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‘Honest, principled’: Hong Kong political leaders pay...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Hong Kong political heavyweights and former leaders gathered on Friday to pay tribute to the late commerce minister Gregory So Kam-leung, as family and friends honoured his devotion to public service. Among those who attended the memorial service for So, who died on December 13, were former city leaders Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Leung Chun-ying, along with senior government officials and veteran politicians. “We mourn the loss of a dear husband, loving father and grandfather, trusted friend

Israel says Bulgarian diplomat to direct Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

A former UN Middle East envoy has been chosen to direct US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel’s prime minister said on Thursday, as at least eight more deaths from Israeli strikes were reported there. The appointment of Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov marks an important step forward for Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which has moved slowly since delivering an October ceasefire ending more than two years of fighting between Israel and...

China’s ‘sweep and kill’ weapon, Malaysians opting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s Hurricane 3000 microwave weapon can ‘sweep and kill’ drone swarms at 3km The truck-mounted Hurricane 3000 was showcased during China’s huge military parade in September. This week its developer – state-owned defence

Why Chinese space station is studying how gravity...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Led by only the second civilian the country has sent into space, China had started a series of experiments on board its Tiangong space station that could lead to the development of safer and more powerful space batteries, state media reported on Wednesday. The tests on lithium-ion batteries run by Zhang Hongzhang, a professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, could help scientists better understand how gravity affects the workings of the batteries. Zhang, 39, is one of the three...

Nasa to carry out first-ever space medical evacuation...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Nasa will conduct a medical evacuation in the coming days of an astronaut suffering an undisclosed ailment aboard the International Space Station, agency officials said. The early return would mark the first time in Nasa’s history that the agency has cut short a crewed mission already in space for medical reasons. “The astronaut is absolutely stable,” James Polk, Nasa’s chief health and medical officer, told reporters on Thursday. “We’re not immediately disembarking and getting the astronaut...

China’s consumer prices stay flat in 2025 amid focus...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

China’s consumer prices stayed unchanged from the previous year in 2025 while factory-gate prices fell by 2.6 per cent, suggesting lingering deflationary pressures and underscoring the need for further efforts to boost prices in 2026. The flat annual reading of the consumer price index (CPI), a major inflation indicator, missed the official 2 per cent growth target for the metric unveiled in March and slowed from the 0.2 per cent increase in 2024, according to data released by the National...

Cold snap deepens as Hong Kong temperatures plunge to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in many areas of Hong Kong dropped to single digits on Friday morning, with some reaching 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (35.6 to 37.4 Fahrenheit), according to the city’s weather forecaster. The Hong Kong Observatory said that at 7am, Ta Kwu Ling in the New Territories recorded a

US border agent shoots 2 in Portland traffic stop as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Tensions over US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown ‌rose across the United States on Thursday after the second shooting involving immigration officers in two days, deepening rifts between state and federal officials over how and why the shootings occurred. Protests intensified in Minnesota following Wednesday’s fatal ‍shooting of a 37-year-old mother by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Minnesota and US officials offered starkly different accounts of the shooting,

Trump’s comment that Taiwan issue is ‘up to Xi’ stirs...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

US President Donald Trump has said the Taiwan issue was “up to” Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a comment that has stirred fresh concerns about the United States’ defence commitment among some on the island. Responding to Trump’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday that Taiwan was an inalienable part of China’s territory and that the Taiwan question was purely China’s internal affair. Speaking at a regular press briefing, Mao said that resolving the Taiwan issue

Chinese robot vacuum maker Dreame bets on AI-driven...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Chinese household appliances maker Dreame Technology unveiled more than 20 new artificial intelligence-embedded products at this year’s CES trade show in Las Vegas, showing a glimpse of the future when smart devices would run almost all chores in a house. Those formed part of more than 150 products that Dreame, one of the world’s top five vendors of robot vacuum cleaners, exhibited at the four-day trade show that concludes this Friday. Dreame’s new “AI-powered whole-home smart ecosystem”...

With US focused on Venezuela, China has window to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Beijing is leveraging a distracted Washington to ratchet up pressure on Tokyo, launching an anti-dumping investigation into a key semiconductor chemical while the United States is preoccupied with Venezuela, according to analysts. China made moves targeting Japan for two consecutive days. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce banned exports of “dual-use” products to end users linked to the Japanese military. And on Wednesday, it said the anti-dumping investigation into dichlorosilane would

Online appeal by Chinese woman to boost granny’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

Dozens of internet users in China turned up for the funeral of a 90-year-old grandmother after her granddaughter made an online plea for attendees. “My grandma passed away. It is a blessing funeral. Can you come to see her off?” the woman said in a post which went viral on the evening of December 22. A blessing funeral, or xi sang in Chinese, refers to proceedings after the death of a person aged 80 or above. According to traditional beliefs, if a person dies at a rather old age, it means his

The Drone Age: hi-tech wizardry propels Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

On a sunny afternoon in late November, hundreds of onlookers gathered beside a picturesque lake near Shanghai as a massive silver drone lifted off silently from the deck of a cutting-edge vessel, marking the dawn of a new chapter for the low-altitude economy in both mainland China and Hong Kong. The demonstration at Dianshan Lake, which straddles the border between Shanghai and Suzhou, felt like a scene from a science fiction film as the “Sunship”, a mobile water-based vertiport, made its

Repeat buyer tucks into another McDonald’s Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/09

McDonald’s has sold another Hong Kong retail property for HK$118.7 million (US$15.2 million), bringing the proceeds from its ongoing asset disposal programme to about HK$490 million, as well-capitalised investors continue to snap up prime real estate. The 10,000 sq ft-plus property at 46-47 Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay was sold to Evergreen Capital Partners. Ng Yin was listed as director of the firm, according to the Companies Registry. The deal, which was signed on December 10, included the...

US House votes to extend Obamacare subsidies, thanks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

US lawmakers voted on Thursday to revive health insurance subsidies that expired at the end of last year, offering hope to millions of Americans facing steep premium hikes – and pressuring the Senate to follow suit. The bill, which passed with Democratic support and backing from a small bloc of Republicans defying their own leadership, would extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act – widely known as Obamacare – for three years. Those subsidies lower monthly insurance costs for...

Thousands of passenger, cargo drones will fill Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

Thousands of passenger and cargo air taxis could be flying across Hong Kong within a decade as the low-altitude economy takes off, according to one of mainland China’s largest drone makers, which hopes to launch operations in the city. AutoFlight senior vice-president Kellen Tse told the Post the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer plans to significantly expand in Hong Kong, potentially paving the way for its international headquarters in the city. Backed by...

Shanghai steps up oversight of delayed payment...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

Shanghai, mainland China’s commercial and financial hub, has pledged to step up policing its manufacturing sectors to curb prolonged payment cycles that affect thousands of supply-chain vendors. Gu Jun, deputy secretary general of the municipal government and director of the city’s development and reform commission, told a press conference on Thursday that a task force had been set up to ensure money owed to vendors would be paid promptly. “Supervision will be strengthened to avoid delayed...

Venezuela frees opposition figures and activists,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists - both citizens and foreigners - on Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former president Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face drug-trafficking charges. US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came

China warns of ‘law of the jungle’ as US exits global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

Washington’s further retreat from multilateral institutions has dealt “a heavy blow” to an already fractured global governance system, presenting both opportunities and challenges for Beijing, according to analysts. Observers said US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from 66 international organisations would have lasting consequences for American leadership around the world, accentuating power gaps in critical areas such as climate and security. On Thursday, Chinese foreign...

Rare genius dogs learn vocabulary by eavesdropping,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/08

There are a few special words that will perk the ears of many a dog – “hungry”, “park” and of course, “T-R-E-A-T”. But a choice group of gifted canines appear to have a remarkable capacity for learning human vocabulary, to the point that they acquire language by eavesdropping the way young toddlers do. That’s according to a new study published on Thursday in the journal Science, which shows that some “gifted word learner” dogs already known to be capable of learning toy names through training...

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