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All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world
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East Asia’s “economic miracle” in the post-World War II period was predicated upon a number of factors, such as the region’s export-led growth model, but critically it also depended on an assured supply of capital to finance business investment.
One source of such finance was bank loans, the supply and direction of which can be officially influenced by various means rather than being chiefly...
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When Alina Dotsenko returned to her museum after Ukrainian forces retook the southern city of Kherson from Russian forces in late 2022, she found thousands of artworks had vanished.
“I walked in and saw empty storage rooms, empty shelves. My legs gave way, and I just sat down by the wall, like a child,” the Kherson Art Museum director said.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022, the...
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A Hong Kong charity is attempting to fast-track the supply of guide dogs for the blind by breeding a Labrador with a golden retriever for the first time, as only 10 per cent of applicants for canines were ready for immediate pairing.
Jasmine Tang Yau-sheung, head of operations with Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services, also told the South China Morning Post that the number of canines still lagged...
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pursuing the first ever revision of her country’s post-World War II pacifist constitution, a step that observers say is likely to be welcomed in Washington and condemned in Beijing.
Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured a historic two-thirds majority in the National Diet’s lower house in February’s election, passing the threshold needed to...
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Iranians striving to maintain a semblance of normal life after weeks of US and Israeli bombing and a deadly crackdown on protesters in January remain daunted by the future, as damage from air strikes and internet cuts take a toll.
With talks expected on extending a truce and agreeing an end to the conflict, shops, restaurants and government offices have stayed open. On sunny spring mornings,...
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On Monday afternoon, amid the heat and chaos of Thailand’s Songkran festival, Gavin Chow was crowned Mr Bear International 2026 – the first Malaysian to win the title at a pageant that has quickly become part of Thailand’s growing queer festival circuit.
Back in Chow’s home country, the climate is very different.
Malaysia criminalises same-sex intimacy under federal law, LGBTQ gatherings have...
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The US-Israeli war on Iran has unleashed sharp swings across global energy and financial markets, fuelling demand for safe-haven assets, with Hong Kong emerging as a potential beneficiary across gold, property and capital markets. In the first of a three-part series, we examine Hong Kong’s bid to position itself as Asia’s bullion hub.
War in the Middle East has intensified global demand to...
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Chinese scientists have created a diving suit that could help users glide through the sea with ease.
In tests, the exoskeleton reduced the diver’s oxygen consumption by nearly 40 per cent.
The flexible suit not only provides physical assistance but also syncs precisely with the swimmer’s own rhythm, dramatically boosting underwater agility.
In tasks ranging from seabed surveys and pipeline...
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A Chinese noodle restaurant has come under fire for displaying a slogan that appears to condone domestic violence.
The restaurant in Xining, northwestern China’s Qinghai province put up a banner which read “beaten wife, kneaded dough”.
The slogan refers to an old saying from the Guanzhong plain region, which goes “the more a dough is kneaded the better the noodles taste, the more a wife is...
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Hong Kong authorities will take public opinion into account when deciding whether to trigger a new investigation mechanism to hold senior officials accountable, the city’s civil service minister has said.
Permanent secretaries of bureaus – who are not covered by the proposed “Heads of Department Accountability System” – would also face scrutiny if they were found to be involved in management...