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1. China looks to AI and big data to guard against Western values

   China will use new technology, especially artificial intelligence, to guard against Western influence and reinforce its own ideology, according to state media. At a study session of the Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, on Friday, President Xi Jinping said new technologies such as AI and big data posed challenges to cyberspace governance but they also presented...

2. Taiwan opposition blocks US$40 billion defence budget, prompting DPP protests

   Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers on Tuesday blocked a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special defence budget from being placed on the agenda for review this week. The suspension prompted angry protests from the ruling independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), injecting fresh uncertainty into Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s ambitious military modernisation plan. The...

3. Hongkongers gather on seventh day after Tai Po fire to grieve and demand answers

   Residents and mourners have demanded that the Hong Kong government ramp up its investigations to hold responsible parties accountable, as they gathered to mark the seventh day after the start of the city’s worst fire in seven decades. Hundreds of people assembled at the Kwong Fuk sit-out area on Tuesday, laying flowers, writing messages of grief and praying for those who died in the blaze that...

4. ByteDance-powered AI phone snapped up by consumers keen to try agentic assistant

   The first smartphone running on ByteDance’s artificial intelligence agentic phone assistant sold out on the first day, as consumers jumped at the chance to try the AI-powered gadget that could change the way people use mobile phones. The ZTE Nubia M153, an “engineering prototype” only available for order online, was keenly sought after thanks to ByteDance’s embedded operating-system-level Doubao...

5. How a husband’s secret life between Singapore and Malaysia was exposed

   A man who had been married for 15 years secretly wed again in Sarawak, Malaysia, and fathered two more children, all the while keeping this second family from his wife and two kids in Singapore. Ng Teong Min’s deception lasted 30 years from 1995 until August this year, when a whistle-blower exposed his double life in an email to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. The 67-year-old pleaded...

6. Bodies of helper, woman she cared for found in same room at Hong Kong fire site

   Yayuk Setyawati tried desperately to contact her sister when she learned the Hong Kong housing estate where her sibling lived and worked had caught fire on November 26. Her messages went unanswered. It took four days before a DNA test confirmed that her sister, a foreign domestic worker, had lost her life in the blaze at Wang Fuk Court. The bodies of Sri Wahyuni and the elderly woman she cared...

7. Hong Kong court postpones inquest verdict on 2012 Lamma Island ferry crash

   The Coroner’s Court has postponed a long-awaited verdict for an inquest into one of Hong Kong’s deadliest maritime disasters, in which 39 residents died after a collision between two ferries in 2012. The court was slated to make a ruling on Thursday on the underlying causes of the crash, which took place off Lamma Island, that had not been identified by a previous government-appointed inquiry in...

8. India’s strong economic growth impresses amid doubts on ‘overstated’ data

   The better-than-expected growth of India’s economy, driven by strong performance in the domestic consumer and manufacturing sectors, highlights its near-term resilience despite a slowdown in exports and US import tariffs. While India’s 8.2 per cent year-on-year growth figure in the July to September quarter was the fastest among major economies, analysts warn that the headline numbers may not...

9. Hong Kong home sales dip as December slowdown looms amid tragedy, holiday lull

   Hong Kong’s property deals slipped slightly in November after two months of gains, government data showed, with analysts warning of a deeper pullback this month as the Christmas holidays along with deferred launches of new homes following the deadly fire in Tai Po weigh on sentiment. Sales of new and lived-in homes, office units, shops, car parking spaces and industrial properties dipped 1 per...

10. One man kept his home dry amid Thailand’s floods. Here’s how he did it

    As the floods recede in southern Thailand, close to 820,000 households are facing the daunting task of having to clear mud and debris brought in by raging waters that have reached as high as three metres (10 feet) in some places. One man, however, has been spared the necessity of cleaning up: Wicharit Leelakorn, owner of what has been dubbed “the only dry house in Songkhla”. Wicharit attracted...