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UK’s Nigel Farage to quit as lawmaker, seeks re-election to clear name

He faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions. Farage faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Opposition lawmakers are seeking another investigation over donations from George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served a prison sentence for fraud in the US. The probes could have led to Farage being suspended or expelled from parliament. He will pre-empt that process by triggering an election for his Clacton seat in eastern England. “The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he said. “This will be a people-versus-the-establishment by-election.

July 7, 2026

Business

Hong Kong IVF clinic ordered to suspend most services after embryo sample errors

Regulator says police report has been filed about HEAL Fertility in Central Hong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy samples from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy samples the clinic sent for pre-implantation genetic testing belonged to the wrong parents. Council chairman Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen said a police report had been filed through the Department of Health after a genetic testing laboratory at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that samples from two women it had received did not belong to them. Only one of seven samples from the first woman was hers, while neither of two samples said to belong to the second woman was hers. Liang said the two tests were conducted in May and the clinic notified the council on June 17. The council set up a task force the following day to investigate the incident.

July 7, 2026

Business

China achieves microwatt milestone with self-reliant carbon-14 nuclear battery

Cross-sector team says device, which marks significant step in long-life power sources, was developed without foreign tech or parts Northwest Normal University, in collaboration with Chinese tech firm Gansu Zhulong Technology, unveiled a carbon‑14 nuclear battery and silicon carbide (SiC) transducer on Monday, saying the equipment was developed without any foreign technology or parts. The Qianjiyuan Tianshu battery is a major upgrade from the team’s earlier Candle Dragon‑I, or Zhulong-1, prototype unveiled in November 2024. Compared with its predecessor, the new battery cuts radioactive material use to just 22 per cent, boosting short‑circuit current to 2.5 times and maximum power to 2.6 times – all while maintaining the same voltage and stability. Among performance gains, the effective volume of the device shrank to just 17 per cent of the original, resulting in a dramatic 15.5‑fold increase in volumetric power density. Su Maogen, who leads the project team at Northwest Normal University, said carbon‑14 had a half‑life of 5,730 years, giving the battery a theoretical lifespan of thousands of years.

July 7, 2026

Business

14 of 27 top IB scorers from English Schools Foundation plan to study medicine

Some ESF students attribute their success to discipline, miso soup and using a Nokia phone Fourteen of the 27 top scorers in this year’s International Baccalaureate (IB) programme from Hong Kong’s largest international school group plan to study medicine, with some students attributing their success to discipline, miso soup and using a Nokia phone with limited internet access. At least 73 students from 17 schools across Hong Kong attained a full score of 45 points in the IB exams. Out of the 27 top performers, 14 students plan to study medicine, including 13 in Hong Kong. Three will pursue mechanical engineering, and two are considering business and global management. Speaking to the media at Island School, most of the top students said they felt relieved and excited after receiving their grades. “It was honestly a roller coaster of emotions,” said Joshua Sean Chow, 18, one of the top scorers who will study medicine at the University of Hong Kong.

July 7, 2026

Business

French court opens door to Le Pen presidential run, with ankle tag

The court found her guilty of embezzlement and ruled that she must wear an electronic bracelet A French appeal court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for public office, in theory preserving a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election. However, ‌the court also sentenced Le Pen to a three-year jail term: two suspended and one with an electronic ankle tag. This would make a presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult, and casts doubt on whether she will in fact continue to seek France’s highest office. Le Pen has previously said she would be reluctant to wage a presidential campaign while serving a sentence under electronic monitoring, arguing that it would interfere with campaigning and undermine her standing as a candidate. But she is yet ⁠to confirm what she will do. “When you’re a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move around,” she said last week in a televised interview. “I can’t depend on a magistrate to allow me to go to a rally.” She is due to give a prime-time TV interview on TF1 at 8pm , in which she ‌may make an announcement on her political future.

July 7, 2026

Business

Europe could prosper as China’s trade ally rather than adversary

The European Commission has been clearly signalling its intention to wage a trade war against China. Brussels’ intent to counter the so-called China shock 2.0 – the wave of subsidised Chinese exports such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries – is no longer merely a verbal threat but appears to be an imminent decision. Comparing current trade tensions between the European Union and China with the trade conflict between Europe and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s reveals striking...

July 7, 2026

Business

Hong Kong consults on sex law reform over cult coercion, campus and online abuse

Proposed reforms would tighten the definition of consent, widen incest and underage sex rules, and cover digital sexual images such as deepfakes Cults luring victims overseas for sex in a bid to “change their fate”, as well as suggestive games hosted at orientation camps in Hong Kong could amount to sexual offences, authorities have warned, as they launched a public consultation on the city’s sexual law reforms. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Tuesday clarified that sexual offences involving misleading claims would fall within the city’s legal remit if the deception took place in Hong Kong, even if the incident occurred overseas. He was speaking at a Legislative Council panel meeting in response to a question from Chan Hok-fung regarding “sexual favours”, often used by religious cults to defraud believers into “changing their fate”. As part of the sweeping overhaul, Tang said a new statutory definition of consent for sexual acts would be introduced. “In such situations, it would be assumed that the act is non-consensual and the victim is mistaken as to the nature or purpose of the sexual act,” he said.

July 7, 2026

Business

Bangladesh’s climate diplomacy moves to the vanguard

Support us Tarique Rahman has thought through his climate strategy. Image: X Screengrab When Tarique Rahman, Bangladesh’s prime minister, chose the World Economic Forum’s prestigious Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian for his first major international address since taking office, the selection of the topic was a highly deliberate statement of strategic intent. He did not lead with predictable requests for trade concessions, investment incentives, or the fluid politics of the country’s democratic transition. Instead, he chose climate change. “Bangladesh believes climate action is not a cost,” he told the assembled global delegates. “For delta nations, it is a much-needed investment for prosperity, stability and a shared future.” For an administration five months into a mandate built entirely on restoring institutional confidence, this was a structural claim about how Bangladesh intends to compete for capital, partnerships and geopolitical standing in an era in which climate vulnerability has become inseparable from macroeconomic strategy. The underlying argument advanced by Dhaka is simple and assertive. Bangladesh is no longer content to be treated as a passive case study in ecological vulnerability.

July 7, 2026

Business

Ukrainian woman wanted in connection with Monaco bombing found dead

An officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing her, claiming to have acted on his own initiative Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday said it found the body of Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska, who had been wanted by authorities in Monaco in connection with the bombing targeting Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev. The security service, also known by its local abbreviation SBU, said an officer serving in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing Berezovska with the help of a former law enforcement officer. He claimed he acted on his own initiative and without telling his superiors, the statement said. Interpol had identified 39-year-old Berezovska as the main suspect. The police organisation named her in a Red Notice seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent and criminal conspiracy. Interpol on Tuesday said it had no immediate comment and that the Red Notice on its website would remain until Monaco asked for its removal. The SBU said investigators had focused on the two men after discovering they had repeatedly transferred cryptocurrency and money through bank accounts to Berezovska.

July 7, 2026

Business

China extends gold-buying binge to 20th month amid Beijing’s de-dollarisation push

PBOC’s bullion holdings keep rising as forex reserves dip in June to US$3.42 trillion and the central bank seeks security from sanctions and US market volatility China’s central bank extended its gold-buying streak to a 20th straight month in June, adding 480,000 troy ounces (14.93 tonnes) to its reserves as policymakers continued to accumulate bullion amid de-dollarisation discussions. The People’s Bank of China said gold holdings rose to 75.44 million troy ounces (2,346 tonnes) at the end of June. The latest addition extended the longest buying streak since 2015. The steady accumulation underscores Beijing’s drive to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves and reduce dependence on US-denominated assets, even as gold still accounts for less than 10 per cent of China’s reserve portfolio, according to the World Gold Council. Separately, China’s foreign exchange reserves stood at US$3.4163 trillion at the end of June, down US$26 billion, or 0.75 per cent, from the end of May, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Analysts say the metal has become increasingly important as policymakers seek assets that are insulated from sanctions risk, geopolitical tensions and volatility in the United States’ financial system.

July 7, 2026

Business

Chinese researchers find a peephole to any smartphone in its leaked radio signal

Authorities could be able to determine which apps are being used by analysing faint electromagnetic signals emitted as the device operates Researchers at the People’s Public Security University of China have developed a method that identifies smartphone applications and user actions through low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. In their findings published in the peer-reviewed journal Radioengineering on May 22, the researchers described it as a non-contact forensic technique that worked without accessing a phone’s operating system or stored data. “This technical approach can provide objective technical corroboration for evidence reinforcement in digital forensics and non-contact investigations,” the authors wrote.

July 7, 2026

Business

Can Singapore and Indonesia’s energy push kick-start regional power grid?

The cooperation could boost both countries’ sustainability goals and help shape regional frameworks for the Asean Power Grid, analysts say “Indonesia has tremendous potential in renewable energy and Singapore would like to partner with Indonesia in unlocking this potential,” he said at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat in Jakarta on Monday. Jakarta’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara signed agreements with Singapore firms Keppel Electric and Sembcorp Industries on Monday to explore collaboration on the offtake of imported low-carbon electricity.

July 7, 2026