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Breakthroughs in cheap Chinese open-weight artificial intelligence models have spooked US investors, but analysts argue plummeting model costs will benefit the AI industry in the long run by supercharging global demand for AI systems. Companies across the AI industry have slashed prices in recent weeks, with large-language model (LLM) inference prices per million tokens falling from above US$2 at ...
A fire has broken out at a flat in a Hong Kong housing estate, resulting in 16 people feeling unwell from the effects of smoke and residents fleeing to the rooftop for safety. The blaze erupted at Begonia Mansion in Taikoo Shing’s Harbour View Gardens on Sunday afternoon, with smoke pouring from a flat. Police received multiple emergency calls at 2.50pm, with some reporting that the fire might hav...
A fire has broken out at a flat in a Hong Kong housing estate, resulting in at least 12 people feeling unwell from the effects of smoke and residents fleeing to the rooftop for safety. The blaze erupted at Begonia Mansion in Taikoo Shing’s Harbour View Gardens on Sunday afternoon, with smoke pouring from a flat. Police received multiple emergency calls at 2.50pm, with some reporting that the fire ...
Just outside the Nigerian capital Abuja, where Green Agriculture West Africa Limited (Gawal) is based, locals do not refer to the company by name, instead as the place where the Chinese supply “magic” rice seeds. Ahmed Yusuf, 42, credits the seeds with turning around his rice business for good. Before Gawal, Yusuf’s yields averaged just 2 tonnes per hectare, putting him on the verge of forsaking f...
A 1991 black-and-white portrait photograph has become an iconic symbol of impoverished Chinese students’ yearning for knowledge, profoundly altering the life of its subject. The photograph, titled “I Want to Go to School,” captures a poignant moment of an eight-year-old Primary One girl studying at a rural school in central China’s Anhui province. Her bright eyes gaze ahead, radiating an insatiabl...
A defence pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan appears to be aimed at deterring Iran and Israel from tearing up the Middle East with their conflict amid Washington’s inability to guarantee regional security, observers say. Under the terms of the deal signed on Friday in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Sheh...
Restaurateur Ken Chu Ka-chun recorded a 20 per cent boost in business at one of his restaurants at Kai Tak Sports Park over the past month, thanks to pet owners dining in under a government scheme allowing dogs into nearly 1,000 Hong Kong establishments since July 9. “We saw more dog owners coming in because people frequently walk their dogs around here,” said Chu, owner of Asura group, which has ...
Visitors to major events in Hong Kong have spent HK$5.8 billion (US$739 million) during in the first half of the year, averaging HK$3,314 per head, the city’s finance chief has said. In his weekly blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said about 1.75 million visitors were drawn to more than 130 events between January and June, generating around HK$5.8 billion in spending and contribu...
Hong Kong visitors spent HK$5.8 billion (US$739 million) during major events in the first half of the year, averaging HK$3,314 per traveller, the city’s finance chief said. In his weekly blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said about 1.75 million visitors were drawn to the city’s more than 130 events between January and June, generating around HK$5.8 billion in spending and contrib...
Hong Kong police have arrested 147 people after uncovering a triad syndicate suspected of setting up centres to coordinate bank accounts and handle HK$600 million (US$76 million) in allegedly illicit proceeds. Police said on Sunday that they had conducted a citywide operation code-named “Rapidhorse” over the previous two days against the syndicate allegedly operating drug and illegal gambling dens...
The Maldives recently called to revive a South Asian grouping, which has been suspended for over a decade. But given the tensions between two of the most influential countries in that region – India and Pakistan – that request is likely to go unheeded, according to observers. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on July 26 that his country was ready to help resume the South Asian Association for...
Hong Kong families sought relief from the scorching heat on Sunday, with some cooling off at a snow park, while domestic helpers said they had little choice but to remain outdoors as the city endured its hottest temperatures in 142 years. The city recorded the highest temperature since records began in 1884 in the afternoon under the influence of Severe Typhoon Dolphin. The Hong Kong Observatory s...
Hong Kong has recorded the highest temperature since records began in 1884 on Sunday afternoon under the impact of Severe Typhoon Dolphin. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the outer subsiding air associated with Dolphin brought generally fine and extremely hot weather to Guangdong province. By 1.30pm, the maximum temperature at the Observatory reached 36.8 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit), t...
Hong Kong has broken its record for the hottest day of the year with the city’s temperature reaching 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) on Sunday afternoon under the impact of Severe Typhoon Dolphin. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the outer subsiding air associated with Dolphin brought generally fine and extremely hot weather to Guangdong province. By 1pm, the temperature recorded by th...
The head of German arms giant Rheinmetall is refusing to be intimidated despite round-the-clock security due to a litany of threats to his safety. On Sunday, Armin Papperger said “chickening out” was not an option in his field. “These jobs must be done and anyone that can’t take the pressure doesn’t belong in this job,” Papperger said. The 63-year-old is under police protection due to alleged Russ...
Typhoon Dolphin made landfall at Yuhuan, a city in Zhejiang province, around 5.30pm on Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 151km/h (94mph) near its centre, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre. The typhoon is projected to move towards the west and northwest, gradually weakening. Wang Hao, Communist Party secretary of Zhejiang province, stressed on Sunday morning that public safe...
Typhoon Dolphin is expected to make landfall along the coast of Zhejiang province around dusk on Sunday, prompting Shanghai to cancel over 80 per cent of flights to and from the metropolis on Sunday. The typhoon is expected to make landfall around the cities of Yuhuan and Wenling in Zhejiang, according to state broadcaster CCTV. China’s National Meteorological Centre issued a red alert for Typhoon...
Typhoon Dolphin is expected to make landfall along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces between Sunday night and Monday morning, prompting Shanghai to cancel nearly 60 per cent of flights to and from the metropolis on Sunday. China’s National Meteorological Centre issued a red alert for Typhoon Dolphin at 10am on Sunday, when the centre of the storm was over the southern East China Sea, abou...
Safety regulators launched an investigation on Sunday into a “near collision” between two passenger aircraft at Australia’s busiest airport that injured a crew member. The incident, which involved a Jetstar pilot being forced to apply sudden brakes to avoid crashing into a Qatar Airways jet on Sunday morning, disrupted operations at Sydney airport. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) sai...
Vietnam’s seafood and garment sectors are facing a labour shortfall even with raised wages, as Hanoi expands a drive to send more workers overseas for higher-paying jobs. The contradiction reflects a broader challenge for the Southeast Asian country as it pushes to move up the value chain while banking on labour migration to generate remittance revenue, analysts say. According to the home ministry...
In only a few years, the surveillance start-up Flock has installed more than 100,000 licence plate reader cameras across the United States. But a grass-roots movement upset over privacy concerns is fighting back – even going so far as systematically vandalising the equipment. The first time he decided to trash one of the cameras, a self-styled vigilante wearing all black and known as Nomark, says ...
When a shot rang out at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School on the outskirts of Bangkok on Friday morning, 14-year-old Khim and her classmates peered over a balcony to see if the noise had come from a construction site. But more loud bangs followed, until a teacher ushered them all into a classroom, checked a messaging group and confirmed to the now terrified students: there was an active shooter in th...
Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will create more quality jobs and support young people seeking to start businesses, while the Northern Metropolis megaproject will help them move up the housing ladder, the city’s leader has said. At the second town hall meeting to gather public views on the five-year plan set to be unveiled next month and his annual policy address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu...
Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will create more quality jobs and support young people seeking to start businesses, while the Northern Metropolis megaproject will help them move up the housing ladder, the city’s leader has said. Speaking at the second town hall meeting on Sunday to gather public views on the five-year plan set to be unveiled next month and his annual policy address, Chief Executi...
Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis will provide an opportunity to diversify the housing ladder for young people, the city’s leader has said, while also pledging to create a more conducive environment for the cultural sector to build a globally recognised “Hong Kong brand”. “The government has been diversifying the housing ladder,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said at the second town hall meeting ...
“Women hold up half the sky.” This iconic quote attributed to Mao Zedong has been central to Beijing’s messaging about gender equality for decades. It was not just a slogan. After the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, the Communist Party passed a Marriage Law that banned arranged marriages, abolished foot-binding and encouraged women to enter education and the workplace. But the party’s s...
Young Malaysians are reporting worsening illnesses, heat-related health problems and disruptions to basic services as climate change intensifies, raising questions over whether the country’s adaptation policies can protect future generations. Unicef Malaysia’s National Youth Climate Change Survey 2025, released in July, found that climate change was no longer only an environmental challenge but an...
Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will be judged not by how many initiatives it assembles. Instead, it will be judged by whether it explains where the city intends to be by 2030 and how it will get there. The consultation document covers the expected ground. It includes the Northern Metropolis; Hong Kong’s roles as an international financial, trade, maritime and aviation centre; integration with th...
A man from southern China travelled 3,000 kilometres to search for his pen pal from 24 years ago, stirring nostalgia among many for their own youth pen pals. Li Zhicong, around 40, hails from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and has been working in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, for over a decade. Recently, he journeyed 3,000 km to Inner Mongolia in northern China to find his pen pal “Ice Rain,...
Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, vice-chancellor and president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), is a world-renowned molecular geneticist widely regarded as the Hongkonger closest to winning a Nobel Prize, but he maintains “a calm attitude” about it. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Lo appeared dispassionate about whether he would receive the prest...
