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New Delhi building collapse kills 3, traps dozens
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New Delhi building collapse kills 3, traps dozens

A building collapse in the Indian capital New Delhi killed at least three people on Sunday, local media reports said, as authorities worked to rescue those trapped in the rubble. The building, housing mostly students, came crashing down about midday in the southwestern Satya Niketan area of the city, with police and disaster response personnel cautiously lifting the rubble using heavy machinery. T...

New Delhi building collapse kills 1, traps others
SCMP •

New Delhi building collapse kills 1, traps others

A building collapsed in New Delhi on Sunday, killing at least one person and trapping several others, officials said. The five-storey building, which housed a boys’ hostel, collapsed in Satya Niketan, a densely populated neighbourhood known for its private student accommodation near a Delhi University campus. Authorities did not immediately say how many people remained trapped, but the Press Trust...

Punching above their weight: how China’s AI giants stretch each dollar in compute race
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Punching above their weight: how China’s AI giants stretch each dollar in compute race

The massive gap in artificial intelligence spending between US and Chinese tech titans may not buy the advantage expected for American giants, as lower domestic costs and heavy state support allow Chinese firms to secure far more computing power per dollar, according to a new report by Moody’s Ratings. While US hyperscalers outspent their Chinese counterparts by a staggering margin, the physical g...

‘A victim’: American Bully dies in surgery, owners question fighting dog rules
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‘A victim’: American Bully dies in surgery, owners question fighting dog rules

The owners of an American Bully are challenging the authorities’ classification of “fighting dogs” after their pet, a breed strictly controlled in Hong Kong, died during neutering, a procedure they undertook amid a crackdown on non-compliance. Monchiu, a female, died under anaesthesia during the operation at a veterinary clinic on Friday, her owners said on social media late on Saturday. They said...

Dangling airport display back on after extra cables added, motion disabled

Dangling airport display back on after extra cables added, motion disabled

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A dangling digital art installation at Hong Kong’s airport has resumed operation after technicians added extra support cables and disabled its motion system. The Airport Authority said on Sunday that inspections confirmed the five electronic displays suspended in Terminal 2 met safety standards and were cleared to restart showing content. Additional cables had been installed to secure the screens ...

Germany plans anti-sabotage shield after airport drone attack

Germany plans anti-sabotage shield after airport drone attack

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Germany is planning a broad package of measures to strengthen its defences against drone attacks, cyber intrusions and other forms of Russian sabotage after a failed airport drone attack ‌last month, an interior ministry spokesperson said on Sunday. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which first reported the plans, that Russia’s hybrid attacks had become a par...

Why China is being urged to study Ukraine’s wartime PR blitz in the AI age

Why China is being urged to study Ukraine’s wartime PR blitz in the AI age

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China has been urged to draw on the lessons from Ukraine’s communications as it looks at new forms of wartime messaging. A recent study concluded that in the complex modern information environment, possessing advanced technology was not enough because success would depend on “weaving” together the information strategy and military operations. It said such campaigns should try to shatter the advers...

Man arrested over flag-day scam targeting animal charity donations

Man arrested over flag-day scam targeting animal charity donations

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Hong Kong police have arrested a man in connection with a scam in which at least 14 people were hired to “sell flags” for an animal concern group after they were spotted carrying fake donation bags and mixing with registered volunteers to collect money from passers-by. The rare street scam came to light during the group’s flag day on Saturday, a Social Welfare Department-approved fundraising initi...

Man arrested over fake flag-day scam targeting animal charity donations

Man arrested over fake flag-day scam targeting animal charity donations

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Hong Kong police have arrested a man in connection with a scam in which at least 14 people were hired to “sell flags” for an animal concern group after they were spotted carrying fake donation bags and mixing with registered volunteers to collect money from passers-by. The rare street scam came to light during the group’s flag day on Saturday, a Social Welfare Department-approved fundraising initi...

Curiosity beats perfect statements, UK elite universities tell Hong Kong students

Curiosity beats perfect statements, UK elite universities tell Hong Kong students

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Elite British universities are prioritising authentic curiosity and academic resilience over rigid test prep and “perfect personal statements”, top admissions officials have told an education summit in Hong Kong. Representatives from the “golden triangle”, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and King’s College London, spoke on day two of the Global Education Summit, co-...

Zelensky warns Ukraine war is likely to continue into winter after US talks

Zelensky warns Ukraine war is likely to continue into winter after US talks

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War with Russia “at the moment” looked likely to continue into winter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, after talks with US envoys visiting Kyiv. US envoy Steve Witkoff and Zelensky both gave upbeat assessments of the talks but neither announced any breakthroughs on ending the war with Russia. Witkoff, who is US President Donald Trump’s business ally, and Jared Kushner, Trump...

US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Kyiv after talks with Putin in Moscow

US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Kyiv after talks with Putin in Moscow

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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday in their first official visit to Ukraine as part of a renewed push for peace after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their trip follows a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, seeking to revive peace talks during escalating aerial attacks by both sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky s...

US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Kyiv after talks to Putin in Moscow

US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Kyiv after talks to Putin in Moscow

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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday in their first official visit to Ukraine as part of a renewed push for peace after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their trip follows a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, seeking to revive peace talks during escalating aerial attacks by both sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky s...

China will never allow any country in this world to achieve AI dominance: Victor Gao

China will never allow any country in this world to achieve AI dominance: Victor Gao

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China will thwart US ambitions for global artificial intelligence (AI) dominance, the vice-president of the Centre for China and Globalisation has said, while warning that Washington’s military-focused strategy was pushing towards “AI for evil”. Addressing the Penang Peace Dialogue in Malaysia on Sunday, Victor Gao said the US was “weaponising and militarising AI”, and integrating the technology i...

‘There are trade-offs’: how Hong Kong patients can use telemedicine wisely

‘There are trade-offs’: how Hong Kong patients can use telemedicine wisely

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In the fourth instalment of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on Hong Kong’s growing wellness trends, Lo Hoi-ying examines how telehealth is reshaping access to care, as practitioners warn it cannot fully replace in-person diagnosis. Hong Kong housewife Chan Ket-yee, nearly 60, has battled severe eczema on her neck and underarms for decades. Splitting her time between the United Kingdom a...

Hong Kong to propel belt and road market expansion, finance chief says

Hong Kong to propel belt and road market expansion, finance chief says

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Hong Kong will step up support for belt and road enterprises seeking to expand into new markets and tap regional growth, reinforcing its role as a pivotal business hub and platform for deeper exchanges, the city’s financial chief has said. In his weekly blog on Sunday, Paul Chan Mo-po also pointed to strong growth in emerging markets and developing economies in recent years, citing International M...

Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’

Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’

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A 92-year-old snack vendor from southwestern China has sparked a debate over online exploitation after vloggers deliberately provoked her to produce sensational videos presenting her as an “evil granny.” This case mirrors a similar “camera bullying” incident last November, where tourists filmed an elderly woman from the Yi ethnic group in traditional clothing on a train, despite her apparent disco...

Study that argued China’s solar policy hurt birds may have miscounted 2 billion egrets

Study that argued China’s solar policy hurt birds may have miscounted 2 billion egrets

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A study in one of the world’s top scientific journals that concluded China’s policy-driven solar energy expansion was harming bird diversity has come under fire after allegations emerged that the analysis may have used observations of 2.1 billion little egrets in a single park – more than the entire global population of the species. It also brought up heated conversations on social media about neg...

World’s most powerful lightning-chasing satellite joins China-Nepal flood relief efforts

World’s most powerful lightning-chasing satellite joins China-Nepal flood relief efforts

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China is using the world’s most powerful geostationary weather satellite to track severe thunderstorms over Nepal and deliver real-time intelligence as the two countries continue search and rescue operations following last month’s devastating glacier collapse. The Fengyun‑4C satellite – launched in December 2025 and now positioned 36,000km (22,000 miles) above the equator – carries a Lightning Map...

Why China’s shrinking population may be a blessing, not a curse

Why China’s shrinking population may be a blessing, not a curse

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There is little in common between Daron Acemoglu and Xi Jinping. As a strong advocate of the Western model of liberal democracy, Acemoglu, co-recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, may be considered the ideological opposite of the Chinese president. But on a crucial point about China’s future, the two may, strangely, be on the same page: an across-the-board introduction of cutting-edge te...

Which overseas property markets will be the winners and losers if Fed raises US rates?

Which overseas property markets will be the winners and losers if Fed raises US rates?

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Comments by US Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh at its annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole last month have reinforced expectations of an impending interest rate rise in the world’s largest economy, which would have significant impacts on assets and investors around the world. While the Fed kept its target rate in the range of 3.5 to 3.75 per cent at its meeting in July, Warsh’s co...

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatoa volcano erupts, disrupting flights at 6 airports

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatoa volcano erupts, disrupting flights at 6 airports

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Indonesia halted operations at six airports on Sunday following eruptions from Mount Anak Krakatoa, impacting thousands of passengers. Mount Anak Krakatoa erupted on Saturday, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to 700km away, the geology agency said in a statement. Two new eruptions were recorded on Sunday, the volcanology agency warned. Ash from the volcano was...

5-year plan to boost livelihoods, policy address to set out concrete measures: John Lee

5-year plan to boost livelihoods, policy address to set out concrete measures: John Lee

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Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to improve residents’ livelihoods through long-term strategies in the city’s first five-year plan, with concrete measures to be set out in the coming policy address. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that the administration would continue to uphold its people-oriented governance philosophy, focus on residents’ needs and push Hong Kong forward. His remar...

Hong Kong open to classifying heatstroke as an occupational disease: labour chief

Hong Kong open to classifying heatstroke as an occupational disease: labour chief

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Hong Kong labour authorities are open to classifying heatstroke as an occupational disease, the city’s labour chief has said, acknowledging the revamped heat warning system would have triggered stronger alerts on two exceptionally hot days last month. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said retrospective modelling showed the revised system would have issued a black warning on August 8 and ...

Iran attacks naval drone near Hormuz after US strikes 3 oil tankers

Iran attacks naval drone near Hormuz after US strikes 3 oil tankers

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Iran said on Sunday that its forces attacked a US naval drone trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, hours after targeting ships in retaliation for American strikes on three oil tankers. The latest round of clashes, which began with US raids last week, comes amid a deadlock in their six-month war. Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues a co...

Fatal cycling accidents in Hong Kong more than double in first half of 2026

Fatal cycling accidents in Hong Kong more than double in first half of 2026

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Fatal cycling accidents in Hong Kong more than doubled in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier, with nine deaths recorded, as police point to cyclists ignoring traffic signals and road signs. Overall, there were 59 fatal traffic accidents in the first six months of the year, killing 63 people, up more than 40 per cent from a year earlier. Fatal cases involving bicycles surged 125 pe...

Chinese military university urged to revise AI course to ‘educate for war’

Chinese military university urged to revise AI course to ‘educate for war’

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China’s military researchers have proposed a redesigned “AI principles and practice course” for graduate students with “educating for war” at its centre, embedding combat scenarios to better prepare future officers for intelligent warfare. Researchers from the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Intelligence Science and Technology outlined their proposal in the July issue of the...

US denies it tried to influence Malaysia’s political leadership in 2014

US denies it tried to influence Malaysia’s political leadership in 2014

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The US rejected a claim by Malaysia’s opposition Islamist party that Washington once sought to influence the country’s choice of political leadership, calling the allegation false. “The United States has never sought to decide Malaysia’s political leadership,” US embassy in Malaysia Charge d’Affaires David H. Gamble Jnr said in a statement on social media on Sunday. “Any account to the contrary is...

Calls for Hong Kong anti-stalking law after man acquitted of following teen girl

Calls for Hong Kong anti-stalking law after man acquitted of following teen girl

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Lawmakers and a government adviser have called for anti-stalking legislation to close a loophole that makes prosecuting repeated harassment difficult in Hong Kong, following the acquittal of a man who followed a teenage girl to her secondary school classroom. Some experts said the government should revisit a proposal for such legislation raised 26 years ago, after the magistrate who acquitted the ...