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News - South China Morning Post

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‘Outcomes, not output’: Exco held 25% fewer meetings...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hong Kong’s top decision-making body has held 25 per cent fewer meetings in the first 3½ years of the current administration compared with the previous two governments, the South China Morning Post has found, with the group’s secretariat urging the public to focus on “outcomes of the work” rather than on the number of gatherings. The Executive Council Secretariat stopped short of commenting on the trend directly due to the principle of confidentiality, but said the government had been...

Chinese military patrols Scarborough Shoal, 5 days...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

China carried out naval and air patrols around Scarborough Shoal on Saturday – just days after joint US-Philippine drills nearby – underscoring tensions in the disputed South China Sea waters. The PLA Southern Theatre Command issued a statement on the “combat readiness patrols” near the shoal, which China calls Huangyan Island. They were aimed at countering “infringement and provocative actions by individual countries”, it said, in a thinly veiled reference to the United States and rival...

Labubu toymaker Pop Mart picks London as European...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Labubu toymaker Pop Mart plans to establish its European headquarters in London, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met the company’s founder during a high-profile China visit aimed at rebuilding Britain’s economic ties with the world’s second largest economy. That plan was revealed at a closed-door CEO round table on Friday during the UK-China Business Forum, where Starmer met a group of Chinese business leaders that included Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning. “London stands at the heart of

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 20, including...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians on Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting. Strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, said officials at hospitals that received the bodies. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by...

UK PM Starmer arrives in Japan for last leg of East...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has landed in Tokyo ahead of a meeting with his Japanese counterpart at the conclusion of his visit to East Asia. Speaking to reporters on the flight from Shanghai to Tokyo, the prime minister said he looked forward to discussing both defence and security issues and trade and the economy with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Describing the visit to the Group of Seven (G7) and G20 ally as “really important”, Starmer said: “Outside of Europe and the US,

Full pivot or anxious hedge? Europe’s leaders flock...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Flight routes between Europe and China are suddenly crowded with prime ministers and presidents, giving the impression of a continent pivoting eastward. A flurry that began late last year with visits to Beijing by the Spanish king and French president has continued with leaders of Britain, Ireland and Finland, with Germany’s chancellor to follow next month. The frenzied outreach comes with the transatlantic relationship on the rocks. US President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland have even...

Chinese man dies after intensive work week, receives...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

A 32-year-old Chinese programmer who died suddenly after working intensively for years received a new work task message eight hours after his death. News of his overwork and death trended online and struck a chord with many people. Gao Guanghui died on a Saturday in November 2025. His wife, who used the pseudonym Li, said that he woke up early that day saying he felt unwell, needed to sit down and “do some work while he was at it”. Soon he felt more unwell, convulsed and passed out en route

New generation of Hong Kong police will need ‘iron...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

The new generation of Hong Kong police officers will need “iron bones” in the face of unrelenting “oppression by hostile foreign forces”, the security minister has said. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung, speaking at the force’s passing-out parade on Saturday, was also moved to tears when he recalled the force’s efforts to recover the human remains of those killed in the Wang Fuk Court blaze last November. “The oppression by hostile foreign forces will not stop. Those who are...

Over 200 die in DR Congo after landslide causes mines...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

A landslide earlier this week collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), leaving at least 200 people dead, rebel authorities said on Saturday. The collapse took place on Wednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels, said Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesman for the rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu province. He said the landslide was caused by heavy rains. “For now, there are more than 200 dead, some of

How one election in Japan could upend bond markets...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Compared with the turmoil threatened by US President Donald Trump’s actions in everything from geopolitics to trade, the outcome of Japan’s parliamentary lower house election, set for February 8, may seem like small beer. Yet it could presage a great upheaval in global finance. The election outcome is widely expected to strengthen the political power base of the fiscally expansionist Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and increase borrowing when government debt almost everywhere is

Will India warm to Russia’s bid to revive troika with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Russia’s call to revive a troika with China and India is unlikely to be greeted with enthusiasm by New Delhi, with critics pointing to tense border stand-offs and India’s reluctance to be seen as part of an “anti-West” grouping. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this month lauded Moscow’s bilateral ties with Delhi and Beijing, calling for the revival of the Russia-India-China (RIC) trialogue. First mooted in 1998 by then Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, the RIC has not

Japan eateries limit entry based on age to ensure...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Some restaurants in Tokyo have ignited controversy for reportedly enforcing age restrictions on their patrons, with some allowing entry only for people over 25 and others permitting those under 40. In Japan, certain eateries in the capital have begun to adopt these age limitations. For instance, some izakaya, or Japanese pubs, explicitly state, “No entry for customers over 40,” while others only admit those aged 25 and above. One particular izakaya in Shibuya, whose name has not been

China slaps US$3.7 million fine on Kuaishou over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Chinese regulators have slapped a 26 million yuan (US$3.7 million) fine on a unit of Kuaishou Technology, operator of the country’s No 2 short video platform, over multiple violations and misconduct in its live-streaming e-commerce operations, signalling tighter oversight of this market segment.Chengdu Kuaigou Technology, a unit of Beijing-based Kuaishou, was found to have committed seven breaches including failure to disclose information in accordance with the law, charging unreasonable

Singaporean convict returns to jail voluntarily 4...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

A man who was sentenced to jail in Singapore over an altercation with the police was released on the same day he was sentenced due to an error in calculating the jail term. Muhammad Fathurrahman Mohd Adzlan was contacted and returned to jail four days later to complete his sentence. In a statement on Friday, a judiciary spokeswoman said Muhammad was sentenced to 32 weeks’ jail on October 27, last year. However, this was erroneously reflected as 20 weeks. According to court papers, Muhammad,

Hong Kong health chief seeks to speed up Medical...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hong Kong’s health minister is seeking to amend laws to reform and expedite the complaint system of a medical watchdog, but has warned against “arbitrarily” adding more non-professionals to the body. Lo Chung-mau said on Saturday that his bureau would table an amendment to the Medical Registration Ordinance at the Legislative Council’s panel on health services in February, with the aim of implementing it in April. The secretary for health added that the amendment would review the membership...

China’s Wingtech, owner of Nexperia, expects wider...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of chipmaker Nexperia, is expected to post a loss of between 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, owing to the Dutch government’s takeover of the semiconductor firm, the Shanghai-listed company said in a statement on Friday. Wingtech said that its authority over the chipmaker continues to be “temporarily restricted” since the October 7 ruling of the Dutch Enterprise Chamber, a special division of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal,...

‘Dances With Wolves’ actor convicted for sexually...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

A Nevada jury on Friday convicted Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse of sexually assaulting indigenous women and girls in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. The jurors in Las Vegas found Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced. Most of the guilty verdicts centred on Chasing Horse’s conduct with a victim who was 14 years old when he began assaulting her. He was acquitted of some sexual assault charges when the main victim was older and lived with him

China’s semiconductor firms post hefty 2025 profits...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Enterprises across China’s semiconductor industry recorded hefty profit growth last year, according to their unaudited financial results, driven by the country’s artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout and Beijing’s push for tech self-reliance. Graphics processing unit (GPU) designer Cambricon Technologies on Friday reported a net profit of 2.2 billion yuan (US$316 million) in 2025, its first profitable year, on the back of “the continuous rise in computing power demand within the AI...

Hong Kong film producer plans to work till 100,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hong Kong film producer Tiffany Chen has announced her intention to work until the age of 100, encouraging young people not to rush into retirement. Chen, 67, is the wife of Hong Kong film mogul Charles Heung Wah-keung and is well-known on mainland social media as Madam Heung. She is also the mother of actor Jacky Heung. As vice-chairman of China Star Entertainment, Chen has been instrumental in launching the careers of superstars such as Andy Lau Tak-wah. On January 13, she released a video...

6 arrested over 58 million yen theft in Hong Kong,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hong Kong police have arrested six suspects in connection with a 58 million yen (US$376,600) robbery outside a currency exchange shop, including one victim who allegedly acted as a mole in the plot. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that the six suspects – five men and a woman – comprised three Japanese men, two mainland Chinese and a local resident. “Two Japanese men reported to police that they were robbed [on Friday]. Upon investigation, we found that one of them was

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