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At least 6 dead, 21 injured after 2 earthquakes hit Peru
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At least 6 dead, 21 injured after 2 earthquakes hit Peru

At least six people were killed and 21 injured after two earthquakes struck a mountainous region of Peru, the country’s civil defence chief said ‌on Sunday. The earthquakes, measuring magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7, hit on Saturday night in Chupaca province in the Junin region, about 300km (186 miles) east of Lima, according to Peru’s National Seismological Centre post on social media. The ⁠first earthqua...

Trump welcomes reports Andy Burnham could open up North Sea oil drilling
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Trump welcomes reports Andy Burnham could open up North Sea oil drilling

US President Donald Trump has said people in the Scottish city of Aberdeen will be “dancing in the streets” following reports Andy Burnham could back new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. The incoming UK prime minister, dubbed the “King of the North” for his work as ‌the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England, has not confirmed reports that he is considering approving new fossil ...

ASTRI and NAMI merger begins yielding hybrid AI and materials technologies
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ASTRI and NAMI merger begins yielding hybrid AI and materials technologies

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has begun to realise tangible results from its merger with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), completed in April 2026, with new combinations of AI and advanced materials appearing among the technologies on display at LEAP East. Dr Ying Huang...

Hong Kong tourist left in coma after quad bike accident in Japan
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Hong Kong tourist left in coma after quad bike accident in Japan

An elderly Hong Kong tourist has been left in a coma after falling from a quad bike in Japan. The Immigration Department said on Sunday that it had been in contact with the Chinese foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong and the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka to understand the situation after receiving a request for help from the woman’s family. It added that it was also providing support. The accident ...

Is the end of US sanctions on some Hong Kong officials an olive branch?

Is the end of US sanctions on some Hong Kong officials an olive branch?

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Washington’s decision to end sanctions on nine Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and two national security staffers, is an olive branch from the US to China to improve relations after their two presidents met in May, political observers have said. They and legal experts said the lifting of sanctions on the nine individuals marked a “friend...

Fewer opportunities, less passion, no clue? How the US’ China expertise is fading

Fewer opportunities, less passion, no clue? How the US’ China expertise is fading

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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. Here, Meredith Chen looks at how tensions and shrinking academic exchange may be eroding America’s deep, experience-based understanding of...

Online photo of overloaded motorcycle carrying child and 2 riders leads to arrest

Online photo of overloaded motorcycle carrying child and 2 riders leads to arrest

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Hong Kong police have arrested a 37-year-old man after a photo circulating online showed him riding a motorcycle with a young child and another passenger. The traffic investigation unit of New Territories North arrested the man on Sunday morning on suspicion of carrying more than one passenger and a child aged below eight. The suspect remained in police custody. The photo shows three people on the...

Alibaba says newest Qwen AI model is second only to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5

Alibaba says newest Qwen AI model is second only to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5

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Alibaba Group Holding has previewed its next-generation artificial intelligence model Qwen3.8, which the company says is “second only” to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5. Qwen3.8-Max-Preview, the preview version of the strongest model of the Qwen family, had been made available on Alibaba’s Token Plan subscription service, as well as its Qoder and QoderWork agentic platforms, the Chinese tech giant sai...

China’s AI weather warning system Mazu expanding across Global South

China’s AI weather warning system Mazu expanding across Global South

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Seven developing countries are now using a Chinese AI-powered weather warning system on the ground to help them better prepare for natural disasters such as typhoons and rainstorms. Pan Jinjun, chief engineer at the China Meteorological Administration, described the system – named Mazu – as an international public good that provided “tailored early warning services for developing nations”. Speakin...

Kyiv pounded in Russian missile barrage as air defences run low

Kyiv pounded in Russian missile barrage as air defences run low

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Russia battered Ukraine’s capital Kyiv overnight with one of its biggest ballistic missile barrages of the war, killing at least one person and wounding 16 others, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday. A series ‌of powerful explosions thundered across the darkened city in an attack that involved 41 missiles of various types and ravaged buildings across several districts. Residential buildin...

Can Russia and China ever have a truly equal relationship?

Can Russia and China ever have a truly equal relationship?

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China and Russia are not formal allies, but their ties have grown significantly closer in recent years. The two countries have been “comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era” since 2019, often sharing the goal of countering Western dominance in the international arena. But which nation holds the upper hand in this relationship? Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on a...

10,000 Hong Kong homes face 24-hour wait for water after pipe bursts in Shau Kei Wan

10,000 Hong Kong homes face 24-hour wait for water after pipe bursts in Shau Kei Wan

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Around 10,000 homes in Hong Kong’s Eastern district face a 24-hour fresh water supply disruption following a sudden pipe burst, with authorities expecting service to resume on Monday morning. The Water Supplies Department received reports of the disruption in Shau Kei Wan at around 6am on Sunday and immediately deployed staff to investigate. According to a suspension notice issued by the departmen...

How Chinese tech giants from Ant to Tencent use AI agents to win over enterprise clients

How Chinese tech giants from Ant to Tencent use AI agents to win over enterprise clients

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Chinese tech giants are doubling down on enterprise artificial intelligence agents with new products unveiled at the country’s top AI summit, signalling heightened domestic rivalry to win over business clients as agent-based AI adoption accelerates. At the four-day World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai which concludes on Monday, major tech companies including Ant Group, Tence...

China plans to hit an asteroid with a Mach 26 projectile in planet defence test

China plans to hit an asteroid with a Mach 26 projectile in planet defence test

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China’s first planetary defence mission appears to be far more ambitious than Nasa’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart), according to a new paper outlining its plan to slam a spacecraft into an asteroid before 2030. Unlike Dart, a proof-of-concept that nudged one asteroid’s orbit around another, China is aiming for a more realistic planetary-defence test. It aims to directly alter an asteroid...

Hong Kong to tighten contractor oversight after Tai Po blaze, minister vows

Hong Kong to tighten contractor oversight after Tai Po blaze, minister vows

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Hong Kong’s development minister has vowed to tighten monitoring of contractors and explore harsher penalties for industry misconduct following criticisms that the government’s reliance on their self-supervision was partly to blame for the deadly Tai Po blaze. But Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also defended the current regulatory system, stressing that violations were penalised. “The monitoring system ha...

Hong Kong can serve as a ‘launch pad’ for AI firms, finance chief Paul Chan says

Hong Kong can serve as a ‘launch pad’ for AI firms, finance chief Paul Chan says

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Hong Kong should serve as a hub for the commercialisation of artificial intelligence and as a strategic base for mainland Chinese AI companies’ overseas expansion, the city’s finance chief has said, while highlighting the risks and challenges associated with its development. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s comments followed a speech on Friday by Chinese President Xi Jinping in which he calle...

US party heads to China to examine national security implications of trade relationship

US party heads to China to examine national security implications of trade relationship

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Delegates representing a United States congressional advisory panel are making their first trip to China in seven years to investigate how the two countries’ economic and trade relationship affects national security. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has requested meetings with Chinese government officials, academics and industry leaders in key technology sectors such as artific...

‘They only eat to sustain life’: how does isolation shape Hong Kong’s elderly diets?

‘They only eat to sustain life’: how does isolation shape Hong Kong’s elderly diets?

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In the second of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Lo Hoi-ying examines rising social isolation among the elderly, its serious health risks and how activities and community support are helping seniors stay socially engaged. For Lee Chor-kwan, an 89-year-old living alone in Hong Kong, mealtimes are often lonely. But the highlight of his day is lunchtime, when he vis...

France and Germany reach nuclear deal as Europe builds up defences

France and Germany reach nuclear deal as Europe builds up defences

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The leaders of Germany and France announced on Friday that the German military would participate in a nuclear exercise under a French initiative to deepen European nuclear cooperation. The move by both countries to deepen nuclear cooperation underscores growing European defence self-reliance amid concerns about the future of US security commitments to the continent. “We will have German convention...

How Yunnan’s mineral wealth and border corridors could solve China’s ‘Malacca dilemma’

How Yunnan’s mineral wealth and border corridors could solve China’s ‘Malacca dilemma’

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With its vast strategic mineral reserves and land corridors to Southeast Asia, China’s southwestern province of Yunnan is vital to the country’s preparedness to counter geopolitical risks, according to researchers specialising in civil-military fusion. Yunnan’s “nationally leading resource reserves” – including gallium, rare earths and other strategic minerals essential for advanced weapons develo...

Musk son’s viral tiger-head bag shines light on China’s US$14.8b heritage e-commerce

Musk son’s viral tiger-head bag shines light on China’s US$14.8b heritage e-commerce

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Sales of intangible heritage products are on the rise, highlighted by the online frenzy sparked by Elon Musk’s six-year-old son Little X wearing a Chinese-style silk jacket and carrying a tiger-head bag in May, when they accompanied US President Donald Trump on a state visit to Beijing. The surge is part of a wider boom, with industry data showing intangible cultural heritage and traditional handi...

Chinese scientists unearth 2,000-year-old cousin of chess played by royals and commoners

Chinese scientists unearth 2,000-year-old cousin of chess played by royals and commoners

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There is no game quite like chess, which is so beloved and intricate that millions of people around the world dedicate their lives to mastering its strategies. The history of chess stretches back thousands of years to ancient India and has seen various relatives emerge over the centuries across the globe. One such counterpart is Liubo, or “six sticks,” a Chinese board game that enjoyed widespread ...

Global tourism push promotes Hong Kong as city to be ‘felt’ not just seen

Global tourism push promotes Hong Kong as city to be ‘felt’ not just seen

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Hong Kong is seeking to promote itself as a city that visitors “feel” rather than merely see under a new global tourism campaign highlighting experiences ranging from mahjong games and tram rides to hidden beaches and Kai Tak Stadium. Tourism Board executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon told the South China Morning Post on Sunday that the “Only in Hong Kong” campaign aimed to redefine how travell...

Hong Kong police arrest woman, 19, over Kwai Chung bomb hoax

Hong Kong police arrest woman, 19, over Kwai Chung bomb hoax

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Hong Kong police have arrested a 19-year-old woman for falsely claiming to have planted explosives in an office in Kwai Chung, after searches found no suspicious items. Police revealed on Sunday that the arrest was made the day before in Wong Tai Sin, after officers conducting online patrols identified a social media post alleging the presence of explosives in the office. The woman, surnamed Liu, ...

Did fear of US force Indonesia’s ‘slap in the face’ to Iran?

Did fear of US force Indonesia’s ‘slap in the face’ to Iran?

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When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest in Tehran earlier this month, Indonesia, home to more Muslims than any other nation on Earth, decided to send only its ambassador – at first. The decision raised questions not only about Jakarta’s non-aligned foreign policy but also the tensions at the heart of President Prabowo Subianto’s prized “good-neighbour” diplomacy. One former Indonesian ambassa...

Lebanon’s president to meet Trump, push for Israeli withdrawal

Lebanon’s president to meet Trump, push for Israeli withdrawal

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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will make ⁠his first trip to the White House this week to present a plan to US President Donald Trump on how to disarm Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon’s US-backed army before being elected president last year, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit ...

Singapore’s Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Reform Party leader, dies aged 67

Singapore’s Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Reform Party leader, dies aged 67

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Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary general of the Reform Party (RP), has died, his wife said on Sunday. He was 67 years old. Jeyaretnam died in his sleep, surrounded by family, on Saturday, said Amanda Jeyaretnam in a post on her husband’s social media. “He was my beloved husband and a loving and devoted father to his son, Jared. He filled our lives with joy and wonder and we miss him so much,” she sai...

Changzhou says it is building China’s first city-level clean-power AI token factory

Changzhou says it is building China’s first city-level clean-power AI token factory

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The Chinese city of Changzhou is building what it claims will be the country’s first city-level “green token factory”, as local governments race to answer Beijing’s call to power massive artificial intelligence computing demands with clean energy. The project would be powered by green energy and could produce 60 trillion tokens per year once completed, the municipal government said in a statement ...

Changzhou says it is building China’s first city-level clean-power token factory

Changzhou says it is building China’s first city-level clean-power token factory

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The Chinese city of Changzhou is building what it claims will be the country’s first city-level “green token factory”, as local governments race to answer Beijing’s call to power massive artificial intelligence computing demands with clean energy. The project would be powered by green energy and could produce 60 trillion tokens per year once completed, the municipal government said in a statement ...