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South China Morning Post

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 16:10:54 +0800
Covid-19: South Africa gives green light to China’s Sinovac vaccine
South Africa has approved China’s Sinovac vaccine against Covid-19, the acting health minister said on Saturday, as the country faces a crippling third wave of infections that has paralysed hospitals and brought its death toll to 60,000.“I would ...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 16:00:22 +0800
Chinese Communist Party centenary film 1921 tops box office – but is it anything more than propaganda?
A film celebrating the Chinese Communist Party’s centenary has drawn mixed reactions from audiences despite topping the box office charts in the first two days of its release.Co-directed by Huang Jianxin and Zheng Dasheng, 1921, which tells the sto...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 16:00:18 +0800
Coronavirus has changed China’s entertainment habits, but consumer spending is still weak
With international travel off the cards and cinemas intermittently closed, young Chinese like Jiang Tang have been spending more time entertaining themselves online since the coronavirus pandemic hit.When not at home, scores of young people gather du...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 15:54:04 +0800
Hong Kong police arrest two suspected of inciting others to commit arson, murder officers
Police have arrested a man and a woman suspected of inciting others to commit arson and murder officers, days after a 50-year-old man stabbed a constable in the back before fatally plunging the knife into his own chest.It was unclear whether the arre...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 15:30:17 +0800
Malaysians raise white flags as hunger spreads under lockdown
White flags could be seen flying outside homes and poverty relief organisations across Malaysia this past week as citizens cried out for food and other assistance amid the country’s latest Covid-19 lockdown.The surreal scenes, reminiscent of simila...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 15:00:22 +0800
A crumbling Hindu temple part of Gurkha heritage in Hong Kong’s Fanling
For Nam Sing Thapa, a retired Gurkha soldier living in Hong Kong, the lotus-shaped Hindu Temple in Fanling carries many stressful yet unforgettable memories of his days serving in the British army half a century ago.The 75-year-old said that in the 1...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 14:58:59 +0800
Philippine military plane crashes with 92 people on board, at least 17 killed
At least 17 people were killed and 40 injured when a military plane crashed in the Philippines’ restive south on Sunday, officials said.The C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with 92 people on board was trying to land on Jolo island in Sulu provi...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 14:13:15 +0800
Coronavirus: samples from Hong Kong quarantine hotel linked to local infection test positive for Delta variant
Two samples taken from a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong suspected to be linked to a woman’s coronavirus variant infection have tested positive, officials said on Sunday afternoon, as the city confirmed three new imported cases.The new cases all invo...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 13:30:20 +0800
How lab-grown meat can help fix China’s pork crisis and food security
Pork is big business in China, the only country in the world to have its own dedicated pork reserve. The government can tap into this reserve as pork prices shoot up or down, as they currently are amid another outbreak of African swine fever.There is...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 13:18:30 +0800
Foxconn boss Terry Gou and TSMC ‘seal BioNTech vaccine deals’ for Taiwan
Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwan’s Foxconn, and TSMC reached initial agreements to each buy 5 million doses of BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation.Taiwan’s government has...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 13:00:16 +0800
For Indonesia’s restive Papua region, will Biden’s human rights focus bring any change?
Reporting for this story was supported by the Round Earth Media programme of the International Women’s Media FoundationIt has been more than half a century since the former Dutch colony of Papua was integrated into Indonesia in a highly controversi...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:54:31 +0800
Chinese astronauts carry out country’s second spacewalk
Nearly 13 years after China’s first spacewalk, two Chinese astronauts have made a second foray into space outside the Tiangong space station.Liu Boming was the first to leave the module on Sunday morning and was joined by Tang Hongbo three hours la...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:10:44 +0800
When scientists came face to face with China’s Dragon Man fossil for the first time
It was late spring in 2018 when leading Chinese paleoanthropologist Ni Xijun came face to face with the Harbin skull fossil for the first time.The skull was first unearthed by a labourer in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province in 1933 only to be...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:09:20 +0800
HK$5,000 vouchers: almost 700,000 register for scheme in first six hours
Almost 700,000 Hongkongers signed up for the government’s HK$5,000 (US$644) e-vouchers within six hours of registration opening on Sunday.The scheme began accepting applications at 6am, and by the afternoon the wait time for those using the iAM Sma...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 11:00:17 +0800
Tokyo Olympics: pregnant Lindsay Flach joined US track and field trials to ‘prove what women are capable of’
Our Tokyo Trail series looks at key issues surrounding the 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled for late July.When track and field athlete Lindsay Flach from the United States took part in trials for the heptathlon last week, the 31-year-old didn’t t...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 10:30:10 +0800
How China’s influencer factories mint live streamers to feed China’s billion dollar e-commerce industry, selling everything from lipstick to rocket launches
Xinhe United Creation Park in the suburbs of Hangzhou, the e-commerce capital of China, looks like any other business park from the outside.Signs plastered on the building facades hint at what‘s going on inside. “Time is money”, “You’re uni...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 09:15:12 +0800
Tencent’s US$5.7 billion Shenzhen Net City costs more than Apple’s ‘spaceship’ campus. Here’s a peek at its green credentials
Tencent Holdings, the Chinese technology giant, is ditching the old playbook of cookie-cutter office blocks for its new Shenzhen headquarters, which is being developed keeping sustainability in mind.Net City, the new development, will be as big as Mi...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 09:00:27 +0800
Hong Kong permanent residents overseas balk at high cost of returning to renew status, seek ‘leniency’ during pandemic
American citizen Elliot W. spent about HK$15,000 (US$1,900) on airline tickets and 21 nights in a quarantine hotel to keep his Hong Kong permanent resident status.“This trip costs more than bringing my entire family to Hong Kong to visit,” said t...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 08:00:23 +0800
Tokyo Olympics: Hmong-American gymnast Sunisa Lee makes history after pushing superstar Simone Biles at trials
Our Tokyo Trail series looks at key issues and athletes in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled for late July. This is the second in a two-part feature on Asian-American gymnasts who made headlines in the past week.When Asian-American...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 08:00:13 +0800
China’s arms trade: which countries does it buy from and sell to?
The deep-sea drones, ballistic missiles, tanks, and fighter jets flaunted in military parades and at events like the Communist Party’s centenary celebrations increasingly demonstrate China’s growing military power.China has long been engaged in a...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 07:47:21 +0800
Forensic team heads to Canadian town destroyed by fire to confirm reports of deaths
A forensic team arrived on Saturday in a Canadian town destroyed by fire to confirm reports that two people were killed during the blazes which forced residents to abandon their homes with just a few minutes notice several days ago.The Coroners Servi...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 06:00:26 +0800
Changing Taiwan ocean conditions could affect PLA’s submarines
The Chinese military has been warned that changes to the currents and temperatures off Taiwan’s east coast mean it will have to adapt its submarine warfare plans in the event of an invasion.A recent report posted on the South China Sea Wave, an ano...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 05:36:20 +0800
Ransomware attack on US tech firm Kaseya ‘may have affected 1,000 businesses’
A ransomware attack on a US IT company potentially targeted 1,000 businesses, researchers said on Saturday, with one of Sweden’s biggest supermarket chains revealing it had to temporarily close around 800 shops after losing access to its checkouts....

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 04:51:22 +0800
Coronavirus: protesters in Brazil call for impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro over vaccine corruption
Protests against President Jair Bolsonaro spread across Brazil on Saturday, a day after a Supreme Court justice authorised a criminal investigation into his response to allegations of potential corruption involving a vaccine deal.Demonstrators gather...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 04:06:05 +0800
‘Not the end’: fans of The Doors flock to Paris to mark 50 years since Jim Morrison’s death
Fans of Jim Morrison and The Doors gathered at a stylishly overgrown cemetery in Paris on Saturday, marking 50 years since the death of 1960s icon Jim Morrison.Dozens of fans of the frontman, who moved from the United States to the French capital in ...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 03:22:33 +0800
Cyprus asks EU and Israel for help battling massive forest fire
Cyprus asked fellow European Union nations on Saturday to help battle a huge forest fire in a mountainous region of the east Mediterranean island nation that has forced the evacuation of at least three villages.Cypriot Environment Minister Costas Kad...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 02:29:09 +0800
Prison time postponed for former South African president Jacob Zuma
South African ex-president Jacob Zuma's court-ordered entry into prison has been postponed.The country’s Supreme Court will consider Zuma’s application for the annulment of his prison sentence on July 12, South African media reported on Saturday,...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 01:29:14 +0800
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood joins Julian Assange’s 50th birthday picnic in London
Dame Vivienne Westwood was among supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who gathered in London's Parliament Square on Saturday to mark the third birthday he has spent behind the bars of the British capital's Belmarsh Prison.The event featured...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 00:45:08 +0800
Two more bodies recovered from rubble of collapsed block of flats in Surfside, Florida
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Saturday two more bodies were found in the rubble of a collapsed condo building, bringing the number of confirmed dead to 24. The number of people who remain unaccounted for in the collapse was 124.A top ...

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 00:08:28 +0800
Italy busts schemes selling fake EU Covid-19 passes, purported vaccines on dark web
Italian police said on Saturday they had broken up a number of online schemes offering to sell fake European Union digital Covid-19 status certificates or purported coronavirus vaccines.The investigation, coordinated by the cybercrime prosecutor’s ...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 22:10:13 +0800
Hong Kong 24-year-old dies after collapsing during hike in Sai Kung
A 24-year-old man collapsed and died while hiking in Sai Kung on Saturday in the third fatal incident on the city’s trails in as many months.The young man, surnamed Yik, was airlifted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital along with a 53-year...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 22:02:07 +0800
Vatican Cardinal Angelo Becciu among 10 indicted in London property deal
The Vatican’s criminal tribunal on Saturday indicted 10 people, including a cardinal, on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion and fraud in connection with the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro investment in a London re...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 22:00:20 +0800
Germany wants independent China experts as concerns about Confucius Institutes and Beijing’s influence over universities grows
Germany is building up its own knowledge base about China as it seeks to diminish Beijing’s influence over its universities.The education ministry announced on Tuesday that it was investing €24 million (US$28.4 million) in a programme running bet...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 21:21:51 +0800
National security law: Hong Kong authorities launch glossy virtual exhibition marking legislation’s first anniversary
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau has launched a virtual exhibition to mark the first anniversary of the Beijing-imposed national security law, making the case that the previous lack of such legislation had left the city “defenceless” against unrest ...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 21:11:46 +0800
Ex-EU chief Donald Tusk returns to frontline politics to lead fight for Poland’s future
Former European Council president Donald Tusk returned to the fore of Polish politics on Saturday, becoming leader of the main opposition party in a move that many members hope can revive its sagging fortunes.For many in the liberal Civic Platform (P...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 21:00:11 +0800
India-Pakistan ceasefire threatened by drone attack, just as Afghanistan and China border heat up
A drone attack on an Indian airbase in Jammu has raised concerns that an escalation in hostilities could put at risk a ceasefire between Pakistan and India.Two Indian soldiers were wounded when two drones dropped explosives on the Indian Air Force ba...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 20:30:18 +0800
Fresh wave of Hong Kong unions, civil society groups disband over fears of vague ‘red lines’ under national security law
The impact of the Beijing-imposed national security law has spread beyond radical pro-independence groups, with over a dozen more moderate organisations and unions representing doctors, lawyers, civil servants and community activists recently disband...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 20:00:25 +0800
Why is China so keen to get involved in Britain and Argentina’s dispute over the Falklands?
Hong Kong and the Falkland Islands, off the southern tip of South America, are thousands of kilometres apart and have little in common other than their colonial past under British rule. And the two are now in rather different situations.Beijing has b...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 19:10:25 +0800
Military on standby as Canada scrambles to quell wildfires ravaging towns
Canada’s government warned on Friday of a “long and challenging summer” ahead as it prepared military aircraft to help evacuate towns and fight more than 100 wildfires fuelled by a record-smashing heatwave.According to officials, at least 152 f...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 18:38:48 +0800
Two dead, 20 missing after homes swept away in Japan landslide
Two people died and around 20 others remained missing on Saturday after a huge landslide at a resort town in central Japan swept away homes following days of heavy rain, officials said.Television footage showed a torrent of mud obliterating buildings...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 18:00:29 +0800
China blames US for conflicts from Afghanistan to Iran
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the US of being “the source” of a series of conflicts in the world, seeking to present Beijing as a “defender” and “friendly neighbour” for countries in conflicts.Addressing an international relati...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 18:00:27 +0800
How Hongkonger Ada Tsang beat setbacks, tragedy and failure to conquer Everest in record time
Ada Tsang Yin-hung is accustomed to failure. The 44-year-old mountaineer recently became the fastest woman in the world to conquer Mount Everest, but her journey to the top has been anything but smooth.She was just 100 metres from the summit on May 1...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 17:55:48 +0800
Coronavirus: Hong Kong looks at making unvaccinated teachers undergo regular Covid-19 testing
Teachers who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 could be required to undergo regular mandatory testing, Hong Kong’s education minister has revealed, while the city confirmed one imported coronavirus case on Saturday.Secretary for Education K...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 17:27:47 +0800
Hong Kong’s homebuyers pile into Kai Tak’s first harbourfront flats after a tepid start, betting on property bull market to continue
Hong Kong’s homebuyers snapped up the first harbourfront flats built on Hong Kong’s former airport runway in Kai Tak despite a slow start, as generous discounts lured investors to double down on their bets of the continuing property bull market....

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 17:00:27 +0800
US athlete Yul Moldauer heads to Tokyo Olympics as Asian-Americans celebrate
Our Tokyo Trail series looks at key issues and athletes in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled for late July. This is the first in a two-part feature on the Asian-American gymnasts who made headlines in the past week.Last week, Yul M...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 16:00:29 +0800
China’s steelmakers need cleaner process to put climate goals in reach, report says
China needs to transition its steel sector from a carbon-intensive process to electric steelmaking if it is to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060, according to a new report by US think tank Global Energy Monitor.Reducing the carbon dio...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 15:46:03 +0800
China bill delayed in US House of Representatives as Republicans and Democrats trade barbs
The US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee will resume work later this month on Democratic-led legislation intended to boost competitiveness with China and push Beijing on human rights, after two days of debate on the measure.A spokesm...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 15:30:08 +0800
Hong Kong’s struggling food truck operators keen to keep rolling on, say it’s too soon to scrap scheme
Hong Kong’s struggling food truck operators are seeing encouraging signs that business will improve as the coronavirus pandemic eases, but they have also expressed hope the government will not scrap the scheme.Five trucks are operating regularly in...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 15:27:07 +0800
China and US go dose to dose in Covid-19 vaccine donations to El Salvador
China is expected to deliver 1.5 million doses of Sinovac coronavirus vaccines to El Salvador, just days after the US announced it would donate the same amount of shots to the Central American country.“In the next few days, 1.5 million Sinovac vacc...

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 15:00:11 +0800
Suspicions rise of Indian involvement in car bomb at Pakistani jihadi Hafiz Saeed’s home
Alarm bells are ringing in Pakistan after a car bomb exploded near the home of jailed jihadist leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in the eastern city of Lahore.Nobody has claimed responsibility for the June 23 attack, which killed three people and wounded 2...



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