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1. Tehranis brace for ‘inevitable’ US-Iran war: ‘I am getting more scared’

   Tehran resident Hamid struggles to sleep as fears of renewed conflict haunt the Iranian capital after last year’s 12-day war with Israel. “I don’t sleep well at night even while taking pills,” Hamid said, as he expressed concern for his “family’s health … my kids and grandchildren”. The city woke up to blasts overnight from June 12 to 13 last year as Iran’s arch-enemy Israel launched an...

2. China’s vocational degrees rising as students seek skills over prestigious universities

   When the results of China’s gruelling National Higher Education Entrance Examination – or gaokao – were released last summer, Lin Gangming was surprised to learn that he had scored high enough to attend some of the country’s top universities. But instead of chasing prestige, the student from Yangjiang, a small coastal city in Guangdong province, chose a different path: Shenzhen Polytechnic...

3. Investment gold retailers move into vacant Hong Kong high-street shops on metal’s rise

   The surge in gold prices has brought a wave of new investment-focused bullion retailers to Hong Kong’s prime shopping areas, adding a distinct segment alongside traditional jewellery merchants. These retailers – which sell gold coins and bars, rather than ornamental pieces – have taken up ground-floor store spaces that were left vacant during the city’s post-pandemic recovery. Their rapid...

4. Executive-led governance in Hong Kong must start by listening to the people

   When Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong recently described Hong Kong’s executive-led system as a distinct governance model, he elevated it from an administrative arrangement to constitutional doctrine. A doctrine is not merely about structure. It is about how governance power is exercised. In Hong Kong’s executive-led system, that exercise begins with engaging the...

5. Hong Kong budget 2026-27: what’s holding back the city’s tech and talent schemes?

   Hong Kong’s coming annual budget must address critical bottlenecks in technology and talent attraction to pave the way for the city’s first five-year development framework in line with national priorities, according to observers. The budget, to be delivered by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday, is more than a fiscal exercise. It is viewed as the first major test of officials’...

6. China boy skips rope as many times as he receives likes to lose weight gets 1.8 million thumbs up

   A chubby seven-year-old boy in China who agreed to skip rope exactly in line with the number of thumbs-up a video of him doing so got has seen his video clip liked by more than 1.8 million internet users. The clip released by the father, surnamed He, on February 9 was flooded with likes, amused that the boy agreed to his father’s novel weight-loss idea, the Qilu Evening News reported. The boy,...

7. Malaysia’s vape ban plan leaves 1.4 million users in regulatory limbo

   The vapes used to be obvious. Bright displays of flavoured liquid, a shop just down the road, a transaction as unremarkable as buying shampoo. Batrisyia, 28, remembers how easy it was. Those days are gone. Or rather, in Malaysia at least, the trade has moved under the table. “It’s definitely less open now,” said Batrisyia, a Johor native who asked to be identified by a pseudonym for fear of...

8. K-pop’s big freeze: are cracks in China’s cultural blockade a thaw?

   While K-pop has conquered almost every corner of the globe, South Korea’s entertainment industry remains largely locked out of the Chinese market due to a geopolitical chill that has lingered for a decade. China unofficially banned South Korean entertainment products in 2016 after Seoul deployed the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD) despite Beijing’s objections. K-pop...

9. US ambassador says Israel has right to much of Middle East, sparking uproar

   Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East. Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired on Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include...

10. Humans vs robots? China begs to disagree

    The 2026 Spring Festival Gala, one of the world’s most-watched television events, featured a dazzling array of humanoid robots. They performed martial arts, executed intricate sword dances and even took part in a comedy skit alongside human celebrities. While parts of the world still view humanoid robots with a mixture of fear and suspicion, as potential job-stealers or sci-fi villains, China is...