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21 held in Hong Kong over renovation bid-rigging,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

Twenty-one people have been arrested in a crackdown by Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency on a triad-linked syndicate accused of manipulating renovation project tenders at two residential estates in Kwun Tong, with one contract valued at about HK$33 million (US$4.2 million). The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Friday that 15 men and six women, aged 30 to 81, were apprehended last week in connection with the case, including suspected core members of the ring. Among those...

Could 2,000-year-old machine from tomb in China be...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

The computer, at its core, is an input-output device: it receives instructions, executes programmes, performs calculations automatically and produces results. By this fundamental definition, China’s ancient ti hua ji, or figured loom – dating back more than two millennia to the Western Han dynasty – may well be recognised as the world’s earliest computer, according to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Unearthed in 2012 from a tomb dated to around 150BC in Chengdu,...

‘Best travel buddy’: China kitten famous for riding...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

A travelling cat in China has been humorously likened to a bus conductor after videos of him riding with ease with a truck driver went viral. The driver from northern China’s Hebei province, nicknamed Xiangzi, describes his eight-month-old tuxedo cat Jiaozi, which means “dumpling”, as his “best travel buddy”. In December, video clips of Jiaozi comfortably sitting alongside the truck’s front window with its paws on a handrail went viral on mainland social media. The two most popular videos on...

Saudi-UAE rivalry explodes into view after strike in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

For years, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia projected geopolitical and economic power across the Gulf and beyond, seemingly in tandem. But a growing rivalry and struggle for influence has come to a head - most recently in Yemen - following years of divergence over a tangle of competing interests that reach from regional waterways to the corridors of power in Washington, analysts say. The once-close relationship between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh...

Baidu chip unit Kunlunxin files for Hong Kong IPO...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

Baidu’s artificial intelligence chip subsidiary Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology has confidentially applied for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, as the search and AI giant becomes the latest to join an investment frenzy amid China’s drive for tech self-reliance. The Kunlunxin prospectus was submitted on Thursday but details such as the size and structure of the IPO had not yet been finalised, Baidu said in a statement on Friday. Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose 9.4 per cent to...

Yuen Cheung-yan, veteran Hong Kong actor and action...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

Veteran Hong Kong actor and action choreographer Yuen Cheung-yan has died at the age of 69. Yuen, who was born in Hong Kong in 1957, died at noon on New Year’s Day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, according to film director and actor Lee Lik-chi, who announced the news on his Weibo page on Thursday. “May Master Yuen rest in eternal peace,” Lee said. He added that a funeral would be held on February 1, but gave no further details about the cause of Yuen’s death. Yuen was the son of

Venezuela’s Maduro open to talks with US on drugs and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking, the South American country’s President Nicolas Maduro said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday on state television, but he declined to comment on a CIA-led strike last week at a Venezuelan docking area that the Trump administration believed was used by cartels. Maduro, in an interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, reiterated that the US wanted to force a government change in

China’s record hypergravity machine, Nepal’s ‘bride...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

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 builds a record-breaking hypergravity machine to compress space and time China is set to break its own record in hypergravity research with a colossal new centrifuge that can spin multi-tonne samples at unmatched

In the new world order, market power trumps military...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

China needs to adapt to a more competitive global environment driven by market power, technological innovation and institutional leverage, according to analysts at a leading Beijing-based think tank. These pillars were more critical than conventional military dominance or strengthening territorial control in the great power rivalry, particularly as Beijing sought to project itself as a stabiliser in an increasingly fractured international order, the analysts added. In an article this week, Fu...

Hong Kong’s sex offence laws are to be overhauled....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

Jessie Ho recalls facing traumatic questions in court that focused on tiny details of her sexual assault case four years earlier, from whether the accused had used his left or right hand to why she had not kicked or bitten him to protect herself.As the grilling went on, Ho realised the defence lawyer was trying to portray her as having agreed to the actions of the accused and only later changing her mind. “I felt confused at first as I didn’t know what had happened to me. But I have never

Why North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is hailing ‘invincible’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/02

In his new year message, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised troops fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, a move observers said pointed to Pyongyang’s intention to sustain and deepen military cooperation with Moscow into 2026. The emphasis on Russia came as Seoul and Beijing confirmed plans for a state visit next week, with analysts noting that North Korean state media played down Chinese President Xi Jinping’s new year greeting while highlighting Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s message

Hong Kong interbank rates forecast to drop on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

The US Federal Reserve under a new chairman in 2026 is expected to press ahead with interest rate cuts of up to 75 basis points, a move that would lower Hong Kong’s interbank-linked loan costs but leave prime lending rates stuck at their historical low, according to analysts. The Fed and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) both reduced their key policy rates by a total of 75 basis points in 2025, following a full percentage-point rate cut in 2024. Hong Kong’s base rate now stands at 4 per...

Just how close did a PLA drone come to the heart of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

An aerial video released by Beijing during this week’s military exercise and featuring the Taipei 101 landmark in Taiwan has ignited a debate on how close PLA drones came to the heart of Taipei. The black-and-white drone footage, released by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command on Monday, shows an ascending passenger plane flying past Taipei 101, the city’s tallest skyscraper. A still image showing a panoramic view of the tower and surrounding landscape, including the...

US urges Beijing to end military pressure against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

The US State Department on Thursday urged Beijing to end intimidating military moves in the area around Taiwan that it said creates needless anxiety and stress. Washington’s New Year’s Day message followed a two-day live-fire exercise that Beijing wrapped up on Tuesday, dubbed Justice Mission 2025, that played out on a more extensive scale than its predecessors. “China’s military activities and rhetoric towards Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” said Tommy

US sanctions Chinese companies and tankers with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

The Trump administration stepped up a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s oil exports by sanctioning companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China, along with related oil tankers it accused of evading restrictions. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday added four companies with links to Venezuela’s oil industry – Zhejiang-based Corniola and Hong Kong-based Aries Global Investment, Krape Myrtle Co and Winky International – to its specially designated...

Saudi Arabia sets executions record in 2025, putting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, according to an Agence France-Presse tally, setting a record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the surge in executions to Riyadh’s ongoing “war on drugs” launched in recent years – with many of those first arrested only now being executed, following legal proceedings and convictions. Official data released by the government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases

41 young men die in South Africa from circumcision...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

At least 41 young men died as a result of circumcision procedures as part of traditional initiation activities in South Africa in November and December, authorities said on Tuesday. Traditional initiation is a rite of passage into manhood for young men that is practised annually by various ethnic groups in Africa, including parts of South Africa. Among them are the Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho and Venda communities. Traditionally, young men are isolated at initiation schools where they are taught...

Ukraine says it faked death of anti-Kremlin Russian...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

Ukraine staged the death of an anti-Kremlin Russian fighter to prevent his killing ordered by Moscow’s special forces, Ukrainian military intelligence announced on Thursday. Denis Kapustin, leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps that had carried out cross-border raids into Russia during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, was killed on the front line, his group declared on Saturday. But on Thursday Kapustin – also known as Denis Nikitin – appeared via video link at a briefing with the head of

Trump blames bruised hand on aspirin, denies falling...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

US President Donald Trump blamed aspirin for large bruises on his hand and denied falling asleep while attending public meetings in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Thursday. In the interview defending his health, Trump also changed his previous statement about receiving an MRI scan in October, saying it was instead a quicker CAT scan. Trump, who at 79 is the oldest person to assume the US presidency, told the Journal “my health is perfect” and expressed frustration with...

Hong Kong girl, 13, arrested over fight with teen at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/01

Hong Kong police have arrested a 13-year-old girl who allegedly assaulted and injured a 15-year-old student during a countdown celebration at a promenade dubbed the “Lan Kwai Fong of Gen Z”. Police said that the incident involving the two girls – who knew each other – took place at around 1am on New Year’s Day at Kwun Tong Promenade. “The victim had on multiple occasions spread false rumours about [the 13-year-old], making her upset,” acting chief inspector Leung Sze-nok of Kwun district

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