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The eruption of Anak Krakatoa in Indonesia has tested the country’s disaster preparedness, disrupting nearly 3,000 flights carrying more than 340,000 passengers as volcanic ash spread across the region. Authorities say they are monitoring the volcano, which remains under the country’s second-highest alert status. According to scientists, the event’s exceptional scale makes its impact hard to antic...
The United States is stepping up its presence in the South Pacific with new funding and a reinforced diplomatic footprint, as its competition with China intensifies across the region. Yet the effectiveness of the push is tempered by Washington’s deep cuts to its main overseas aid agency, leaving doubts about the consistency of US commitment among Pacific leaders, according to analysts. The Pacific...
Hong Kong’s rail operator has reported a suspected mass fare evasion incident to police after online footage showed more than 30 people tailgating through barriers at Tsim Sha Tsui station, with no station staff seen intervening. A viral video last week appeared to show a woman, believed to be a tour guide, tap her card at an exit gate in Tsim Sha Tsui station. As the gates opened, several men and...
Hong Kong’s rail operator has reported a suspected mass fare evasion incident to police after online footage showed over 30 people tailgating through barriers at Tsim Sha Tsui station without paying the correct fare, with no station staff seen intervening. A viral video last week appeared to show a woman, believed to be a tour guide, tap her card at an exit gate in Tsim Sha Tsui station. As the ga...
China is expected to slow sugar imports for the rest of the year as concerns grow over a global supply crunch and higher prices, with Thailand – the world’s second-largest exporter – facing a sharp drop in production. The world’s second-largest economy relies on imports for about a third of its sugar supply, though high domestic stockpiles are expected to cushion the impact. Analysts estimated onl...
Ride-hailing platform Uber will submit its operator’s licence application in Hong Kong by the end of October, its local general manager has revealed, as the city government moves to regulate the service. The platform also said on Tuesday that Hong Kong residents accounted for the largest share of its users in Macau, months after it relaunched in the gaming hub in February following a nearly decade...
Malaysia’s reported move to use chips from Chinese tech giant Huawei in its 2 billion ringgit (US$494 million) sovereign AI project could test the export-control commitments it signed with Washington last year, analysts say. The move could complicate Kuala Lumpur’s long-running effort to work with both American and Chinese technology firms, particularly as Washington pushes US AI systems across So...
Malaysia’s reported move to use chips from Chinese tech giant Huawei in its 2 billion ringgit (US$494 million) sovereign AI project could test the export-control commitments it signed with Washington last year, analysts say. The move could complicate Kuala Lumpur’s long-running effort to work with both American and Chinese technology firms, particularly as Washington pushes US AI systems across So...
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Cambodian education authorities to expand a computational training programme to cover early childhood learning in the Southeast Asian nation. The MOU, which builds on an earlier agreement signed last year to roll out the club’s CoolThink@JC programme in the country’s primary schools, was signed at the PBC...
Sales of non-exchange-traded investment products in Hong Kong surged to a record HK$9.9 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) in 2025, marking a 63 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest joint survey by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). A significant expansion in market participation drove the record-breaking performance. The number of i...
Sales of non-exchange-traded investment products in Hong Kong surged to a record HK$9.9 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) in 2025, marking a 63 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest joint survey by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). A significant expansion in market participation drove the record-breaking performance. The number of i...
Hong Kong customs has smashed an international drug trafficking network over the summer, seizing 6.1 tonnes of suspected narcotics worth more than HK$1.4 billion (US$178.5 million) and arresting 150 people as syndicates actively recruited students during the holiday period. Acting head of the Customs and Excise Department’s drug investigation bureau Wong Ngar-lun said on Tuesday that real-time int...
Nicaragua on Tuesday accused Germany of “multiple violations of international law” at the United Nations top court, as it pressed its case that Berlin was complicit in what it described as genocide in Gaza. The Central American country has dragged Germany to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing Berlin of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention with its support, notably...
A Chinese man has recently achieved his ambitious goal of travelling to 233 countries and regions around the world, sharing the life wisdom that “time waits for no man.” Chen Jinwei, 53, returned to his hometown in Zhuji, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, after a remarkable 33-year global tour that ended when he returned from Peru after visiting various corners of the world. Reports indicate t...
The Philippines has launched a five-year road map to expand its share of the global semiconductor and electronics sector, but capacity challenges and political stability are potential stumbling blocks, analysts say. The Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry road map, launched by the Philippines’ Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC) on September 2, aims to gro...
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is reviving its tribute to late singer-actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing three years after its first iteration, marking what would have been the Cantopop icon’s 70th birthday with rare items from private collections, stage costumes and other exhibits. The “Miss You Much. Leslie 70th Birthday. Exhibition” runs from September 9 this year to May 10, 2027, at the museum in Sh...
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is reviving its tribute to late singer-actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing three years on, marking the Cantopop icon’s 70th birthday with rare private collections, stage costumes and a recreated room from his former residence. Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the “Miss You Much. Leslie 70th Birthday. Exhibition” runs from September 9 to May 10, 202...
We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Southeast Asia’s scam gangs regroup after Cambodia’s crackdown Cambodia says it has flushed out a scam industry estimated to have stolen tens of billions of US dollars las...
Hong Kong authorities have reserved the right to seek compensation from contractors over faulty lift installation work that has delayed operations at Queen Mary Hospital’s new block, the development minister has said. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said on Tuesday that the main contractor, a Paul Y-Able joint venture, and lift subcontractor Anlev Elex Elevator would be required t...
First Hong Kong astronaut Lai Ka-ying will deliver a live lecture from space to students and teachers at her alma mater on Wednesday morning, with the session also broadcast to pupils across the city and in neighbouring Macau. According to an Education Bureau notice delivered to all primary and secondary schools on Tuesday, Lai, alongside her two fellow Shenzhou-23 crew members, mission commander ...
Although President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a brief exchange last week at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the real action will unfold later this week at the Brics summit when Xi arrives in New Delhi with an expected delegation of 400 officials. China is one of India’s top trading partners, yet it remains unclear whether Chinese ...
A Malaysian court has nearly doubled jail time for a woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death for demanding sex after ruling that the sentencing court had been “over-sympathetic” towards the accused. The Court of Appeal increased the prison sentence for the woman, identified only as Shy to protect her identity, from the six and a half years imposed by the Johor Bahru High Court to 12 years, Free M...
Dozens of young people congregated at Nepal’s burnt-out parliament building on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of deadly anti-corruption protests that toppled the former government. The gathering in memory of those who died in the demonstrations came as the Himalayan nation continues to mourn the vast loss of life from devastating floods two weeks ago. The rallies on September 8-9, 2025, were init...
China’s top police officer has pledged deeper cooperation with his Central Asian counterparts to crack down on terrorism, separatism and extremism, while strengthening measures to protect Belt and Road Initiative investments. Presiding over an informal meeting of the China-Central Asia Public Security and Interior Ministers’ mechanism in Beijing, Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong on M...
Two thieves broke into a museum dedicated to French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France on Tuesday, stealing “four works of art”, one of which they dropped as they fled, a mayor said. “This morning, two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum and stole four works of art,” said Bryan Masson, the far-right mayor of the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer. “Spotted thanks to the town’s...
Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, accumulated so much wealth over the past three years that he had to convert it into mansions and shares to avoid scrutiny, the Office of the Ombudsman alleged on Tuesday – a day after filing a plunder case against the former House speaker. The Ombudsman filed the case on Monday against Romualdez, former House appropriations c...
Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, accumulated so much wealth over the past three years that he had to convert it into mansions and shares to avoid scrutiny, the Office of the Ombudsman alleged on Tuesday – a day after filing a plunder case against the former House speaker. The Ombudsman filed the case on Monday against Romualdez, former House appropriations c...
A grass-roots group associated with Australia’s ruling Labor Party has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government to break from “the American war machine” and pursue an independent defence policy for the future. Traditional security allies Canberra and Washington have deepened their military ties in recent years, including through troop deployments and the trilateral Aukus pact, which ...
A handful of home-grown Chinese companies involved in brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are moving towards initial public offerings (IPOs) on onshore markets, taking advantage of the sector’s status as a new darling of private capital. The trend fits into a broad pattern of hi-tech firms flocking to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style Star Market. Among the BCI hopefuls, Shanghai-bas...
