Belgium will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France.

Under mounting global criticism for its war in Gaza, Israel has been angered by the pledges to formally recognise a Palestinian state at a summit during this month’s UN event.

Belgium will join the signatories of the New York Declaration, paving the way for a two-state...

South Korea’s Unification Church has forcefully rejected allegations that its leader, Han Hak-ja, bribed the wife of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, even as prosecutors expand a corruption investigation that threatens to expose decades of the church’s political entanglements.

In a rare video address released on Sunday, Han – the widow of church founder Sun Myung-moon – denied direct involvement in any irregularities.

“False information is being spread that, under my instructions, our church...

Chinese shipping companies are working with global partners to reduce their US exposure and explore more regional market opportunities, as the industry braces for the introduction of steep new US port fees in October.

Washington plans to charge Chinese-linked vessels hefty fees to enter US ports as part of a drive to rein in China’s globally dominant shipyards, and the controversial new levies are already driving deep changes in the shipping industry.

“The container shipping industry is...

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1. What Vietnam’s South China Sea island-building spree means for Asean

Vietnam’s rapid expansion of artificial island construction in the disputed Spratly Islands has put it on track to surpass China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea, according to new satellite...

Elon Musk has voiced support for an anti-immigration demonstration in Japan, where the number of foreign-born residents is low and a “Japanese first” party did well in recent elections.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief and former adviser to US President Donald Trump has backed far-right parties in other countries, such as Alternative for Germany.

Commenting on a video of the modest rally in Japan posted on social media by an account called The British Patriot, South African-born Musk said on Monday:...

A six-month-old girl has died in Hong Kong after being found unresponsive during her sleep.

The baby’s father filed a report to police at 1.47am on Tuesday and said his daughter had fainted while sleeping at the family’s home in Yu Man House at Yu Chui Court in Sha Tin.

She was rushed to Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin, where she was declared dead at 3.15am.

Officers from the Sha Tin district crime squad are investigating the case.

New World Development (NWD) shares dropped on Tuesday after the property developer said it has not received a proposal from its controlling shareholder, the billionaire Cheng family, on a capital injection.

“Save that the company is in discussions with respect to a loan facility led by Deutsche Bank as part of the company’s ordinary course financing activities, the company has not received any funding proposal as alleged in the rumours,” NWD said on Monday night.

NWD’s shares fell 2.7 per cent...

China and Russia have withstood the test of international changes and will continue to support each other, President Xi Jinping told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a high-profile meeting that showed solidarity amid growing pressure from the United States and its allies.

“Chinese-Russian relations have stood the test of international circumstances and serve as a model of interstate relations, eternal good-neighbourliness, friendship, comprehensive strategic interaction, mutually...

A massive landslide in Sudan’s western Darfur region has flattened an entire mountain village and killed more than 1,000 people, a rebel group said, leaving only one survivor.

The disaster struck on Sunday after days of heavy rain, devastating the village of Tarasin in the Jebel Marra area, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM), led by Abdulwahid al-Nur, said in a statement.

“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated at more than 1,000 individuals, with only...

Astronauts have to get used to many things in space, including that they cannot wash their dirty clothes.

But researchers in Beijing have proposed a solution: a compact, detergent-free washing machine that cleans clothes with mist and ozone using almost no water – a limited resource in space.

The cube-shaped device is a bit larger than a carry-on suitcase and weighs 12kg (26lbs), according to the team that developed it from the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre.

They said it used only...