Trump-Xi summit live: US president arrives in Beijing
Economy

Trump-Xi summit live: US president arrives in Beijing

Chinese state mouthpieces signal government's expectations and red lines U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted with an arrival ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport as he starts his visit to China on May 13. © Reuters SHANGHAI/TOKYO -- U.S. President Donald Trump is making his first visit to China in nearly nine years, as the rival superpowers aim to stabilize their fraught relationship. The American president arrived Wednesday evening and is scheduled to stay until Friday. An itinerary released by the White House includes plenty of face time with Chinese President Xi Jinping, from formal bilateral talks starting Thursday morning to a state banquet, tea and a working lunch. Their discussions are expected to touch on a host of hot topics, such as the Iran war, trade and export controls, tensions over Taiwan, and artificial intelligence. Trump is bringing an entourage of corporate executives including Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang. There are high expectations that the president will help seal commercial deals for aircraft and U.S. farm goods.

May 13, 2026
Tencent and Alibaba sales disappoint as AI monetization efforts fall short
Economy

Tencent and Alibaba sales disappoint as AI monetization efforts fall short

Sources say Alibaba out of DeepSeek deal; Tencent still aiming to invest Chinese tech titans Tencent and Alibaba are betting heavily on integrating in-house AI into their vast ecosystems. (Source photos by Tomoko Wakasugi and Itsuro Fujino) HONG KONG -- Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group missed sales expectations for the March quarter, as they were unable to monetize artificial intelligence as quickly as investors were expecting, though the Chinese tech giants have pledged to continue to invest in and leverage AI.

May 13, 2026
10 Hong Kong students hurt as self-heating hotpot pack explodes in classroom
Business

10 Hong Kong students hurt as self-heating hotpot pack explodes in classroom

Police received report from St Paul’s Co-educational College that self-heating hotpot pack exploded after being improperly heated Ten students from an elite secondary school in Hong Kong were injured or experienced ringing in their ears after a self-heating hotpot pack exploded in a classroom on Wednesday. A police spokesman said officers received a report from St Paul’s Co-educational College in Mid-Levels at 3.29pm, that a self-heating hotpot pack had exploded after being improperly heated. A source said a 15-year-old boy was preparing the hotpot pack at about 1pm when he poured hot water onto it and it exploded. Six boys and four girls, aged between 15 and 16, were taken to hospital. Two students – the 15-year-old boy, who reported burns to his left wrist and chest, and a 15-year-old girl who complained of eye discomfort – were sent to Queen Mary Hospital. The other eight students – three girls and five boys who reported tinnitus, commonly described as a ringing in the ears – were sent to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai, according to the source.

May 13, 2026
Owners push back as Wang Fuk Court administrator seeks to delay crucial meeting
Business

Owners push back as Wang Fuk Court administrator seeks to delay crucial meeting

Residents call for extraordinary general meeting to be held ahead of deadline on decision about whether to sell flats The government-appointed administrator of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has sought to delay an owners’ meeting, prompting calls from residents to hold it before the end of June to address concerns ahead of a decision on whether to sell their flats. The move by Hop On Management Company came after more than 240 owners, representing over 12 per cent of households at the estate in Tai Po, petitioned the administrator in late April to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), warning they might seek legal action if the request was ignored. Hop On announced on Wednesday that it would apply to the Lands Tribunal to delay the EGM for residents. “Based on the unique circumstances of Wang Fuk Court, there might not be enough time for Hop On to complete the preparatory work,” it said in a statement. The administrator was appointed following the dissolution of the management committee of the owners’ corporation for the estate in the aftermath of last November’s fire. The inferno killed 168 people and left nearly 5,000 others displaced.

May 13, 2026
What does Pentagon chief Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?
Business

What does Pentagon chief Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?

US arms sales to Taiwan, nuclear weapons and military-to-military communication will be among topics discussed, experts say The summit might include discussion of nuclear weapons and restoring and expanding military-to-military communication channels, they said. Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University, said Hegseth’s participation was likely to advance bilateral military communication mechanisms and crisis management. Since Hegseth was taking part, Zhu said China would “at the least” bring in Dong, its minister of national defence, to the summit.

May 13, 2026
EU won’t ban LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ but will push states to act
Business

EU won’t ban LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ but will push states to act

So-called conversion “therapies” involve methods that seek to change the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of members of gay, lesbian, queer and trans people. The EU stopped short of heeding a call by over a million people, who signed a petition last May calling on the 27-country bloc to prohibit such methods. Conversion practices “have no place in our union”, said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, which flew the LGBTQ flag outside its headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. Instead, the EU executive said it would issue a recommendation next year for member states to adopt national-level bans.

May 13, 2026
Ex-HKUST professor admits taking HK$40,000 to secure student’s admission
Business

Ex-HKUST professor admits taking HK$40,000 to secure student’s admission

Liu Hongbin, 63, abused authority to help automotive engineering student secure admission into master’s programme in environmental health and safety A Hong Kong court has remanded a former university professor in custody pending sentencing for accepting a HK$40,000 (US$5,109) bribe and offering red packets to two colleagues to help a student gain admission to a postgraduate programme last year. Kwun Tong Court heard on Wednesday that Liu Hongbin, 63, abused his authority as chair professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s (HKUST) department of ocean science to help a mainland Chinese student majoring in automotive service engineering secure admission into the master’s degree programme in environmental health and safety between March and May 2025. As the programme director at the time, Liu was responsible for reviewing applications and interviewing candidates to determine their eligibility for the 2025-26 academic year. He was asked by a friend, insurance agent Priscilla Lam Pui-ling, to help Lin Zhengxi, a final-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a Shenzhen university. Lam, 60, reportedly informed Liu that “people connected to Lin” could pay “a few tens of thousands of dollars” in return.

May 13, 2026
France locks down 1,700 on cruise ship after 90-year-old dies
Business

France locks down 1,700 on cruise ship after 90-year-old dies

Food poisoning had not been excluded, and health officials say there is no connection with the hantavirus outbreak French authorities on Wednesday confined more than 1,700 passengers and crew on a British cruise ship docked in Bordeaux after an elderly passenger died, said officials, who played down any links to the hantavirus scare. Dozens also suffered from upset stomachs aboard the Ambition – most of whose 1,233 passengers are from Britain or Ireland – which arrived in the western port of Bordeaux on Tuesday, with 514 Indian crew members also on board. But health officials said there was no connection with the hantavirus outbreak, suspected of killing three passengers on the Dutch MV Hondius cruise ship that set sail from Argentina. One 90-year-old passenger on the Ambition, run by the Ambassador Cruise Line company, had died and about 50 people have shown symptoms of stomach issues, the officials said. Initial tests ruled out an outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis which causes vomiting and diarrhoea, but secondary tests were still underway, they added. Passengers on board the Ambition showed peak symptoms on Monday when the ship was docked in Brest, the officials said.

May 13, 2026
South Asia must make water a top priority
Business

South Asia must make water a top priority

Summer hit South Asia early this year. April saw above average temperatures and the mercury is expected to reach unbearable highs this month. We are also bracing for a “super El Nino”, where a combination of increased heatwaves and highly variable weather patterns are expected to push urban zones, agricultural systems and public health to their limits. South Asia, especially parts of Pakistan, India and Nepal, is likely to receive below average monsoon rainfall during the summer months of...

May 13, 2026
Gunshots fired in stand-off at Philippine Senate over ICC suspect
Business

Gunshots fired in stand-off at Philippine Senate over ICC suspect

Chaos mounted in anticipation of an attempt to arrest a top senator wanted by the International Criminal Court Gunshots broke out at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday and people ran for cover after a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court said his arrest was imminent and security forces entered the building. There were no immediate reports of casualties, however, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters following the chaos at the legislature in the capital Manila. Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who was the main enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on ‌drugs”, had earlier urged people to mobilise to prevent his arrest and handover to the ICC. The Hague-based court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa on charges of crimes against humanity, the same that 81-year-old Duterte is accused of as he awaits trial in the ICC following his transfer last year.

May 13, 2026
Iran war pushes Asia’s Gulf migrants to use stablecoins for remittances
Business

Iran war pushes Asia’s Gulf migrants to use stablecoins for remittances

The risk of sanctions has fuelled concerns that monetary transfers from migrant workers via banks or other operators could be disrupted Remittances from these workers account for 3 per cent to 5 per cent of gross domestic product in several emerging markets – in Nepal, it is as high as 10 per cent, according to data from the Global Settlement Network. Concerns over remittance flows have escalated after the US warned against toll payments to Iran for ship passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been blocked amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries. “There has been a quiet but noticeable informal pivot among South Asian migrant workers, including a significant number from India, towards digital tokens such as stablecoins in the period following the Iran conflict,” said Anndy Lian, a Singapore-based adviser to governments on blockchain and information technology. “Rather than routing everything through traditional dollar-linked banking channels, a slice of remittances is now moving via instruments like USDT,” he said, referring to the Tether stablecoin backed by the US dollar.

May 13, 2026
Netherlands protests US proposal to further bar chip giant ASML from China market
Business

Netherlands protests US proposal to further bar chip giant ASML from China market

While the chipmaking-gear giant is already banned from selling advanced kit to China, new rule would make low-end products off-limits too “Given the possible impact of the Match Act on the Netherlands if adopted in its current form, the Netherlands has communicated its objections, particularly regarding the extraterritorial aspects, to both members of Congress and the US government,” Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma said in written answers to lawmakers published on Tuesday. The Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (Match) Act, introduced into the US Congress by a bipartisan group of lawmakers last month, would ban ASML from shipping lower-end deep ultraviolet lithography machines to Chinese buyers, and also prevent it from servicing existing customers there. Currently, the company is banned from selling its most advanced extreme ultraviolet machines to China, as a result of sweeping US export controls designed to hobble Beijing’s efforts to catch up with the West in chipmaking.

May 13, 2026