Author: Verified News Online

AdvertisementHong Kong workers/labour rightsSilent suffering: how a domestic helper’s Hong Kong dream became a nightmareNepalese helper came to the city in search of a better life, only to find exploitation, exhaustion and abuse behind closed doors
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPEmily HungPublished: 6:04pm, 22 Feb 2026Sanju*, a foreign domestic helper of Nepalese ethnicity, never imagined her Hong Kong dream would turn into a nightmare.
The 34-year-old arrived in Hong Kong in 2023, driven by a simple wish to work in the city of her dreams. However, her first employer paid her 30 per cent below the statutory minimum wage, allowed her only two hours of sleep a day, and gave her just three rest days over six months, during which she was only paid two months’ salary.
After six months, she was dismissed and thrown out of the flat in the middle of the night because she could not speak English.
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AdvertisementTaiwanChinaPoliticsHow Trump’s Beijing bargaining could derail Taiwan’s multibillion-dollar defence budgetUS leader’s talk of consulting Xi Jinping on arms sales could hand Taiwan’s opposition a ‘lifeline’ to reshape spending bill, experts say
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPLawrence Chungin TaipeiPublished: 6:00pm, 22 Feb 2026Taiwan’s parliament is set to prioritise review of a disputed NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special defence budget bill when its new session begins on Tuesday, as pressure mounts from Washington.But US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about consulting Chinese President Xi Jinping on arms sales could complicate the debate, potentially giving Taipei’s opposition parties greater room to manoeuvre and reshape the final version of the bill, according to analysts.The renewed push follows an unusual bipartisan letter from 37 US lawmakers on February 12 urging Taiwan’s legislature to fully fund the eight-year package.
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UAE breaks new ground in children’s healthcare with cutting-edge gene therapy initiatives / AI Image The UAE has officially entered a new era of “precision medicine.” Moving away from simply managing symptoms, Emirates Health Services (EHS) recently unveiled two ambitious gene therapy projects designed to strike at the root causes of autism and rare brain disorders. By leveraging genetic engineering, the UAE isn't just treating patients, it’s aiming to “repair” the biological blueprints that cause these conditions in the first place.Gene therapy in the UAEThe United Arab Emirates has unveiled two groundbreaking gene therapy projects focused on treating serious neurological and genetic conditions in children. These efforts mark a major shift from conventional symptom-based care to tackling the underlying genetic causes of disease, potentially transforming neurodevelopmental healthcare in the region.One key project focuses on genetic causes linked to autism and epilepsy. It is being..

Source: Nottingham Post Sophie Downing, a 29-year-old business owner from Nottingham, has reportedly become the richest person in history according to a local coffee shop receipt. The catch is that her fortune can only be spent at 200 Degrees Coffee.The Nottingham story began with a simple Christmas gift. Sophie received a voucher that she thought was £10 for the café. When she tried to buy a matcha latte last week, the till displayed an astonishing balance of over £63 quadrillion. A person richer than the world’s richest man? Strange! It is roughly 100,000 times more than Elon Musk’s net worth and 670 times the total value of the world economy.Check below the whole story of Sophie, who is the ‘Richest Person in the History’, but only for COFFEE?Nottingham woman finds coffee voucher worth tens of quadrillionsSophie first used the card at the Flying Horse Walk branch on February 12. The barista reportedly froze when the balance appeared on the screen. “His face was just like, ‘what?’” s..

AdvertisementUkraine warWorldEurope5 European nations to make drones by tapping Ukraine’s war experienceThe initiative by France, Poland, Germany, the UK and Italy comes after a spate of violations of Europe’s airspace involving rogue drones
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 5:31pm, 21 Feb 2026Five European nations have announced a new programme to produce low-cost air defence systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise hard-won over the past four years of war against Russia.Friday’s initiative of the E5 nations – France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy – comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defence along their borders, like a “drone wall” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is..