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South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

Mastering the shadows: explore lives, extraordinary skills of ancient Chinese thieves

Beneath the rigid honour codes of the criminal underworld, ancient Chinese thieves operated in a high-stakes gamble against the state. For those who broke the law and were captured, the cost of failure was inscribed on their skin or paid in blood through facial tattooing, brutal amputations, or the executioner’s blade. From mastering qinggong (light body technique) to extreme contortion, their...
China’s AI firms scaled up on open-source models. The next phase may be different

In China’s hyper-competitive and lucrative tech industry, releasing cutting-edge artificial intelligence models for free may seem counter-intuitive – but it has become a core business strategy. At the University of Hong Kong last November, Alibaba Group Holding chairman Joe Tsai was asked why the tech giant open-sourced its AI models. Addressing a room full of students, Tsai said he believed...
How Shanghai reduces faecal bacteria presence in hotels to less than 1%

When it comes to hotel rooms, “luxury” does not necessarily mean clean and hygienic. A number of studies have shown that light switches and television remote controls are among the objects with the highest levels of bacterial contamination, while toilets and bathroom sinks also contain high levels of microbial organisms. A 2012 survey in the United States – which is still cited by the travel...
Bars gearing up for bumper Hong Kong Sevens weekend

Bars and restaurants are gearing up for a bumper three days during the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, brushing off concerns that rising airfares because of the Middle East war might put off visitors, with some operators expecting a surge of up to 40 per cent compared with a regular weekend. Business magnate and Lan Kwai Fong Group chairman Allan Zeman told the South China Morning Post that...
North Korea’s Kim ramps up show of force as US war on Iran raises stakes

As the war on Iran continues to command global attention, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stepped up his appearances at military events, using drills and missile tests to project confidence at home and defiance abroad. His heightened visibility suggests that Kim feels more secure in his country’s nuclear deterrence as Washington’s focus is pulled in several directions, analysts say. Kim has...
IMF says it is restoring relations with Venezuela

The IMF said on Thursday that it was restoring relations with Venezuela, a country whose ties with the institution had been on pause since 2019. “Guided by the views of International Monetary Fund members representing a majority of the IMF’s total voting power, and consistent with long-standing practice, the Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva today announced that the IMF is now dealing with...
Why biggest threat to US’ global dollar dominance may well be Washington itself

China has crafted markets, mechanisms and incentives as the world’s largest buyer of commodities in a bid to free itself from its dependence on the US dollar, but the biggest threat to Washington’s global dollar dominance may well be Washington itself, witnesses said in testimony on Thursday before a key advisory committee to the US Congress. Economic sanctions and access to US-led global...
China willing to ‘buy’ or ‘steal’ US tech to get ahead in AI race, Congress told

At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday, lawmakers and experts accused China of buying “what they can” and stealing “what they cannot” in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race, while warning the United States’ immigration and research policies could be hindering innovation necessary to stay ahead. “The pattern is clear. China is dependent on our tech stack to continue their...
Diamond coating nearly doubles Chinese AI data centre’s cooling efficiency

Chinese researchers have developed a new diamond-copper material that they say can improve the cooling efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres by up to 80 per cent. The functional carbon materials team – from the Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) – said the composite material had already been deployed in an AI computing node in...
US will help Peru ‘take back’ Chancay port from China, Congress chair says

A senior US lawmaker called on Peru’s next government to reclaim the Chinese-controlled port of Chancay, describing the deepwater facility as a direct military threat to the western hemisphere. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, said during a hearing on Thursday that Washington would help Peru wrest the megaport from...