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Landslides, floods, strong rainstorms and tornadoes have led to multiple deaths across China, with people still missing as meteorologists warn the country faces “complex” disaster prevention challenges this year. The annual flood season, which officially began on July 1, will be affected by global warming and El Nino, they said. President Xi Jinping has instructed that “all-out efforts” must be ma...
Eight people have died and one remains missing after rainstorms and tornadoes hit central China, while rescue parties in the south are continuing to evacuate residents amid flood warnings. Meteorologists warn that China faces “complex” flood prevention challenges this year, with heavy rain, typhoons, flooding and other geological disasters happening across the country. Parts of the central provinc...
Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group. Hong Kong and London ...
Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group. Hong Kong and London ...
Hong Kong’s high-quality economic development will be guided by its first five-year blueprint and the coming policy address, with artificial intelligence (AI) as the “central plank”, the city’s leader has said. Speaking at the South China Morning Post’s China Conference 2026 on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” advantages and commitment to i...
A third tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Tuesday, after Qatar blamed Iran for an attack on one of its ships. “UKMTO has received a report of a further incident involving a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker was struck by an unknown Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and has sustained minor structural damage. ...
An “unknown projectile” struck and caused a fire on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, British maritime security agency UKMTO said. The incident occurred near one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes, despite a ceasefire between the United States and Iran and ongoing efforts to secure a lasting peace agreement. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade...
Shares of Kuaishou Technology fell more than 6 per cent on Tuesday morning after Tencent Holdings slashed its stake in the short-video platform by selling 273 million Class B shares, just days after leading a US$3 billion financing round for Kuaishou’s artificial intelligence video unit, Kling AI. The divestment will reduce Tencent’s shareholding in Kuaishou to 9.37 per cent from 15.68 per cent, m...
A man scaled the 140-metre-high (460 foot) tower of a cantilever bridge in the Australian city of Melbourne on Tuesday and painted a giant cartoon bird on it, disrupting morning commuter traffic. The man demanded a peanut butter sandwich be delivered by drone before he would come down, causing a stand-off with police and closing a lane on the Bolte Bridge. “A man has scaled the bridge and rema...
The South China Morning Post will host its China Conference in Kazakhstan’s capital in September, following a high-level Hong Kong delegation led by the city’s leader to Central Asia last month, marking the first such event organised by a local media outlet in the region. Announcing the move at the SCMP China Conference 2026 on Tuesday, publisher Tammy Tam said the event in Astana would enable par...
At Carousell’s Singapore office, a red tunnel greets employees with the company’s mission to “make second-hand the first choice” – a slogan its leaders say is moving closer to reality as the platform for buying and selling used goods recorded its first positive adjusted operating profit. The Singapore-headquartered company, last valued at US$1.1 billion in 2021, said on Tuesday it had achieved pos...
New Zealand’s flood-prone homes are outperforming the rest of the country’s moribund housing market, as buyers chase lower prices and shrug off climate risks. Properties facing the highest flood risk have gained 26.1 per cent in value since January 2020, compared with 19.8 per cent for homes with no exposure, property consultancy Cotality said in Wellington on Tuesday. Discounts of as much as NZ$1...
China’s innovation ecosystem has witnessed a resurgence, minting 67 new unicorn start-ups in the first half of 2026 – the biggest increase in almost five years – as AI and robotics kick off a new investment cycle. The growth translates into an average of one new unicorn – private companies valued at US$1 billion or more – in less than every three days and was the highest since the second half of 2...
The Furious, Hong Kong’s latest action flick, is crushing it on Rotten Tomatoes and has garnered critical acclaim abroad – proof of what human-centric filmmaking can still deliver in today’s market. But before we rush to hail the return of Hong Kong cinema, a new breed of drama factory is quietly generating content at a velocity no human team could ever match. In mainland China, micro dramas gener...
Lynas Rare Earths said on Tuesday it had signed a partnership deal with South Korea’s JS Link to develop a magnet factory in Malaysia. The Australian rare-earths producer will also supply materials to JS Link’s magnet factory in South Korea and the planned factory in Malaysia until January 2038. The partnership follows a magnet manufacturing deal between the two companies last year. Under the lat...
A young boy from central China went viral after proudly promoting his burn-survivor mother’s street stall during a chance visit to a university football pitch. On June 28, eight-year-old Chunchun from Zhengzhou, Henan province, accompanied his mother to a local campus where he joined a casual football game. Noticing students holding empty drink bottles, he stepped forward and, in full view of the ...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong recorded at least 11 flooding cases in the northern New Territories while the amber rainstorm warning signal was in force. The Hong Kong Observatory cancelled the warning signal at 11.55am on Tuesday, after issuing it at 5.30am. It earlier warned that...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has warned of severe downpours and serious flooding in Yuen Long under the amber rainstorm signal. The Hong Kong Observatory, which issued the warning signal at 5.30am on Tuesday, said hourly rainfall in the northwestern New Terri...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has warned of severe downpours and serious flooding in Yuen Long under the amber rainstorm signal. The Hong Kong Observatory, which issued the signal at 5.30am on Tuesday, said hourly rainfall in the northwestern New Territories d...
Hong Kong inaugurated the trial operation of a gold clearing and settlement system on Tuesday, a step towards building the city into a trading hub and price-setter for the precious metal. The decision was announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu at the Hong Kong FIC & Bond Connect Summit. The announcement confirmed an earlier report by the South China Morning Post, and marks the latest attemp...
The company operating Hong Kong’s gold clearing and settlement system has been admitted as an international member of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, according to a circular released on Tuesday. More to follow ...
Taiwan has revived its “anti-communist patriotic education” programme for military academy graduates, reflecting growing concern over Beijing’s efforts to infiltrate the island’s armed forces after a string of espionage cases involving service members. The compulsory five-day course, held from July 1 for graduates of Taiwan’s eight military academies, restores the programme’s original name after a...
Hong Kong’s top International Baccalaureate (IB) scorers this year credited AI and a balanced study routine for their academic success after receiving their results on Monday. Amid the intense pressure of the final assessments, top achievers from Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS), Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA), and Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School shared insights on using technology responsibly while ...
Kim Jong-un stood on a cliff top and watched his navy come of age. As the North Korean leader looked on, 10 cruise missiles tore off the deck of the Kang Kon in rapid succession in a display of naval power Pyongyang could once only dream of staging. Analysts say the weapons test on Friday was no accident of timing – coming just days before Russia and China would begin their Joint Sea 2026 maritime...
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspe...
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspe...
Norway wants China to use its ties to the Russian leadership to help bring about a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, also for the sake of better relations with Europe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday. “China is probably the country with the best and most direct access to the Russian leadership. We expect, hope and strongly urge China to use that channel,” h...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. In this article, Sylvia Ma examines the numerous financial links between the two economies that make a true decoupling a difficult affair....
In a closely watched outcome, Canada on Monday chose a major German defence contractor over its South Korean competitor to build a US multibillion-dollar fleet of submarines, as mid-tier nations increasingly work together in the face of a less reliable United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa chose Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS)’s package over Hanwha Ocean Company’s....
In a closely watched outcome, Canada on Monday chose a major German defence contractor over its South Korean competitor to build a US multibillion-dollar fleet of submarines, as mid-tier nations increasingly work together in the face of a less reliable United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa chose Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS)’s package over Hanwha Ocean Company’s....
