eChina.news

Business

Hong Kong DSE: 5 elite schools produce more than 1 top scorer each

PLK Laws Foundation College, Wong Kam Fai and Sha Tin Tsung Tsin schools record first-ever top scorers Secondary Six students across Hong Kong are getting their results on Wednesday for the city’s university entrance examinations. They are returning to their schools to collect result slips for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), which grades most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**. A total of 24 top scorers from 15 schools were recorded this year. Fourteen male and 10 female students achieved a perfect score of 5** in six subjects, along with an “attained” result in citizenship and social development. Of these, 11 were “super top scorers”, having also obtained 5** in the extended mathematics module. This year, five traditional elite schools produced more than one top scorer: St Paul’s Co-educational College, Queen’s College, Diocesan Girls’ School, La Salle College, and Pui Ching Middle School.

July 15, 2026

Business

Malaysia’s new warship can hunt submarines but cannot sink a foe

The navy’s first littoral combat ship is arriving later this year without the anti-ship missiles meant to give it offensive teeth After nearly a decade of delays, financial scandal and shipyard mismanagement the Royal Malaysian Navy’s first littoral combat ship is finally due in December. But it will arrive missing any anti-ship missiles. Defence officials insist the timeline is unchanged. “The decision does not affect the delivery schedule,” the ministry told parliament in a written reply on July 7, noting the vessel would still carry anti-submarine, anti-air and electronic warfare systems. What the ship will not carry, for now, is a way to strike enemy ships – the capability that was meant to define the class.

July 15, 2026

Business

US Fed says new policy will end inflation as energy prices surge

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 head of the U.S. central bank told lawmakers on Tuesday, July 1, that inflation will be a thing of the past with the monetary policy he’s overseeing.Kevin Warsh delivered his first report to Congress as the latest inflation numbers showed recent price rises slowing.But renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz is already driving energy costs back up.Owen Fairclough has more.

July 14, 2026

Business

US must act quickly to counter China’s growing tech progress, lawmakers told

Analysts claim Washington needs to slow down Chinese momentum and speed up US technology advances now or fall well behind the Asian giant Among the possible strategies needed to counter Beijing’s growing prowess, analysts said, included expanding the Silicon Shield – an attempt to remove China from semiconductor supply chains – to drone and other vital technologies; drastically reducing US bureaucracy; focusing more on emerging technologies like quantum; and countering China’s aggressive bid to create global standards. “China is a systemic rival. It seeks to challenge and displace the United States as the guarantor for the American-led post-war order, and it does it on multiple fronts,” Piero Tozzi, senior China director with the American First Policy Institute, told lawmakers. “We see them trying to set standards in the realm of technology. That’s true in telecommunications, which is why it’s important to win that race. We even see them trying to reset standards with regard to human rights.”

July 14, 2026

Business

Baby Rufus in urgent need of heart donation, Hong Kong health authorities say

Hospital Authority will also seek assistance from mainland China under cross-boundary organ donation and matching mechanism Hong Kong health authorities have made an urgent appeal for a heart transplant for a six-month-old boy in a critical condition, saying the Hospital Authority will also seek assistance from mainland China soon. An authority spokesman said on Tuesday evening that six-month-old Rufus, who suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy and is in the paediatric intensive care unit at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, urgently needed a heart transplant. “Given the critical condition of the patient, in addition to proactively searching for a suitable heart locally, the Hospital Authority will also seek assistance from the Chinese mainland through relevant procedures as soon as possible,” the spokesman said. Rufus has suffered a heart failure and is using a left ventricular assist device to support his circulatory function. The boy, who weighs 7.8kg (17.2lbs) and has type O blood, has shown poor appetite and slow growth since he was four months old.

July 14, 2026

Business

US House votes to make daylight saving time permanent, passing bill to ‘ditch the switch’

The change would provide more daylight during the times Americans are most active, but the measure must still get through the Senate There will be no turning back the clock if the US House has its way. The House passed a bill on Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent. Proponents, including the White House, argued the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. The vote was 308-117. Daylight saving time is that period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the United States are set one hour ahead of standard time. States could opt out if their respective legislatures act to do so before the bill’s enactment. The Senate would also have to pass the bill before it could be signed into law, but it is unclear if it will do so. Congressman Gus Bilirakis said Americans were ready to “ditch the switch”, saying that changing the clock twice a year creates unnecessary disruption. More importantly, he said, it would give families more daylight time in the evening to spend outdoors and support local businesses.

July 14, 2026

Business

How Beijing’s islands of control are reshaping the South China Sea

A decade after Beijing rejected the ruling by The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration on its South China Sea claims, rival nations continue to manoeuvre for control. In the third of our series on the anniversary, Laura Zhou looks at why the gap between international law and geopolitical reality on the water has never been wider. On a scorching morning this summer, more than a hundred Chinese tourists stepped ashore on Tree Island in the hotly contested Paracels. They were greeted not only by...

July 14, 2026

Business

Boko Haram exploited US and Chinese AI chatbots for attacks, Cambridge study finds

Former fighters say AI helped with bomb-making, planning and propaganda, raising calls for US-China action on terrorist misuse of chatbots Huddled in a room around a big screen, dozens of Boko Haram members listened intently as external consultants, whom they called “the white guys”, coached them on how to use leading artificial intelligence chatbots with laptops pre-installed with VPNs and encryption software. The workshop was one of several training sessions delivered by specialised AI “trainers”, likely members of the vast Islamic State network, to Boko Haram members in northeastern Nigeria sometime during 2023 or 2024, according to a former Boko Haram commander, who added that it was also the first time he saw the logo of US AI giant OpenAI. The account was one of many shared in a new research paper released on Friday by Cambridge University, which indicated that Boko Haram used both frontier American and Chinese AI tools to assist in bomb construction, attack planning and wider day-to-day operations throughout 2024 and as recently as mid-2025.

July 14, 2026

Business

Cambodia aspires to shed its dependencies while staying connected

Connectivity can be an ambiguous term. Different states use it in different ways at different times. In Southeast Asia, as in other regions where regional diplomacy exists in the backdrop of ever-stronger great power disputes, connectivity lies in the conflux of economics, trade necessities and the unyielding pressure of geopolitics. In few countries is this more evident than in Cambodia, where investment in transport logistics has been a political and diplomatic fixture for at least two...

July 14, 2026

Business

‘Gus’ the T. rex fetches record US$50.1 million at US auction

The skeleton – one of the most complete of its kind in the world – was sold after a 10-minute bidding war between seven potential buyers A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed “Gus” sold on Tuesday for US$50.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York, making it the most valuable dinosaur fossil bought at auction, after a 10-minute battle between seven bidders. “Gus” is one of the world’s most complete T. rex skeletons – with 183 fossilised bones – and was discovered on a cattle ranch in South Dakota in 2021. The giant beast lived some 72 to 66 million years ago – a period characterised by a warm climate, high sea levels and vast floodable coastal plains. The skeleton measures 11.6 metres (38 feet) in body length, making it one of the largest T. rexes ever discovered. It is roughly 63 per cent complete. Tuesday’s purchase by an anonymous buyer highlights a surging market for dinosaur bones – a trend that has drawn criticism from some palaeontologists over the specimens going into private hands.

July 14, 2026

Business

Indonesia’s free meals scheme cut leaves kitchen operators in limbo

Each operator spent at least US$83,000 to build one kitchen, ⁠and had to take bank loans or sell assets to fund it Jakarta is considering a potential budget cut of more than US$2 billion with reductions in the number of beneficiaries and kitchen operators. There are currently nearly 28,000 kitchens ‌and the National Nutrition Agency (NNA) plans to temporarily halt the addition of 13,000 new kitchens as part of a series of efficiency measures. During a hearing in parliament, three associations of kitchen operators told the committee overseeing the programme their members had already invested in their kitchens and secured operating permits, but could not begin operations because of the moratorium. “It is the ⁠NNA who asked us to build kitchens, they approved the permits but then our kitchens could not ‌operate … We hope to be supported not to be destroyed,” said Yusuf Supriadi from the Kitchen Partners Associations. The associations said they would consider taking legal action against ‌the NNA if their money was not returned or their kitchens could not ⁠operate.

July 14, 2026

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