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US pitches critical minerals plan to allies to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

In a direct challenge to Beijing’s decades-long grip on the hi-tech economy, the United States on Wednesday sought to rally more than 50 countries and the European Union around a landmark framework to loosen China’s control over the global critical minerals trade. “This morning, the Trump administration is proposing a concrete mechanism to return the global critical minerals market to a healthier, more competitive state,” US Vice-President J.D. Vance said in his opening remarks at the

Trump says Iran leaders should be ‘very worried’ as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

President Donald Trump sent a fresh warning to Iran’s leaders as US military forces amassed in the region, even as diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran were set for later this week. “I would say he should be very worried, yeah. He should be,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, when asked about Iran’s supreme leader. “As you know, they are negotiating with us.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post on Wednesday that talks with the US...

France arrests 4 people suspected of spying on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Four people, ‌including two Chinese nationals, have been arrested in France on suspicion of spying for ‍China and were brought before an investigative judge, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The cybercrime division of the Paris public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation into the affair, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. This ⁠followed the discovery that two Chinese nationals had entered French territory with the aim of capturing satellite...

Ryan Routh, who tried to shoot Trump at Florida golf...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

A man convicted of trying to assassinate US President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison. US District Judge Aileen Cannon pronounced Ryan Routh’s fate in the same Fort Pierce courtroom that erupted into chaos in September when he tried to stab himself shortly after jurors found him guilty on all counts. Prosecutors had asked for life without parole, saying Routh was unrepentant and had never apologised. A defence lawyer brought in for

Nasa’s Juno finds Jupiter is a tiny bit smaller than...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Jupiter, without a doubt, is the biggest ‌planet in our solar system. But it turns out that it is not quite as large – by ever so small an amount – as scientists had previously thought. Using new data obtained by Nasa’s robotic Juno spacecraft, scientists have obtained the most precise measurements to date of Jupiter’s size and shape. This is important information to gain a fuller understanding of this gas giant, including studying its complex interior structure. The Juno observations showed...

Ukraine and Russia wrap ‘productive’ first day of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a “productive” first day of ‌new US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv’s lead negotiator said on Wednesday, as fighting in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II raged on. The ‍two-day trilateral meetings come after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had exploited a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile munitions, attacking Ukraine with a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday. “The work was substantive and...

Panama president defends judiciary after China slams...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino rejected criticism from Chinese and Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday over a Supreme Court ruling that voided a long-standing port concession at the Panama Canal, arguing that the decision falls squarely within Panama’s constitutional and legal framework. Mulino’s comments came after China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office issued a sharply worded commentary condemning the court’s decision to declare unconstitutional the concession held by Panama Ports...

The AI race: US and China defence sectors emerge as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

US President Donald Trump wants to build his “Dream Military”. In January, he proposed setting military spending at US$1.5 trillion in 2027 while citing “very troubled and dangerous times”. The move would increase the country’s defence budget by around 50 per cent amid growing concern at the Pentagon about China’s AI advancements. As the United States and China race to develop the latest artificial intelligence, the use of AI technology in the military has become a battleground in its own

Police arrest 4 in Hong Kong over ‘crash-for-cash’ scams

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Police have arrested two doctors and a married couple for allegedly masterminding more than 20 “crash-for-cash” scams, with officers investigating over 100 suspicious cases in a fraud epidemic that has become the talk of Hong Kong. Police said on Wednesday that the three men and a woman were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. The couple – the husband a taxi driver and the wife a nurse – are both 37, while the doctors are aged 56 and 69. Superintendent Charles Fung Pui-kei of the...

Epstein files reveal proposal for Tsinghua University...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

A proposal to build a Boston campus of Tsinghua University, China’s most prestigious tertiary institution, with the help of Harvard University faculty was unexpectedly revealed in Friday’s release of emails related to Jeffrey Epstein. The plan eventually fell through and has little chance of revival as the US and China engage in a heated science and technology rivalry. Tsinghua is now a bastion of China’s efforts to break US tech sanctions and controls. But the proposal offers a glimpse at

Hong Kong urged to focus on economic progress, align...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

The head of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong has called on the city to focus on economic progress, proactively align with national development and strengthen the executive-led governance model. Office director Zhou Ji made the remarks on Wednesday at a reception to celebrate the coming Lunar New Year, highlighting Beijing’s expectations for Hong Kong in keeping with the country’s 15th five-year plan. He also urged Hongkongers to overcome adversity by embracing the “Lion Rock Spirit” and...

Trump border tsar removing 700 immigration officers...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

The Trump administration is reducing the number of immigration officers in Minnesota but will continue its enforcement operation that has sparked weeks of tensions and deadly confrontations, border tsar Tom Homan said on Wednesday. About 700 federal officers – roughly a quarter of the total deployed to Minnesota – will be withdrawn immediately after state and local officials agreed over the past week to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants, Homan said. But he did not provide a

From chatbots to replays: Alibaba rolls out AI suite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing and artificial intelligence arm of Alibaba Group Holding, has unveiled a suite of AI-powered tools for the Milano Cortina Winter Games, marking the first time a large language model (LLM) will be embedded into the Olympics’ digital infrastructure. The partnership between Alibaba Cloud, Olympic Broadcasting Services and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was announced on Wednesday. Alibaba’s Qwen model will power “Olympic AI Assistants”, a digital

Wang Fuk Court survivors hit out at ‘bureaucratic’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Survivors of Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po blaze have condemned what they called “insensitive and bureaucratic” arrangements for a government subsidy, with some saying they were blindsided by demands to provide proof of legal heirship in the wake of the blaze that tore through the estate and killed 168 people last year. The outcry over red tape and logistical challenges followed a notice issued on Tuesday by Hop On Management, the government-appointed administrator for Wang Fuk Court, outlining a...

China’s outbound investment surges to 7-year high...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

China’s global outbound direct investment surged to a seven-year high in 2025 as Chinese firms pivoted their capital towards strategic raw materials and data centres, according to a report by Rhodium Group released on Wednesday. The latest China Cross-Border Monitor report found that Chinese firms announced US$124 billion of new outbound direct investment last year, an 18 per cent jump from 2024 and the highest level recorded since 2018. Completed deals also saw a robust 14 per cent increase

North America’s top computer vision scientist Liang...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/02

Twenty years ago, technologies developed by Liang Jie at Microsoft were incorporated into products like the Windows Media Video Player and Blu-ray discs used by millions worldwide.A decade on, while a professor in Canada, Liang ventured into entrepreneurship, developing an intelligent sensor system for elderly care to address global population ageing. Today, he brings his top-tier expertise in image and video compression back to China. According to the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo...

Pakistan to play in T20 World Cup but will boycott...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/02

Pakistan’s government says the national cricket team will be allowed to take part in the coming T20 World Cup but must boycott its group game against arch-rival India. India and Sri Lanka are co-hosts for the 20-team tournament, which starts on Saturday. Pakistan will play all its games in Sri Lanka – including any in the knockout stage – because of political tensions with India. The two teams are scheduled to meet in a Group A game in Colombo on February 15 in what is often a tournament...

Seat belt U-turn in Hong Kong another case of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/02

People generally don’t like change. But if you have ever had to take the worst seat on a bus – lower deck, last row, middle seat – then you would have probably put on the seat belt to avoid being catapulted down the aisle should the driver slam on the brakes. And if you’re on the upper deck and the only available seats are in the front row, then again, you would buckle up, to avoid going through the window in an accident. A responsible person would wear a seat belt when sitting anywhere in

China girl, 7, cares for dad alone as he fights heart...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/02

A seven-year-old girl in northeastern China who single-handedly took care of her sick father in hospital has melted the hearts of millions of internet users. San Mengru attracted considerable attention online after a man, surnamed Pei, who was caring for his own father in the bed next to the girl’s father, released a video about her on January 18, the local news outlet Kanqi News reported. The girl’s father, who is in his 40s, was admitted to the Qiqihaer No 1 People’s Hospital in

Japanese researchers unmask hidden bias against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/02

Voters are less likely to support female politicians when they are wearing face masks, while there was no such effect for their male counterparts, according to a study by a Japanese university research team. The findings, published last month ahead of Sunday’s general election, underscored the differences in how the public perceived politicians following the Covid-19 pandemic, when wearing masks became more common for politicians across the world. “Differences in how masked faces are

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