Will slowing car sales in China reignite brutal price war in crowded market?

MG Cyberster electric vehicles destined for export in Yantai, Shandong province, last week. AlixPartners predicts a 41 per cent increase in Chinese car exports this year, but a 27.7 per cent decline in domestic demand. Photo: AFP

In the most bearish Chinese car market forecast by an international bank or consultancy, AlixPartners has predicted that deliveries will fall by 10 per cent this year on the back of a shaky economy and softening government support.

Weak buying interest was likely to fuel a brutal price war that would ensnare nearly all the country’s 100-odd carmakers, the global consultancy added.

It forecast that 24.6 million light vehicles would be


UBTech’s lifelike humanoid robots built for companionship arriving in homes across China

The U1 humanoid robot. Compared with industrial robots, consumer models face stricter requirements for appearance, privacy protection and long-term human interaction. Photo: Caroline Wang
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South Korea ‘fake news’ law triggers free speech, censorship fears

Men look at their smartphones while waiting in Seoul. Photo: AFP

A viral YouTube video, a one-star review on a delivery app, a heated post on a parenting community – all of these will fall under the same legal standard in South Korea starting next Tuesday.
The revised Information and Communications Network Act, widely known as the “fake news” law, introduces punitive damages for YouTubers with more than 100,000 subscribers and high-traffic TikTok accounts if they display what authorities define

Hong Kong’s 5-year plan will hinge on how it measures success

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Ken Chu (LLD) is the chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group with businesses in hospitality, leisure, entertainment, sports, wellness and education in China.

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will undoubtedly mark a significant milestone for the city. The public consultation launched last month covers a range of issues, such as economic development, innovation and technology, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure and regional cooperation.

The exercise offers a

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Fighter jets scrambled as Tel Aviv-bound flight triggers false hijack alarm

A technical error caused a Tel Aviv-bound flight to report a hijacking Tuesday that led to Israeli and Bulgarian jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft, Bulgaria’s transport ministry said.

An airport official earlier said that the Bulgarian company operating the Airbus A320 blamed pilot error.

Bulgaria’s transport ministry said, however, in a statement: “The reason for the diversion is a technical failure of the aircraft’s transponder, which transmitted a false signal of unlawful interference/hijacking”.

“After confirmation


Chinese woman, 93, ‘reunites’ with Korean war husband 70 years later via restored photo

A restored portrait has given a 93-year-old woman in central China an emotional reunion with the young husband she lost to war decades ago.

Zhao Cuifen, from Liuyang in Hunan province, reportedly married Zhang Zhixin in the 1950s. Soon afterwards, Zhang enlisted in the army.

In July 1953, as Korean war armistice talks were deadlocked, Kuomintang forces launched a major assault on Dongshan Island off southeastern China. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops training in nearby

In May, a Nanjing University volunteer team, supported by Hunan authorities, began restoring faces of fallen Dongshan Island Battle soldiers. The picture shows a portrait being returned to a family. Photo: Handout
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Will China build an electric rocket launch pad on the roof of the world?

China’s electric launch technology stems from a two-decade-old idea and could potentially make SpaceX’s chemical rockets obsolete

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A new version of the SpaceX Starship rocket launches from Starbase in Texas, but could Chinese tech make chemical rockets obsolete? Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

But halfway around the globe, a little-known Chinese town tucked against the Tibetan Plateau could change all that.

In late March, the government of the city of Ziyang said a research facility successfully tested a


Pakistan accuses India of water ‘weaponisation’ over Indus treaty suspension

People cool down in the Indus River near Hyderabad, Pakistan, on May 1, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Islamabad has warned that any attempt by India to deprive Pakistan of its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty would amount to the “weaponisation of water” and could have serious consequences for regional peace and security.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other government officials made the remarks at an international seminar on the 1960 World Bank – brokered treaty, which governs the sharing of water from the Indus River system between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
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Fast lane to luxury: Hong Kong developer lures upmarket homebuyers with Mercedes giveaways

An exterior view of One Stanley in Southern district, Hong Kong. Photo: Elson Li

A Hong Kong developer is dangling Mercedes-Benz cars to entice buyers of its high-end homes in the Southern district, riding on a resurgence in the luxury property segment .
K&K Property partnered with Zung Fu Limited to launch the promotion at One Stanley, an 82-unit project that had attracted wealthy local and overseas buyers seeking privacy, exclusivity and sea views, with the campaign coinciding with the 29th anniversary of Hong Kong

Hong Kong to mark July 1 anniversary with flag-raising ceremony, citywide deals

Officials attend the flag-raising ceremony. Photo: Karma Lo
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