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Hong Kong police make another arrest over deadly Tai...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Hong Kong police have made their 16th arrest in connection with last month’s deadly Tai Po blaze, detaining a man on suspicion of manslaughter.Police earlier arrested 15 people in connection with the fire, which engulfed seven of eight scaffolding-clad residential buildings in the Wang Fuk Court housing estate on November 26, killing 161 and displacing almost 5,000 residents. Police said on Wednesday that they arrested a man, 48, in Tin Shui Wai. He was the person in charge of the external

Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Algeria’s parliament unanimously approved on Wednesday a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations. Standing in the chamber, lawmakers wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag chanted “long live Algeria” as they applauded the passage of the bill, which said France held “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”. The vote comes as the two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic...

Christmas Eve crowds gather in Hong Kong but festive...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Hongkongers are out in droves to experience festive vibes on Christmas Eve, while more than 540,000 residents have left the city for the holidays. By Wednesday evening, a growing crowd had gathered at the open-air plaza at Harbour City shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui to admire special Disney-themed festive installations. Office worker Cecile Tang, 38, was there with her mother, her husband and their two children. The five viewed the Christmas decorations at Harbour City and took a stroll

Chinese AI champion iFlytek sets up new entity to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

US-blacklisted company iFlytek has set up a new corporate entity to expand into semiconductors and other artificial intelligence-related fields as part of efforts to bolster China’s broader tech self-sufficiency initiatives. The new entity, Shandong Yixun Information Technology, was incorporated last week with a registered capital of 50 million yuan (US$7.1 million), according to the latest information from Chinese corporate data provider Qichacha. The scope of this entity’s operations would...

The write way: Hong Kong’s Christmas card loyalists...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Amber Lam has been writing and making her own Christmas cards since childhood and enjoys handing them personally to friends each festive season. The 25-year-old clerk, who sends about 20 cards a year, started the tradition when she was in primary school. She says handwritten messages help build personal bonds with loved ones. “I’ve always loved giving handwritten cards, but normally there aren’t many chances to just sit down and write letters to people. Christmas feels like the perfect...

China, Russia clash with US at UN, scientists on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China, Russia clash with US at UN over Venezuela oil seizures and naval pressure China accused the United States at the United Nations of violating international law and destabilising the Caribbean region, as Washington defended its seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers and vowed to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. 2. Beijing is...

China vows to retaliate against ‘unreasonable’ US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

China said on Wednesday it would hit back against the latest US tariffs targeting its semiconductor sector. On Tuesday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said it would raise the tariffs on June 23, 2027, with the level to be announced at least 30 days in advance. It followed the release of the findings of a year-long probe into China’s chip sector, launched in the final month of the Joe Biden administration. The office said Beijing’s push to dominate the sector was...

AI-for-Science start-up DP Technology raises US$114...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

DP Technology – the developer of a suite of AI tools used by researchers for work spanning drug design to battery development – has raised more than 800 million yuan (US$114 million) in Series C financing to expand research and development (R&D) and hire talent. The Beijing-based AI-for-Science (AI4S) start-up said on Wednesday that the round drew backing from a mix of state-linked and venture investors, including Fortune Venture Capital, Beijing Jingguorui Equity Investment Fund, Beijing...

Hard work and long hours fuelled China’s rise. Now,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Whether in China’s urban centres or its remote rural areas, Christmas is not typically celebrated with the fanfare seen in the West. On the mainland, December 25 is not even a public holiday, with the lion’s share of enthusiasm reserved for the traditional Lunar New Year period beginning in January or February. Zhang Li, who lives in a pastoral section of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the country’s north, was no exception. But this year things have changed, thanks in part to a new...

Trump’s US$100,000 H-1B visa fee upheld by judge, as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

A US federal judge on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s US$100,000 fee to process H-1B visa applications, while also acknowledging it could “inflict significant harm on American businesses and institutions of higher education”. In a 56-page opinion, US District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that the president has “broad statutory authority” to address “a problem he perceives to be a matter of economic and national security”. The US$100,000 application fee announced in September gave

Young people’s input needed on pressing Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Hong Kong’s incoming social welfare lawmaker has vowed to actively engage young people in policy discussions and strengthen communications with frontline workers to plug a “knowledge gap” in professional conduct. Grace Chan Man-yee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, a statutory body representing local welfare groups, also expressed confidence that there would be critical voices in the legislature although not always in front of the cameras. Chan won the social

Chinese military simulated battles near Mexico, Cuba...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

The Chinese military has simulated battles near Mexico and Cuba during a wargaming exercise – a rare insight revealed in a report on state television. Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, along with the Sea of Okhotsk and Taiwan, were among the locations of conflict scenarios visible on screens in a CCTV report on Friday showing People’s Liberation Army wargaming exercises. Despite closer economic ties with countries in the region, China has a minimal military presence in Latin...

ByteDance, other major Chinese tech firms dominate...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

ByteDance-owned Doubao remained mainland China’s top consumer artificial intelligence app in December, according to a report, as the country’s Big Tech companies continued to outpace emerging start-ups in this market. Doubao, a ChatGPT-like app, had 155 million weekly active users in the second week of December, according to data released on Tuesday by business intelligence service provider QuestMobile. It said that number was nearly double the 81.56 million total recorded by DeepSeek’s...

Indian doctor suspended, charged after viral video...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

A senior resident doctor at a government hospital in Shimla, the capital of India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh, has been suspended and charged by police after a viral video appeared to show him repeatedly striking a patient inside a ward, triggering an investigation and widespread public backlash. The mobile phone footage, filmed by an attendant at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital on Monday and widely shared on social media, shows a masked doctor punching a man lying on

China expands digital-yuan push to Singapore and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

In an effort to further promote the internationalisation of China’s currency, Beijing has pledged to expand the use of its digital yuan, including by establishing a cross-border payment pilot with Singapore. The measures, announced by the People’s Bank of China on Wednesday, are tied to a broader financial support plan for China’s New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor – a trade and logistics network, launched in 2017, that links landlocked cities in western China with hundreds of global...

Taipei mayor cuts Shanghai visit short to oversee...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has cut short his planned visit to a joint forum in Shanghai to better focus on security concerns following a deadly stabbing incident in the Taiwanese city last week. Chiang was originally scheduled to attend the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum over Saturday and Sunday. He will now only fly over for the main forum on Sunday morning before returning to Taipei to oversee heightened security operations, according to a press release from the municipal government on...

US to grant South Korea exception on nuclear...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

South Korea and the US have agreed to pursue a separate agreement to formalise Seoul’s right to build nuclear-powered submarines, and working-level talks will begin early next year, the Asian country’s national security adviser said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after visiting Washington, Wi Sung-lac said he discussed the issue and other security arrangements with senior US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. His trip was aimed at...

Thai marines rescue starving lions, bears from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Thai marines have rescued five starving animals – two lions and three bears – abandoned in cages at a bombed-out Cambodian casino complex amid a deepening border fight between the neighbours. Security forces were conducting a sweep of the seized building on Sunday in Trat province when they made the grim discovery, prompting them to send a veterinary team to the site the following day. Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) evaluated the

Hong Kong customs seizes counterfeit goods worth...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Hong Kong customs has intercepted more than 83,000 counterfeit items worth about HK$36 million (US$4.62 million) as part of a recent crackdown, warning that criminals are using the heightened seasonal demand as a “smokescreen” to move illicit goods to Europe and the Americas. The Customs and Excise Department said on Wednesday that the operation ran from December 8 to 19 and was conducted in response to a surge in cross-border logistics activities during the peak year-end shopping

Top PLA Air Force duo miss key military event led by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Two top PLA Air Force officers have become the latest military brass to miss a key political event, as the anti-corruption campaign in the Chinese military continues unabated. Footage broadcast by state television CCTV indicated that General Chang Dingqiu and Guo Puxiao, Air Force commander and political commissar, respectively, were not present at a ceremony on Monday to fill top-level vacancies caused by the sweeping crackdown. The event in Beijing was led by President Xi Jinping, who is

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