US officials told Axios the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome ended at 15:30 Rome time after changes in the local situation prompted an early adjournment. Both sides will resume talks tomorrow morning. Discussions covered political and military issues and made very positive progress. Technical teams advanced on key implementation details of a tripartite framework.

YONHAP reported on Aug 4 that Chinese-made electric vehicles accounted for 35% of EVs newly registered in South Korea in 1H 2026. The Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association’s analysis showed nearly 70,000 China-made EV registrations from Jan–Jun, up 178.7% YoY. The association said the influx could accelerate EV adoption and widen consumer choice but may raise competitive pressure on domestic automakers and along the industry supply chain.

At the midday break in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.11% and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.09%. Half-day turnover was HKD 142.97 billion. Sector leaders included data-storage, gold, semiconductor and media stocks; online education, oil names and domestic banks underperformed. Notable movers: MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) up >11%, Biren Technology (06082.HK) and China Gold International (02099.HK) up >10%, GigaDevice (03986.HK) up ~8%, China Molybdenum (03993.HK) up ~7%, CNOOC (00883.HK) down nearly 3%, New Oriental (09901.HK) down >2%.