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Watchdog urges pet owners to take paws before signing up for insurance plans
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Watchdog urges pet owners to take paws before signing up for insurance plans

Hongkongers buying insurance for their pets have been urged to carefully examine third-party liability terms and pay special attention to coverage related to disputes and animals with a history of aggression. The Consumer Council issued the warning less than a week after more than 900 restaurants became legally allowed to welcome dogs on the premises as part of a government scheme. In a report pub...

Chinese in the driver’s seat? India-China reset hits a bump on New Delhi’s streets
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Chinese in the driver’s seat? India-China reset hits a bump on New Delhi’s streets

It was supposed to be just another hectic day on New Delhi’s roads. Instead, early this month, several e-rickshaws on the Indian capital’s crowded streets reportedly came to a halt mid-ride in separate incidents that left drivers stranded and passengers searching for answers. Videos of the disruption quickly went viral on social media, turning a local transport breakdown into a national debate. Th...

Chinese in the driver’s seat? India-China reset hits a bump on Delhi’s streets
SCMP

Chinese in the driver’s seat? India-China reset hits a bump on Delhi’s streets

It was supposed to be just another hectic day on New Delhi’s roads. Instead, early this month, several e-rickshaws on the Indian capital’s crowded streets reportedly came to a halt mid-ride in separate incidents that left drivers stranded and passengers searching for answers. Videos of the disruption quickly went viral on social media, turning a local transport breakdown into a national debate. Th...

Chinese motorcycle tycoon donates US$735,000 to flood victims after clearing US$15 million debt
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Chinese motorcycle tycoon donates US$735,000 to flood victims after clearing US$15 million debt

Chinese motorcycle tycoon Zhang Xue has donated five million yuan (US$735,000) to flood-stricken Guangxi right after clearing a 100-million-yuan (US$15 million) corporate debt, moving many online. Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in southern China, was hit by heavy rains that caused dam breaches and flooding, which had killed 39 people. On July 9, the founder of motorcycle manufacturer ZXMOTO pos...

Iran threatens to close more vital seaways as US renews blockade

Iran threatens to close more vital seaways as US renews blockade

SCMP

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other export corridors that ⁠benefit the US and its allies”, Iranian media reported, after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. “Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s IRNA state news agency on Wednesday...

Iran threatens to block more vital seaways as US renews blockade

Iran threatens to block more vital seaways as US renews blockade

SCMP

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other export corridors that ⁠benefit the US and its allies”, Iranian media reported, after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. “Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s IRNA state news agency on Wednesday...

Pacific security axis grows as New Zealand eyes Australia-Fiji defence pact

Pacific security axis grows as New Zealand eyes Australia-Fiji defence pact

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New Zealand’s interest in joining a newly signed defence pact between Australia and Fiji may mark the start of a broader hard security alliance covering the South Pacific, but analysts warn smaller states’ concerns are likely to go unaddressed. The Ocean of Peace Alliance, signed by Australia and Fiji on July 6, binds Canberra and Suva to come to each other’s defence if attacked. Days later, New Z...

China’s rare earth weakness, new rocket to rival SpaceX: 7 science highlights

China’s rare earth weakness, new rocket to rival SpaceX: 7 science highlights

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We have put together stories from our coverage on science 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’s satellite engine smashes record, leaves US rival far behind China has tested a satellite engine with a record-breaking operating life, a key technology that could help propel the world’s largest communi...

China memory giant CXMT valued at US$85 billion in record Shanghai IPO

China memory giant CXMT valued at US$85 billion in record Shanghai IPO

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China’s leading memory chipmaker, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has priced its Shanghai initial public offering at 8.66 yuan (US$1.28) apiece, positioning the company for the largest listing by a Chinese semiconductor company on a mainland bourse. The firm, based in Hefei, Anhui province, is expected to raise gross proceeds of 57.9 billion yuan (US$8.5 billion) from the sale of nearly 6.7 b...

Gibraltar and Spain end border checks in historic UK-EU treaty

Gibraltar and Spain end border checks in historic UK-EU treaty

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A new era began between Spain and the tiny British territory of Gibraltar on Wednesday, as border checks that have long been a source of tension and frustration were finally lifted. Several dozen people and vehicles crossed the border from Spain for the first time without undergoing customs checks a few minutes after midnight. Several hundred people gathered for the occasion, waving Spanish flags,...

Will AI kill English classes? Chinese university to drop them as tech booms

Will AI kill English classes? Chinese university to drop them as tech booms

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A Chinese research university plans to phase out traditional English classes, citing the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) translators to bridge language barriers in real time. In a video posted to the university’s social media account on July 2, Zhao Wei, the provost of Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology (SUAT), announced that the institution would do away with standard English cour...

China’s first-tier home prices extend 4-month rebound amid market stabilisation

China’s first-tier home prices extend 4-month rebound amid market stabilisation

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New home prices in four Chinese first-tier cities rose by an average of 0.1 per cent last month, extending a four-month rebound and signalling a gradual recovery in market sentiment as housing stabilisation measures gain traction. Compared with May, home prices edged up 0.3 per cent in Shanghai and Shenzhen and by 0.2 per cent in Guangzhou, according to data released by the National Bureau of Stat...

Why scrapping Nepal’s ‘dollar fare’ could leave locals grounded

Why scrapping Nepal’s ‘dollar fare’ could leave locals grounded

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A plan to make Nepal’s domestic flights cheaper for foreign visitors could end up making them more expensive for citizens, according to airline operators who warn against scrapping one of the country’s most contentious tourism pricing policies. Under Nepal’s two-tier airfare system, foreign passengers must pay in US dollars for domestic flights, with prices usually two to three times higher than f...

Vietnam jeweller rattled by ex-official’s arrest over India-Hong Kong gem-smuggling ring

Vietnam jeweller rattled by ex-official’s arrest over India-Hong Kong gem-smuggling ring

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Phu Nhuan Jewellery, Vietnam’s largest listed jeweller, is facing a crisis of confidence after police detained the former head of its gem certification subsidiary over his alleged links to a transnational diamond-smuggling ring. Shares in PNJ, as the company is known, have plummeted more than 25 per cent since news of the investigation broke in early July. Police accuse Dang Ngoc Thao, the former ...

Tai Po fire: inquiry slams ‘unacceptable’ claim by China Status - as it happened

Tai Po fire: inquiry slams ‘unacceptable’ claim by China Status - as it happened

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades heard the first round of closing submissions from legal representatives on Wednesday, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are also expected to deliver their final submissions in the coming days, after which the inquiry will proceed t...

Tai Po blaze: committee chair slams ‘unacceptable’ claim from contractor China Status

Tai Po blaze: committee chair slams ‘unacceptable’ claim from contractor China Status

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report...

Tai Po blaze: committee chair slams ‘unacceptable’ claim from fire safety firm

Tai Po blaze: committee chair slams ‘unacceptable’ claim from fire safety firm

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report...

Tai Po fire: watchdog calls for bid-rigging to be criminalised to help fight back

Tai Po fire: watchdog calls for bid-rigging to be criminalised to help fight back

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report...

Tai Po fire: estate manager deemed ‘pitiful’, but denies acting as consultant

Tai Po fire: estate manager deemed ‘pitiful’, but denies acting as consultant

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report...

Tai Po fire: estate manager deemed ‘pitiful’, denies acting as consultant

Tai Po fire: estate manager deemed ‘pitiful’, denies acting as consultant

SCMP

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings. Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report...

Hong Kong issues amber rainstorm warning, urges public to take precautions

Hong Kong issues amber rainstorm warning, urges public to take precautions

SCMP

The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning at 10.05am on Wednesday and urged residents to take precautions such as staying away from watercourses. The forecaster warned that widespread heavy rain could affect Hong Kong in a couple of hours and that intense gusts could continue to affect the city. It told residents to stay vigilant during the adverse weather. “This means that heavy...

Ancient Chinese lord buried with bells meant to silence ancestral war rituals

Ancient Chinese lord buried with bells meant to silence ancestral war rituals

SCMP

Imagine, for a moment, that you lived in ancient China, with a rival state threatening your people’s very existence. In the quest for any advantage, one strategy might involve performing a ceremony to invoke assistance from the ancestors. However, life and politics are not static; old rivals can transform into close allies. This transformation raises an intriguing question: do ancient war ceremoni...

Taiwan’s opposition TPP launches historic first trip to mainland China

Taiwan’s opposition TPP launches historic first trip to mainland China

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The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has sent its first formal delegation to mainland China since the party’s founding, seeking to maintain cross-strait peace through dialogue amid heightened tensions with Beijing. The nine-member delegation from the island’s smaller opposition party left for Shanghai on Tuesday for a four-day visit focused on youth exchanges, urban governance, artificial intelligence ...

Why and how the media industry can fit into Hong Kong’s first 5-year plan

Why and how the media industry can fit into Hong Kong’s first 5-year plan

SCMP

Mainstream media, particularly in Hong Kong, have historically been conservative in their research and development spending. Media executives prefer to shop for off-the-shelf solutions, treating technology as back-office support rather than a core growth engine. This mode of operation now faces an existential challenge amid the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI), large language model...

ANA pilot jailed in Japan for groping flight attendant after work

ANA pilot jailed in Japan for groping flight attendant after work

SCMP

A pilot of the major Japanese airline All Nippon Airways was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Tuesday for abusing his power to grope a female flight attendant after work. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Ryota Mise, 44, acted in a “mean and persistent manner” towards the victim when he took advantage of his position as a captain and touched her genitals at various locations in Takamatsu, Kag...

‘I want to be a caring doctor’: most DSE stars set sights on medicine – as it happened

‘I want to be a caring doctor’: most DSE stars set sights on medicine – as it happened

SCMP

Secondary Six students across Hong Kong have received their results for the city’s university entrance examinations. They returned to their schools on Wednesday to collect result slips for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), which grades most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**. A total of 24 top scorers from 15 schools were recorded this year. Fourteen male and 10 female students ...

‘I want to be a caring doctor’: most DSE top scorers set sights on medicine

‘I want to be a caring doctor’: most DSE top scorers set sights on medicine

SCMP

Secondary Six students across Hong Kong are getting their results on Wednesday for the city’s university entrance examinations. They are returning to their schools to collect result slips for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), which grades most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**. A total of 24 top scorers from 15 schools were recorded this year. Fourteen male and 10 female studen...

Hong Kong DSE: 5 elite schools produce more than 1 top scorer each

Hong Kong DSE: 5 elite schools produce more than 1 top scorer each

SCMP

Secondary Six students across Hong Kong are getting their results on Wednesday for the city’s university entrance examinations. They are returning to their schools to collect result slips for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), which grades most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**. A total of 24 top scorers from 15 schools were recorded this year. Fourteen male and 10 female studen...

Joy, relief and anxiety as Hong Kong students receive their DSE results

Joy, relief and anxiety as Hong Kong students receive their DSE results

SCMP

Secondary Six students across Hong Kong are getting their results on Wednesday for the city’s university entrance examinations. They are returning to their schools to collect result slips for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), which grades most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**. A total of 24 top scorers from 15 schools were recorded this year. Fourteen male and 10 female studen...