The local media should contribute to “telling the ‘good stories of Hong Kong’” amid global turbulence as the city formulates its first five-year blueprint to align with national development, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said. Speaking at an annual award ceremony organised by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong on Friday, Lee said the local media was not only a witness and a recorder of even...
The local media should contribute to “telling the ‘good stories of Hong Kong’” amid global turbulence as the city formulates its first five-year blueprint to align with national development, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said. Speaking at an annual award ceremony organised by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong on Friday, Lee said the local media was not only a witness and a recorder of events, but must also facilitate and contribute to the city’s and China’s progress. “In the face of the...
GoTyme Bank Ltd. has invited all its employees to share ownership in the digital lender controlled by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe as it seeks to scale up operations. Africa’s first profitable standalone digital bank this week extended the offer to its 2,000-strong global employee base across all levels of the company and started sessions to educate staff about the new incentive and i...
GoTyme Bank Ltd. has invited all its employees to share ownership in the digital lender controlled by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe as it seeks to scale up operations. Africa’s first profitable standalone digital bank this week extended the offer to its 2,000-strong global employee base across all levels of the company and started sessions to educate staff about the new incentive and its potential benefits. “We want our staff to behave like owners,” Chief Executive Officer Cheslyn Jacobs said on the sidelines of an event in Johannesburg Thursday night. “This business still is in a hyper-growth phase so we think this is going to make meaningful differences to our people’s lives.” Majority owned by Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital Investments Ltd. , GoTyme Bank has more than 21 million customers in South Africa and the Philippines, where it runs a joint venture with the Gokongwei Group . It’s also backed by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. and has operations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore. The lender was valued $1.5 billion in 2024 after a fundraising round that included a $150 million investment from Latin America’s most valuable financial company, Nu Holdings Ltd. Jacobs declined to share an updated valuation, saying instead that the business would post a record profit for the year through June and is signing up about 450,000 new clients per month across South Africa and the Philippines. While GoTyme is still working toward listing to further fuel its growth, its internal narrative around such a move has changed, Jacobs said. “We’ve publicly said we want to do this before the next decade, but we do talk about it slightly differently now,” he said. “What we’ve realized is you struggle to predict these things, so now we talk about being listing-ready from a timeline perspective in three to four years from now. But we’re only going to do it if it makes sense.” The lender would consider a listing anywhere globally closer to when it reaches 50 m...
A man who previously represented residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po has been arrested, along with his wife, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, the South China Morning Post has learned. Sources familiar with the matter said Jason Kong Cheung-fat, a director of Ace Interior Design & Engineering Company Ltd, and his wife, who is also a director of the company,...
A man who previously represented residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po has been arrested, along with his wife, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, the South China Morning Post has learned. Sources familiar with the matter said Jason Kong Cheung-fat, a director of Ace Interior Design & Engineering Company Ltd, and his wife, who is also a director of the company, were arrested on Thursday. The couple are suspected of borrowing hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong...
US grandmaster scored biggest success of his career at the Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz and is close to world top 10 Hans Niemann, the controversial US grandmaster whose game with Magnus Carlsen at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup led to cheating allegations , a $100m lawsuit, an out of court settlement, the Netflix documentary Untold: Chess Mates , and a forthcoming book, scored the most important succ...
US grandmaster scored biggest success of his career at the Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz and is close to world top 10 Hans Niemann, the controversial US grandmaster whose game with Magnus Carlsen at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup led to cheating allegations , a $100m lawsuit, an out of court settlement, the Netflix documentary Untold: Chess Mates , and a forthcoming book, scored the most important success of his career last weekend. Niemann, competing as a wildcard, won the $50,000 first prize at the Warsaw Rapid & Blitz in Poland, ahead of the US champion and the world No 3, Fabiano Caruana, India’s reigning world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, and the Candidates winner, Javokhir Sindarov. The event was part of the St Louis-backed Grand Chess Tour, which ends in August and includes the prestigious Sinquefield Cup. Continue reading...
From late-night calls with Stevie Wonder to tours with Frank Sinatra, the US singer seemed primed for pop success – so what caused her to hide from the public for decades? Finally back in the spotlight, she tells her remarkable story ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Suzette Charles says on a video call. At 63, she is about to release her self-titled debut album 33 years later than she...
From late-night calls with Stevie Wonder to tours with Frank Sinatra, the US singer seemed primed for pop success – so what caused her to hide from the public for decades? Finally back in the spotlight, she tells her remarkable story ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Suzette Charles says on a video call. At 63, she is about to release her self-titled debut album 33 years later than she had hoped, and her disbelief is understandable. Crowned the first biracial Miss America in 1984, aged 20, in controversial circumstances, Charles went on to suffer a lifetime of adversity. She faced a distressing tour with Bill Cosby and mistreatment by record labels, and her debut album was shelved when her songwriters Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) – who had made huge hits for Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and more – split up. Then came a decades-long marriage that seemed to end her artistic career altogether. “You can’t make this stuff up,” she says. But Charles has reunited with Mike Stock to finally finish the most emotional of projects, her appropriately self-titled debut. “I love the way the album’s turned out,” Stock says. “I’ve worked with Paul McCartney, Donna Summer, Cliff Richard – as a singer, I’d put Suzette in that bracket.” Continue reading...
Wreathed with more than 150 years of hopes, dreams and drama, the FA Cup reflects sporting heritage and mystique Footballing physiques have changed a great deal over the decades, but when Chelsea meet Manchester City on Saturday there’s one outline we’ll all recognise. While the average shape has got leaner and more toned, this body has stayed comfortable in its old-school proportions. A modest wa...
Wreathed with more than 150 years of hopes, dreams and drama, the FA Cup reflects sporting heritage and mystique Footballing physiques have changed a great deal over the decades, but when Chelsea meet Manchester City on Saturday there’s one outline we’ll all recognise. While the average shape has got leaner and more toned, this body has stayed comfortable in its old-school proportions. A modest waist gives on to surprisingly wide hips. Arms that have never lifted weights remain a little skinny for the frame. And yet none of this has been a hindrance in the modern game: every year, the FA Cup trophy still ends up on the winning team. This is one of sport’s most iconic pieces of silverware, wreathed with more than 150 years of hopes, dreams and drama. It’s a far more emotive sight than the cartoonishly crowned Premier League trophy, or even the stylishly minimalist Champions League trophy. And this makes it even more extraordinary to remember that the object itself is still not out of its tween years. This weekend it will make its 13th Cup final appearance. Continue reading...
History shows there have been more short-lived Labour governments than long-lasting ones. The party must secure a clear, progressive legacy In democratic countries at least, government is often about getting things done in time. Sooner or later, voters always turn on national leaders and governments fall. Even the most promising policy ideas are left unfulfilled. With one important exception, this...
History shows there have been more short-lived Labour governments than long-lasting ones. The party must secure a clear, progressive legacy In democratic countries at least, government is often about getting things done in time. Sooner or later, voters always turn on national leaders and governments fall. Even the most promising policy ideas are left unfulfilled. With one important exception, this life cycle is usually briefer for Labour governments, since they face more opposition from the media and powerful economic interests, and more suspicion from voters as a result. Despite the party winning three times as many big electoral majorities as the Conservatives over the past 30 years, Labour governments are still seen as unnatural by many people, both outside and inside the party. And without an assumed right to rule, governments age fast. Continue reading...