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South China Morning Post

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 16:00:37 +0800
Afghanistan’s cannabis growers prosper, despite Taliban vow to crack down on drugs
Afghanistan’s new Taliban authorities swear they plan to crack down on the illicit drugs trade that largely fuelled their successful revolt.But so far nothing has changed for cannabis farmers like Ghulam Ali, whose crop stands head-height across th...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 16:00:29 +0800
Japan election: Kishida admits it’s a ‘really close race’ as parties make final campaign push
Japan’s political leaders made their final appeals to voters on Saturday, a day before the general election to decide whether to give Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a mandate for his Covid-19 and economic policies.The Liberal Democratic Party and its...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 15:59:47 +0800
Indonesia’s J&T Express buys Chinese rival Best’s logistics business amid price war centred in manufacturing hub of Yiwu
Indonesian logistics firm J&T Express announced that it will acquire its Chinese rival Best Inc’s courier business for 6.8 billion yuan (US$1.06 billion), amid a brutal price war among the industry’s major players.“The acquisition of Best Expre...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 15:35:31 +0800
China sets new bank risk rules to prevent financial crisis
China’s central bank has ordered the country’s lenders to meet new asset and leverage standards to make them more resistant to risk as the financial system grapples with disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Evergrande debt crisis and Weste...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 15:00:30 +0800
In Japan, why are Nazi-themed bars still opening?
A host bar in Japan that dressed its male staff in Nazi uniforms and used the swastika symbol as its motif, down to the labels on champagne bottles handsome young men poured for their female clients, recently closed less than 48 hours after it opened...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 14:46:04 +0800
19 US states sue Biden administration over coronavirus vaccine mandate
Nineteen states have filed lawsuits in four federal courts to stop US President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, arguing that the requirement violates federal law.Attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri,...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 14:15:10 +0800
Kuaishou’s Su Hua to step down as CEO, following moves by ByteDance and Pinduoduo founders amid China’s tech crackdown
Kuaishou Technology co-founder Su Hua is stepping down as CEO, becoming the third member of a new generation of Chinese technology billionaires to relinquish control in day-to-day operations of their companies amid the government’s protracted indus...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 14:04:45 +0800
South Korea pays final respects to former president Roh Tae-woo in small state funeral
Dozens of relatives and dignitaries gathered in South Korea’s capital on Saturday to pay their final respects to former president Roh Tae-woo, a key participant in a 1979 military coup who later won a landmark democratic election before his politic...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 14:00:34 +0800
Ming dynasty carpet that may have graced the throne valued at US$5.4 million in upcoming Christie’s auction
A Ming dynasty-era carpet will be valued at between US$4.08 million and US$5.4 million at a Christie’s auction scheduled for November 23 in Paris.The carpet was woven in the 16th century under the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644) and would have decorate...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 13:51:16 +0800
Coronavirus: Hong Kong highly likely to approve BioNTech jabs for children aged 5 to 11, government vaccination expert says
It is highly likely Hong Kong will approve the use of the BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 “very soon”, a government vaccination expert has said, with the age group receiving two shots at one-third the adult dosage.Professor...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:41:50 +0800
US man jailed for role in deadly kidnapping of Chinese national Ruochen ‘Tony’ Liao in 2018
A US man who helped in the deadly kidnapping of a Chinese citizen from a Los Angeles-area shopping centre was sentenced on Friday to more than 16 years in federal prison.Anthony Valladares, 29, of Pasadena, was sentenced a year after pleading guilty ...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:00:34 +0800
Hong Kong activist Edward Leung ‘likely to be watched’ after early release from prison, sources say
Jailed Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei is expected to be released on January 19, with his six-year sentence reduced by a third for good behaviour, but he is likely to remain under close watch, the Post has learned.The 30-year-ol...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:00:32 +0800
Some US-China decoupling is inevitable, senior China diplomat warns
Some form of decoupling between the West and China is “inevitable”, a senior Chinese diplomat has warned.In an article published on Friday, Wang Xiaolong, director general of the foreign ministry’s department of international economic affairs, ...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:00:30 +0800
COP26: is carbon pricing the climate change silver bullet world leaders would like you to believe?
If there were a climate policy equivalent of an oven-ready casserole for world leaders to take to this week’s climate talks in Glasgow, it has to be their carbon-pricing strategies.While a handful of experts continue to caution against an over-reli...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 11:45:53 +0800
Japan removes pumice pebbles clogging coastline after underwater volcano eruption
Massive amounts of volcanic pumice pebbles spewed from an undersea volcano in the Pacific Ocean have been piling up on coasts in southern Japan, damaging ports and fishing boats, and prompting the central government to establish a task force to deal ...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:30:29 +0800
Beijing ‘micromanaging’ Hong Kong Legco elections, down to checking, approving candidates behind the scenes, sources say
Beijing has been working behind the scenes to ensure that “patriots” contesting the coming Legislative Council election will not win by walkovers, as the city’s opposition parties are staying out, the Post has learned.Sources said Beijing’s l...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:00:25 +0800
Chinese iPhone 13 buyers decry long delays on social media as supply shortages hit Apple amid robust demand
When Mei Mei pre-ordered the iPhone 13 Pro on September 25, just one day after sales started, she did not expect her excitement to dissolve into impatience and then anger because of her month-long wait for Apple’s hottest new smartphone.Mei, who wo...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:00:23 +0800
What do the new US coronavirus travel rules mean for foreigners?
The United States is set to lift months-long Covid-19 travel bans on foreign air travellers from more than two dozen countries, while imposing a vaccination requirement for most non-American visitors arriving by plane.The new rules, which take effect...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 09:30:29 +0800
Ip Man goes AI: team at university in Hong Kong develops software to teach martial arts legend’s wing chun moves
A Hong Kong university research team is using artificial intelligence to develop a way to teach the Chinese martial art of wing chun, and keep alive the legacy of legendary grandmaster Ip Man.His grandson, Ip Kong-chiu, a grandmaster himself, will de...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 09:00:22 +0800
Quirky China: A man stares down white tigers, a grandson lives with legacy and two Shenzhen statues bring smiles
This week in the strange and quirky stories from China, a man entered a zoo enclosure with 11 white tigers, a grandson tries to live up to his iconic grandfather and statues in Shenzhen bring smiles to Chinese people.Seems unwisePolice in China detai...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 08:10:03 +0800
Alec Baldwin shooting armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has ‘no idea’ why live rounds were on set
The armourer responsible for weapons on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer has “no idea” why there were live rounds present, her lawyers said on Friday.The statement is the first public comment from 24-year-old Hann...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 08:00:20 +0800
As Amnesty joins groups quitting Hong Kong, NGOs worry their funding, activities may cross ‘red lines’ of national security law
After several years as a volunteer with Amnesty International, Hongkonger Susan* was sad but not surprised by the news that the human rights organisation was quitting the city.“I knew it was only a matter of time,” she says.She was a student when...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 07:00:29 +0800
Australia’s Morrison cut a climate deal ahead of COP26 but this fossil fuel giant’s path to net zero isn’t going to be smooth
Australia’s journey to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow was so rocky that until recently, there were question marks over whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison would even attend.Despite intense international lobbying, including from allies such a...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 06:35:36 +0800
Prince Andrew seeks dismissal of Virginia Giuffre’s sex abuse lawsuit
Britain’s Prince Andrew on Friday asked a US judge to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was 17, more than two decades ago.In a filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, the Duke of York s...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 06:00:26 +0800
South China Sea: experts still in dark over what smashed into US submarine
A recent satellite image suggests that damage to the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine may have happened in a head-on collision with a pint-sized submerged object in the South China Sea, military experts said.The incident four weeks ago may have occu...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 05:33:28 +0800
Coronavirus: US investigation leaves open possibility Covid-19 resulted from ‘laboratory-associated incident’
A US government investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which accused Beijing of impeding efforts to reach a definitive conclusion, largely dismissed theories suggesting that the contagion was created through genetic engineering o...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 04:46:15 +0800
US FDA authorises Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for young children
The US health regulator on Friday authorised the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine for children aged five to 11 years, making it the first Covid-19 shot for young children in the United States.The decision is expected to make the vaccine...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 03:44:42 +0800
US senators try to force Joe Biden’s hand on diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics
Over the past year, officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden have dodged questions about whether they will boycott the upcoming Beijing-hosted Winter Olympics in protest of China’s human rights record.A bipartisan group of lawmaker...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 03:43:27 +0800
With coronavirus untamed, Russia suffers deadliest September since World War II
Russia suffered its deadliest September since World War II, according to figures published on Friday, even before the peak of its current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic forced authorities to order non-working days for the first week of November.There ...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 03:09:34 +0800
Do not give China a free pass on human rights, protest group tells G20
As world leaders prepared to gather in Rome for the G20 leaders’ summit, they were urged to not give China a free pass on human rights in exchange for its cooperation on issues like climate change.At an event just metres from where US President Joe...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 02:30:21 +0800
China consumption: how important is it to the world’s No 2 economy?
How important is consumption to the Chinese economy?Consumption, which measures the final purchase of goods and services by households, accounts for more than half of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) and its share continues to increase. In the ...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 02:24:24 +0800
Queen Elizabeth to rest ‘for at least’ two more weeks
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will take medical advice and rest for “at least” another two weeks, Buckingham Palace said Friday, having recently spent a night in hospital to undergo “preliminary examinations”.“Following on from their recent a...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 01:43:43 +0800
Massive Asian spider takes hold in US, sending humans scurrying
A large spider native to East Asia has spun its thick, golden web on power lines, porches and vegetable patches all over north Georgia this year – a proliferation that has driven some unnerved homeowners indoors and prompted a flood of anxious soci...

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 01:05:15 +0800
US was ‘clumsy’ in Aukus submarine deal, Joe Biden tells France’s Emmanuel Macron
Meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, President Joe Biden said America was “clumsy” in its orchestration of a secret US-British submarine deal with Australia, an arrangement that left France in the lurch and rattled Europe’s ...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 23:49:51 +0800
South Africa approves trial for oral coronavirus vaccine
Oramed Pharmaceuticals won approval to run an initial clinical trial for its orally delivered Covid-19 vaccine candidate in South Africa.The US-listed company has been given permission by the South African Health Regulatory Products Authority to star...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 23:00:11 +0800
Chinese military may have an edge over US on artificial intelligence research, report warns
The Chinese military could be spending as much or even more than the United States on artificial intelligence (AI) according to a new report.The analysis, by the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University in Washingto...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 22:52:58 +0800
Australia opens door to Hongkongers with permanent residency scheme for those who have studied or worked there
Hongkongers who have studied or worked in Australia will be allowed to apply for permanent residency from as early as March 5 next year after the country revealed details of a promised “safe haven”.Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passpor...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 22:41:10 +0800
Russia jails Instagram model, boyfriend for 10 months over Red Square ‘obscene’ picture
A Russian court on Friday sentenced a social media prankster and his girlfriend to 10 months in prison after he posted a picture on Instagram imitating oral sex near Red Square.It was the latest crackdown on a minor transgression in Russia, where lea...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 22:30:27 +0800
Will Xi and Putin’s absence make a difference to the G20 and climate change summits?
It is a four-day burst of high-stakes diplomacy in which the world’s most powerful leaders will haggle over crucial climate targets, global tax rates, clogged supply chains and vaccinating the planet.But the build-up has been marked by the palace i...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:59:22 +0800
China’s video gaming industry on edge as government approval of new game licences remains in limbo
Chinese video gaming companies are feeling left in limbo as the industry’s regulator remains silent about the resumption of approvals for new online games after a recent crackdown.The freeze in new game approvals in the world’s biggest video gami...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:34:13 +0800
Malaysia unveils US$80 billion biggest ever budget in feel-good boost to post-Covid recovery
Malaysia on Friday unveiled its biggest ever budget with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz indicating the government was well aware that businesses and residents required continued state aid with the battle against Covid-19 “still raging”...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:30:17 +0800
EcoHealth Alliance defends US-funded bat coronavirus research in China
A science non-profit that has come under fire for its US-funded coronavirus research in China has defended its actions amid questions over whether it followed grant protocols or conducted risky research.In a letter on Tuesday, US-based EcoHealth Alli...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:00:56 +0800
Europe’s Mars orbiter to read the signals in ‘blind’ dates with China’s rover
The Mars probes of China and Europe will collaborate in five communication tests next month, the European Space Agency said.In the planned tests, the Chinese rover Zhu Rong, which has been working on Mars’ surface since May, will send data to the E...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:00:21 +0800
China in ‘culture export’ push as it seeks to expand soft power overseas with global media platforms
The Chinese government is pushing exports of the country’s “cultural products” to the rest of the world, including helping domestic companies to build up global new media platforms, in Beijing’s latest move to boost its soft power on the glob...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:58:07 +0800
Joe Biden holds lengthy meeting with Pope Francis as abortion debate rages in US
US President Joe Biden held an unusually long meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday as a debate raged back home about the Catholic president’s support for abortion rights.The Vatican said the private meeting lasted one hour and 15 minu...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:53:29 +0800
New panel dismisses complaints two Hong Kong magistrates biased in cases related to 2019 protests
A new committee handling complaints against judicial officers in Hong Kong has dismissed its first two cases, clearing one magistrate of favouring an anti-government protester and another of bias towards police.Both cases, related to the social unres...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:37:09 +0800
Hong Kong mother’s death following childbirth was avoidable, inquest jury rules in misadventure verdict
The death of a woman who suffered very rare complications during childbirth could have been avoided, a Hong Kong inquest jury has found as it returned a verdict of misadventure.Jurors held in Friday’s ruling that Liang Jinxiao, 33, was administered...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:30:23 +0800
China thanks Serbia for supporting its core concerns as Taiwan continues to cast a shadow over its relations with Europe
China has hailed the “unprecedented high level” its relationship with Serbia has reached and said the two sides will continue to support each others’ core concerns at a time when Taiwan has been working to boost its ties with Europe.The remarks...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:00:23 +0800
China’s stealth fighter built for two prepares for maiden flight in world first
The world’s first twin-seater stealth fighter could make its maiden flight in less than a fortnight, as China prepares to show off its latest home-grown breakthrough in military technology.Pictures and video clips have emerged on mainland social me...

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 19:49:24 +0800
WHO chief Tedros runs unopposed for second term
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the sole candidate for the WHO leadership when his current term expires, the UN body announced on Friday.The 56-year-old Ethiopian former health and foreign minister has been at the forefr...



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