She was among five girls in Japan believed to have beaten a boy so severely that he required hospital treatment. Yet her most pressing concern was how much money the group should demand from him. To find an answer, she turned to artificial intelligence. The alleged assault took place in January in H
Orchard Towers, a building in Singapore once notorious enough to earn the nickname “Four Floors of Whores”, has found an unlikely new tenant. On weekends, the site of former nightclubs, illegal massage parlours and at least one murder is now flooded with church-goers. Cornerstone Community Church of
Britain’s Observer newspaper said Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to resign on Monday and set out a timetable for his departure, though a government source said Starmer remained focused on getting on with the job of governing. The threat to Starmer’s position, which has been building for m
In late April, China’s top intelligence agency claimed that foreign forces were weaponising the concept of “lying flat” to dispel young people’s “belief in striving” and undermine social values. Once a niche subculture, “lying flat” has evolved into a mainstream phenomenon over the past five years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen Region in western Siberia, more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine. He also said Ukraine had developed new long-range drones capable of operating over more than 3,000 k
The paint is peeling from Washington’s reflecting pool after the renovation ordered by President Donald Trump, and he is now alleging that someone damaged it intentionally. “We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” he posted on his social media site on Friday ni
Claude Guillemot, who co-founded French video-game publisher Ubisoft with his brothers in 1986, has died, the company said on Saturday. “Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman of Guillemot Corp, in an accident,” the statement s
Russia has freed 24 Filipinos who have been detained for months without charges in a Siberian city, after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr raised concerns about them in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Philippine officials said on Saturday. The 24 arrived in Manila aboard two flight
One of Iceland’s two remaining whaling ships set out this week to hunt the giant mammals after a two-year hiatus, local media and campaigners reported on Saturday. Iceland is one of only three countries that still openly permit whaling, alongside Norway and Japan – despite international opprobrium f
Hong Kong police have arrested a man in connection with three burglaries in Ma On Shan involving losses of more than HK$700,000 (US$89,750). Police said on Saturday that they received three burglary reports between April 26 and June 3, concerning two flats at the Sausalito private residential estate
China said on Friday it will impose a tariff of 55 percent on beef imports from Australia after shipments from the country hit Beijing’s annual limit. The price of beef in China has trended downwards in recent years, with analysts blaming oversupply and a lack of demand as the world’s se
One of the things Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai likes about acting is the novelty — “you will never repeat the same role”. When it comes to the changes wrought on his beloved cinema by technology like AI, though, there are some things it seems he would rather keep constan
The investors who excitedly bought into the SpaceX IPO, making Elon Musk a trillionaire, have implicitly made a prediction on the future. The company’s US$1.8 trillion valuation is based on the expectation that its AI business will have revenues of US$322 billion by 2030 – which is quite an ey
Hong Kong Free Press won three honourable mentions at the prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Awards on Thursday night – a new record for the newspaper. HKFP photojournalist Kyle Lam’s five shots of the Tai Po fire tragedy were recognised in the Excellence in Photography&
China called Britain’s jailing of two dual Chinese-British nationals for spying on behalf of Beijing “a classic political farce” on Friday, urging the country to rectify its “erroneous actions”. A British court jailed former UK Border Force official Peter Wai and retire
An annual Reuters Institute report on the global news industry has said that Hong Kong journalists are facing “a widening range of intimidation, including tax investigations,” amid a deepening financial crisis among local media outlets. The 2026 Digital News Report said that journalists
A British court on Thursday jailed two dual Chinese-British nationals after they were convicted of spying on Hong Kong dissidents in the UK on behalf of China. Former UK Border Force official Peter Wai, 40, was jailed for 10 years and retired Hong Kong policeman Bill Yuen, 65, was given an eight-yea
Hong Kong leader John Lee has said that China’s top official Xia Baolong concluded his two-day visit by giving “affirmations” and “recognitions” to the local government. Lee spoke to local media on Wednesday afternoon after seeing Xia, director of the Hong Kong and Maca
The Hong Kong government will make it easier for owners of subsidised flats to lease their properties in September by waiving the land premium requirement. The Housing Authority said in a statement on Thursday that it had approved a scheme allowing owners of subsidised sale flats to rent out their u
For the first time, four Hong Kong universities have been placed among the top 50 in the latest global rankings, with two in the top 20. The 2027 World University Rankings, released by UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on Thursday, also showed that five Hong Kong institutions remained among the wor