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Hong Kong civil servants could see pay rise of up to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Hong Kong civil servants could receive a salary rise of up to 4.12 per cent this year, according to preliminary pay trend survey results, subject to final approval by the Executive Council. The survey findings, based on data from 104 private companies and released on Thursday, suggest pay increases of 4.12 per cent for senior civil servants, 2.64 per cent for middle-ranking staff and 1.17 per cent for junior employees. When asked whether a pay rise for public servants following the deadly Tai

Vietnam’s To Lam seeks to ‘re-energise’ Thai ties...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Vietnam’s globetrotting leader To Lam began his first trip to Thailand with trade and security talks dominating the agenda, as well as a symbolic visit to the former home of Ho Chi Minh, the founder of modern Vietnam who once lived in the northeast of the kingdom. To Lam, the president and general secretary of the Communist Party, is seen by many as the country’s most powerful leader since the era of Ho Chi Minh. The former secret policeman has been zipping across global capitals as he seeks

What India’s ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ project...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

The global energy crisis stemming from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has added complexity to already competitive China-India maritime relations. The bottleneck in the Gulf has disrupted the provision of vital supplies of oil, gas and fertilisers to Asia, underscoring the fragility of global supply chains and the significance of trade chokepoints. Amid uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz’s reopening, India’s US$10 billion plan to transform remote Great Nicobar Island into a...

Israel declares new swathe of Lebanon ‘a combat...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Israel’s military on Wednesday declared a new swathe of southern Lebanon as a combat zone and said residents in the area should move north, warning it would act “with great force” against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the zone. The military’s statement, posted on X, ‌appeared to signal further escalation after more than 120 strikes on Tuesday hit Lebanon’s south and east, despite a ceasefire announced on April 16. “We advise residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the...

US Justice Department launches criminal probe into...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the writer who accused US President Donald Trump of ‌raping her in the mid-1990s, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The probe was focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to two civil lawsuits that she won against Trump – one tied to her allegations that he sexually abused her in a New York department store and another over defamation in 2019, said the ⁠source, who...

Appeal of China assets keeps rising among global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Global investors’ appetite for Chinese equities, companies and assets continues to rise owing to rapid technological advancements and low valuations in the world’s second-largest economy, according to JPMorgan Chase. Kwang Kam Shing, chairwoman for North Asia at the biggest US bank, said that foreign investment in Hong Kong and mainland China remained at a low level historically, and investors were keen to explore fresh opportunities. “They still believe there’s a big or relatively big gap...

Chinese team finds ‘garden-like’ ecosystem blooming...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Scientists have discovered a thriving and previously unknown ecosystem in the planet’s deepest ocean trenches, feeding on organic debris from above. At those depths the pressure is enough to crush a submarine, and combined with perpetual darkness and temperatures near freezing, it makes the deepest reaches of the oceans among the least explored places on Earth. Until now, researchers believed that only a few anemones, sponges or bacteria could survive under such conditions. But an

Hong Kong drainage project suspended after worker...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Hong Kong authorities have suspended a drainage replacement project in Kowloon after a contractor’s worker died in an industrial accident. The worker, 68, was struck by an electric chain hoist at a site on Yen Chow Street in Sham Shui Po on Wednesday afternoon. He was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in a critical condition and later died at about 11.30pm. A government spokesman said on Thursday that Ringo Mok Wing-cheong, director of drainage services, had asked the contractor to provide...

The evolution of Hong Kong’s independent common law

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

It is very often said that the common law is one of Hong Kong’s greatest assets. It provides us with a corpus of law which shares common origins with those of many established jurisdictions. It enables conversations to take place between our legal professionals and with our counterparts elsewhere. As the only common law jurisdiction with both Chinese and English as official languages used in court, Hong Kong is the connection between China and the common law world. But what exactly is the

Hong Kong’s golden window to renew ageing housing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Hong Kong’s public housing conversation is often dominated by a single anxious question: how long do you have to wait for a home? Today, the answer is starting to change. The average waiting time for a general applicant for subsidised public rental housing has fallen to 4.7 years, a shift that feels small on paper but enormous for the families living it. The real transformation runs deeper than that headline figure. We have moved from a system that was playing catch-up to one that is steadily...

Iran and US trade air strikes, testing negotiations...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard targeted a US airbase on Thursday after the US military carried out what a Washington official said were strikes on an Iranian drone operation near the Strait of Hormuz, hours after US President Donald Trump rejected a report he was close to a compromise deal with Tehran. The escalation in hostilities highlighted threats to the tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran that took effect in early April, dampening hopes for a peace ‌deal and sending oil prices surging...

Leveraging Hong Kong’s Unique Advantages to Expedite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] In 2026, China embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan. At this critical juncture, as changes unseen in a century accelerate worldwide and the global innovation landscape is being profoundly reshaped, Hong Kong is presented with a historic opportunity to develop into an international innovation and technology centre. This aligns with the central government’s vision and provides an indispensable path for the city to shape

China barbecue chain willingly refunds diners...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

A refund initiative launched by a famous barbecue restaurant chain in China has drawn significant attention on mainland social media, triggering a debate about a culture of valuing the feelings of customers. At the beginning of May, Very Long Ago Lamb Skewers, which has 142 directly managed outlets across the country, contacted customers who ate at 48,000 tables at 24 restaurants in February. The eatery was offering to refund them half of the bill for the mutton kebab they ate. The refund, at

Hong Kong eyes Central Asian listings as HKEX CEO...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/28

Hong Kong is an excellent option for Central Asian companies considering secondary listings to raise funds for expansion due to its deep liquidity, as the city eyes rapidly growing markets in the region, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting has said. Chan, who will join a high-level delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in early June, also said the city’s bourse was “definitely” eyeing closer collaboration with its

Jill Biden feared Joe Biden was having a stroke...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Jill Biden feared her husband was having a stroke as she watched then US President Joe Biden stumble through a disastrous debate performance that led to the end of his 2024 re-election campaign, the former first lady said in a recent interview.“I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS News in an interview scheduled to air on Sunday. Joe Biden’s shaky, mumbling and sometimes confused delivery against Donald Trump in June 2024

First China, now South Korea: why Asian powers are...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Months of disruption through the Strait of Hormuz have prompted a rethink of global supply chains, with South Korea now following China in pushing to commercialise the Arctic shipping route to Europe. South Korea aimed to open a regular route through the waters by 2030, following a trial voyage set to debut later this year, according to a broader maritime development plan released on Tuesday by Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. “To prepare for the Arctic shipping era approaching after...

Norway to join France’s nuclear umbrella, in move...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Norway will open talks with ⁠France on joining its nuclear ⁠umbrella, French President Emmanuel Macron and Norwegian ⁠Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Wednesday, reflecting growing European concerns about relying on the US for security. The move signals a shift by Norway, long a staunch Atlanticist that has relied heavily on Nato and the US nuclear umbrella, towards closer defence cooperation ‌within Europe. Macron and Stoere announced the plan at a meeting in Paris, where they also...

As Iran war stokes water security fears, Central Asia...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Central Asia is tilting more decisively towards China as geopolitical uncertainty deepens, with Beijing’s expanding influence recasting the former Soviet states’ strategic orientation. In the first of a three-part series, Laura Zhou looks at how vulnerabilities laid bare by the Iran war might make the region look to China for water security. The US-Israel war on Iran has crippled global supply chains, choking off the world’s energy supply alongside reserves of critical commodities like...

China’s next big leap: becoming a frontier science...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew once offered a striking observation on the nature of American power, wrote Harvard professor Joseph Nye in 2011. China, Lee argued, could draw upon its massive population but the United States possessed a deeper structural advantage: the ability to attract and recombine global talent within an unusually open, diverse and creative ecosystem. America’s innovation system was not merely large. It was generative. Fifteen years later, on April 30,...

Trump appears to threaten to ‘blow up’ Oman, after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to threaten to attack ally Oman if it sides with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Oman must “behave” or he would “blow them up”, when he was asked if he would accept a short-term deal to allow Iran and the Gulf state to control the waterway. “No, the strait is going to be open to everybody,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody

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