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China’s atomic quantum computer reports first sales...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

China’s first atomic quantum computer has passed a major commercial milestone, making its first sales to domestic and overseas customers, according to state media. Hubei Daily, the official newspaper of Hubei province, reported on Friday that the first commercial Hanyuan-1 unit had been delivered to a subsidiary of telecoms provider China Mobile while Pakistan had also placed an order. The sales were valued at more than 40 million yuan (US$5.6 million). The Hanyuan-1 was one of the few

Can Southeast Asia benefit from the global race for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

Southeast Asia is quietly emerging as a key arena in the global race for rare earth elements, the critical minerals powering everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to renewable energy systems and advanced weapons. As the world moves towards clean energy and digital transformation, control over these minerals has become central to geopolitical competition. While China still dominates global production and refining, countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam find themselves...

Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot, retaliation for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged at least two foreign vessels and the oil terminal infrastructure at Russia’s key Black Sea port of Tuapse on Sunday, as Kyiv tries to undermine Russia’s war effort by targeting its energy infrastructure. For several months, Ukraine has been striking Russian oil refineries, depots and pipelines in a bid to undermine the Russian economy, and some media have reported that Western intelligence agencies have helped Kyiv with the strikes. Russian authorities said

AI scientists fail to impress human experts at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly involved in scientific research, especially in the fierce competition between China and the US, a unique gathering of AI “scientists” has revealed that the technology still faces fundamental weaknesses. Each paper presented at last week’s Agents4Science 2025 conference listed large language models as primary authors and reviewers, while scholars from around the world shared how they used AI bots in scientific work and the challenges...

Hong Kong joins sister cities in taking up torch for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

Hong Kong joined Macau and two Guangdong cities on Sunday in marking the run-up to the National Games with torch relays featuring top athletes, business leaders and community members, as a minister revealed that about a third of local event tickets had been sold. The relays started in the morning in Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with acting chief executive Eric Chan Kwok-ki describing the local section as a “city parade” involving 50 torch-bearers passing landmarks and modern

Hong Kong suspends contractor after worker falls from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

Hong Kong labour authorities have launched an investigation and suspended a contractor’s operations at a construction site after a worker fell from scaffolding and died. The accident was reported at 3.20pm on Sunday after the worker reportedly plunged from bamboo scaffolding nine storeys high in Sau Mau Ping. The 47-year-old man landed on a two-metre-high working platform and lost consciousness. Fellow workers called emergency services. Paramedics arrived at the On Hei Street site but

‘Patriots-only’ good model for executive-legislative...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/02

In a new occasional series, outgoing lawmakers reflect on their time in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, which wrapped up its four-year term on October 24, ahead of the next general election on December 7. Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” legislature has established a good model of executive-legislative relations where key policies are first discussed with officials in closed-door meetings, retiring legislator Doreen Kong Yuk-foon has said. Kong, 55, a solicitor by training, made her debut

China, US agree to preliminary deal in Malaysia ahead...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

China and the United States agreed on Sunday to a preliminary framework deal after two days of talks in Kuala Lumpur, signalling a de-escalation of tensions in the lead-up to a potential meeting between the presidents of the world’s two largest economies.The talks in the Malaysian capital, led by Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, came on the heels of a fresh surge of tensions in the volatile bilateral relationship and ahead of the November 10 expiration of

Putin: Russia’s new nuclear-powered missile can evade...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a nuclear-capable weapon Moscow says can evade any defence system, and will move towards deploying the weapon, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, told Putin that the missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for about 15 hours when it was tested on October 21. Russia says the 9M730 Burevestnik

‘Slave’ to AI: Nobel Prize winners warn against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

A pair of Nobel Prize winners have warned against overhyping the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) at a speaking event in Hong Kong, with one urging young people not to be a “slave” to the emerging technology. Professors David Gross, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 2004, and Arieh Warshel, winner of the chemistry prize in 2013, also commended Hong Kong’s education system and the city’s focus on scientific research and innovation. Gross and Warshel were speaking at a talk...

Hong Kong property: Grand Mayfair III, Woodis see...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

Brisk transactions in Hong Kong’s primary residential market continued apace, with two projects recording robust sales over the weekend. Buyers had acquired 71 of the 138 units by late Sunday afternoon at the 680-unit Grand Mayfair III on 29 Kam Tin Road in the New Territories in the second round of the project’s sales on Sunday, according to agents. The project, jointly developed by Sino Land, K Wah International, China Overseas Land and Investment and MTR Corp, sold all 138 units in the

Hong Kong reports first local chikungunya fever case...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

Hong Kong has recorded its first local chikungunya fever case in at least 11 years, with health authorities warning that the 10,000 people who live in the same neighbourhood as the 82-year-old patient face higher risks of infection. Authorities also announced on Sunday that anti-mosquito work would be stepped up across the city, especially around Fung Tak Estate in Diamond Hill, where the patient lives. The woman, who had not travelled outside Hong Kong in the past 1½ months, was diagnosed

Can Legco veterans’ exit really invigorate Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

The seventh-term Legislative Council has officially ended. I am sure few people had expected the attention Legco received over the past month, beginning with the news of Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen’s retirement. Amid a wave of retirements, legislators over 70 years old – including stalwarts – might be forgiven for feeling the pressure to step aside to make room for new blood. The announcement over the weekend by the New People’s Party’s Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Lai Tung-kwok that...

‘This is history’: tears as East Timor completes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

When the red, black and yellow flag of East Timor was hoisted alongside the colours of its new Southeast Asian peers inside the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Sunday, several Timorese journalists in the media gallery broke into tears. After more than a decade of waiting since it first applied in 2011, the small half-island nation – Asia’s newest country – on Sunday formally joined Asean as its 11th member. The ceremony at the 47th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,

Officials ‘failed to flag problems with firm in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

Problems with a company involved in a bottled water procurement scandal were not flagged by the Hong Kong government’s logistics department to a central board that approved the tender, a senior official has revealed, stressing that a probe into the case will also review the roles of those who gave the green light. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu also said on Sunday that the Government Logistics Department (GLD) was tasked with promoting fair

Science drives China’s westward expansion in Africa

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

For decades, China’s influence in Africa has been concentrated in the eastern part of the continent. In recent years, a clear westward expansion has emerged, drawing attention from the United States and several western European nations. Many analyses have framed this shift as geopolitically driven – a strategic effort by Beijing to erode Western nations’ traditional interests on the continent, with particular attention paid to political and military cooperation between China and West African...

Chinese man quits ‘great job’ to provide therapy dogs...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

A speech by a prominent exponent of dog therapy in China, who gave up a well-paid job to focus on his canine passion, has gone viral online. Wu Qi, known as “the father of China’s therapy dogs”, pioneered a scientific animal-assisted public welfare programme in the country. The 44-year-old’s recent speech about his experience went viral online, raising awareness of the social value of therapy animals and the importance of scientific pet training. Wu, from eastern China’s Zhejiang province,...

India’s army to boost deterrence along borders with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

India has taken a big step in enhancing its military’s deterrence capabilities along its borders with Pakistan and China through the creation of new commando and drone units. The army will also be equipped with carbines designed for close-quarter battles and the latest anti-tank weapons, in a move that analysts say will significantly strengthen the country’s border security and defence sector. Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar, director general in the...

Somali piracy has waned, so why is China’s navy still...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

A Chinese naval fleet including a guided-missile destroyer, missile frigate and comprehensive supply ship set sail earlier this month from a port in eastern Qingdao, heading to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. It was the 48th escort task group to be sent to the region in a Chinese navy programme that has been helping to protect commercial ships and counter Somali piracy since 2008, when there were numerous attacks by Somali pirates. Since 2013, however, there have been very few Somali

Thailand, Cambodia sign ceasefire pact as Trump hails...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/26

A triumphant Donald Trump on Sunday presided over a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia on the first trip to Southeast Asia of his second presidency, applauding his own peacemaking skills while warning that American trade was contingent on the durability of the truce between the two nations. Dubbed the Kuala Lumpur Accords, the declaration calls for a demilitarisation of the tense shared Thai-Cambodia border and a loosely worded commitment towards reaching peace to end a border dispute,...

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