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China pushes slow bull run with tightened margin...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

China’s move to raise margin requirements for leveraged stock trading signalled regulators’ push to steer clear of boom-and-bust cycles, while strengthening the stock market’s role in funding the country’s tech self-sufficiency efforts, according to analysts. “The signal from regulators was crystal-clear: guide the market towards a stable transition to a slow bull run,” said Wang Jun, a strategist at BOC International in Shanghai. “Investors should reduce their leverage levels to guard

Japan’s next-generation fighter jet project set for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Japan’s Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), its next-generation fighter project in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Italy, may be given a boost now that the development of a similar aircraft has been put on hold.Germany, France and Spain have indefinitely postponed the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), prompting suggestions that some or all participants may instead turn to the rival GCAP. On December 30, German defence media outlet Hartpunkt reported that the “faltering” project,

Brazil judge orders ‘immediate’ transfer of Bolsonaro...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A Brazilian judge on Thursday ordered the immediate transfer of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro to a prison with “more favourable” conditions. The 70-year-old former leader will move to a special detention unit with a kitchen, private outdoor area and a double bed at a prison complex in the capital Brasilia, according to a ruling seen by Agence France-Presse. Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro last year of plotting a coup to cling to power following his narrow 2022 re-election...

Exiled crown prince’s plan for Iran is mostly aimed...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

No pursuit of nuclear weapons. Confronting drug trafficking. An immediate recognition of the state of Israel. Exporting copious amounts of oil and gas. Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi laid out his aspirations on Thursday for Iran if its theocracy is toppled – and experts say they sound exactly like what US President Donald Trump wants to hear. That plan is probably aimed at trying to secure support to lead Iran if the nationwide protests succeed in ousting the Islamic Republic. Activists...

Banks and brokerages’ growing demand for space buoys...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Hong Kong’s banking and finance sector is tipped to lead retail property leasing activity, with massive uptake by firms like Forthright Securities, Futu Holdings and HSBC providing support to landlords struggling through a multi-year real estate slump. Forthright Securities leased three storeys totalling 14,000 sq ft at Golden Centre in Sheung Wan for its first flagship branch in the city, according to CBRE, which facilitated the transaction. “This transaction not only demonstrates Forthright...

Lutnick warns Taipei to keep Trump ‘happy’ as US chip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Blending economic nationalism with geopolitical leverage, US President Donald Trump’s top trade official delivered a pointed message to Taiwan shortly after Washington announced an ambitious deal on Thursday to bring critical technology manufacturing, including semiconductors, back to the United States. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the massive reshoring initiative as not just a business transaction, but as a strategic imperative for Taiwan to maintain favour with the “America...

US bill approving US$300 million for Taiwan’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A US spending bill approving US$300 million in cash assistance for Taiwan’s military has passed the House of Representatives and is expected to become law. On Wednesday, the House passed a two-bill government spending package that would fund the Departments of the Treasury and State through September, along with other federal agencies, bringing the total to eight of 12 annual spending bills needed by January 30, to avoid a government shutdown. The bills must now clear the Senate before they

Venezuela’s Machado says she ‘presented’ Trump with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Venezuelan ‍opposition leader Maria Corina Machado ⁠said she “presented” US President Donald ‍Trump with her ‍Nobel Peace Prize ‌medal during their meeting ‍on Thursday. “I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters outside the US Capitol. She did ‌not answer ⁠reporters’ questions as to whether he ‌accepted it. Machado was visiting the White House to discuss her country’s future with Trump, even though he has dismissed her

China’s Zhejiang targets 3- to 7-nanometre AI chip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

China’s eastern tech powerhouse Zhejiang, home to giants like Alibaba and the humanoid robotics start-up Unitree, has set clear targets to develop cutting-chips and chipmaking equipment over the next five years. The province is the latest locality to prioritise innovation under its new five-year plan. It joins other hubs, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, that have thrown their weight behind Beijing’s nationwide strategy to develop indigenous technologies amid an intensifying rivalry with the...

Why China’s next development priority must be...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

If you were asked which middle-income country has one of the lowest levels of educational attainment, very few would say China. We continually hear stories about mass university expansion, record numbers of annual graduates and elite institutions that rank among the world’s best. Despite these impressive strides, gaps in education remain a large roadblock for China’s further economic development. The country remains largely undereducated for its level of economic development: only about 31

US lawmakers propose US$2.5 billion agency to boost...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed creating a new agency with US$2.5 billion to spur production of rare earths and the other critical minerals, while the Trump administration has already taken aggressive actions to break China’s grip on the market for these materials that are crucial to hi-tech products, including mobile phones, electric vehicles, jet fighters and missiles. It is too early to tell how the bill, if passed, could align with the White House’s policy but whatever the...

China-linked hackers targeted US agencies with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A hacker group with links to China recently used Venezuela-themed phishing emails in a malware campaign targeting US government-related entities, as cyberattack campaigns increasingly leverage geopolitical materials, according to Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis. A malware campaign has used recent developments between the US and Venezuela as “thematic lures” to attack US government and policy-related entities with a back door that has espionage-focused capabilities, including basic remote...

Iran halts hundreds of executions as Gulf allies pull...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from US President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations. Iran was shaken over the past week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic Republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the past few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet...

Washington completes first sale of Venezuelan oil in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

The United States has finalised a sale of Venezuelan oil – the first since Washington took control of the sector following the toppling of Nicolas Maduro, a US official told Agence France-Presse on Thursday. According to the official, who did not identify the buyer, the deal is worth US$500 million, and additional sales could take place in the coming days or weeks. “President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas

UK Conservative lawmaker Robert Jenrick defects to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Former ‍Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick defected to Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK on Thursday, hours after he was sacked from the Conservatives when his plans to switch ⁠allegiance were leaked.Jenrick joins at least a dozen prominent Conservatives who have joined Reform which, before an election expected in 2029, is ahead of both Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives in opinion ‍polls. “The two main parties are rotten,”

US charges 20 people with rigging university, Chinese...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

US authorities have charged 20 people ‌with rigging college basketball and Chinese Basketball Association ‍games, according to a federal indictment released on Thursday, including some individuals previously charged in an NBA-related gambling investigation. The charges were unsealed ⁠by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia following a grand jury and accuse the defendants of conspiring on games from September 2022 until February 2025. During the 2022-2023 CBA season, the ‍individuals sought to...

Trump administration wins appeal to deport Mahmoud...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A federal appeal panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist. A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeal in Philadelphia instructed the lower court to dismiss Khalil’s habeas petition, a court filing that secured his release. The panel ruled that the federal district court in New Jersey did not have jurisdiction over...

More room for the Flower Market to bloom

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Well before dawn, vans begin to pull up along Flower Market Road. Buckets of lilies and roses are lifted onto the street, hands moving quickly before the heat sets in. Later in the day buyers drift between shops, some with lists, others guided by scent and colour. These daily rituals have shaped the Flower Market’s identity as Hong Kong’s most vibrant floral destination. Day after day and year after year, that

‘Hong Kong lawyers should not aim just to compete but...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Hong Kong lawyers should not think of competing head-on with mainland counterparts in the Greater Bay Area, but instead position themselves as common law specialists and collaborators in cross-border legal teams, Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Jose-Antonio Maurellet has said. His comments came during a fireside chat on the sidelines of the China Conference: Greater Bay Area event hosted by the South China Morning Post in Shenzhen on Thursday. Recent policy measures allow Hong Kong lawyers

Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act to end...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The president’s threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man who had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger radiating across the Minnesota city

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