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1. Hong Kong budget 2026-27: beyond balancing the books, what’s at stake?

   Simon Leung has been without a full-time job since his contract ended in March 2024, after the Hong Kong government cut its budget for NGOs by 7 per cent. The social work event coordinator, who is in his late forties, now makes ends meet through gig jobs. With word spreading that the city’s coming budget will yield an early operating surplus, he wants Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po to...

2. Why plan by US and Japan to relocate Okinawa airbase is hitting turbulence

   For nearly three decades, Washington and Tokyo have pledged to close a controversial US airbase in Okinawa, located in the middle of a densely populated island, but the plan is now facing uncertainty. The US military would not return its Futenma airbase to Japanese control until Tokyo builds a longer runway than the one being built at a replacement site in the northeast of Okinawa prefecture,...

3. Scientists test universal vaccine for cold, flu, Covid and allergies

   The world is a significant step closer to a universal vaccine for cold, flu, Covid and allergies, scientists believe. Experts at Stanford Medicine ⁠in the US have developed a universal ⁠vaccine that could be given as a nasal spray and ⁠could protect against a wide range of respiratory viruses, bacteria and allergy triggers. Although the study, published in the journal Science, was in mice, they...

4. Washington offers US$200 million to boost American smartphone industry in Indo-Pacific

   The US State Department will subsidise companies to roll out cheap smartphones running American software in the Indo-Pacific region, part of its “Pax Silica” initiative that seeks to shore up the resilience of the US artificial intelligence supply chain and win the AI race with China. The US has launched the Edge AI Package, which provides up to US$200 million of funding for mobile network...

5. Climber convicted of manslaughter after girlfriend freezes to death on Austrian mountain

   An Austrian court late ⁠on Thursday found ⁠a 37-year-old amateur mountaineer ⁠guilty of manslaughter over his girlfriend’s death of cold near Austria’s highest summit after he left her to fetch help, local media reported. The case is unusual because while climbing accidents are common, prosecutions over them ‌are rare, even in situations like this one where various mistakes were made. The court...

6. Hong Kong banks reward staff with gifts, extra holiday and lai see as they return to work

   Thousands of Hong Kong bank employees will receive a return-to-work lai see on Friday, with some banks handing out extra benefits and gifts to their staff amid improving economic and market sentiment. While it is a Chinese tradition for companies to give their staff lai see on the first working day of the Lunar New Year as a token of appreciation for their hard work, many banks nowadays give...

7. Former Biden official says US must work with allies to counter China

   Working closely with like-minded countries remains the most effective strategy to counter an increasingly powerful China – in marked contrast to the policies of US President Donald Trump – said a former senior US official, while admitting that the Joe Biden administration made some key mistakes that undercut its own effectiveness. “Given the size and the immensity of the China challenge, the...

8. Chinese scientists put quantum chaos in ‘slow motion’

   In a landmark achievement, Chinese scientists have directly observed and manipulated prethermalisation – a critical transitional state in quantum systems – using the 78-qubit “Chuang-tzu 2.0” superconducting processor. This allows researchers to “tune” the speed of quantum decoherence, providing a vital tool for managing complex quantum environments. If a quantum system is disturbed, it...

9. UK public cheers ex-prince Andrew’s arrest, Trump calls it ‘very sad’

   Britain’s typically pro-royal public welcomed the arrest Thursday of the former prince Andrew, whose friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has turned him into an outcast. Some appeared delighted that police were holding King Charles’ brother, arguing it sent the right message that the royal family was not above the law. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called the arrest...

10. It’s time for global governance to reflect the new realities

    The global order has outgrown itself. The 2026 Munich Security Report describes this moment as a period of “wrecking-ball politics”, in which the post-war order constructed in 1945 is “under destruction”. However, that order was designed for a world shaped by bipolar rivalry and later sustained by American predominance. Today’s global system looks very different: economically diffuse,...