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SCMP

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Cathay passengers left vomiting on storm-wracked flight to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Airways passengers described vomiting and screaming in fear as their Hong Kong-bound flight battled intense turbulence and failed twice to land at the airport amid bad weather on Tuesday. Flight CX341 from Shanghai was due to land at Hong Kong International Airport at 7.30pm but was delayed by more than seven hours.
2. China used water cannons as ‘deterrence’ against Philippines, PLA’s Zhou Bo says

Senior Colonel Zhou Bo (retired) sits down for a conversation covering China’s military, China-US relations, modern warfare, and the conflicts and tensions shaping the world. Zhou, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, spent four decades with the People’s Liberation Army, mainly in diplomatic roles.
3. Hong Kong marks Labour Day with fireworks, but display fizzles out for some

Hong Kong welcomed holidaying mainland Chinese visitors with a fireworks show in Victoria Harbour on Wednesday in the first instalment of a monthly series of pyrotechnics displays, but not all attendees were impressed with the “budget-style” effort.
4. As Beijing’s ‘Made in China 2025’ plan nears finish line, how well has it done?

In 2015, China set out on an ambitious 10-year plan – dubbed “Made in China 2025” – to achieve self-reliance, innovation and strength in the manufacturing industry within 10 years. But during that time, a trade war with the United States has done its best to stop China crossing off its list of goals. Now, with only eight months left until 2025, the South China Morning Post has investigated China’s progress.
5. Furore in Malaysia over PM Anwar’s ‘threats’ after Forest City casino report
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is facing criticism for leading calls to shut down a contentious report on casino plans for a flatlining urban project, as the Forest City fallout unfolds and questions mount over the hold of Islamists on public discourse.
6. Japan’s latest bizarre delicacy: armpit rice balls made with cute girls’ sweat

A strange new twist on a classic Japanese snack, which involves the underarm sweat of the women who prepare it, is being proudly promoted in some high-end establishments.
7. China captivated by Thai politician caught in bed with adopted son who is monk
Mainland social media has been captivated by the case of a 45-year-old female politician in Thailand who was caught having an affair with her adopted son, who also happened to be a monk. The affair has rocked Thailand after Prapaporn Choeiwadkoh was caught on video in bed with 24-year-old monk Phra Maha.


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China doubts Musk’s Starship future; ex-TSMC chip prodigy returns: SCMP’s 7 highlights

SCMP Highlights

Cathay Pacific’s stormy flight, Malaysia’s Forest City casino, Japan’s armpit onigiri: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

Cathay Pacific planes at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

The fireworks were set to the music of the daily “Symphony of Lights” multimedia show. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

A classic Japanese snack, the rice ball, has taken on a new culinary form, which bizarrely involves the underarm sweat of the women who prepare it. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/QQ.com

Taiwan to tear down Chiang Kai-shek statues, Hong Kong’s sushi packaging guessing game: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

There are hundreds of statues of late president Chiang Kai-shek in public spaces across Taiwan. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile makes its debut during a military parade in Beijing in 2019. Photo: Xinhua

A Japanese supermarket in Tsim Sha Tsui replaced transparent plastic boxes for takeaway with paper packaging. Photo: Jelly Tse

Women use portable fans to cool off while walking around Tokyo in the summer of 2023. Photo: AFP

A woman tourist from China has died after she plunged off a cliff at a famous volcano site in Indonesia as her husband took her photo. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/Sohu

Israel ‘unhappy’ with China’s response to Iran, more Hongkongers seek divorce: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

An anti-missile system in Ashkelon, Israel following the launch of Iranian drones and missiles. Photo: Reuters

An increasing number of couples aged in their late thirties to late forties filed for divorce in the past five years, a lawyer said. Photo: Shutterstock

A man reacts during a ‘Free Palestine’ rally near the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 22, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Carrie Lam’s five-year term as chief executive ended in 2022. Photo: Robert Ng

The Tsimané indigenous people of the Bolivian Amazon have some of the healthiest hearts on the planet and very low rates of dementia, giving clues as to how to prevent it. Photo: Instagram/unesco

Chinese nationals in Philippine Coast Guard, twin sisters reunite: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

President Xi Jinping greets former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou ahead of their talks in Beijing on Wednesday, nearly nine years after the pair met for a landmark summit in Singapore. Photo: Xinhua

Nasa introduced the working principles of Vulcan and some key equations it used in an academic paper published in 2020. The software is used to develop hypersonic weapons in the US. Photo: US Air Force

A Philippine Coast Guard personnel looks through binoculars while conducting a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed at a grounded warship in the South China Sea in October 2023. Photo: Reuters

The twins were adopted by different families in eastern China’s Shandong province. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/Douyin

Taiwan earthquake, Kobe Bryant’s lookalike in China, Singapore’s 34-year-old grandma: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

A mother-of-five influencer from Singapore, who has become a grandmother at the age of 34, says she will “support and guide” her 17-year-old son, the new father. Photo: SCMP composite

Buildings were shaken from their foundations in a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Hualien City, Taiwan on Wednesday morning. Photo: CNA

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida walk along the Colonnade of the White House in Washington on January 13, 2023. Photo: AP

Illustration: SCMP

Sheikh Ali Al Maktoum (left) and Alira, whose music career has been on a hiatus since 2023. Photo: SCMP

Senator Imee Marcos (left) with her brother, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, after he delivered his second state of the nation address at the Philippine House of Representatives in July last year. Photo: AP

A young man in China who resembles the late basketball icon Kobe Bryant has amassed 500,000 fans in two weeks by copying the sporting legend’s look and style in live-streaming sessions. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin/Getty Images

Chinese factories in Mexico on thin ice, Xi-Biden talks and the surprise tiny EV hit: 7 reads about US-China relations

Photo: Handout

Chinese companies are opening factories in Mexico – but some have found themselves in a precarious position. Photo: Shutterstock

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Shutterstock

Photo: US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts handout via Reuters

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From a Cathay Pacific flight battling bad weather to a kind of Japanese onigiri made from armpit sweat, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting


From a Cathay Pacific flight battling bad weather to a kind of Japanese onigiri made from armpit sweat, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting.


Cathay Pacific’s stormy flight, Malaysia’s Forest City casino, Japan’s armpit onigiri: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}From a Cathay Pacific flight battling bad weather to a kind of Japanese onigiri made from armpit sweat, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting

1. Cathay passengers left vomiting on storm-wracked flight to Hong Kong

From a Cathay Pacific flight battling bad weather to a kind of Japanese onigiri made from armpit sweat, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting