We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. US singer unknowingly marries Malaysian sultan: ‘I deserve a proper divorce’
When American recording artist Brittany Porter met Sultan Muhammad V, ruler of the Malaysian state of Kelantan, she thought their fairy tale romance led to an engagement. A year later, she discovered that the Islamic nikah ceremony was in fact a religious marriage, a revelation that came only after the country’s former monarch had cut off contact.
2. China reaches energy independence milestone by ‘breeding’ uranium from thorium
An experimental reactor developed in the Gobi Desert by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics has achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion, paving the way for an almost endless supply of nuclear energy.
3. Rapper Namewee faces drug charges, denies link to Taiwanese influencer’s death
Malaysian police have charged controversial rapper and filmmaker Namewee with drug possession following media reports that he was found in a Kuala Lumpur hotel room where a Taiwanese influencer was later discovered dead.