A mobile network outage in France this week has raised questions about the reliability of Finnish telecoms giant Nokia’s products against the backdrop of continued European Union efforts to phase out Chinese suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE over security concerns.
The problem first hit the network of France’s biggest telecoms provider Orange at 11.37am on Monday and lasted until 8.30pm, resulting in outages of up to nine hours for some customers, Orange France CEO Jerome Henique told French...
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to travel to Beijing next month as Canberra seeks to deepen a relationship which stabilised after years of trade disputes but has been recently complicated by geopolitical tensions.
Sources told the South China Morning Post that Albanese would first attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in Shenzhen, which runs from November 18 to 19, before travelling to the Chinese capital.
It will be Albanese’s third visit to...
This week, China’s stock market slipped into a bear market, prompting the state-backed “national team” to pour about 170 billion yuan (US$25.52 billion) into exchange-traded funds (ETFs); Standard Chartered beat forecasts with a 46 per cent jump in third-quarter net profit; and the US Federal Reserve held rates steady, which also left Hong Kong’s base rate unchanged.
Meanwhile, an offshore yuan bond structure known as Yulan made its debut in Dubai, and residential rents in Hong Kong extended a...
What might an anthropologist make of artificial intelligence if he approached it as an unfamiliar tribe?
That question framed an SCMP Plus fireside chat with Professor Alan Macfarlane at The Center in Central, Hong Kong, on October 26. Speaking with SCMP senior AI technology reporter Vincent Chow, Macfarlane explored how AI changes knowledge creation and sharing, and what distinguishes its capabilities from human experience.
An emeritus professor of anthropological science at the University of...
Pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago in September, according to a new study.
The same month, about 57.8 million people in Indonesia were inhaling unhealthy to hazardous air, said the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank.
“Worsening air quality due to forest and land fires in Indonesia pushed the estimated death toll to 3,560 cases in September 2026,...
George Russell said one difficult Formula One season would not define his career and he still had plenty of time on his side.
The Briton started the campaign as the favourite but has been eclipsed by 20-year-old Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who is set to clinch the title in Mexico City this weekend.
“I’ve probably learned more about myself this year than I would have liked, in all honesty,” Russell said on Thursday, acknowledging that Antonelli, who will be Italy’s first champion in 73...
It’s almost hard to remember, but just a few years ago, a lot of very smart people thought that science was in terminal decline. Respected researchers were writing papers with titles like “Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?”, “Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time”, and “Slowed canonical progress in large fields of […]
The Communist Party of China has pledged to vigorously crack down on the “unwritten rules” that enable corruption in the party, deepening its long-running campaign to keep officials in line.
At a Friday press conference, senior officials described the important takeaways from the 20th Central Committee’s Fifth Plenum, which concluded the day before. They underscored President Xi Jinping’s assertion that corruption remains a serious challenge that requires sustained pressure and targeted action...
The former father-in-law of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has made a U-turn midway through her murder trial and pleaded guilty to the illegal disposal of her body.
As the High Court trial entered its fifth week before a nine-member jury, Kwong Kau made a stunning reversal on Friday and admitted to the charge he initially refuted.
The 68-year-old retired police sergeant stands accused of murdering his former daughter-in-law on February 21, 2023, and preventing the burial of the...
France’s interior minister has warned of a “very high risk of public disorder” and announced the deployment of around 70,000 police officers for a new wave of protests this weekend.
France has been rocked by widespread anger over the rising cost of living and inequality, with nationwide demonstrations on October 17 degenerating into some of the country’s worst rioting in years.
The Yellow Vest movement and student unions have called for a new day of protests on Saturday.
The demonstrations come...
Liquidators of China Evergrande Group have agreed to sell a controlling stake in its property management arm to investment firm PAG for HK$4.03 billion (US$513.6 million), as they seek to recover assets for creditors owed US$46 billion.
The sale of a 51.016 per cent stake in Evergrande Property Services could give the profitable business a new controlling shareholder after its parent used billions of yuan of its bank deposits as collateral for loans, leaving the company struggling to recover the...
Hong Kong banks are facing a growing backlog of repossessed homes as aggressive pricing by developers draws buyers towards new projects, leaving fewer buyers for second-hand properties being sold by mortgagees.
The number of residential properties listed for sale by mortgagees rose 30 per cent in the third quarter to sit at 262 at the end of September, a four-quarter high, according to Centaline Property.
The increase of 61 properties was the largest since records began in the fourth quarter of...
Hong Kong officials’ apology over the deadly Tai Po blaze nearly a year ago came too late, residents of the fire-ravaged estate have said, as they urged authorities to learn from the disaster and pursue long-term reforms.
Several Wang Fuk Court residents also said on Thursday the resignation of housing minister Winnie Ho Wing-yin could not answer for cross-departmental failings, adding that institutional overhaul would be ineffective unless officials enforced rules, exercised sound judgment and...
When Ocean Park launched its Halloween celebrations in 2001, pumpkins, witches and vampires helped turn a visit to the theme park into a seasonal fright night. Twenty-five years later, haunted houses drawing on Hong Kong ghost stories share this year’s programme with family activities, live performances and a dark-fantasy collaboration with a pop star.
The history of Halloween at Ocean Park is not simply a timeline of increasingly bigger productions and more elaborate effects. It is also a story...
Shares of major Chinese optical communications suppliers slumped on Friday before clawing back some of their losses, extending a two-day sell-off despite upbeat third-quarter earnings driven by the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
During morning trading in Shenzhen, Chengdu-based Eoptolink Technology dropped as much as 15 per cent, while Suzhou TFC Communication slid 10.3 per cent and industry leader Zhongji Innolight fell over 7 per cent.
By the midday break, the trio had...
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Win for Lula boosts China’s foothold and gives Brazil rare earths leverage
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election preserves Beijing’s most critical foothold in Latin America, while positioning Brasilia to leverage...
US Senator Chris Murphy disclosed on October 28 that he was among the members of Congress recently briefed behind closed doors on the Trump administration’s discussions of a possible post-midterm assault on Iran, and he came away with a startling assessment: “Their plan is insane.” Murphy (D-Conn.), who recently traveled to Gulf countries to survey […]
Seven members have been selected for a specialist panel that will assess companies identified by the Singapore government over potential links to transboundary haze, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Friday.
Three are investigation firms: Control Risks Group, FTI Consulting (Singapore) and Kroll Singapore.
The remaining four are law firms or legal advisers: Dentons Rodyk & Davidson, Toby Landau, King’s Counsel of Duxton Hill Chambers, TSMP Law Corporation...
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Hong Kong’s first five-year plan sets a striking target: local innovation expenditure should rise from 1.63 per cent of gross domestic product in 2024 to 3 per cent after 2030 – nearly double.
The city has five universities in the top 100 and is home to national key laboratories...
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has pledged to cover all losses from a hack that it said drained around US$6.3 billion from its wallet.
At that scale, it would be the biggest crypto theft on record, surpassing the US$1.5 billion stolen from Dubai-based exchange Bybit in February 2025, a theft the FBI attributed to North Korea.
Binance said in a post on X on Friday that it had suspended all deposits and withdrawals while its team conducts security checks,...
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