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An ex-Austrian intelligence officer was found guilty of passing on state secrets to a fugitive former top executive at the fraudulent payments company Wirecard in a high-profile spy case that has prompted authorities in Vienna to tighten rules on espionage. Egisto Ott was handed a prison sentence of more than four years for spying, abuse of office, bribery and embezzlement, and other charges, acco...
A Hong Kong construction worker has been remanded in custody pending sentencing after pleading guilty to tossing 59 pieces of paper bearing seditious messages from his public rental flat in 2024 and last year. Raymond Wong Chan-fai, 55, was detained on Thursday morning by police’s National Security Department. He was escorted to West Kowloon Court in the afternoon, where he pleaded guilty to two c...
Beijing has reiterated its firm opposition to any official interactions between Washington and Taiwan, following US President Donald Trump’s remarks that he would be open to speaking with the person “running” the island, William Lai Ching-te. Such a move would cross Beijing’s red line and undo the progress made during Trump’s recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, analysts warn, though t...
Beijing has reiterated its firm opposition to any official interactions between Washington and Taiwan, following Donald Trump’s remarks that he would be open to speaking with the person “running” the island, William Lai Ching-te. Such a move would cross Beijing’s red line and undo the progress made during Trump’s recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, analysts warn, though they note Chin...
Beijing has reiterated its firm opposition to any official interactions between Washington and Taiwan, following Donald Trump’s remarks that he would be open to speaking with the person “running” the island, William Lai Ching-te. “China’s opposition to official US exchanges with China’s Taiwan region and US arms to Taiwan remains consistent, clear and firm,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo ...
A top influencer in China has announced a halt to updates of his social media account for the sake of his health, arousing significant nationwide attention. The announcement comes after the sudden deaths of a slew of online celebrities at a young age due to work pressure, the Liaoshen Evening News reported. Wang Bowen, who uses the handle @dalianlaoshiwangbowen on social media and has amassed more...
CK Hutchison Holdings, one of the flagship companies of billionaire Li Ka-shing, has no plans to sell ParknShop in Hong Kong to one of its largest competitors, according to a senior executive of the supermarket chain’s owner and operator. “There is really no such plan to sell ParknShop,” said Dominic Lai, group co-managing director of CK Hutchison, responding to a question at the company’s annual ...
China’s robotics pioneers are rapidly expanding beyond the usual factory surroundings and into more challenging terrains: the unstructured, dynamic and complex world of domestic household chores. GigaAI unveiled the country’s first general-purpose household humanoid robot model on Wednesday, the SeeLight S1, in collaboration with Hubei Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre and Hubei Humanoid Robotics I...
Uber has described Hong Kong’s plan to cap the number of ride-hailing vehicle licences as “unusual”, as the city enters the final stage of shaping its regulatory regime for the service. Andrew Byrne, the company’s US-based global head of public policy, was in Hong Kong on Thursday, and urged authorities to consider existing demand when setting any cap. The proposed ceiling has sparked controversy....
Uber has described Hong Kong’s plan to cap the number of ride-hailing vehicle licences as “unusual,” as the city enters the final stage of shaping its regulatory regime. Andrew Byrne, the company’s US-based global head of public policy, was in Hong Kong on Thursday, where he urged authorities to consider existing demand when setting any cap. The proposed ceiling has sparked controversy. Some lawma...
A Pentagon delegation may visit China within weeks, paving the way for a potential Beijing trip by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. Elbridge Colby, defence undersecretary for policy, may lead the group visit, which will aim to finalise arrangements for a Hegseth trip among other goals, the SCMP said, citing unidentified sources. It’s not clear when...
Chinese archaeologists have started work on a joint excavation project at a site in Greece that may help answer some increasingly popular questions in China about the roots of ancient civilisations. Most global histories are written by European and American scholars. As China’s national power grows, scepticism within the country towards historical narratives shaped by Western perspectives is incre...
Malaysia’s internet regulator has issued a statutory demand to TikTok on Thursday after a fake account allegedly used artificial intelligence to insult the country’s king, including posts falsely claiming he ate pork and manipulated images pairing his face with animal bodies. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said in a statement that TikTok had failed to take “sufficien...
We have selected seven lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Saunas, sure. But sleep? A couple stays overnight at a 24-hour spa in Shenzhen A writer and her husband visit Shenzhen’s Tenz spa to see what it offers besides massages and how easy it is to get a good night’s rest there ...
The presidents of the United States and Russia visited Beijing on separate trips in May to meet with President Xi Jinping. The South China Morning Post produced extensive coverage of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s summit meetings in Beijing. Here are some of the highlights of our coverage, showing you what happened, what it means, and what’s next. If you would like to see more of our reporting,...
China and Russia released a joint statement on Thursday in the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier, during which the two leaders signed an agreement to boost strategic ties and a separate declaration to push for a multipolar global order and witnessed the sealing of more than 20 agreements on cooperation in areas including energy, trade...
Former British health minister Wes Streeting, a potential candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party, said he backed the introduction of tax changes which would equalise capital gains tax with income tax to make the system “fairer”. Streeting said on Saturday that he wanted to challenge embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer if there is a contest, days after he stepped down and urged Starm...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s declaration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “war criminal” underlines the balancing act between his human rights convictions and commitment to protecting Seoul’s interests in the Middle East, analysts have said. Lee’s comments came as Seoul was pushing for the release of two South Korean nationals detained by Israeli forces while attempti...
The United States has denied any role in Norway’s decision to cancel a missile sale to Malaysia, saying it had supported the acquisition, after the dispute raised questions over Washington’s influence on weapons deals involving American-made components. The dispute centres on Naval Strike Missiles (NSMs) built by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace for a fleet of new Malaysian combat ships, wit...
Brazil’s right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro was riding high in the polls until the news broke of his ties to a banker jailed over a multimillion-dollar fraud scandal. The 45-year-old senator had been polling neck-and-neck with 80-year-old President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is expected to seek a fourth term in presidential elections in October. But a change may be under way fo...
Hong Kong police are investigating a burglary at a seaside luxury house in Tai Po, where a businesswoman lost an estimated HK$8 million (US$1.02 million) worth of premium wines, Mao-tai liquor and vintage tea leaves, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source on Thursday said that the victim, a 53-year-old local businesswoman, reported the break-in at around 5.47pm on Wednesday after retur...
As many as two-thirds of 158 subdivided housing tenants supported by an NGO in Hong Kong have shown signs of anxiety or depression, highlighting calls for stronger counselling and social support. The Kwun Tong Methodist Social Service (KTMSS) said on Thursday that it had served 158 families living in subdivided flats in the district in 2024-25, about half of whom had at least one child with specia...
As many as two-thirds of 158 subdivided housing tenants supported by an NGO in Hong Kong have shown signs of anxiety or depression, highlighting calls for stronger counselling and social support. Kwun Tong Methodist Social Service (KMSS) said on Thursday that it had served 158 families living in subdivided flats in the district in 2024-25, about half of whom had at least one child with special edu...
Alibaba Group Holding’s heavy investments in artificial intelligence have moved beyond the “initial” phase and entered “full-scale commercialisation”, the Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing giant says in a shareholder letter as it doubles down on AI as its next major growth engine. “We expect the addressable market for companies like Alibaba that provide full-stack AI capabilities is poised to...
A Chinese woman developed an eight centimetre throat ulcer after eating hotpot too quickly, prompting her doctor to warn about the risks of such behaviour. The 42-year-old, surnamed Wang, from Changsha in central China’s Hunan province, was diagnosed with an oesophageal ulcer after gulping down the food. She said she was too “hungry and carried away” while chatting with friends over hotpot on a co...
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has warned of a new scam in which fraudsters impersonate an electrical appliance retailer to offer compensation or product replacements, with losses totalling HK$17,000 (US$2,170) in one case. A spokesman for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said on Thursday that it had received 24 complaints and seven inquiries in recent months related to such ...
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has warned of a new scam in which fraudsters impersonate an electrical appliance retailer to offer compensation or product replacements, with losses totalling HK$17,000 (US$2,170) in one case. A spokesman for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said on Thursday that it had received 24 complaints and seven inquiries in recent months related to such ...
Cambodian authorities have raided two buildings in Phnom Penh’s Prince Plaza Centre, which is linked to extradited Chinese billionaire Chen Zhi, and detained 104 individuals, including 82 Chinese nationals, local media reported. The move comes as governments around the world have intensified their crackdown on an alleged multibillion-dollar online scam empire since Chen’s arrest. The raid, a joi...
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. Could omega-3 supplements hurt the brain? Chinese military study flags risks Oral fish oil intake may not improve and could even speed up cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease, a research team from China’s A...
The medical condition of Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha has worsened as a result of multiple infections in several organs, with doctors unable to contain her irregular heart rate, the Royal Palace said in a statement on Thursday. The 47-year-old princess and eldest daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn was taken to hospital in December 2022, after she collapsed from a heart condition and other i...
