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Smaller Asian airlines seek to add routes despite Middle East war, rising fuel costs
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Smaller Asian airlines seek to add routes despite Middle East war, rising fuel costs

Akasa Air aims to raise its capacity while AirBorneo plans to connect more regional destinations as larger rivals face constraints to expand India’s Akasa Air and Malaysia’s AirBorneo are pressing ahead with expansion plans despite soaring jet fuel prices and disruption from the Middle East conflict, in a development that analysts say is a sign smaller Asian carriers are finding room to grow as larger airlines grapple with capacity constraints. Akasa Air, India’s youngest airline, said last week that it was seeking to raise 10.5 billion rupees (US$110 million) through equity and debt, including loans from state-run banks, to fund the expansion. Last month, the Mumbai-based low-cost airline said it was targeting a 30 per cent increase in its passenger-carrying capacity in the financial year to March 2027. The airline flies mainly to Indian cities and several destinations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Malaysia’s state-owned AirBorneo, which launched its first international service between Singapore and Kuching on Wednesday, has said that it aims to expand its fleet and regional network in Southeast Asia.

July 24, 2026
Fields Medallists highlight new wave of Chinese scientists leading global research
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Fields Medallists highlight new wave of Chinese scientists leading global research

Wang Hong and Deng Yu’s historic Fields Medal win illustrates China’s decades-long investment in scientific talent pipeline, say advocates The International Congress of Mathematicians announced on Thursday that Wang Hong and Deng Yu, both of whom entered the top Chinese university in 2007, were awarded the highest honour for mathematicians under 40. It is the first time Chinese nationals have received the prestigious award often called the “Nobel Prize of mathematics”. Mathematician Cai Tianxin, a distinguished professor at Zhejiang University, said China’s research standards had caught up with the West and, with a more flexible academic environment, its young scientists were poised to achieve global recognition. “[Wang and Deng] are fortunate to have had the opportunity [like the Chinese scientists above] to study at top-tier universities in Europe and the United States in their youth and conduct research under mentors at the global forefront of the field,” he said in an interview.

July 24, 2026
Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei backs Tau Scaling Law to beat US sanctions
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Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei backs Tau Scaling Law to beat US sanctions

Company founder Ren Zhengfei says the new framework is crucial for survival, enabling chip advancements without EUV lithography “The Tau Scaling Law is the only path forward for Huawei to break the siege,” Ren said in recent internal remarks posted on Huawei’s Xinsheng Community intranet, according to a report on Friday by the state-backed Science and Technology Daily. Unlike companies with other technological routes available, Huawei’s embrace of the new architecture was grounded in raw survival rather than an ambition to challenge industry norms, the 81-year-old entrepreneur added. “Other manufacturers have multiple paths to choose from. But for Huawei to escape, survive and thrive, tens of thousands of employees have spent six years of continuous iteration carving out a path that is now maturing,” Ren said. “It is not to disrupt or replace anything, but simply finding a viable road.” Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. This was Ren’s first public endorsement of the Tau Scaling Law since it was unveiled in May by He Tingbo, president of Huawei’s semiconductor arm, HiSilicon.

July 24, 2026
Chinese battery giant CATL posts record quarterly profits amid green energy boom
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Chinese battery giant CATL posts record quarterly profits amid green energy boom

The results, despite being record figures, slightly missed market estimates of 148.6 billion yuan in revenue and 23.4 billion yuan profit Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited (CATL) slightly missed market estimates for second-quarter revenue and net profit, as China’s weakening demand for electric vehicles (EVs) outweighed benefits from the energy shock. The world’s largest battery maker reported a record 147.79 billion yuan (US$21.8 billion) in revenue and a record 22.5 billion yuan in net profit for the second quarter, up 56.92 per cent and 36.5 per cent year on year, respectively, according to an exchange filing on Friday evening. The results, despite being record figures, slightly missed market estimates of 148.6 billion yuan in revenue and 23.4 billion yuan profit. CATL’s total revenue and net profit for the first half of 2026 now stand at 276.9 billion yuan and 43.28 billion yuan, respectively, up 54.8 per cent and 42 per cent compared with a year ago. In a separate filing, CATL said it planned to use up to 40 billion yuan to buy back a total of 34.9 million mainland-listed shares.

July 24, 2026
UK PM Burnham aims for day a week in Manchester as part of ‘rebalancing power’
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UK PM Burnham aims for day a week in Manchester as part of ‘rebalancing power’

‘For 40 years power and resources have been sucked into the centre and too many communities have felt forgotten’ British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was to open his newly created northern office on Friday, as he bids to launch his flagship move to reverse decades of centralising power over England in London. Ahead of officially opening his “Number 10 North” hub in Manchester, Burnham – who replaced Keir Starmer in 10 Downing Street on Monday – repeated his vow to put “more power into every postcode” to spur economic growth. “For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten,” he said in a statement late on Thursday. Number 10 North “will be responsible for accelerating devolution” Burnham added in an opinion article in the Guardian newspaper on Friday. He slammed government departments based in London for “fighting turf wars” and called for the “biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen”. Burnham aims to work in Manchester at least one day a week, his office dubbing it a “situation room for growth”.

July 24, 2026
Salary growth for Hong Kong degree graduates slows to 5-year low
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Salary growth for Hong Kong degree graduates slows to 5-year low

Average monthly salary rises by just 2 per cent to HK$28,000 as underemployment hits record high Salary growth for Hong Kong degree graduates slowed to a five-year low in 2025, with average annual earnings rising by just 2 per cent and sitting at HK$28,000 (US$3,570) a month as underemployment hit a record high. According to the data, the average annual salary of degree graduates stood at HK$336,000. The figure represented an average of HK$28,000 per month and a 2 per cent increase from the year before. The UGC also found that engineering and technology graduates had suffered a drop in earnings across sub-degree, degree and taught postgraduate levels, with the salary decline ranging from 0.3 to 5 per cent year on year. The trend prompted an expert to warn that artificial intelligence (AI) had removed the need for many entry-level jobs, especially in the technology sector, which was heavily reliant on such software. The overall annual salary growth, at 2 per cent, was the lowest recorded between 2020 and 2025, with past years seeing annual increments of about 4 to 8 per cent.

July 24, 2026
Paramedics to follow ‘rescue first’ rule if in doubt under new end-of-life law
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Paramedics to follow ‘rescue first’ rule if in doubt under new end-of-life law

Fire Services Department official says paramedics must first verify physical proof before stopping life-sustaining treatment on patient The Hong Kong Fire Services Department has said paramedics will operate on the “if in doubt, rescue first” principle when determining whether to resuscitate patients in need after the new law on end-of-life directives takes effect next week. Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer Gary Tong Sze-ho of the Fire Services Department said on Friday that rescuers must verify a physical copy of the do-not-attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) order before withholding specified life-sustaining treatments from the patient. “If we cannot verify the document on-site, we will carry out life-saving measures on the patient based on the principle of ‘if in doubt, rescue first’,” Tong said. Under the city’s new legislation on end-of-life directives, Hongkongers can specify which life-sustaining treatments, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), they wish to refuse in the future should they lose their mental capacity or reach a defined clinical condition such as a persistent vegetative state. The law will take effect next Friday.

July 24, 2026
Tornado rips roofing from Indonesian construction site, sends workers fleeing
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Tornado rips roofing from Indonesian construction site, sends workers fleeing

Officials say there were no fatalities from the brief incident in Batam, but warn that unstable conditions can trigger further sudden storms The short-lived wind vortex, described locally as a puting beliung, struck VME Process in Tanjung Sengkuang, Batu Ampar, at about 10am on Wednesday, damaging workers’ shelters and scattering construction materials across the site, according to Indonesian media reports. Videos of the incident showed dark clouds over the facility before sheets of roofing and other light materials were lifted into the air, with workers in blue uniforms and safety helmets sprinting away from the falling debris. Batu Ampar police chief Amru Abdullah said no one had been killed or injured, although MetroBatam, citing information from the field, reported that one worker had suffered a minor injury and received treatment from the company’s occupational safety team. “There were no fatalities,” Amru was quoted as saying by iNews Batam on Wednesday. Police officers remained at the site after the tornado subsided to keep people away from scattered materials that could still pose a danger. The company and relevant authorities were still assessing material losses and clearing debris on Wednesday afternoon.

July 24, 2026
Hong Kong’s TDC to open Egypt office as it eyes African, Nordic markets
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Hong Kong’s TDC to open Egypt office as it eyes African, Nordic markets

Trade Development Council has revamped corporate structure to better help firms in six new industry clusters, chairman Frederick Ma says Hong Kong’s trade promotion body will set up a new office in Egypt within the next nine months to expand its footprint in Africa, while recalibrating resources for Nordic countries through its European bases as traditional markets face slower growth. Ma, a former commerce chief, said that while growth had been low in traditional markets, including the United States, because of geopolitics, emerging markets in Africa offered huge potential, particularly after China expanded its zero-tariff treatment in May to cover 53 African nations. Eswatini, the only country to recognise Taiwan, was excluded. “China has scrapped its import tariffs for Africa, and its imports are no longer taxed. Although Hong Kong does not have a massive trade volume with them, we have seen its potential,” he said, noting that trade between Hong Kong and Africa reached US$6.53 billion last year. “We hope our consultant office in Egypt can help open the African market. A textile industry delegation recently went to Egypt and told us about the country’s massive opportunities.

July 24, 2026
Is China building a new type of attack submarine? Satellite images hint at stealth gains
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Is China building a new type of attack submarine? Satellite images hint at stealth gains

Vessel spotted at Shanghai shipyard features smaller sail, suggesting a new class of nuclear sub with better range, analysts say The submarine first came to public attention in early June when naval analyst H.I. Sutton reported on it for Naval News, with TWZ and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun later publishing additional images and analysis. High-resolution BlackSky images captured on May 29 show the boat on a floating dock. Experts suggest it is about 120 metres (394 feet) long with a 10-metre beam – similar in width to the Type 093 family but roughly 10 metres longer overall. “The submarine appears to be a new class,” said Timothy Heath, owner of research firm Perceptum, pointing to its greater length and reduced sail. A Western submarine analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed that it appeared to be a new design but said its propulsion type remained uncertain.

July 24, 2026
Global governments respond to US’s new Section 301 tariff regime
Business

Global governments respond to US’s new Section 301 tariff regime

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. The US has imposed new Section 301 tariffs of 10-12.5% on dozens of economies over alleged forced labor concerns, replacing Section 122 global import duties that are set to expire. Explore the graphic to see how governments around the world have responded to the new measure.

July 24, 2026
Taxi driver denies deliberately ramming car into crowd in HK$8.4m injury lawsuit
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Taxi driver denies deliberately ramming car into crowd in HK$8.4m injury lawsuit

Henry Cheng tells court he lost control of vehicle after being attacked by protesters, who targeted him when he rushed through roadblock in 2019 Henry Cheng Kwok-chuen took to the witness box on Friday to defend himself against the claim by Park Hoi-lam, who suffered serious injuries in the collision in Sham Shui Po on October 6, 2019. Park, a kindergarten clerk, accused Cheng of negligence when his taxi mounted a pavement near the junction of Cheung Sha Wan Road and Yen Chow Street and struck her during a demonstration. She sustained serious leg injuries and underwent nine operations. She said she still suffered from knee pain, and that she could not walk for prolonged periods or lift heavy objects.

July 24, 2026