Criminalising bid-rigging to bring ‘revolutionary overhaul’ to sector: minister

South China Morning Post - Nov 1, 2026

The Hong Kong government’s reforms to crack down on bid-rigging are intended to bring about a “revolutionary overhaul” of the city’s building maintenance ecosystem, the justice minister has said. Three days after the government unveiled a range of measures in response to an independent committee report on the Tai Po fire, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said on Sunday the proposed legislative amendments aimed to raise standards and strengthen oversight. “The market currently offers too...

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N. Korea tests cluster bomb mountable on tactical ballistic missiles

N. Korea tests cluster bomb mountable on tactical ballistic missiles

North Korea has tested a cluster bomb that can be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles and vowed to field various types of cluster warheads by the end of the year, its state media said Sunday. The North's Missile Administration conducted the test on Saturday to assess the combat adaptability and power of a cluster-bomb warhead to be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The research institutes under the Missile Administration "confirmed that Standard Type 2 cluster-bomb warhead is capable of turning into ashes a target area of 12 to 13 hectares with its highest-density power," according to the KCNA. The general director of the Missile Administration was quoted as stating that the cluster bomb warheads are classified into four categories depending on their purposes. "Within this year we will enable units to select and use all those types according to operational aims and specific features of targets," the director said. A cluster bomb releases dozens to hundreds of submunitions, allowing it to strike multiple targets over a wide area. South Ko

Trump open to talks with N. Korean leader but no meeting scheduled: Rubio

Trump open to talks with N. Korean leader but no meeting scheduled: Rubio

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump remains open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Pyongyang is willing to discuss issues of concern to Washington and its allies, but no meeting has been scheduled, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday. Rubio made the remarks during a press conference following a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta. "I think the president's perspective is, if North Korea and Kim Jong-un is prepared to talk with the United States about issues that are of concern to us and of concern to our allies, like South Korea, he would be open to doing it," Rubio said. "Nothing has been scheduled. I do not have anything to announce in regards to that today," he added. His remarks came amid persistent speculations over the possibility of renewed diplomacy between Trump and Kim, who held three meetings during Trump's first presidential term. The comments also followed trilateral talks among Rubio and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Atlanta on Friday, during which the three top diplomats reaffirmed their commitment to th

Russia surpasses France in African youth appeal, still trails China: survey

Russia surpasses France in African youth appeal, still trails China: survey

Russia’s influence has surged among young people across Africa in recent years, leaping over former colonial power France while still trailing China, a survey of African youths has found. Many young Africans now perceive Russia to be an ally, observers said, warning its rivals to take the shift seriously as the continent becomes increasingly critical to both Moscow and Beijing. According to the African Youth Survey commissioned by the South Africa-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation, 54 per cent...

Hong Kong’s art trading hub ambitions rest on more than headline sales

Hong Kong’s art trading hub ambitions rest on more than headline sales

A Vincent van Gogh painting not shown publicly for more than 60 years recently drew hundreds of people to Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Painted in May 1890, Châtaigniers en fleurs (Chestnut Trees in Flower) is a major work from his Auvers-sur-Oise period and could set an auction record. For three days, Sotheby’s opened the private collection to public viewing in Hong Kong. Its brief stay raises a question about the city’s art hub ambitions: what lasting expertise can be built around a masterpiece that...

G20 FM meeting ends without joint communique amid deep divisions

G20 FM meeting ends without joint communique amid deep divisions

A two-day meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers ended in Atlanta on Saturday without a joint communique, as participants failed to reach consensus on major global geopolitical and economic security issues amid the Ukraine crisis and the US-Iran conflict.

Pump pressure: how rising fuel costs leave Hong Kong drivers running on fumes

Pump pressure: how rising fuel costs leave Hong Kong drivers running on fumes

Van driver Wong Siu-po, 48, felt life was becoming more difficult than ever as rising fuel prices cost him an additional HK$5,000 (US$640) a month, about a third of his monthly income. With an 11-year-old daughter and an unemployed wife to support, he feels the pressure mounting. “I need to work three hours longer per day to make up for the loss of income,” he said. “I will cut down on air conditioning to save costs.” Wong’s plight echoed survey findings showing that nearly 98 per cent of...

How the Zhuhai air show charted China’s path from catching up to flying high

How the Zhuhai air show charted China’s path from catching up to flying high

When Zhuhai hosted its inaugural air show in November 1996, the event showcased the J-8IIM fighter, a second-generation fighter equipped with Russian radar and weapons, alongside a limited line-up of home-made aircraft. Imported planes were the focus and Chinese audiences curiously studied the much more advanced foreign designs. They crowded around two Russian fourth-generation Su-27 fighters and were wowed as the jets performed their famous cobra manoeuvre, sharply braking in mid-air. At the...

Hongkongers need more than 4 walls and a roof to make a home

Hongkongers need more than 4 walls and a roof to make a home

What kind of living space can truly be called a “home”? That was the question on my mind when I visited United Court, a transitional housing estate in Tung Tau, Yuen Long, run by the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council. While there, I shared my thoughts on building a mental health-friendly community. Nine years ago, I took part in a community-based poverty study and interviewed residents in inadequate housing. I still remember families describing their living space as little more than a...

China's Geely Auto Group to enter the Canadian auto market in 2027

China's Geely Auto Group to enter the Canadian auto market in 2027

The Chinese electric vehicle automaker Geely has announced it’s coming to Canada. The company says that it has assembled a local team and begun building out a retail and service network.

G20 foreign ministers end Atlanta meeting without consensus on key issues

G20 foreign ministers end Atlanta meeting without consensus on key issues

As Washington seeks to loosen China’s dominance over critical minerals, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged other members of the Group of 20 (G20) to strengthen supply chains and secure strategic trade routes as the group’s foreign ministers’ meeting drew to a close in Atlanta on Saturday. Rubio said there was a “universal recognition” among the G20 members over the importance of issues like critical minerals, supply chain security and freedom of navigation. “The first step is at least some...

Quad not ‘anti-China’, says Rubio as first summit in two years set before Trump-Xi talks

Quad not ‘anti-China’, says Rubio as first summit in two years set before Trump-Xi talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, was not an “anti-China” coalition, as the grouping’s top diplomats finalised preparations for the leaders’ summit in the Philippines next month. Rubio’s statement comes just weeks before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Shenzhen, China. “It is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition,” Rubio said at a press conference on the sidelines of the...

Hong Kong man falls from luxury housing complex, striking domestic helper below

Hong Kong man falls from luxury housing complex, striking domestic helper below

A Hong Kong man believed to have accidentally fallen from a height struck a domestic helper on the podium of a luxury housing estate in West Kowloon on Saturday, with the pair sent to hospital. Police said they received a report at 7.43pm that the man had fallen at 1 Austin Road West and landed on the podium, hitting the woman. A police spokesman said both were conscious at the scene, with the man taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the woman sent to Kwong Wah Hospital. He added that...

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