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In acknowledgement of viewers to this site from around the world, here's some stories involving their home countries: Bulgaria: Ukraine Backs Purchase of Soviet-designed nuclear reactors from Bulgaria .  Singapore: A pandan cake showdown . Also, teen detained for trying to start a "race war." Hong Kong: US tariffs are being challenged .  Slovenia: Is private 5G in the future ? Mexico: Also not a fan of the tariffs . Huh; maybe team up with Hong Kong, form an alliance?

 For those who travel, take note : Visitors heading to Hong Kong from New Year’s Day onwards will have to pay more for hotel accommodation and air travel under revised tax and fee arrangements to help boost public coffers. Authorities on Wednesday reintroduced a 3 per cent Hotel Accommodation Tax that had been waived since 2008, while all travellers using the airport will have to pay higher flight fares due to an increase in security fees.

From Reuters : The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said she was fired by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday after she refused demands from senior editors at the paper to sever ties with the organisation and to not advocate for media freedoms. Selina Cheng, who worked in the Journal's Hong Kong bureau as a reporter covering China's automobile sector, was elected on June 22 to be the HKJA's new chairperson at a time of mounting pressure by authorities under a national security crackdown that has seen reporters arrested and liberal media outlets closed. "My supervisor in the UK directed me to withdraw from the election," Cheng told reporters on Wednesday after walking out of the Journal's Hong Kong bureau. She said she had refused. Cheng said Gordon Fairclough, the WSJ's world coverage chief, terminated her employment in person in Hong Kong on Wednesday, explaining it was part of a restructuring move. There was no immediate response to ...

Seems like everyone to the East has solved or perfected long-distance traveling : Interested in capping off your trip to Hong Kong with a long weekend in Beijing or Shanghai? A new high-speed sleeper train service is making that possibility easier than ever. Two new overnight routes connecting the city with Beijing and Shanghai entered into service on June 15. Both trains depart Hong Kong West Kowloon Station in the evening and arrive in Beijing at 6.53 a.m. and Shanghai at 6.45 a.m., making the journeys around 12.5 hours and 11 hours respectively. Return trips depart from Beijing and Shanghai at around 8 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong at 8.47 a.m. and 7.29 a.m. These routes run four days a week, departing all three stations every evening from Friday to Monday. “It will be more comfortable and faster, reducing the travel time by about half, and will cover a wider range of destinations, including popular tourist attraction cities,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said in a press st...