34 m. ago US singer marries sultan, Singaporean Chinese ‘least attractive’: 8 viral stories in 2025

Catch up on some of SCMP’s trendiest stories this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 79-year-old influencer lost 30kg and has bone density of a 20-year-old. How? Joan MacDonald is an unlikely influencer. At nearly 80 years of age, she has garnered 2 million followers on Instagram since she began posting on the platform almost a decade ago. During that time, she has transformed her life and her health. Now she helps others to embrace ageing with...

Politics

2 h. ago Australia’s Albanese faces fierce battle over gun laws after Bondi Beach shooting

When a gunman murdered 35 people in Tasmania in 1996, Australia’s political leaders united to implement some of the West’s toughest gun laws. Nearly three decades later, after 15 people were killed at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, consensus is more elusive. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s call for tighter gun controls is meeting resistance from ascendant right-wing populists and some mainstream conservatives, revealing a more polarised landscape that contrasts with Australia’s response to...

Events

2 h. ago Chinese man sues fiancée for US$7,000 in gifts, dating expenses, claims she eats too much

A “petty” Chinese man has faced online scorn after he sued his fiancée to get back all the money he had spent on her because she “ate too much”. A court hearing involving the ex-couple went viral on social media after it was reported on December 9. According to the Chinese media outlet Zonglan News, the man, surnamed He, sued his girlfriend, surnamed Wang, to secure the return of a 20,000-yuan (US$2,800) initial bride price payment his family had made to her family. He also demanded that Wang...

Politics

3 h. ago Are Chinese biotechs what the doctor ordered as Big Pharma faces ‘patent cliff’?

Are Chinese biotechs what the doctor ordered as Big Pharma faces ‘patent cliff’?  South China Morning Post

Science

3 h. ago US drops Uganda deportation order against Chinese dissident, lawyer says

US drops Uganda deportation order against Chinese dissident, lawyer says  Reuters

Politics

3 h. ago Epstein files release highlights Clinton, makes scant reference to Trump

The Justice Department released hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday that made scant reference to US President Donald Trump but extensively featured Democratic former president Bill Clinton. The release was intended to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite the Republican president’s months-long effort to keep them...

Politics

6 h. ago Protection of vulnerable workers must be part of China’s AI strategy

Given the breakneck speed of technological and commercial developments across the world, China is perhaps one of only a few sovereign states with a comprehensive strategy on both artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. The Chinese state philosophy in AI development is anchored in diffusion, as opposed to maximising the cutting-edge performance of select generative or reasoning models. While American and European investors are lured by the prospects of superintelligent and humanoid robots,...

Politics

6 h. ago Chinese overseas in a changing world is theme of ISSCO Malaysia event

Chinese overseas in a changing world is theme of ISSCO Malaysia event  The Militant

Politics

8 h. ago Rome to charge tourists to get close to famed Trevi Fountain

Tourists who want to get close to Rome’s Trevi Fountain will soon have to pay a €2 (US$2.34) fee, the city mayor said on Friday, as authorities look to profit more handsomely from Italy’s many attractions. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told reporters the new payment system would start on February 1, adding that the measure was expected to raise €6.5 million (US$7.6 million) a year. “Two euros isn’t very much and it will lead to less chaotic tourist flows,” Gualtieri said, stressing that citizens...

Politics

10 h. ago US lawmakers want DeepSeek, Xiaomi added to list of Chinese military

A group of nine US lawmakers sent a letter to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth this week urging the Pentagon to add a slew of Chinese technology firms to a list of entities allegedly assisting the Chinese military. The letter, sent late on Thursday after US President Donald Trump signed a US$1 trillion must-pass military spending bill into law, asks Hegseth to place AI firm DeepSeek, smartphone maker Xiaomi and electronic display maker BOE Technology Group on what is known as the Section...

Events

10 h. ago US lawmakers want DeepSeek, Xiaomi on list of Chinese military

US lawmakers want DeepSeek, Xiaomi on list of Chinese military-linked firms  South China Morning Post

Events

10 h. ago US lawmakers urge Pentagon to add DeepSeek, Xiaomi to China military

Nine Republican lawmakers, including several congressional committee chairs, sent a letter this week urging US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to add more than a dozen Chinese technology firms to the Pentagon’s list of companies alleged to have links to the Chinese military. The letter, released on Friday after US President Donald Trump signed a US$900 billion military spending bill restricting US investments into Chinese tech, asks the Pentagon chief to place AI firm DeepSeek, smartphone maker...

Events

10 h. ago The US Is Selling H200 AI Chips to China – So Why Isn’t China Buying?

The US Is Selling H200 AI Chips to China – So Why Isn’t China Buying?  The Diplomat – Asia-Pacific Current Affairs Magazine

Politics

12 h. ago US lawmakers urge Pentagon to add DeepSeek, Xiaomi to list of firms allegedly aiding Chinese military

US lawmakers urge Pentagon to add DeepSeek, Xiaomi to list of firms allegedly aiding Chinese military  Reuters

Events

12 h. ago China’s rebuilding of Micronesian airport runway raises alarm in US

The rebuilding of a World War II-era airfield in Micronesia with the help of Chinese companies has raised alarm in the United States, with US defence analysts warning about Beijing’s growing footprint in the strategic western Pacific. Cleo Paskal, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies, posted a video on social media last week showing an airport runway being rebuilt on Woleai, a remote 4.5 sq km atoll in Micronesia’s Yap state. “Chinese company...

Events

12 h. ago US Begins Reviewing Licences For Sale of H200 Chips to China

US Begins Reviewing Licences For Sale of H200 Chips to China  Asia Financial

Politics

13 h. ago Malaysian cook’s toddler abuse at Singapore preschool covered up by staff who deleted CCTV

Three former members of a Singapore preschool’s senior management admitted on Friday to covering up the offences of a cook who molested toddlers at the preschool where they all worked. The cook, 61-year-old Teo Guan Huat, had molested three toddlers during naptime over seven months in 2023. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than nine years’ jail last month. The three members of senior management were the 59-year-old executive director, 61-year-old principal and 49-year-old...

Events

13 h. ago Missouri Reveals Which Chinese Assets It Will Target in $50B Row

Missouri Reveals Which Chinese Assets It Will Target in $50B Row  Newsweek

Events

13 h. ago China’s Sugon unveils new AI infrastructure to rival platforms from Nvidia and Huawei

Chinese supercomputer maker Sugon has launched an advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure for data centres that is expected to rival similar high-performance platforms from Nvidia and Huawei Technologies. Beijing-based Sugon, listed in Shanghai as Dawning Information Industry, on Thursday unveiled its scaleX platform at an event in Kunshan, a city in eastern Jiangsu province. The company claimed that it was China’s first 10,000-card AI supercluster, designed to deliver in excess of 5...

Politics

14 h. ago TikTok reaches new US deal; China’s answer to Nvidia’s A100: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. TikTok reaches deal on new US venture with American investor group In a landmark move that ends years of legal and political uncertainty, TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi informed employees that the company has signed a binding agreement to divest its US entity into a joint venture controlled by a consortium of American investors. 2. Chinese team builds optical chip...

Politics