Thousands in Australia line up for plant’s ‘amazing’ stink of death

在悉尼的一个温室中,一株罕见的濒危植物——尸花的盛开吸引了数百名热情的粉丝,他们排队三小时,只为体验这一重要时刻和其散发的腐臭气味。这种植物的科学名称为amorphophallus titanium,通常被称为“bunga bangkai”,主要生长在苏门答腊的热带雨林中。

这株植物被称为Putricia,名字源于“putrid”和“Patricia”的结合,深受其追随者的喜爱,他们自称为Putricians。自从她在皇家悉尼植物园的紫色幕布前展出以来,Putricia的知名度迅速上升,吸引了多达20,000名观众前来一睹她的芳容。过去15年里,植物园内没有尸花开花。

尸花在野外每7到10年才开花一次,这使得它们在自然环境中面临一定的生存挑战。植物园的发言人索菲·丹尼尔表示,尸花的稀有开花频率使其在野外处于劣势,因为它们无法自我授粉,必须依赖附近其他花朵的开放来繁殖。

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2 Hongkongers arrested in Bangkok over fatal knife attack in Yuen Long

两名香港人在元朗发生致命刀袭事件后被捕,并被遣返回香港。这两名男子在抵达曼谷时被移民当局逮捕,随后被护送回香港以接受法律程序。

据泰国媒体报道,这两名嫌疑人在周三晚上抵达苏凡纳布机场时被移民警察拘留,因国际刑警的通知而被拦截。他们乘坐的航班是国泰航空的CX701,抵达时间约为下午6:40。泰国警方随后通知香港方面,香港执法人员于周四抵达泰国并将嫌疑人带回香港。

这两名男子因涉嫌在周三凌晨参与一起刀袭事件而被通缉,事件中七至八名持刀袭击者在元朗的黄业街西近海业工厂大楼袭击了两名男子。一名24岁男子因手臂和腿部受伤在医院被确认死亡,另一名28岁男子则受了背部伤。此事件引发了公众对安全的关注。

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Hong Kong’s MTR Corp must ‘compress’ construction costs: transport chief

香港新任运输部长期待地铁公司提升建设成本控制、增加非票务收入,并寻求多元化融资渠道。随着政府面临财政赤字,部长希望通过引入更多竞争来提高地铁运营商的表现。

运输及物流局局长陈帆在首次媒体见面会上表示,政府希望吸引来自中国大陆的企业,为香港的交通发展提供更多解决方案。她指出,位于地铁站上方的购物中心不仅吸引本地居民,也吸引来自边境的游客,这对香港的经济和旅游业发展有积极影响。

陈帆强调,MTR公司有潜力通过创新和提升购物中心的吸引力,来吸引更多的本地人和大陆游客。她对地铁公司的期望不仅限于提升经营效率,还希望其能在未来的城市发展中发挥更加重要的作用。

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China’s anti-spy agency urges travellers to protect state secrets during holiday trips

中国国家安全部提醒游客在假期期间注意外国情报机构的监视和信息搜集。这一警告恰逢每年最大节日——农历新年的庆祝活动即将开始,该节日将于1月29日举行。今年中国将迎来为期八天的公众假期,众多华人将出游或回乡团聚。

国家安全部特别强调,出国旅行的中国游客应保持警惕,注意个人安全与国家机密,同时避免参与可能损害国家利益的行为。此外,游客在使用公共Wi-Fi时应确保不登录重要账户或传输敏感数据,并在个人电子设备上安装安全保护措施。对于在敏感职位工作的官员,该部建议他们出行前仔细检查携带的物品,确保不包含机密信息。

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4 people die in Cambodia in Lunar New Year gift crush

在柬埔寨,一场为了领取来之不易的红包而造成的踩踏事故导致至少四人遇难。这起悲剧发生在周四,当数百人在当地富豪索克·孔的家门口急于获取盛装现金的红包时,场面失控。警方表示,事故中有两名男性和两名女性因被挤压窒息身亡,另外还有五人正在接受医院治疗。

据报道,受害者都是为了获得索克·孔早晨赠送的礼物而推挤。索克·孔是柬埔寨最富有的人之一,在石油和娱乐产业方面积累了丰厚的财富。为了回应这一事件,金边市长和索克·孔承诺向每位遇难者家属赔偿1500万瑞尔(约3700美元),并为每位受伤者提供约1000美元的补偿。这起事件反映了节日活动中人们争先恐后获取财富所带来的潜在风险,也引发了对人群管理和安全措施的反思。

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Hong Kong’s new ride-hailing regime to be open to all players

香港将根据安全和质量等三项标准对提供打车服务的平台进行监管,但并不打算限制运营商的数量。运输及物流局局长陈帆表示,相关框架预计将在今年公布,以建立新的法律制度,解决如租车许可证等初期问题。

目前,在香港,私家车司机在没有租车许可证的情况下接受付费乘客是违法的,许多打车平台如Uber、Tada和阿里巴巴旗下的Amap Didi Chuxing均在无监管状态下运营。陈帆指出,计划合法化这些广泛使用的服务旨在为本地通勤者和游客提供便利,同时巩固香港作为全球大都市的地位。

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Trump’s glaring policy contradictions are both a blessing and a curse

By Nicholas Spiro

Hours after US President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural address on January 20, financial market analysts rushed out reports that said investors should steel themselves for a roller-coaster ride. While Trump’s capriciousness is well known, his ability to constantly catch his audience off guard is extraordinary.

No sooner did Trump indicate he would refrain from immediately imposing new trade tariffs on other countries than he announced he would slap levies of 25 per cent on Canada and Mexico as soon as February 1. The impulsiveness and unpredictability that defined Trump’s first term in office will be just as prevalent, and perhaps more, in his second term.

What will make the roller-coaster ride even more volatile are the glaring contradictions in Trump’s economic agenda. On one hand, there are pledges to lower inflation and weaken the US dollar to stimulate exports and help narrow the trade deficit. On the other, there are promises to cut taxes, deregulate the economy, raise tariffs sharply and crack down on immigration.

Brimming with confidence after his election victory, Trump is convinced he can have his cake and eat it. Yet nationalism and protectionism make it much more difficult to bring down prices, reform public finances, boost innovation and improve US competitiveness.

JPMorgan said the Trump administration is “stretched between two competing economic objectives: a growth-supportive shift to relieve business tax and regulatory burdens alongside a less constructive shift to reduce US engagement with the rest of the world in the flow of goods and immigrants”.

Moreover, disparate factions in Trump’s economic team accentuate and exacerbate tensions in policymaking. The Maga hardliners are staunchly anti-immigration and anti-free trade. Pragmatic Republicans, such as Trump’s treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, support the less extreme parts of “Trumponomics”.

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Chinese developer Shimao’s lender seeks private credit deal on US$1.3 billion loan

By Bloomberg

A Shimao Group Holdings lender is in talks with private credit investors in hopes of offloading a HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) loan due this year tied to a luxury Hong Kong residential complex that is key to the defaulted Chinese developer’s restructuring, according to people familiar with the matter.

Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) has reached out to such investors in recent weeks for a deal regarding the loan, they said. The loan, taken out by Shimao in 2022, matures on September 30. It is backed by the Beacon Peak complex, located in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Tong neighbourhood.

The builder, which is looking to unload assets to pay back creditors, put 13 units of the complex up for sale this month, according to sales documents. It has sold three of them as of January 18 at prices ranging from HK$28 million to HK$37 million, records showed.

That is still far short of the loan principal, and the sales pace underscores Shimao’s challenges in trying to raise cash quickly in Hong Kong’s weak and discounted property market. The involvement of private credit investors could further complicate an ongoing debt-restructuring process, as their business model often operates on seizing borrowers’ assets when they default.

“Shimao may struggle to achieve a high sell-through rate at its new Beacon Peak project in Kowloon, given its distance from transport links,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kristy Hung and Monica Si wrote in a note.

Shimao did not immediately reply to a request for comment. UOB did not respond to emails seeking comment, and phone calls were not answered.

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Oxfam Hong Kong data leak: watchdog rules charity violated privacy law

By Ambrose Li

The local arm of international charity Oxfam violated the data protection law following a leak in July that potentially affected 550,000 people, Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog ruled in an investigation report on Thursday.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data also revealed a nearly 30 per cent year-on-year increase in breach notifications last year and a 42 per cent year-on-year decrease in doxxing cases over the same period.

“The Privacy Commissioner considered that Oxfam had not taken all practicable steps to ensure that the personal data involved was protected against unauthorised or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use,” the commissioner Ada Chung Lai-ling said in the investigation report about the July leak last year.

The report said that Oxfam Hong Kong had contravened the Data Protection Principle (DPP) 4(1) of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance concerning the security of personal data.

“The threat actor deployed ‘DarkHack’ ransomware in Oxfam’s information systems, resulting in file encryption and data exfiltration. A total of 37 servers and 24 workstations or notebook computers belonging to Oxfam were compromised,” she added.

Chung said she had served an enforcement notice on Oxfam, directing it to take measures to remedy the contravention and prevent recurrence of similar contraventions in the future.

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Chinese tests of seawater near Fukushima nuclear plant show no impact on marine life

中国在福岛核电站附近收集的海水样本测试结果显示对海洋生物没有负面影响,这增加了北京最终解除对日本海鲜进口禁令的可能性。这是中国科学家首次在国际监督下进行的海水采样,样本来自福岛核污染水排放口附近。

中国外交部发言人毛宁表示,尽管初步测试结果令人鼓舞,但“单一测试并不能说明一切”,强调需要更多的独立取样和监测数据,以确保海产品的安全性和质量。分析结果未发现放射性核素的异常浓度,这些数据将由国际原子能机构汇总并发布。恢复水产品进口的决定将基于一系列科学数据和日本的安全保障措施。

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Jeju Air crash: South Korea tells budget airlines to cut flight hours, hire more staff

韩国政府在上个月的Jeju Air事故后加强了航空安全措施,要求低成本航空公司减少飞行时间并增加维护人员。交通部在周四的会议上强调,九家本地航空公司需提升安全标准,并指出“一味削减成本的公司将无法生存”。

政府将对飞行时数、维护人员规模及相关程序进行“密切监控”,同时将严格审查购买新飞机及开通新航线的认证,违规的航空公司将面临暂停航班运作许可的处罚。此外,交通部表示将向公众公开相关信息。这一系列措施是在12月29日发生的Jeju Air空难之后实施的,该事故导致181人中有179人遇难,成为该国历史上最严重的航空事故。

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Salary caps spread in China’s finance sector amid ‘common prosperity’ drive

中国多家国有金融机构已对高管年薪实施上限,反映了政府在缩小贫富差距方面的持续努力。这一举措是中国“共同富裕”运动的一部分,旨在加强对金融行业的监管,并在过去一年里掀起了减薪和裁员潮。

据悉,这些机构的高管年薪上限被设定为300万元人民币(约41.2万美元),而一些金融机构甚至低于这一标准。中央政府的金融机构对高管工资设定了仅100万元的上限,而其子公司则维持300万元的限制。此外,证券公司在这一过程中的行动尤为迅速,部分公司尚未发放2023年度奖金。接下来,国有大银行、保险公司和监管机构也将成为薪资限制的目标。

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Hong Kong Hospital Authority chief Tony Ko to quit at end of July

香港医院管理局首席执行官高拔升将在7月底任期结束时辞职。他自2019年起担任该职位,并于2022年获得为期三年的续任,但决定不再继续担任下一个任期。

高拔升在新冠疫情期间领导医院管理局,面对日益增加的改革压力,原因包括长期的人力资源短缺和去年的一系列医疗失误。他在疫情期间定期召开新闻发布会,向媒体更新疫情处理情况,并在任职初期就承受了2019年反政府抗议活动带来的挑战。

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US moves Typhon missile system to new site in Philippines amid China tensions

美国军方已将其Typhon发射器从菲律宾的劳阿格空军基地迁移至吕宋岛的另一个地点。这些发射器能够发射可达数千公里的多用途导弹,包括可以打击中国和俄罗斯目标的战斧巡航导弹及射程超过200公里的SM-6导弹。

此次重新部署的目的在于评估导弹电池向新发射位置移动的速度和位置,这也被视为在冲突中提高其生存能力的一种方式。卫星图像显示,Typhon系统及其相关设备近日被装载到C-17运输机上,表明其移动的实际进行。美方并未透露电池的新具体位置。

Typhon系统是美国在亚洲部署多样化反舰武器的一部分,印太司令部已确认该系统在菲律宾的重新安置。这一举动反映了美国在印太地区增强军事存在的战略意图。

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Hong Kong’s Cathay issues apology for outage of ticketing, check-in services

By Cannix Yau

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has apologised to customers after technical issues disrupted services such as ticketing, online check-in, mobile app and self check-in kiosks on Thursday morning.

The company advised all customers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure to allow sufficient time to complete check-in formalities. Services resumed in stages from about 2pm

The carrier said due to a “system issue”, the services were currently unavailable. Airport check-in counters have been unaffected with its flight operations remaining normal.

“We are urgently working with our technical providers to restore these services as soon as possible, and will provide timely updates. In the meantime, our airport services team is providing all necessary help,” it said.

“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused and are grateful for their patience.”

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Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon set to be extended beyond next week

预计以色列与黎巴嫩的真主党之间的停火协议将在下周到期后得到延长。多位知情人士表示,尽管双方需要更多时间来落实原始停火条款,但他们不太可能恢复全面冲突。该停火协议于11月底生效,已经在多个国家的政府官员的参与下进行持续谈判。

这一由法国和美国支持的协议结束了导致数千人死亡的冲突,并加剧了伊朗与以色列之间的紧张关系。根据协议,以色列军队有60天的时间撤出南黎巴嫩的村庄,而真主党则需撤回至利塔尼河以北,黎巴嫩军队将取而代之。与此同时,以色列和哈马斯也在上周达成了暂停在加沙的冲突协议。

虽然自11月以来黎巴嫩的停火协议大体维持,但真主党和以色列互相指责对方违反条款,显示出双方在实施停火协议过程中的紧张局势仍未消失。这种复杂的局面表明,尽管停火协议带来了暂时的平静,但地区局势依然脆弱。

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Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law case in South Korea falls on prosecution

南韓反腐局已將懲罰休職總統尹錫悅的案件轉介予檢察當局,要求對其以叛亂犯罪進行起訴。 該局聲明稱,尹錫悅於12月3日的叛亂行為是由他自己領導的,已決定請求首爾中央地方法院檢察事務所將他起訴。

南韓反腐局對尹錫悅的行為進行調查,包括他的權力滥用和濫用案件。然而,該局無法直接提出控訴,檢察官仍是負責進行起訴的職能。

尹錫悅被捕後拒絕出庭應訊,反腐局的調查工作因此受到阻礙。尹錫悅的律師也對反腐局的法律權限提出質疑,認為該案件超出了其調查範圍。目前的發展顯示,尹錫悅在南韓的政治權力正逐步被削弱。

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Chinese scientist named as new chairwoman of international nuclear standards committee

中国科学家肖晨被任命为国际电工委员会(IEC)核仪器技术委员会的主席。她将负责制定核设施、系统和设备的国际标准,确保核安全和安保方面的规范。

肖晨的任命标志着她在核工业领域的影响力进一步扩大。她计划通过采纳IEC提出的新方法和工具,提高标准编制的效率,并推动社区发展更多项目。肖晨接替了自2016年担任该委员会主席的德国核安全标准委员会董事总经理Gerhard Roos。拥有清华大学精密仪器专业的学位和超过20年的核工业经验,肖晨还在中国核电标准化研究院和中国标准化管理局担任职务,涉及核保护和控制系统的设计以及参与国际热核聚变实验反应堆的研究工作。

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