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1. China dials down rhetoric but regional risks persist at Shangri-La Dialogue

   The world faces challenges from “hegemonism” and “bloc confrontation” driven by “certain countries”, China’s delegation to Asia’s premier security conference said on Saturday, without directly naming the United States. Major General Meng Xiangqing, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, sent the warning during a special session on managing threats to...

2. Sri Lanka’s top monk suspended over alleged child sex abuse

   Sri Lanka’s Buddhist hierarchy suspended on Saturday a senior monk accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl, in a high-profile case that has shocked the religiously conservative nation. In a rare disciplinary move, 71-year-old Pallegama Hemarathana was stripped of his responsibilities as the chief custodian of a highly venerated ficus grown from a sapling of a tree believed to have...

3. Hong Kong charity calls for foster carers from diverse backgrounds to ease backlog

   Hundreds of vulnerable children in Hong Kong are waiting for temporary homes, a local charity has said, urging more households from diverse backgrounds to step forward as demand for foster placements continues to outstrip supply. Mother’s Choice said on Saturday that 222 children remained on the official waiting list for placement, adding that single carers made up nearly 10 per cent of foster...

4. US agency goes back to the future to take on China’s Belt and Road Initiative

   The US agency set up to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative is blending national security with development finance to try to secure a critical minerals supply chain, according to analysts and officials. Created in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first administration, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) puts its money into private-led projects rather than those...

5. Japan PM vows ‘breakthrough’ with North Korea in abduction issue

   Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday expressed her determination to achieve a “breakthrough” in resolving the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, vowing to weigh all options, including summit talks. At a rally in Tokyo calling for the return of Japanese abductees, Takaichi urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to take a “courageous step” together for the...

6. 5 villagers trapped in flooded Laos cave freed after 10-day ordeal

   Five villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos have been freed, ending a 10-day underground ordeal that relied on expert cave rescuers racing against time to guide the group through flooded passages before fresh rains further complicated the mission. Hugs, cheers and tears met four of the group who emerged thin and muddied on Saturday afternoon to be quickly wrapped in foil blankets to...

7. Scheme allowing Hong Kong drivers to enter Guangdong province extended to 2031

   The popular scheme allowing Hong Kong vehicles to travel north to Guangdong province has been extended by five years, mainland Chinese authorities have announced, as the initial three-year period is set to expire. Under the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme, eligible private car owners in Hong Kong can drive into Guangdong via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge without a mainland...

8. China launches AI framework to improve ‘black box’ transparency and raise standards

   China has pledged to improve the accuracy, reliability and transparency of AI through a new national evaluation framework, as policymakers move to establish common standards for assessing the fast-evolving technology. New guidelines released by the central government said Beijing would create a common yardstick for AI, allowing models, computing power and data quality to be measured and compared...

9. Chinese archaeologist who discovered 5,000-year-old city pleads guilty to corruption

   Liu Bin, a Chinese archaeologist credited with discovering a vast 5,000-year-old prehistoric city that rewrote the history of Chinese civilisation, has pleaded guilty to taking bribes and embezzlement. The celebrated academic, who discovered the Liangzhu ruins – a Unesco World Heritage site in eastern China’s Zhejiang province – and long oversaw its excavation and heritage nomination, accepted...

10. Dead humpback whale Timmy brought ashore on Danish island for postmortem

    The body of a dead humpback whale known as “Timmy” has been brought ashore on the Danish island of Anholt, where experts hope a postmortem examination will shed light on how it died. A live streaming by the News5 broadcaster showed a vehicle slowly dragging the bloated carcass out of the shallow water by a rope onto the beach on Saturday morning, leaving behind a deep furrow in the sand. The...