China shoppers swap boutiques for bargains, fuelling US$30 billion luxury resale boom At a shopping centre in Shenzhen’s coastal business district, a store’s entrance feels more like a security checkpoint than a retail gateway. Customers check their bags, don white silk gloves, and pass through a gate. Beyond the checkpoint, which also seems incongruent with the outer facade resembling a typical multi-brand fashion shop, lies a 2,000-square-metre (21,527-sq-ft) showroom. Inside, luxury handbags are not displayed under artful lighting. Instead, they are tightly arranged in... image
South China Morning Post
From taboo to trendy: China’s second-hand luxury market cashes in on resale boom
Driven by an uneven recovery and property crisis, value-conscious shoppers are powering a second-hand boom as platforms use tech to verify authenti...
Singapore cracks down on scammers with mandatory caning as fraud cases surge Singapore’s government said on Friday that scammers will face mandatory caning of up to 24 strokes from December 30, under changes to criminal law to deter surging fraud cases. The changes, passed by parliament last month, strengthen penalties that already include imprisonment and fines. The Home Affairs Ministry said the enhanced punishment “ensure that our criminal laws remain effective, fair, and responsive to emerging challenges”. Under the changes, scammers, including recruiters and members... image
South China Morning Post
Singapore cracks down on scammers with mandatory caning
The new law with tougher penalties for fraud syndicates and money mules to fight rising cybercrime takes effect December 30.
Bank of Japan raises rates to levels unseen since 1995 The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates on Friday to levels unseen in three decades and signalled its readiness for further hikes, taking another landmark step in ending decades of huge monetary support and near-zero borrowing costs. It also removed language that growth and inflation will stagnate due to the impact of higher US tariffs, underscoring the central bank’s conviction that Japan was on course to stably hit its 2 per cent inflation target backed by wage gains, and ready for a... image
South China Morning Post
Bank of Japan’s historic rate increase signals new era for economy
Bank of Japan lifts rates to 0.75 per cent – a 30-year high – ending zero-interest era, paving the way for further increases amid rising inflat...
Trump’s Venezuela ‘blockade’ raises legal questions as US masses forces US President Donald Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast was raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fuelling concerns that the US could be edging closer to war. The Trump administration says its blockade is narrowly tailored and not targeting civilians, which would be an illegal act of war. But some experts say seizing sanctioned oil tied to leader Nicolas Maduro could provoke a military response from Venezuela,... image
South China Morning Post
Trump’s Venezuela ‘blockade’ raises legal questions as US masses forces
With an unusually large US military presence near Venezuela, observers warn of tactics that stretch the bounds of international law.
Hong Kong customs arrests 2 party room operators over suspected pirated songs Hong Kong customs has arrested two party room operators on suspicion of providing pirated karaoke songs to customers after raiding eight properties across the city. The Customs and Excise Department said on Friday that officers launched an operation between December 3 and 10 after analysing intelligence, with the help of copyright owners, and identifying party rooms suspected of possessing and providing infringing karaoke songs during their business operations. Officers raided eight party rooms... image
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong customs arrests 2 party room operators over suspected pirated songs
Customs says officers raided eight properties across city, seizing HK$240,000 worth of karaoke equipment in copyright crackdown.
China cuts US Treasury holdings to lowest level since 2008 amid debt ceiling fears China reduced its US Treasury holdings in October to its lowest level in 17 years, as mounting concerns over US debt sustainability and the Federal Reserve’s independence further eroded confidence in dollar-backed assets. The country’s stockpile fell to US$688.7 billion in October, down from US$700.5 billion in September, according to US Treasury Department data released on Thursday. October’s figure was the lowest level reported since November 2008, and marked a plunge of more than 47 per cent... image
South China Morning Post
China cuts US Treasury holdings to lowest level since 2008
The stockpile has now fallen to nearly half its November 2013 peak, financial data shows, as long-term sell-off continues.
The quiet US-China tech contest for the future Power shifts begin in places most people never see – on assembly lines making batteries and robots, along transmission lines feeding data centre clusters, in local offices selling land and in labs training artificial intelligence models. The United States and China are using these quiet levers to construct different futures. The contest will be decided not by slogans but by who builds the most productive, trusted and durable infrastructure. Those choices will shape billions of lives. The global... image
South China Morning Post
Opinion | The quiet US-China tech contest for the future
The competition will be decided by who builds the most productive, trusted and durable infrastructure. Those choices will shape billions of lives.
‘It’ author Stephen King tops US school book ban list amid censorship divide A new report on book bans in US schools finds It author Stephen King is the writer most likely to be censored, with the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans. PEN America’s “Banned in the USA,” released on Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years... image
South China Morning Post
‘It’ author Stephen King tops US school book ban list amid censorship divide
PEN America’s report revealed a ‘story of two countries’, with most bans on LGBTQ and race content coming from Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.