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Business

More safety signs added for new Hong Kong overpass after 5 crashes in 3 days

Three incidents occurred within 15 minutes on Tuesday morning, involving a total of eight vehicles and leaving one person injured Five traffic accidents have occurred along a new overpass on Tsuen Wan Road within the first three days of its operation, with Hong Kong transport authorities saying additional signage has been installed to remind motorists of the traffic arrangements. Three of the incidents occurred within 15 minutes of each other on Tuesday morning, involving a total of eight vehicles and leaving one person injured. The new single-lane bridge, which opened on Sunday, links the Kowloon-bound fast lane of Tsuen Wan Road near the Kwai Tsing Interchange up-ramp to Kwai Chung Road. According to police, the first accident at 8.24am involved two private cars and caused no injuries. A second collision followed nearby at 8.27am, involving three private cars and a taxi. A third accident occurred at 8.39am, involving two private cars and injuring a driver.

July 14, 2026

Business

Louis Vuitton takes China’s trademark regulator to court as legal drive continues

The French luxury brand is suing the government body as it faces backlash over a trademark dispute with a Chinese milk tea chain Louis Vuitton Malletier filed the administrative lawsuit against the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), with a Chinese individual – Huang Minyao – joined as a third party, according to a notice published by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in May. It is not immediately clear based on the notice what trademark dispute the lawsuit involves. The French fashion house is no stranger to litigation in China: 58 judgments and court summonses involving the company – most of them trademark disputes – have been published this year on the country’s official court announcement platform. Another 11 trademark infringement cases involving the company are scheduled for hearings between mid-July and the end of August, according to court notices compiled by Qichacha, a Chinese corporate database.

July 14, 2026

Business

German deaths rise 32% during record June heatwave, data shows

About 23,900 people died between June 22 and June 28 – an increase of 7,100 compared with the two previous weeks Nationwide, about 23,900 people died between June 22 and June 28 – an increase of 7,100 compared with the two previous weeks, according to Germany’s statistics agency. “The fact that the health impact from heat is high and that death rates rise as a result is a well-known effect often observed in the summer months,” the agency said. Sweltering weather swept across western Europe last month, with temperatures in parts of Germany topping 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit). The report revised upwards the agency’s previous estimate of around 6,800 heat-related deaths during the heatwave. Other than the final week of June, mortality figures across Germany in 2026 have largely remained within the range of the previous four years or even declined, the agency said.

July 14, 2026

Business

Hong Kong Book Fair vendors on the same page about this year’s sales

Event, which runs in tandem with Sports and Leisure Expo and World of Snacks, to open on Wednesday at Convention and Exhibition Centre Hong Kong booksellers are hoping to match last year’s business levels for the 2026 edition of the city’s annual book fair, with some vendors expressing little optimism during a period of prolonged downturn for the publishing and retail sectors. The seven-day Hong Kong Book Fair, which runs in tandem with the Sports and Leisure Expo and the World of Snacks, opens on Wednesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. The three events are set to bring together more than 770 exhibitors from about 30 countries and regions. Danny Leung, deputy general manager of Wan Li Book Company, said the publisher would be satisfied if sales remained consistent with last year’s, although the absence of disruptive weather could provide a modest boost. “We hope business can be on par with last year or perhaps improve slightly,” he said. “Last year was affected by a typhoon and the fair effectively lost one day. If the weather is good this year, we hope business will be better.”

July 14, 2026

Business

Norwegian chemical tanker hit by projectile off Oman amid US-Iran tensions

Stolt Magnesium ‘suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device’ that started a fire in the engine room, the company said MTI Network said in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported that at approximately 12.40am local time “its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device”. The explosion triggered a fire in the ship’s engine room, but an MTI Network spokesman added that the crew “fortunately are all safe and accounted for”. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported that a tanker had reported “being hit by an unknown projectile on the starboard side engine room” 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman.

July 14, 2026

Business

EU signals emergency import curbs after dramatic growth in Chinese trade gap

Brussels looking at ‘case-by-case’ tariffs and quotas after the trade surplus expands by almost a quarter in the first half of the year The European Union is prepared to introduce emergency measures to combat China’s extraordinary export surge as new figures showed the trade gap had widened dramatically, its top trade enforcer said on Tuesday. Safeguard measures that permit tariffs and quotas to be enforced to combat sudden import surges may “become legitimate on a case-by-case basis”, Denis Redonnet told the European Parliament’s trade committee. Redonnet, the EU’s deputy director general for trade, added that the bloc had little expectation that Beijing would make structural changes to its economic model. “Structural rebalancing will not take place before October, what can we do before that October deadline? We’ll look at a number of sectors, try to start rebalancing, try to rein in the export levels,” Redonnet said. “It may be that we are also in situations because of import surges where contingency trade protection-type tools like safeguards become legitimate and necessary on a case-by-case basis.”

July 14, 2026

Business

Hong Kong gazettes bill to enable joint immigration checks at Shenzhen crossing

Passengers will undergo departure and arrival clearance at single checkpoint by presenting only travel document required for their destination Hong Kong authorities have gazetted a new law regulating an upgraded border crossing between the city and Shenzhen, marking another major step towards introducing a joint clearance model that is expected to cut clearance times from 30 minutes to five. The Huanggang Port Hong Kong Port Area Bill was gazetted on Tuesday, with a Security Bureau spokesman saying the official opening date of the upgraded port had yet to be finalised with mainland Chinese authorities. “The official opening date is to be agreed upon by the Guangdong and Hong Kong governments,” the spokesman said. The bill provides the legal grounds for the city to implement a co-location arrangement at the border crossing, which would be the first to use a “joint inspection” model for clearance. Under the arrangement, passengers will undergo departure and arrival clearance at a single checkpoint by presenting only the travel document required for their destination, instead of passing through separate counters. The bill will be tabled at the Legislative Council on Wednesday for the first and second readings.

July 14, 2026

Business

Why is a Trump commission attacking Nietzsche, Foucault and Sartre?

The commission attacks these philosophers’ ideas as morally corrupting but Trump may be the ultimate postmodern politician, lacking fundamental principles and any regard for facts In May last year, US President Donald Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission. Last month, timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, it released a 224-page draft report titled, “Americans’ First Freedom”. I gather the current government and its key support base, the religious right, consider American society too secularised – to such an extent that it amounts to systemic religious discrimination. That’s what the commission is tasked with rectifying. The report advocates a different understanding of the separation of church and state, and it makes various proposals to reverse entrenched secularisation in education, government, the military, employment and public healthcare. It also suggests setting up hotlines to rat out people in positions of authority who “discriminate” against people’s religious liberty. Whether the US becomes a Christian theocracy, democracy or autocracy is none of my business.

July 14, 2026

Business

Philippine police hunt suspects after US marine biologist shot dead in Sibulan

Three men, whose faces were covered, forced their way into 73-year-old Kent Carpenter’s home and shot him in the head, killing him instantly Police said Kent Carpenter, 73, was with his Filipino companion in a house in the coastal town of Sibulan in Negros Oriental province on Sunday night when three men, whose faces were covered, forced their way in. One drew a gun and shot Carpenter in the head, killing him instantly, police said his companion told them. The men took a laptop, an unspecified amount of cash and a backpack before fleeing, national police spokesman Colonel Allen Rae Co told reporters. Regional police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong said that Carpenter’s companion sustained unspecified injuries and was being treated. Investigators were trying to determine the motive for the killing and identify the attackers of Carpenter, a marine biologist who had worked as a lecturer at the Silliman University in Dumaguete city in Negros Oriental, Malong said, adding that the US Embassy in Manila has been notified.

July 14, 2026

Business

The young Chinese scientist behind an ‘impossible’ breakthrough on sodium batteries

Award-winner Lu Yaxiang and her team are working towards making commercially viable batteries from the abundant, low-cost mineral Scientist Lu Yaxiang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, has spent a decade working to make sodium-ion batteries commercially viable. Those years of work on energy storage in April earned Lu a China Youth May Fourth Medal – the nation’s top honour for outstanding achievers under 35. For years, lithium-ion batteries have dominated the market, even though their raw materials are scarce and environmentally demanding to extract. Sodium-ion batteries are seen as an alternative, but they have been constrained by their lower energy density. Lu took the approach that sodium – a mineral that is abundant, cheap and easy to source – was vital for China’s energy security. That led to a focus on materials innovation to boost the performance of sodium-ion batteries.

July 14, 2026

Business

China sends a message to Pacific islands amid unease over missile test

Solomons prime minister has pledged to review China pact while advancing talks on a comprehensive treaty with Australia A week after a Chinese missile test sparked protests across the Pacific, Beijing has reaffirmed its unconditional support for Honiara and pledged to deepen ties. According to the Chinese statement of Tuesday’s meeting, Wang said there had been “strong development” in the two nations’ bilateral relations since diplomatic ties were established in 2019, and that the partnership had delivered “tangible benefits” to the Solomon Islands people. He pledged to deepen exchanges at all levels and expand practical cooperation relating to green energy, climate change, health, education and other fields, with the goal of elevating their comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights. “China maintains continuity and stability in its policy toward the Solomon Islands and has always supported the Solomon Islands in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and legitimate rights and interests, as well as in pursuing a development path of its own choosing,” Wang said.

July 14, 2026

Business

Indonesia’s anti-LGBT education push raises concerns about stigmatising youth

Critics warn the new material to discourage the spread of ‘LGBT culture’ could backfire with consequences for young people Officials said the content, which was still under discussion, could be included in religious education in regular and Islamic schools, as well as Friday prayer sermons, family development programmes and other religious events. The government has said the presidential regulation is not meant to be the basis for criminalising any group, but experts and queer activists note that bringing the issue into classrooms risks deepening stigma around sexual orientation. They also argue there is no scientific proof that anti-LGBT education can change a person’s sexual orientation, while warning that such teaching could harm children’s mental health. Romo Muhammad Syafi’i, vice-minister of religion, said the material was a follow-up to the 2025 presidential regulation that included the spread of homosexuality as a non-military threat to national security, alongside separatism, terrorism and online gambling.

July 14, 2026