eChina.news

Business

How a displaced F1 race could be Malaysia’s ‘blessing in disguise’

Malaysia once decided Formula One was too expensive to keep, but Bahrain’s displaced Grand Prix has given it an unexpected route back to the calendar, as well as a chance to test whether the sport can still deliver value without the full financial burden of a long-term comeback. Analysts say the one-off race, made possible by the war in Iran and the cancellation of April’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, offers Malaysia more than a nostalgic return to Sepang: it provides a timely tourism lift...

July 28, 2026

Business

US walks out on France at UN over human rights criticism

Rift deepens after sharp clash over UN rights chief’s second term and a scathing social media post US diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticised the Trump administration’s human rights record. The surprise move during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed US opposition to giving UN human rights chief Volker Turk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France. The US walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the US and Europe. These include questions over Trump’s commitment to Nato, possible changes to US troop deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to Nato member Denmark. Trump has complained that Europeans, who were not consulted, did not help the US during the Iran war. Amid the tensions, Macron has taken a lead in trying to build up Europe’s military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent’s two nuclear powers, along with Britain.

July 28, 2026

Business

How early screening saved Hong Kong woman from her family’s liver cancer fate

Health authorities renew call for early hepatitis B screening, citing 40 per cent of 410,000 patients in city being unaware of condition Hongkonger Ms Lam has long known she is carrying a ticking time bomb after her mother and grandmother died of liver cancer. Her mother was completely asymptomatic until a late-stage diagnosis left no option for surgery. “I knew I carried the hepatitis B virus when I was in my twenties and had since then undergone regular health check-ups to manage the bomb,” the woman in her fifties recalled. Her regular checks were only disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. When she returned for a check-up in 2024, tests showed a surging viral load and a liver tumour despite her not feeling any pain. Caught early, the tumour was successfully removed, and she was back on her feet just days after the operation. Now taking daily medication with stable blood readings, she has overhauled her lifestyle. “Fortunately, what happened to my mother did not happen to me … a long battle has begun, and I need to build my strength to fight it,” she said.

July 28, 2026

Business

What Hong Kong can learn from Northern Metropolis’ first land tender

Pilot tender of large mixed-use plot for public-private development shows scale of complexity requires flexibility and constant adjustment Major development projects involve balancing public policy goals with commercial realities. Governments seek to shape long-term outcomes, while investors must assess the risks, capital commitments and expected returns. Successful urban transformation programmes typically emerge when these perspectives are aligned. One key lesson is that large mixed-use developments are complex. Unlike a traditional residential land sale, the tender required bidders to consider not only housing development but also the delivery and operation of innovation and technology-related facilities over an extended period. This broadens the range of expertise, partnerships and financial commitments required.

July 28, 2026

Business

China court rules sharing family disputes in chat is domestic violence after dad embarrasses son

Son seeks court order to stop father from posting harmful messages and harassing family members A Chinese court issued a personal protection order to restrict a man’s behaviour after he repeatedly posted arguments with his wife in his son’s school chat groups. The Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court took this action after determining that the father’s behaviour constituted domestic violence. This case was recently publicised, igniting heated online discussions. The Shanghai man, surnamed Lin, had been estranged from his wife for an extended period. His son lived with his mother and had long been enduring the conflicts between his parents. Since November last year, Lin had repeatedly used “extremely emotional and derogatory” language in communications within his son’s class chat group, the parents’ group, and a neighbourhood group. In those messages, he accused his wife and parents-in-law of destroying their family and alienating his son from him. As the messages circulated, Lin junior began to feel ashamed in front of his classmates, teachers, and neighbours.

July 28, 2026

Business

China team unearths world’s oldest amber, hidden in ancient Xinjiang coal seam

Ancient plants were capable of producing resin to protect themselves 65 million years earlier than previously thought, study finds Until now, the oldest known amber to have been isolated from rock and confirmed through chemical analysis dated to the Late Carboniferous period, around 320 million years ago, when the first herbivores also emerged. The researchers, led by Luo Cihang, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, detailed their findings in a paper published by the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on July 15. According to the paper, the palaeontologists were initially sceptical when they found hundreds of microscopic pieces of what appeared to be amber preserved in a coal seam dating from the Middle Devonian period around 393 million to 383 million years ago. When Luo and his team travelled to Xinjiang in 2019, they did not expect the fossil samples they planned to examine and collect from the region’s unusual coal seam would yield the world’s oldest known amber, the paper said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Amber rainstorm warning issued in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning

Hong Kong Observatory issues warning at 7.15am, with unsettled weather expected in the city over the next few days The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning on Tuesday morning, warning of unsettled weather over the next few days. The amber warning, issued at 7.15am, means that more than 30mm of rain has fallen in an hour, or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong and is likely to continue. “Showers will be heavier in some areas [on Wednesday]. The weather will still be unsettled in the following couple of days,” the weather forecaster said. It added that a broad trough of low pressure would continue to bring unsettled weather to the northern part of the South China Sea and the coast of Guangdong over the next couple of days. According to the Observatory, there would be flooding in some low-lying and poorly drained areas. It added that heavy rain could cause flash floods and advised residents to stay away from watercourses. “Showers will be heavier at times, with squally thunderstorms over the region. Under the influence of a southerly airstream, there will still be a few showers and sunny intervals along the coast of Guangdong over the weekend,” it said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Food court stalls caught off guard by rules over plastic serving containers

Warnings over food containers lined with plastic have been handed out to some stall operators, who say switch to approved versions will cost them Hong Kong environmental authorities have warned that restaurant operators must not use disposable tableware coated in plastic for dine-in service, after some owners told the South China Morning Post they were caught off guard by inspectors. The Environmental Protection Department on Monday clarified that paper products with an inner plastic lining could only be used for takeaway orders after a food stall owner at Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po said he was “shocked” by a warning he received. Philip Ho was among the operators of dozens of food stalls at the shopping centre’s food court that were inspected on July 23 by department officers, who handed out multiple warnings. Given that the food court provides common seating for sit-down meals, regulations covering dine-in service apply. “I know I cannot use plastic bowls for dine-in, so I thought I was using paper bowls. Almost everyone here does the same,” Ho said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Singapore-based investors now the top non-local buyers of Hong Kong office assets

Investors from the Lion City unseated mainland Chinese in the second quarter, seizing distressed asset opportunities amid price corrections Singapore-based investors have become the largest group of non-local buyers of commercial properties in Hong Kong, drawn by the sizeable correction in the prices of distressed assets amid a slump in the city’s office segment, according to Colliers. The demand from Singapore was likely to remain steady in the coming months, given that the prices of office assets have declined by as much as 50 per cent, according to Thomas Chak, head of capital markets and investment services at the property consultancy. “Singaporean investors are drawn to Hong Kong more prominently in the second quarter because pricing has become significantly more attractive after several years of correction,” Chak said. “Many see this as an opportunity to acquire quality assets at a discount while positioning for a longer-term market recovery.” In the April to June period, non-local and mainland Chinese investment in commercial properties in Hong Kong amounted to HK$5.46 billion (US$696.23 million), of which Singapore-based buyers contributed HK$3.37 billion or 62 per cent of the total, data from Colliers showed.

July 28, 2026

Business

Cambodia’s tourism slump leaves Angkor Wat eerily quiet

Tourist arrivals have collapsed by nearly 50 per cent this year, forcing local operators to rethink Cambodia’s entire pitch Watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat once meant fighting for elbow room, a hundred phone screens glowing in the dark as tour buses disgorged crowds chasing the same postcard-perfect shot “Angkor is as quiet as I have seen it in years,” said Akim Ly, founder of the Siem Reap-based tour company Adventures Cambodia and a member of the Cambodia Tourism Association. “The travellers who do come are standing at sunrise with space around them – and that is worth saying out loud.”

July 28, 2026

Business

Trump administration urges Supreme Court to allow order targeting mail-in voting

The request could be one of several voting-related challenges before the court ahead of the high-stakes midterm contest. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to clear the way for an executive order from US President Donald Trump that could dramatically change mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Justice Department asked the justices to halt for now lower court decisions blocking the sweeping changes in nearly half the country. The request comes soon after Trump delivered an address elevating his years-long push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of elections and could be one of several voting-related challenges before the court ahead of the high-stakes midterm contest. Trump ordered the government in March to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters and deliver mail ballots only to people on that list. Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia sued, saying the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, not the president. Their lawyers have said Trump’s proposed changes are ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

July 27, 2026

Business

Police say there were at least 3 shooters at Seattle food festival, 1 among the dead

3 people were killed at Sunday’s Bite of Seattle event. A 15-year-old has been arrested and police are searching for the third suspect Police now say there were at least three suspects involved in a shoot-out at a crowded food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend. One of them was among those killed in the violence. In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, where a 15-year-old arrested in the case did not appear for a scheduled initial appearance on Monday, police said they believe there were at least three shooters, rather than two: the 15-year-old; an acquaintance who died at the scene; and “at least one other unknown suspect”. “Based on the evidence at the scene, investigators believe” the 15-year-old “and one of the deceased engaged in a gunfight with at least one other unknown suspect”, the document said. The teenager was being held in juvenile detention for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault ahead of the scheduled court appearance, Mayor Katie Wilson said at a news conference. It was not immediately clear why the teenager did not appear in court.

July 27, 2026