11 h. ago Before Maduro’s capture in Venezuela, US spoke with minister who is his loyal ally

Trump administration officials had been in discussions with Venezuela’s hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello months before the US operation to seize the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, and have been in communication with him since then, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The officials warned Cabello, 62, against using the security services or militant ruling-party supporters overseen by him to target the country’s opposition, four sources said. That security...

Politics

13 h. ago Iran’s leader says ‘thousands’ killed in protests, Trump a ‘criminal’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely”, Khamenei said without offering details in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic had evidence to support the claim. Iran did not intend to push the country towards...

Events

14 h. ago As Trump urges cap on credit card rates, could China follow suit for online loans?

US President Donald Trump’s call for American credit card interest rates to be capped at 10 per cent for a year has sparked a debate in China about whether Beijing should impose a similar limit on online loans. The discussion comes as many in China – especially younger people – are being enticed by credit offers amid a weak job market and a boom in online loan services. “Apps now keep luring young people into borrowing,” a finance blogger with nearly 500,000 followers wrote in a social media...

Politics

17 h. ago China woman shares civil service life in Iceland, admires culture that respects choices

China woman shares civil service life in Iceland, admires culture that respects choices  South China Morning Post

Politics

20 h. ago Machinery use suspended after worker severs hand at Hong Kong recycling centre

Hong Kong authorities have issued a suspension notice to a contractor at a government-run recycling centre after a worker severed his palm while clearing debris from a wood-chipping machine. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on Saturday said it was “highly concerned” about the incident, which occurred at around 2pm the day before at the Y·Park yard waste recycling centre in Tuen Mun. The worker was trying to clear debris stuck in an operating wood chipper when his left palm was...

Economics

27 h. ago Over 100 dead in torrential rains and floods across southern Africa

Army helicopters rescued people stranded on rooftops and hundreds of tourists and workers were evacuated from one of the world’s biggest game reserves, as torrential rains and flooding in three countries in southern Africa killed more than 100 people, authorities said on Friday. The death toll across South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe is an accumulation after weeks of heavy rains. Weather services issued warnings that more rain was on the way, possibly bringing more destructive...

Events

35 h. ago Thousands of Chinese Fishing Boats Quietly Form Vast Sea Barriers

Thousands of Chinese Fishing Boats Quietly Form Vast Sea Barriers  The New York Times

Politics

35 h. ago China Wants to Send Thousands of Satellites to Space—and Challenge SpaceX’s Dominance

China Wants to Send Thousands of Satellites to Space—and Challenge SpaceX’s Dominance  Popular Mechanics

Technology

39 h. ago Philippines, France near defence pact to boost ‘operational intimacy’ in contested waters

A visiting forces military deal to be signed between the Philippines and France has put the focus on “operational intimacy”, with observers noting that Paris has a presence in the Indo-Pacific and would serve Manila’s interests well in the contested waters of the South China Sea. The term was coined by Associated Press correspondent Jim Gomez and confirmed by French Ambassador to Manila Marie Fontanel during a freewheeling discussion on Tuesday at her residence. In a bid to balance the...

Culture

46 h. ago Hong Kong temperatures to fall to 12 degrees next week as winter monsoon arrives

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to sharply dip to as low as 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday next week as a cold front moves through the city midweek. The Hong Kong Observatory said the fine and relatively warm weather on Friday, brought by a dry northeast monsoon,...

Politics

47 h. ago China’s FX Conversion Jumps to Record as Firms Rush Back to Yuan

China’s FX Conversion Jumps to Record as Firms Rush Back to Yuan  Bloomberg.com

Politics

50 h. ago Thousands descend on village after woman's social media plea

Thousands descend on village after woman's social media plea  BBC

Politics

50 h. ago Chongqing: Thousands descend on village after Chinese woman's social media plea

Chongqing: Thousands descend on village after Chinese woman's social media plea  BBC

Politics

61 h. ago Hong Kong employee insurance costs to jump 15% amid surge in day procedures: study

More Hong Kong employees are seeking to have minor day procedures covered under the inpatient services of their group medical insurance, a joint study has found, while projecting a near 15 per cent increase in employers’ premiums this year. The findings, published in the Hong Kong Employee Medical Insurance Index, were released on Thursday by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in collaboration with corporate employee benefits and MPF consultancy GUM. The index, which tracks data from Hong...

Politics

61 h. ago Kremlin warns Ukraine running out of time to accept peace terms as winter crisis deepens

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine was running out of options to strike a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia, as thousands were without heating in Kyiv in -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures following waves of Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid. Moscow has not backed down from its intention to seize the rest of east Ukraine as the fourth anniversary of its offensive – Europe’s worst war since World War II – looms. “The situation is...

Events

65 h. ago Hong Kong authorities halt use of elevating platform at work site after worker death

Hong Kong labour authorities have suspended the use of elevating platforms at a construction site where a 65-year-old worker died after getting trapped between the device’s railing and a wall. The Labour Department on Thursday said it was “saddened” by the death and had launched an investigation to identify the cause of the accident that took place at the Victoria Blossom housing project on Shing Fung Lane in Kai Tak on Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman said the department had issued suspension...

Economics

68 h. ago Alibaba’s Qwen AI app hits 100 million users as upgrade broadens role in daily life

Alibaba Group Holding has rolled out a major update to its flagship Qwen artificial intelligence app, integrating it more deeply into the company’s expansive ecosystem, from online shopping to travel booking, as it pushes to make the service an AI-powered gateway to daily life. The upgrade came as Qwen surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of January, said Wu Jia, vice-president of Alibaba, at a corporate event on Thursday in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, where...

Events

69 h. ago Hong Kong consumer watchdog urges better elderly services after 9,206 complaints

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has called on businesses to improve services for elderly customers after receiving more than 9,200 complaints in the past three years, including a woman who spent HK$400,000 (US$51,294) on beauty treatments. The Consumer Council said on Thursday that improving services for seniors would help boost the spending potential of the “silver economy”, a priority for the city’s government amid a rapidly ageing population. “The council urges traders to review their sales...

Politics

2 d. ago Hong Kong, Shenzhen ‘to deepen’ ties in finance and AI to build world

Hong Kong and Shenzhen can work closely to empower finance with artificial intelligence, delegates said on Thursday at the China Conference: Greater Bay Area, an event hosted by the South China Morning Post. Joseph Chan Ho-lim, undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury in the Hong Kong government, said Hong Kong and Shenzhen were seeking deeper cooperation between finance and technology. Chan said at the event in Qianhai, a bonded zone in Shenzhen, that Hong Kong, as a...

Politics

3 d. ago Ford suspends worker who heckled Trump and got flipped off by US president

The Ford employee whose heckling of Donald Trump prompted an obscene gesture from the US president has been suspended, the US vehicle workers’ union said on Wednesday. During a tour of the Ford Motor Company’s F-150 factory in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, Trump raised his middle finger at the worker following catcalls, according to widely seen video of the incident. The heckler seemed to shout, in part, “paedophile protector”, US media reported – an apparent reference to suspicions that Trump...

Politics