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Hong Kong’s first astronaut Lai Ka-ying lifts off into space on Shenzhou-23 mission
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Hong Kong’s first astronaut Lai Ka-ying lifts off into space on Shenzhou-23 mission

China’s latest space mission, which includes Hong Kong’s first astronaut, lifted off on Sunday night. The Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gansu province at 11.08pm local time on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The crew included Lai Ka-ying, the Hong Kong police superintendent a...

Cheers, pride as Hong Kong’s first astronaut heads off on mission
SCMP

Cheers, pride as Hong Kong’s first astronaut heads off on mission

An electric atmosphere swept from the edge of the Gobi Desert to Hong Kong on Sunday night, as thrilled residents erupted into cheers to celebrate the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 space mission featuring the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying. Lai, a police superintendent and a mother of three, is serving as the payload specialist for the mission. At a Wong Chuk Hang student dorm of the Uni...

Cheers as Hong Kong’s first astronaut lifts off on historic mission
SCMP

Cheers as Hong Kong’s first astronaut lifts off on historic mission

An electric atmosphere swept from the edge of the Gobi Desert all the way back to Hong Kong on Sunday night, as thrilled residents erupted into cheers to celebrate the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 space mission featuring the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying. Lai, a police superintendent and a mother of three, is serving as the payload specialist for the mission. At a Wong Chuk Hang studen...

Hongkongers praise astronaut Lai Ka-ying at send-off ceremony in Jiuquan
SCMP

Hongkongers praise astronaut Lai Ka-ying at send-off ceremony in Jiuquan

Hongkongers gathered to witness the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 mission hailed the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, as an “immense encouragement” as they watched the send-off ceremony for the crew in Jiuquan on Sunday night. Astronauts Lai, Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan were met with cheers at the Wentian Pavilion in China’s Dongfeng Aerospace City in Gansu province before they headed t...

Trump’s next medical exam renews health scrutiny as 80th birthday nears

Trump’s next medical exam renews health scrutiny as 80th birthday nears

SCMP

US President Donald Trump’s next medical examination is intensifying health-related scrutiny that has surrounded him ever since his first campaign for the nation’s highest office more than a decade ago. Trump on Tuesday is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s appointment since the start of his second term. The White House has offered fe...

Trump medical examination renews health scrutiny as 80th birthday nears

Trump medical examination renews health scrutiny as 80th birthday nears

SCMP

President Donald Trump’s upcoming medical examination is intensifying health-related scrutiny that has surrounded him ever since his first campaign for the nation’s highest office more than a decade ago. Trump on Tuesday is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s appointment since the start of his second term. The White House has offered f...

Why Hainan holds the key to survival for China’s aircraft carriers

Why Hainan holds the key to survival for China’s aircraft carriers

SCMP

The PLA Navy’s aircraft carrier base in Hainan could prove vital to the fleet’s survivability and crucial in countering US containment along the first island chain in wartime, according to a prominent mainland Chinese magazine. Such a posture could also support efforts to impose a maritime blockade around Taiwan in the event of a conflict, Defence Review reported this month. China now operates thr...

Breaking the chain? Why Hainan holds the key to survival for China’s aircraft carriers

Breaking the chain? Why Hainan holds the key to survival for China’s aircraft carriers

SCMP

The PLA Navy’s aircraft carrier base in Hainan could prove vital to the fleet’s survivability and crucial in countering US containment along the first island chain in wartime, according to a prominent mainland Chinese magazine. Such a posture could also support efforts to impose a maritime blockade around Taiwan in the event of a conflict, Defence Review reported this month. China now operates thr...

Hong Kong police investigate suspected cat mutilation and poisoning

Hong Kong police investigate suspected cat mutilation and poisoning

SCMP

Hong Kong police have launched an investigation after a Hung Hom shop cat was found with its tail nearly severed and its lips turning purple before dying at a veterinary clinic on Sunday afternoon. A 39-year-old woman, who operates a funeral services shop on Lo Lung Hang Street, reported to police at 3.30pm that her two-year-old cat appeared to have been injured and poisoned. She rushed the male d...

DeepSeek V4 Pro tops global bang-for-buck ranking after 75% price cut

DeepSeek V4 Pro tops global bang-for-buck ranking after 75% price cut

SCMP

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek’s latest flagship model has been ranked as one of the world’s best on an intelligence-per-dollar basis, far exceeding those from US heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic in cost-efficiency after a 75 per cent promotional price cut was made permanent. The Hangzhou-based start-up announced the permanent price cut for its V4 Pro model on Saturday, a month...

Can China’s AI-powered food monitoring avoid US military-style meal complaints?

Can China’s AI-powered food monitoring avoid US military-style meal complaints?

SCMP

Images of sparse meals aboard naval vessels deployed in the United States’ war on Iran are a reminder that keeping military forces supplied with adequate food has been a problem for thousands of years. The photos came to light after a crew member from the USS Abraham Lincoln shared them with family in the US, sparking a dispute between personnel, their families and the Pentagon, along with complai...

Hong Kong school ordered to explain after principal swears on Singapore trip

Hong Kong school ordered to explain after principal swears on Singapore trip

SCMP

Hong Kong’s education authorities have demanded a written report from a secondary school after a video went viral that apparently shows its principal swearing at security guards during a school trip to Singapore. The Education Bureau said on Sunday that it had approached the school and its sponsoring body upon learning of the incident, and would remain in close contact to provide advice. “The bure...

Temperatures to reach as high as 33 degrees for 4 straight days this week

Temperatures to reach as high as 33 degrees for 4 straight days this week

SCMP

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hongkongers are set for a scorching week ahead, with the forecaster predicting temperatures will climb as high as 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) on four days in a row, which may trigger the first very hot weather warning of the year. The Observatory said ...

Mercury to hit as high as 33 degrees for 4 straight days this week

Mercury to hit as high as 33 degrees for 4 straight days this week

SCMP

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hongkongers are set for a scorching week ahead, with the forecaster predicting temperatures will climb as high as 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) on four days in a row, which may trigger the first very hot weather warning of the year. The Observatory said ...

Pakistan attack kills at least 24 as explosive-laden car hits train

Pakistan attack kills at least 24 as explosive-laden car hits train

SCMP

A blast targeting a train carrying military personnel killed at least 24 people on Sunday in Pakistan’s turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, a senior official said. Army servicemen were among the victims of the attack in the provincial capital Quetta, which wounded more than 50 people, the official told AFP. The attack, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group, was bra...

Pakistan attack kills at least 24 as explosive-laden car hits train carriage

Pakistan attack kills at least 24 as explosive-laden car hits train carriage

SCMP

A blast targeting a train carrying military personnel killed at least 24 people on Sunday in Pakistan’s turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, a senior official said. Army servicemen were among the victims of the attack in the provincial capital Quetta, which wounded more than 50 people, the official told AFP. The attack, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group, was bra...

Ebola toll in DR Congo over 200, Uganda and 10 other African countries also at risk

Ebola toll in DR Congo over 200, Uganda and 10 other African countries also at risk

SCMP

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases. A health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast Central African country, from 867 suspected cases. The last World Health Org...

China’s desire for endless youth is wiping out donkeys – can scientists help?

China’s desire for endless youth is wiping out donkeys – can scientists help?

SCMP

Scientists in Brazil are working on a lab-grown donkey collagen that might save the animals from being wiped out worldwide. Their goal is to meet the Chinese middle class’ insatiable demand for ejiao – a traditional Chinese medicine with purported anti-ageing benefits that is derived from donkey skins – while also offering a purer product that poses less risk of contamination. Carla Molento, a pro...

Hong Kong’s Paul Chan urges closer Europe ties, dialogue to work out differences

Hong Kong’s Paul Chan urges closer Europe ties, dialogue to work out differences

SCMP

Hong Kong’s finance chief has called for deeper cooperation and dialogue with Europe despite disagreements on some issues, saying such engagement is crucial amid growing geopolitical uncertainty. Writing in his weekly blog on Sunday after a five-day trip to France, Belgium and Switzerland, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said European political and business leaders were increasingly seeking st...

What to eat and buy at Hong Kong airport’s revamped Terminal 2

What to eat and buy at Hong Kong airport’s revamped Terminal 2

SCMP

The expanded second passenger terminal at Hong Kong International Airport is set to open its doors to travellers on Wednesday, offering 25 new shopping and dining options. While travellers must still take an autonomous people mover to Terminal 1 for departures after checking in at Terminal 2, the revamped facility promises a number of conveniences. The South China Morning Post explores how travell...

Hong Kong is the best anchor for Chinese firms seeking global waters

Hong Kong is the best anchor for Chinese firms seeking global waters

SCMP

Last year, China’s outward direct investment climbed 7 per cent to US$174 billion while overseas mergers and acquisitions rebounded to over US$43 billion, up nearly 40 per cent, according to EY data. Clearly, China’s appetite for global deal-making has returned. But the approach has changed. A decade ago, outbound investment was largely asset-driven, shaped by relatively light regulatory constrain...

China scientists argue that harsh settings, not warm climates, drive early human creativity

China scientists argue that harsh settings, not warm climates, drive early human creativity

SCMP

Archaeologists in central China have directly challenged the long-held belief that humanity’s earliest ancestors reached their creative peak during warm and hospitable climates. For more than a decade, a team of researchers in Henan province has studied a 146,000-year-old animal-butchering site once inhabited by Homo juluensis, an extinct human species that lived about 300,000 years ago in eastern...

Bun king and queen scramble to victory once again at Cheung Chau festival

Bun king and queen scramble to victory once again at Cheung Chau festival

SCMP

Perennial “bun king” Kwok Ka‑ming captured the men’s crown for the 11th time at Hong Kong’s annual bun-scrambling competition on Cheung Chau, while Janet Kung Tsz‑shan – last year’s women’s champion – also successfully defended her title. The competition is the highlight of the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival, which drew more than 18,000 visitors to the outlying island on Sunday, including tourist...

Crowds top 18,000 for parade, bun scramble at Cheung Chau festival

Crowds top 18,000 for parade, bun scramble at Cheung Chau festival

SCMP

Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival drew more than 18,000 visitors on Sunday, including tourists who had travelled specifically to watch the parade featuring “floating” children dressed this year as Middle Eastern oil moguls and judges. Visitors to the outlying island also splurged on frozen pineapples, watermelon juice and frozen mango mochi as temperatures hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit)...

Crowds top 18,000 at Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival as parade draws visitors

Crowds top 18,000 at Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival as parade draws visitors

SCMP

Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival had drawn more than 18,000 visitors by 5pm on Sunday, including tourists who had travelled specifically to watch the parade featuring “floating” children dressed this year as Middle Eastern oil moguls and judges. Visitors to the outlying island also splurged on frozen pineapples, watermelon juice and frozen mango mochi as the mercury hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 ...

Crowds top 10,000 at Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival as parade draws visitors

Crowds top 10,000 at Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival as parade draws visitors

SCMP

Hong Kong’s annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival drew more than 10,000 visitors by noon on Sunday, including tourists who had travelled specially to witness the signature parade featuring “floating” children dressed as Middle Eastern oil moguls and judges. Visitors to the outlying island on Sunday splurged on frozen pineapples, watermelon juice and frozen mango mochi to beat the heat as the mercury hit...

Will Zimbabwe’s lithium strategy help it break into the value-adding game?

Will Zimbabwe’s lithium strategy help it break into the value-adding game?

SCMP

Zimbabwe is betting that its move into lithium processing will finally break the cycle of digging and shipping ore that has defined its mining sector for decades. This follows the export of the continent’s first consignment of lithium sulphate by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, from its US$400 million Arcadia mine near Harare last month. The milestone cam...

Japan to scour social media in hunt for visa overstayers, illegal foreign workers

Japan to scour social media in hunt for visa overstayers, illegal foreign workers

SCMP

Japan’s immigration authorities plan to crack down on visa overstayers and illegal foreign workers by monitoring social media and other platforms for information or leads. The initiative is part of the country’s efforts to reduce the number of overstayers at a time when Japan is taking in more foreign workers due to labour shortages. As early as next year, the Immigration Services Agency plans to ...

California races to prevent chemical tank explosion as thousands evacuated

California races to prevent chemical tank explosion as thousands evacuated

SCMP

Firefighters warned on Saturday that a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of Californians to evacuate. About 40,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes in the Garden Grove area of Orange county, southeast of Los Angeles, on Friday after the tank began to leak, sending fumes over a heavil...