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Pair caught bagging up fresh seafood, beef to take...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

Two diners at an all-you-can-eat hotpot restaurant in Hong Kong have been caught trying to sneak fresh seafood, beef and instant noodles into bags to take home, prompting staff to intervene.A video clip circulating on social media on Saturday shows an employee at the restaurant in Tsuen Wan approaching a man and woman to ask if they had put uncooked materials into their backpack. “Please take them out, for the sake of food safety,” the waiter says, explaining that all uncooked food must be...

China’s ‘full stack’ AI ambitions on show at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

China’s full artificial intelligence technology stack was on display at this year’s Apsara Conference, the annual gathering of Alibaba Cloud users and developers held every September in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province. Downpours on Wednesday failed to keep crowds away following an opening speech by Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming, where he announced new AI infrastructure spending beyond the originally promised US$53 billion, sending the company’s shares to a four-year

Japanese flock to Hong Kong as city boosts ‘kawaii’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

The number of Japanese travellers to Hong Kong jumped more than 32 per cent for the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024, an encouraging sign of recovery for tourism authorities in the Chinese city seeking to draw more visitors from the Land of the Rising Sun. Between January and July, 395,375 Japanese travelled to Hong Kong, a healthy 32.2 per cent increase on the same period last year. This figure is still, however, slightly more than 46 per cent down on arrivals in...

China’s Sanxingdui Museum eyes future tech to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

China’s Sanxingdui archaeological site – considered a cornerstone of early Chinese civilisation from 4,500 years ago – is pioneering digital exhibitions to show a broader international audience its immense collection, including top national treasures not permitted to travel overseas. Yu Jian, deputy director of the Sanxingdui Museum in southwestern China, said the institution planned to show its artefacts at an international exhibition next year. Final plans for the exhibition required state...

‘How are we going to survive?’: Iran in a bind as UN...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

Iran’s clerical rulers face one of their gravest crises since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, caught between growing discontent at home and a stalled nuclear deal that together have left the country more isolated and divided. The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran on Saturday after last-ditch talks between Tehran and European powers Britain, France and Germany failed to resolve the latest of decades of stand-offs over Iran’s nuclear programme. Without a breakthrough in talks with the

As Fed lowers rates, which real estate markets should...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

Now that the US Federal Reserve has embarked on a policy easing cycle, with some other central banks around the world following suit, property investors must treat these changes as temporary and remember that there is no substitute for proper research into specific markets and assets, according to consultants. The Fed cut its target rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4 to 4.25 per cent during the sixth meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee last week. The Fed’s easing was widely...

Trump era could herald the end of ideology in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

Convergence theory has long been a Western fantasy in conquering the world with liberal democratic values. It proposes that societies, especially as they industrialise, tend to become more alike in various aspects of social organisation, including work, class structure, family patterns and culture. However, convergence theory oversimplifies the complexities of social change and ignores the unique cultural and historical contexts of different societies. It does not adequately account for power...

Hong Kong’s global standing vital to country’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

Hong Kong may lack natural resources such as gold and oil, but its international standing remains valuable to mainland China, tycoon Michael Kadoorie has said, while also encouraging younger residents to view the city’s situation as a glass half full rather than half empty. In a 20-minute TV interview aired on Saturday, the chairman of electricity supplier CLP Holdings and Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (HSH), which owns and runs the luxury Peninsula group of properties, weighed in on issues

Chinese woman falls into old well, circled by snakes,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

A woman from southeastern China was miraculously rescued after accidentally falling into an abandoned well, where she clung desperately to the side for 54 hours, battling exhaustion, relentless mosquitoes, and even bites from water snakes. The incident unfolded on September 13, when the 48-year-old woman, surnamed Qin, was out for a leisurely stroll in the woods of Quanzhou, Fujian province, before unexpectedly tumbling into the deep well. Her family quickly noticed her disappearance, and

Hand-drawn map reunites Indonesian jailed in Malaysia...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/28

A crude map drawn from memory marking a mosque, train station and warren of small Jakarta lanes that lead to her home finally reconnected Ani Anggraeni with a family who had feared she had already been executed in a Malaysian jail for drug trafficking. Like more than a million other Indonesians, Ani left for economic opportunities in neighbouring Malaysia, where many work – legally and illegally – to send money back to their families. It was 2011, and the then 51-year-old had never left...

Russia tells West any aggression will be met with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the West on Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a “decisive response”, warning against attempts to down aircraft in Russian airspace and accusing Germany of militaristic rhetoric. As Russia’s war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along Nato’s eastern flank in recent weeks as Estonia said Moscow sent three fighter aircraft into its airspace and Nato warplanes shot down Russian drones over Poland. “Any aggression against my...

Over 36 dead in stampede at Indian actor-politician...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

At least 39 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Saturday in a stampede at a rally held by Tamil actor Vijay, who is campaigning for election, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu said. “So far, 39 people have died, including 13 men, 17 women, four boys, and five girls – while 51 people, including 26 men and 25 women, are receiving intensive treatment,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin told reporters in Karur, the district where the incident occurred during a political rally held

50 years on, has China left Europe behind in the race...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. As part of a series of reports examining ties between the two powers, Meredith Chen and Nora Mankel look at how China flipped the technology script with Europe. In 1978, as China was emerging from the ruins of the Cultural Revolution, Beijing sent a high-powered delegation on a whirlwind 36-day...

Why China’s global initiatives represent the reform...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

When the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session opened on September 23, the cavernous hall in New York was once again filled with the familiar spectacle: heads of state taking the rostrum, diplomats scribbling notes and the global press parsing every phrase. But this year’s theme – “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” – rang painfully hollow. As delegates extolled cooperation, the world outside the glass walls at Turtle Bay seemed...

India uses UN spotlight to call out developed nations...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

India accused developed nations of hypocrisy in global trade and their responses to global crises at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, a charge that followed faltering efforts to negotiate with Washington to remove tariffs tied to its purchases of Russian crude oil. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar used his speech in New York to warn against tariff volatility, technology controls, and supply-chain coercion, while urging the Global South to push back against...

Hong Kong’s Pink Dot to hold online concert after bid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

The latest edition of Hong Kong’s largest annual LGBTQ carnival will be held online after organisers were unable to secure a venue at the West Kowloon Cultural District. In a social media post on Saturday, organisers of Pink Dot HK 2025 said that this year’s event would be held as an online concert, with Cantopop stars Marife Yau Yin-tung, also known as Marf, from girl group Collar and On Chan as its ambassadors. “There may still be a storm, but our original intention remains. Love will

Trump orders US troops to Portland, ICE facilities to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will send troops to Portland, “authorising Full Force, if necessary” to handle “domestic terrorists” as he expands his deployments to more American cities. He made the announcement on social media, writing that he was directing the Department of Defence to “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland”. Trump said the decision was necessary to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, which he alleged are

South Korea cannot pay Trump’s US$350 billion trade...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

South Korea is unable to pay US$350 billion upfront in investment in the United States as President Donald Trump suggested under a deal to cut tariffs and is seeking an alternative solution, Seoul’s presidential adviser has said. Since a handshake deal by the allies’ leaders in July to lower US tariffs to 15 per cent from 25 per cent, as Trump earlier imposed, South Korea has said the US$350 billion in investment would be in the form of loans and loan guarantees as well as equity. Trump in...

Strong public backlash behind ongoing hold on Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

Hong Kong’s environment minister has said strong public opposition led to the continued suspension of the government’s long-delayed waste-charging scheme, but has stressed that the volume of rubbish being disposed of has fallen over the years. Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday defended the government’s decision to shelve the waste-charging scheme indefinitely. He said multiple surveys showed about 70 to 80 per cent of respondents thought the scheme should not be...

How China’s DF-5C nuclear ICBM became a counterforce...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/09/27

The end of this month’s military parade in Beijing – a time slot traditionally reserved for the People’s Liberation Army’s most lethal nuclear weapon – was marked by a formation of DF-5C missiles, the latest variant of China’s first-ever long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) DF-5 series. The PLA’s other latest ICBM systems include the DF-61 and DF-31BJ, as well as the DF-41 – known to be China’s latest ICBM version in service. The DF-61 and DF-31BJ were also first unveiled in

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