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US arrests suspect in 2012 Benghazi consulate attack,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

The US has arrested a person suspected of ‍playing a central role in the 2012 attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Bondi said Zubayar al-Bakoush has been ⁠extradited to the United States and will face murder, arson and terrorism-related charges. Four US personnel were killed in the September 11, 2012, incident, which was initially thought to be a spontaneous reaction to protests ‍but was later identified as a deliberate attack carried out by...

Hong Kong toddler suspected to have fallen ill from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

A one-year-old girl may have suffered food poisoning after consuming Nestlé infant milk formula, Hong Kong authorities have said, while revealing they have received about 50 reports of children feeling unwell amid a growing contamination scare. The Centre for Food Safety separately ordered the immediate removal of 390 cans of Aptamil Profutura DUO Advance 1 (800g) from shelves, as officials expanded a citywide recall to include a second batch of the milk powder imported from Germany. The

Norway’s crown princess apologises over Epstein ties...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit said on Friday she “deeply regretted” her friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the embarrassment it has caused the royal family. A commoner who married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, Mette-Marit’s name appears in new Epstein documents released a week ago by the US Justice Department. The documents revealed an unexpectedly close friendship between the two and raised questions in Norway about whether Mette-Marit can become queen. “I

Tesla launches China AI training centre as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Tesla has begun operating a China-focused artificial intelligence training centre to enhance its cars’ self-driving capabilities in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, following Beijing’s deregulation of the technology. Grace Tao, vice-president of Tesla, told Shanghai-based financial news outlet Cailian on Friday that the centre had sufficient computing power to support development of assisted-driving features. However, she did not disclose details such as the centre’s location

China keeps Cuba and Uruguay in the fold, puts Panama...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

China has promised to send more aid to Cuba and deepen cooperation with Uruguay as it reaches out to its Latin American allies to fend off renewed American interest in the region. Cuba became the second Latin American country to send a high-ranking official to China this week. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla’s arrival in Beijing follows that of Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first regional leader to travel to China since the US assault on Venezuela in early...

Medical Council to set time frame for sorting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Hong Kong authorities have proposed requiring the Medical Council to set a time frame for handling complaints, following a public backlash over a 15-year delay to an inquiry into an alleged medical blunder that left a child permanently disabled. The Health Bureau on Friday also proposed reforming the composition of the watchdog, bringing in doctors with more diverse backgrounds and qualifications, and increasing the proportion of lay members, who only accounted for eight of the 32-strong...

Oman mediates Iran-US nuclear talks amid tensions and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman over Tehran’s nuclear programme on Friday, months after America bombed Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and just weeks following nationwide protests that convulsed the Islamic Republic. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the talks as “a very good start” even as the parties met Oman’s top diplomat at different times at a palace on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Muscat. Both Araghchi and the Omanis described the talks...

Hong Kong’s CLP Power investigates after voltage dip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Hong Kong’s CLP Power said it was investigating a voltage dip in the New Territories that left dozens of residents trapped in lifts on Friday evening. More than 50 reports of people trapped in lifts were received by the Fire Services Department between 6.30pm and 8pm. Most reports came from Sha Tin and Ma On Shan, although several were from Kwai Tsing and Mong Kok. CLP Power, the city’s largest electricity supplier, said a 132,000-volt power grid connecting Ma On Shan to Sha Tin experienced a...

Adidas says sorry over fitting room incident in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Adidas has apologised and said it will conduct a comprehensive review of its fitting rooms to better protect customer privacy, after a woman complained that a staff member and other patrons opened the curtain while she was inside one at a store in Hong Kong. The sportswear giant said on Friday in a social media statement that the company’s management had met the customer to offer an apology and provide help. “Adidas has always valued customers’ shopping experience, with safety and privacy

China fines firms for fake ChatGPT and DeepSeek...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

China’s market regulator has penalised several companies for posing as DeepSeek and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to defraud users, in its latest crackdown on unfair competition in the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s market watchdog, fined Shanghai Shangyun Internet Technology 62,692.70 yuan (US$9,034) for operating a fraudulent ChatGPT service on Tencent Holdings’ super app WeChat. The service posed as the official Chinese

UK, China boost financial ties, deepen London’s role...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

London has cemented its role as a leading offshore hub for China’s yuan, according to a new financial cooperation agreement that also aims to ease the cross-listing of firms in each other’s markets. This emerged from the first meeting of the UK-China Financial Working Group, which convened in Beijing on Saturday. The meeting coincided with the final day of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s state visit. The meeting’s outcome and a joint statement were not made public until Friday. “The...

China is developing mini hypersonic glide missiles...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Chinese scientists and engineers are developing a smart, ultra-small hypersonic glide missile that can be fired from an 80mm (3.4-inch) anti-aircraft gun. Upon leaving the barrel, the missile reaches a speed close to Mach 6, far faster than a conventional anti-aircraft shell. This allows it to strike fighter jets or drones more than 20km (12 miles) away, even at altitudes around 10,000 metres (32,800 feet). Because of its tremendous speed and small size, an enemy aircraft may only detect the...

Nasa allows astronauts to use iPhones in space to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Nasa astronauts venturing deeper in space than any human has travelled will be able to document and share images from the landmark moon mission next month using Nasa-provided Apple iPhones. Crews undertaking a lunar fly-by as part of the Artemis programme, and a preceding International Space Station mission in February, will fly with “the latest smartphones”, Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a social media post. “We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their...

Alibaba’s bubble tea giveaway pushes Qwen past...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Hours after Alibaba Group Holding began offering freebies including bubble tea through its artificial intelligence app Qwen on Friday, a surge in downloads pushed the chatbot past Tencent Holdings’ Yuanbao to the top of China’s Apple App Store, climbing from 10th place a day earlier. More than 10 million free orders – worth 250 million yuan (US$36 million) – were placed within nine hours using vouchers capped at 25 yuan through Qwen, its team said on its official Weibo account. The surge in...

Starmer faces a hysterical backlash over new Chinese...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

While China emerges as an unmistakable superpower, “Great” Britain or the “United” Kingdom increasingly sounds like self-mockery. Much of the UK outside London is threatening to descend into developing-world status. There have been at least a dozen instances of English councils declaring bankruptcy since 2018, while one in four could be insolvent by 2027. Diplomatically, it turns out the American cousin across the Atlantic thinks nothing of the so-called special relationship, as London...

China-Canada canola deal faces fragility test as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

China’s resumption of Canadian canola purchases, brokered during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s state visit to Beijing last month, faces an uncertain year, with upcoming North American trade talks posing a significant risk, industry players warn. Beyond the initial shipments, some insiders said, there remained “no public assurance” that imports would continue uninterrupted, as the United States was likely to turn the region, through a renewed trade pact with Canada and Mexico, into a...

As UN grapples with cash crisis don’t expect China to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

A deepening cash crunch at the United Nations has reignited debate over the future of multilateralism, with analysts warning that the crisis also reflects a more profound shift in how the United States views the world body. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last week warned that the organisation was at risk of “imminent financial collapse” as unpaid contributions threatened programme delivery, with funds potentially running out by July. In a rare letter addressed to all 193 member states,...

Patients given more hope as study finds best time for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Patients with advanced lung cancer who receive a certain therapy earlier in the day survive longer, a study has found, with a Hong Kong medical expert saying the discovery opens possibilities for optimal treatment times, although more research is needed. The study was led by academics from Hunan Cancer Hospital in mainland China and supported by the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s faculty of medicine. The research showed that immunochemotherapy administered before 3pm nearly doubled the

Hongkongers lost HK$350 million in online shopping...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Internet fraudsters cheated Hong Kong consumers out of about HK$350 million (US$44.8 million) through online shopping scams between January and November 2025, while the number of such cases grew by 8 per cent year on year. Police also said that about 63 per cent of cases over the period involved bogus concert ticket sales, while another 9 per cent were related to fake sales of electronic goods. According to figures released on Friday, 11,449 online shopping scams were reported in the first 11...

Trump’s racist post depicting Obamas as apes deleted...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

A video shared on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted Democratic former US president Barack Obama ‌and first lady Michelle Obama as apes was deleted on Friday, following criticism that the US ‍president’s post evoked racist imagery long used to dehumanise people of African descent. “A White House staffer erroneously made the post,” said a White House official, who declined to be named. “It has been taken down.” The statement came hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline

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