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Chinese researchers have developed a new-generation nuclear battery that far surpasses its predecessor and marks a major step in long-life power sources, according to the team. Northwest Normal University, in collaboration with Chinese tech firm Gansu Zhulong Technology, unveiled a carbon‑14 nuclear battery and silicon carbide (SiC) transducer on Monday, saying the equipment was developed without ...
Fourteen of the 27 top scorers in this year’s International Baccalaureate (IB) programme from Hong Kong’s largest international school group plan to study medicine, with some students attributing their success to discipline, miso soup and using a Nokia phone with limited internet access. The English Schools Foundation’s top achievers shared their plans and study tips on Tuesday after learning thei...
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced on Tuesday that she will run for president in 2027 after an appeal court shortened her ban on holding public office. Le Pen’s presidential hopes had been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year electoral ban for using money from the European Parliament to pay wages for staff at her anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party in Franc...
A French appeal court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for public office, in theory preserving a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election. However, the court also sentenced Le Pen to a three-year jail term: two suspended and one with an electronic ankle tag. This would make a presidential campaign pol...
The European Commission has been clearly signalling its intention to wage a trade war against China. Brussels’ intent to counter the so-called China shock 2.0 – the wave of subsidised Chinese exports such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries – is no longer merely a verbal threat but appears to be an imminent decision. Comparing current trade tensions between the European Union an...
Cults luring victims overseas for sex in a bid to “change their fate”, as well as suggestive games hosted at orientation camps in Hong Kong could amount to sexual offences, authorities have warned, as they launched a public consultation on the city’s sexual law reforms. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Tuesday clarified that sexual offences involving misleading claims would fall wit...
Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday said it found the body of Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska, who had been wanted by authorities in Monaco in connection with the bombing targeting Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev. The security service, also known by its local abbreviation SBU, said an officer serving in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing Berezovska wi...
China’s central bank extended its gold-buying streak to a 20th straight month in June, adding 480,000 troy ounces (14.93 tonnes) to its reserves as policymakers continued to accumulate bullion amid de-dollarisation discussions. The People’s Bank of China said gold holdings rose to 75.44 million troy ounces (2,346 tonnes) at the end of June. The latest addition extended the longest buying streak si...
Even if a smartphone is offline, in flight mode, encrypted or locked, Chinese authorities could still be able to determine which apps are being used by analysing faint electromagnetic signals emitted as the device operates. Researchers at the People’s Public Security University of China have developed a method that identifies smartphone applications and user actions through low-frequency electroma...
Singapore and Indonesia’s latest push to trade low-carbon electricity could become more than a bilateral energy deal, with analysts saying it might offer Southeast Asia a practical test case for a regional power grid that has long struggled to move from ambition to implementation. The cooperation, centred on electricity-import deals and cross-border interconnector projects, is also expected to str...
India will supply Indonesia with long-range missiles, an Indian official said on Tuesday as their leaders agreed to deepen ties in defence, critical minerals and other areas. President Prabowo Subianto is hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jakarta during a three-day state visit, with a deal on the BrahMos missile system topping the agenda. An agreement for “cooperation on BrahMos syste...
A significant generational gap over China is emerging in the United States, with younger Americans significantly less likely to see Beijing as a cause for concern, according to a new survey. “Across almost every potential concern tested regarding Beijing, American unease climbs steeply with age,” the 2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey said. It also found that despite the deep political divisions ...
India’s wildly popular digital payments system, which began as a way for people to send money instantly by phone, could help the country turn one of its biggest domestic technology successes into a tool of diplomacy, analysts say. That opportunity is coming into focus in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where officials are studying whether India’s low-cost digital systems can be adapte...
Creating “new institutional architecture” like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) could ease “security-first” economics globally, New Delhi’s new top envoy to Beijing suggested, as both countries work to mend ties. Vikram Doraiswami, who took up the post in May, also called for greater access for Indian products in China and more Chinese investment in India, which the ambassador expec...
With their rounded faces, rosy cheeks, and joyful demeanour, Da A Fu dolls are beloved emblems of good fortune in China and have become celebrated icons of the nation’s cultural heritage. Traditionally crafted from clay, these figures represent the most famous example of Huishan claywork, an esteemed Chinese art form that traces its origins back to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). These delightful ar...
Hong Kong should draft a five-year plan that includes an artificial intelligence (AI) focus that is not too broad, makes the most of its core strengths and attracts the best talent to develop the sector, industry leaders have said. At the South China Morning Post’s China Conference on Tuesday, speakers at a panel discussion titled “Intelligence at Scale: Hong Kong’s AI-Powered Future” considered h...
The coming World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) is set to feature major new product releases, such as Huawei Technologies’ next-generation computing cluster, as China doubles down on AI in the global technology race. This year’s WAIC, the ninth since 2018 and running from July 17 to 20 in Shanghai, would include the first physical display of Huawei’s Atlas 950 SuperPoD, Tang Wenkan, dir...
Hong Kong will substantially increase its yuan facilities for banks from this Friday, while the city will also introduce a new electronic fixed income and currency (FIC) trading system as part of its latest efforts to promote yuan trading, according to local market regulators on Tuesday. Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) would increase the quota of its RMB Business Facility for banks by 1.5 time...
Nato chief Mark Rutte said the alliance “cannot be naive” about China’s military build-up, after the nation conducted its first known launch of a strategic missile from a nuclear submarine. “What happens in the Indo-Pacific is relevant to what is happening in the transatlantic,” Rutte told a news conference on Monday, ahead of the military alliance’s annual summit in Ankara, Turkey. The Indo-Pacif...
Malaysia’s former economy minister Rafizi Ramli and his breakaway party, Bersama, are unlikely to emerge as a credible third force in the country’s political landscape, but they could still siphon votes away from the reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Bersama’s first electoral test, in Johor on Saturday, will be watched less for the number of seats it win...
Sri Lanka launched an investigation on Tuesday into its deadliest prison riot in years, as the death toll from clashes between rival drug gangs rose to 27. Armed police and commandos were not sent into the prison but were deployed to guard the perimeter of Negombo prison, as authorities tightened security following the clashes on Monday that also wounded more than 100. Justice Minister Harshana Na...
Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japa...
Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France’s president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit, wounding at least 18 people, Syria’s Interior Ministry said. It was the second blast to rock the capital in a few days, and a setback for the country’s new president as he welcomed his first visit from a western leader since ousting long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad. Syria’s new rulers...
Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France’s president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit. Emmanuel Macron had entered the presidential palace to meet Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa when the explosions happened near the Four Seasons Hotel. Syrian authorities did not immediately comment on the incident. Syrian media reported that Macron was staying at the Four Seasons. The F...
Beijing has staged a special screening of a blockbuster film that sparked a debate about propaganda in Southeast Asia, inviting 150 foreign diplomats and their families to the event to help them “better understand China”. Diplomats from 74 embassies, including Indonesia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Peru, attended Monday’s screening of the film Dear You, which was organised by the Chines...
Beijing has staged a special screening of a blockbuster film that sparked a debate about propaganda in Southeast Asia for 150 foreign diplomats and their families to help them “better understand China”. Diplomats from 74 embassies, including Indonesia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Peru, attended Monday’s screening of the film Dear You, which was organised by the Chinese foreign ministry....
South Korea’s Incheon International Airport achieved a historic milestone in global aviation by recording 1 billion cumulative passengers in the shortest period among the world’s major hub airports, the airport operator said on Tuesday. According to Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC), the airport crossed the 1 billion passenger mark just 25 years and three months after its opening in March ...
Hong Kong’s stock market could face sell-off pressure amid a torrent of new share supply in coming days as the six-month lock-up period ends for hot artificial intelligence and semiconductor picks including Zhipu AI and MiniMax. Meanwhile analysts warned of rising fears of a drain on liquidity as many of the same companies were eyeing large secondary share placements. The market was facing dual se...
China’s last surviving female Red Army veteran has marked her 105th birthday, as her extraordinary wartime story stirred admiration across mainland social media. On June 27, Wang Quanying, from Sichuan province in southwestern China, sat in a wheelchair in military uniform, her chest adorned with medals, as relatives, volunteers and well-wishers gathered to celebrate the milestone. Although Wang n...
Vietnam has introduced a raft of incentives to encourage couples to have more children as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to reverse a fast-declining fertility rate. Gone is the country’s long-standing two-child policy, scrapped last year. In its place is a new population law, which took effect on July 1, offering a suite of sweeteners designed to nudge Vietnamese couples towards larger families....
