The Hong Kong Telegraph - news from Hong Kong, China and around the world, in six languages

England, Portugal eye top spots as World Cup group stages wrap up

Injured Australian pair Leckie, Italiano out of World Cup

US, Iran trade strikes putting new strain on Middle East truce

Farmers fear drought as Italy's longest river runs dry

Thousands expected as Vespa celebrates 80 years in Rome

Budapest Pride to push for equality after reversed ban

Venezuela earthquakes kill nearly 1,000, tens of thousands missing

Pino, Williams injuries mar Spain's World Cup progress

World Cup fans get taste of American life -- at the mall

Cape Verde extend World Cup 'dream' to set up Argentina meeting

Bielsa accepts blame for World Cup exit, but says Uruguay deserved more

Pope ends Spain visit with migrant meetings

Pope Leo XIV will meet migrants and hold an open-air mass on the island of Tenerife on Friday to end a visit to Spain that has highlighted the plight of irregular arrivals.

Ex-Tottenham owner sells art collection in blockbuster auction

Works by artists including Picasso, Magritte and Klimt, amassed by the ex-owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, head to auction this month with a total sales estimate of £200 million ($267 million).

Displaced families bury Hezbollah dead in temporary graves

At a cemetery in southern Lebanon, Ghada Hussein clutched images of her son, a Hezbollah fighter killed in an Israeli strike and buried in a temporary grave because the family cannot return to her border village.

Lightning's Kucherov wins Hart Trophy as NHL MVP

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player on Thursday, winning the award for the second time.

Marsch says wanted 'responsibility' of leading Canada in home World Cup

Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Thursday the chance to lead the team in a World Cup on home soil was the reason he took the job, hours before the co-hosts' opening match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Taylor Swift becomes youngest woman in Songwriters Hall of Fame

Taylor Swift on Thursday became the youngest woman ever inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, another milestone in the 36-year-old US pop star's record-breaking career.

Aguirre says Mexico beat cramps and stage fright in World Cup opener

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre revealed his team had overcome a bout of stage fright before clinching their first victory in a World Cup opener with a 2-0 defeat of South Africa on Thursday.

Japan captain Endo out of World Cup, ends international career

Japan captain Wataru Endo was ruled out of the World Cup with injury and announced his international retirement on Thursday, three days before his team's opener against the Netherlands.

Iran's World Cup players take to the training pitch

Iran's footballers took to the training pitch in front of journalists Thursday at their base camp in Mexico, giving the world its first glimpse of a team whose participation in the World Cup has been clouded by war with the United States.

Antarctic Peninsula sees record high June temperatures

Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have reached a record-breaking high of 15.4C for June, and ice is melting at abnormal rates during the current winter, climate scientists told AFP on Thursday.

In The News

Mexico beat South Africa to kick off World Cup