombs were found at any affected site. RTE programmes were replaced by music and a pre-recorded ‌message, some for as long as three hours. The alerts follow a string of hoax bomb threats that has disrupted passenger...

Hong Kong’s yacht industry is seeking to attract more buyers and visitors from mainland China under a new cross-boundary travel scheme, but relatively high berthing costs could pose a challenge, industry representatives have said. Industry leaders, exhibitors and visitors gathered in Discovery Bay on Friday for the fourth edition of the Lantau Yacht Club Boat Show, which runs until Sunday. The show featured more than 30 vessels, including superyachts and models from international brands such as...

Employment in the United States grew by 165,000 jobs in October, far exceeding analysts’ expectations, with the unemployment rate dipping to 4.1 per cent, government data showed on Friday. The relatively stable labour market has allowed the US Federal Reserve – which has a dual mandate to maintain inflation at a long-term 2 per cent target while ensuring maximum employment – to make fighting stubbornly high prices its priority. The strong October data could add to pressure for further rate...

A massive data breach that affected several airlines across Asia has underscored the need for industries in the region to revisit their reliance on third-party suppliers, analysts have said, warning that more critical infrastructure may soon be affected. Last week, a wave of airlines reported that customer information was accessed in a data security breach involving Spanish software provider Amadeus. Several of these breaches involved information found in booking details, including flight data,...