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The family of a 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was found in a suitcase in Pattaya said they were devastated by her death, for which an Australian man has been arrested and charged with murder. Thai police said they arrested an Australian man in his 40s at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport early on Saturday in connection with the killing in Pattaya, about 150km (93 miles) east of Bangkok. The su...
On June 4, at a packing facility in Limuru near Nairobi, Kenya, avocados were being prepared for the Chinese market. The scene may seem mundane, but the politics behind it is significant. China has removed tariffs on imports from 53 African countries. African exporters are beginning to think about Beijing less as a distant buyer than as a market that could reshape their margins. When the UN projec...
Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to add value to Beijing’s “China Opportunity 2.0” narrative, serving as a bridge and catalyst for the global expansion of mainland Chinese enterprises, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also named the Northern Metropolis megaproject in his weekly blog on Sunday as a destination that would empower Chinese firms to commercialise t...
A father from southern China has sparked public outrage after signing a letter of understanding to forgive his girlfriend, who killed his 18-month-old son by kicking him in the belly. The case, which occurred in Guangdong province, received widespread attention after the boy’s mother, the man’s ex-wife, called for a thorough investigation. The ex-wife, surnamed Xie, stated that she separated from ...
Japan and South Korea scrambled fighter jets in response to a joint Russian-Chinese bomber patrol on Saturday. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force said the patrols passed over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific, adding that they showed the two countries’ resolve and ability to safeguard regional peace and stability. It was the 11th patrol of this kind since 2019, but t...
Hong Kong boy band Mirror member Stanley Yau Sze-chun recently lost his iPhone in the city and was surprised to discover it had surfaced at a market in neighbouring Shenzhen, sparking heated discussions on the internet. Information technology experts noted that retrieving lost or stolen devices from mainland China can be difficult. The South China Morning Post talks to experts for advice on how to...
It has been 25 years since Indonesia’s Liberal Islam Network (Jaringan Islam Liberal or JIL) was established in March 2001, just three years after Reformasi. The intellectual network has been in disarray for much of the past decade, reflecting the current state of Indonesia’s broader liberal and progressive Islamic movement. The old guard, represented by the establishments within Nahdlatul Ulama (...
Customers with one of Hong Kong’s top energy firms have been forced to bear the brunt of steeper supply costs after the conflict in the Middle East cut off gas from Qatar earlier this year, the company’s CEO has said. HK Electric’s Francis Cheng Cho-ying said on Sunday that the firm had not received any gas from Qatar since March, after Iranian strikes damaged production facilities that accounted ...
For a growing number of Singaporeans, furnishing a new home has become reason enough to book a holiday. Not the sort involving beach clubs or Michelin-starred restaurants. Instead, these design-savvy travellers are flying to China armed with camera rolls full of sofa and cabinetry photos, meticulously curated Pinterest boards and floor plans marked with dimensions down to the centimetre, all in pu...
Hong Kong should broaden mental health support beyond high-risk students amid the growing impact of social media on young people, a government adviser has urged, as a prominent tycoon pledged to empower more young philanthropists to tackle the problem. Children who had not shown any of the usual signs of intense difficulty at home or school were taking their own lives, according to Dr Lam Ching-ch...
As the lights dimmed in the Shanghai theatre, the string quartet struck up once more for the encore. Tina Zhang was fully drawn into the psychological thriller, but it was not until after the show that she found out that the musical was originally from South Korea. Zhang, 39, saw the official Chinese adaptation of Interview for the first time last year. “The logic was tight, the plot was well-stru...
The last time Pakistan’s navy operated a submarine in the Bay of Bengal, India sank it. That was 1971. Fifty-five years on, Islamabad is signalling its intent to go back. The vessel delivering that message, PNS Hangor, arrived in Karachi on June 11, the first of a class of eight attack submarines – four built in China, with the remainder to be constructed in Pakistan to develop its shipbuilding ca...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory cancelled the amber rainstorm warning on Sunday afternoon, after earlier advising residents to brace for wet weather under the influence of a low-pressure trough along the southern Chinese coast. The forecaster issued the lowest of a t...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the amber rainstorm warning on Sunday morning, advising residents to brace for wet weather under the influence of a low-pressure trough along the southern Chinese coast. The forecaster issued the lowest of a three-tier rainstorm...
Chadchart Sittipunt cruised back into Bangkok’s governor’s office late on Sunday after residents overwhelmingly backed him for a second term running the Southeast Asian megacity, despite its unresolved problems of floods, traffic and pollution. In an election contest that had become a procession by late Sunday, exit polls put Chadchart on between 53 and 75 per cent of the vote, as early live count...
Chadchart Sittipunt was poised to cruise back into Bangkok’s governor’s office late on Sunday after residents overwhelmingly backed him for a second term running the Southeast Asian megacity, despite its unresolved problems of floods, traffic and pollution. In an election contest that had become a procession by late Sunday, exit polls put Chadchart on between 53 and 75 per cent of the vote, as ear...
Bangkok residents began voting on Sunday for governor of the Southeast Asian megacity, with Chadchart Sittipunt tipped to return to City Hall to steer a capital blighted by floods, traffic and pollution. Over 4.5 million Bangkokians are eligible to vote for the governor and 50 council members who will run the city authority. Chadchart, 60, a former transport minister and engineering lecturer, led ...
Domestic makers of heavy-duty trucks are emerging as the latest beneficiaries of accelerating electrification on China’s roads, as technological gains and lower ownership costs are bolstering overseas sales amid a global energy crisis. Southeast Asia and Africa, where Chinese makers have already established overseas assembly hubs, were expected to serve as new growth engines for companies ranging ...
Iran and the US continued their attacks in the Gulf as each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month-old war. Shortly after President Donald Trump warned the US might “militarily complete the job”, Iran early on Sunday launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, continuing a series of escalating attacks. Beyo...
Iran and the US continued their attacks in the Gulf as each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month-old war. Shortly after President Donald Trump warned the US might “militarily complete the job”, Iran early on Sunday launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, continuing a series of escalating attacks. The ...
Bahrain said it had been targeted by Iranian drones and a ship in the Strait of Hormuz was struck on Saturday, adding fresh tension to the detente established in the wake of an interim US-Iran peace deal signed earlier this month. Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a number of Iranian drones targeted the country, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, early on Saturday morning, state-run BNA reported. Tehr...
A new Chinese law that pledges to hold overseas individuals and organisations responsible for undermining ethnic unity is mainly intended to have a “deterrent effect”, according to analysts. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was passed in March and is set to take effect next month, with Article 63 at the heart of the controversy about targeting people outside China. The law provides a...
A recent apology by the Dutch prime minister to the Netherlands’ Malukan community for systemic mistreatment by the state has met with mixed responses; some welcomed the remorse while others demanded concrete action over symbolic words. On June 21, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten formally apologised to members of the 75,000-strong Malukan community for the state’s mistreatment of the first generat...
Hong Kong cannot be faulted for not working hard enough to catch up in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Government funding is flowing generously towards projects focused on AI adoption. In recent years, the government has pumped billions into building the necessary infrastructure, including HK$2.84 billion (US$364 million) for a semiconductor centre, HK$3 billion for an AI subsidy sch...
A police dog in southwestern China, who continuously refused food and water while awaiting the return of its injured handler, has captured the hearts of millions online after their emotional reunion went viral. According to Yunnan police, the officer, known by the alias Awei, hails from Chuxiong in Yunnan province. He is the handler of Bulu, a four-year-old German shepherd specially trained for na...
The legality of prediction markets in Hong Kong has been called further into question, with at least one international brokerage firm operating such a platform in the city, prompting the market regulator to say certain activities may be considered “financial products”. Lawyers were also split on whether the delineation between financial products and illegal gambling was clear under the city’s exis...
With Japan imposing higher visa fees for tourists from July while moving away from an ultra-loose monetary policy, foreign investors must prepare themselves for both direct and indirect impacts on their real estate assets, according to agents and analysts. There is a dearth of data on the total number of homes bought by non-residents in Japan, but agents said the two main reasons for purchasing we...
Stand on the pedestrian crossing outside McDonald’s in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, and you will understand something about how travel works in the 21st century. To the office workers and taxi drivers streaming past, it is just another junction in Malaysia’s biggest city. Yet Chinese tourists will often stop at the side of the intersection, phones raised, capturing a sight only RedNote taught them...
Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that he would resign his post within weeks, paving the way for early elections following youth-led protests that shook his tight grip on power. Vucic did not specify exactly when he would resign or when an election, either for parliament or for a new president, could be held. He has said in the past that he could leave the post amid spe...
A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan is eligible to challenge the senator in the August primary, a judge ruled on Friday. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’ ruling overturns a June 15 decision by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher to disqualify the challenger and keep him off the primary ballot. Matthews’ ruling can be appealed to...
