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Hong Kong’s rail operator more than doubled its net profit to HK$15.87 billion (US$2 billion) in the first half of 2026, up from HK$7.70 billion a year earlier, as strong gains from property development offset largely flat performance in its rail and commercial operations. “Although the corporation delivered solid results in the first half of the year, we will continue to undertake forward-looking...
Net profit for Hong Kong’s rail operator more than doubled to HK$15.87 billion (US$2 billion) in the first half of 2026, up from HK$7.70 billion a year earlier, as strong gains from property development offset largely flat performance in its rail and commercial operations. The MTR Corporation reported a 120.7 per cent year-on-year increase in property-development profit, bringing it to HK$12.23 bi...
Net profit at Hong Kong’s rail operator MTR Corporation more than doubled to HK$15.87 billion (US$ 2 billion) in the first half of the year, from HK$7.70 billion a year earlier, as strong gains from property development offset largely flat performance in its rail and commercial operations. The partly privatised corporation reported a 120.7 per cent year-on-year increase in property-development pro...
Financial markets have been gripped by concern in recent days over reports that China was introducing a new tax on returns from offshore insurance policies. The significance of the episode could prove more complex than the initial market reaction suggests. According to a report from Caixin, Chinese tax authorities have sought to collect tax on investment returns generated by offshore insurance pol...
At a bustling fruit store in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, a crowd of workers sporting damp towels around their necks or fan vests buy up chilled drinks to stay hydrated as temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) on a busy weekday morning. Soaked in sweat, 29-year-old construction worker Yau buys a litre of water to help beat the heat on Wednesday. “I spend at least HK$100 per day to buy...
Three mainland Chinese scientists have won this year’s Future Science Prize, China’s first privately funded award recognising scientific achievement, for breakthroughs in molecular mechanisms, porous materials and arithmetic geometry. The event, being held in Hong Kong for a fourth consecutive year, underscores the city’s growing role as an international hub for scientific development, according t...
US military facilities across the Pacific are in a worrying state of decay, the Pentagon inspector general warned, raising concerns about bases that are critical to deterring China. Corrosion and holes in buildings, falling ceilings and the presence of mould and asbestos were among the problems identified through inspections of 11 US facilities across the region and relayed to a dozen senior Defen...
Thailand’s possible acquisition of a supersonic cruise missile from India would help the Southeast Asian country defend its interests against Cambodia and could even fuel a “mini-arms race” between the two neighbours, analysts have said. The BrahMos system could strengthen Thailand’s deterrence at sea while giving Bangkok more options as tensions with Cambodia persist and neighbouring navies moder...
A highway operator in Gansu province, northwestern China, apologised on Wednesday after a service area sign for the hot water room, mistranslated in English as “open water rooms”, was shared on social media. Similar translation errors, as well as spelling mistakes, on signage at public facilities have repeatedly drawn attention, including an incident in late March, when a passenger at an airport i...
Hong Kong lawmakers have warned of potential loopholes that bid-riggers can still exploit despite a government proposal to tighten proxy votes, owner attendance at renovation meetings and other oversight issues in its review of building maintenance rules after the Tai Po fire. Their warnings on Thursday coincided with the announcement of a second round of raids by the Competition Commission in con...
Hong Kong lawmakers have warned of implementation challenges in a government proposal to tighten proxy votes and owner attendance at renovation meetings as part of a broader move to strengthen oversight of building maintenance after the Tai Po fire. Their warnings on Thursday coincided with the announcement of a second round of raids by the Competition Commission pertaining to a bid-rigging case i...
A Hong Kong magistrate has acquitted a former auxiliary police officer of assaulting his wife at their home last year, citing inconsistencies in her testimony about his alleged attack after he refused to care for their baby. Magistrate Claudia Ng Cheuk-hwa on Thursday found Adnan Mohammad not guilty of one count of common assault. Mohammad’s wife, Shazia Parveen, told the court that he had hit her...
The US military campaign against Iran has so far failed to force Tehran to capitulate. The Trump administration is betting once again that suffocating economic pressure will do the job. Facing a shortfall of necessary munitions and wary of continuing an unpopular war, Trump and his top officials are returning to a familiar playbook with Iran: relying on a steady increase in economic sanctions and ...
A research team at Zhejiang University (ZJU) has cracked a molecular puzzle, turning ordinary yeast into a powerful factory for an expensive cancer drug and boosting its production by a thousand times. The anticancer drug vinblastine has long been sourced exclusively from the Madagascar periwinkle plant. But it takes up to 2 tonnes of dried leaves to yield just 1 gram (0.03 ounce) of vinblastine, ...
A research team at Zhejiang University has cracked a molecular puzzle, turning ordinary yeast into a powerful factory for an expensive cancer drug and boosting its production by a thousand times. The anticancer drug vinblastine has long been sourced exclusively from the Madagascar periwinkle plant. But it takes 2 tonnes of dried leaves to yield just 1 gram of vinblastine, making it more expensive ...
A new term, “pre-made children,” has recently gone viral on Chinese social media, highlighting the trend of parents prioritising their children’s studies over rest and enjoyment during summer holidays. This term, which gained traction this summer, is inspired by the concept of “pre-made meals,” describing factory-processed frozen foods that are easy to prepare. With many restaurants opting for thi...
A Form Six student has become one of Hong Kong’s top scorers in this year’s university entrance examinations after her biology grade was upgraded following a remarking request, bringing the record-breaking total to 25 students from 16 schools who achieved perfect scores. Sunny Sun Wat-ching, an 18-year-old student at N.T. Heung Yee Kuk Yuen Long district Secondary School who sat the Diploma of Sec...
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting a “strong” protest by Japan which also claims the territory. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Kremlin posted a video of Putin in the Kuril Islan...
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) has broken into the world’s top three NAND flash memory suppliers by volume for the first time, marking a milestone for China’s semiconductor ambitions as it strives to narrow the revenue gap with global rivals in high-value data-centre storage. The Wuhan-based chipmaker captured 14 per cent of global NAND bit shipments – a measure of total storage ca...
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) has broken into the world’s top three NAND flash memory suppliers by volume for the first time, marking a milestone for China’s semiconductor ambitions as it strives to narrow the revenue gap with global rivals in high-value data-centre storage. The Wuhan-based chipmaker captured 14 per cent of global NAND bit shipments – a measure of total storage capacity ...
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) has broken into the world’s top three NAND flash memory suppliers by volume for the first time, marking a milestone for China’s semiconductor ambitions as it strives to narrow the revenue gap with global rivals in high-value data-centre storage. The Wuhan-based chipmaker captured 14 per cent of global NAND bit shipments – a measure of total storage capacity ...
Employed mothers in Malaysia have defended emergency leave rights amid debate over unfair workplace expectations and the challenge of balancing family and long hours. The dispute erupted after a woman complained on live radio that colleagues with children were taking emergency leave too often, piling extra work on their single counterparts. The anonymous caller told the hosts of Hot FM’s breakfast...
Hysan Development, the largest commercial landlord in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district, posted an underlying profit of HK$1.11 billion (US$140.19 million) for the first half of 2026, an increase of 7.4 per cent from a year earlier, driven by a realised gain from the sale of residential units at its Bamboo Grove project. Revenue for the six months ended June 30 was largely flat at HK$1.73...
Ethiopia’s new US$12.5 billion mega-airport project has thrust the nation into the heart of a geopolitical tug of war between the United States and China. Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, is developing the massive Bishoftu International Airport, located 40km (25 miles) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa to serve as a primary hub for African trade and travel. The project has triggere...
For years, Elon Musk has dreamed of conquering a range of chronic health conditions by inserting computer chips into the human brain. But that vision could become reality fastest in China, where state authorities are launching a coordinated effort to accelerate the nascent industry’s development. The past few days have seen a string of initiatives related to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) announ...
Welcome to Open Dialogue, a series from the South China Morning Post where we bring together leading voices to discuss the stories and subjects occupying international headlines. In this edition, we invited a leading Chinese scholar of South Asian affairs and a former Indian foreign secretary and ambassador to China to reflect on the deep fault lines in India-China relations. They debate whether t...
Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain. Conditions are “inhumane”, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to ...
Surrounded by a clutter of carton boxes, bottles of dishwashing liquid and rows of dry snacks, Ramasamy Vellasamy holds court behind a cashier. For nine hours a day since 1986, he has been running a provision shop on the ground floor of a housing block in northern Singapore and knows the neighbourhood and its residents like the back of his hand. Despite Samy Provision Shop’s enduring presence, it ...
Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh was struck off the rolls on Thursday after the Three Judges decided on the disciplinary action initiated by the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc). This follows his conviction for giving false evidence under oath. Apart from being a Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC, Singh was also a non-practising lawyer. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon presided over the he...
A father in southwestern China, who once dug a grave for his two-year-old ailing daughter, has transformed it into a flower garden after she made a remarkable recovery. Zhang Xinlei, from Neijiang in Sichuan province, was born with severe thalassaemia, a blood disorder that requires lifelong transfusions and poses risks of developmental delays and heart complications. The illness left the little g...
