Hong Kong has recorded its fastest quarterly economic growth in nearly five years, hitting 5.9 per cent, driven by private consumption and government spending despite the war in the Middle East. The first-quarter growth outpaced the 4 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of last year, according to an advance estimate released by the…
Hong Kong property transactions surged to a four-month high in April, while the value and volume of home sales hit their highest level in 24 months, according to the latest official data, underscoring the resilience of the city’s real estate sector amid uncertainties over interest rates and the US-Israel war on Iran. A total of…
PARIS, May 5 (Reuters) – U.N. Security Council members will begin talks on Tuesday on a U.S.- and Bahrain‑backed draft resolution that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, three Western diplomats said. Fresh exchanges of…
At this point, the Gulf war has started to seem like a series of missed deadlines and hollow pronouncements. What began as a two-week truce on April 8th is now approaching its fifth week. Donald Trump claims he can ignore a law that requires the American president to seek congressional approval for wars that last…
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – The fragile truce in the Middle East was in jeopardy on Tuesday after the U.S. and Iran launched new attacks as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after…
May 4 (Reuters) – The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine had been damaged by a drone. The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, was seized by Russian forces in the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine….
US President Donald Trump on Monday called out Iran for attacking ships of what he called ‘unrelated nations’ in the Strait of Hormuz, including a South Korean cargo ship, as part of what he described as escalating tensions around “Project Freedom.” In his post, Trump also claimed that US forces had intercepted and shot down…
By Patricia Zengerle and Bo Erickson WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration argued that a ceasefire with Tehran had “terminated” hostilities as a legal deadline arrived on Friday for coming to Congress about the two-month Iran war. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president can wage military action for only…
AT LAST IT has jumped. For years the United Arab Emirates (UAE) chafed at restrictions that came with membership of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It had even threatened to quit; and on April 27th, in the middle of a war, it stormed out. The headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum…
For almost five decades, Iran’s Islamic government has survived financial pressure from the U.S. by selling oil to China. It confronted American military might with guerrilla tactics. But with the U.S. Navy’s blockade, that strategy might have met its match, analysts said. French Commandant Thomas Scalabre points towards the positions of ships on the Strait…