Hamas seeks changes to Trump’s Gaza plan: source Hamas officials want amendments to clauses in US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including on disarmament, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership said on Wednesday. Hamas negotiators held discussions on Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding that the group needed “two or three days at most” to respond. Trump’s plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls... image
South China Morning Post
Trump’s Gaza plan: Hamas seeks changes as Israel issues ‘last’ warning
Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south amid heavy bombardment, while Hamas considers Trump’s ceasefire plan.
Chinese coastguards ‘committed to sacred mission’ in Scarborough Shoal dispute China’s coastguards said they were ready to uphold the country’s sovereignty in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, in a message broadcast by state broadcaster CCTV on National Day. The country has a long-running dispute with the Philippines over the reef and other areas of the South China Sea, and Wednesday’s report said the coastguards had resumed “regular patrols” in the area for the next 50 days. Coastguard officer Chen Zhijie told CCTV that protecting the disputed island was his “sacred duty... image
South China Morning Post
Chinese coastguards ‘committed to sacred mission’ in Scarborough Shoal dispute
National Day message for state television says patrols will resume around the South China Sea reef that is also claimed by the Philippines.
Oktoberfest grounds closed as Munich police investigate explosives incident The Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich will remain shut on Wednesday until at least 5pm local time after police said they discovered explosives in a residential building in the north of the city that caught fire and left one person dead. As part of a major operation that police earlier said posed no danger to the public, special forces were investigating an area in the north of Munich where Bild newspaper and multiple other reports said shots and explosions had been heard. Police said the... image
South China Morning Post
Munich’s Oktoberfest briefly closed by bomb threat, deadly family drama
The security threat was linked to a 57-year-old man who set his parents’ home ablaze before being found with an explosives-laden backpack.
HK$5 million worth of watches and jewellery stolen from luxury Hong Kong flat A luxury flat on The Peak in Hong Kong has been burgled, with losses exceeding HK$5 million (US$642,650), including luxury watches and jewellery, the Post has learned. Police received a report from security staff at the Villa Verde residential estate on Guildford Road after a domestic helper discovered signs of forced entry and ransacking inside the property at 11.15am. A police source said the victim, a 75-year-old expatriate, had left Hong Kong for travel last week, leaving only the domestic... image
South China Morning Post
HK$5 million worth of watches and jewellery stolen from luxury Hong Kong flat
Police probe theft at Villa Verde estate on The Peak after domestic helper discovered signs of forced entry and ransacking inside the property.
When Typhoon Wanda wreaked havoc on Hong Kong in 1962 – SCMP archive As Hong Hong deals with the aftermath of Super Typhoon Ragasa, we take a look at SCMP’s coverage of some of the worst storms the city has experienced. Click here to read more. Hong Kong’s day of terror This article was first published on September 2, 1962 Typhoon Wanda, with winds of up to 162 miles an hour, smashed its way through Hong Kong yesterday and in eight hours of terror, killed or injured hundreds, rendered nearly 20,000 homeless, and left behind it a trial of destruction such as the... image
South China Morning Post
On This Day | When Typhoon Wanda wreaked havoc on Hong Kong in 1962 – SCMP archive
On September 1, 1962, Hong Kong experienced one of its deadliest typhoons, which killed 130 people and left 52 missing.
Hong Kong police arrest 18 over laundering HK$66 million in crime proceeds Hong Kong police have arrested 18 people for allegedly laundering HK$66 million (US$8.5 million) in crime proceeds as part of a crackdown on a syndicate suspected of operating from hotel rooms across the city to process the money using stooge bank accounts. The force said on Friday that the arrestees included four people suspected of acting as leading or core members, as well as 14 alleged stooge bank account holders. The group was arrested over the past two days. “Our investigation shows that... image
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police arrest 18 over laundering HK$66 million in crime proceeds
Police say syndicate members suspected of coordinating money laundering activities from hotel rooms across city to cover their tracks.
China warns terrorists could use AI to create and fire their own weapons China has warned that artificial intelligence will allow people to learn how to make their own world-destroying weapons, such as nuclear missiles and biological and chemical weapons. The real-world risk – “loss of control over knowledge and capabilities of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile weapons” – was put forward in an AI safety governance document China unveiled on Monday. It updates the country’s first AI safety governance document that was made public last year. Both documents are... image
South China Morning Post
China warns terrorists could use AI to create and fire their own weapons
Among other concerns, governance document says Beijing seeks ‘to ensure that AI is always under human control’.
Philippines urged to act as China cements control over Scarborough Shoal The Philippines must move decisively beyond routine diplomatic protests in the face of China’s latest assertion of control over Scarborough Shoal, a retired Supreme Court justice has warned, as Beijing’s declaration of a vast marine nature reserve in contested waters deepens fears over regional stability and Philippine sovereignty. “China’s declaration raises the issue of what state has sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc – the Philippines or China,” Antonio Carpio, an ex-Supreme Court senior... image
South China Morning Post
Philippines urged to act as China cements control over Scarborough Shoal
A former Philippine Supreme Court justice called the South China Sea nature reserve a calculated legal manoeuvre to assert sovereignty.
Chloé Zhao’s Shakespeare family tragedy Hamnet wins top Toronto film prize Hamnet, a devastating period drama about the life of William Shakespeare and his family, won the top prize on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The heart-wrenching film stars Paul Mescal as Shakespeare, who tries to forge a career as a playwright while his wife Agnes – played by Jessie Buckley – contends with the perils of plague and childbirth in Elizabethan England. It comes from Beijing-born director Chloé Zhao, who directed 2020’s Oscar-winning Nomadland. Securing the... image
South China Morning Post
Chloé Zhao’s Shakespeare family tragedy Hamnet wins top Toronto film prize
Beijing-born director Zhao, who won an Oscar with 2020’s Nomadland, won the Toronto People’s Choice award at the film festival in Canada.
Hong Kong’s procurement scandals a reminder constant vigilance is needed Counterfeit bricks in MTR’s Tung Chung East station project, improperly sourced bottled water for government departments, substandard trainers for lifeguards – recent scandals in Hong Kong have aroused controversies rooted in the government’s public procurement process. Few Hongkongers have the vaguest idea of the scale of government procurement, even though it is everywhere around us. The Government Transparency Institute, which tries to monitor government procurement worldwide, estimates it... image
South China Morning Post
Outside In | Big bucks in government procurement makes it a honeypot for corruption
Transparency, good audits, appeal channels and channels for whistle-blowers might provide some checks – but never a foolproof solution.