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Thanks to Trump and Netanyahu, everyone now wants to go nuclear
Business

Thanks to Trump and Netanyahu, everyone now wants to go nuclear

After waging a war on the pretext of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the US and Israel have ignited a new arms race And, talking about extermination, what Israel has been doing in Gaza and southern Lebanon speaks for itself. People have long been used to Netanyahu crying wolf with his unrelenting but specious warnings about Iran’s nuclear programme for almost as long as he has been in office. Now, perhaps due to the sheer criminality and brutality of the joint Israeli-American war, even some Western media outlets have become, if not sympathetic, at least less critical of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran. Others are warning of a new round of nuclear proliferation among so-called middle powers. “Iran didn’t have a nuclear weapon before this war. But you can see why it would develop one now,” reads a headline by Guardian columnist Simon Tisdall. “If lawless aggression by ‘might is right’ nuclear-armed powers spreads unchecked, what other option do middle-ranking countries have?”

Japan offers Indonesia and the Philippines lethal muscle to counter China
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Japan offers Indonesia and the Philippines lethal muscle to counter China

Japan’s defence minister is touring Southeast Asia this week with what analysts describe as a clear, if diplomatically understated, mission: turning Indonesia and the Philippines into harder targets for Chinese maritime ambition. Shinjiro Koizumi landed in Jakarta on Monday to sign a defence cooperation pact with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, coming hot on the heels of Tokyo’s landmark decision to lift a decades-old ban on the export of lethal weapons last month. He heads next...

Hong Kong researchers develop ‘world-first’ nasal spray for rapid stroke aid
Business

Hong Kong researchers develop ‘world-first’ nasal spray for rapid stroke aid

Treatment intended for initial use by paramedics, before being rolled out to high-risk groups in care facilities and eventually the general public through pharmacies Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) say they have developed a world-first nasal spray that delivers neurotherapeutic powder directly to the brain as first aid for ischemic stroke patients, with clinical trials expected by 2030. The treatment is intended for initial use by paramedics, before being rolled out to high-risk groups in care facilities and eventually the general public through pharmacies. It was developed by the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at HKU and the university’s Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre. The medicine, known as NanoPowder, is designed to reduce brain damage by more than 80 per cent and improve stroke survival rates. The innovation won the Special Grand Prize and a gold medal at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva this year. “We use ‘nano-in-micron’ technology to bypass the blood-brain barrier, a natural shield that typically blocks most drugs from entering the brain,” said Aviva Chow Shing-fung, a professor with the department of pharmacology and pharmacy, who led the research team.

Philippine VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment case heads to plenary vote amid coercion claims
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Philippine VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment case heads to plenary vote amid coercion claims

Duterte-Carpio’s camp has accused administration allies of pressuring legislators to support the impeachment or risk withdrawal of funds Under the constitution, the articles of impeachment can be sent to the Senate if backed by at least one third of House members, turning the question of numbers into the central drama of Tuesday’s session. The plenary vote is expected on Monday next week at the earliest, but if at least 106 signatures are already attached, the articles can be sent to the Senate immediately without the nominal voting on the floor by each lawmaker. The move pushed one of the country’s most powerful political figures – Marcos’ 2022 running mate and the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte – nearer to a trial that could threaten her 2028 presidential run and deepen the feud between the two dynasties. On Monday, the House justice committee voted 55-0 to impeach Duterte-Carpio on four grounds.

Japanese citrus farmers switch to avocados as climate change warms soil
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Japanese citrus farmers switch to avocados as climate change warms soil

Global warming is expected to expand areas suitable for ‘sensitive’ avocados in Japan 2.5-fold or more by the middle of the century Given the challenge of cultivating avocados, the “joy of success is huge”, said Arita, who started with seedlings he acquired from the city government. His avocados now sell for around 5,000 yen (US$32) per kg (2.2lbs). Aided by the local push, output of Matsuyama avocados began gaining momentum in 2009 and in the past decade has jumped over 12-fold from about 600kg in the 2015 financial year to about 7,300kg over the same period in 2024. While suitable areas for cultivating mandarin oranges will gradually shift northwards, many areas that are deemed too warm for citrus fruit will become suitable for avocados, according to the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation.

Hong Kong posts strongest quarterly economic growth in almost 5 years at 5.9%
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Hong Kong posts strongest quarterly economic growth in almost 5 years at 5.9%

Robust exports and resilient domestic consumer spending drive growth despite Middle East tensions and rising energy costs Hong Kong has recorded its fastest economic growth in nearly five years in the first quarter, at 5.9 per cent, driven by strong exports and private consumption despite ongoing unrest in the Middle East. The first-quarter growth exceeded the year-on-year increase of 4 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of last year, according to advance estimates released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday. The 5.9 per cent rise was also the strongest since the 7.6 per cent growth seen in the second quarter of 2021. A government spokesman said the economic outlook remained positive, supported by strong global demand for artificial intelligence-related electronics, sustained growth in visitor arrivals and robust cross-boundary financial activity. “Relatively solid business and consumer sentiment is expected to continue supporting domestic demand,” he said.

20% of Hongkongers feel ‘lonely’, with 520,000 self-isolating, survey finds
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20% of Hongkongers feel ‘lonely’, with 520,000 self-isolating, survey finds

Social welfare charity survey highlights unspoken isolation, with many unwilling to confide in family, friends or even AI chatbots One in five people in Hong Kong feels “lonely”, with about 520,000 self-isolating and unwilling to confide in family, friends or even AI chatbots, a survey has found. The Hong Kong Family Welfare Society on Tuesday released the survey results, which also showed the city’s family well-being index at 6.09, slightly up from 6.06 in 2024. The NGO conducted the survey between January and February, randomly polling 2,112 residents aged 18 and above who lived with family members. The findings showed that 19.8 per cent of respondents, or about one in five, were classified as “lonely”. This was higher than the World Health Organization’s global rate of around 16 per cent, or one in six people experiencing loneliness worldwide. “The figure is worse than the World Health Organization’s general rate, as we have roughly one in five people classified as lonely,” said Teresa Cheung Wing-shan, a senior manager at the NGO.

‘Phantom birth’ scam spooks Thailand as hundreds of babies get fake citizenship
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‘Phantom birth’ scam spooks Thailand as hundreds of babies get fake citizenship

Police believe that some Chinese cyber scammers are using these false registrations to launder money through firms they can fully control Babies born to Chinese parents have been registered at addresses that no longer exist or to households without children. Local men have also been paid – or unwittingly used – to be named as fathers on birth certificates so that the babies automatically become Thai citizens. Police from a task force set up to probe the widening scandal believe that some of the false registrations may be linked to Chinese cyber scammers seeking to launder money through companies they can fully control. “It started from a small point in the north, expanded gradually, and has now reached Bangkok,” he told reporters on Thursday. “There are still thousands more cases. We already have a good picture of these networks and their operations. We believe they will stop using the old methods and try to find new ones – but it won’t be as easy as before.”

Takaichi signs Australia deals to boost Japan’s energy security
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Takaichi signs Australia deals to boost Japan’s energy security

Japan and Australia agreed to step up collaboration in areas including critical minerals, defence and energy security, tackling China’s dominance of rare earths and fuel-supply disruptions caused by the Iran war. “Australia and Japan are taking action to protect our economies from future economic shocks and uncertainty,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement after meeting his Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi, in Canberra. “By working together, we will achieve more...

China targets top spot in supercomputing with fully domestic, CPU-only machine
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China targets top spot in supercomputing with fully domestic, CPU-only machine

Lingsheng or LineShine, built from home-grown CPUs, is designed to surpass America’s El Capitan, the world’s fastest supercomputer Known as Lingsheng or LineShine, it is designed to reach 2 exaflops – or two quintillion calculations per second – edging past the 1.8-exaflop El Capitan, the current record holder at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Unlike other exascale supercomputers, which rely on graphics processing units (GPUs), LineShine will run entirely on central processing units (CPUs). AI rush turns everyday data storage into ‘digital gold’ for Hong Kong consumers It uses 47,000 CPUs across 92 compute cabinets, according to its chief designer Lu Yutong from the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen, China’s southern tech hub. Huang Xiaohui, the centre’s deputy director, told a conference in Shenzhen on April 24 that LineShine had achieved full-stack independence, from underlying hardware to core software, as a fully domestic supercomputer. “By the end of 2025, we completed full system deployment and activation, with sustained performance exceeding 2 exaflops.

China unveils driverless mining truck that can ‘crab-walk’ across rough terrain
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China unveils driverless mining truck that can ‘crab-walk’ across rough terrain

The Shuanglin K7 is the world’s first mining truck capable of moving sideways and pivoting on the spot, allowing it to work in narrow pits Despite a kerb weight of nearly 100 tonnes, this advanced model boasts exceptional manoeuvrability – it can move sideways and pivot on the spot, allowing it to operate in narrow pits and across complex, sloped roadways. At the same time, it offers the hauling capacity and power required for continuous, round-the-clock operation, according to an April 19 report by state-owned newspaper Science and Technology Daily. The vehicle, measuring over five metres (16.4 feet) tall and wide and 13.79 metres long, was unveiled in Shanghai on April 18. Named the “Shuanglin K7”, it was developed through a collaboration between the Shuanglin Group – a Shanghai-based automotive components manufacturer – and Tsinghua University. Traditional mining trucks take a long time to turn around in tight loading areas, a manoeuvre that often creates blind-spot risks. In contrast, the K7 can perform demanding moves such as lateral translation and on-the-spot turns. This is made possible by a technology known as a distributed electric drive-by-wire corner module.

More than 240 Wang Fuk Court homeowners petition administrator to hold meeting
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More than 240 Wang Fuk Court homeowners petition administrator to hold meeting

More than 12 per cent of households sign petition and say they will take legal action if Hop On Management fails to hold meeting within 45 days More than 240 owners representing over 12 per cent of households at Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court petitioned the government-appointed administrator in late April to hold an extraordinary general meeting, saying they might seek legal action if the request was ignored. The owners said in a statement on Tuesday that they would consider applying to the Lands Tribunal if Hop On Management Company failed to hold the meeting within 45 days in accordance with the Building Management Ordinance. “We request the administrator to convene a meeting, with government representatives invited and media coverage allowed, at a venue with a capacity of over 1,000 on a Saturday or Sunday,” it said. “The petition has listed owners’ information and signatures as required by the law and is legally valid. It involves 247 owners, accounting for 12.45 per cent of all units in the estate, which far exceeds the legal threshold of at least five per cent.