Le Journal

Hong Kong authorities have made a last-ditch appeal for the public to refocus on the city’s reform and its future by voting in Sunday’s Legislative Council election, as political analysts said public sentiment after the deadly fire in Tai Po would play a decisive role in voter turnout rates. The appeal came as Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong met with foreign media representatives on Saturday. In a statement, the office said some reports had attacked the election and smeared the...

Hong Kong police have arrested a man and a woman for alleged possession of dangerous drugs after seizing suspected etomidate and methamphetamine from them. Officers from the force’s Kowloon West region noticed a suspicious pair at about 1am on Saturday while conducting an anti-crime patrol on Un Chau Street in Cheung Sha Wan and stopped them for questioning. Officers seized five e-cigarette cartridges suspected of containing etomidate and four packets of suspected methamphetamine weighing about...

Two years after Thai worker Sudthisak Rinthalak was killed by Hamas militants, his family in northeastern Thailand is preparing to welcome his remains home and hold a Buddhist ceremony they believe will bring his spirit peace. Sudthisak was among 47 hostages whose bodies Hamas has returned under the current ceasefire agreement. The handover of deceased hostages was a key condition of the initial phase of the deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza. Sudthisak’s elder brother Thepporn has spent the...

Competing priorities and US economic interests are likely to challenge Washington in its goal of “deterring a conflict over Taiwan” through an overwhelming military advantage, according to experts. The strategic goal was laid out in the White House’s latest National Security Strategy report released on Friday. While the report said the western hemisphere and domestic security were Washington’s top concerns, it also noted that “Taiwan provides direct access to the second island chain and splits...