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Nigeria’s opposition divided, incumbent Tinubu eyes second term
SCMP

Nigeria’s opposition divided, incumbent Tinubu eyes second term

Nigerian politician Peter Obi will run for president in the West African nation’s January elections, ensuring that the opposition to incumbent Bola Tinubu will once again be fragmented. Obi, second runner-up in the 2023 ballot narrowly won by Tinubu, was ratified late on Saturday as the candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress party. In his acceptance speech, he pledged to tackle insecurity, d...

Why are so many more people in Hong Kong getting cancer?
SCMP

Why are so many more people in Hong Kong getting cancer?

In the first of a six-part Health Matters wellness series on cancer in Hong Kong, Emily Hung looks into how the city takes on its leading cause of death while maintaining one of the lowest mortality rates in the developed world and what more it must do to excel as a hub for cancer research. When Hong Kong began modern cancer tracking in 1983, it recorded 15,000 new cases and a far higher death rat...

Why are so many more people getting cancer in Hong Kong?
SCMP

Why are so many more people getting cancer in Hong Kong?

In the first of a six-part Health Matters wellness series on cancer in Hong Kong, Emily Hung looks into how the city takes on its leading cause of death while maintaining one of the lowest mortality rates in the developed world and what more it must do to excel as a hub for cancer research. When Hong Kong began modern cancer tracking in 1983, it recorded 15,000 new cases and a far higher death rat...

Is Hong Kong winning the war on cancer or facing new battle in late diagnosis?

Is Hong Kong winning the war on cancer or facing new battle in late diagnosis?

SCMP

In the first of a six-part Health Matters wellness series on cancer in Hong Kong, Emily Hung looks into how the city takes on its leading cause of death while maintaining one of the lowest mortality rates in the developed world and what more it must do to excel as a hub for cancer research. When Hong Kong began modern cancer tracking in 1983, it recorded 15,000 new cases and a far higher death rat...

Is Hong Kong winning the war on cancer or facing new front in late diagnosis?

Is Hong Kong winning the war on cancer or facing new front in late diagnosis?

SCMP

In the first of a six-part Health Matters wellness series on cancer in Hong Kong, Emily Hung looks into how the city takes on its leading cause of death while maintaining one of the lowest mortality rates in the developed world and what more it must do to excel as a hub for cancer research. When Hong Kong began modern cancer tracking in 1983, it recorded 15,000 new cases and a far higher death rat...

In sign of easing UK-China ties, British Foreign Secretary set for talks, tech hub visit

In sign of easing UK-China ties, British Foreign Secretary set for talks, tech hub visit

SCMP

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is visiting China this week, signalling a further easing in ties following a summit earlier this year. Cooper will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng on Tuesday, Reuters quoted the British government as saying on Sunday. Among the topics on the agenda are the Strait of Hormuz, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Ebola outbre...

High rents, job fears rank among top stressors for mainland students in Hong Kong

High rents, job fears rank among top stressors for mainland students in Hong Kong

SCMP

A combination of sky-high rents, career anxiety and social isolation is placing a mental and financial strain on mainland Chinese students living in Hong Kong, even as more than 40 per cent of them plan to remain in the city, a survey has revealed. The study released by the Youth Expats Association on Sunday also found that developing a sense of belonging outweighed lucrative salaries as a factor ...

1 dead, 2 in critical condition after fire at luxury Hong Kong flat

1 dead, 2 in critical condition after fire at luxury Hong Kong flat

SCMP

A 30-year-old woman has died and two other people remain in a critical condition following a suspicious fire at a flat in Hong Kong’s affluent Mid-Levels district, with police later uncovering drug-taking apparatus in a bedroom. The Hospital Authority confirmed on Sunday that the woman, who had been rushed to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai, was pronounced dead at 11.20pm on Saturday. A source said...

HK Express cancels 6 Hong Kong-Okinawa flights as Typhoon Jangmi nears Japan

HK Express cancels 6 Hong Kong-Okinawa flights as Typhoon Jangmi nears Japan

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Budget carrier HK Express has cancelled six flights that were scheduled to operate between Hong Kong and Okinawa on Monday and Tuesday as Typhoon Jangmi approaches Japan’s southernmost islands. The airline said in an updated announcement on Saturday afternoon that special ticket arrangements for typhoon-affected flights were in place. “We have notified all affected passengers of the flight changes...

HK Express cancels 6 Hong Kong-Okinawa flights as Typhoon Jangmi approaches

HK Express cancels 6 Hong Kong-Okinawa flights as Typhoon Jangmi approaches

SCMP

Budget carrier HK Express has cancelled six flights operating between Hong Kong and Okinawa on Monday and Tuesday as Typhoon Jangmi approaches Japan’s southernmost islands. The airline said in an updated announcement on Saturday afternoon that special ticket arrangements for typhoon-affected flights were in place. “We have notified all affected passengers of the flight changes and are providing th...

For SpaceX, global dominance may not be written in the stars

For SpaceX, global dominance may not be written in the stars

SCMP

The excitement around SpaceX, fuelled by the targeted US$1.8 trillion valuation for its initial public offering and its promising Starship rocket development, has revived a familiar claim: that SpaceX is on course to dominate the space market. Commercially, that view is understandable. SpaceX conducts more space launches than anyone and at very competitive costs, its Starlink satellite internet co...

AI firm MiniMax prepares for mainland China listing after shares surge in Hong Kong

AI firm MiniMax prepares for mainland China listing after shares surge in Hong Kong

SCMP

MiniMax Group, the Chinese artificial intelligence model company, has officially kicked off plans to sell shares in mainland China. This offers onshore investors access to AI players beyond chipmakers and completes a dual-listing status in addition to Hong Kong. The Shanghai-headquartered company signed an agreement with Citic Securities on Friday, hiring the brokerage to help prepare for a sale o...

Philippines says Beijing main hurdle to South China Sea code of conduct

Philippines says Beijing main hurdle to South China Sea code of conduct

SCMP

Members of Asean might have conflicting claims in the South China Sea but mutual trust exists in the bloc, Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro Jnr said on Sunday, singling out Beijing as the biggest obstacle to a code of conduct in the disputed waterway. Teodoro delivered strong words for China in the final panel of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, taking aim at Manila’s ...

China woman nearly dies after becoming tangled in fishing line while riding bike at night

China woman nearly dies after becoming tangled in fishing line while riding bike at night

SCMP

A Chinese woman said she was nearly killed by a fishing line while riding past a crowded bridge, sparking safety concerns online. The woman surnamed Wang, from Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, shared her hair-raising experience on the night of May 23. She and her friend were riding electric bikes on a bicycle lane of the Fuxing bridge in the city, when a fishing line suddenly wrapped a...

Hong Kong may host Shenzhou-23 crew in 2027, including astronaut Lai Ka-ying

Hong Kong may host Shenzhou-23 crew in 2027, including astronaut Lai Ka-ying

SCMP

Hong Kong could welcome the astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 mission, including the city’s history-making payload specialist, as early as the first half of next year, the technology chief has said. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong also said on Sunday that the government would establish a new space manufacturing research centre under InnoHK by this year, focusing on using 3D ...

Malaysia blasts ‘conspicuously muted’ response over axed Norway missile deal

Malaysia blasts ‘conspicuously muted’ response over axed Norway missile deal

SCMP

Malaysia’s Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin slammed the international community’s “muted” response on Sunday at a security forum over Norway’s decision to scrap a missile deal with Kuala Lumpur. In a charged speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Khaled said the “deafening silence” on Oslo’s cancellation of the agreement sent a message that certain countries were “simply above scrut...

NGO offers HK$30,000 to residents of blaze-hit Tai Po blocks who transfer ownership

NGO offers HK$30,000 to residents of blaze-hit Tai Po blocks who transfer ownership

SCMP

Hong Kong’s largest non-profit organisation, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, will give HK$30,000 (US$3,827) to residents displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire who agree to transfer ownership of their flats to the government, its chief executive has said. Albert Su Yau-on also revealed on Sunday that more than 1,000 inquiries had been received regarding the group’s legal aid scheme for Wang Fuk Cour...

Hong Kong NGO offers HK$30,000 to Tai Po fire victims who transfer property

Hong Kong NGO offers HK$30,000 to Tai Po fire victims who transfer property

SCMP

Hong Kong’s largest non-profit organisation, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, will offer a HK$30,000 (US$3,827) relocation allowance to victims of the deadly Tai Po fire who agree to transfer ownership of their properties to the government, its chief executive has said, with the scheme expected to benefit about 1,000 households. Albert So Yau-on also noted on Sunday that more than 1,000 inquiries ...

Hong Kong considers new offshore yuan venture fund for tech, emerging industries

Hong Kong considers new offshore yuan venture fund for tech, emerging industries

SCMP

Hong Kong is actively considering launching a new offshore renminbi venture fund to channel capital into cutting-edge technology and emerging industries, while supporting yuan internationalisation, the city’s finance chief has said. The initiative aligns with the nation’s 15th five-year plan, which guides development from 2026 to 2030 and calls on Hong Kong to enhance its role as an international ...

Japanese defence minister rejects ‘new militarism’ label from China in Shangri-La speech

Japanese defence minister rejects ‘new militarism’ label from China in Shangri-La speech

SCMP

Japan’s defence minister has rejected suggestions that his country is reviving its militaristic past, telling a regional security conference that changes to its defence strategy would allow it to play a new cooperative role. Shinjiro Koizumi also used his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday to state that Tokyo opposed “unilateral changes to the status quo by force or coercion”, a comment b...

Why Grab and Gojek drivers fear Bali’s ‘no-go zones’

Why Grab and Gojek drivers fear Bali’s ‘no-go zones’

SCMP

“I cannot come to you,” Katie Williams was told, seconds after her Grab driver had accepted her request for a ride in Canggu. “I cannot come to you. You need to come meet me.” Williams, an Australian tourist in her mid-thirties, explained through the app that her elderly parents struggled to walk very far in the hot Bali sun. The driver’s reply was blunt: “It’s too dangerous. I cannot come.” After...

How an HKU-developed eczema product could help fight superbug threat

How an HKU-developed eczema product could help fight superbug threat

SCMP

When Scottish doctor Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered the first antibiotic in 1928, he changed the course of history, extending global life expectancy by decades and saving millions of lives on the battlefield and beyond. But humanity’s dependence on his discovery has fuelled a modern crisis: antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. Decades of overuse and misuse of the drug have allowed “superbu...

Festival promoting South Korea’s ceramic culture faces fury over Chinese-made prizes

Festival promoting South Korea’s ceramic culture faces fury over Chinese-made prizes

SCMP

Organisers of South Korea’s renowned Yeoju Ceramic Festival have apologised after Chinese-made ceramic products were distributed as giveaway prizes at an event intended to promote the country’s pottery heritage, sparking public backlash and online criticism. The controversy emerged after a social media user said on Tuesday that a miniature moon jar received through a festival promotional event car...

How China will play a major role in Benin’s economic growth as a new era is ushered in

How China will play a major role in Benin’s economic growth as a new era is ushered in

SCMP

In Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and economic capital located on the southern Atlantic coast, construction crews are busy building major projects, stretching from large-scale port upgrades to the asphalt-paving of the commercial hub’s main roads. At the Autonomous Port of Cotonou, China Harbour Engineering Company is advancing Terminal 5, a project that involves reclaiming land from the sea and bu...

Alibaba Group signs 6-year AI deal with Uefa, will bring 360 replay tech to major events

Alibaba Group signs 6-year AI deal with Uefa, will bring 360 replay tech to major events

SCMP

Alibaba Group and Uefa are bringing the Chinese giant’s 360-degree replay technology to football, after signing an exclusive six-year deal covering several major tournaments in Europe. The partnership, which has been widely reported in state media, will see the sport’s regional governing body join the International Olympic Committee and NBA China, among others, in working with Qwen, Alibaba’s arti...

Hong Kong property recovery tested as bigger student housing deals gain traction

Hong Kong property recovery tested as bigger student housing deals gain traction

SCMP

Hong Kong’s student housing sector is entering a new phase as larger institutional-style deals emerge from the city’s distressed commercial property market, signalling that professional investors are cautiously returning after years of falling asset values. Investors and analysts said the market was moving beyond the smaller hotel conversions that dominated the past two years, with more sizeable t...

Firms spent heavily on AI. Now rising costs are outpacing its value

Firms spent heavily on AI. Now rising costs are outpacing its value

SCMP

AI is getting expensive – and companies are starting to rethink their embrace of the disruptive technology. Playing by a well-worn Silicon Valley playbook, artificial intelligence companies charged rock-bottom prices to hook customers after ChatGPT burst onto the scene. Kevin Simback of start-up incubator Delphi Labs calls it the era of “subsidised intelligence” – meaning investors were basically ...

How a decade-long bet on photonics handed this Chinese venture capital firm an AI windfall

How a decade-long bet on photonics handed this Chinese venture capital firm an AI windfall

SCMP

As artificial intelligence strains the physical limits of existing data centres, scientists and investors are turning to the ultimate speed limit of the universe for the next computing frontier: light. For Mi Lei, founder of CAS Star, a venture capital firm born out of the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the sudden global fascination with photonics is less a surprise than a delayed va...