World

Hong Kong authorities plan to open up more public museums for commercial and private hiring to boost revenue, the culture minister has said, pointing to the use of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for events such as the Met Gala. Secretary for Culture, Sport and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui on Sunday expanded on proposals announced in last week’s annual …

Vietnamese pop star Duc Phuc, who won this year’s Intervision song contest in Moscow on Saturday, has announced plans to donate part of his 30-million-ruble prize (around $358,000) money to charity. The Hanoi-born artist won the Vietnamese version of The Voice in 2015 and has since released many hits in his home country, where he is widely recognized for his …

Hong Kong’s leader has ruled out introducing a suspension mechanism for the city’s labour importation scheme or fining employers for abusing the policy, amid calls to further tighten labour rules to mitigate rising unemployment in some sectors. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that the city was undergoing an economic transformation, but locals facing job challenges must also …

He added: “I don’t love it – I don’t like when that happens.” The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Russia is “intensifying its efforts to test NATO’s defensive capabilities and resolve by violating NATO members’ safety zones in the air domain”. Amid his stark warning to the Kremlin, Mr Healey also wrote in the Mail on …

Metropolitan Tikhon said the assassinated US activist inspired many young Christians to stand up for their beliefs Charlie Kirk’s life inspired Christians to stand up for their beliefs, an influential cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church has said. Kirk, a popular US conservative podcaster and organizer, was assassinated by a sniper on September 10 while speaking at a college in …

The UK is set to make history, as it will formally recognise Palestine as an independent state, it is understood. Sir Keir Starmer is expected to make the announcement on Sunday, after he previously indicated that the government would do so back in June, unless Israel complied with a list of set conditions. The prime minister had called on Israeli …

US President Donald Trump’s push to retake Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, framed as a response to China’s nuclear build-up in Xinjiang, risks destabilising an already fragile region and could once again turn the war-torn nation into a flashpoint in the US-China rivalry, observers warn. The historic Soviet-built base is located roughly 70km (43 miles) north of Kabul and less than …

The prime minister warned that reliance on other nations is detrimental to the national economy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country’s true enemy is not another nation but dependence on foreign powers. Speaking at an event in Gujarat, where he launched maritime projects worth over $40 billion, Modi said India is “progressing with the sentiment of being a …

Golaj is a village in northwestern Albania with a population today of around 4,000 and just a ten-minute drive from the town of Has. In recent years the community has seen most of its young people leave in search of a better life. The only jobs available in the village tend to be low paid ones in farming or roadside …

The White House issued a major clarification on Saturday to its new H-1B visa policy that had rattled the tech industry a day earlier, saying a US$100,000 fee will be a “one-time” payment imposed only on new applicants. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had repeatedly said on Friday that the fee would be applied annually, but a White House official …