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China’s new quantum computer hits stability...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/26

Chinese researchers have taken a major step in the global race to build practical quantum computers, becoming the first team outside the United States – and the second in the world after Google – to cross a key threshold that determines whether these machines can work reliably at scale. A team led by Pan Jianwei at the University of Science and Technology of China said their superconducting quantum computer, Zuchongzhi 3.2, had reached the fault-tolerant threshold – a point where fixing

‘Can’t buy true love’: Chinese man abducted as child...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/26

A man in China who was abducted at the age of four has reunited with his birth parents and severed ties with the family who brought him up. On December 12, Peng Congcong, now 26, originally from Jiangxi province in southeastern China, shared an online post looking back at his first year after reuniting with his birth family. Peng said his family moved to Beijing when he was four and he was abducted after being lured away while playing alone near a market. His devastated parents reported him...

Quiet strength: how Hong Kong’s Tai Po community is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/26

Tai Po residents are forging ahead with new paths forward following a catastrophic blaze that claimed the lives of 161 people. In this first part of a series on how the community is moving on one month from the fire, Fiona Sun explores how the neighbourhood is rebuilding and adapting. A heavy quiet has settled over the neighbourhood in Hong Kong’s Tai Po where seven towers stand charred. Gone are the piles of flowers and notes bearing messages of grief and condolences that filled a makeshift...

US launches strike on Islamic State targets in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. In a Christmas evening post on his social media site, Trump did not provide details or mention the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. But a video posted by ‍the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launching from a warship. A US...

King Charles calls for ‘reconciliation’ in Christmas...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Britain’s King Charles called for “compassion and reconciliation” at a time of “division” across the world in his Christmas Day message on Thursday.The 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” how people of different faiths had a “shared longing for peace”. Charles praised individuals who risked their lives to save others in situations of violence, including those caught up in the killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia this month. “Individuals and...

‘Golden Fleet’: will Trump’s battleship plan deter...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

US President Donald Trump’s new battleship plan, apparently aimed at deterring China, faces huge implementation hurdles and could cause Beijing to double down on its anti-ship weapons, according to analysts. Trump unveiled a new class of navy battleships on Monday. These “Trump-class” ships will be larger, faster and “100 times more powerful” than any previously built, according to the American leader, forming the centrepiece of what he called an expanded “Golden Fleet” aimed at cementing US...

Jimmy Kimmel takes aim at Trump in ‘alternative...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at US President Donald Trump as he warned on Thursday about the rise of fascism in an address to UK viewers dubbed “The Alternative Christmas Message.” The message, aired on Channel 4 on Christmas Day, reflected on the impact from the second term in office for Trump, who Kimmel said acts like he is a king. “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” he said. “Tyranny is booming over here.” The channel began a tradition of airing an...

Has China’s stock market gone from ‘uninvestable’ to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

As 2025 draws to a close, Wall Street’s love affair with Chinese equities is in full swing. While the relationship between global investors and China has been a rocky one, market sentiment is now about varying degrees of bullishness. In a panel discussion moderated by JPMorgan at the annual meeting of the Emerging Markets Trading Association earlier this month, some of the speakers said China’s stock market had undergone a shift from “uninvestable” to “irresistible”, especially in the...

Brazil’s Bolsonaro backs son’s residential bid,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro endorsed his son ‌Flavio’s 2026 presidential bid on Thursday in a statement from a hospital where he ‍underwent a scheduled hernia operation that doctors said went smoothly. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorised Bolsonaro to leave prison, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, for the surgery. Police were ordered to stay outside ⁠his room where computers and mobile phones were prohibited. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro,

Russia makes ‘proposal’ to France over jailed NGO...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Moscow has made an offer to Paris regarding jailed French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who is facing espionage charges that could see him sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison, the Kremlin said on Thursday. The surprise public overture comes as both Russia and France have expressed interest in possible talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron. Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and was jailed in June 2024, is serving a three-year sentence for failing

Andrew’s daughters join UK royals for traditional...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Britain’s Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie attended the royal family’s traditional Christmas Day church service ‌on Thursday, while their father Andrew, recently stripped of his titles ‍over ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was absent.King Charles and Queen Camilla led senior royals to a church in Sandringham in eastern England, about 110 miles (175 km) northeast of ⁠London, greeting well-wishers in crisp winter weather. Charles and Camilla walked ahead while the Prince and...

Hong Kong to extend Lo Wu and Shenzhen Bay checkpoint...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Hong Kong authorities will extend the operating hours of Lo Wu and Shenzhen Bay checkpoints while stepping up public transport to manage cross-border passenger flow after the countdown next Wednesday. Under special holiday arrangements, the Lo Wu checkpoint will remain open from New Year’s Eve until 2am the next day, while passenger and vehicle checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay will operate overnight, according to a government spokesman. “The government will closely monitor the situation and take...

Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra, backed by Leica, challenges...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Xiaomi on Thursday unveiled the 17 Ultra, its latest premium smartphone model that features improved night photography and mobile imaging capabilities on the back of the firm’s enhanced partnership with German camera maker Leica. “We work together to build future-proof optical technology … and completely reshape the mobile photography experience,” Xiaomi president Lu Weibing said at the handset’s launch. In a side-by-side comparison of dimly lit photos taken in Hong Kong with Xiaomi’s 17

China’s record-smashing maglev achieves 0-700km/h...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Researchers at China’s National University of Defence Technology have successfully accelerated a tonne-class vehicle to a record speed of 700 km/h (435mph) within just two seconds on a 400 metre (1,310-foot) magnetic levitation test line, and brought it safely to a stop. The test speed has set a new global benchmark, making it the world’s fastest superconducting electric maglev to date. This same force that flung a sledge down a short track could fling a rocket into the sky. It could even...

Hong Kong firefighter unions slam Ip Man producer...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Six labour unions with Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department have denounced banker turned film producer Checkley Sin Kwok-lam for comments about its chief’s handling of the Tai Po fire. The unions banded together on Thursday to slam Sin’s comments about the department’s strategies for battling the city’s deadliest fire in decades. The blaze raged for about 43 hours, killing 161 people and displacing nearly 5,000 residents. Sin, a former banker who went on to produce the award-winning kung fu

‘Christmas under fire’: Ukraine, Russia report fatal...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Russian air attacks caused death and destruction across Ukraine, authorities in different regions reported on Thursday, with Russian authorities reporting similar Ukrainian attacks on their territory. A Russian drone attack in the southwestern Odesa region on the Black Sea left one person dead and two injured. Damage was caused to port and energy infrastructure, the regional authorities said. In the Kharkiv region bordering Russia in Ukraine’s northeast, one person died and 15 were

Mercedes-Benz acquires stake in Chinese autonomous...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday said it completed the acquisition of a 3 per cent stake, worth 1.34 billion yuan (US$191 million), in motorcycle maker-turned-autonomous driving systems developer Chongqing Qianli Technology, three months after the deal was first announced. The transaction involved Mercedes-Benz Digital Technology, the German carmaker’s tech unit, and Shanghai-listed Lifan Holdings, which transferred 135.6 million shares of Qianli at 9.87 yuan per share. Before the transaction, Lifan...

UBTech’s US$237 million Fenglong deal tightens...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Chinese humanoid robot maker UBTech Robotics is moving to lock down key manufacturing capacity, agreeing to pay nearly 1.7 billion yuan (US$237 million) in cash to take control of Shenzhen-listed mechanical component maker Zhejiang Fenglong as it pushes to scale up humanoid robot production. The two-stage deal will begin with UBTech acquiring a 29.99 per cent stake in Fenglong from existing shareholders for 1.16 billion yuan, followed by a voluntary partial offer to buy a further 13.02 per

Exhibition traces China’s long links with Kenya, from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

More than six centuries ago, roughly 80 years ahead of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, Chinese admiral Zheng He reached the eastern coast of Africa with a massive fleet and a crew of more than 20,000 under his command. The Ming dynasty ships braved formidable waves and traversed vast distances on seven epic maritime expeditions to reach the shores of Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and finally the eastern coast of Africa. Despite his achievements, Zheng He remains largely absent from...

Architect of Hong Kong’s Octopus card retires with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/25

Sammy Kam Chi-sum, the primary architect of Hong Kong’s contactless Octopus cards, is retiring after nearly 30 years with the company at the end of this month, before what he says is an inevitable transition to a technology that will not even require tapping for certain transactions. Octopus’s chief operations officer began his journey in 1995 when he joined the MTR Corporation’s marketing team to help launch what would become the world’s first contactless system that revolutionised public...

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