Le Journal

Hong Kong has expanded the scope of an opt-in scheme that screens organisations for sex offenders to include volunteers, in a major step that will give greater protection to children and mentally incapacitated individuals. The expansion of the Sexual Conviction Record Check (SCRC) scheme took effect on Monday and was the second of the government’s two-phase approach to enhance child and vulnerable adult safety, in response to earlier recommendations from the Law Reform Commission. “Volunteers...

Malaysia is set to receive 12 pieces of fine art – including works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Henri Matisse – after discussions with US officials to repatriate assets tied to the global corruption scandal at 1MDB. The works are being held by Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses in the United States and estimated to have a combined value of over US$30 million, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement on Saturday. They were purchased by Jasmine Loo, a former...

In an attempt to solve the global fertility crisis, Chinese scientists have developed a balm for testicles they say can boost sperm activity. The lotion they developed for external application significantly enhanced sperm quality in both animal trials and in vitro studies, regardless of whether the decline in function was caused by exposure to heavy metals, plasticisers, heat stress or natural ageing, the researchers said. The findings of the study, conducted by researchers from several domestic...

China’s currency appears poised to break through the psychological 7.0-per-dollar barrier next year, fuelled by US Federal Reserve rate cuts and thawing trade tensions, with some bulls betting that the yuan could strengthen to 6.8. Analysts and onlookers are increasingly optimistic, with some citing the potential for a relatively weaker US dollar and pointing to signs that Beijing’s policy support is stabilising the world’s second-largest economy. Guan Tao, a former senior official with China’s...

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol began plotting to impose martial law barely a year after taking office, aiming to cling to power by provoking a military confrontation with North Korea, special investigators have found. Announcing the results of a 180-day investigation on Monday, special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said Yoon and his closest aides had devised a scheme to form a military junta, suspend democratic institutions, seize control of the legislature and judiciary and eliminate all...