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Portugal’s 11 presidential candidates debate...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

A record number of 11 candidates in Portugal’s coming presidential election kicked off their campaigns on Sunday. The official two-week campaign period preceding the January 18 election will see the contenders competing to capture voters’ support. However, the broad field makes it unlikely that any candidate will capture more than 50 per cent of the vote, leaving the two top candidates to compete in a run-off ballot on February 8. Among the front runners, according to recent opinion polls,

How Hong Kong can work with Hainan to ease entry to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Previously, I put forward the argument that Hong Kong’s relevance in China’s opening up lies less in guarding its gateway role and more in developing new forms of partnership. Since then, Hainan has set up distinct island-wide customs operations from December 18. This is a turning point – one that invites Hong Kong to think not only about how to cooperate, but how to co-design the next phase of China’s engagement with the world. Hainan’s transformation is ambitious. Around 6,600 types of

Nobel Prize jurist Thomas Mikael Oliveberg joins top...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

After working in Europe for 35 years, Mikael Oliveberg, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) and a judge of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, has taken a full-time position at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in China. Oliveberg has left Stockholm University after nearly two decades as a tenured professor with its Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He was welcomed to his new post by Li Lang, Guangxi Medical University’s vice-president, at a...

Korean professors fined for taking tests for students...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Four teaching staff at a university in South Korea have been fined for taking exams for students to boost test scores in an attempt to keep their department from being shut down. On December 22, the Gwangju District Court in Gwangju city in the southern part of the country fined three professors and a teaching assistant between 1.5 million and 6 million won (US$1,000 and US$4,000) for “obstructing academic operations”. The name of the university where they work was not revealed in a report

China urges US to immediately release Maduro, ‘stop...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

China has expressed “serious concern” over the US capture and forcible removal of the Venezuelan leader, calling on Washington to ensure the personal safety of Nicolas Maduro and his wife and “release them immediately”. The United States launched military attacks on Venezuela on Saturday, capturing President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They were detained in New York after being flown out of Caracas. Hours after the operation, President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until...

Hong Kong to boost tech, financial services...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Hong Kong’s finance chief has pledged to further integrate financial services with technology innovation to foster a thriving ecosystem, following a surge in investor interest in artificial intelligence-related stocks during the first trading day of the year. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also stressed on Sunday the importance of Hong Kong’s role as an international capital market in fuelling the growth of mainland China’s frontier tech firms using the city’s funding and liquidity. “We...

Tourist couple leave babies with China guard to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

A tourist couple from South Asia left their babies with a park guard in China to enjoy themselves, and locals instantly swooped in to calm them and change a nappy. On December 22, a social media user known as “No Cilantro” shared the story from Qianling Mountain Park in Guiyang, in southwestern China’s Guizhou province. The century-old park is famous for its sweeping mountain views and abundant wildlife, especially its naughty monkeys that love to interact with people. In her post, No

Sanctioned Chen Zhi’s Hong Kong firms rocked by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Recently sanctioned Chinese-born Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi has been linked to a network of entities in Hong Kong, with the move triggering regulatory measures and prompting auditors and directors to quit those firms. Company documents reviewed by the Post reveal an interconnected group of firms sharing directors and addresses tied to Chen, luxury real estate and previously appointed international business figures, raising questions about the depth of his operations in Hong Kong and the...

Caribbean holidaymakers stranded after US operation...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

The US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flew him out of the country early on Saturday also disrupted Caribbean travel at a busy travel time for the region. No airline flights were crossing over Venezuela that day, according to FlightRadar24.com. Major airlines cancelled hundreds of flights across the eastern Caribbean region and warned passengers that disruptions could continue for days after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed...

New KMT chair hopes to take peace message to Beijing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

A plan by the chairwoman of Taiwan’s main opposition party to visit Beijing this year, hoping to meet President Xi Jinping, has fuelled hopes of better dialogue amid soaring cross-strait tensions. But while supporters have hailed Cheng Li-wun’s planned trip as a chance to ease frictions across the Taiwan Strait, critics warn that it risks signalling alignment with Beijing as it increases military pressure on the island. Cheng, who was elected chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT) in October, has...

Afghanistan-Pakistan border closure leaves thousands...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Nearly three months since border clashes prompted the closure of land crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, university students, merchants and families are left hanging with no way of getting back. “We miss our parents and relatives,” said Shah Faisal, 25, who studies medicine at an Afghan university and was hoping to visit his family back in Pakistan during winter break. But the border has been shut since October 12, leaving many like him with no viable option of making it

Temperatures in Hong Kong to dip to 12 degrees as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

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 Hong Kong are expected to drop to as low as 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday due to an incoming northeasterly monsoon, according to the local forecaster. The Hong Kong Observatory said temperatures on Sunday ranged from 14 to 19 degrees, while a fresh

China’s wealthy swap real estate for insurance, gold...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/04

Since 2020, Li Jiang, a veteran manufacturing entrepreneur from Guangdong, has been selling off his properties one by one – a move that once puzzled many of his friends. For decades, real estate had been the ultimate “anchor” for retirement planning and wealth transfer among China’s high-net-worth families. At his peak, Li concentrated much of his wealth in property, owning seven assets ranging from CBD apartments to high-end suburban villas. These were intended partly for retirement and

Self-proclaimed ‘peace President’ Trump bombs...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

Donald Trump returned to office vowing to be the peace president. Nearly a year later, he is embracing war on multiple fronts.Trump on Saturday ordered large-scale military strikes in Venezuela and announced that leftist leader Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. The raid to kick off the new year comes after the US military on Christmas Day hit Nigeria, in what Trump said was an operation targeting jihadists who had attacked Christians. And hours before the attack

What if China’s KJ-600 aircraft could serve older...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

China’s first fixed-wing carrier-based early-warning aircraft may have sacrificed aerial refuelling to be able to operate from both ski-jump and catapult-equipped vessels, according to a Chinese military magazine. The KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft was designed for catapult-launched operations and made its debut at the Victory Day parade in early September, flying over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Later that month, video was released of its take-off and landing via...

Travellers hoof it in China as horseback tourism...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Chan Shan Shan is a frequent traveller to mainland China. But rather than the usual activities or sightseeing spots that fill the days of most tourists, Chan has something else on her itinerary: horse riding. Over the past five years, Chan, 29, has left Hong Kong to canter across varied terrains in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai, all in neighbouring Guangdong province. She has mounted up in Yunnan province and western China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as

Hong Kong firm sanctioned by US in Venezuela...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

A Hong Kong-based company sanctioned by the United States for alleged links to Venezuelan oil exports registered a fictitious address in the city, the Post has found, leaving a namesake eyewear firm anxious about repercussions. The Trump administration stepped up its pressure campaign against Venezuela’s oil exports earlier this week by sanctioning four companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China, accusing them of ties to the Venezuelan oil sector and evading restrictions. The US

Iran’s Khamenei demands rioters ‘be put in their...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

Iran’s supreme leader insisted on Saturday that “rioters must be put in their place” after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic, likely giving security forces a green light to aggressively put down the demonstrations. The first comments by 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei come as violence surrounding the demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy has killed at least 10 people. The protests show no sign of stopping and follow US President Donald Trump warning Iran on...

15 left hanging as Hong Kong Ocean Park’s ‘Wild...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

A high-speed ride at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has malfunctioned for the second time in six months, again trapping thrill-seekers in mid-air. Fifteen people on the theme park’s “Wild Twister” ride were stranded for 19 minutes on Saturday afternoon. A park spokesman said a signal failure at 2.57pm automatically triggered the safety system to halt the ride. “Fifteen affected passengers all left the facility at 3.16pm, with no one injured,” the spokesman said. He said that staff had promptly reset...

Hong Kong’s Route 6 set to fully open in 2026,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/03

A new route connecting Hong Kong’s Yau Ma Tei and Tseung Kwan O will fully open this year, the city’s transport chief has said. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan also said on Saturday that the route, on which construction began in 2017, would be fully connected by the end of the year following the completion of a Kowloon Bay tunnel section linking to the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel. “We are striving to open the entire Route 6 within this year, which will slash travel time

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