Family in tears as first proof of hostage alive released by Hamas in seven months
The hostage's grandfather broke down in floods of tears when he heard about the video. He'd been privately convinced his grandson was dead.
news.sky.com/story/family-i…

Hong Kong’s low-paid workers find little to celebrate about as new minimum wage formula gets nod.
Thirteen years after minimum wage introduced, a new formula has been approved barring any rate cuts in future.
scmp.com/news/hong-kong…

‘Don’t exaggerate’: HK’s leader urges calm amid string of business closures.
John Lee says Hongkongers should adopt ‘positive and enterprising’ attitude and stand united in telling others about ‘real and glorious’ side of city.
scmp.com/news/hong-kong…

The North Korean government has ordered the confiscation of all cell phones owned by workers in Russia, Daily NK has learned. As the North steps up its surveillance and control of workers there, it is also cooperating with Russia to prevent defections.
dailynk.com/english/north-…

Cases of negative equity in Hong Kong's residential mortgage loans rose 27 per cent in the first quarter from the previous one to the highest in 20 years, the city's de facto central bank said.
channelnewsasia.com/business/hong-…

Japanese researcher denies conducting teardown analysis of Huawei Pura 70 smartphone.
Several Chinese online media outlets falsely reported that Fomalhaut found more than 90% of the Pura 70’s components to be Chinese made.
scmp.com/tech/big-tech/…

No country has been as vigorous as China in digging out new land in the middle of the sea - but others have been fortifying the region too.

China’s exports to Mexico are getting heavier tariffs – is it a sign of more to come?
Mexico has established new or higher tariffs on a long list of imports, directly affecting China and raising questions over what else could be in store.
scmp.com/economy/china-…

Xi’s ambition to remake the world is undeniable.He wants to dissolve the US’s network of alliances and purge Western values from international bodies.He wants to knock the US dollar off its pedestal and eliminate the US’s chokehold over critical technology
foreignaffairs.com/china/chinas-a…

'Saving da zi' first emerged on Xiaohongshu(China's version of Instagram) in February 2023. It has attracted 1.7M views so far.On Weibo, topics about saving partners have been viewed millions of times.
The trend shows a low confidence in the future economy ecns.cn/m/news/cns-wir…

Ukrainian woman, 98, treks miles under shelling to escape Russian forces
Lidia Stepanivna Lumikovska said she survived World War II “and I am going through this war.”
nbcnews.com/news/world/ukr…

BYD to fix software in 16,666 Seagull EVs in China product recall, regulator says.
reuters.com/business/autos…

Russian undercover operatives posed as hotelier couple in Greece’
A new report claims husband and wife team ran Villa Elena as a safe house for GRU military intelligence agents who carried out attacks in the Czech Republic.
thetimes.co.uk/article/russia…