PODCAST

News - South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

All Episodes

China’s humanoid robot makers pivot from ‘body’ to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Chinese humanoid robotics companies are doubling down on developing intelligent models, as investors eye advances in robot “brains” as the next step towards real-world commercial use. Shenzhen-based Dobot said on Wednesday that it delivered its third batch of mass produced, full-size humanoid Atom robots, marking a shift from laboratory concept to an industrialised product. Dobot, listed in Hong Kong, said its self-developed Dobot-VLA, a vision-language-action model, enabled Atom to react to...

China rallies neighbours against Japan in rare...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

In the days that followed Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi’s controversial remarks over Taiwan in November, Beijing convened a rare meeting with Southeast Asian envoys to rally regional support for its campaign against Japan – but that effort has so far gained little traction. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post that China had summoned most Southeast Asian ambassadors or their deputies late last year, framing the meeting as a channel to hear the region’s...

China farmer uses drone to transport pigs, causing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

A farmer in southwestern China who used a drone to transport pigs to be slaughtered ended up with a porker stuck in mid-air and his village out of power for 10 hours. The calamity happened after the drone’s rope became entangled with an electricity line. The unidentified farmer was using the drone to lift his pigs and move them from the mountainous area in which he lives to a slaughterhouse in the early morning of January 24. He said the location of his village in Tongjiang county, Sichuan...

Is Hong Kong barking up the wrong tree with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Ricky Tam Wai-kit’s pet-friendly Uluru Cafe in Wan Chai was recently issued a grim ultimatum by Hong Kong food hygiene officers – a week-long closure if officers spotted one more dog in his restaurant, with another offence meaning losing his licence forever. “We like pets and animals, but this has made us a target for attack,” Tam said, adding that a neighbour had frequently complained to environmental authorities about pets in his restaurant. “I don’t understand why they have to weaponise

Trump balks at nuclear limit extension, calls for new...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Combine three wary nations, deep historical mistrust, rapid technological change, the most destructive weapons ever developed and a US unwilling to extend Thursday’s last formal nuclear weapons guardrail, and you have the ingredients for much worse geopolitical tension, if not a slide towards global disaster, warn nuclear weapons negotiators, analysts and former government officials. While Moscow has offered to formally extend its New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New Start) with the US

Coupang data leak threatens South Korea-US ties amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/06

Relations between long-time allies South Korea and the United States have hit another unexpected flashpoint even as Seoul struggles to iron out tariff talks with Washington – the uproar over a data breach involving online giant Coupang, dubbed the Korean Amazon. The US-listed company that provides e-commerce, entertainment streaming and food delivery services to nearly 34 million South Koreans – more than 60 per cent of the population – last November disclosed a massive data leak exposing the...

Ahead of talks, Iran deploys ballistic missile at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Iran’s state-run Press TV ‌said on Thursday that “one ‍of the country’s most advanced long-range ballistic missile Khorramshahr 4” ⁠has been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace underground missile cities. The Khorramshahr 4 has a ‍range of 2,000km (1,240 miles) and is ‌capable of carrying a 1,500kg warhead, it added. Tehran has also announced a significant change in its military policy following the 12-day war with Israel last June, moving to a first-strike from a previously...

Trump’s South America threats fizzle as China’s trade...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

China’s trade with some South American nations is accelerating after the opening of Peru’s Chancay port, underscoring Beijing's push to secure resources and bolster industrial supply chains under the Belt and Road Initiative, analysts said. The surge in two-way trade builds on years of Chinese investment and comes as the United States seeks to roll back Beijing’s influence in the region under a strategy US President Donald Trump has called the “Donroe” doctrine – invoking a 19th-century

US defends new minerals alliance, rejecting claims it...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

A senior US official on Thursday defended Washington’s new critical minerals push, telling the South China Morning Post that supply chain diversification is a national security measure, not an attempt to form an exclusive bloc as Beijing has claimed. Deputy State Department spokeswoman Mignon Houston, speaking a day after the launch of the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, or Forge, described the US-led global coordination of strategic minerals as a “prudent step”. She sidestepped...

Greece arrests soldier suspected of leaking ‘secret’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

‌Greek defence authorities have arrested a member ‍of the Greek defence forces accused of leaking “secret information” to “third parties”, the Greek National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) said ⁠on Thursday.Two months ago, Greece’s intelligence service received a tip-off from a Western national security agency that “highly sensitive” information was leaked to China by ‍a member of the country’s military, sources close ‍to the investigation added. The man, a member of the Greek Air Force in

Space-computing push of Elon Musk’s SpaceX shines...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been sounding out multiple Chinese solar suppliers in recent weeks, industry insiders and companies confirmed, as the world’s richest man advances his vision for space-based data centres powered by constant solar energy – drawing fresh attention to China’s solar supply chain. The discussions, which have not yet resulted in confirmed orders, triggered a rally in shares of several solar-related companies earlier this week, before sentiment cooled on Thursday. Analysts and...

Arizona sheriff says Nancy Guthrie presumed to ‘still...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Investigators in Arizona presume the missing elderly mother of popular US television news host Savannah ‍Guthrie is “still out there” alive four days after she was abducted from her home but no suspect has been identified, authorities said on Thursday. Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials said they have intensified their search for Nancy Guthrie, 84, and called in special forensic units, as a Thursday evening deadline set in a purported ransom note delivered to media...

After Davos, the search begins for what comes after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Europe’s political and business elite arrived at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year with nerves already frayed after a bruising first year of US President Donald Trump’s second term. That period was defined by the imposition of a protectionist tariff strategy to gain economic and geopolitical leverage, an often combative approach to the war in Ukraine and renewed doubts over Nato security guarantees. In the run-up to Davos, the White House threatened eight European countries –

Pizza Hut to close 250 US restaurants as parent...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Pizza Hut plans to close 250 US restaurants in the first half of this year as its parent company considers a sale of the chain. Yum! Brands said on Wednesday it is targeting underperforming Pizza Hut restaurants in its system. Pizza Hut has more than 6,000 locations in the US. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company said in November it was conducting a formal review of options for Pizza Hut, which has struggled with outdated restaurants and growing competition. The chain’s US same-store sales,

Remaining 89 kidnapped Nigerian Christians released...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

The last 89 Christians held captive since criminal gangs attacked three churches in northern Nigeria in mid-January were released on Thursday, according to local officials and an Agence France-Presse journalist. The worshippers, dressed in yellow, arrived on a bus escorted by security forces and were received by the governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani, who said 183 people were initially abducted. They were snatched from three churches during Sunday services on January 18 in the latest in a

China could challenge US digital asset lead via Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he “would not be surprised” if China is already looking into ways to challenge the US’ pre-eminence in digital assets, given Hong Kong's efforts to develop the industry. When testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Bessent said that there are “lots of rumours of Chinese digital assets” possibly being backed by something other than its currency yuan, such as gold, but that the US could not confirm such claims. “We don’t know that for...

Trump to unveil ‘TrumpRX’ website for people to buy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

US President Donald Trump plans to unveil a website on Thursday allowing people to directly buy prescription drugs, part of his push to address Americans’ concerns about affordability. The president is scheduled to host a 7pm event to launch the site - branded as TrumpRx - at the White House alongside Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and government design chief Joe Gebbia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media. The website is...

China achieves tamper-proof quantum communication...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Chinese researchers have pushed the frontiers of quantum encryption, demonstrating a powerful new way to send secure information over more than 100km (62 miles) of optical fibre – without having to trust the equipment being used. A team led by Pan Jianwei at the University of Science and Technology of China used a pair of individual rubidium atoms, trapped in laser beams at two separate network nodes, as the foundation for their system, according to a paper published in Science this week. The...

Russian captain jailed for 6 years for death of crew...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

A Russian captain was on Thursday jailed for six years over the death of a crew member lost at sea when his cargo ship hit an anchored oil tanker in the North Sea. Vladimir Motin, 59, had been on sole watch duty when his ship, the Solong, crashed into the Stena Immaculate anchored just off the coast of Yorkshire, northeastern England, last March. The collision triggered a huge fire and a major rescue operation. Motin was an “accident waiting to happen”, judge Andrew Baker said as he sentenced...

2 Chinese nationals suspected of spying from French...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Two Chinese nationals suspected of trying to intercept satellite communications from ‌a base in an Airbnb rental property in southwestern France have been placed ‍under formal investigation, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. Police were first alerted last week when locals noticed that a roughly two-metre (6.6-foot) wide satellite dish being installed at the property in Gironde, which coincided with an internet outage, the office ⁠said. The two Chinese nationals, and two...

21,615 results