Author: stingfm

Almost a decade after launching the Vision 2030 programme to diversify its oil-dependent economy, Saudi Arabia is redirecting its spending away from attention-grabbing futuristic urban projects into sectors that hold more promise to deliver results. Since last year, the programme has undergone a review following a US$8 billion writedown at the end of 2024. The […]

A five-year-old boy and his father must be released by Tuesday from the Texas centre where they have been held after being detained by immigration officers in Minnesota, a federal judge ordered Saturday in a ruling that harshly criticised US President Donald Trump’s administration’s approach to enforcement. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny […]

There was no mayday call from the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on Friday morning on its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port. The US Coast Guard was notified by the boat’s beacon that alerts when it hits the water. When rescuers arrived they found […]

A Nevada jury on Friday convicted Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse of sexually assaulting indigenous women and girls in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. The jurors in Las Vegas found Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced. Most of the guilty verdicts centred on Chasing […]

The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totalling US$6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth US$9 billion. The State Department announced the sales to America’s allies in the Middle East late on Friday as tensions rise in the region over the possibility of US military strikes on Iran. […]

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of chipmaker Nexperia, is expected to post a loss of between 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, owing to the Dutch government’s takeover of the semiconductor firm, the Shanghai-listed company said in a statement on Friday. Wingtech said that its authority over the chipmaker continues […]

This year started with a bang – from the United States’ intervention in Venezuela and the investigation opened against US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to US President Donald Trump’s renewed claims on Greenland and the potential for US action following instability in Iran. Amid these crises, gold prices are now over US$5,500 per ounce, […]

Top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees called on Thursday for US President Donald Trump’s chief spy to brief their panels on why she was ‍present at an FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia. Senator Mark Warner and Congressman Jim Himes told Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a letter […]

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China close to opening US$10 billion canal linking heartlands to […]

Niger’s military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani on Thursday blamed the French, Benin and Ivory Coast presidents for sponsoring an attack on Niamey international airport, an accusation he made without offering any evidence. Gunfire and ‍loud explosions echoed around Niger’s international airport in Niamey shortly before midnight in what two security sources described as a “terrorist attack”, […]