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China Southern Airlines orders Airbus jets worth...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Airbus secured an order for 137 A320neo jets from Chinese airlines, extending the European company’s edge in one of aviation’s most contested markets as US rival Boeing waits on a long-speculated deal with Beijing. China Southern Airlines, one of China’s three major state-owned carriers, announced the deal on Wednesday. The airline, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, will purchase 102 aircraft, while its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines will acquire the remaining 35. The orders carry a

UK police say London stabbing of 2 Jewish men is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

London police say the stabbing of two Jewish men on Wednesday has been declared a terrorist incident.Metropolitan Police say they are investigating whether the attack specifically targeted the Jewish community. The force says the incident, in the Golders Green area, left two men, aged 34 and 76, hospitalised with knife wounds. A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police are investigating whether the stabbings are linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues

DeepSeek adds AI vision in major move: ‘the whale can...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has added multimodal capabilities to its flagship chatbot for the first time – meaning that it can process images and video in addition to text – bringing it in line with rivals that already offer the function. The limited release to select users comes just days after the Hangzhou-based company released its new flagship model V4, which was followed by extensive price cuts. According to DeepSeek multimodal team leader Chen Xiaokang, who made

Are US agents around Trump armed with Chinese red dot...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

A press photo of a US protective agent responding to a gunman breaching security during last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner has ignited debate within America’s firearms community. The controversy centres not on the agent’s actions, but on what appeared to be a Chinese-made Holosun red dot sight mounted on her Glock pistol. The image, which spread rapidly across firearms forums after being shared on social media, shows a plain-clothes agent with her weapon drawn as US...

Tropical rainforest loss eases after record year, but...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

The pace of tropical forest destruction slowed in 2025 after record losses the year before but remained at worrying levels equivalent to 11 football fields per minute, researchers said Wednesday. The world lost 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical primary rainforest last year, down 36 per cent from 2024, said researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland. “A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging – it shows what decisive...

Thirst for local AI chips raises revenue for China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Chinese chip designers Cambricon Technologies and MetaX Integrated Circuits reported substantial growth in the first quarter, as the artificial intelligence boom, lingering US export-control risks and China’s self-sufficiency push drove the country’s demand for home-grown computing power. Cambricon’s first-quarter revenue jumped 160 per cent from a year earlier to 2.89 billion yuan (US$423 million), while profit soared 185 per cent to 1 billion yuan, the company said in a filing on...

Guangdong to ‘actively align’ with Hong Kong’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Guangdong will “actively align” with Hong Kong’s strategy for the Northern Metropolis megaproject and highlight areas of collaboration as part of the province’s 15th five-year plan. The Guangdong provincial government on Tuesday published its development blueprint, with the term “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area” mentioned 57 times in the document and a chapter dedicated to the region’s development. Its proposal for economic and social development, part of Beijing’s sweeping

Why China may benefit from the UAE’s Opec withdrawal...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

China may gain from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) withdrawing from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), benefiting from additional supply as global oil markets face growing strain three months into the US-Israeli war in Iran, analysts said. The UAE – Opec’s third-largest producer, accounting for about 12 per cent of its total output – will formally leave the bloc on May 1. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei told CNBC that it was the “right time” to exit,

Hong Kong education portal under fire for low...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

A Hong Kong government-funded online portal that provides resources for teachers and school students has failed to meet its user number target, with thousands of items never being downloaded, viewed or used, according to an audit report. The Audit Commission report, which was released on Wednesday, also cited remarks from the executive director of Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) that the platform’s low usage was due to the city’s shrinking student population. The report found that the

Sudan’s sexual violence as weapon of war triggers...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

The widespread use of rape and other sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan has spurred a massive mental health crisis, United Nations agencies and local aid groups warned. The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict since April 2023 that has killed tens of thousands and displaced around 11 million people. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières last month said at least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence – nearly all of them

Hit from memory costs spreads from phones to EVs as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

The impact of sky-high costs for memory chips is spreading from smartphones to cars, as China’s electric vehicle (EV) king BYD announced a 21 per cent price increase for its high-end driver-assistance system. Starting on Friday, the price of the optional DiPilot 300 assisted-driving system would rise to 12,000 yuan ($1,757) from 9,900 yuan, BYD said on Tuesday, attributing the decision to “the sharp rise in global storage hardware costs”. The system, which allows cars to navigate themselves

Why an era of managed Hormuz disruption wouldn’t bode...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Even if the immediate phase of conflict subsides, the Gulf is unlikely to return to the status quo. For Asia, the central question is no longer simply whether the Strait of Hormuz is open. It is whether the waterway remains reliable, predictable and politically insulated from coercion. That distinction now matters more than ever. For China and other major Asian importers, it is a question of whether energy flows, shipping routes and sanctions exposure are increasingly being shaped by a crisis...

Why Beijing’s weaponised cargo ship could be a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Beijing’s latest weaponised container ship could play a key role in deterring foreign intervention at a low cost during a Taiwan conflict, according to a mainland Chinese military magazine. The Zhong Da 79 is a medium-sized civilian cargo ship capable of carrying containerised vertical missile launchers, radar sensors and self-defence systems. It was first spotted at the end of last year at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding’s yard in Shanghai. An article by Ordnance Industry Science Technology...

Hong Kong Law Society closes firm linked to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Hong Kong’s Law Society has ordered the closure of a solicitors’ firm under investigation for its alleged role in a series of “crash-for-cash” scams in the city. The society’s council announced on Wednesday it would intervene in the practice of Raymond Lam & Associates, which will cease operations with immediate effect. The council also appointed Robertsons, another local law firm, as the intervention agent to handle matters pertaining to the closure. In a statement, the society said it found...

‘Might over right’ imperils international justice,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi called for “unity and the safeguarding of international justice” during a meeting with UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, urging a global front against the “law of the jungle” amid deepening geopolitical tensions. During the talks in Beijing, Wang told Baerbock that multilateralism faced “severe challenges” from unnamed powers prioritising “might over right” – a veiled critique of Washington. “Certain countries pursue a policy of

Hong Kong penthouse sells for US$54m to mainland...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

A top-floor residence at High Peak in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels West neighbourhood has sold for HK$420 million (US$53.7 million) as activity in Hong Kong’s high-end housing segment remains heated after a strong first quarter. The penthouse unit at 23 Po Shan Road sold to a company called Shine Action on April 8, Land Registry records showed. The buyer is believed to be a mainland resident, based on the name of Shine Action’s director in the Companies Registry, Zheng Jiang. Momentum at the

Southeast Asia’s Mekong River being poisoned by rare...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Perched on the bow of his long-tail fishing boat, 75-year-old Sukjai Yana untangled a handful of small fish from his net, disappointed by his catch and fretting over whether he can sell them. Some days Sukjai earns nothing: demand for fish is falling due to worries over contamination of the Mekong River and its tributaries by toxic run-off from rare earth mines upstream that is threatening millions who rely on those waters for farms and fisheries. Chiang Saen, a fishing hub in northern

Hong Kong throws SMEs lifeline with raft of measures,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

Hong Kong authorities have rolled out fresh measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reeling from the global fuel crisis and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, including a 21 per cent rise in available bank lending to HK$450 billion (US$78.43 billion). The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto central bank, said on Wednesday that the measures for SMEs were designed to improve access to financing, strengthen their business resilience and

2 months jail for Hong Kong security guard who shared...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

A Hong Kong man has been jailed for two months for sharing a social media post urging residents to shun last year’s Legislative Council election. Security guard Wong Wah-kwong, 63, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday to inciting others to boycott the December poll – the second under a Beijing-imposed “patriots-only” election overhaul in 2021. Wong admitted sharing a Facebook post dated October 15 last year by fugitive activist Alan Keung Ka-wai, who urged Hongkongers to avoid...

Before Trump’s visit, China touts mineral dominance,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/29

China is flexing its dominance over the global supply chain – claiming the world’s largest reserves of 14 essential minerals, including rare earths and graphite – while preparing to ramp up exploration through the end of the decade. The Ministry of Natural Resources disclosed the information at a monthly media briefing on Wednesday, vowing that China would continue accelerating its search for minerals during the 15th five-year plan period spanning 2026 to 2030. The message underscores

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