南華早報

13 children die after overloaded boat capsizes in India

Rescuers dragged 13 dead children out of India’s Ganges River after an overloaded boat capsized en route to a Hindu festival, officials said on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing grief over the “deeply painful” tragedy. The boat overturned late on Tuesday in Vaishali district in eastern Bihar state, with locals rushing to pull people out of the water in the dark using mobile phones to find the bodies. “It was dark when we suddenly heard children screaming and crying for help...

• #India
• #Marine safety
• #Narendra Modi

Chinese business visit to Kuril Islands will do nothing to…

A business delegation from northeastern China has visited a Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed island off Hokkaido to explore joint economic projects, a move that has prompted protests from Tokyo. Officials and business leaders from Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia’s far east, travelled to Etorofu – known to Russians as Iturup – to survey potential investment opportunities, according to the Sakhalin Oblast government, which oversees the island. Etorofu is the largest island in a...

• #China-Japan relations
• #China
• #Japan
• #Russia
• #Vladimir Putin

China’s EV makers face ‘do-or-die moment’ as EU places expo…

China’s electric vehicle (EV) makers have been hit with a double blow as both Beijing and Brussels introduce measures that will affect their exports, leading analysts to revise down their earnings forecasts for the industry. The twin measures – combined with a sales decline in China’s domestic market – could create a “do-or-die moment” for some of the country’s 50-odd EV makers, ramping up financial pressure on the companies, according to industry officials. On Friday, China and the European...

• #Electric & new energy vehicles
• #Automotive industry
• #China manufacturing
• #Future of transport
• #EVs: Companies
• #China

Malaysia’s Najib loses bid to suspend 15-year 1MDB sentence…

A Malaysian court on Wednesday rejected Najib Razak’s bid to suspend his 15-year jail sentence in the 1MDB scandal pending the jailed former prime minister’s appeals, ruling that his health and other grounds did not justify a stay. The decision means his sentence is set to begin after his current prison term ends in August 2028. Najib, 73, received a conditional royal pardon last month allowing him to serve that separate sentence in the SRC International case at home, but he must first pay a 50...

• #On
• #Malaysia

Opinion | In Hong Kong, accountability must be more than a…

When news broke last week that three newly completed housing blocks were to be demolished without ever having been occupied, I suffered an immediate attack of deja vu. In early 1974, I was in the first wave of recruits to the Operations Department of the newly established Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). As luck would have it, my first posting was to the team dealing with the old Public Works Department. That was my introduction to the wide world of corruption and shoddy work in...

• #Hong Kong
• #opinion

China chip exports jump 136% to US$45b as AI frenzy jacks u…

China’s integrated circuit (IC) exports surged 136 per cent year on year in September to US$45 billion, exceeding the 108 per cent growth rate in the first nine months of the year in a sign of the country’s rising influence in the global semiconductor supply chain. In September, China exported 32.7 billion units of ICs, according to customs data released on Wednesday, a 1 per cent year-on-year increase in volume. But higher prices fuelled the 136 per cent jump in value amid a memory chip...

• #Semiconductors
• #China
• #China technology
• #Artificial intelligence (AI)
• #China exports
• #Trade

Calls to improve Hong Kong public gyms with online briefing…

Hong Kong should make better use of its public gyms by allowing online safety briefings and penalising no-shows, an industry leader and a lawmaker have urged after the ombudsman identified management loopholes. The Office of the Ombudsman launched the inquiry into public gym management on Tuesday, noting that rigid mandatory training requirements combined with a severe shortage of places were creating significant barriers to public participation and leaving facilities underused. The watchdog...

• #Hong Kong

As US pursues mine deals, Xi warns African resources are no…

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that Africa’s resources should not be used as a tool for geopolitical rivalry, as the United States steps up efforts to secure critical minerals on a continent where Chinese companies have major mining interests. “Africa’s resources belong to Africa,” Xi told Botswana’s President Duma Boko in Beijing on Tuesday, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. He said it was a “historical injustice” that an unfair international division of labour had left the...

• #China-Africa relations
• #Botswana
• #Africa
• #Nigeria
• #United States
• #Namibia

San Tin tech hub operator pledges affordable land to attrac…

The operator of Hong Kong’s flagship San Tin Technopole has pledged to offer affordable land to attract tenants, while revealing plans to reclaim and redevelop fish ponds near the Shenzhen border to accommodate a client requiring substantial premises. Sunny Chai Ngai-chiu, chairman of San Tin Technopole Company Limited, the government-owned entity overseeing the technology cluster next to the mainland Chinese border, said on Wednesday that he would follow the land-grant approach used for the...

Domestic helper charged with murdering 93-year-old employer…

An Indonesian domestic helper in Hong Kong has been remanded in custody after being charged with killing her 93-year-old employer at the weekend. Kharsina, 52, was brought to the Kwun Tong Court on Wednesday to face a count of murder. Police arrested her in the early hours of Monday after her 93-year-old employer was found unresponsive in her flat at Long Yiu House in Kai Tak’s Tak Long Estate on Sunday. Paramedics rushed the elderly woman to hospital after administering emergency treatment at...

• #Long Yiu House
• #Kwun Tong Court
• #Indonesian domestic helper
• #Magistrate Eric Yao Kwok-sun
• #Wednesday
• #Tak Long Estate

Will South China Sea’s code of conduct remain elusive as de…

A long-awaited code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea risks becoming a toothless agreement, analysts have warned, as Beijing and Southeast Asian nations scramble to hammer out a deal by the end of 2026. More than three decades since it was mooted, the proposed pact has remained gridlocked over how to balance competing territorial claims among China and four rival claimant states – Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines. Maritime experts speaking at a conference in Kuala Lumpur this...

• #china
• #South China Sea
• #Code

‘I bathe, not to mention make-up’: Japan’s PM says busier t…

Japan’s prime minister said on Wednesday she probably spent “three or four more hours” than her male predecessors tackling household duties on top of her already packed daily schedule. “In the morning, I bathe, fix breakfast and then wash dishes, not to mention apply make-up,” Sanae Takaichi, elected last year as Japan’s first woman prime minister, told parliament. “I feel like I’m spending three or four more hours than male prime ministers doing these things.” A self-described workaholic,...

• #Japan
• #Sanae Takaichi
• #Britain
• #Germany

Complaints of nuisance behaviour on Hong Kong public transp…

Complaints about noisy and inconsiderate passengers on Hong Kong’s public transport have more than doubled over three years, with authorities recording a surge in reports of people playing loud music and putting their feet on seats. The Transport Department and Environmental Protection Department received 66 complaints about noise nuisance and improper or unhygienic behaviour in 2025, up from 31 in 2023, according to figures released by the government on Wednesday. “[Passengers] should be...

• #Hong Kong transport
• #Hong Kong
• #Hong Kong society
• #Mable Chan
• #China
• #MTR Corporation

China’s carmakers eye big sales, luxury model hits regulato…

We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China carmakers eye record 12 million global sales in 2026 as EV demand surges Chinese automotive groups have cause to celebrate their go-global strategy amid breakneck export growth in recent years, with deliveries in 2026 expected to beat expectations already buoyed by an...

• #SCMP Highlights
• #Electric & new energy vehicles
• #Paris
• #China
• #United States
• #France

Hopes for stock support rise in China ahead of top regulato…

Chinese investors are gearing up for a speech next week by the chief of the securities watchdog for clues on how Beijing will ramp up support for the country’s stock market after its latest efforts did little to bolster sentiment. Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is due to deliver a keynote speech at the Financial Street Forum in Beijing on Monday. Other top financial regulators including central bank governor Pan Gongsheng will also address the four-day...

• #Wu Qing
• #China stocks
• #CSRC
• #Li Xuewei
• #Pan Gongsheng
• #China Securities Finance

Who is Arthur Saint Bleick, son of troubled actress Selma B…

Selma Blair made headlines this week after she was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for allegedly assaulting two Delta Air Lines flight attendants. According to reports, the Legally Blonde actress punched and bit the flight crew members, and even tried to open the plane door mid-flight. Upon landing, the 54-year-old was taken into custody and transported to hospital, during which the actress allegedly attacked a police officer and a nurse. She has been charged with...

• #Fame and celebrity
• #Celebrity children
• #Celebrity Families
• #Hollywood
• #Get to Know
• #American cinema

China’s home-grown aircraft seen securing 5% world market s…

China’s chief civilian aircraft builder will command 5 per cent of the world’s fleet allocation by 2045 as global demand for narrowbody jets and the domestic order book look strong, an aviation analytics firm has forecast. Airbus would have 47 per cent of the passenger fleet allocation and Boeing 39 per cent, both leading state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), analytics firm Cirium forecast on Tuesday. It said Embraer would take 3 per cent and ATR 2 per cent. Comac has a...

• #China’s C919 passenger plane
• #Aviation
• #Airbus
• #China economy
• #Boeing
• #China

Abby Choi’s ex-mother-in-law urged delay in calling police…

The former mother-in-law of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung tried to prevent her family from reporting her disappearance to police by suggesting that they wait for her “kidnappers” to issue their demands, a court has heard. Choi’s partner, Chris Tam Fong-chun, told the High Court on Wednesday that Jenny Li Sui-heung had tried to paint the influencer’s disappearance as an abduction, saying he should delay calling police until after the perpetrators contacted him. “Li Sui-heung said...

• #Abby Choi - murder of a model
• #Hong Kong courts
• #Crime in Hong Kong
• #Hong Kong
• #Infamous Hong Kong Murders
• #Kwong Kau

China and North Korea to open border bridge after unexplain…

A bridge between China and North Korea that was completed 12 years ago will finally open on Thursday. The two countries will hold an opening ceremony to mark the official opening of the New Yalu River Bridge, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday morning. Last week, signs that the bridge would soon open were spotted, including vehicles crossing and traffic lights and bridge indicators being activated, according to South Korean newspaper The Chosun Daily. The bridge links the...

• #China-North Korea relations
• #China
• #North Korea
• #Russia
• #Kim Jong-un
• #Xi Jinping

Waller admits ‘it looks a tough ask’ to beat Ka Ying Rising…

Chris Waller concedes “it looks a tough ask” to beat Ka Ying Rising as Sydney’s leading trainer bids to dethrone the Hong Kong champion with a dual-pronged assault on Saturday’s Group One The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick. New Zealand-born Waller will saddle top sprinter Joliestar and Angel Capital in the A$20 million (HK$109.87 million) feature, but he rates Ka Ying Rising as clearly the horse to beat despite the prospect of an unsuitable wet track. A sensational winner of 21 consecutive races,...

• #IT

Russian strikes kill 6 in Ukraine, knocking out power acros…

Heavy overnight Russian strikes killed at least six people in Ukraine and cut power to large parts of the capital Kyiv, authorities said on Wednesday. The attacks on multiple regions came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had received no advance warning from Western allies before a Russian strike on a Kyiv power plant. Ukraine relies heavily on Western intelligence to detect incoming Russian attacks and help identify targets of its own, but renewed signs of strain with US President...

• #Ukraine war
• #Ukraine
• #Russia
• #Vladimir Putin
• #War and conflict
• #Volodymyr Zelensky

Small acts, shared dreams: students find purpose in helping…

About 300 Hong Kong students applied this year for roughly 30 places on an overseas programme to help children in need, up from about 50 applicants last year. Dream Compassioneers co-founder Chan Yik-yeung said the response also showed what students could achieve when trusted with responsibility. Founded in 2020, the organisation runs local and overseas service programmes and is a member of the International Association for Volunteer Effort. Its recent projects have taken volunteers to Cambodia,...

• #Hong Kong society
• #Spirit of Hong Kong
• #Spirit of Hong Kong Awards
• #Cambodia
• #The Philippines
• #Nepal

Hong Kong bus operators seek fare hikes of up to 17.7% amid…

Four Hong Kong franchised bus operators have applied to raise fares by up to 17.7 per cent, citing “significant financial pressure” from soaring fuel prices driven by the Middle East conflict. Citybus has sought the steepest increase, at 17.7 per cent, followed by the KMB Company at 16 per cent. Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus have applied for rises of 8.1 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively, according to a paper the Transport and Logistics Bureau submitted to the Legislative Council on...

• #fare increase
• #Citybus
• #KMB
• #fuel prices
• #Long Win Bus
• #Mable Chan

South Korean FA condemns ‘personal attacks’ of players as a…

South Korea’s football association has told fans to stop “excessive personal attacks”, warning of the “psychological burden” they could inflict on national team players in the crosshairs since their World Cup flop. Hong Myung-bo quit as coach after the team failed to advance past the group stage in North America, and Spanish interim manager Robert Moreno is awaiting word on a possible extension. With the Asian Cup scheduled to take place in January in Saudi Arabia, the national side are engulfed...

• #South Korea
• #Son Heung-min

Asia must guard against repeat of 1997 crisis: Philippine c…

Asian countries must remind themselves about what happened during the region’s financial crisis in the late 1990s and guard against a recurrence of such shocks, the head of the Philippine central bank said ‌on Wednesday. Before the Asian financial crisis started in 1997, regional economies saw huge capital inflows that prompted the World Bank to describe it as the “East Asian miracle”, Eli Remolona, governor of the central bank, said in an International Monetary Fund panel on the outlook for the...

• #Bangkok
• #US
• #Krishna Srinivasan
• #China
• #Asian financial crisis
• #World Bank

Hong Kong exchange won’t rush into T+1 settlement times, so…

Participants in Hong Kong’s stock market may need to wait longer for shorter transaction settlement times, as market participants want more time to prepare for the change, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) said in a consultation paper in April that it aimed to implement a so-called T+1 system – under which trades would be settled one day after transactions – in the fourth quarter of 2027, replacing the existing T+2...

• #Hong Kong stock market
• #HKEX
• #Banking & finance
• #Stocks
• #Bonnie Chan
• #Hong Kong

China tests a Dune-like iron-harvesting crawler robot in th…

Chinese researchers have built a self-propelled crawler robot that harvests iron from sand and tested the device in the dunes of the vast Taklamakan Desert – an area the size of Germany – in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. In Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune, mobile factories traverse the sands of the fictional planet Arrakis to extract the drug melange, also known as “spice”. The real-world device similarly travels across the desert, extracting valuable...

• #Science
• #China

Submerged to save Bangkok: rural Thais bear brunt of capita…

Stilt houses in villages north of Bangkok are no longer high enough to stay dry as Thai authorities deliberately flood riverside communities to spare the capital. Inside the home of Kamonchanok Sathaphonamonwut, raised more than three metres (10 feet) above the ground in Ayutthaya province, her family of three sleeps on makeshift platforms and cannot use the waterlogged toilet. Her village has been flooded six years in a row, pushing some to move away, while others have raised their houses...

• #Thailand
• #Bangkok
• #Extreme weather
• #Natural disasters
• #Climate change
• #Environment

13 years in prison for care home warden who raped intellect…

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a former assistant warden at a care home for people with intellectual disabilities to 13 years in prison for raping a female resident five times, with the judge condemning the assaults as “extremely despicable”. High Court Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong on Wednesday sentenced Chung Pui-kei, 38, who was found guilty of five counts of raping the 23-year-old resident at Hong Chi Pinehill Integrated Vocational Training Centre Kwong Fuk Hostel in Tai Po. “The defendant’s...

• #Hong Kong courts
• #Crime
• #Hong Kong
• #Sexual harassment and assault
• #Crime in Hong Kong
• #China

Global deforestation fell in 2025, but Congo Basin losses s…

Deforestation slowed worldwide last year, but the improvement is unlikely to last as the situation deteriorates in Central Africa and an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern intensifies, a new study said on Wednesday. Seven million hectares of forest – roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland – were permanently destroyed in 2025, a 15 per cent drop from the previous year, according to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment. The slowdown, however, is not enough to keep the world from...

• #Central Africa
• #Congo Basin
• #Amazon
• #deforestation
• #Jair Bolsonaro
• #Colombia

Tai Fung Lau at 65: a taste of history at the Hong Kong res…

Ask any regular at Tai Fung Lau Peking Restaurant in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district what keeps them coming back, and they are likely to mention its down-to-earth dishes, generous portions and value for money. This year, as the restaurant marked its 65th anniversary, second-generation owner Steve Wan remains committed to preserving both the hearty portions and the flavours of his father’s kitchen. That determination begins with a subtle distinction that diners might not notice until Wan...

• #Food and Drinks
• #Hong Kong
• #Hong Kong culture
• #Chinese cuisine
• #Bruce Lee
• #Jackie Chan

Spotlight on Hong Kong as APEC finance ministers gather to…

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong will be able to flex its growing strength and influence as a major international financial centre when the city stages the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2026 Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) for the first time, from October 20 to 21. For the city’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, it is an opportunity to “showcase Hong Kong’s comprehensive development in the economic, financial and social...

• #South China Morning Post
• #News
• #Opinion
• #China
• #Hong Kong
• #World

Sluggish Chinese demand weighs on LVMH, amid Louis Vuitton’…

The world’s largest luxury group LVMH said Asia, excluding Japan, was the only region to suffer falling sales in the third quarter ending September and the biggest drag was a mid-teens slowdown in Chinese demand, amid a less buoyant macroeconomic environment. The Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bvlgari and Fendi’s parent group said Asia took a hit from a sharp macro-led deterioration in Chinese consumer sentiment, with tangible impact on discretionary expenses, the group said during an earnings call...

• #China consumption
• #LVMH
• #Japan
• #China
• #United States
• #Louis Vuitton

Chinese team finds 11,700 new viruses in world’s biggest se…

Up to 6,000 metres (19,700 feet) beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, billions of potato-shaped metallic nodules are scattered across the seabed. The Clarion-Clipperton zone’s reserves of vital metals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese could surpass the total known reserves on land, according to some estimates. While no commercial mining has yet taken place on the underwater plain, the International Seabed Authority has issued 17 exploration contracts for the...

• #Science
• #Mexico
• #United States
• #China

Unexpected path, lasting impact: hearing loss setback leads…

Hearing loss made it difficult for Ivan Fung Wing-hong to find work in Hong Kong’s construction industry after graduation. Nearly three decades later, that early setback has led to a teaching career spanning young children, postgraduate students and elderly people. Born with a hearing impairment, Fung struggled with language subjects at school because he could not always hear clearly. He was stronger in maths and art, which eventually led him to study building-related subjects at what was then...

• #Hong Kong society
• #Spirit of Hong Kong
• #Spirit of Hong Kong Awards
• #Hong Kong
• #China
• #City University of Hong Kong

Young Malaysians’ US$1.3bn short-term credit spree sparks d…

Malaysians aged 30 and below bought some 5.4 billion ringgit (US$1.32 billion) worth of goods and services on short-term credit in the first half of this year, the country’s Finance Ministry has revealed. The ministry said it had recorded 65.9 million “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) purchases among younger consumers in the first six months of 2026 – equivalent to more than one in three, or 37.9 per cent, of total purchases nationwide. As of June 30, the outstanding BNPL financing balance among this...

• #Kuala Nerus
• #Ipoh Timur
• #Malaysia's
• #Consumer Credit Commission
• #BNPL
• #Consumer Credit Act

Letters | Mind Hong Kong’s dorm boom today doesn’t become t…

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. Hong Kong has become a sought-after regional education hub, drawing mainland and foreign students to its universities. Rising international enrolment has intensified demand for student housing, with on-campus places insufficient and rents near university districts buoyant. Some...

• #Hong Kong property
• #Hong Kong economy
• #Education in Hong Kong
• #Hong Kong housing
• #Hong Kong

Developing | China’s exports surge more than 36% in Septemb…

China’s trade momentum gained pace in September, driven by strong global tech demand and a pre-holiday shipping rush ahead of the “golden week” break. Outbound shipments rose 36.3 per cent year on year to US$447.18 billion last month, customs data showed on Wednesday. The figure exceeded a forecast of 25.7 per cent growth from economists polled by financial data provider Wind, and was higher than the previous figure of 25 per cent in August. China also saw imports grow by 31 per cent in...

• #China exports
• #China
• #European Union
• #United States
• #Donald Trump
• #Xi Jinping

What will it take for AI-powered purchases to become the no…

Anyone who has spent time on the internet researching goods and doing lengthy price comparisons will be intrigued by developments in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for agentic commerce. This new form of online shopping involves AI-powered agents – autonomous software systems that use reasoning, memory and external tools to complete multi-step tasks across different sites and platforms on their own. They can carry out each stage of the buying process, from the initial search to comparing...

• #South China Morning Post
• #News
• #Opinion
• #China
• #Hong Kong
• #World

Singaporean grandma, 73, couldn’t walk without pain. Now, s…

When 73-year-old Rosemina Hamzah stepped up to the hex bar at Singapore’s Mbold Seniors Hex Bar Deadlift Challenge in August, she was not just attempting her first deadlift competition ­– she was rewriting what ageing looks like. Latching onto 67.5kg (149lbs), more than her own body weight of 64kg, the novice lifter pulled it with ease – a personal best to win her category. It was a remarkable feat for a woman who, just over a year ago, could hardly walk and was constantly in pain. Before August...

• #Wellness
• #How to age well
• #Health & Fitness
• #Ageing society
• #Singapore
• #Hyrox

Indonesia’s Bali hit by fuel crisis as huge queues form at…

Motorists have been left queuing for hours at petrol stations across Indonesia’s resort island of Bali in recent days amid reports of a crippling fuel shortage. Long queues have been spotted all around the island, including in the capital Denpasar, Badung and Tabana, according to the Bali Post. On Tuesday, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster stressed that there was enough fuel to go around, suggesting that panic buying might have caused the shortages at the pumps. “People need to be patient because the...

• #Indonesia
• #Energy
• #US-Israel war on Iran
• #Iran
• #Australia
• #United States

Style Edit: Shiatzy Chen rethinks florals beyond the obviou…

Florals don’t have to mean full bloom. For spring/summer 2027, Shiatzy Chen takes the orchid but looks beyond its purely decorative appeal to the proportions, movement and resilience of the plant. Presented at Paris Fashion Week on October 5, the new collection translates that botanical inspiration into a thoughtful line-up where fluidity and structure come together. The season forms part of the house’s year-long exploration of the Four Gentlemen of Eastern culture. Following on from the Resort...

• #Style Edit
• #Fashion
• #Paris Fashion Week
• #Luxury brands
• #Paris
• #France

China’s factory-gate prices rise faster, but consumer infla…

Growth in Chinese factory-gate prices continued to accelerate last month, while consumer price growth remained subdued despite Beijing’s efforts to shore up domestic demand and support the economy in meeting its annual growth target. The producer price index (PPI) rose 5 per cent year on year in September, the highest rate since mid-2022, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. It rose by 3.8 per cent in August. The reading beat a projection of 4.3 per cent...

• #China
• #factory-gate prices
• #inflation
• #August
• #interest rate cuts
• #energy prices

Atzeni looking to continue early-season momentum with sever…

It has been a busy start to the season for Andrea Atzeni and he is looking to continue some strong early momentum with the likes of Wukong Jewellery, Californiatotality and Red Brick Warrior at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. The Sardinian has ridden seven winners so far this season from 84 rides, the same number of mounts as champion jockey Zac Purton, and he is grateful for the support as looks to consolidate last season’s career-best tally of 63 winners. “The support is coming in and has...

• #Season

Why the IMF is worried about a global debt squeeze as bond…

Rising sovereign debt and borrowing costs have prompted a fresh warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about risks to the fiscal health of member countries, with 24-year highs in US Treasury yields expected to become one of the focal topics for central bankers and finance ministers gathering in Bangkok this week. The average yield on 10-year government bonds across the Group of Seven economies increased by more than 1 percentage point between February and September this year,...

• #fiscal pressures
• #Era Dabla-Norris
• #Rodrigo Valdes
• #US
• #debt
• #emerging markets

China ‘robot trainers’ earn up to US$900 a month performing…

Across China, a new breed of freelance “robot trainers” are wearing motion-capture gear to turn everyday household chores – picking up cups, opening bottle caps and washing dishes – into data that will teach tomorrow’s machines. The data is later converted into training sets to help robots work in settings ranging from kitchens and factories to supermarkets. Such roles are increasingly advertised on mainland social media and job platforms. They reportedly pay trainers between 4,000 yuan and...

• #Trending in China
• #Artificial intelligence (AI)

Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: mental health advocate who save…

Hongkongers can be struggling with severe mental health problems but still not be considered urgent cases, according to mental health advocate Minal Mahtani, who wants community groups to play a bigger role before individual cases reach crisis point. Mahtani, founder of OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong, said better referrals between hospitals, community mental health services and specialist charities could help people receive timely support while they wait for formal treatment. Her work has...

• #Hong Kong society
• #Spirit of Hong Kong
• #Spirit of Hong Kong Awards
• #Hong Kong

Police in Germany seize robot after teen girl is allegedly…

German authorities opened an investigation into possible sexual harassment after a robot controlled by two young men touched the buttocks of a 16-year-old girl and made thrusting movements toward her, police said. Police in the western city of Cologne responded after the incident overnight Saturday to Sunday in which the robot’s suspected 16-year-old owner and a 19-year-old companion were said to have filmed the alleged assault. They were said to have streamed the incident and commentated on it...

• #Germany
• #Sexual harassment and assault
• #Robotics

Helper’s arrest over elderly woman’s death sparks calls for…

The arrest of a domestic helper over the suspected murder of an elderly woman in Hong Kong has prompted calls to include carers who look after isolated seniors in a government database to strengthen support and monitoring. While stressing that physical abuse was unacceptable, social welfare observers and a migrant workers’ group said domestic helpers often shouldered most of the caregiving burden and needed adequate rest and support, especially as the government promoted “ageing in place” amid a...

• #death

Opinion | Does Hong Kong’s economy serve the people or prof…

China has lifted nearly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, arguably the greatest achievement in poverty reduction in human history. Even so, no mainland Chinese economist has won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Across the Pacific, the United States has produced about 75 per cent of Nobel economics laureates, even as its economy staggers under mounting public debt, chronic fiscal deficits, and recurring financial crises and government shutdowns. Of the 99 economics laureates ever...

• #Hong Kong economy
• #Hong Kong housing
• #Hong Kong
• #China

Aramco facility hit as Houthis and Saudi coalition exchange…

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that an attack on an Aramco building in the kingdom’s east sparked a “limited fire” and that debris from intercepted Houthi missiles wounded four people in the capital Riyadh. It came hours after the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis said it had intercepted several missiles on Tuesday evening, including over Riyadh. A Saudi energy ministry official said an administrative building belonging to oil giant Aramco in Dhahran was struck on Tuesday evening,...

• #Riyadh
• #Dammam
• #Saada
• #Mohammed bin Salman
• #Red Sea
• #France

Hong Kong MTR trains skip Lam Tin station after smoke repor…

MTR Corporation trains on the Kwun Tong line are skipping Lam Tin station after equipment on a platform emitted smoke on Wednesday morning. The railway operator said it was providing free shuttle buses to Yau Tong, while KMB said it would increase services on routes 600, 601, 619 and 690, which link Kwun Tong district with Hong Kong Island. This was the second service disruption on the Kwun Tong line in around 15 hours. A trackside fire near Lam Tin station on Tuesday night halted train...

• #Hong Kong transport
• #MTR Corporation
• #Hong Kong
• #KMB

2 Taiwanese executives arrested over mainland components in…

Two Taiwanese executives have been arrested for allegedly using mainland Chinese-made components in drones supplied to the island’s military. It is the second time in two months that a Taiwanese drone supplier has been investigated by the island’s authorities over the alleged use of prohibited mainland components. The case has intensified opposition scrutiny of the government’s efforts to build a “drone team” based on a “non-red” supply chain that excludes components and technology from mainland...

• #Taiwan
• #China
• #Lin Ying-yu
• #Huang Kuo-chang
• #Tamkang University

In Focus | Why did Hong Kong’s 11 Skies fail and can the me…

The roar of plane engines and the hustle and bustle at Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 2 present a stark contrast to the pin-drop silence at the adjacent 11 Skies commercial complex. A South China Morning Post reporter who travelled between the two places in early October found minimal footfall at the shopping centre, with the bright and airy environment of the airport terminal replaced by dim, stuffy and boarded-up corridors, and poor air conditioning amid the simmering outdoor...

• #Hong Kong
• #In Focus

How food and family inspire designer Steve Leung’s signatur…

One of Hong Kong’s most prominent architects and interior designers, Steve Leung has been in the business for four decades and counting. In 1997, Leung restructured his architecture business and established two firms: Steve Leung Architects and Steve Leung Designers. Leung’s business has since grown to include brands like Steve Leung Hospitality, and he is now best known for both interior design and being an avid restaurateur. Ask any Hong Kong resident and they’ve probably, perhaps unknowingly,...

• #Architecture and design
• #Hong Kong
• #Fame and celebrity
• #Japan
• #Hong Kong culture
• #Lamma Island

Tenant ‘FOMO’ is driving leases at US$8 billion Central Yar…

Henderson Land Development is banking on demand for premium offices to support its HK$63 billion (US$8.03 billion) Central Yards project, as tenants gravitate towards top-tier buildings even while much of Hong Kong’s office market remains weak. Jane Street’s decision last year to take about 70 per cent of the office space in the first phase of the project has helped draw interest from other potential tenants, according to Tom Andrews, director and head of leasing and operations at Central Site 3...

• #Hong Kong property
• #Hong Kong
• #Banking & finance
• #Henderson Land
• #Office rental
• #Property investment

Hong Kong star jockey Vincent Ho’s fightback from brain inj…

Explaining his aversion to socialising, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu was suitably succinct. “When I have to talk, it’s a lot of effort,” he told the South China Morning Post. “Harder than riding a horse, for sure.” It is logical that one of Hong Kong’s greatest jockeys feels most contented on horseback. When Ho begins speaking, though, the personal takes and tales roll off his tongue. He relives the day in New Zealand that he “felt completely dead” after riding 39 horses, explains how he bounced back...

• #Hong Kong
• #WORLD
• #HO

US fines Bank of America US$1.2 billion for alleged money l…

The US Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it was imposing US$1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history. “When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money-laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks,”...

• #US
• #money

Why younger Japanese now fear Trump’s America more than Chi…

A growing number of Japanese regard the United States as the greatest threat to world peace ahead of traditional rival China, according to a new survey. The annual poll, released by the Japan Press Research Institute on Saturday, found 26.8 per cent of respondents named the US as the biggest threat to global peace. That was up 9.3 percentage points on last year and far above the 6.6 per cent recorded in 2024. Russia came top of the list in 2025 but slipped to third place this year, with 18.3 per...

• #Japan
• #United States
• #Iran
• #North Korea
• #Russia
• #China

Hong Kong completes pilot schemes to green products with ma…

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has completed the first cross-border trading of green products under two pilot programmes with mainland exchanges in Guangzhou and Shenzhen separately, according to an executive. The exchange’s Core Climate platform has enabled 15 companies, including Airport Authority, China Power International Development, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and others, to purchase Green Electricity Certificates (GECs) through the Guangzhou Power Exchange Centre with a total...

• #Banking & finance
• #Green finance
• #Hong Kong
• #Greater Bay Area
• #China
• #Guangzhou