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Trump-backed Nasry Asfura declared winner of Honduras...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won Honduras’ presidential election, electoral authorities said on Wednesday, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation’s fragile electoral system. The election is continuing Latin America’s swing to the right, coming just a week after Chile chose the far-right politician Jose Antonio Kast as its next president. Asfura, of the conservative National Party, received 40.27 per cent of the vote in

Trump’s Justice Department says may have found a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

The US Justice Department said Wednesday that it may need a “few more weeks” to release all of its records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents, further delaying compliance with last Friday’s congressionally mandated deadline. The Christmas Eve announcement came hours after a dozen US senators called on the Justice Department’s watchdog to examine its failure to meet the deadline. The group, 11 Democrats and a...

Trump hits out at ‘dead man walking’ Stephen Colbert...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Just before Christmas, US President Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh blast of vitriol at late-night comedy talk shows, saying comedian Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic train wreck” who should be “put to sleep”. Colbert’s The Late Show is scheduled to end in May 2026, a decision his fans say smacks of censorship. In a late-night social media post, Trump said that Colbert “has actually gotten worse” since being “terminated by CBS, but left out to dry”. “Stephen is running on hatred and fumes –

Bethlehem celebrates first festive Christmas since...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Gaza war returned on Wednesday. The city where Christians believe Jesus was born had cancelled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square instead had featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza. Cardinal Pierbattista...

Brazil weighs visa-free travel for Chinese nationals...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

Brazil is preparing to waive visa requirements for Chinese citizens travelling for tourism and business, local media reported on Wednesday citing government sources, in a move that would mark a significant shift in policy and deepen ties with its largest trading partner. The planned measure, expected to be announced in early 2026, would put Brazil on a reciprocal footing after China unilaterally granted visa-free entry to Brazilians for short stays. According to local newspaper Valor

Trump vs EU: the European laws curbing big tech and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/24

The European Union is back in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over its tech rules, which Washington denounced as an attempt to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The US State Department said on Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, saying they “have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states – in each case targeting American speakers and American companies”. Trump has vowed to punish countries

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

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