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China youth ditch fast living to become ‘old-school...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

Once, young people in China were obsessed with emulating trendy lifestyles, attending parties, enjoying fine dining and treating consumption as a social currency. But as this fast-paced lifestyle became the norm, many began to feel exhausted. In response, a quieter, more traditional way of living has surfaced, and the young people have started calling themselves “old-school humans”. Last December, some people began sharing stories on social media about spending time with their grandparents at...

Hong Kong budget 2026-27: ‘sweeteners’ for grass...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

Hong Kong’s improving fiscal position has prompted a groundswell of calls for the government to offer more “sweeteners” in the coming budget, including a cross-party demand for more tax relief for the middle class, but economists have cautioned against such across-the-board measures. They were more supportive of targeted spending, a cause taken up in recent weeks by concern groups asking for more specific forms of help for grass-roots residents, especially the unemployed. The growing debate

How Trump’s threatened strikes on Iran could backfire

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was considering limited military strikes to pressure Iran into signing a new nuclear deal, but bombing the country may have the opposite effect, risking a new destabilising conflict in the Middle East. The Pentagon has orchestrated a massive deployment to the region that includes two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refuelling planes, giving Trump the option to launch limited, or extended, operations against Iran. Yet Trump and other...

Chinese scientists create new battery with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Chinese scientists have made a long-lasting, eco-friendly battery using organic electrodes and an electrolyte safe enough to be used as tofu brine. The team’s water-based battery is non-toxic and can be discarded without posing an ecological risk, unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries which require hazardous waste processing. Water-based batteries eliminate the flammability risk of conventional batteries and can be cheaper to produce, offering a safer alternative for applications such as...

An America without independent institutions cannot...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

When you buy a stock, you are paying for future profits, not current earnings. It seems that a similar principle applies to countries. The fact that a company or a country is at the top now means nothing if the main indicators are flashing red. I am reminded of this investment adage by a new article in Foreign Affairs, titled “The Multipolar Delusion and the Unilateral Temptation”. It argues there has been, and still is, only one hegemonic pole in the international order, and that is the

Andrew’s ‘downfall’: how this viral photo of the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Slumped in the back seat of his Range Rover, a visibly shaken man once referred to ⁠as the “Playboy Prince” stares ahead of him ⁠as the car leaves Aylsham police station in ⁠Norfolk, England. The photo, taken by Reuters photographer Phil Noble, went viral when it was published late on Thursday. It shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, after he was released from police custody following a day of questioning over allegations he sent confidential government...

UK to consider removing ex-prince Andrew from royal...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Britain’s government will consider new legislation to remove the former prince Andrew from the line of royal succession once the police investigation into his ties with Epstein is over, a UK official has said. Any changes to the line of succession – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in line to the throne – would require consultation and agreement with other countries where King Charles ‌is head of state, the official, who asked not to be identified, said on Friday. The former prince was...

Nasa aims to send astronauts around the moon in March...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Nasa aims to send astronauts to the moon in March after completing the latest rocket fuelling test. Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Friday that launch teams made “major progress” between the first countdown rehearsal, which was disrupted by hydrogen leaks earlier this month, and the second test, which was completed without significant seepage on Thursday night. The test was “a big step towards America’s return to the lunar environment”, Isaacman said on social media. Nasa could launch

Trump weighs limited strike on Iran, as Tehran says...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran to cut a deal to curb its nuclear programme. The latest threat came after Iran’s foreign minister said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days following negotiations between the two sides in Geneva earlier this week. Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if...

Is China’s ‘reverse Great Firewall’ quietly blocking...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

For overseas researchers, policymakers, businesses and casual users alike, access to China’s public information is quietly shrinking as a growing number of official websites go dark outside the country, a new study has found. The contraction is far from marginal. A number of Chinese government websites were inaccessible from outside the country, the findings showed, indicating the emergence of a “reverse Great Firewall”. This suggests a deliberate effort by Beijing to prevent foreign data

Spain’s Sagrada Familia reaches full height 144 years...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Barcelona’s towering Sagrada Familia basilica reached its maximum height on Friday, though the magnum opus of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi remains years away from completion. A crane placed the upper arm of a cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ, the church’s soaring central piece, which now stands 172.5 metres (566 feet) above the city. A swarm of tourists craned their necks to see the instalment of the 7-metre-high white cross’s upper arm, visible amid the scaffolding and workers who put...

US Supreme Court rules against Trump’s sweeping...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

In a consequential decision with billions of dollars on the line, the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower-court ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s tariffs, coming just as the White House confirmed his visit to Beijing from March 31 to April 2. The South China Morning Post had exclusively reported the trip dates last week. By invalidating tariffs imposed under emergency presidential powers, the decision removes a powerful tool the White House had used to pressure Beijing,...

China’s gallium grip looms over Trump’s Beijing visit...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

As US President Donald Trump prepares for a possible visit to China in April, analysts say that one issue is likely to “cast a shadow” over his looming negotiations with Beijing: America’s need to maintain access to supplies of gallium and other strategic resources.With China’s suspension of a ban on exports of gallium and several other metals to the US set to expire in November, the Trump administration’s immediate goal in any trade talks would be to avoid escalating tensions over critical...

Japan’s Takaichi targets Chinese ‘coercion’, US ties...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Highlighting Chinese “coercion”, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first speech in parliament since her party’s landslide victory indicated that managing Tokyo’s relationship with Washington would be a priority, according to analysts. Takaichi on Friday said Beijing’s growing “coercion” was driving the island nation to be “strong and prosperous” and that “Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War II”. “China is intensifying its attempts to

996 goes West: US AI start-ups adopt China tech’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

They are young, intensely competitive, and unapologetic about 80-hour work weeks. Welcome to the United States’ new generation of tech founders. Gen Z’s start-up class is reframing “millennial hustle culture” by shifting from side gigs and personal branding to a more rigid office grind, while looking to China for inspiration. It’s for this reason that US artificial intelligence start-ups are openly embracing 996, the controversial 9am to 9pm, six-day-a-week schedule popularised by Chinese

Co-founder of British retailer Asos dies after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Quentin Griffiths, who co-founded British fast-fashion retailer Asos, has died after a fall from a balcony in Thailand, Thai police said on Friday. Police said that Griffiths, 58, had fallen from the 17th floor of a flat block in the seaside resort city of Pattaya on February 9. The police went to the scene and found the body of a British national, whom they identified as Quentin John Griffiths, on the ground directly below the balcony, they said. Police said initial investigations suggested...

Germany’s Merz the latest European leader to visit...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit China from Wednesday, shortly after the Lunar New Year holiday, according to the chancellor’s spokesman. “This date was proposed by the Chinese side,” spokesman Sebastian Hille said on Friday. “We consider this offer to come right at the beginning of the year to be a good omen.” Merz will leave Berlin on Tuesday for his first official China visit since he took office in May. He is expected to be welcomed in Beijing on Wednesday by Premier Li Qiang...

Families of Philippine drug war victims seek ICC...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Mary Ann Pajo watched quietly as cemetery workers opened her son’s tomb in Manila this week and removed his body for examination by a forensic pathologist. Accused of dealing drugs, 30-year-old Joewarski Pajo was shot dead while playing a game on his phone, one of thousands of extrajudicial killings alleged to have taken place under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. A hearing begins at the International Criminal Court on Monday that will determine whether Duterte will stand trial

China defends WTO’s most-favoured nation principle...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

China has defended the World Trade Organization’s non-discrimination principle after the United States and the European Union recently proposed reforms that could weaken it – though analysts say the rule would likely remain despite deepening divisions within the global trading system. Beijing called for “most-favoured nation treatment” to remain the “bedrock” of the WTO, in a new position paper on reforming the international body. The rule mandates that any trade advantage granted to one

CUHK alumni lose legal bid to overturn election ban...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/20

Two Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) graduates have lost a judicial challenge against their disqualifications from an election for the institution’s advisory body, after their pro-independence views or convictions arising from the 2019 anti-government protests were cited as grounds for barring them. Walter Tse Wai-lok and Anthony Suen Ho-yin jointly applied for judicial review in November 2023, saying the university deprived them of a chance to be heard before disqualifying them from...

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