The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move, announced on Friday, makes good on the Trump administration’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on companies and countries that do business with Iran. It is also part of the Republican administration’s overall...
The Trump Justice Department said on Friday it was seeking to expand the use of the death penalty in federal capital cases and add the firing squad, electrocution and gas to lethal injection as methods of execution.
“The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals,...
The US and the European Union on Friday deepened their coordination on critical minerals as part of a broader push by Western allies to loosen China’s grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic signed a memorandum of understanding for a partnership on producing and securing critical minerals.
Rubio did not...
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday there was no prospect of Ukraine’s “immediate accession” to the EU, but suggested Kyiv could join meetings of the bloc’s members without voting rights.
Ukraine is pushing to speed up its bid to join the 27-nation European Union as it fights Russia’s invasion on the battlefield.
Kyiv’s progress has been blocked by Hungary’s nationalist premier...
A proposed bill to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives failed on Friday as parliamentary time ran out, nearly a year since elected members of parliaments gave their backing.
Though the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by the House of Commons last June, the UK’s revising chamber, the House of Lords, effectively talked it out since...
Hong Kong authorities are planning to launch a public consultation over a raft of new fire safety-related requirements and offences with tough penalties following the city’s deadliest blaze in decades.
Confirming an earlier report by the South China Morning Post, the Security Bureau on Friday laid out its planned amendments to the Fire Services Ordinance, including a requirement that fire alarms...
The administration of Donald Trump has threatened action to shield the US artificial intelligence industry from being “distilled” by Chinese rivals, in a move analysts say could weed out weaker players in China’s AI sector within a year.
In a memo released on Thursday, Michael Kratsios, the science and technology adviser to the US president, warned that “surreptitious, unauthorised distillation...
The US Justice Department has ended its probe into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro said on X on Friday that her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s inspector general would scrutinise them instead.
The...
Hong Kong’s Medical Council resumed a disciplinary inquiry on Friday over a suspected medical blunder that left a boy permanently disabled more than 16 years ago after its decision to terminate the hearing sparked a public outcry.
Dr Sit Sou-chi was accused of failing to carry out all necessary and immediate investigations on newborn Li Yuanjian, the son of a mainland Chinese couple, after the...
Huawei Technologies’ newest Ascend 950PR and 950DT chips enjoyed “day zero” adaptation to DeepSeek’s latest V4 model, the Shenzhen-based tech giant said in a livestream on Friday, just hours after the model’s release.
The hardware-software collaboration between the two Chinese firms underscores the progress China has made in tech self-reliance, a top national priority for Beijing amid US efforts...