Escaping Russia’s web: Central Asia is caught between Chinese networks and US tech curbs

South China Morning Post - Nov 9, 2026

Days after three Russian data centres were hit by Ukrainian drone attacks last month – paralysing taxi, delivery and payment apps across Central Asia – Tajikistan launched an internet link between its capital Dushanbe and Beijing. The optical fibre, which runs through the Pamir Mountains, offers a direct link to Hong Kong – one of the largest internet traffic exchange points in the Asia-Pacific – and marks Tajikistan’s fifth international communication access point. To the west, Kazakhstan and...

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Woman narrowly escapes death as folding table falls from Hong Kong building

Woman narrowly escapes death as folding table falls from Hong Kong building

A woman narrowly escaped death after a folding table fell from an industrial building in Hong Kong and landed beside her on Monday evening, leaving her with only a minor hand injury. Police later arrested a man in connection with the incident, which occurred at about 6.15pm on Cheung Shun Street outside Maxim’s Centre in Cheung Sha Wan. Video circulating online shows the 32-year-old woman walking along the pavement towards the rear of a parked car. She is about to open the boot and place items...

Fresh GJ-11 footage gives a glimpse of weapon bay on China’s next-gen drone

Fresh GJ-11 footage gives a glimpse of weapon bay on China’s next-gen drone

China has released new images of its GJ-11 stealth combat drone, offering a closer look at the advanced design and high-performance features of the next-generation uncrewed aircraft. The images appeared on Monday in a report by state broadcaster CCTV counting down to the 77th anniversary of the PLA Air Force on Wednesday. For the first time, viewers were given a close-up look at the GJ-11’s large internal weapon bay, highlighting its serrated edges. The design suggests that the drone can house...

Lithuanian president confirms talks on renaming Taiwan office in diplomatic U-turn

Lithuanian president confirms talks on renaming Taiwan office in diplomatic U-turn

Lithuania is in talks with Taiwan over changing the name of a controversial representative office in Vilnius, with its president saying the government is “not obligated” to follow policies that predate it. Gitanas Nauseda, speaking to the state broadcaster LRT on Monday night, confirmed that the Baltic state’s foreign ministry had sent a letter to Taiwan’s representatives asking to recalibrate the relationship. “Without a doubt, we are coordinating and, without a doubt, the new ruling majority...

Sogang University tops university category in service quality index for 13th straight year

Sogang University tops university category in service quality index for 13th straight year

Sogang University has ranked No. 1 in the university category for the 13th consecutive year in the Korean Standard-Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) survey conducted by the Korean Standards Association (KSA). The university said it earned an overall score of 86.5 points in this year's survey, maintaining its top position in the category since 2014. It received particularly high scores in accuracy, friendliness and social value. The second-half survey covered 238 organizations across 58 general and platform service industries. The 2026 KS-SQI certification ceremony was held on Wednesday at the Grand Ballroom of Signiel Seoul in Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul. It drew about 200 attendees, including representatives of award-winning organizations. The KS-SQI is a service quality measurement model jointly developed by the KSA and Seoul National University’s Institute of Management Research. Designed to reflect the characteristics of Korea’s service industry and consumers, the index serves as a comprehensive measure of service quality nationwide. Since 2000, the KSA has conducted the surve

Community Closet event in Itaewon offers free medical check-ups, clothing donations for foreign residents in need

Community Closet event in Itaewon offers free medical check-ups, clothing donations for foreign residents in need

Itaewon Global Village Center will offer free internal medicine check-ups for all foreign residents this Saturday as part of its Community Closet event. The check-ups will cover only seasonal illnesses such as fever, colds, coughs, the flu and related issues, and medicine will be provided free of charge in partnership with CCC AGAPE, a Korean medical service group. Marking its eighth edition, the Community Closet event, held twice a year in spring and autumn, is built around a simple but powerful principle: foreigners helping foreigners. Since 2023, the initiative has continued to grow, helping residents access essential items while encouraging a culture of sharing and reuse. Designed as a more dignified way to share, it is a free shopping event that allows foreign residents in need to receive donated clothes and household items in a welcoming environment. “For foreign residents navigating life in South Korea, finding a sense of belonging can be just as important as finding practical support," Katherine Ann Corteza, the center’s director, told The Korea Times. Originally from the Phi

Kookmin University biotechnology professor named to World's Top 2% Scientists list

Kookmin University biotechnology professor named to World's Top 2% Scientists list

Kwak Su-ryang, a professor in Kookmin University’s Department of Integrative Biotechnology, has been named to the 2026 World’s Top 2% Scientists list jointly released by Stanford University and Elsevier. The list recognizes the top 2 percent of researchers in their respective fields based on a comprehensive assessment of research performance, including citation metrics and publication output, using data from Elsevier’s Scopus database. Kwak’s research focuses on designing functional microorganisms and biomaterials using synthetic and computational biology, and evaluating their potential applications in precision medicine through multi-omics approaches. His notable achievements include a study published in Microbiome in 2020 that identified the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation on the gut microbiome and resistome, or the collection of antibiotic resistance genes in the human digestive system. Another study, published in Biomaterials in 2022, used metabolic engineering to identify and enhance the prebiotic properties of oligosaccharides in yeast cell walls. “I am gratefu

University of Seoul holds admissions information session in Vietnam

University of Seoul holds admissions information session in Vietnam

The University of Seoul held an admissions information session at the University of Languages and International Studies of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Oct. 30, as part of its efforts to attract talented students from overseas. The University of Seoul said the event drew approximately 360 participants, including students enrolled in Korean language departments at local Vietnamese universities. The information session was organized to introduce local students firsthand to the university’s academic strengths and admission procedures, while expanding its efforts to attract talented international students. Faculty members from six colleges and the university’s Korean Language and Culture Program engaged with local students and provided one-on-one consultations for students interested in studying in Korea. The six colleges were the College of Government and Economics, the College of Business Administration, the College of Humanities, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Artificial Intelligence and the College of Engineering. By having its faculty members directly introduc

President Lee's approval rating falls to 35.9%: poll

President Lee's approval rating falls to 35.9%: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell to 35.9 percent last week likely due to an intense political standoff over legislation and stock market volatility, a pollster said Monday. Positive assessments of Lee's job performance dropped by 1 percentage point from the previous week in the poll conducted on 2,528 adults from last Monday to Friday, according to Realmeter. Negative assessments rose by 0.5 percentage point to 60.6 percent, while 3.4 percent of respondents said they were not sure. Realmeter attributed the lower approval rating to last week's standoff between the ruling and main opposition parties over a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting the president and others. The bill passed the National Assembly on Friday, led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). The pollster also attributed the decline to last week's sharp fall in the KOSPI stock market index to below 5,000 points and other volatility in the financial sector. Meanwhile, support for the two largest parties came to 36.5 percent for the DPK and 39.7 per

Lee vows to hire more firefighters, expand investment to ensure public safety

Lee vows to hire more firefighters, expand investment to ensure public safety

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday vowed to hire more firefighters and increase investment in strengthening their capabilities to ensure public safety amid diverse disaster risks. Lee made the pledge during a ceremony marking the 64th Day of Firefighting in the central city of Sejong, attended by government officials, firefighters, those who died while on duty and their bereaved families. The president stressed the ongoing climate crisis is increasing the diversity and scale of disasters, likely making them more complicated and difficult for firefighters to combat. "Preparing for and responding to changes a step ahead of time would be the way to protect the people's lives and ensure their safety," Lee said. He pledged to hire more firefighters, strengthen their command system and expand investment to enable them to respond more promptly and systematically to disasters and ensure public safety. Through the investment, the government plans to harness artificial intelligence (AI) and drones to identify risk factors, and undertake dangerous rescue operations while deploying cutting-edge defense

PPP leaders gather outside Cheong Wa Dae to protest special counsel bill

PPP leaders gather outside Cheong Wa Dae to protest special counsel bill

Leaders of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) gathered outside Cheong Wa Dae on Monday to protest the recent passage of a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting President Lee Jae Myung and others. The PPP leadership held a Supreme Council meeting outside the presidential office, after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea railroaded the bill through a plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday. The legislation calls for appointing an independent counsel to investigate suspicions the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others. The PPP has denounced the effort as a pretext to cancel all of Lee's indictments, as his trials have been suspended under an article of the Constitution that exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution except in cases of insurrection or treason. Lee faces charges of involvement in corrupt development schemes, illegal remittances to North Korea, and the misuse of a govern

Justice minister nominee cautious on withdrawal of indictments against Lee

Justice minister nominee cautious on withdrawal of indictments against Lee

Justice Minister nominee Lee Yong-cheol on Monday expressed reservations about nullifying indictments against President Lee Jae Myung following last week's passage of a special counsel bill to investigate allegations of fabricated indictments, including those that currently involve the president. The nominee, who currently serves as head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said the special counsel should focus exclusively on uncovering the truth. He was tapped Friday to become the justice minister, a post that has remained vacant for more than two months since Lee's first justice minister, Jung Sung-ho, resigned in late August. The National Assembly passed the special counsel bill on the same day amid protests from the main opposition People Power Party, which suspects the legislation is aimed at canceling all indictments against the president. "I believe it is appropriate for the special counsel to focus solely on uncovering the truth from now on, while all other matters should be handled in accordance with the law and established principles," the justice minister

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