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40% of flights grounded in Shanghai as long-lived Typhoon Dolphin moves north
SCMP

40% of flights grounded in Shanghai as long-lived Typhoon Dolphin moves north

Shanghai airports cancelled nearly 40 per cent of all flights on Monday as heavy rain continued after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in eastern China on Sunday evening and continued to move north. According to a notice from the Shanghai government on Monday morning, there were 642 cancellations at Pudong airport and 301 at Hongqiao. Passengers were urged to check their airlines for updates. Some tr...

China releases powerful DNA-screening AI tool for free to help fight rare diseases
SCMP

China releases powerful DNA-screening AI tool for free to help fight rare diseases

For people navigating rare diseases, which are mostly genetic in origin, the search for answers is a gruelling marathon often called the “diagnostic odyssey”. Patients can spend years visiting specialists and undergoing inconclusive tests, while the underlying cause of their condition remains hidden within three billion base pairs of DNA in the human genome. But Artificial intelligence is emerging...

Hong Kong heatwave to persist before showers bring relief later this week
SCMP

Hong Kong heatwave to persist before showers bring relief later this week

More frequent showers expected later this week should bring relief from Hong Kong’s extreme heat, the city’s weather forecaster has said, although scorching conditions will persist in the coming days, with temperatures in some areas forecast to reach at least 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). The Hong Kong Observatory said on Monday that outer subsiding airflow associated with Tropical Cyclone D...

Indonesia’s Mount Bromo wildfire put out but new fires threaten in unusually dry season
SCMP

Indonesia’s Mount Bromo wildfire put out but new fires threaten in unusually dry season

A fire in Indonesia’s ⁠Mount Bromo National Park ⁠in East Java ⁠that burnt 550 hectares (1,360 acres) has been extinguished, according to an official on Monday, but there are new hotspots near the caldera. Gatot Soebroto, head of the local disaster mitigation agency, said authorities had found new fires in ⁠areas around the caldera covering some 20 hectares. Mount Bromo is ‌an active volcano, and ...

Man with knife arrested after allegedly injuring 2 at Hong Kong housing estate

Man with knife arrested after allegedly injuring 2 at Hong Kong housing estate

SCMP

A man wielding a knife has been arrested in Hong Kong after allegedly injuring two people in a housing estate in Pok Fu Lam. The force received multiple reports at around 9.20am on Monday that a man in his 20s was attacking residents at Baguio Villa, located at 550 Victoria Road. A domestic helper was injured in the back while a doorman was grazed on the elbow. The helper was sent to Queen Mary Ho...

China’s civil aviation ambitions gain some lift

China’s civil aviation ambitions gain some lift

SCMP

With its first scheduled international route launching this month, the maiden flight of a high-altitude variant newly completed and a thumbs-up from European test pilots, China’s flagship C919 airliner is hitting new heights. China’s dream of a home-grown civil aviation fleet to rival Boeing and Airbus is coming closer with a national push to speed up certification of a domestically designed jet e...

As mainland China tightens its tax rules, can Hong Kong remain a magnet for billionaires?

As mainland China tightens its tax rules, can Hong Kong remain a magnet for billionaires?

SCMP

For decades, Hong Kong has been a magnet for the rich. From wealthy Chinese setting up family trusts to millionaires migrating from across Southeast Asia, all of them have been sucked in by the city’s promise of free capital flows, a trustworthy legal system and extensive financial expertise. It is a winning combination that helped Hong Kong leapfrog Switzerland as the world’s biggest cross-border...

As China tightens its tax rules, can Hong Kong remain a magnet for billionaires?

As China tightens its tax rules, can Hong Kong remain a magnet for billionaires?

SCMP

For decades, Hong Kong has been a magnet for the rich. From wealthy Chinese setting up family trusts to millionaires migrating from across Southeast Asia, all of them have been sucked in by the city’s promise of free capital flows, a trustworthy legal system and extensive financial expertise. It is a winning combination that helped Hong Kong leapfrog Switzerland as the world’s biggest cross-border...

China is using AI facial ID to track migrating fish in Tibet’s largest river

China is using AI facial ID to track migrating fish in Tibet’s largest river

SCMP

China is using an artificial intelligence-driven fish identification system to conduct round-the-clock tracking of species passing along a fishway on a dam on Tibet’s largest river. Monitoring the route once relied on labour-intensive manual counts, but it now uses an AI-based “fish facial recognition” system to identify species unique to the Tibet autonomous region, according to a report publishe...

Pakistan says ‘purely defensive’ Mecca accord is open to others

Pakistan says ‘purely defensive’ Mecca accord is open to others

SCMP

Pakistan’s foreign minister said a new defence agreement his country signed with Saudi Arabia and Turkey was not directed against any country and remained open to other nations in the region. The landmark Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the three c...

John Lee is right about local governance. Now he must deliver

John Lee is right about local governance. Now he must deliver

SCMP

Something unexpected happened at the town hall meeting held a week ago to gather public opinion on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and the coming policy address. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu spoke about the need to upgrade the city’s urban management systems. Our results-oriented, reform-focused chief executive seems to be ready for another colossal task. Lee began his term with pla...

China experts explain why hugging winter melons for cooling in summer can cause explosions

China experts explain why hugging winter melons for cooling in summer can cause explosions

SCMP

While many people have embraced the trend of hugging a giant winter melon to sleep as a means of cooling down during summer, some have shared their “painful” experiences, recounting instances where the fruit exploded, releasing a foul-smelling and putrid liquid that soiled their beds and floors. They detailed this “disastrous scene” on social media, noting that the winter melons exploded after sev...

Youth membership in Hong Kong uniformed groups drops 8% over 5 years

Youth membership in Hong Kong uniformed groups drops 8% over 5 years

SCMP

Youth membership in Hong Kong’s uniformed groups has declined by 8 per cent over the past five years despite steady government funding, the South China Morning Post has found, a trend attributed to persistently low birth rates and a wider array of extracurricular activities for students. While several lawmakers have called for introducing key performance indicators (KPIs) for uniformed groups to e...

Indonesia’s strong GDP data prompts ‘resilient but uneven’ growth forecasts

Indonesia’s strong GDP data prompts ‘resilient but uneven’ growth forecasts

SCMP

Indonesia’s faster-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter has offered a ray of hope for a sustainable turnaround after months of negative news over the rupiah, investor confidence and global uncertainties. Analysts, however, urged caution about the country’s economic outlook in the coming quarters, saying the latest data also revealed uneven sectoral performance and a reliance on gove...

Trump taps loyal aide Scharf as new White House counsel

Trump taps loyal aide Scharf as new White House counsel

SCMP

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his new White House counsel will be Will Scharf, the staff secretary who as the Trump-appointed head of the National Capital Planning Commission helped secure approval for the US$400 million ballroom project. Trump said that, beginning September 1, Scharf will be replacing David Warrington, who will be leaving the administration to join the privat...

Trump announces staff secretary Will Scharf will be his new White House counsel

Trump announces staff secretary Will Scharf will be his new White House counsel

SCMP

US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that his new White House counsel will be Will Scharf, the staff secretary who as the Trump-appointed head of the National Capital Planning Commission helped secure approval for the US$400 million ballroom project. Trump said that, beginning on September 1, Scharf will be replacing David Warrington, who will be leaving the administration to join the privat...

Canada’s British Columbia gets federal help as wildfire forces evacuations

Canada’s British Columbia gets federal help as wildfire forces evacuations

SCMP

The Canadian federal government said on ⁠Sunday it would ⁠help British Columbia ⁠as raging wildfires forced thousands of people to evacuate by providing shelter and accommodation for residents displaced in regions around Summerland and Peachland. The Bald Range wildfire, which prompted British ‌Columbia to declare a provincial state of emergency and evacuate about 18,000 people, had spread to more...

Canadian province to get federal help as wildfire forces evacuations

Canadian province to get federal help as wildfire forces evacuations

SCMP

The Canadian federal government said on ⁠Sunday it would ⁠help British Columbia ⁠as raging wildfires forced thousands of people to evacuate by providing shelter and accommodation for residents displaced in regions around Summerland and Peachland. The Bald Range wildfire, which prompted British ‌Columbia to declare a provincial state of emergency and evacuate about 18,000 people, had spread to more...

UK’s Burnham vows to end ‘subscription traps’ amid cost-of-living crisis

UK’s Burnham vows to end ‘subscription traps’ amid cost-of-living crisis

SCMP

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to crack down on hard-to-cancel subscriptions and fake discounts as part of measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, Downing Street said on Sunday. The announcement came as the new Labour leader was set to return to work after a holiday and begin a tour of the country to talk to people about their financial pressures, his office said. Burnham said...

UK PM Burnham vows to end ‘subscription traps’ amid cost-of-living crisis

UK PM Burnham vows to end ‘subscription traps’ amid cost-of-living crisis

SCMP

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to crack down on hard-to-cancel subscriptions and fake discounts as part of measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, Downing Street said on Sunday. The announcement came as the new Labour leader was set to return to work after a holiday and begin a tour of the country to talk to people about their financial pressures, his office said. Burnham said...

Historian Wang Gungwu on US credibility and why Xi thinks ‘only the party can save China’

Historian Wang Gungwu on US credibility and why Xi thinks ‘only the party can save China’

SCMP

Professor Wang Gungwu is regarded internationally as an authority on Chinese history. The 95-year-old is best known for his explorations of Chinese history in the long view, and for his writings on the Chinese diaspora. He has been a professor at the National University of Singapore since 2007 and emeritus professor at the Australian National University since 1988. He was vice-chancellor of the Un...

Why Malaysia’s political turmoil matters to Beijing

Why Malaysia’s political turmoil matters to Beijing

SCMP

As China seeks to reshape the global order, Malaysia’s political instability offers a cautionary tale about the challenges Beijing may face abroad. A recent Pew Research Centre survey found that global perceptions of China have improved relative to those of the US, driven partly by the view among some respondents that China under President Xi Jinping is more reliable than a US led by President Don...

Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes, leaving 7 dead and dozens injured

Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes, leaving 7 dead and dozens injured

SCMP

Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported on Sunday. Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks, with Moscow exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems – the sole air defence weapon in its arsenal able to sh...

Russia and Ukraine exchange overnight strikes that leave 7 dead, many injured

Russia and Ukraine exchange overnight strikes that leave 7 dead, many injured

SCMP

Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported. Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks, with Moscow exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems – the sole air defence weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down b...

Trump says US ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, playing down urgency over Hormuz

Trump says US ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, playing down urgency over Hormuz

SCMP

US President Donald Trump signalled on Sunday he is prepared to let economic pressure mount against Iran, apparently backing away from ordering more military strikes even as Tehran issues tough demands. “We are low-keying it,” Trump said, according to the news outlet Axios, which said it spoke to him in a brief phone call. Only a week ago Trump made the latest of his series of threats to hit Iran ...

Trump says US is ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, stresses economic pain

Trump says US is ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, stresses economic pain

SCMP

US President Donald Trump signalled on Sunday he is prepared to let economic pressure mount against Iran, apparently backing away from ordering more military strikes even as Tehran issues tough demands. “We are low-keying it,” Trump said, according to the news outlet Axios, which said it spoke to him in a brief phone call. Only a week ago Trump made the latest of his series of threats to hit Iran ...

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai

SCMP

Alleged Irish crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan was charged with directing a criminal organisation by prosecutors in Dublin on Sunday amid tight security at a special court sitting following his extradition from the United Arab Emirates. Kinahan, who was ‌arrested in Dubai in April, was named by the United States in 2022 as one of three leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. US authorities off...

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin with directing criminal organisation

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin with directing criminal organisation

SCMP

⁠Irish prosecutors charged alleged Irish ‌crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan with ⁠directing a criminal organisation ‌at a special ‌court sitting ⁠late ⁠on ‌Sunday following his extradition ‌from ‌the ‌United Arab ⁠Emirates. Kinahan, 49, faces charges that he ran an international drug smuggling and money-laundering empire with tentacles that stretched to Britain, Spain and the United States. Air Track...

Suspected Irish crime boss lands in Dublin after being extradited from Dubai

Suspected Irish crime boss lands in Dublin after being extradited from Dubai

SCMP

The alleged leader of an Irish organised crime gang has been extradited to Ireland from Dubai to face charges that he ran an international drug smuggling and money-laundering empire with tentacles that stretched to Britain, Spain and the United States. Air Tracker data showed an Irish Air Corps plane from Dubai landing on Sunday evening at a military airport on the outskirts of Dublin after courts...