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Wang Fuk Court administrator to hold online meetings...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

The government-appointed administrator of Wang Fuk Court, the Hong Kong estate devastated by a deadly fire last November, will hold two online meetings with displaced residents this month after 240 flat owners threatened legal action in a petition. Hop On Management Company announced on Wednesday that the Zoom meetings will take place from 7pm to 9pm next Tuesday and from 2pm to 4pm on May 20. Participation is limited to a maximum of two owners or their representatives per flat, on a

US firms add 109,000 jobs, the most since early 2025

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

US companies boosted payrolls in April by the most in over a year, the latest evidence of stabilisation in the labour market. Private-sector payrolls rose 109,000 in April after a revised 61,000 advance in the prior month, according to ADP Research data out on Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 120,000 increase. More than half of the hiring advance was due to health services and education. Trade, transport and utilities payrolls also increased....

Vietnam, India seek closer ties to hedge against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

A visit by Vietnam’s leader to India is set to enhance New Delhi’s growing influence with Hanoi while allowing the Southeast Asian country to hedge against China in the event of any escalation in maritime disputes. Vietnamese President To Lam’s trip underscores concerns from both countries of being “overly dependent” on any superpower, according to political analysts. Lam arrived in Delhi on Tuesday for a three-day visit, marking his first trip to India since assuming office. The visit

As power flows through submarine cables, law of the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Beneath the surface of the world’s oceans lies an infrastructure so essential, modern life would stall without it – yet so invisible it rarely enters public debate. Submarine cables, slender fibre-optic systems laid across the seabed, carry over 95 per cent of global internet traffic, transmitting the data that underpins financial markets, diplomatic exchanges and everyday communication. What appears to be neutral infrastructure is, in fact, a deeply political system – one that exposes a...

Party boss of China’s emerging tech hub under ...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

The Communist Party chief of Hefei – a growing tech hub and capital of China’s central Anhui province – has been placed under investigation, the country’s top corruption watchdog announced on Wednesday. Fei Gaoyun, once widely recognised as a rising star in the “seventh-generation” of future national leaders, is the latest senior official to be snared in President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign. The 54-year-old’s career trajectory was typical of China’s emerging generation

Hong Kong pledges deeper ties with Uzbekistan as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

The leaders of Hong Kong and Uzbekistan met on Wednesday to strengthen trade ties, as China and the Central Asian country signed 15 bilateral agreements covering areas such as infrastructure, healthcare and metal production. At a meeting at Government House with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Nigmatovich Aripov, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged to expand Hong Kong’s presence in belt and road markets and strengthen cooperation. Speaking later at a forum and exhibition with the Uzbek...

China’s chipmakers rush to embrace DeepSeek’s V4....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

The release of DeepSeek’s latest large language model, V4, has been followed by a wave of adoption among domestic semiconductor manufacturers and artificial intelligence chipmakers, with firms racing to support the model on local hardware platforms. The shift comes amid rising geopolitical tensions over advanced semiconductors. Here are some of the key players enabling the model’s deployment on domestic hardware. Huawei Huawei Technologies was among the first to act, with the V4 fully adapted

China condemns Japan’s first overseas ‘offensive...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

China condemned what it called Japan’s first “offensive missile” test overseas in eight decades, saying Tokyo’s “neo-militarism” and intensified arms race had gained momentum and threatened regional stability. During the “Balikatan 2026” joint drill led by the United States and the Philippines on Wednesday, Japanese forces fired a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile in the Philippines. According to China, it was the first time Japan had launched an “offensive” weapon abroad since World War II.

Thailand vows strict tourist oversight after public...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Thailand vowed on Wednesday to tighten oversight of tourists’ behaviour after a series of incidents involving foreigners caught having sex in public, warning they damaged the country’s image. Tourism is vital to the Southeast Asian nation’s economy but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid highs. Visitors displaying “inappropriate behaviour”, including illicit drug use, would face prosecution as it “contradicts the beautiful culture of Thailand”, the prime minister’s office

Indonesian captain among crew held as Somali pirates...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

A chilling voice note from her husband was all the warning Indonesian housewife Shanty Shanaya received of his impending kidnapping in some of the world’s most treacherous waters. “I’m about to be attacked,” her 33-year-old husband, Captain Ashari Samadikun, said in the April 21 voice note threaded with fear as a group he assumed to be pirates approached. He was captaining the Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 tanker, which was carrying fuel from Oman to Somalia – a route once notorious for pirates

27 held, HK$3.3m fuel seized as Hong Kong cracks down...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Hong Kong authorities have arrested 27 people and seized more than 21,000 litres of illicit fuel worth about HK$3.3 million (US$421,200) in a crackdown on triad-linked illegal fuel sales amid soaring global oil prices. Customs, police and fire services on Wednesday said they had jointly tackled 19 cases between April 13 and 30 in an operation code-named “Knockout”, during which 15 vehicles and a speedboat used to transport the fuel were also seized. The investigation found that the vehicles

Japan online shops probed after listing schoolgirls’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Battered school indoor shoes, reportedly worn by graduating schoolgirls, have appeared in online shops in Japan, sparking fierce criticism over the fetishisation of young women. Removing outdoor shoes before entering homes, schools, companies and other public buildings is a deeply rooted custom in the country, tied to cleanliness and respect for shared spaces. Known as uwabaki, Japan’s traditional indoor shoes are typically white and shaped like ballet flats. At schools, from kindergarten...

What the BJP’s historic West Bengal victory means for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

After his party’s stunning conquest of West Bengal, Narendra Modi stands at a juncture that would have seemed implausible mere months ago. The prime minister who lost his parliamentary majority in 2024, briefly inviting talk of a weakened leader, now controls roughly 70 per cent of India’s state legislatures through his ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sweep of West Bengal, winning 207 of 294 assembly seats and ending three consecutive

Hong Kong police launch investigation after man and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Hong Kong police have launched an investigation after a man and a woman were found dead in a flat at a Sau Mau Ping public housing estate on Wednesday afternoon. Police received a report at about 4.10pm from a man who suspected his brother had taken his own life inside a flat at Tat Yan House, Po Tat Estate. Firefighters forced entry into the flat and found a man, believed to be in his seventies, and a woman unconscious inside. Paramedics later certified both dead at the scene. Police said

Malaysia seeks to charge 2 over US$278 million Arm...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency is seeking to charge two unnamed individuals over a 1.1 billion ringgit (US$278 million) semiconductor deal with British chip designer Arm Holdings, as former economy minister Rafizi Ramli returned for a third day of questioning in the same probe. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said the investigation was nearing completion after officers recorded statements from 22 witnesses, including Rafizi and his former aide, political analyst James...

Hongkongers to pay only HK$240 a year for leukaemia...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

More than 400 cancer patients are set to benefit from Hong Kong health authorities’ decision to subsidise a leukaemia drug, reducing annual treatment costs from up to HK$500,000 (US$63,800) to just HK$240. The Hospital Authority said on Wednesday that it began subsidising the medication, Dasatinib, in April, with the government expected to allocate an additional HK$49 million in annual spending to help cover the cost. As part of the move, Dasatinib was reclassified from a “self-financed item”

What does an improved Hong Kong property outlook mean...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

The competition could intensify at tenders for Hong Kong’s residential plots as developers replenish their land banks amid a recovering property market, with the tug of war testing their financial discipline as they bid for parcels at a “noticeable premium”, according to S&P Global Ratings, though some analysts believe that the return of confidence is warranted given robust demand for housing units. The credit-rating agency also forecast a relatively modest residential market recovery, which...

Hong Kong to ban new EVs with only electronic door...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

Hong Kong is set to ban electric vehicles (EVs) equipped solely with electronic door handles, as authorities seek to align with mainland China’s decision to mandate physical manual releases on all new cars from 2027 to mitigate safety hazards. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Wednesday that the government was closely monitoring the latest technical breakthroughs and regulatory shifts on the mainland and abroad to ensure local road users were protected by up-to-date...

China’s new marine buoy says goodbye to classic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

A giant orange disc settled into the waters off Rongcheng in eastern China’s Shandong province, marking the deployment of what Chinese researchers describe as the world’s first-of-a-kind intelligent ocean-observation buoy.It abandons a mooring architecture that has dominated Western marine engineering since World War II. The six-metre-wide (19.7 feet) platform has completed sea trials and officially joined the Yellow Sea observation network, enabling continuous, real-time monitoring across

Sculpture in middle of ‘Mirror of the Sky’ China lake...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/06

China’s Chaka Salt Lake, a heaven-like tourist attraction hailed as a “mirror of the sky”, has hit the headlines over an “ugly” installation. The lake in northwestern China’s Qinghai province is famous for its mirror-like surface, formed as a result of the water’s high salt content. It was selected by an authoritative Chinese geography magazine as being among the top must-visit sites in China and received around 40,000 visitors daily last year. However, some people have complained that an...

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