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1. In China’s tight economy, a fake exam-takers scheme has touched a nerve

   In the cutthroat world of Chinese civil service exams, the most dangerous opponent is not necessarily the person in the next seat: it is the “ghost” candidate designed to scare you away before you even show up. A bizarre case of inflating applicant numbers to deter potential candidates has become a national talking point, as tougher job prospects raise interest in civil service examinations on...

2. Japan’s Takaichi pushes to scrap food tax, ignoring economists’ warnings

   When Sanae Takaichi strode into her first press conference as Japan’s reappointed prime minister on Wednesday, she delivered a clear message to the economists and editorial boards warning her away from her signature tax pledge. Food consumption tax is going to be scrapped, and nothing is going to stop her. Formally confirmed in office after the Diet voted to reappoint her – following a landslide...

3. Building Asean ties puts Hong Kong on path to long-term growth

   The Hong Kong government has started the year with initiatives that have far-reaching impacts on the city’s long-term growth. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that he is spearheading Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan, which will promote broader integration with China’s five-year plan and ensure a bigger role for the city in the nation’s economic development. He also reaffirmed...

4. Indonesia seals ‘great’ US trade deal, agrees to send 8,000 troops to Gaza

   Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed a reciprocal trade agreement on Thursday with US President Donald Trump while in Washington to attend the first meeting of the Trump-led “Board of Peace”. Details were not immediately released, but the countries had reached a framework trade deal last summer to have Southeast Asia’s largest economy eliminate tariffs for most American goods, while the...

5. China ‘history fangirls’ visit mausoleums, write books, marking rapid growth in heritage tourism

   In quiet corners of China, a growing community is forging a deep, almost personal connection with history. Known as “history fangirls”, they visit the museums and mausoleums, write books about them and are keen on related merchandise. One such devotee, a woman known online as @bufashi, spent the past year visiting 52 gravesites, travelling through remote mountains and forests in search of the...

6. 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...

7. 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,...

8. 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...

9. 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...

10. 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...