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News - South China Morning Post

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AI rattles US investors, while China’s tech stocks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping industries and markets, even though artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a still theoretical form of AI capable of humanlike reasoning across many tasks rather than single specialised functions – has yet to be achieved. That was the message of a recent essay posted on X by start-up founder Matt Shumer, titled “Something Big Is Happening”. He likened the current moment to the period just before the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that the disruption...

African Union: youth anger mounts over corruption,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Africa’s top regional body is hosting its annual summit in Ethiopia this weekend to discuss the future of the continent of some 1.4 billion people, as the organisation faces widespread discontent. Set up to “promote the unity and solidarity of the African States,” analysts say the African Union faces a legitimacy crisis among youth for failing to meet their expectations. Meanwhile, several African countries battle military coups, disputed elections and protests inspired by economic hardship...

Future of China-US ties rests on Washington’s will,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

China and the US could get along well but whether that goal is reached would ultimately depend on the United States, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. Wang said China sought to find the right way for the two major countries to get along well through dialogue and consultation, and would continue on this path in the interest “of our own peoples” and in line with the expectations of the international community. “But whether we can achieve that

Canada’s Carney, opposition leader hold hands during...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country’s main opposition leader held hands Friday as they paid tribute to the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history at a vigil in a devastated British Columbia town. Carney and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, joined hands as an Indigenous leader sang a prayer outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge. Carney and Poilievre also spoke. The Prime Minister named each of the six people killed at...

China and US must talk – we owe it to the world,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Munich Security Conference that it would be “geopolitical malpractice” not to talk to China, as he pledged that Washington would carefully manage its differences with Beijing. “Because we’re two large countries with huge global interests, our national interests will often not align,” Rubio told the event in a keynote address on Saturday morning. “We owe it to the world to try to manage those as best we can, obviously avoiding conflict, both economic

How many non-local students are going to Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Hong Kong public universities had more than 20,000 non-local undergraduate students in the second academic year since the government doubled quotas, a 17 per cent year-on-year increase, as the education minister promised to review the threshold. The Education University of Hong Kong (EdU) saw the sharpest increase in non-local undergraduate students under the policy, jumping by 90 per cent over three academic years, followed by Baptist University. Starting in the 2024-25 academic year, the...

Great Barrier Reef calling: Chinese tourists make...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

China’s travel industry is expecting a sharp increase in visitors to Australia during this month’s extended Lunar New Year holiday, as millions of tourists fan out across the world for a nine-day break. Industry insiders said the lure of wine, seafood, nature and flexible small-group itineraries was driving interest in the island country. Australia is projected to attract “the most travellers from China” during the break, with bookings likely to more than double over last year’s total,

Public fury as China mental hospitals recruit people...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

A number of psychiatric hospitals in central China have been exposed over a scam in which they lure healthy people to become patients in a bid to defraud the public medical insurance scheme. According to an undercover report by the Beijing News, most of the patients in such privately run psychiatric institutions in Xiangyang, Hubei province, do not show any abnormal behaviour and receive little treatment. The healthy individuals told the newspaper that they stayed there because of a “free...

Flower sales in Hong Kong bloom as Valentine’s Day...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Some lovebirds in Hong Kong are expressing their affection this Valentine’s Day by spending hundreds of dollars on bouquets and gifts, while several vendors have recorded growth in sales of about 20 per cent. At the bustling Flower Market in Mong Kok, many men were among the crowds picking bouquets of roses, while others browsed for flowers to celebrate the coming Lunar New Year. The high number of shoppers on Tung Choi Street even prompted police to put in place crowd control

Philippine senators Go, Dela Rosa helped Duterte wage...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “co-perpetrators” in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court, documents released by prosecutors show. Senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document posted to the court’s website on Friday. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76

Indian author Arundhati Roy quits Berlinale after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy has said she is withdrawing from the Berlin Film Festival over jury president Wim Wenders’ comments that cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza. Roy said in a statement on Friday that she was “shocked and disgusted” by responses from Wenders and other jury members to a question about the Palestinian territory at a press conference the day before. Roy, whose novel The God of Small Things won the 1997 Booker Prize, had been announced

‘Unforgivable’: police chief slams lawyer, doctors...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Hong Kong’s police chief has slammed the alleged involvement of a lawyer and doctors in a spate of so-called crash-for-cash scams as “unforgivable and unacceptable”. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that the force would speed up its investigation into such cases and expected a fresh wave of arrests. He noted police previously arrested a couple and two doctors for their alleged roles in more than 20 crash-for-cash scams, adding that officers were investigating more

UAE ‘surpassing Hong Kong’, challenging Singapore for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

The United Arab Emirates is rapidly eclipsing Hong Kong and emerging as a credible rival to Singapore as Asia’s most dynamic trading hub, thanks to an ambitious post-pandemic campaign of economic diplomacy. Defying global headwinds from war and instability across its own region, the UAE’s non-oil trade almost doubled between 2021 and 2025 to reach 3.8 trillion dirhams (US$1.03 trillion), Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum announced on January 31. That surge – powered by an

Taiwan defence budget delays may push island down US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has appealed for public support amid a dispute about a special military budget, warning that the deadlock could delay key weapons deliveries and send the island down the US arms supply priority list. The NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special budget has been repeatedly blocked by opposition parties, even as Taipei has come under increasing US pressure to prove its commitment to its own defence. Analysts warn that continued delays could weaken

Savvy Hongkongers book 9-day Lunar New Year break for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Hongkongers packed the airport and cross-border railway station on Saturday, with many opting to take a nine-day Lunar New Year break to destinations across the rest of Asia, as mainland Chinese visitors entered the city. Travellers, including families with children and elderly relatives, gathered at check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport in the morning as the city marked Valentine’s Day and prepared to ring in the Year of the Horse. Long queues of hundreds of travellers could

Top Japanese school faces backlash over Palestinian...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

During an entrance exam for a top middle school in Japan in January, students were asked to read two poems depicting life in Palestine and write responses to key passages. Controversy soon followed on Japanese social media over the use of the material related to war and displacement. Some criticised the test section as politically one-sided for lacking Israeli views, while others praised the school for choosing a subject that, despite its complexities, has galvanised the world after much...

Partial US government shutdown throws Congress into...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

The US Government experienced its second shutdown in four months on Saturday, as funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) halted, underscoring Washington’s growing partisanship and dysfunction. But in an ironic twist, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, at the centre of the Congressional showdown, will continue to operate despite being part of DHS, given its independent source of funding. In an unprecedented move, US President Donald Trump’s administration has allocated

Hong Kong police probe death of man, 80, allegedly...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Hong Kong police are investigating the death of an 80-year-old man allegedly knocked down by a taxi driver in a traffic accident in Kwun Tong. The force said on Saturday that the cab driver, a 46-year-old man, was travelling along Kwun Tong Road on Friday night when he was believed to have struck the pedestrian near Ngau Tau Kok Road. The elderly man was reportedly crossing the road at the time. Police said the victim sustained serious injuries to his head and limbs and lost consciousness. He...

How ‘policy convergence’ could pave the way for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a battleground for the United States and China, but it can also be an area for dialogue and cooperation on regulation and global governance, according to researchers in Hong Kong and Singapore. The team highlighted “policy convergence” on AI at the local level and challenged the “conventional and stereotypical” expectations of policy models in China and the United States that mainly focused on divergence. “Despite fierce competition between the two AI

Malaysian police smash sex ring charging US$900 a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/14

The posh, three-storey house in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur was occupied by foreign prostitutes who provide their services for fees of up to 3,500 ringgit (US$900). The “romps”, which were either a 45-minute or 90-minute session, were offered by a syndicate that supplied women from countries such as China and Japan. The syndicate had been operating from the detached house in the upscale residential area of Desa Pahlawan for about six months. However, their illicit activities came to an...

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