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Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina found guilty of crimes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A Bangladesh court convicted ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina of crimes against humanity on Monday, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.The prosecution had sought the death penalty for Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan. It did not recommend any penalty for a third suspect – a former police chief who became a state witness and pleaded guilty. Hasina and Asaduzzaman were tried in absentia for...

PhD for landfill supervisor raises a stink over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A county-level sanitation office in southern China has invited ridicule and stoked a public debate after posting a job that requires a PhD to supervise garbage trucks and landfills – an unusual demand that critics say epitomises China’s runaway degree inflation. The posting in Guangdong province, by the office that manages urban environmental sanitation for Shixing county, appeared online last week under a notice for “urgently needed high-level talent for public institutions” issued by the...

Stay ‘on high alert’, People’s Daily warns, as Japan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

People’s Daily has urged Asian nations to stay “on high alert” for Japan’s potentially “dangerous” strategic tilt in an editorial published amid a trip to Beijing by a senior Japanese diplomat over the escalating bilateral diplomatic row on Taiwan. The commentary in the Communist Party mouthpiece on Monday condemned Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on potentially intervening in a Taiwan conflict, calling them “tantamount to invoking the ghost of militarism”, a reference

What US anti-scam ‘strike force’ means for Southeast...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A US-led crackdown on online scams may hand Southeast Asia an opportunity to combat the scourge, analysts say, as Washington and Beijing find common purpose in dismantling criminal networks that exploit lax governance and human trafficking. The United States launched its “Scam Centre Strike Force” last week to counter cryptocurrency fraud linked to Southeast Asia, estimating that such crimes defraud Americans of nearly US$10 billion a year. Many of these schemes, dubbed “pig butchering”

Alibaba’s Qwen app challenges AI subscription models...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Alibaba Group Holding has officially launched its multipurpose artificial intelligence app, Qwen, promising a “free-for-all” gateway for consumers to access a variety of AI-powered services, from mapping to shopping. Qwen, powered by Alibaba Cloud’s open-source model series of the same name and marketed as “the best personal AI assistant”, serves not only as a chatbot but also as a comprehensive AI tool designed to meet user needs in both professional and personal contexts, the company said

6 dead as landslide buries bus on Vietnam’s scenic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A landslide buried a passenger bus on a treacherous mountain pass in Vietnam, killing six people and injuring 19 others, as more heavy rain was forecast for the week. The earth and rocks collapsed onto the bus late on Sunday as it was travelling through the Khanh Le pass in the central highlands, state media reported. The winding, 33km (20 mile) stretch carved into steep mountainsides is scenic and popular with tourists but prone to landslides in the rainy season. The landslide crushed the

AI-generated scenes ‘from France’s 2025 Louvre heist’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

With the rise of social media and generative AI, how much of what we see online is true? In this new series, SCMP Fact-Check, the Post investigates claims circulating online and debunks viral misinformation impacting the daily lives of Hongkongers. A daring daytime heist of jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris on October 19 made international headlines. During the heist, the thieves parked a truck with an extendable ladder under the museum’s Apollo Gallery, and used cutting equipment to get...

Yuan rapidly gaining ground as Chinese firms plot...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Chinese companies expanding overseas are increasingly using the yuan for financing and payments to build their international operations, boosting the currency’s growing clout in international trade and investment. “Based on my calculation, 10 per cent of our company’s total orders were priced and settled in renminbi,” said Yang Feng, finance director for overseas marketing at Sieyuan Electric, in a panel discussion organised by Standard Chartered at the China International Import Expo in...

‘Don’t mention the war’: EU recalibrates China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Under pressure from Beijing’s chokehold on rare earths and the simmering feud over chipmaker Nexperia, EU officials have been asked to tone down their public rhetoric on Beijing, even as the bloc moves forward aggressively with its de-risking plans. Brussels is in “de-escalation mode”, several official sources confirmed, as it looks to convince China to issue more licences for the export of the critical minerals vital to hi-tech manufacturing and ensure the supply of chips from beleaguered...

Tech war: Huawei bets on AI tech to squeeze more...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies is expected to unveil a new artificial intelligence infrastructure technology on Friday that could double the utilisation efficiency of graphic processing units (GPUs), according to the state-owned Shanghai Securities News. The report said the technology would be able to lift the utilisation rate of AI chips – including GPUs and neural processing units (NPUs) – to 70 per cent, up from the current 30 to 40 per cent, in another major advance in

‘Eats 50 rats’: Chinese woman transforms, loses 14kg...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A Chinese woman who won a bronze medal and a cash prize for lasting 35 days in a wilderness survival contest says the biggest benefit of the event was that she lost 14kg in weight. The 25-year-old nicknamed Zhao Tiezhu has 38,000 followers on social media and recently announced her achievement. Zhao took part in the contest which kicked off on an island in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on October 1. She lasted in the wild until November 5. She came third and won 7,500 yuan (US$1,000) in...

2 Hong Kong residents held as HK$7.5m cross-border...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested two residents suspected of being core members of a cross-border sham marriage syndicate that generated more than HK$7.5 million (US$964,823) in illicit earnings, following a joint operation with mainland Chinese law enforcement agencies. Chief immigration officer Tang Wai-yip said on Monday that the department apprehended a 43-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman after searching two residential flats, suspecting the pair to be the syndicate’s...

Hong Kong receives 41 million visitors in first 10...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong has recorded a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals for the first 10 months of 2025, with around 41 million people visiting the city between January and October, according to the Tourism Board. The city welcomed 9.62 million foreign tourists in that period, marking a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in non-mainland Chinese visitors, the board revealed on Monday. The 31.44 million mainland tourists, accounting for 76.6 per cent of total visitors, marked an 11 per

Singaporean man jailed on rare charge of not...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

When a Singaporean man found his girlfriend dead in her bedroom, he tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her before leaving with his belongings. He texted his girlfriend’s sister hours later to say only that the woman was uncontactable. When his girlfriend’s sister showed up at the unit with his girlfriend’s children, she found her sister dead and decomposing. Jason Hong Kai Qi, 34, was sentenced to one week’s jail on Monday for a rare charge of failure to report a death. He had earlier been...

At least 32 killed in DR Congo after bridge at mine...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A bridge at a copper and cobalt mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo collapsed due to overcrowding, killing at least 32 people, a regional government official said on Sunday. The bridge at the Kalando mine in Mulondo in Lualaba province fell on Saturday, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the province’s interior minister, said during a press conference. “Despite the strict prohibition on accessing the site due to heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides, illegal diggers forced their way into

Malaysian girl group Dolla’s ‘immoral’ video pulled...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Malaysian girl group Dolla have withdrawn their latest music video after religious groups and a government minister accused the performers of wearing overly suggestive outfits amid mounting moral scrutiny of women in the country’s entertainment industry. The video for “Question”, released in early November, featured the three members – Sabronzo (Wan Sabrina Wan Rusli), Tabby (Tabitha Ariel Lam) and Angel (Angelina Chai) – confronting a cheating boyfriend inside a retro American-style

Chinese student numbers in US fall as gap with Indian...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Chinese student numbers in the United States have continued to decline over the past year, but they remain the second-largest student group after Indians and the biggest contributors to the US economy, according to new data released on Monday. A total of 265,919 Chinese studied in the US in the 2024-25 academic year, marking a four per cent decrease from the previous academic year, according to the latest annual survey of higher education institutions by the Institute of International

China’s Unitree Robotics completes pre-IPO tutoring...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Unitree Robotics, one of China’s leading humanoid robot manufacturers, has completed its pre-initial public offering (IPO) tutoring process in only four months, a major step towards an onshore listing amid Beijing’s push for technological self-reliance and advancement, according to government documents. The Hangzhou-based unicorn passed regulatory checks with the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau, concluding a pre-listing tutoring period that began on July 18, the China Securities

Japan trip refunds after PM’s remark, miners hit gold...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Airlines offer Japan trip refunds as row over Takaichi’s Taiwan comments deepens 2. Nexperia civil war erupts as Chinese and Dutch arms trade blows 3. Why Singapore’s PAP is taking aim at opposition WP so soon after an election 4. Why China studies scholars in the West have been left in

Najib, son face bankruptcy after Malaysian court’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

The Malaysian High Court has dismissed an appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them. The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the Inland Revenue Board following Najib and Nazifuddin’s failure to settle tax arrears amounting to 1.69 billion ringgit (US$407 million) and 37.6 million ringgit, respectively. Judicial Commissioner Suhendran Sockanathan alias Saheran Abdullah made the dismissal after finding that...

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