World

A total of 32 people, including more than a dozen frontline bank staff, have been arrested in a joint operation by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency and police for scamming HK$140 million (US$18 million) in government-backed preferential loans. The operation, code-named Momentum, involved bribes totalling HK$500,000 paid to 13 frontline employees across 10 banks, principal investigator Grace Yee Hin-lai of the …

Robert Williams was just 25 when he became the first person in the world to be killed by a robot. He was working at the Ford Motor Company casting plant based in Flat Rock, Michigan on January 25, 1979, and on the day of his horrifying death was working with a parts-retrieval system. The machine helped to move castings and other …

The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament has posted a video showing the Ukrainian flag being taken down from the building, while declaring that Prague would put its national interests first. Tomio Okamura, the leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, released the clip on Thursday. “Czech Republic first,” he said as the flag was lowered. “Keep …

China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, entered into service on Wednesday at a grand ceremony held in Sanya, Hainan, according to state media reports. The Fujian is China’s most advanced warship and its first aircraft carrier to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults. Its inauguration makes China only the second country, after the United States, to operate a carrier with this …

Vladimir Putin will have to sacrifice between 500,000 and one million men if he wants to seize all of the Donbas region of Ukraine, according to a top military analyst. Professor Michael Clarke believes Russia has already suffered more than one million casualties – that is, dead and seriously injured – since the war began in February 2022. Russia currently …

Russian lawmakers increasingly push for a nationwide prohibition on e-cigarette sales, calling them “liquid poison” Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled support for a proposal by public health advocates and lawmakers to impose a complete ban on the sale of vapes across the country. During a visit to a sports and education center in Samara on Thursday, the head of …

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called critical minerals a key priority as he hosted the leaders of five Central Asian nations at the White House, emphasising his administration’s efforts to expand and secure US supply chains through new global agreements. The meeting with leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan came as Washington seeks to expand its influence …

The National Games’ unprecedented tripartite hosting arrangement is a calculated strategy, showcasing the Greater Bay Area’s synergy while mitigating the substantial financial and logistical burdens on any single host city, according to experts. “It is more of a political move to showcase the Greater Bay Area integration and the practicality of utilising each city’s resources,” said Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, senior …

Soviet troops expelled the invaders from the “mother of all Russian cities” on November 6, 1943 Russia commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Kiev from Nazi forces on Thursday, marking a key victory in the Battle of the Dnieper and one of the most symbolically significant moments of World War II. The operation to retake the …

The US president has announced a new deal that would lower the price of some weight loss medications A representative of pharmaceutical industry collapsed in the Oval Office on Thursday as members of US President Donald Trump’s administration were announcing a new deal for weight-loss medications. The man was standing behind Trump during the event when his knees appeared to suddenly …