Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: South China Morning Post- Hong Kong

35 killed, 42 injured in New Year’s stampede in Shanghai

A picture shared on Weibo showing an aerial view of the crowds on the Bund in Shanghai after a stampede killed 35 people around midnight on December 31, 2014.

BREAKING

Thirty-five people have been killed in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Thursday, 1 January, 2015, 10:24am 8 comments

Fireworks and protests as Hong Kong sees in 2015

UPDATE

Politics is still high on Hongkongers’ minds as they celebrate the New Year, a survey shows, as protests take place to mark New Year's Eve.

1 Jan 2015 - 9:30am 3 comments

Xi Jinping and Pope Francis named SCMP's inaugural Leaders of the Year

The South China Morning Post's inaugural Leaders of the Year are President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:12am 5 comments More on Focus

Girl sent to children's home for drawing flowers on Occupy's 'Lennon Wall' freed after outcry

The chalked flowers were drawn around an Occupy umbrella symbol. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Questions are hanging over the police's court application for a child protection order that subjected a 14-year-old girl to two nights' detention in a children's home before she was released on bail yesterday.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:45am 5 commentsMore on Occupy Central

China's polluters face tougher fines under new green rules

A polluted stretch of the Yangtze River in Jiangxi. Photo: Xinhua

The mainland's "toughest ever" green rules come into effect today, with revisions to the environmental protection law ushering in higher fines and more stringent conditions for industry.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:28am 1 comment

ATV faces legal action over unpaid wages

ATV holds employees conference in Tai Po. Photo: Felix Wong

Cash-strapped ATV and its directors are being prosecuted for not paying staff, adding to uncertainty over the station's future.

1 Jan 2015 - 2:40am 1 comment

Family of 18-year-old wrongfully executed for murder in China awarded 2 million yuan

The parents of Huugjilt mourn at his graveside in Hohhot after he was cleared of murder earlier in December. Photo: Xinhua

The family of a man wrongly executed for a rape and murder in Inner Mongolia in northern China has been awarded 2.05 million yuan (HK$2.58 million) in compensation.

31 Dec 2014 - 12:51pm

Hong Kong cash-grab frenzy: HK$7 million still missing as police arrest two cleaners

A man picks up money spilled by a security van in Wan Chai on December 24. More than HK$7 million is still missing. Photo: SCMP Pictures

More than HK$7 million remains missing despite two more arrests over a cash-dash frenzy in Wan Chai on Christmas Eve, sparked by a security van spilling banknotes.

31 Dec 2014 - 2:38pm 2 comments

53 killed in Philippines, 21 dead in Malaysia as storms trigger floods and landslides

A house is buried in a mudslide brought on by heavy rains from tropical storm Jangmi, locally called Seniang, in Tanuan town, Samar province. Photo: Reuters

UPDATE

Among those who died was a family of 11 whose creek-side house was washed away by a flash flood in Cebu. Six other people were missing in the same town.

31 Dec 2014 - 3:21pm

Power bills, parking fees and theme parks cost more but HK inflation set to slow in 2015

Disneyland raised its prices in November by about 10 per cent. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hongkongers will pay more for electricity, parking and theme park tickets from today, but there is some good news - economists expect inflation to slow this year.

1 Jan 2015 - 2:40am 1 comment

AirAsia flight 'made unbelievably steep climb before crash'

Radar data being examined by investigators appears to show the doomed AirAsia plane made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed.

1 Jan 2015 - 3:03am 1 commentMore on AirAsia flight QZ8501

Hong Kong poultry wholesalers threaten boycott after bird flu cull

Fresh chicken could be off the menu for at least 21 days after the city's latest bird flu scare sparked a row between wholesalers and the government over delivery arrangements for live poultry.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:10am 7 comments More on H7N9 avian flu

China removes Ling Jihua, ex-Hu Jintao aide, from Communist Party's United Front Work Department job

31 Dec 2014 - 5:08pm

Traffic jam delays jailed ex-Taiwan president's medical parole until next month

1 Jan 2015 - 2:15am

Merger of train giants CSR and CNR flags consolidation in China state sector

1 Jan 2015 - 4:05am

Erwiana's boss 'apologised to previous maid for assaulting her'

1 Jan 2015 - 8:41am

Housing is the biggest worry for HongKong's poorest children, survey finds

1 Jan 2015 - 2:40am 1 comment

Hong Kong rickshaw adventurers hit road to support girls’ education in India

31 Dec 2014 - 6:08pm 1 comment

Chinese firms receive help from Foreign Trade Association in complying with new pollution law

1 Jan 2015 - 2:29am

Cai Mingzhao to head Xinhua news agency as China focuses on party ideology in media

1 Jan 2015 - 2:18am

Reshuffle of leading PLA officers continues

1 Jan 2015 - 2:29am

Crowded skies in Southeast Asia put pressure on pilots, air traffic control

1 Jan 2015 - 3:03am

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1 JAN 2015

Fireworks and protests as Hong Kong sees in 2015
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Leader

President Xi Jinping (left) and Pope Francis. Photos: AFP

SCMP leaders of the year, Xi Jinping and Pope Francis, are men who show true courage

1 Jan 2015 - 10:09am 3 comments

Bird flu has, unfortunately, returned to Hong Kong, just four months after live chicken sales resumed. Photo: Sam Tsang

For health's sake, end sales of live poultry

1 Jan 2015 - 12:53am 2 comments

Today's Poll

Should University of Hong Kong have accepted a HK$1.45m Occupy donation via Benny Tai?

Total number of votes recorded: 388

Opinion

JAKE VAN DER KAMP

RIP Ronald Li, you did much more good for Hong Kong than harm

1 Jan 2015 - 3:37am 3 comments

ALEX LO

Don't be surprised if Chinese leaders are insecure

1 Jan 2015 - 1:04am 4 comments

HU SHULI

In 2015, reform will set the tone for the new normal in China

1 Jan 2015 - 12:32am

DAVID DODWELL

Philippines has hard act to follow as Apec chairman but comes prepared

31 Dec 2014 - 11:37am

Insight

Through Occupy, Hong Kong youth claim their citizen's rights

By constructing mini communities, youngsters created a variety of spaces that provided room for innovation, experimentation and dissent.

FLORENCE LEE

On the night before the clearance of the historic Occupy Central movement, I visited the main campsite in Admiralty. What I saw were many young people, banded together in makeshift communities, brimming with hope, frustration and unity.

31 Dec 2014 - 7:57pm 5 comments

Blogs

THE HONGCOUVER

Blame Quebec: Why halting the immigrant investor programme can’t halt the flow of immigrant investors to Vancouver

IAN YOUNG31 Dec 2014 - 8:03am 1 comment

HAPPY LUCKY DRAGON WIN

Racing still a sport, but strange Sunday proves it is made for betting

MICHAEL COX30 Dec 2014 - 10:41am

CORPORATE CHINA

WEIBO TALK: Alibaba, TCL chiefs reflect; Qihoo blasts Baidu

DOUG YOUNG29 Dec 2014 - 12:00pm

Focus

Xi Jinping and Pope Francis named SCMP's inaugural Leaders of the Year

STAFF REPORTERS

The South China Morning Post's inaugural Leaders of the Year are President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:12am 5 comments

Harry's View

1 Jan 2015

Hong Kong

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department staff dispose of culled chickens at Cheung Sha Wan market. Photo: Felix Wong

HEALTH

Hong Kong poultry wholesalers threaten boycott after bird flu cull

Fresh chicken could be off the menu for at least 21 days after the city's latest bird flu scare sparked a row between wholesalers and the government over delivery arrangements for live poultry.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:10am 7 comments More on H7N9 avian flu

NEW YEAR

Fireworks and protests as Hong Kong sees in 2015

UPDATE

Politics is still high on Hongkongers’ minds as they celebrate the New Year, a survey shows, as protests take place to mark New Year's Eve.

1 Jan 2015 - 9:30am 3 comments

COURTS

Girl sent to children's home for drawing flowers on Occupy's 'Lennon Wall' freed after outcry

1 Jan 2015 5 comments

MORE HONG KONG NEWS

China

35 killed, 42 injured in New Year’s stampede in Shanghai

BREAKING

Thirty-five people have been killed in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

1 Jan 2015 - 10:28am 8 comments

ENVIRONMENT

China's polluters face tougher fines under new green rules

The mainland's "toughest ever" green rules come into effect today, with revisions to the environmental protection law ushering in higher fines and more stringent conditions for industry.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:28am 1 comment

ENVIRONMENT

Chinese firms receive help from Foreign Trade Association in complying with new pollution law

1 Jan 2015

MORE CHINA NEWS

Asia

Indonesian military forces carry a victim's coffin. Photo: AFP

AIRASIA QZ8501

AirAsia flight 'made unbelievably steep climb before crash'

Radar data being examined by investigators appears to show the doomed AirAsia plane made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed.

1 Jan 2015 - 3:03am 1 commentMore on AirAsia flight QZ8501

AIRASIA QZ8501

Crowded skies in Southeast Asia put pressure on pilots, air traffic control

The sheer volume of flights in the skies over Southeast Asia is putting pressure on outdated air traffic control and on pilots to take risky unilateral action in crises such as that possibly faced by the AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

1 Jan 2015 - 3:03amMore on AirAsia flight QZ8501

SOUTH KOREA

Daughter of Korean Air chairman arrested over ‘nut rage’, amid accusations of airline cover up

31 Dec 2014

MORE ASIA NEWS

World

LEADERS OF THE YEAR

Xi Jinping and Pope Francis named SCMP's inaugural Leaders of the Year

The South China Morning Post's inaugural Leaders of the Year are President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis.

1 Jan 2015 - 8:12am 5 comments More on Focus

CANADA

Nine dead in Edmonton, with domestic violence blamed for city’s worst mass murder

Nine people, including seven adults and two young children, were found dead at three separate crime scenes in what Edmonton’s police chief on Tuesday called the city’s worst mass murder.

31 Dec 2014 - 11:35am

UNITED STATES

The ruder extruder: Hasbro to replace phallic-looking Play-Doh toy after complaints

1 Jan 2015

MORE WORLD NEWS

China Insider

A Hubei driver has been fined 200 yuan after he was caught with a woman on his lap while driving. Photo: SCMP Pictures

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: China drivers fined for hugging and kissing while on the road

1 Jan 2015

Construction work on the world’s largest exhibition complex, China's 860,000 square-metre National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai) - which has four halls in the shape of a four-leaf clover - will finish this week. Photo: SCMP Pictures

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: world's largest exhibition centre in Shanghai near completion

30 Dec 2014

A screenshot of WeBank's website. Photo: SCMP Pictures

INTERNET BANKING

Tencent ready to launch China's first private internet bank, WeBank

30 Dec 2014

A young woman in Zhejiang, above, picture before and after she was severely injured when an electric hot-water bottle exploded as she unplugged it from the wall socket. FULL STORY BELOW. Photo: SCMP Pictures

AROUND THE NATION

Exploding electric hot-water bottle maims woman

28 Dec 2014

It will be more difficult to buy a car in Beijing from next year when a quota on new petrol-fuelled vehicles is cut from 130,000 cars to 120,000. Photo: Xinhua

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: Funeral hall blocks road

27 Dec 2014

Ling Jihua next to generals Guo Boxiong, Xu Qiliang at the closing of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 14 November 2012. Photo: AFP

INTERACTIVE

Timeline: Life and career of Ling Jihua, the disgraced top aide of former Chinese leader Hu Jintao

23 Dec 2014 1 comment

$People check out condoms on display at a fair. Some sex shops in Beijing are selling cheap counterfeit condoms that cost a fraction the price of real ones. Photo: AFP$ CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: Holey fake condoms going for cheap in Beijing sex shops

22 Dec 2014

Policemen inspect seized bottles of fake wine. A Jiangxi restaurant owner was made to compensate a diner after he sold the man counterfeit liquor. Photo: Reuters

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: Restaurant owner fined after fake wine leaves diners ill and in poor spirits

22 Dec 2014

Firefighters battle a blaze at the Guoqin Department Store in Dongguan. Photo: Xinhua

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: irate shopper sets mall ablaze

22 Dec 2014

A 2002 file photo of Li Yinhe. Photo: SCMP

LGBT RIGHTS

‘This is not my coming-out’: leading Chinese sexologist sets record straight with surprise revelation

26 Dec 2014

A Tibetan mastiff on sale on a street in China. A Shanxi couple have given up two of their dog but refuse to surrender a third after the pets attacked several neighbours. Photo: AFP

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: Couple in row over their Tibetan mastiffs after pets bite eight neighbours

23 Dec 2014

After the Olympics, Beijing implemented a controversial new rule that barred one-fifth of the city's private vehicles from the roads on weekdays, according to the last number on their licence plates. Photo: EPA

AIR POLLUTION

Beijing hints at harsher curbs on private cars to ease air pollution

18 Dec 2014

Police in the capital have recovered stolen historical artifacts in Beijing. Photo: Weibo screenshot

CHINA DIGEST

Around the nation: Video of laughing crime scene police goes viral

18 Dec 2014

The tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi (right) was looted by a warlord in the 1920s. Photo: Courtesy of Hong Kong University Press

CULTURAL RELICS

China set to spend hundreds of millions revamping Qing royal tombs

18 Dec 2014

Business

The new entity will have almost 100 per cent of the local market for a broad range of rolling stock, including bullet trains. Photo: Imaginechina

REFORM

Merger of train giants CSR and CNR flags consolidation in China state sector

Tie-up between rolling stock makers CSR and CNR, creating scale for global clout, is seen as flagging a wave of consolidation in state sector.

1 Jan 2015 - 4:05am

ECONOMY

PBOC vows to fine-tune policy as Chinese factory activity slows

People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan yesterday vowed to fine-tune monetary policy when needed, in comments that came after new data showed manufacturing activities contracted last month.

1 Jan 2015 - 4:10am

MARKETS

DOUG YOUNG

Momo fingers NetEase, Xiaomi's copycat defense

15 Dec 2014 - 4:29pm 1 comment

MORE BUSINESS NEWS

Property

The more developed housing market in Tseung Kwan O is expected to help boost the allure of the Lohas Park site. Photo: Bloomberg

PROPERTY

MTR hopes for third time lucky in Tin Shui Wai tender

MTR Corp is making a third attempt to sell a 1,500-unit site in Tin Shui Wai to raise land supply as it seeks to reach the targeted 10,000 flats for the financial year to March.

30 Dec 2014 - 4:25am

PROPERTY

Hong Kong home prices hit record, outlook cloudy pending rate rise

Hong Kong home prices surged to a record high this year, ignoring the government's introduction of tough measures designed to cool the red-hot property market, as the rally extended for a fifth straight year.

27 Dec 2014 - 3:55am 4 comments

HOUSING

50,000 Hongkongers flock to get details of subsidised Home Ownership Scheme flats

24 Dec 2014 9 comments

MORE PROPERTY NEWS

Lifestyle

ARTS & CULTURE

Occupy Central songwriter Lo Hiu-pan at the protest site in Admiralty. Photo: May Tse

Raise the Umbrella: Occupy anthem may become Hong Kong's song of the year

When Lo Hiu-pan wrote a song in reaction to the tear-gassing of pro-democracy protesters a few months ago, he never imagined it would become one of the most representative anthems of Hong Kong's "umbrella movement".

31 Dec 2014 - 10:39am 9 comments More on LIFE

Arts project encourages visitors to tour old district and take part in creative activities

29 Dec 2014

The top arts stories of 2014

27 Dec 2014

FOOD & WINE

Wuyi Da Hong Pao Rock tea (2005), which had an estimated value of HK$250,000 in this year's Hong Kong tea auction

China's premium-tea prices have cooled, but it's still boom time for some

Hong Kong's first auction of premium teas captured imaginations far and wide last year, when interest was piqued by the sky-high asking prices. One 20kg box of narcissus oolong tea was valued at nearly HK$1 million.

29 Dec 2014 - 11:09amMore on LIFE

Stop talking Turkey: Susan Jung's Christmas recipe for deep-fried Cornish hens

21 Dec 2014

How to spice up Christmas dinner: top chefs offer their tips

23 Dec 2014 1 comment

TECHNOLOGY

Impression of a lander above a comet. Photo: Reuters

Motion detector could help discover microscopic life forms on distant planets

European researchers said they have devised the first tiny motion detector that could eventually help find microscopic life forms on distant planets.

31 Dec 2014 - 6:10am

Researchers finding way to spoof fingerprint scanners

31 Dec 2014

Gmail service shut down in China amid mounting pressure against Google

29 Dec 2014 4 comments

FASHION

George Clooney and his wife Amal Alamuddin

We look back at the big moments in fashion for 2014

29 Dec 2014

Ethnic teens' fashions on the Hong Kong catwalk

31 Dec 2014

BOOKS

Carrian managing director George Tan surrounded himself with credible faces. Photo: Martin Chan

Former liquidator’s account of Carrian scandal brings key personalities to life

31 Dec 2014

Carl Jung's Memories, Dreams, Reflections owes popularity to its dissection of his unconscious

27 Dec 2014

HEALTH

#SCMPHomeRun Instagram Contest update

30 Dec 2014

Body weight training will be the top sports trend of 2015, survey says

29 Dec 2014 1 comment

BEAUTY

Grooming Fix: Feet Intensive Foot Treatment

18 Dec 2014

'Non-rinse' make-up removers on sale in Hong Kong contain chemicals due to be banned in Europe

16 Dec 2014 1 comment

FAMILY & EDUCATION

Why you should make a will to protect girlfriends and concubines

31 Dec 2014

Young readers benefit from a curated selection of books

29 Dec 2014

INTERIORS & LIVING

Let there be light: 3,000 sq ft flat on The Peak gets a modern makeover

21 Dec 2014 1 comment

Muji makes room for style in award-winning Vertical House

17 Dec 2014

Magazines

Post Magazine: December 14
14 DEC 2014

Disney and Pixar creative head John Lasseter is nothing if not animated when talking about the medium he helped to create
Style: December 2014
12 DEC 2014

Private jet industry takes off in China

Sport

Frank Lampard is owned, in theory, by New York City - but they are owned by Manchester City. Photo: AFP

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester City keeping Frank Lampard until end of season

English Premier League champions Manchester City announced they had secured the services of Frank Lampard until the end of the season despite the midfielder signing for New York City in June.

1 Jan 2015 - 10:14amMore on English Premier League 2014/15

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