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News - South China Morning Post

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Iran launches 3 satellites into space from Russia,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Iran launched three domestically built observation satellites into space from Russia on Sunday, state television reported, marking a new step for Tehran’s space programme despite Western sanctions. The country maintains that its aerospace industry is peaceful and complies with UN Security Council resolutions imposed over its nuclear programme. “Three Iranian satellites, Zafar-2, Paya and Kowsar 1.5, were launched into space by a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia,” Iranian...

New York’s subway joins London, Singapore and retires...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

When the MetroCard replaced the New York City subway token in 1994, the swipeable plastic card infused much-needed modernity into one of the world’s oldest and largest transit systems. Now, more than three decades later, the gold-hued fare card and its notoriously finicky magnetic strip are following the token into retirement. The last day to buy or refill a MetroCard is December 31, 2025, as the transit system fully transitions to OMNY, a contactless payment system that allows riders to tap...

A closer look at China’s ‘Flying Shark’ J-15 jet that...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Of all the warplanes in China’s rapidly growing air arsenal, it was an older model that sent shock waves across the region earlier this month. A rare stand-off between Chinese and Japanese fighter jets took place near the Miyako Strait northeast of Taiwan. The incident brought the Shenyang J-15 carrier-based fighter jet, which has been in service for more than a decade, back into the spotlight. Japan said J-15 fighter jets, launched from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, twice engaged

Incoming Hong Kong lawmaker Vivian Kong to transition...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Former Hong Kong star fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai will transition to a consultant role at the Jockey Club after she is sworn in as a tourism lawmaker, her former boss has said. The retired Olympic fencing gold medallist joined the club in August 2024 as an assistant external affairs manager, but suspended her duties last month to run for the election in the tourism sector. The 31-year-old secured 131 votes, beating Kwun Tong district councillor Ma Yat-chiu, raising questions over her role at

Trump’s pivot puts Pacific Rim at heart of global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

While US-China relations are likely to warm in 2026 and US President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy strikes a comparatively softer tone, the long-term trajectory of the two nations’ rivalry remains irreversible. Strategic competition will only intensify, focusing ever more on economic and security issues in the Pacific Rim. Notably, the Pentagon’s call for a major US military overhaul centred on the Pacific Rim could raise the risk of security confrontation. This dynamic will

Hong Kong liaison office’s Qi Bin to take up new role...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

A senior cadre at Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong with a rich financial background is expected to be transferred back to the capital for a new role in a committee advising leadership on economic policies for the next five-year plan, the Post has learned. Qi Bin, who turned 57 last month, was appointed by the State Council in November last year to take up the post of deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong. It is understood that he will be made a deputy...

‘I cannot sleep soundly’: helper battles trauma, job...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Domestic helper Siti Zulaikho has only one word to describe her life after Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades turned everything upside down: “chaotic.” The 41-year-old Indonesian was among more than 200 domestic helpers living in Wang Fuk Court when the 43-hour blaze broke out on November 26, engulfing seven of the housing estate’s eight buildings and killing 161 people. Over the past month, she has relocated with her employers four times – first to a shelter, then to a hotel, and then to...

Hong Kong Island promenade to be completed after 16...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Hong Kong Island’s 13km (8-mile) promenade will be fully connected after 16 years of planning and construction, with the last section of the boardwalk in North Point to open to the public on Monday. The Development Bureau said on Sunday that the eastern section of East Coast Boardwalk, spanning 1.1km from the North Point Promenade to Hoi Yu Street in Quarry Bay, featured a glass observatory deck and open spaces. “[It marks] the last kilometre to connect the approximately 13-kilometre-long...

Hong Kong finance chief upbeat about 2026 outlook on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Hong Kong’s finance chief has struck an upbeat tone about the city’s economic outlook for 2026, while forecasting that growth this year will accelerate to 3.2 per cent, surpassing earlier projections. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the optimistic outlook was mainly supported by anticipated growth in mainland China and Asia, along with interest rate cuts. But his optimism was questioned by former finance chief John Tsang Chun-wah and some economists. “Looking ahead to next year, Hong...

Brigitte Bardot, French icon and animal rights...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who set the standard for a generation of female sex symbols in the 1960s and devoted her later life to animal rights, has died. She was 91. Agence France-Presse reported her death on Sunday, citing a statement from her foundation that did not provide details. The archetype of beauty to millions of men, Bardot spawned an era of curvy, pouting, insouciant actresses with her role as a self-assured small-town sexpot in And God Created Woman (1956). Throughout

Why Saudi Arabia might not fulfil spending pledge to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Saudi Arabia has pledged to boost investments in America to nearly US$1 trillion, but according to analysts Riyadh could struggle to meet that target. Rather, they said the pledge – announced when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington last month – was more about the “political display” than a binding commitment. It was an increase to the US$600 billion that was promised in May, when US President Donald Trump visited Riyadh. The latest pledge comes as the rivalry intensifies

China paralysed man, who can only move a finger and a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

A paralysed Chinese man who can move only one finger and one toe has successfully developed a smart farm control system and founded a start-up. The determination of Li Xia, who is reliant on a ventilator, has deeply moved countless people across China. Li, 36, from Chongqing in southwestern China, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of five. He was forced to drop out of school in the fifth grade. Since then, studying kept him going. He was most fascinated by physics and computer...

650 Hongkongers on Taiwan group tours confirmed safe...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

More than 650 Hongkongers on group tours to Taiwan have been confirmed safe following a 6.7-magnitude earthquake late on Saturday, with some shaken travellers recalling how buildings swayed “from side to side”. The Hong Kong Observatory said the earthquake struck at 11.05pm in Taiwan, with the epicentre located about 70km (43.5 miles) southeast of Taipei and at a focal depth of 60km. The forecaster also received more than 100 local reports of tremors lasting several seconds on

China’s anti-corruption campaign claims 3 more top...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Three more top-ranking Chinese officers have been expelled from the national legislature, becoming the latest to fall foul of an anti-corruption campaign sweeping through the military. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress said on Saturday that it had expelled Wang Renhua, head of the Central Military Commission’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee; Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People’s Armed Police (PAP); and Wang Peng, director of the CMC’s training...

Hong Kong’s Starry Lee seeks to unite lawmakers, but...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Hong Kong’s Starry Lee Wai-king has said her roles as a delegate to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and at the Legislative Council do not conflict, but she has stopped short of revealing whether she will run for the latter’s presidency. Lee, a member of China’s top legislative body, on Sunday held off giving a definitive reply about whether she would seek election as Legco president. Details would be clearer during the presidency’s nomination period, after the newly...

Likening Trump’s AI mission to the Manhattan Project...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

US President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order for the “Genesis Mission”, a national campaign to use artificial intelligence (AI) to boost scientific breakthroughs. In the opening section, the mission is explicitly described as “comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project”. The comparison is compelling, but also misleading. At first glance, the order evokes the image of America in the 1940s, muscular and confident, mobilising the whole nation to end World War

Hong Kong to launch ‘special channel’ for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

Hong Kong authorities are preparing to launch a special channel next year to allow sensitive mainland Chinese biological samples and data to cross an “innovation cooperation zone” between the city and Shenzhen, a minister has said. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on a television programme on Sunday that authorities had already clearly defined the scope of specific genetic resources and sensitive information to be permitted. “I believe we will roll out these...

How Algeria could help China plug iron ore gaps and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

In the heart of Algeria’s Sahara Desert, Chinese state-owned giant China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has completed laying track on the PK330 Bridge, a final and critical link in a new railway designed to unlock the nation’s mineral wealth. The 6km (3.7-mile) bridge is part of the 950km railway linking the Gara Djebilet iron ore deposit in southwestern Tindouf province to the industrial hub of Bechar in the northeast. It was the “most technically demanding railway engineering feat...

China pupils, inspired by suspense novels, use chalk...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

A group of suspense-novel-loving Chinese school pupils smeared chalk dust on the combination lock of a safe in their classroom to unlock it and retrieve their mobile phones. Despite being disciplined by the school, many netizens were left amused and praised their creativity. A disciplinary notice issued by the secondary school in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, southern China, on December 10, has gone viral online. It said that on November 14, a pupil surnamed Tian from Class 13, Grade 10, had...

Why are rich Chinese ‘quietly’ moving private jets...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/28

China’s ultra-wealthy are quietly parking their private jets offshore to sidestep tougher compliance rules at home, while corporate executives are downgrading to commercial flights, analysts say, as economic headwinds hit the country’s business aircraft fleet. Aircraft owned by affluent Chinese nationals are said to be increasingly resurfacing in hubs such as Singapore and Japan, while more billionaires and corporate executives are turning to first-class commercial cabins or timeshare jet...

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