All the breaking news and latest world news from South China Morning Post, with Twitter and Facebook search trends.
All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world
-
Several restaurants in eastern China are using artificial intelligence (AI) robots to cook as many as 100 dishes to cut costs, sparking a heated discussion on social media.
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, at least three such eateries have been operating for months, Zhejiang TV reported.
One of them, 24 Jieqi Robot Restaurant in the Xihu district uses eight robots which handle ordering, serving,...
-
Hong Kong authorities should consider the impact of technological developments when drafting policies, observers have said, noting the government’s decision to halt plans for basketball betting reflected a lack of thorough discussion.
Their remarks on Tuesday followed the government announcing the suspension over concerns about new “prediction market” gambling while warning that it was illegal...
-
For Hong Kong’s 3.3 million PayMe users, everyday transactions such as buying coffee or splitting bills with friends could soon involve stablecoins, with HSBC preparing to introduce the digital currency in the second half of this year.
That comes after HSBC Holdings, together with a Standard Chartered-led joint venture, became the first to obtain a stablecoin issuer licence from the Hong Kong...
-
The operator of Japan’s Narita International Airport is considering compulsory acquisition of farmers’ land to complete a planned third runway, recalling the forced land purchases that led to violent clashes between riot police and local residents when the airport was built in the 1960s.
Narita International Airport Corp (NAA) has been able to secure 88.4 per cent of the land it requires to...
-
As the US imposes its own blockade on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of talks with Iran at the weekend, we take a look at how major economies in Asia and Europe could be affected by further restrictions on passage through one of the world’s most critical choke points for energy supplies.
Who is most vulnerable in this energy crisis?
According to a recent report by...
-
Chinese robotics companies are increasingly banking on quadruped robots as major revenue drivers, a trend highlighted by AgiBot’s recent decision to spin out its four-legged robotics unit into a new subsidiary called AgiQuad, and Amap’s coming launch of a quadruped model.
The move by AgiBot was intended to drive large-scale growth so that the unit would not “live in the shadow of the humanoid...
-
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports is not a tactic to force China to pressure Iran into a peace deal, according to analysts.
Rather, the US aimed to end the war through showing its maritime supremacy over the world’s most vital energy chokepoint, they argued.
Washington began to enforce the blockade on Monday, drawing threats of retaliation from Tehran.
It remains unclear how fully the...
-
After more than 20 hours of high-level negotiations in Islamabad, US Vice-President J.D. Vance confirmed that Washington and Tehran were walking away without a deal. Iran reportedly refused to accept US terms on its nuclear programme, laying bare the deep strategic divides that continue to stall diplomatic solutions to the conflict.
However, the venue tells a larger story. India has long been...
-
The retrial of disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein on a rape charge on which a jury was previously deadlocked started on Tuesday, although he will remain imprisoned for other offences regardless of the verdict.
Weinstein is accused of the third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, who starred in the 2015 romantic comedy This Isn’t Funny.
The judge declared a mistrial last June after the jury foreman...
-
Russia and China’s top envoys met in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss the Iran war, Ukraine and Taiwan as Beijing stepped up its Iran war diplomacy and tensions with Washington increased.
In a jab at Washington and US President Donald Trump that did not mention either by name, a Chinese readout of the meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov noted that the...