HKMA maintains base rate at 4% as US Fed keeps rate unchanged
Hong Kong’s monetary authority has maintained its base rate following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its key rate unchanged. The city’s base rate was kept at 4 per cent by the Hong Kong Mon...
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‘She killed the kids!’ Police call from Lindsay Clancy’s husband brings tears to courtroom
Lindsay Clancy sobbed in court on Wednesday as jurors listened to the anguished emergency call her then-husband made after returning from an errand to find she had strangled their three children in th...
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How Trump’s call for Asia-Pacific allies to raise defence spending may backfire on US
Donald Trump’s demands that American allies in the Asia-Pacific region share more of the defensive burden have renewed questions about how far they can rely on the United States to help deter the like...
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Trump unveils US$22 billion plan to remake Washington Dulles airport
US President Donald Trump unveiled a US$22 billion plan on Wednesday to rebuild Washington Dulles airport by replacing concourses and adding a large parking garage while preserving the landmark main t...
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Brazil becomes world’s top buyer of Chinese cars as imports jump 147%
Brazil overtook Russia and Belgium in the first five months of this year to become the world’s largest importer of Chinese cars, buying US$5.2 billion worth of vehicles as brands raced to land shipmen...
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Hadi Matar convicted in terrorism trial over Salman Rushdie stabbing
A man was convicted on Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel The Satanic Verses. A jury foun...
2h ago
In an era defined by AI, can work still be measured by the clock?
Hwaseong, South Korea, past midnight. An engineer watches a defect pattern surface on her screen – the kind that, caught now, saves a week of wafers. She is locked in, fully absorbed, the way engineer...
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Can China’s EV boom give it decisive edge in geopolitical tech war?
China may increasingly seek to use its dominance in the global electric vehicle industry as geopolitical leverage, giving Beijing greater influence over countries dependent on its technology and suppl...
3h ago
BTS pulls out of Grammys after Asian pop category introduction
Global K-pop sensation BTS said on Wednesday they will not submit their music for next year’s Grammy Awards, following the Recording Academy’s introduction of new categories that include the Best Asia...
4h ago
Jared Leto accused of sex assault by 4 women
Four women have accused Jared Leto of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, to which the actor and musician responded Wednesday that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone”. “I have never sexua...
5h ago
US Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady despite Warsh’s inflation vow
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, a choice that may intensify questions about how US central bank chief Kevin Warsh will deliver on his commitment to bring inflation back do...
6h ago
Tai Po fire: contractor’s 2 directors deny all allegations in witness statements
Two directors of a contractor linked to the deadly inferno at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court have denied all allegations of bid-rigging, corruption and collusion with consultants, with one saying he was n...
7h ago
US sanctions Chinese, Hong Kong shipping firms over Iranian oil deliveries
The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong shipping companies accused of operating vessels that transported Iranian oil to China, extending Washington’s econom...
8h ago
Fauci refuses to answer questions at heated Senate hearing on Covid-19 origins
Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination at a contentious US Senate hearing on Wednesday, refusing to answer questions about American funding for coronaviru...
8h ago
AI major focus as Hong Kong funds record 12 university research projects
Hong Kong’s main public research funding body for universities has approved a record 12 projects worth about HK$478 million in its latest financing round, with artificial intelligence featuring in mor...
8h ago
UK’s PM Burnham vows to fix Britain’s ‘unfair’ adult care system
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged on Wednesday to take difficult decisions to overhaul England’s adult social care system, saying he wanted to work with other parties to end unfair high cost...
9h ago
Drills to start as Hong Kong targets September launch of revamped border crossing
Hong Kong is gearing up for a September launch of its revamped Huanggang Port border crossing, with drills set to begin next month under the new “joint inspection” model, the South China Morning Post...
9h ago
Is China’s biotech boom at risk? Fear of policy backlash after death in gene-editing trial
The death of a six-year-old girl after receiving an experimental gene-editing therapy has been described by scientists as a tragedy that highlights the need to improve trial safeguards. But some in th...
9h ago
India seeks new anti-AI deepfake law to counter ‘weapons of mass distortion’
India is planning a new law to combat AI deepfakes and impersonation scams amid a surge in cyber fraud and fake videos targeting top military officers. The cases have deepened concerns over the potent...
9h ago
Hong Kong raises alert on AI voices as 150 WhatsApp hijackings lead to HK$26m losses
Hong Kong police have recorded 150 WhatsApp account hijacking cases in the past two weeks, with total losses exceeding HK$26 million (US$3.31 million), including one in which a victim was scammed out...
10h ago
Scalpers snap up local paper after profile on Fields winner Wang Hong goes viral
Copies of the official paper of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China are not usually a hot commodity. But the Saturday edition of Guangxi Daily became an over...
10h ago
Famed French DJ Kavinsky found dead in Paris
French DJ and musician Kavinsky, known for his electronic classic “Nightcall”, has been found dead at his home in Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The self-taught pianist, whose real name is Vinc...
10h ago
15 elephants die from suspected poisoning in Kenyan park
At least 15 elephants have died from exposure to a suspected poison in the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya over a four-week period, the country’s nature conservation authorities reported on W...
10h ago
Can the US fend off China’s subsea drones? Its coastguard looks for answers
As the Chinese military expands its autonomous underwater capabilities, the US Coast Guard is seeking new ways to counter undersea drones, highlighting what analysts describe as a gap in America’s def...
10h ago
Norwegian teen found guilty in UK murder plot tied to Iran-linked group
A Norwegian teenager was convicted on Wednesday of conspiracy to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group that prosecutors said was being used by the Irania...
10h ago
France battles wildfire 4 times the size of Paris
Firefighters in southwest France battled an uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), threateni...
11h ago
Philippine defence chief warns Chinese teaching exchanges pose grey-zone threat
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr has urged greater vigilance over academic exchange programmes with China following reports that language teachers in Manila had been trained by a Chin...
11h ago
What will the US foreign robot ban mean for China’s world-leading start-ups?
China’s robotics firms have run into a fresh obstacle in their global expansion, after the United States banned imports of new foreign-made models. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added fo...
11h ago
Can the gigacities of tomorrow keep human connection alive?
Over the past few decades, people in many countries have witnessed extraordinary technological progress. Transport is becoming smarter, robots and drones are entering everyday life, infrastructure is...
11h ago
Chinese satellite imagery analysis challenges US-Iran war claims
Chinese scientists have used detailed satellite imagery analysis to examine damage to US military bases in the Middle East, uncovering discrepancies in both Washington and Tehran’s claims over the sca...
12h ago
Google makes Gemini Spark AI agent available to Hongkongers as it lowers geofences
Google on Wednesday launched its artificial intelligence agent Gemini Spark in the Hong Kong market, giving local users direct access to a smart assistant to manage complex digital workflows. The laun...
12h ago
Malaysia clamps down on social media-fuelled hiking risks
Malaysia is tightening controls on high-risk hiking routes after officials linked a growing rescue burden to poor preparation, unauthorised trails and social media-driven summit attempts. The push is...
12h ago
80% of mainland Chinese firms eye Hong Kong as launch pad for Asean expansion
More than 90 per cent of mainland Chinese enterprises plan to expand overseas within the next two years, with over 80 per cent aiming to use Hong Kong as their launch pad into Southeast Asia, a survey...
12h ago
Inside America’s US$1.5 billion play for Southeast Asian energy
The United States is pitching billions of dollars in investment to become Southeast Asia’s energy partner of choice, offering gas, grid technology and nuclear expertise as ongoing turmoil from the Ira...
12h ago
The CXMT shock: how China’s viable alternatives punch Nvidia, Micron, SK Hynix shares
China’s increasing clout in the global semiconductor supply chain is accelerating the unravelling of the artificial-intelligence trade, as expectations grow that the Asian nation will challenge foreig...
12h ago
China’s drone-farming boom eyes emerging markets as agriculture automation spreads
To offset an ageing agricultural workforce and boost sustainable yields, China is aggressively accelerating the adoption of farm drones – a trend that analysts say could spread to more emerging market...
12h ago
Trees felled during Typhoon Noul raise safety concerns in Hong Kong
The uprooting of numerous trees across Hong Kong during Typhoon Noul last weekend has sparked safety concerns among residents, with an expert warning that restrictive planting methods had left some un...
13h ago
China’s Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan in final tests with drone catapult
Chinese state media has shown the country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, computer-generated footage of how it launches GJ-21 stealth fighter drones and quotes from a military c...
13h ago
Limited dual citizenship gives Indonesian diaspora hope of return, better future
Indonesia’s attempt to lure back its native talent scattered around the world through limited dual citizenship has highlighted a long-held demand of the diaspora for such a scheme before they would co...
13h ago
Former Hong Kong school teacher guilty of molesting student
A former Hong Kong school teacher has been remanded in custody pending sentencing for twice molesting a student six years ago. A District Court judge sitting at Tsuen Wan Court found Cheng Hon-sze gui...
13h ago
Debt honoured: China repays family who lent entire 850-kg grain supply to wartime army in 1947
A wartime grain loan certificate discovered within an old family home in eastern China has been donated to local authorities nearly eight decades later, illuminating a villager’s remarkable faith in t...
13h ago
Why has the China-US profit gap widened on the Fortune Global 500?
China’s unaddressed economic structural problems are swallowing profits and leaving its multinationals falling far behind their US peers in the latest Fortune Global 500 list, despite its firms remain...
13h ago
Authorities arrest 14 in crackdown on unlicensed hawkers, seize 600kg of food
Hong Kong’s hygiene authorities have arrested 14 people during a citywide crackdown on unlicensed hawkers and seized 600kg (1,320lbs) of food, some of which was expired. Food and Environmental Hygiene...
13h ago
China’s hi-tech boom pushes firms to boost pay in 2027 as keeping talent a priority
Employers in China anticipate a slightly higher median salary increase next year as they push to retain top-tier talent despite financial pressures following a soft 2026, according to data published b...
14h ago
Chinese AI start-up Moonshot seeks influential ambassadors to widen Kimi’s global reach
China’s Moonshot AI, whose recently released Kimi K3 model stunned with performance close to American frontier systems, is seeking ambassadors to elevate its global influence. The Beijing-based start-...
14h ago
‘Practical’ young Africans leaning towards China over US and away from ideology
China has overtaken the United States in terms of positive perceptions among young Africans, though Washington is still seen as more influential than Beijing, according to a survey published on Wednes...
14h ago
Why is Zhongji unveiling US$1.2 billion in buy-backs before its Hong Kong debut?
Zhongji Innolight’s buy-back plan – worth as much as 8 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in the run-up to its offshore listing in Hong Kong – may give global investors an anchor for pricing, as the Chines...
14h ago
How South Korea can ease Brazilian concerns to unlock trade in South America
If South Korea wants to unlock access to South American trade, it will need to prove it is not a competitor interested only in extracting natural resources but a trustworthy partner committed to revit...
15h ago
China should lean into its defining AI advantage – accessibility
China’s emerging advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) is not that it already has the world’s best chips or strongest frontier models. It is that Chinese companies are increasingly providing capab...
15h ago
Advanced technologies now account for 1 in 6 valid invention patents in China
Advanced technologies now account for around one in every six valid invention patents in China, according to official data. By the end of last month, valid invention patents in fields such as artifici...