When Indonesia burns, these women run towards the fire
Irma smells the fire before she sees it: a column of thick, yellow-tinged smoke rising above the tree line near her smal
l wooden home. She pulls on heavy rubber boots, checks her equipment and drives straight into the impenetrable smog emanating from wildfires devouring the peatland and ancient forests of Borneo. “I am...
via South China Morning Post
Irma smells the fire before she sees it: a column of thick, yellow-tinged smoke rising above the tree line near her smal
l wooden home. She pulls on heavy rubber boots, checks her equipment and drives straight into the impenetrable smog emanating from wildfires devouring the peatland and ancient forests of Borneo. “I am...
via South China Morning Post
What is AGI? How China’s AI firms are catching up as OpenAI Astra sparks debate
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s declaration that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has arrived following the release of Op
enAI’s latest model, Astra, has ignited debate over whether AI’s holy grail is now reality. As China races to close the gap with the US, leading Chinese AI companies are declaring their ambitions to p...
via South China Morning Post
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s declaration that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has arrived following the release of Op
enAI’s latest model, Astra, has ignited debate over whether AI’s holy grail is now reality. As China races to close the gap with the US, leading Chinese AI companies are declaring their ambitions to p...
via South China Morning Post
Ireland deploys snipers and 4,000 police for Trump visit
US President Donald Trump lands in Ireland under tight security on Saturday for two days of diplomacy and golf, on a tri
p that again blurs the lines between his presidency and personal business interests. At least 4,000 police and other personnel, including snipers, have been mobilised for the visit, in what has been d...
via South China Morning Post
US President Donald Trump lands in Ireland under tight security on Saturday for two days of diplomacy and golf, on a tri
p that again blurs the lines between his presidency and personal business interests. At least 4,000 police and other personnel, including snipers, have been mobilised for the visit, in what has been d...
via South China Morning Post
US declares end to lettuce parasite outbreak that killed 2
US health authorities on Friday declared the nation’s largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreak over, after contaminate
d iceberg lettuce sickened thousands, though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was still investigating how the parasite entered the food supply. The outbreak, which federal investigators...
via South China Morning Post
US health authorities on Friday declared the nation’s largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreak over, after contaminate
d iceberg lettuce sickened thousands, though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was still investigating how the parasite entered the food supply. The outbreak, which federal investigators...
via South China Morning Post
Philippines bets big on rail, but can it fix a broken transport network?
A two-hour commute for a 14km (8.7-mile) journey. For Julius Dalay and millions of other Filipinos, this is just how pub
lic transport works in Manila: a mishmash of jeepneys, trains and buses that commuters are left to figure out for themselves. Dalay, an environmental planner, is resigned to the chaos. Reaching his de...
via South China Morning Post
A two-hour commute for a 14km (8.7-mile) journey. For Julius Dalay and millions of other Filipinos, this is just how pub
lic transport works in Manila: a mishmash of jeepneys, trains and buses that commuters are left to figure out for themselves. Dalay, an environmental planner, is resigned to the chaos. Reaching his de...
via South China Morning Post
Internal splits threaten to slow Brics’ progress as bloc looks back on 20 years of growth
Leaders from some of the world’s largest emerging economies are gathering in New Delhi this weekend for a summit marking
the 20th anniversary of Brics, a fast-expanding group of developing nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian, are am...
via South China Morning Post
Leaders from some of the world’s largest emerging economies are gathering in New Delhi this weekend for a summit marking
the 20th anniversary of Brics, a fast-expanding group of developing nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian, are am...
via South China Morning Post
Tung Chee-hwa had a clear vision for Hong Kong
The death of Tung Chee-hwa at age 89 has prompted a necessary reckoning with the legacy of Hong Kong’s first chief execu
tive. Two decades after his resignation, the question endures: was Tung a hapless administrator overwhelmed by crisis, or a prescient leader constrained by circumstance and an unforgiving political en...
via South China Morning Post
The death of Tung Chee-hwa at age 89 has prompted a necessary reckoning with the legacy of Hong Kong’s first chief execu
tive. Two decades after his resignation, the question endures: was Tung a hapless administrator overwhelmed by crisis, or a prescient leader constrained by circumstance and an unforgiving political en...
via South China Morning Post
China teen’s Hong Kong concert trip costs family government subsidies, sparking mixed reaction
A teenage girl in mainland China travelled to Hong Kong to attend a concert of her idol, resulting in her family losing
their government living allowances due to her actions being classified as a form of “high-end consumption.” This incident has sparked intense debate in China and has divided public opinion since it wa...
via South China Morning Post
A teenage girl in mainland China travelled to Hong Kong to attend a concert of her idol, resulting in her family losing
their government living allowances due to her actions being classified as a form of “high-end consumption.” This incident has sparked intense debate in China and has divided public opinion since it wa...
via South China Morning Post
North Korea launches missile salvo after US-South Korea-Japan drills
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area towards the sea off its east coast, South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Saturday. The missiles were launched at around 5.20am and flew about 250 km (155 miles), the JCS said in a statement, adding that South Korean and US auth...
via South China Morning Post
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area towards the sea off its east coast, South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Saturday. The missiles were launched at around 5.20am and flew about 250 km (155 miles), the JCS said in a statement, adding that South Korean and US auth...
via South China Morning Post
Taobao’s ‘ugly’ goods find a growing market among China’s young consumers
Products widely considered “ugly” or “bizarre” have gone viral online in China as millions of young consumers embrace th
e items’ quirky humour and distinctive character. Cumulative sales of such products on Taobao – an e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding – have surpassed 230 million yuan (US$34.3 million) sinc...
via South China Morning Post
Products widely considered “ugly” or “bizarre” have gone viral online in China as millions of young consumers embrace th
e items’ quirky humour and distinctive character. Cumulative sales of such products on Taobao – an e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding – have surpassed 230 million yuan (US$34.3 million) sinc...
via South China Morning Post
Senior official asked to resign over defective lifts at Queen Mary Hospital
A senior Hong Kong government official who oversaw faulty lift installation work that stalled the launch of a new block
at Queen Mary Hospital was asked to resign and left her post last month to take responsibility for the defects and delays on other projects, the South China Morning Post has learned. But experts criti...
via South China Morning Post
A senior Hong Kong government official who oversaw faulty lift installation work that stalled the launch of a new block
at Queen Mary Hospital was asked to resign and left her post last month to take responsibility for the defects and delays on other projects, the South China Morning Post has learned. But experts criti...
via South China Morning Post
Up in smoke: how Southeast Asia bungled its haze response
Dr Asma Zafirah doesn’t need satellite images to know when Kalimantan is burning. She sees it in the watery eyes and lab
oured breaths of the patients at her clinic in Sarawak, and the children who are kept home from school to protect them from the toxic air. Southeast Asia’s transboundary haze crisis was meant to have ...
via South China Morning Post
Dr Asma Zafirah doesn’t need satellite images to know when Kalimantan is burning. She sees it in the watery eyes and lab
oured breaths of the patients at her clinic in Sarawak, and the children who are kept home from school to protect them from the toxic air. Southeast Asia’s transboundary haze crisis was meant to have ...
via South China Morning Post
Ex-Canada PM Jean Chretien tells US: ‘never mistake our generosity for weakness’
Standing in the town that sheltered thousands of stranded Americans after the September 11 attacks, former Canadian prim
e minister Jean Chretien marked the 25th anniversary on Friday with a pointed message for the US: “Never mistake our generosity for weakness.” The 92-year-old former leader, who was prime minister at ...
via South China Morning Post
Standing in the town that sheltered thousands of stranded Americans after the September 11 attacks, former Canadian prim
e minister Jean Chretien marked the 25th anniversary on Friday with a pointed message for the US: “Never mistake our generosity for weakness.” The 92-year-old former leader, who was prime minister at ...
via South China Morning Post
Chinese AI firms shunned US delegation over sanctions fears, commission says
A US congressional advisory body on China said on Friday that leading Chinese artificial intelligence firms declined to
meet its members during a recent Beijing visit over concerns that doing so could expose the firms to US sanctions. But members also underscored the importance of the coming AI dialogue between Washing...
via South China Morning Post
A US congressional advisory body on China said on Friday that leading Chinese artificial intelligence firms declined to
meet its members during a recent Beijing visit over concerns that doing so could expose the firms to US sanctions. But members also underscored the importance of the coming AI dialogue between Washing...
via South China Morning Post
AI fight shadows final preparations for Xi Jinping’s White House visit to meet Donald Trump
Rising tensions over artificial intelligence are shaping the final preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit
to the United States. Washington and Beijing are discussing the possibility of folding a long-awaited AI dialogue into a broader economic meeting in the days before Xi meets US President Donald Trump...
via South China Morning Post
Rising tensions over artificial intelligence are shaping the final preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit
to the United States. Washington and Beijing are discussing the possibility of folding a long-awaited AI dialogue into a broader economic meeting in the days before Xi meets US President Donald Trump...
via South China Morning Post
Saudi pipeline that bypasses Hormuz shut after attacks
Saudi Arabia said it closed its East-West oil pipeline, a key alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, following multi
ple attacks on Thursday. The conduit was shut as a precautionary measure, the Ministry of Energy said on Friday in a post on social media. The attacks caused several injuries and emergency teams are t...
via South China Morning Post
Saudi Arabia said it closed its East-West oil pipeline, a key alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, following multi
ple attacks on Thursday. The conduit was shut as a precautionary measure, the Ministry of Energy said on Friday in a post on social media. The attacks caused several injuries and emergency teams are t...
via South China Morning Post
US boy, 15, rescued after clinging to capsized boat for days in Alaska’s Bering Sea
Bobbing for days atop a capsized skiff in Alaska’s frigid Bering Sea, a 15-year-old boy held on until he was rescued by
a fishing vessel this week, the US coastguard said. The boy’s brother and a cousin died sometime after the small boat flipped, according to the rescuers. Their bodies were found after the teen was hoi...
via South China Morning Post
Bobbing for days atop a capsized skiff in Alaska’s frigid Bering Sea, a 15-year-old boy held on until he was rescued by
a fishing vessel this week, the US coastguard said. The boy’s brother and a cousin died sometime after the small boat flipped, according to the rescuers. Their bodies were found after the teen was hoi...
via South China Morning Post
Americans mark 25 years since 9/11 attacks amid enduring grief, reflection
Twenty-five years after the deadliest attack on US soil, Americans paused on Friday to commemorate the nearly 3,000 peo
ple killed when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania – and to wrestle with the consequences of September 11 that reverberate to this day. In Ne...
via South China Morning Post
Twenty-five years after the deadliest attack on US soil, Americans paused on Friday to commemorate the nearly 3,000 peo
ple killed when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania – and to wrestle with the consequences of September 11 that reverberate to this day. In Ne...
via South China Morning Post
Man arrested after allegedly refusing to share HK$30m Mark Six jackpot with group
Hong Kong police have arrested a 36-year-old man suspected of having fled with a Mark Six jackpot worth around HK$30 mil
lion that he should have shared with 14 colleagues. A source said on Friday that a 53-year-old man had reported to police on Wednesday that he was one of 15 colleagues who had chipped in to buy a Mark...
via South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police have arrested a 36-year-old man suspected of having fled with a Mark Six jackpot worth around HK$30 mil
lion that he should have shared with 14 colleagues. A source said on Friday that a 53-year-old man had reported to police on Wednesday that he was one of 15 colleagues who had chipped in to buy a Mark...
via South China Morning Post
Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro under investigation over alleged corruption
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing challenger to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in next mon
th’s election, is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering tied to failed lender Banco Master, according to court documents unsealed on Friday. The probe into the senator, the e...
via South China Morning Post
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing challenger to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in next mon
th’s election, is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering tied to failed lender Banco Master, according to court documents unsealed on Friday. The probe into the senator, the e...
via South China Morning Post
