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1. US-Iran direct talks hours away: first since strikes began 6 weeks ago

   Direct peace talks between the United States and Iran are due to begin in Pakistan with the US delegation led by Vice-President J.D. Vance expected to arrive in Islamabad shortly. The Iranian delegation, headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, landed in Islamabad early on Saturday for what will be the first direct negotiations since the war...

2. Asia’s ‘panicked farmers’ brace for a looming rice crisis post-Iran war

   Harvest-ready rice fields are lying idle and farmers are deciding whether to skip planting for the coming season, as spiking fuel and fertiliser costs from the war in the Middle East hit one of the world’s biggest rice-growing regions. Across Southeast Asia, tens of millions of smallholders are struggling to find affordable crop nutrients as well as the diesel needed to run tractors, irrigation...

3. Hong Kong’s listing reform 2.0: can it outshine global rivals for innovative firms?

   Fang Liu, a partner at global law firm Clifford Chance, counts among his clients many technology companies that are keen to list in Hong Kong, but find the current requirements cumbersome. Clifford Chance has helped more than a dozen innovative companies raise funds under the new listing regime since 2018, when Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) introduced reforms for pre-revenue biotech...

4. Was Penang ‘robbed’ from Kedah? Malaysian states face off in sovereignty row

   Penang, the Malaysian state long marketed as the Pearl of the Orient, is better known today for its hawker food, colonial-era streetscapes and the multicultural life of George Town, whose historic core won Unesco World Heritage status in 2008. When Francis Light, a British merchant, landed on Penang on August 11, 1786, he took possession of the 293 sq km (113 square-mile) island on behalf of the...

5. China has mapped out a third new county in Xinjiang. Why?

   China has established a third new county in its Xinjiang region, this time along vital transport routes linking the country to South and Central Asia. Analysts said the move underscored Beijing’s focus on governance and security along its far-flung western borders. Sitting in southwestern Xinjiang near the Karakoram Range, Cenling county is a linchpin for China’s frontier security and regional...

6. Helpful analysts predict China property recovery now, soon and much later

   A close mainland relative cried her eyes out while video-calling with my wife and me recently. Like many in China who have bought property since the late 2010s, she is sitting on a big loss with her flat outside downtown Chongqing. The city saw sales pick up around the time of the Spring Festival, traditionally an off-season. But when she tried her luck, the offers from potential buyers were...

7. 73 public schools join new scheme to hire native English-speaking teachers

   More than 70 public schools, or nearly 9 per cent, have joined a new scheme in Hong Kong to hire native English-speaking teachers (NETs) that offers lower pay but higher recruitment flexibility. Under the scheme launched this academic year, operators were given a grant to hire such teachers, to enhance the effectiveness of English-language instruction and increase students’ exposure to the...

8. How gossip spread in ancient China before advent of printing when newspapers reported on scandals

   Long before social media and camera lenses, ancient China had its own “paparazzi” who wielded ink, paper and a sharp tongue to unsettle the lives of the powerful. In those days, gossip was more than idle chatter; it formed an informal information network linking teahouses, stage stations, street tabloids and officialdom. During the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), the imperial court established the...

9. Molotov attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home leads to arrest

   ⁠Police in the United States ⁠have arrested a man for allegedly ⁠throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and for making threats outside the artificial intelligence start-up’s headquarters. In a social media post, the San Francisco Police ‌Department said an unknown man threw an incendiary device at a North Beach residence at 4.12am on Friday and then escaped on foot. The...

10. Japan’s Middle East oil habit gets an Iran war reality check

    Japan’s energy security has long hinged on Middle Eastern oil. The Iran war simply exposed how breakable that lifeline had become. While a two-week ceasefire agreed on Tuesday promises some relief by reopening the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic, analysts say the shock has laid bare vulnerabilities Tokyo cannot easily paper over. As an archipelago nation with no cross-border pipelines, Japan...