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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

Search continues in frigid Atlantic for 6 crew after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

There was no mayday call from the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on Friday morning on its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port. The US Coast Guard was notified by the boat’s beacon that alerts when it hits the water. When rescuers arrived they found one person dead, floating in the water, along with a debris field and an empty lifeboat. Six people remain missing. The fate of the Lily Jean, a 22-metre (72-foot)

Hong Kong must keep cash buffer amid complicated...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hong Kong must maintain cash reserves to cope with geopolitical shocks and support long-term growth, even with a surplus expected in the government’s operating account this year, the financial secretary has said. Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Saturday that the city’s economy outperformed forecasts last year, lifted by strong exports to Southeast Asia and a booming financial market. On Friday, the government announced a surplus of HK$43.9 billion (US$5.6 billion) in its operating account, which...

China’s factory activity contracts in January on weak...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

China’s factory activity faltered in January as weak domestic demand dragged down production at the start of the new ‍year, an official survey showed on Saturday. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to 49.3 in January, from 50.1 in December, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. It missed a forecast of 50 in a Reuters poll of analysts. Sub-indexes of new orders and new export orders also saw declines, respectively, down to 49.2 from 50.8 ⁠in December and 47.8...

In 2006: Egypt bus tragedy leaves 14 Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

This story was published in the South China Morning Post on February 1, 2006 14 Hong Kong tourists die in Egypt crash by Staff Reporters Fourteen Hong Kong tourists died on Tuesday (January 31, 2006) when their speeding coach ran off a highway in southern Egypt and rolled over. The crash, one of the worst involving Hong Kong tourists, also left 30 injured, including the Egyptian driver. The Jetour Holiday group of 43 tourists, plus guides, were heading from the Red Sea resort of...

US defence strategy omission raises alarm in Taiwan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Taiwan’s absence from the United States’ newly released 2026 National Defence Strategy has fuelled fresh debate on the island over whether Washington is deliberately sidestepping Taiwan as it prioritises bigger interests with Beijing. The omission is in sharp contrast with earlier editions of the Pentagon’s quadrennial flagship strategy, which had explicitly referred to Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan and pledged support for the island’s asymmetric defence. The 2022 iteration mentioned the

Blooming good: where to find cherry blossoms in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

As spring approaches and temperatures begin to climb, Hong Kong’s cherry blossoms are preparing to burst into full bloom. Within the next week or two, Hongkongers can enjoy this spectacle without leaving the city. The South China Morning Post lists the best spots in the city to enjoy cherry blossoms and how to get there. 1. How to catch cherry blossoms near Hong Kong airport? The cherry blossom garden run by the Airport Authority has expanded with 39 new trees, bringing the total to

US approves US$16 billion arms sale to Israel, Saudi...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totalling US$6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth US$9 billion. The State Department announced the sales to America’s allies in the Middle East late on Friday as tensions rise in the region over the possibility of US military strikes on Iran. They were made public after the department notified Congress of its approval of the sales earlier in the day. The sales also come as President Donald Trump pushes ahead...

How hair-raising prices for memory chips could take...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

In the world’s biggest wholesale electronics marketplace in the bustling Huaqiangbei district of the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, memory is the new gold. On a Tuesday in January, a merchant surnamed Ye held up a list of prices that looked more appropriate for luxury goods than humble computer parts. A pair of 32-gigabyte, 6000-megahertz Double Data Rate 5 (DDR5) memory sticks was priced at 6,878 yuan (US$990) – having shot up nearly fivefold since September. “In my over 10 years

As the US dollar weakens, all that glitters is gold

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

This year started with a bang – from the United States’ intervention in Venezuela and the investigation opened against US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to US President Donald Trump’s renewed claims on Greenland and the potential for US action following instability in Iran. Amid these crises, gold prices are now over US$5,500 per ounce, up over 27 per cent from the price on January 1. This comes after the price of gold jumped by 65 per cent in 2025 after soaring by 27 per cent in...

Venezuela proposes to free hundreds of prisoners,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez ‌on Friday announced a proposed “amnesty law” for hundreds of prisoners in the country, and said the infamous Helicoide detention centre in the capital Caracas, which rights groups have long denounced as the site of prisoner abuse, would be converted into a centre for sport and social services. “May it be a law that serves to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, violence and extremism. May it serve to restore justice in our country and...

‘Rampant like a pandemic’: why Hongkongers struggle...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

Hongkonger Chan Shuk-wah feels exhausted by the constant ringing of her phone. On any given weekday, nearly all of the calls lighting up her phone are from unknown numbers – as many as a dozen each day, mostly selling health checks or pushing loan applications. The relentless calls have disrupted her professional life as a logistics company manager and as the only child of two elderly parents, both approaching 80. “These cold calls are just rampant, like a pandemic. I’m exhausted because I

As Canada and UK hit refresh on China ties, is this...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/31

In the first few weeks of this year alone, the leaders of two of the five “eyes” in the world’s oldest intelligence-sharing alliance signalled they were ready to rethink their relationship with China. First came Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and then this week it was the turn of his British counterpart, Keir Starmer. And in both cases, the visits have prompted warnings from US President Donald Trump. As Western economies grapple with the unpredictability and at times hostility of the

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