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The Australian dollar jumped in Asian trading on Tuesday to its highest level in three months against the US dollar, extending the strong rally that briefly paused yesterday as markets took a breather. The move reflects renewed demand for the Aussie, which traders currently view as one of the most attractive opportunities in the FX market.   The buying momentum strengthened after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged for a third consecutive meeting and warned that inflation risks remain tilted to the upside.   Some analysts now believe the RBA may be forced to discuss a potential…

Hong Kong has launched a public consultation regarding a system for sharing information on crypto assets with other governments in compliance with international standards as the city ramps up initiatives to develop as a digital-asset hub.The government has invited members of the public to share views about the implementation of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and amendments in relation to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) put forward by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to a statement.“To demonstrate our commitment to promoting international tax cooperation and combating cross-border tax evasion, as well as to fulfil our international…

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings has pulled out of US media group Paramount Skydance Corp’s takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery to avoid heightened scrutiny of foreign investment in the United States, according to a filing on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s website.Tencent had pledged US$1 billion as part of Paramount’s December 1 proposal to acquire Warner Bros, but the Shenzhen-based company was removed as a financing partner in Paramount’s latest all-cash offer of US$30 per share announced on Monday.The change followed concerns from Warner Bros that Tencent’s role as a non-US equity financier could trigger…

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings has pulled out of US media group Paramount Skydance Corp’s takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery to avoid heightened scrutiny of foreign investment in the United States, according to a filing on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s website.Tencent had pledged US$1 billion as part of Paramount’s December 1 proposal to acquire Warner Bros, but the Shenzhen-based company was removed as a financing partner in Paramount’s latest all-cash offer of US$30 per share announced on Monday.The change followed concerns from Warner Bros that Tencent’s role as a non-US equity financier could trigger…

International and Chinese consumer brands will be forced to maintain a low-price strategy in mainland China amid persistent deflationary pressures, while looking to lower-tier cities and emerging sales channels for growth, according to a study by global consultancy Bain & Co and market research firm Kantar Worldpanel.Companies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector would need to respond quickly to new market trends with a focus on product affordability to increase sales volume, said the report, released on Tuesday.“China’s shoppers are becoming more deliberate in how they balance value, convenience and experience,” said Bruno Lannes, a senior partner with Bain.…

Indonesia is confronting its deadliest natural disaster in more than two decades as floods and landslides ravage Sumatra, overwhelming local authorities and prompting scrutiny of how President Prabowo Subianto’s administration is managing the crisis.Officials insist relief efforts have moved quickly, given how the scale of devastation demanded complex coordination, but critics and segments of the public argue the response has felt slow and at times tone-deaf, a perception analysts said could erode trust in the government.The death toll from floods and landslides from a tropical cyclone that wreaked havoc in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra provinces reached 961 on…

Military aircraft from China and Russia entered South Korea’s air defence zone without notification on Tuesday, prompting the deployment of fighter jets, the Korean military said.The nine aircraft appeared to be part of a joint patrol in the area, their first such exercise in more than 12 months. They did not violate Korean airspace, the country’s military command authority said.According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, seven Russian and two Chinese military aircraft sequentially entered and then departed the Korean Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) over the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea, and the East China…

The Nature’s 10 profile of Liang recognised the disruption caused in January by the release of DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning model that showed how “the United States was not as far ahead in AI as many experts had thought”.Hangzhou-based DeepSeek, a spin-off from Liang’s High-Flyer Quantitative Fund, made headlines early this year for roiling the US stock market. On January 27, a massive sell-off wiped out nearly US$1 trillion in tech stocks, including US$600 billion from Nvidia alone.The performance of DeepSeek’s R1 and V3, released in December, rivalled that of OpenAI’s offerings at a fraction of the training cost, which cast…

New Zealand’s largest naval vessel was followed by seven Chinese warships in a deployment to East Asia last month, including a rare transit through the Taiwan Strait, according to the Pacific nation’s military.HMNZS Aotearoa, a Polar-class replenishment vessel, was deployed to the East China and Yellow seas with allies, the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement on Monday.“During the operation, the ship was shadowed by seven different People’s Liberation Army (Navy) warships, which maintained a safe and professional distance throughout,” it said, without elaborating on the time and location. 01:29China’s first 076 ‘drone carrier’ amphibious assault ship begins…

A last-minute medical intervention halted the deportation of a Filipino man from the United States after advocates warned that his deteriorating condition and months of alleged neglect in immigration custody had put his life at risk.Greggy Valerio Sorio, a 37-year-old long-time US resident affectionately known as Kuya G, had already boarded a plane bound for Manila on Sunday night when Philippine Airlines medical staff reportedly intervened, citing his condition.He was returned to the Northwest ICE Processing Centre in Tacoma, Washington, shortly before take-off, according to the Inquirer.The Northwest ICE Processing Centre in Tacoma, Washington, pictured last year. Photo: The Seattle…