Japan’s Mount Fuji loses a month of winter days as global warming accelerates
By Kyodo
A central Japan city at the foot of Mount Fuji has lost more than a month’s worth of winter days per year in the past decade due to global warming, a recent study by a US-based climate research organisation showed.
The city of Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture added 35 winter days above zero degrees Celsius annually on average between 2014 and 2023, the most among 901 Northern Hemisphere cities analysed, according to a December report by Climate Central.
The findings come as Mount Fuji received its first snowcap of the season on November 7 this year, the latest date since records began in 1894.
More than half of 57 Japanese cities analysed saw climate change add at least two weeks’ worth of winter days above freezing each year, including Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture and Kyoto, which saw an additional 23 days and 21 days, respectively.
As warmer winters could lead to water shortages due to reduced mountain snowpack, as well as increase the population of disease-carrying pests like mosquitoes and ticks, the organisation has stressed the importance of ending reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal as soon as possible.
“This warming trend, which is driven by human-caused climate change, not only disrupts the season itself but also erodes the benefits it provides year round,” the group noted.
The report, which compared observed December-February temperatures in the past 10 years with projected temperatures without human-induced climate change, found that around 44 per cent of the 901 cities analysed lost an average of a week or more of winter days annually due to global warming.
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By Kyodo
A central Japan city at the foot of Mount Fuji has lost more than a month’s worth of winter days per year in the past decade due to global warming, a recent study by a US-based climate research organisation showed.
The city of Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture added 35 winter days above zero degrees Celsius annually on average between 2014 and 2023, the most among 901 Northern Hemisphere cities analysed, according to a December report by Climate Central.
The findings come as Mount Fuji received its first snowcap of the season on November 7 this year, the latest date since records began in 1894.
More than half of 57 Japanese cities analysed saw climate change add at least two weeks’ worth of winter days above freezing each year, including Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture and Kyoto, which saw an additional 23 days and 21 days, respectively.
As warmer winters could lead to water shortages due to reduced mountain snowpack, as well as increase the population of disease-carrying pests like mosquitoes and ticks, the organisation has stressed the importance of ending reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal as soon as possible.
“This warming trend, which is driven by human-caused climate change, not only disrupts the season itself but also erodes the benefits it provides year round,” the group noted.
The report, which compared observed December-February temperatures in the past 10 years with projected temperatures without human-induced climate change, found that around 44 per cent of the 901 cities analysed lost an average of a week or more of winter days annually due to global warming.
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Witnesses say Jeju Air jet ‘flew through flocks of birds’ before South Korea crash
By Park Chan-kyong
The ill-fated Jeju Air flight encountered serious issues after reportedly flying through flocks of migrating birds, witnesses claim, which is thought to have led to the engine problems experienced during the flight.
Experts suggest the pilots had little time to perform standard emergency landing procedures due to a sudden loss of power in both engines.
Two flight attendants were the only survivors among the 181 people aboard Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was travelling from Bangkok when it crash-landed without landing gear at South Korea’s Muan International Airport on Sunday.
Investigators sifting through the charred remains of the Boeing 737-800 recovered both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
The aircraft had struck the airport’s wall before exploding into a massive ball of flames and black smoke, leaving only its tail section intact.
South Korea’s acting President, Choi Sang-mok, ordered an emergency safety inspection of the entire airline operating system on Monday as investigators worked to identify victims and determine the cause of South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster.
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By Park Chan-kyong
The ill-fated Jeju Air flight encountered serious issues after reportedly flying through flocks of migrating birds, witnesses claim, which is thought to have led to the engine problems experienced during the flight.
Experts suggest the pilots had little time to perform standard emergency landing procedures due to a sudden loss of power in both engines.
Two flight attendants were the only survivors among the 181 people aboard Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was travelling from Bangkok when it crash-landed without landing gear at South Korea’s Muan International Airport on Sunday.
Investigators sifting through the charred remains of the Boeing 737-800 recovered both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
The aircraft had struck the airport’s wall before exploding into a massive ball of flames and black smoke, leaving only its tail section intact.
South Korea’s acting President, Choi Sang-mok, ordered an emergency safety inspection of the entire airline operating system on Monday as investigators worked to identify victims and determine the cause of South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster.
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Hongkonger dead, 2 injured after car mounts pavement in Jordan
By Willa Wu
A Hong Kong pedestrian has died and two others have been injured after a car driver allegedly lost control, mounted a pavement and hit them.
Police received a report at around 10am on Monday that the black private car mounted the walkway near Luen Tak Building on Jordan Road in Jordan, knocking down the three pedestrians.
An elderly man was declared dead in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The other two – a man and a woman- suffered head and leg injuries, respectively.
After the crash, the car bounced back onto the main road and hit a flower trough before it stopped.
The driver, reportedly feeling unwell, was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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By Willa Wu
A Hong Kong pedestrian has died and two others have been injured after a car driver allegedly lost control, mounted a pavement and hit them.
Police received a report at around 10am on Monday that the black private car mounted the walkway near Luen Tak Building on Jordan Road in Jordan, knocking down the three pedestrians.
An elderly man was declared dead in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The other two – a man and a woman- suffered head and leg injuries, respectively.
After the crash, the car bounced back onto the main road and hit a flower trough before it stopped.
The driver, reportedly feeling unwell, was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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Hong Kong police searching for trio who assaulted, robbed man of HK$20,000
By Edith Lin
Hong Kong police are on the hunt for three people who assaulted and robbed a car driver of HK$20,000 (US$2,576) after they asked him for directions.
The victim was transported to Caritas Hospital on Monday after he sustained injuries to his head and right hand. Blood stains were spotted on the private car’s steering wheel and door.
The incident took place at around 8am. The victim said three men approached him to ask for directions after he parked his car on Kowloon Road in Sham Shui Po to have breakfast. He then lowered his window.
Police said the trio opened the car door and threatened the man with knives and sticks. The man tried to escape, but in vain.
The trio hit the victim’s head and hand before they fled the scene.
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By Edith Lin
Hong Kong police are on the hunt for three people who assaulted and robbed a car driver of HK$20,000 (US$2,576) after they asked him for directions.
The victim was transported to Caritas Hospital on Monday after he sustained injuries to his head and right hand. Blood stains were spotted on the private car’s steering wheel and door.
The incident took place at around 8am. The victim said three men approached him to ask for directions after he parked his car on Kowloon Road in Sham Shui Po to have breakfast. He then lowered his window.
Police said the trio opened the car door and threatened the man with knives and sticks. The man tried to escape, but in vain.
The trio hit the victim’s head and hand before they fled the scene.
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A Trump defence pick points to focus shift from North Korea to China for US Forces Korea
By Seong Hyeon Choi
US president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for senior defence official may signal his incoming administration’s move to adjust the role of US troops in South Korea to focus more on containing China, analysts said.
On December 22, Elbridge Colby, who was the deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development during Trump’s first term, was announced as the next under secretary of defence for policy, the No. 3 rank in the Pentagon responsible for the formation of national security and defence policy.
On his Truth Social account, Trump wrote that Colby would work closely with the secretary of defence nominee Pete Hegseth to “restore” Washington’s military power and achieve a policy of “peace through strength”.
Colby has been calling for US military resources to be concentrated on a denial strategy against China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific, instead of dispersing US defence resources to other regions such as Europe, aligning with Trump’s campaign pledge to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
A major contrast between traditional US strategies in the Indo-Pacific region and Colby’s overall policy agenda appears in the roles played by the US Forces Korea (USFK) stationed in South Korea, a contingent that primarily focuses on responding to North Korean threats.
Traditional defence officials in Trump’s previous administration advocated for the USFK’s role in responding to North Korean threats with a more hawkish stance against its nuclear and missile development.
However, Colby is sceptical that Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons and believes that US troops in South Korea must instead be used to contain China’s military threat, leaving Seoul to defend itself against North Korea.
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By Seong Hyeon Choi
US president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for senior defence official may signal his incoming administration’s move to adjust the role of US troops in South Korea to focus more on containing China, analysts said.
On December 22, Elbridge Colby, who was the deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development during Trump’s first term, was announced as the next under secretary of defence for policy, the No. 3 rank in the Pentagon responsible for the formation of national security and defence policy.
On his Truth Social account, Trump wrote that Colby would work closely with the secretary of defence nominee Pete Hegseth to “restore” Washington’s military power and achieve a policy of “peace through strength”.
Colby has been calling for US military resources to be concentrated on a denial strategy against China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific, instead of dispersing US defence resources to other regions such as Europe, aligning with Trump’s campaign pledge to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
A major contrast between traditional US strategies in the Indo-Pacific region and Colby’s overall policy agenda appears in the roles played by the US Forces Korea (USFK) stationed in South Korea, a contingent that primarily focuses on responding to North Korean threats.
Traditional defence officials in Trump’s previous administration advocated for the USFK’s role in responding to North Korean threats with a more hawkish stance against its nuclear and missile development.
However, Colby is sceptical that Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons and believes that US troops in South Korea must instead be used to contain China’s military threat, leaving Seoul to defend itself against North Korea.
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13 Filipino women and 3 babies freed from Cambodian prison after surrogacy conviction
By Agence France-Presse
Cambodia has pardoned and sent home 13 Philippine women who were jailed over a scheme to become surrogate mothers, an outlawed practice, the Philippine government said on Sunday.
They were among 24 foreign women detained by Cambodian police in September and convicted and sentenced to four years in prison on December 2 for attempted cross-border human trafficking.
The women “and three of their babies” were sent home to Manila early Sunday and taken to a government shelter for trafficking victims, the Social Welfare Department said in a statement.
Ten of the repatriated women are still pregnant, said Irene Dumlao, the Social Welfare Department’s Assistant Secretary.
“All 13 [women] departed Phnom Penh and arrived safely in Manila following the grant of royal pardon by His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni,” the Philippine foreign ministry said in a separate statement.
The Cambodian court ruling had said it had strong evidence showing that the 13 had “the intention … to have babies to sell to a third person in exchange for money, which is an act of human trafficking”.
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By Agence France-Presse
Cambodia has pardoned and sent home 13 Philippine women who were jailed over a scheme to become surrogate mothers, an outlawed practice, the Philippine government said on Sunday.
They were among 24 foreign women detained by Cambodian police in September and convicted and sentenced to four years in prison on December 2 for attempted cross-border human trafficking.
The women “and three of their babies” were sent home to Manila early Sunday and taken to a government shelter for trafficking victims, the Social Welfare Department said in a statement.
Ten of the repatriated women are still pregnant, said Irene Dumlao, the Social Welfare Department’s Assistant Secretary.
“All 13 [women] departed Phnom Penh and arrived safely in Manila following the grant of royal pardon by His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni,” the Philippine foreign ministry said in a separate statement.
The Cambodian court ruling had said it had strong evidence showing that the 13 had “the intention … to have babies to sell to a third person in exchange for money, which is an act of human trafficking”.
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A year of giant pandas, mega-events and new minister for Hong Kong tourism
By Wynna Wong
Hong Kong’s tourism sector underwent major shifts in 2024, with a surprise bumper sloth of giant pandas, a push for mega-events and the sacking of a minister grabbing some of the year’s biggest headlines.
Authorities announced a HK$1.09 billion (US$139 million) package in February to boost the local tourism trade and diversify the industry to adapt to changing visitor trends in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government also rolled out a slew of measures to boost spending and encourage longer stays in response to calls by Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs to treat every corner of the city as a tourist hotspot.
The Post looks back on the year’s tourism highlights.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu sacked his tourism and transport ministers late in the year amid growing dissatisfaction with their handling of critical issues under their portfolios.
Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Lam Sai-hung were replaced by Rosanna Law Shuk-pui and Mable Chan respectively in December, with Lee citing a need for “reform mindsets” and effective leadership as key qualities to revitalise the two sectors.
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By Wynna Wong
Hong Kong’s tourism sector underwent major shifts in 2024, with a surprise bumper sloth of giant pandas, a push for mega-events and the sacking of a minister grabbing some of the year’s biggest headlines.
Authorities announced a HK$1.09 billion (US$139 million) package in February to boost the local tourism trade and diversify the industry to adapt to changing visitor trends in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government also rolled out a slew of measures to boost spending and encourage longer stays in response to calls by Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs to treat every corner of the city as a tourist hotspot.
The Post looks back on the year’s tourism highlights.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu sacked his tourism and transport ministers late in the year amid growing dissatisfaction with their handling of critical issues under their portfolios.
Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Lam Sai-hung were replaced by Rosanna Law Shuk-pui and Mable Chan respectively in December, with Lee citing a need for “reform mindsets” and effective leadership as key qualities to revitalise the two sectors.
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SingPost’s board says decision to sack 3 top executives ‘carefully considered’
By CNA
Singapore Post’s board responded late on Sunday to questions from stakeholders about its decision to sack three top executives at the same time, saying it was “carefully considered”.
In a Singapore Exchange filing, chairman Simon Israel said: “The termination of senior management was a carefully considered decision by the board, based on established facts and supported by legal advice, including a second independent opinion from senior counsel of another law firm.
“This decision reflects the board’s unwavering commitment to governance principles, prioritising what is right – even when it is more challenging in the short term – in the best interests of the company.”
SingPost announced on December 22 the termination of the employment of its group chief executive officer Vincent Phang, its group chief financial officer Vincent Yik and the chief executive of the company’s international business unit Li Yu over their mishandling of whistle-blowing reports.
Following the news, the company’s share price dropped by nearly 11 per cent the following day.
Experts said the sacking of three top executives at the same time was “unprecedented” for a Singapore firm.
The SingPost board on Sunday published a detailed account of the proceedings and said the announcement was to address comments and queries from stakeholders surrounding the firing of Phang, Yik and Li.
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By CNA
Singapore Post’s board responded late on Sunday to questions from stakeholders about its decision to sack three top executives at the same time, saying it was “carefully considered”.
In a Singapore Exchange filing, chairman Simon Israel said: “The termination of senior management was a carefully considered decision by the board, based on established facts and supported by legal advice, including a second independent opinion from senior counsel of another law firm.
“This decision reflects the board’s unwavering commitment to governance principles, prioritising what is right – even when it is more challenging in the short term – in the best interests of the company.”
SingPost announced on December 22 the termination of the employment of its group chief executive officer Vincent Phang, its group chief financial officer Vincent Yik and the chief executive of the company’s international business unit Li Yu over their mishandling of whistle-blowing reports.
Following the news, the company’s share price dropped by nearly 11 per cent the following day.
Experts said the sacking of three top executives at the same time was “unprecedented” for a Singapore firm.
The SingPost board on Sunday published a detailed account of the proceedings and said the announcement was to address comments and queries from stakeholders surrounding the firing of Phang, Yik and Li.
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Syria’s new leader says elections could take 4 years, hopes Trump will lift sanctions
By Agence France-Presse
Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya on Sunday that elections could take four years, noting the importance of ties with Iran and Russia and calling for the United States to lift sanctions.
“The election process could take four years,” Sharaa told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, three weeks after his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebels ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
“We need to rewrite the constitution” which could take “two or three years”, he added.
In the wide-ranging interview, he expressed hope that the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on his now war-torn and impoverished country under Assad.
“The sanctions on Syria were issued based on the crimes that the regime committed,” Sharaa said, adding that since Assad was gone, “these sanctions should be removed automatically”.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments, including the United States.
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By Agence France-Presse
Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya on Sunday that elections could take four years, noting the importance of ties with Iran and Russia and calling for the United States to lift sanctions.
“The election process could take four years,” Sharaa told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, three weeks after his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebels ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
“We need to rewrite the constitution” which could take “two or three years”, he added.
In the wide-ranging interview, he expressed hope that the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on his now war-torn and impoverished country under Assad.
“The sanctions on Syria were issued based on the crimes that the regime committed,” Sharaa said, adding that since Assad was gone, “these sanctions should be removed automatically”.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments, including the United States.
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Did China’s Baidu discover scaling laws before OpenAI? A debate rekindles in AI circles
By Zhang Tong
Recent community discussions have reignited the debate over whether Chinese tech giant Baidu may have developed the key theoretical groundwork for large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models before America’s OpenAI.
Large models, or “foundation models”, are at the forefront of AI development, with their rapid iterations driving cutting-edge applications. While the United States is generally viewed as leading advanced AI model innovation, some argue that China may have started exploring these concepts earlier.
Central to large-model development is the “scaling law” – a principle that asserts the larger the training data and model parameters, the stronger the model’s intelligence capabilities. Widely credited to OpenAI’s 2020 paper, “Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models”, this idea has since become a cornerstone in AI research.
The OpenAI paper showed that increasing model parameters, training data and compute resources boosts performance following a power-law relationship. This insight guided the development of subsequent large-scale AI models.
However, Dario Amodei, a co-author of the OpenAI paper and former vice-president of research at the company, shared in a November podcast that he had observed similar phenomena as early as 2014, during his time at Baidu.
“When I was working at Baidu with [former Baidu chief scientist] Andrew Ng in late 2014, the first thing we worked on was speech recognition systems,” Amodei said. “I noticed that models improved as you gave them more data, made them larger and trained them longer.”
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By Zhang Tong
Recent community discussions have reignited the debate over whether Chinese tech giant Baidu may have developed the key theoretical groundwork for large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models before America’s OpenAI.
Large models, or “foundation models”, are at the forefront of AI development, with their rapid iterations driving cutting-edge applications. While the United States is generally viewed as leading advanced AI model innovation, some argue that China may have started exploring these concepts earlier.
Central to large-model development is the “scaling law” – a principle that asserts the larger the training data and model parameters, the stronger the model’s intelligence capabilities. Widely credited to OpenAI’s 2020 paper, “Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models”, this idea has since become a cornerstone in AI research.
The OpenAI paper showed that increasing model parameters, training data and compute resources boosts performance following a power-law relationship. This insight guided the development of subsequent large-scale AI models.
However, Dario Amodei, a co-author of the OpenAI paper and former vice-president of research at the company, shared in a November podcast that he had observed similar phenomena as early as 2014, during his time at Baidu.
“When I was working at Baidu with [former Baidu chief scientist] Andrew Ng in late 2014, the first thing we worked on was speech recognition systems,” Amodei said. “I noticed that models improved as you gave them more data, made them larger and trained them longer.”
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Here’s hoping Hongkongers won’t have to risk their lives at work in 2025
By Alice Wu
As we wrap up the year, taking stock of what occurred and looking back at the newsmakers of 2024, I can’t help but think about the families left behind after fatal industrial accidents in Hong Kong.
Of all the people who made it to the evening news in 2024, Fay Siu Sin-man of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims is the person I least want to see on television. The chief executive of the concern group has been the face of activism against fatal industrial accidents in the city.
Last month, Hong Kong had four work-related fatalities in just a week. Two died after falling from scaffolding, another was crushed by a falling cage lift at a construction site, and a cleaner fell into the sea at a public cargo area. These were followed by two more fatal industrial accidents: one involving an escalator repairman and the other a worker who was painting on a raised platform that malfunctioned.
On December 17, another worker was found dead, on the roof of a building at Shek Kong Barracks, after family called the police to report her missing. On December 23, a man unloading water pipes from a truck at a construction site for a Drainage Services Department project was hit on the head and died from his injuries.
By December 18, the Labour Department had recorded 21 fatal industrial accidents this year, a slight drop from 24 in 2023.
The legislature passed the Occupational Safety and Occupational Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022 in the hope that raising the maximum penalty for serious occupational safety violations would act as a more effective deterrent.
The maximum penalty for such violations had been raised to HK$10 million from HK$500,000, together with two years’ imprisonment. Whether the slight drop in the number of fatal accidents can be attributed to the amended law is debatable, but it’s clear that this is not enough.
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By Alice Wu
As we wrap up the year, taking stock of what occurred and looking back at the newsmakers of 2024, I can’t help but think about the families left behind after fatal industrial accidents in Hong Kong.
Of all the people who made it to the evening news in 2024, Fay Siu Sin-man of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims is the person I least want to see on television. The chief executive of the concern group has been the face of activism against fatal industrial accidents in the city.
Last month, Hong Kong had four work-related fatalities in just a week. Two died after falling from scaffolding, another was crushed by a falling cage lift at a construction site, and a cleaner fell into the sea at a public cargo area. These were followed by two more fatal industrial accidents: one involving an escalator repairman and the other a worker who was painting on a raised platform that malfunctioned.
On December 17, another worker was found dead, on the roof of a building at Shek Kong Barracks, after family called the police to report her missing. On December 23, a man unloading water pipes from a truck at a construction site for a Drainage Services Department project was hit on the head and died from his injuries.
By December 18, the Labour Department had recorded 21 fatal industrial accidents this year, a slight drop from 24 in 2023.
The legislature passed the Occupational Safety and Occupational Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022 in the hope that raising the maximum penalty for serious occupational safety violations would act as a more effective deterrent.
The maximum penalty for such violations had been raised to HK$10 million from HK$500,000, together with two years’ imprisonment. Whether the slight drop in the number of fatal accidents can be attributed to the amended law is debatable, but it’s clear that this is not enough.
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How Vietnam emerged as a serious rival to China’s export machine
By Ralph Jennings
South Korean conglomerate Samsung operates huge factories in both China and Vietnam that pump out millions of smartphones for the global market.
And when it comes to quality, there’s no difference between the Android devices assembled in each country, said Lam Nguyen, director of research at the market intelligence firm IDC.
“The quality of a Samsung made-in-Vietnam handset is definitely the same in terms of quality as a made-in-China one,” he said.
It’s not just phones. Vietnam’s factories have made rapid progress over the past few years, and are now matching their Chinese rivals on quality as well as price across a whole host of industries, analysts said.
The trend represents a concern for China as the country braces for another trade confrontation with the United States after president-elect Donald Trump returns to office in January.
For decades, China has maintained a dominant position as the “world’s factory”, with its giant manufacturing sector giving it a clear lead in terms of efficiency and quality. But Vietnam has emerged as a genuine competitor over the past 15 years.
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By Ralph Jennings
South Korean conglomerate Samsung operates huge factories in both China and Vietnam that pump out millions of smartphones for the global market.
And when it comes to quality, there’s no difference between the Android devices assembled in each country, said Lam Nguyen, director of research at the market intelligence firm IDC.
“The quality of a Samsung made-in-Vietnam handset is definitely the same in terms of quality as a made-in-China one,” he said.
It’s not just phones. Vietnam’s factories have made rapid progress over the past few years, and are now matching their Chinese rivals on quality as well as price across a whole host of industries, analysts said.
The trend represents a concern for China as the country braces for another trade confrontation with the United States after president-elect Donald Trump returns to office in January.
For decades, China has maintained a dominant position as the “world’s factory”, with its giant manufacturing sector giving it a clear lead in terms of efficiency and quality. But Vietnam has emerged as a genuine competitor over the past 15 years.
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