Dollar strengthens against peers as Trump rekindles trade tensions; bitcoin hits record high

NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies including the yen and euro as President Donald Trump rekindled trade tensions with new tariffs on Canada and other trading partners. Trump issued... Read more »

The Next Labubu: What the Rise of Wakuku Tells Us About China’s Collectible Toy Wave

Labubu – the hottest toy of 2025 – is making headlines everywhere these days. The little creature is all over TikTok, and from New York to Bangkok and Dubai, people are lining... Read more »

Russian drones strike Ukraine, damaging a maternity hospital

KYIV: A Russian drone barrage targeted the centre of Kharkiv on Friday (July 11), injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said. Mothers with newborns were being... Read more »

China tightens internet controls with new centralized form of national virtual ID

Hong Kong CNN  —  China has mastered the craft of policing the internet, operating one of the world’s most extensive online censorship and surveillance regimes. With mandatory identity checks on every online... Read more »

ST will have government’s ‘full confidence and support’ in its mission to stay relevant: PM Wong 

[SINGAPORE] In an age of rapid change, Singapore needs trusted media outlets to help it navigate a complex world, discern fact from falsehood, and build common ground, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Given... Read more »

Honor mobile phone leading in AI speed

Fiercely competitive smartphone market shifts focus from hardware features to virtual brainpower Zhao Ming, president of Huawei”s Honor Brand, delivers a speech at the launch ceremony for their AI phone Honor V10.... Read more »

Nuclear safety research in Singapore boosted with S$66 million grant, new radiation-proof facility in NUS

SINGAPORE: A key institute on nuclear energy research was boosted with a S$66 million (US$52 million) grant as it unveiled its new premises at the National University of Singapore (NUS) on Friday... Read more »

China’s Rights Lawyers on the Tenth Anniversary of the “Black Friday” 709 Crackdown

This week, many organizations and media outlets commemorated the tenth anniversary of the 709 (July 9) or “Black Friday” crackdown, a coordinated detention of more than 300 rights lawyers and activists in... Read more »

‘We waited and waited’: Jollibean staff allege unpaid wages, CPF contributions amid sudden outlet closures

WORKERS OWED SALARIES, CPF A former employee who worked at the Pioneer MRT station outlet, which closed on Dec 27 last year, described how SMRT Trains had repossessed the premises when the team arrived... Read more »

Buddhist rebirth v Chinese control: the battle to choose the Dalai Lama’s successor | Dalai Lama

Few celebrations have the hills of Dharamshala abuzz like the birthday of the Dalai Lama. But this year, as monks and devotees flooded into the mountainous Indian city before the Tibetan spiritual... Read more »