Le Journal
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Chinese goods pour into Africa, widening trade gap to record US$102 billion amid US pressure
China ramped up its exports to Africa last year, widening its trade surplus with the continent by 64.5 per cent to a record US$102 billion, according to Chinese customs figures. The jump in the trade gap – up from US$62 billion the previous year – was driven by a 25.8 per cent surge in Chinese exports to the continent to US$225 billion, far outpacing the 5.4 per cent growth in African shipments to China to US$123…
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Luxury sportswear is having a moment as niche brands redefine workout fashion
Sometimes, the seeds for fashion’s most compelling shifts are sown far away from runways and high-end ateliers. For Johanna Parv, the London-based independent designer whose namesake brand merges the worlds of cycling and luxury fashion, the impulse built as she traversed the city on two wheels, seeing the way people had to awkwardly manipulate their outfit to avoid, say, getting a suit trouser or skirt hem caught…
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Hong Kong short-track speed skaters eager to race against world’s best at Winter Olympics
Hong Kong speed skater Darren Kwok Tsz-fung said he was excited to finally race against the world’s elite when he competes at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina next month. Kwok, who served as a reserve at the 2022 Beijing Games four years ago, is one of two short-track speed skaters from the city to be selected for the Games in Italy. This will be the sixth time the city will compete at the highest level of…
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Why Asia’s historic Silk Road should have been called the ‘Horse Road’
Are your loved ones in luck this year? See our predictions for all the zodiac signs in the Year of the Horse. For centuries, the most important luxury good exchanged on the Silk Road was not silk, spices or ceramics, but made of flesh, bone and thunder: horses. History’s most famous trade network should really have been called the “Horse Road”, argues David Chaffetz, an independent researcher and member of the…
Indonesia police arrest 9 in Medan baby trafficking case linked to social media
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Indonesia police arrest 9 in Medan baby trafficking case linked to social media
Indonesian police have dismantled an alleged baby trafficking ring that used social media to sell newborns in Medan after neighbours reported suspicious activity at a rented house. Medan police chief Jean Calvijn Simanjuntak said nine people had been arrested and three others were being sought, according to a report by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. The suspects were believed to have sold at least two babies for between 9 million and 25 million rupiah (US$530 to US$1,475) each and were preparing...
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How Asia’s economies could benefit from Trump’s global power plays
Asia’s economies may unintentionally benefit from the United States’ confrontational foreign policy across several continents, even as analysts warn of near-term volatile commodity prices. President Donald Trump has said the US wants to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, amid tensions between Washington and the European Union over his intention. It comes after the US captured Venezuela’s…
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World in midst of biggest infrastructure buildout as AI shapes future: Jensen Huang
The world is witnessing the biggest infrastructure buildout in history, with the foundation for an artificial intelligence system evolving quickly, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. “We are now a few billion dollars into it,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that trillions of dollars of infrastructure still had to be built. Huang said that the AI industry was a “five-layered cake”, with…
‘No reliable evidence’ Taipan bakery chain can settle debts: Hong Kong judge
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‘No reliable evidence’ Taipan bakery chain can settle debts: Hong Kong judge
A Hong Kong judge has said his decision to order the winding-up of bakery chain Taipan’s parent company is due to there being “no reliable evidence” that the business can settle its outstanding rent of more than HK$2 million (US$256,500). In a written judgment released on Tuesday, Deputy Judge Gary Lam Chin-ching of the High Court said Vast Luck Company Limited had twice failed to pay its debts, resulting in a breach of what the business earlier stated in court. The winding-up order was handed...
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Hong Kong banking authority presses lenders to shape up services for senior customers
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued requirements on Wednesday for banks to improve their services for elderly customers, as the proportion of the city’s population over the age of 65 increases rapidly. Banks will be required to upgrade their apps to meet the needs of elderly customers, improve branch facilities and ensure that staff members provide appropriate advice on investments, insurance and pension…
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Hong Kong homebuyers snap up all flats in latest batch at SHKP’s Sierra Sea
Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hong Kong’s largest developer by market capitalisation, sold out another batch of flats at its Sierra Sea project in the New Territories, the city’s largest residential project in two and a half decades. All 218 units launched on Wednesday found buyers, according to property agents. The developer previously sold out two rounds in the project this year: 213 flats on January 10 and 229…
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Could China draw battlefield inspiration from Ukraine’s drone-borne micro bombs?
China could learn from Ukraine about using drones to launch modified small and micro aerial bombs, a leading Chinese weapons expert said. Cai Yi, chief scientist of China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco), said in an interview earlier this month that aerial bomb strikes by Ukrainian drones provided “a valuable example for observing drone warfare”. China could draw inspiration from Ukraine’s experience in…
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Meet Taylor Sheridan’s long-time friend James Jordan, who plays Dale Bradley on Landman
Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, the hit series based on the West Texas oil industry, wrapped its second season on January 18 with an eventful final episode that set the scene for the show’s highly anticipated third instalment, which Paramount+ renewed in December 2025. In the season finale, we see titular landman – or oil industry professional – Tommy Norris, played by Billy Bob Thornton, set out to kick-start his own…