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The mother of a 16-year-old girl who died from emaciation following lengthy detention and menacing interrogations by Japanese authorities is seeking compensation, in the latest “hostage justice” case. The lawsuit, filed with western Japan’s Kobe district court on Wednesday, argues that the girl’s 18-day ordeal at a jail traumatised her so much that five months after her release, she weighed just 2...
Hong Kong will no longer define poverty based solely on economic factors, the government has said, prompting calls from experts for multiple measurements to be adopted, arguing the new strategy makes it harder to objectively assess the city’s overall situation. The government said on Thursday it had adopted a new 21-indicator framework in its efforts to help targeted needy groups. It said the prev...
Hong Kong will measure the size of its poor using a new 21-indicator framework, abandoning the previous income-based metric said to have overestimated the number of underprivileged people by ignoring billions of dollars spent on public housing and healthcare. In a 224-page report released on Thursday, the government also raised the concept of “social transfer values” for the first time, referring ...
Taiwanese value showing goodwill to the mainland more than deepening cooperation with the United States, according to a survey conducted soon after US President Donald Trump visited Beijing last month. The survey, published by the government-funded Institute for National Defence and Security Research in Taipei on Tuesday, polled 1,127 Taiwanese residents from May 28 to 31. Asked about the most imp...
A Hong Kong court has jailed a man for 14 years for his role in an “evil” bomb plot against the authorities during and after the 2019 anti-government protests. The High Court on Thursday convicted Cheung Lai-ming of four charges after he pleaded guilty to making explosives at his public rental flat in Wong Tai Sin, with a view to carrying out attacks between August 2019 and May 2022. The 35-year-o...
As Chinese technology giant ByteDance accelerates its shift towards domestic chips for artificial intelligence workloads, a few smaller domestic suppliers stand to benefit – if they can deliver at scale amid a void left by Nvidia due to regulatory hurdles. The Beijing-based owner of TikTok is considering turning to a handful of so-called tier-two chipmakers in China – smaller rivals to Huawei Tech...
Following is an edited transcript of a conversation between John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and South China Morning Post Executive Editor Zuraidah Ibrahim at the SCMP Plus exclusive: meet John Mearsheimer in person event on June 17 in Hong Kong. It was generated using Tongyi Tingwu, an AI-powered audio and vid...
Following is an edited transcript of a conversation between John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and South China Morning Post Executive Editor Zuraidah Ibrahim at the SCMP Plus exclusive: meet John Mearsheimer in person event on June 17 in Hong Kong. It was generated using Tongyi Tingwu, an AI-powered audio and vid...
Malaysian police have deported two nationals from India wanted over an explosion on a railway line in Punjab, in a case Indian media have linked to an alleged militant plot tied to the Khalistan separatist movement seeking an independent Sikh homeland. The Royal Malaysia Police said the duo were sent back to India on Wednesday after Indian authorities requested help locating and arresting them. M....
Hong Kong has ranked as the second-most globally competitive economy – its best performance in seven years – climbing one spot from last year to place behind Singapore. The ranking, released by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) on Thursday, put the city ahead of 68 other economies out of 70 surveyed. Hong Kong’s position was surpassed only by Singapore,...
We have selected five Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. The TCM influencers demystifying ancient Chinese healing practices for Gen Z The rise of “Chinamaxxing” and a growing appetite for cupping reels and the like has launched traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) content into the...
Japanese football fans have gone viral once again for tidying up the stadium after their team’s World Cup match against the Netherlands this week, only to prompt a meme criticising the country’s men for not applying the same standards of behaviour while at home. A spoof of a train etiquette poster contrasts an image of a football fan cleaning a stadium with a domestic scene where a woman washes di...
Homeowners in a Hong Kong subsidised housing estate will need to amend a legal land-use document to permit a cafe on the premises to allow dogs, after the venue was disqualified from a pet-friendly licence scheme despite winning an application ballot. The Housing Department said on Thursday that the owners of Kai Yan Court in Kai Tak must consent to amending the deed of mutual covenant (DMC) under...
Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek closed its first-ever external fundraising in an unusual and high-stakes deal that could not only reshape the country’s AI landscape but also offer a rare glimpse into how one of China’s most valuable AI start-ups will navigate its next phase of growth, sources and analysts said. Hangzhou-based DeepSeek now has a post-investment value of about 400 ...
Keir Starmer isn’t on the ballot, but the UK prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on Thursday. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker, and the leading contender is Andy Burnham of the governing Labour Party, the current mayor of Greater Manchester and oddsmakers’ favourite to be the next prime minister. If Burnham defeats a candid...
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited Russia’s Kazan with a message about Asean centrality and a more urgent national problem behind it – keeping fuel supply secure as global energy uncertainties linger. The two-day Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit has turned into a small but telling test of Washington’s influence in Southeast Asia, according to analysts, with Anwar and other regional le...
A Singaporean man is facing jail time for sending an edited photo of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on fire to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Facebook page while mentioning a “bomb”. Andie Tan Kok Yong, a 35-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of knowingly sending a false message under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act. A second charge of obstructing ...
The Middle East conflict has shaken up the global energy supply chain and Beijing needs to do more to protect shipments – such as finding alternative routes and boosting escort capabilities, according to industry analysts. Lu Ruquan, president of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economics and Technology Research Institute, said the country should “strengthen escort capabilities, emergency ...
Young people from China are visiting South Korea for cheaper and better beauty services that last for only one day, reflecting a change in overseas tourism desires. On China’s social media, many are sharing the three must-do things while travelling in South Korea: colour analysis, make-up and hairstyle and taking an identity (ID) photograph. Unlike the traditional popular cosmetic surgery visits t...
Ukraine hit a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at Moscow airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four years ago, Russian officials said on Thursday. The attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had held “an important coordination call” with US Presiden...
Ukrainian drones hit Moscow’s oil refinery for the second time this week while Russia fired missiles into Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought support from the US and Europe to reach a peace deal. Moscow downed over five dozen drones on Thursday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram, and a Reuters witness saw flames and plumes of smoke over the southeastern district of Kapotnya where th...
The deaths in quick succession of three rugby players in Malaysia have put renewed focus on the risks of competing in extreme heat and humidity, as climate change pushes temperatures higher across Southeast Asia. On May 23, prop Azlan Azhari, playing for Kedah’s state team against Johor in the 2026 Agong Cup, a local interstate tournament, collapsed about five minutes after scoring a try. The 22-y...
A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death. The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it did not sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday. Visitors who viewed the tree’s gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham over the past two centuries compressed the soil ar...
Chinese ambassador to the United States Xie Feng on Wednesday proposed to increase the limit of tariff-free goods under the newly created US-China Board of Trade from the existing US$30 billion to US$300 billion – a 10-fold rise in non-sensitive trade covered by the mechanism. Addressing a gathering at the US-China Business Council gala in Washington, Xie said he shared the view of “many friends f...
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has clarified rules for unprofitable artificial intelligence model developers wanting to go public, as China’s large language model (LLM) firms scramble for fresh capital in an intense race with US labs. LLM developers can go public on the Shanghai bourse’s Star Market under a set of listing standards that require them to have an anticipated market cap of at least...
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has clarified rules for unprofitable artificial intelligence model developers wanting to go public, as China’s large language model (LLM) firms scramble for fresh capital in an intense race with US labs. LLM developers can go public on the Shanghai bourse’s Star Market under a set of listing standards that require them to have an anticipated market cap of at least...
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has clarified rules for unprofitable artificial intelligence model developers wanting to go public, as China’s large language model (LLM) firms scramble for fresh capital in an intense race with US labs. LLM developers can go public on the Shanghai bourse’s Star Market under a set of listing standards that require them to have an anticipated market cap of at least...
When Yuriko Koike was Japan’s environment minister in 2005, she was hailed by legions of salarymen as they shed ties and jackets in summer during the “Cool Biz” national energy-saving campaign that she helped to launch. Now, as Tokyo governor, Koike has taken the idea a step further: shorts in the office. In April, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it would allow male employees to turn up for...
Scientists have found the oldest known evidence of the plague, which sparked deadly outbreaks dating back about 5,500 years ago – some 200 years earlier than previously thought. The disease has sickened humans for thousands of years and wiped out a significant chunk of Europe’s population in the 14th century during what’s known as the Black Death. Though rare, the plague is still around today and ...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong issued the black rainstorm warning twice within a single day, as downpours flooded the New Territories, disrupted flights and forced class suspensions on Thursday. The Observatory downgraded the day’s second black rainstorm warning, the highest of a t...
