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Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing’s back-to-back visits to India and China have been described as an effort to avoid becoming overdependent on either country, but analysts said there was little reason to think it would erode Beijing’s “overarching influence”. The former military leader’s visit to India was his first trip abroad since assuming the presidency in April and saw the two countries agree...
Malaysia’s push to attract Chinese tourists is increasingly being shaped by the same forces influencing their itineraries: short-form videos, lifestyle apps, online personalities and newly opened routes from cities beyond China’s largest travel hubs. Tourism Malaysia confirmed the focus in a statement, saying its Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign in China encompassed “digital marketing, key opinion lea...
Malaysia’s bet on Chinese tourists is increasingly being shaped by the same forces influencing their itineraries: short videos, lifestyle apps, online personalities and newly opened routes from beyond China’s biggest cities. Tourism Malaysia confirmed the focus, saying its Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign in China included “digital marketing, key opinion leader (KOL) collaborations, short-video conten...
A Hong Kong national security police officer has admitted filming upskirt footage of a woman and attempting to grab a colleague’s handgun in an apparent bid to harm himself after his arrest last year. West Kowloon Court heard on Monday that Constable Ko Chun-chung, 40, felt ashamed and was unable to face the consequences after being caught for the offence against the woman on January 15, 2025. He ...
The critical window for finding survivors of powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela narrowed further on Monday, with time running out for those still buried beneath the debris. The death toll has surpassed 1,450 and nearly 200 buildings have completely collapsed. A man and his teen son were found alive under the rubble Sunday by French and American rescue teams in Caraballeda, a town abou...
Hong Kong has relaxed its licensing requirements for rural holiday camps and village guest houses, allowing greater flexibility in building and fire safety requirements for some properties to encourage more tourist accommodation options outside urban areas. The Home Affairs Department on Monday published two new licence application guides: a first-of-its-kind stand-alone guide tailored specificall...
Every few minutes, the mortuary owner’s phone rings. Since a record-smashing heatwave started taking lives and storage space for bodies in Paris and beyond, the funeral directors and mourning families calling him mostly have the same question: do you have room for one more? With all 32 places in his cold room taken, Zouhaeir Hertelli reluctantly has to gently say “Non”, over and over and over agai...
Malaysia has set up a special task force to tackle potential disruptions on the causeway linking Johor to Singapore ahead of a state election next month. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said ensuring smooth cross-border movement is his ministry’s “highest priority” as tens of thousands of Malaysians are expected to return home to cast their votes in the Johor state election on July 11....
A Hong Kong school has activated its crisis management team to provide counselling support in response to the death of an 11-year-old boy during a training run over the weekend, while the institution’s leaders are set to meet education officials. Hong Kong Adventist Academy, a private Christian school in Sai Kung’s Clear Water Bay, confirmed on Monday that one of its students had died from heatstr...
South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI megaprojects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments worth more than US$576 billion over several years. The announcement marks Lee’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seoul metropol...
South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI megaprojects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments spanning hundreds of billions of dollars over several years. The announcement marks Lee’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seou...
A panel of a glass bridge at a popular tourist site in central China was cracked by a teenager wielding an umbrella, raising concerns about its quality among the public. On June 20, a visitor at the Baoquan Cliff World Scenic Area, a national 5A-rated tourism destination in Henan province, reported being evacuated by staff as soon as they stepped onto the signature glass bridge. This rating is the...
Nasa is racing to save an ageing telescope from falling back to Earth with a daring rescue mission. The US$30 million salvage operation gets under way as soon as this week with the planned launch of a robotic lifesaver. Nasa hired start-up Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe’s biggest explosions. A thre...
The head of Hong Kong’s Harbourfront Commission has called for improvements to the proposal to reclaim land for a popular tourist selfie spot in Kennedy Town, saying the current design failed to fit the neighbourhood’s ambience. Ivan Ho Man-yiu, the advisory body’s chairman, said on Monday that the design of a proposed offshore walkway at Kennedy Town Praya should reflect the “city mood” of the di...
Hong Kong’s M+ museum has offered ticket holders one free entry in the next three months after poor crowd management led to hours-long queues for an exhibition that opened at the weekend, prompting a wave of customer complaints. The venue’s “Design Ah! Experience the Wonder of Everyday Design” exhibition in West Kowloon Cultural District drew thousands of visitors on Sunday, who paid either HK$190...
Desalination has always been an energy-hungry way of turning saltwater into freshwater, making it largely the preserve of wealthy countries with abundant fossil fuel reserves. Yet, an outdoor demonstration prototype in China has managed to exhibit year-long stability with zero utility energy costs, thanks to a new type of photothermal material. The researchers developed an innovative method to wea...
Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island. Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region. The agreement commits Australia to gr...
Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island. Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region. The agreement commits Australia to gr...
She has a young woman’s voice, a friendly face and a police chief’s badge. Her name is “AIko” and she may be Japan’s most unconventional weapon in a war against fraud that cost the country a record US$2 billion last year. AIko – a blend of the abbreviation for artificial intelligence and “ko”, the Japanese feminine name suffix – made her public debut in late May on Osaka Prefectural Police’s YouTu...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s AI-powered laser mosquito zapper goes viral after crowdfunding success 2. Why Malaysia’s tourism boom lives and dies on a Chinese app 3. As Europe sizzles amid extreme heat, the hunt for Ch...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s AI-powered laser mosquito zapper goes viral after crowdfunding success 2. Why Malaysia’s tourism boom lives and dies on a Chinese app 3. As Europe sizzles amid extreme heat, the hunt for Ch...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s AI-powered laser mosquito zapper goes viral after crowdfunding success 2. Why Malaysia’s tourism boom lives and dies on a Chinese app 3. As Europe sizzles amid extreme heat, the hunt for Ch...
As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong will step up building renovation inspections and consider spot checks following lessons from the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze, the housing minister has said in her first rem...
As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong will step up building renovation inspections and consider spot checks following lessons from the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze, the housing minister has said in her first rem...
Ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to Bangladesh this year, brushing aside a death sentence handed down in absentia and denouncing the ruling as “illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated”. Hasina, 78, who fled to India after a student-led uprising ousted her government in August 2024, said in an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV that she was undeterre...
China has broken ground on what developers say is the country’s first production line for AI-assisted personalised tumour vaccines, raising hopes for millions of new cancer patients every year – a disease that ranks as the nation’s second-leading cause of death. By October, Beijing-based Likang Life Sciences is expected to complete a new drug research and manufacturing centre in the Beijing Econom...
The next frontier of artificial intelligence will be agents that can perform “economically valuable” work across a broad range of real-world domains, according to Dawn Song, Meta Platforms’ new vice-president of AI research. “The goal is not to replace humans,” Song told the South China Morning Post last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, also known as Summer Davos, days ...
A worker has died and another has been injured after an excavator fell on its side at a Hong Kong construction site. Police said on Monday that they received a report at 9.42am that an industrial accident had occurred on the site on Liberty Avenue in Ho Man Tin. A union chief said both workers were rushed to hospital, with one of them later certified dead. The Labour Department said it was investi...
A worker has died and another has been left unconscious after a construction vehicle fell on its side at a Hong Kong construction site. Police said on Monday that they received a report at 9.42am that an industrial accident had occurred on the site on Liberty Avenue in Ho Man Tin. The force said at least one worker had become trapped when the excavator fell on its side. One worker was certified de...
A worker has died and another has been left unconscious after a construction vehicle fell on its side at a Hong Kong construction site. Police said on Monday that they received a report at 9.42am that an industrial accident had occurred on the site on Liberty Avenue in Ho Man Tin. The force said at least one worker had become trapped when the vehicle fell on its side. One worker was certified dead...
