Hong Kong’s plan to reduce public healthcare subsidies from 97 per cent to 90 per cent by 2030 represents a significant shift in one of the world’s most heavily subsidised systems. While the Health Bureau portrays this as a necessary realignment, the reform warrants careful consideration as there are far-reaching implications for healthcare equity and…
Seat belts and child safety restraints have saved countless lives in road accidents. Suffice to say the road toll would be much higher without them. We do know that a lack of belts, or failure to fasten them to restrain the body during collisions, ranks with other deadly risk factors, such as speed, alcohol or…
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China and economy stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Before ‘two sessions’: China’s Politburo reiterates priorities for 2025 China’s top leadership has signalled its plans to double down on economic stability and quality development with tech…
British prime minister meets with Trump at White House – CBS News Watch CBS News British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is the latest European leader to make a personal appeal to President Trump to continue U.S. support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, and to stop his tariff threats. Margaret Brennan has more. Be…
The US refused to sign an “inclusive” and “sustainable” artificial intelligence declaration on Tuesday, as Washington criticised Europe for excessive AI regulation and warned China not to use the cutting-edge technology to tighten its grip on power. The message, conveyed by US Vice-President J.D. Vance at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, was delivered…
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ £8.06 billion Earth fund for climate and biodiversity has halted funding for the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), an international body that assesses whether companies are decarbonising in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. This development came as US President Donald Trump exited the Paris Agreement, sharply contradicting Bezos’ earlier climate…
But DeepSeek’s head office in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, on Wednesday kept mum on the firm’s potential next moves, as it declined all requests from news media, including the South China Morning Post. More security personnel were deployed outside its office building on the same day, according to one of the guards on…
Hong Kong may require students to have lived in the city for a minimum period to be classified as “local” after some mainland Chinese professionals were accused of exploiting talent schemes to secure cheaper university tuition for their children. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Tuesday she would take reference from jurisdictions such…
Text size The UK government Thursday announced new local inquiries into sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs, recently the subject of a row between US tech billionaire Elon Musk and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “As we have seen, effective local inquiries can delve into far more local detail and deliver more locally relevant answers,…
The British finance minister’s plans to visit China next month may be the latest signal that the Labour Party wants to take a pragmatic approach that balances economic ties with concerns over security and human rights, analysts have said. One said it may also be a way of “testing the waters” about whether this approach…