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AdvertisementBanking & financeEconomyChina EconomyChina expands oversight of major banks amid property sector risksBeijing continues to impose stricter regulatory standards on major lenders, shielding the financial system from mounting strains
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPCarol Yangin BeijingPublished: 5:00pm, 15 Feb 2026China has expanded its list of domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) – institutions subject to tighter regulatory standards – as authorities step up macroprudential oversight to safeguard financial stability amid high exposure to property sector debt.China Zheshang Bank, a joint-stock lender in east China’s Zhejiang province with total assets of 3.35 trillion yuan (US$485 billion), was added to the list released on Friday by the People’s Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA).The D-SIB list now stands at 21 institutions, up from 19 when it was first published in 2021. It includes six state-owned commercial bank..

Viral Saudi wedding clip shows gold-wrapped chocolates claimed online as 24-carat gold biscuits/Image: X A 33-second wedding video has set social media abuzz after appearing to show 24-carat gold bars being handed out as gifts. The clip, widely circulated online, prompted disbelief and debate as viewers tried to make sense of what looked like solid gold biscuits distributed during a ceremony reportedly held in Saudi Arabia.The footage shows a group of well-dressed men seated at a wedding function while another man moves between them carrying a box filled with gleaming yellow bars. Claims accompanying the video suggested the gifts were presented by the bride’s brother to members of the groom’s family. Some online described the gesture as “royal”, while others dismissed it as excessive showmanship.As the clip continued to circulate, a debate quickly emerged over whether the display was genuine or staged. Some viewers were convinced the bars were real 24-carat gold, pointing to their size..

From restoring salaries to approving Dh300,000 aid, Sharjah’s Direct Line once again turns live public calls into swift action / image: @shiekhdrsultan In a powerful display of responsive governance, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi personally intervened in multiple public cases during the popular “Direct Line” radio programme, transforming live complaints into immediate government action.One of the most striking cases involved a government employee, Amal Al-Junaibi, who revealed that her full leave balance had been deducted and her salary withheld for months after she took time off to care for her husband, a person of determination recovering from surgeries. The Sharjah Ruler stated clearly that such action contradicted established human resources regulations. He directed the Head of the Human Resources Department to urgently correct the matter and restore her entitlements, while also calling for a faster humanitarian review mechanism for similar cases.The interven..

AdvertisementUS-China relationsChinaDiplomacyBreaking | China’s Wang Yi calls for global governance reform amid global turbulenceThe foreign minister delivers a speech at the Munich Security Conference, historically a platform for Beijing to signal global ambitions
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPFan ChenandSeong Hyeon ChoiPublished: 4:54pm, 14 Feb 2026Updated: 4:57pm, 14 Feb 2026Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday called for global governance to be reformed amid global turbulence.
“We should reform and improve global governance, to set the shift of history of a private course in reforming and improving global governance. The priority is to revitalise the UN system,” he said. “The founding of the UN is an important outcome of the victory of the world anti-fascist war.”
Wang made the comments during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, which has typically served as a platform for Beijing to convey calibrated messages about its global ambitions.
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AdvertisementCanadaWorldUnited States & CanadaCanada’s Carney, opposition leader hold hands during school shooting vigilSchool shootings are rare in Canada, and the government has responded to previous mass shootings with strict gun control measures.
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 4:32pm, 14 Feb 2026Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country’s main opposition leader held hands Friday as they paid tribute to the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history at a vigil in a devastated British Columbia town.
Carney and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, joined hands as an Indigenous leader sang a prayer outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge.
Carney and Poilievre also spoke. The Prime Minister named each of the six people killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and said the mother and brother of the shooter who were killed also “deserve to be mourned”.
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Sheikh Mohammed launches AED1 billion Ramadan 2026 campaign to save five million children/image: X As Ramadan approaches, Dubai’s Ruler has placed the fight against child hunger at the centre of the UAE’s humanitarian efforts. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Friday announced the launch of the “Edge of Life” campaign, an initiative aimed at saving five million children under the age of five from death caused by malnutrition and hunger.In a message shared on social media, Sheikh Mohammed described the coming of Ramadan as a generous and cherished month, adding that it has become an annual tradition for the UAE to launch a humanitarian campaign that extends support from the people of the UAE to communities around the world. He stressed that the holy month represents an opportunity to reinforce values of compassion and collective responsibility.The campaign comes against a stark global backdrop. Sheikh Mohammed noted that more than 118 million children worldwide suffe..

Egypt lifts massive stones from the 2,000-year-old Lighthouse of Alexandria buried beneath the sea (Photo credit: GEDEON Programmes / CEAlex) Off the coast of Alexandria, divers and cranes have returned to a site that has rested underwater for centuries. Large stone blocks linked to the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria are being lifted from the seabed as part of a renewed archaeological effort. The structure, known as Pharos, once stood at the entrance to the city’s harbour and was counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Thirty years after underwater remains were first identified in 1995, researchers are now raising selected architectural pieces for detailed study. The work forms part of the PHAROS project, a French-led programme that aims to document, scan and digitally reconstruct the lighthouse using both recovered blocks and fragments mapped beneath the Mediterranean.
Egypt excavation recovers twenty-two lighthouse blocks lifted from the seabedDassault Systems Foundat..

AdvertisementHong Kong propertyBusinessPrince Jewellery director sells upscale Hong Kong flat, upgrades to duplexTang Yick-ki swaps his 1,019 sq ft flat in The Cullinan for a 1,593 sq ft duplex in The Waterfront
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPCheryl ArcibalPublished: 5:05pm, 13 Feb 2026A director of Hong Kong-based Prince Jewellery and Watch has sold a flat in Kowloon and upgraded to a two-storey unit in the same neighbourhood, with an analyst saying that wealthy homeowners are taking advantage of improving sentiment to swap their dwellings.Tang Yick-ki, a director at Prince Jewellery and Sky Regal Properties, completed both deals in just over a month. Tang also serves as a director in many other companies including Just Gold, Peonia Diamond and Peonia Holdings, according to the Companies Registry.
As the city’s property market gradually shakes off a protracted slump, affluent homeowners were likely to upgrade their dwellings amid uncertain times, according to Knight Frank..

AdvertisementFranceWorldEuropeMum in France charged after 2 babies found dead in freezerThe 50-year-old woman was charged after she was arrested and admitted to freezing her newborns
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPAgence France-PressePublished: 5:03pm, 13 Feb 2026The mother of two infants found dead in a freezer in eastern France has been charged and placed in pre-trial detention, a prosecutor said on Friday.The case is the latest suspected instance of infanticide to emerge in France in recent years.
Prosecutor Cedric Logelin said the 50-year-old woman was charged late on Thursday, a day after she was arrested in the western Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and admitted to freezing her newborns.
AdvertisementNo one else has been charged, he added.
The grim discovery was made after the woman, who had nine children from three different fathers, had abruptly left the family home in the eastern town of Aillevillers-et-Lyaumont in December.
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Saudi Aramco Achieves 70% Local Content Milestone in Supply Chain, Boosting Saudi Vision 2030 Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals company, has announced a major breakthrough in its In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) programme by achieving a 70% local content benchmark in its supply chain, a milestone that underscores the Kingdom’s push to build domestic industrial capacity and diversify its economy. This achievement comes as a part of a long-term strategy tied to Saudi Vision 2030 and has already delivered substantial economic benefits, including significant job creation and foreign investment.What is iktva and why this milestone by Saudi Aramco matters
Launched in 2015, the iktva programme aims to maximise economic value within Saudi Arabia by localising procurement of goods and services, developing local suppliers and fostering a competitive national industrial ecosystem. Through the initiative, Aramco encourages global investors and manufacturers to est..