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Will ‘one-man model’ work for Vietnam as To Lam looks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/22

Vietnam’s Communist Party five-yearly congress is set to consolidate more power for General Secretary To Lam, whom observers say has behaved like he “expects a mandate”. But term and age limits on the leadership are expected to remain, they add, leaving Lam as just a “first among equals” when the conclave concludes on Sunday. The congress – where the one-party state’s highest decisions are made – opened on Monday and will set key economic targets for the country as well as pick new...

World’s oldest cave art discovered in Indonesia

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

A red stencil of a hand pressed against the wall of an Indonesian cave is the oldest rock art ever discovered, scientists said on Wednesday, and sheds light on how humans first migrated to Australia. The cave art dates back at least 67,800 years, according to research published in the journal Nature by a team of Indonesian and Australian archaeologists. “We have been working in Indonesia for a long time,” study co-author Maxime Aubert of Australia’s Griffith University said. This time they...

European MPs debate actions to punish Hong Kong after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

European lawmakers have renewed their calls for the bloc’s executive arm to revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status, and to sanction the city’s chief executive and officials to protest the conviction of former media boss Jimmy Lai on national security charges. During the debate in the European Parliament on Thursday, Hong Kong time, some MEPs stressed the importance of the EU taking concrete measures in response to the verdict, following a non-binding motion passed in the wake of an earlier...

China’s flying car makers target deliveries this year...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

China could see its first flying car begin carrying paying passengers in 2026, as government backing and a growing pipeline of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle makers push the country’s “low-altitude economy” closer to commercial reality. Seven eVTOL manufacturers were expected to start delivering products before the end of this year, according to CCID Consulting. Local governments including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chongqing are also preparing to loosen rules around...

Trump’s decision to sell AI chips to China under...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

A move to curb US President Donald Trump’s power to sell advanced AI chips to China moved a step closer on Wednesday when a Republican-led congressional panel joined hands with their Democratic counterparts, brushing aside objections from the White House and chip giant Nvidia. The action has put Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on a collision course with Trump’s top AI adviser David Sacks and drawn sharp criticism from Maga-aligned...

Google study finds DeepSeek, Alibaba AI models mimic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

New Google research into DeepSeek and Alibaba Cloud’s artificial intelligence models has found that powerful reasoning models capable of “thinking” demonstrated internal cognition resembling the mechanisms underpinning human collective intelligence. The findings published on Thursday suggested that perspective diversity, not just computational scale, was responsible for the increasing “intelligence” of AI models, while also underscoring the growing importance of Chinese open models for...

Greenland meltdown: what does Trump’s quest mean for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

US President Donald Trump’s accelerated push to seize Greenland has transformed a once-quirky idea into a full-blown diplomatic crisis, with observers warning it could deal a near-fatal blow to the post-war transatlantic order. Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of America’s military to control the autonomous Danish territory – coinciding with the US-led Group of Seven’s effort to de-risk from China’s rare earth dominance – also risks forcing Europe to recalibrate its ties with Beijing

Greenland row shows why foreign policy must not be...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

The renewed debate over Greenland has placed Denmark in an awkward strategic position. When a close ally openly flirts with the idea of territorial acquisition – however unrealistic or rhetorical – it exposes an uncomfortable truth for many middle and small powers: alignment does not guarantee protection and loyalty does not always translate into leverage. In an age defined by intensifying competition between the United States and China, governments increasingly feel inclined to show where

Bezos’ Blue Origin to deploy thousands of satellites...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Wednesday announced a plan to deploy 5,408 satellites in ‍space for a communications network that will serve data centres, governments and businesses, jumping into a satellite constellation market dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Deployment of satellites is planned to begin in the last quarter of 2027, Blue Origin said, adding the network is designed to have “data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere ⁠on Earth”. That speed, possible with the satellites’...

Canada court overturns government order to shut down...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Canada’s federal court on ‍Wednesday overturned a government order to close TikTok’s Canadian operations, allowing the short-video app to keep operating for now, and told Ottawa to review the ⁠case. In November 2024, Canada’s industry ministry ordered TikTok’s business to be dissolved, citing national security risks, but added the government was not blocking access or users’ ability to create content. TikTok, which says it ‍has more than 14 million monthly users in Canada, appealed against

Trump’s freewheeling Davos speech stirs unease among...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

There was moderate relief after US President Donald Trump walked back his threat to take Greenland by force on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, but also concern among critics and lawmakers that his speech was little more than a diversion at a time of significant global peril. Attendees watching in the Davos Congress Centre and millions tuned in around the world received a full dose of unfettered Trump as, during his 70-minute speech, he slammed Nato member Denmark for not...

Spain’s train drivers call 3-day strike after deadly...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Spanish train drivers on Wednesday called a three-day strike for February, plunging the country’s under-scrutiny railways into further turmoil, after two accidents just days apart killed 44 people. A train driver died and 37 people were injured – several seriously – in the latest incident on Tuesday, when a commuter service hit a retaining wall that fell onto the tracks in Gelida near Barcelona. Spain was already observing three days of national mourning from Sunday’s collision involving two...

Beijing-Ottawa deal reinforces China’s dominance in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Beijing and Ottawa reached a “landmark” trade agreement last week, slashing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in a move analysts said further cements China’s dominance and suggests the US decline in the global EV market. The deal will open Canada up to Chinese EVs, signalling a thaw in diplomatic relations and a major break from the US. The bilateral partnership marks a shift in direction for Canada’s automotive industry, coming during a month that saw China’s BYD topple Tesla as the

What is the ‘trade bazooka’ the EU may use against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Rattled by US President Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland, the European Union is readying countermeasures against the United States. As primarily a trading bloc, the EU’s toolkit is mostly financial instruments, from steep tariffs on US goods to the so-called trade bazooka touted by French President Emmanuel Macron. So far, most of the 27 EU nations remain sceptical about using it. What is the ‘trade bazooka’? The term is shorthand for the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, which includes a...

Archegos’ Bill Hwang seeks Trump pardon for fraud...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang is seeking a presidential pardon for his conviction in a high-profile Wall Street fraud case over the collapse of his US$36 billion family office, which scorched banks and helped topple Credit Suisse Group AG. Hwang, who is free on bail while appealing against the verdict behind his 18-year sentence, submitted a pardon application to the US Justice Department last year, according to a notice on the DOJ’s website. In 2024, a jury found him guilty

Trump lays out Greenland-Arctic deal framework,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Following what he called a “very productive” meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States has established the framework for a future agreement concerning Greenland and the broader Arctic region. “This solution, if finalised, will be a great one for the United States of America and all Nato nations,” Trump said on Wednesday, adding that, based on this understanding, he will not impose the tariffs originally scheduled for February...

Macron’s ‘Top Gun’ shades charm internet, get mocked...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

French President Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses have caught the eye, ‌with social media users debating his choice of a Top Gun look as ‍he criticised US President Donald Trump over Greenland during his speech in Davos. As he spoke at the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos on Tuesday, the French president wore dark, reflective sunglasses. Memes, comments and speculation over his appearance ⁠surged on social media, with some supporters praising him for his

2 Hong Kong labs linked to suspected cross-border...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Health authorities are investigating whether blood samples from pregnant women are being smuggled into Hong Kong for testing, with two laboratories being referred for follow-up action. The Department of Health said on Wednesday that the case involved the suspected illegal importation of blood samples from mainland China for fetal gender testing. It said it had notified mainland authorities about the case, which came to light after the department received media inquiries regarding social media...

Huge lines, laughs and gasps as Trump addresses Davos

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

It looked like a rock concert: hundreds of the world’s rich and powerful stood in a massive line for a precious seat to hear US President Donald Trump deliver his speech in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.After a two-hour wait, the doors to the World Economic Forum’s congress hall closed to the disappointment of many who had to scramble for spots in four overflow rooms to watch him on television screens. The exclusive crowd included executives of top companies, academics and politicians – even...

Japan restarts first nuclear reactor since Fukushima...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/21

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) on Wednesday restarted its first nuclear reactor since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with the utility’s safety measures set to be closely watched as it seeks to turn around its business amid ongoing clean-up efforts from the accident. Tepco brought back online the No 6 reactor at the seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex in Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo – the world’s largest nuclear power plant by output when fully operational – making it the 15th...

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