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News - South China Morning Post

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How the AI chip boom has made South Korea a victim of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

For a sign of how the fierce demand for memory chips triggered by the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) is benefiting technology-driven economies, look no further than South Korea. Last month, exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew at a blistering rate of 53 per cent in annualised terms, the fastest pace since 1984. Shipments of semiconductors, which are used to store and funnel the huge amounts of data for AI services, increased nearly 170 per cent to a record monthly high of...

Direct Hong Kong-Almaty flights ‘will save travellers...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan could save travellers up to 10 hours and open the city’s shorelines to tourists from landlocked Central Asia, lawmakers have said after the flag carrier announced plans to launch an Almaty route next year. Lawmaker Jonathan Stuart Lamport, who represents the business sector, on Thursday said the announcement had received widespread support from the industry, as direct flights between Hong Kong and Almaty would significantly strengthen ties

‘BeiDou Goddess’: key figure in China GPS-equivalent...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

A Chinese scientist behind China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System rejects the “goddess” label, asserting that research transcends gender. Xu Ying, 43, hails from Sichuan province in southwestern China, born to a maths teacher mother and an agricultural technician father. As a gifted child with a passion for physics and mathematics, Xu began primary school at the age of four, entered university at 16 to pursue communications engineering, and consistently ranked at the top of her class each...

Our latest interstellar visitor has no signs of alien...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

The group leading the charge in the search for extraterrestrial life has given the all-clear: an interstellar comet looks to be completely natural and free of any alien tech. The SETI Institute said Wednesday that extensive radio scans by its telescope in Northern California found no signs of otherworldly technology from our solar system’s latest interstellar visitor. The object labelled 3I/ATLAS was discovered last summer sweeping through our neck of the cosmic woods. Scientists quickly...

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Uzbekistan to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Uzbekistan plans to launch direct flights to Hong Kong this year, with details being finalised with local authorities, the South China Morning Post has learned, in a move to strengthen ties between Central Asia and the city. The new route follows close on the heels of Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific’s plan to launch a service to Almaty in Kazakhstan in the first quarter of next year, one of the outcomes of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s official visit to the region. Multiple sources...

Protests grow over Trump family-linked resort project...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

A massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is facing growing resistance from protesters in Albania. The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership. But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn

DNA tests confirm baby Danny is son of Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Hong Kong authorities have confirmed that an unmarried couple arrested on suspicion of child neglect are the biological parents of undocumented infant Danny. A police source told the South China Morning Post on Thursday that Tsang Wai-bong and Kwan Pui-sin were the parents of the two-month-old, citing DNA test results. Danny was born at home in Hong Kong and was not registered with the Immigration Department, as his parents initially declined to submit a DNA test report to confirm their...

Chinese robot helps children with nerve disorder...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Some people living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have never been able to stand on their own. SMA is a genetic disorder that causes the nerves that connect the brain and muscles to deteriorate over time, making it challenging or even impossible for those affected to contract their muscles. Over time, their muscles shrink through lack of use. Depending on the severity, this condition can confine individuals to a wheelchair or leave them bedridden. It can also make eating and even breathing...

Hong Kong braces for heat, showers as tropical...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Hong Kong’s weather forecaster is monitoring a tropical depression that has formed within 800km (497 miles) of the city, but says it is unlikely to issue a typhoon warning signal. The Hong Kong Observatory said on Thursday that an area of low pressure over the northeastern part of the South China Sea had intensified into a tropical depression, which was centred about 530km south-southwest of Kaohsiung and expected to move towards the vicinity of Taiwan. It is forecast to move northeast on...

23 injured after minibus, double-decker and truck...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

More than 20 people were injured in a traffic accident involving two public buses and a truck in Hong Kong’s New Territories, temporarily closing an arterial road on Thursday morning. A minibus, a double-decker bus and a truck collided on Fanling Highway at around 8am, trapping the minibus driver, who was later rescued by firefighters. Photos from the scene show the front of the route 44A minibus, which runs between Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun, severely crushed. Police said 18 passengers on the...

No pain, no gain? Ex-player defends ‘unique’ method...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

A former student of a well-known Hong Kong basketball coach, seen in a video slapping a young player, has defended his disciplinary approach as acceptable despite legal experts warning the conduct could constitute common assault. Veteran coach Yung Kam-wah apologised on Tuesday over the incident, which took place two years ago, after the video recently went viral and sparked public concern. In the clip, Yung first takes a jacket from the boy’s hand and throws it to the ground, then grabs the...

12 Hangry Men – jury equity from the Old Bailey to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

In the Grand Hall of London’s Central Criminal Court, ubiquitously known as the Old Bailey, lies a plaque commemorating the courage of the jury in the 1670 trial of William Penn. Penn – who would later found the US state of Pennsylvania – and his co-accused were Quakers, charged with contravening the Conventicle Act 1664, which banned religious gatherings other than those of the Church of England. The Recorder of London, presiding at Penn’s trial, directed the jury to convict. The jury

Hong Kong’s first astronaut success is also a story...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Becoming an astronaut and exploring space has been the dream of generations of young people and Hong Kong has welcomed this pioneering moment. Dr Lai Ka-Ying, who studied computer science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has become the first astronaut from Hong Kong, and the fourth female astronaut from China, to journey into space. As a payload specialist, she will operate the observatory designed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to track greenhouse gas...

How Beijing could use its military and trade to hit...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Beijing could conduct military operations, bolster its electronic warfare strength and roll out trade sanctions in response to Tokyo and Manila’s deepening defence cooperation, according to Chinese experts. Last week, Manila and Tokyo announced they would launch negotiations on the maritime boundary of their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves around Taiwan, a move that Beijing called “completely illegal and invalid”. In a report on Wednesday, the Beijing Lande Information...

A Chinese robotics start-up beat Nvidia on a global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

As artificial intelligence steps out of the digital realm and into the real world, the race to build the embodied “brains” powering next-generation robots has become the newest battleground in tech competition between China and the United States. Two days after US chip giant Nvidia launched its Cosmos 3 model – designed to help physical AI “think before it acts” – a Chinese start-up stole the spotlight. On Wednesday, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province-based Spirit AI said its foundation model for...

Chinese man, 19, lives under bridge with pet dog,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Residents of a city in central China have come to the aid of a poor 19-year-old student who works more than 10 hours a day as a food delivery rider to earn money to cover his tuition fees. Tang Wei, from Xinhuang county in Hunan province, was admitted by a technical college in Changsha, the capital city of the province, the Changsha Evening News reported. He will kick off his college life in September. In early May, Tang left his hometown, heading to Changsha and hoping to find a temporary...

West’s xenophobia, cash woes present huge openings...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Xenophobia and financial woes in the West have created tremendous opportunities for higher education institutions in Hong Kong and the broader Eurasian region, the head of a leading university in Kazakhstan has said. Professor Waqar Ahmad, the president of Nazarbayev University, also revealed on Wednesday that the institution would soon launch another joint undergraduate programme in computer science and artificial intelligence with Polytechnic University. Starting next year, the programme

Booking system considered to protect popular Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/04

Authorities are considering a pilot booking system for one of Hong Kong’s most popular hiking routes and creating a new marine park at Sharp Island in Sai Kung, following bigger-than-expected crowds during mainland Chinese holidays. The proposals were outlined in a paper submitted to a Legislative Council ecology and tourism subcommittee ahead of a meeting on Monday. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said visitor numbers at the Po Pin Chau section of Sai Kung East Country...

Israel, Lebanon agree to implement ceasefire, as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington on Wednesday. The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”. The development came despite continued cross-border

It’s back – revived TEDxHongKong challenges...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Hong Kong is an international economic powerhouse brimming with talent and capital, but how much of that has trickled down to local communities? This was the question that weighed on Daniella Lopez’s mind when she acquired the licence for TEDxHongKong – which had been inactive since 2017 – in late 2025. There have been more focused TEDx events in Hong Kong, such as TEDxTinHauWomen, that had specific themes. But TEDxHongKong is about building a broader platform that uses local expertise and...

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