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China’s dominance in rare earth mining, refining and exports has long been viewed as a strategic advantage. But a new study by Chinese researchers argues that the country’s rare earth industry has its own critical weakness. “China is not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields,” the researchers wrote in the paper. Published in the latest issue of the Bulletin of ...
A Hong Kong tour group on an aurora-chasing boat ride near an island in Australia saved two fellow city residents who went missing while scuba diving, in a dramatic rescue the agency said “shone light on the brilliance of humanity”. WWPKG Tours detailed the rescue on Sunday in a Facebook post and commended tour group leader Foxman Hui and his members who were on a trip in Tasmania. They were out a...
Residents at the epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) Ebola outbreak are pinning their hopes on experimental treatments after researchers began a highly anticipated study in early July of two possible Ebola treatments in hopes of fighting the still-growing outbreak. At the Ebola treatment centre inside Bunia’s Evangelical Medical Centre, in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, the la...
Nearly 60 per cent of Hong Kong parents mistakenly believe that invasive meningococcal disease is no different from a common cold, a survey has found, prompting doctors to urge greater public awareness of the potentially fatal infection ahead of the summer travel season. The warning follows a survey by the Hong Kong Early Childhood Educators Association of 300 parents and teachers. Parents scored ...
The world’s attention is fixed on frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models, but China’s robot-making factories deserve just as much attention. Chinese e-commerce company JD.com has predicted that robots would ultimately replace its 700,000 delivery workers, while workers at South Korean carmaker Hyundai are threatening strike action over issues including the roll-out of robots. These are early...
From the ancient Aztecs’ efforts to appease the sun god to Apollo’s demands in the Iliad, human history is permeated with traditions of sacrifice, and China was no exception. In Zhejiang province, eastern China, scientists recently announced the discovery of a horse’s head sealed inside pottery at an ancient ritual site, dating back to the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BC). The Eastern Zhou dynast...
Since he started work as Nato secretary general almost two years ago, Mark Rutte has spent much of his time trying to keep the United States anchored to the world’s biggest military alliance, employing outright flattery to dissuade US President Donald Trump from acting on threats to abandon it. But the goalposts keep shifting, raising the stakes ahead of this week’s summit in Turkey. Initially, it...
Hong Kong has to brace for the emerging risks of an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble bursting and quantum computers capable of hacking encrypted financial systems, the city’s de facto central banker has warned. Eddie Yue Wai-man, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), also said on Sunday that the banking regulator would focus on expanding the internationalisation of the yua...
A Hong Kong paediatrician has been removed from the General Register for nine months after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the medical watchdog over an incident that left a boy permanently disabled more than 16 years ago. In a verdict on Sunday, Dr Sit Sou-chi was convicted of failing to carry out all necessary and immediate investigations on newborn Li Yuanjian, the son of a main...
A Hong Kong paediatrician has been removed from the General Register for nine months, without suspension, after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the medical watchdog over an incident that left a boy permanently disabled more than 16 years ago. In a verdict on Sunday, Dr Sit Sou-chi was convicted of failing to carry out all necessary and immediate investigations on newborn Li Yuanji...
US Vice-President J.D. Vance said Britain had been “failed by its leadership for a long time”, adding that he hoped the country’s next prime minister could deliver the structural change voters were seeking after years of political turmoil. In an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Vance said frequent changes of government pointed to deeper problems in British politics. Prime Minister Kei...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Sweden to help rebuild trust between the two countries and cultivate a “correct perception” of each other, despite their frictions in recent years. “Sweden was the first Western country that established diplomatic relations with China, which showed Sweden’s independence and strategic foresight while setting an example globally,” Wang told Prime Minister U...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Sweden to help rebuild trust between the two countries and cultivate a “correct perception” of each other despite their frictions in recent years. “Sweden was the first Western country that established diplomatic relations with China, which showed Sweden’s independence and strategic foresight while setting an example globally,” Wang told Prime Minister Ul...
The future of energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz hangs in the balance after negotiations between Iran and the United States in Doha this week ended without an agreement on releasing frozen funds to the Islamic Republic. With Tehran also failing to begin demining the strait, and still threatening to attack ships attempting to leave the Persian Gulf without its permission, neither side has ...
A performer at the funeral for Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the death of US President Donald Trump before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday in the capital, Tehran. The comment represents the first, direct call for Trump’s death by an emcee at the funeral, which has seen posters and graffiti calling for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minist...
In a quieter part of western Bali, far from the crowds and chaos of the south, a 38-year-old housewife was bitten by a stray cat while hanging out laundry in May. Within weeks, she was dead: one of five people killed by rabies on the Indonesian resort island so far this year. The following month, a rabid dog kept as a family pet in the same region, Jembrana regency, attacked two children and an ad...
In a quieter part of western Bali, far from the crowds and chaos of the south, a 38-year-old housewife was bitten by a stray cat while hanging out laundry in May. Within weeks, she was dead: one of five people killed by rabies on the Indonesian resort island so far this year. The following month, a rabid dog kept as a family pet in the same region, Jembrana regency, attacked two children and an ad...
Pet strollers, partitions and pre-dining briefings for customers are among the measures Hong Kong restaurants are taking ahead of the launch of a scheme allowing dogs into eateries next week. Dim sum restaurant Old Fung Tea House, with six outlets across the city, is among 833 eateries that will allow dogs to enter starting on Thursday under a policy by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Departmen...
For some early-career scientists, the prestige of British academia is being marred by shrinking research funding and a complex geopolitical climate, prompting top-tier talent to look elsewhere for stability and resources. Chen Peipei, who moved from a research associate role at the University of Cambridge to a presidential assistant professorship at City University of Hong Kong in May, said she wa...
A Chinese artificial intelligence chip start-up led by industry veteran Wei Shaojun has emerged from stealth mode, joining giants like Huawei Technologies in betting on 3D stacking to bypass US tech export controls. Dongfang Suanxin, a company headed by Wei, who is also vice-president of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, has stepped into the spotlight by launching a corporate website a...
All crew and passengers have been safely evacuated from a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from India after smoke was reported inside the cabin of the aircraft after landing in Hong Kong. Flight CX624 from Bengaluru landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 9.53am on Sunday. Smoke was reported inside the cabin of the Airbus A330 while it was exiting the runway. A preliminary police investigation f...
All crew and passengers have been safely evacuated from a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from India after smoke was reported inside the cabin of the aircraft after landing in Hong Kong. Flight CX624 from Bengaluru landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 9.53am on Sunday. Smoke was reported inside the cabin of the Airbus A330 while it was exiting the runway. A preliminary police investigation f...
All crew and passengers have been safely evacuated from a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from India after the aircraft was seen emitting smoke during its landing in Hong Kong. Flight CX624 from Bengaluru landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 9.53am on Sunday after smoke was reported on board the Airbus A330. A preliminary police investigation found the smoke originated from the overheating a...
A Cathay Pacific Airways flight arriving in Hong Kong from India was seen emitting smoke on Sunday after an on board air-conditioning system overheated, with no injuries reported. Flight CX624 from Bengaluru landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 9.53am, when smoke was reported on the A330 aircraft. A preliminary police investigation found the smoke originated from the overheating air-condit...
When South Korea’s national football team returned home on Tuesday after their shock group-stage exit from the 2026 World Cup tournament, the fury of fans was not targeted at captain Son Heung-min or other players. It was aimed at head coach Hong Myung-bo, who announced his resignation during a press conference in Guadalajara, Mexico – the tournament’s co-host – on June 28. South Korea lost 1-0 to...
The world has yet to truly understand how to deal with a rapidly rising China. Even within China, some of the most learned minds are surprised at how quickly the country has taken the global lead in new economic areas, such as electric vehicles. Global warming is no longer abstract; ask around in Europe this summer and people will tell you it has been unbearably hot. Electric vehicles have a futur...
China and the United States may have agreed to establish a “constructive” relationship characterised by “strategic stability” but deep-seated differences have left the future shape of the relationship looking uncertain, a forum in Beijing heard on Saturday. Looking ahead to President Xi Jinping’s possible US visit later this year, Sun Yun, director of the China programme at US think tank the Stims...
More Hong Kong students are turning to mainland China for summer internships as government and university schemes expand cross-border placements. Students said they were drawn by greater opportunities in different sectors, hands-on experience in a larger market and lower living costs, with some viewing cross-border exposure as a career asset. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau’s corporate summer in...
A young Chinese man is reviving China’s most famous poet Li Bai at a tourist site, and has become millions of visitors’ emotional outlet for burnout. Wang Haonan, 24, amasses more than a million followers online after he went viral playing the role of Li Bai at Hetou Old Street, a Tang dynasty-themed tourist district in Tangshan in northern China’s Hebei province. The Tang dynasty (618–907) is rec...
Asean military observers have now visited both sides of the Thai-Cambodian frontier, measuring damage and recording claims as Bangkok and Phnom Penh continue to trade allegations of ceasefire breaches following last year’s deadly clashes. In late June, a delegation from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fanned out across Thailand and Cambodia, escorted through contested g...
