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For much of Malaysia’s post-independence history, Malay voters largely faced a binary choice: Umno, the oldest Malay nationalist political party that governed the country for more than six decades until 2018, or the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). But with two state elections fast approaching, a bevy of breakaway parties flying variations of the same nationalist flag are all chasing th...
Hong Kong developer Lai Sun Development, chaired by businessman Peter Lam Kin-ngok, who also chairs the city’s Tourism Board, has launched an exchange offer for its outstanding US$493 million worth of 5 per cent guaranteed notes due July 2026, in an effort to relieve short-term liquidity pressures, the company said Monday in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Eligible noteholders can swap t...
Police shot and killed an Australian child in eastern Pakistan, authorities said, with Canberra calling on Monday for an investigation into the incident that also wounded two of the girl’s family members. Police in Pakistan’s most populous eastern province, Punjab, said that officers responding to a robbery exchanged fire with the suspects who were holding the passengers of a family’s car at gunpo...
The United States, Iran and their mediator Pakistan each announced on Sunday that Washington and Tehran had reached an agreement intended to end the conflict between them that has lasted more than 100 days. Writing on social media on Sunday, US President Donald Trump stated, “This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region”. Representatives for the warring countries said they wou...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s weather will remain unstable in the coming days before turning bright on Friday for the Dragon Boat Festival and into the weekend, according to the Observatory. The forecaster said that under the influence of an active southwest monsoon and a trough...
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 is considering whether to issue a red rainstorm warning, less than two hours after sending out the amber signal on late Monday morning. The forecaster said at 12.55pm that areas of intense thundery showers were affecting Hong Kong and ...
A Chinese man climbed out of his 27th-floor flat after eating self-cooked jianshouqing mushrooms at home and having hallucinations. The man, surnamed Xue, from southwestern China’s Yunnan province, said he believed his family was inviting him to “train himself to cross the tribulation and attain immortality”, a practice often seen in Chinese fantasy novels. Xue said he unconsciously clambered out ...
A 21-year-old woman who died in dramatic fashion, when two rope jumping instructors threw her from a bridge without first harnessing her to security equipment, was buried on Sunday in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was going rope jumping on Saturday at Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge in the municipality of Limeira where tourists practice extreme sports. The yo...
Hong Kong plans to publish its first “strategic, forward-looking and operable” five-year blueprint in the third quarter of this year, the city’s constitutional affairs chief has said, as authorities launched a public consultation while rejecting concerns that the move signalled a shift towards a planned economy. As the government launched a two-month public consultation on the blueprint on Monday,...
The government aims to publish Hong Kong’s first “strategic, forward-looking and operable” five-year plan in the third quarter of this year, the city’s constitutional affairs chief has said, as authorities launched a public consultation while rejecting concerns that the move signalled a shift towards a planned economy. As the government launched a two-month public consultation on the blueprint on ...
The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Gaza war has surpassed 73,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, as Israeli military operations continue despite a stalled and fragile ceasefire in place since October. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in G...
Complaints about Hong Kong claw machine operators have skyrocketed by more than 760 per cent over the past three years, driven by anger over reportedly misleading displays, rigged settings and poor-quality prizes, the city’s consumer watchdog has said. Figures shared by the Consumer Council on Monday showed that the number of reported grievances involving claw machines had risen from 16 in 2023 to...
Complaints against Hong Kong claw machine operators have skyrocketed by more than 760 per cent over the past three years, driven by anger over misleading displays, rigged settings and poor-quality prizes, the city’s consumer watchdog has said. Figures shared by the Consumer Council on Monday showed that the number of reported grievances involving claw machines had gone from 16 in 2023 to 49 in 202...
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. 5. How to say ‘tomato sauce’ in Cantonese? Miss Hong Kong hopeful sparks debate 2. Chinese team flags life-threatening weakness in Nasa’s Artemis programme 3. Hong Kong intern doctor released on bail,...
Starbucks stores across South Korea will close for half a day next week for staff to attend a history lesson following a promotional campaign gone awry, the coffee giant said on Monday. Starbucks Korea, with more than 2,000 stores nationwide, found itself embroiled in public uproar last month when it ran a “Tank Day” promotion evoking a deadly military crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising. T...
Four people have been arrested in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor after videos circulating online appeared to show an Indonesian domestic worker being slapped, punched and verbally abused inside a private home. The footage has renewed concerns about the treatment of Indonesian helpers in Malaysia – where about 60,000 are registered to work in private homes – and prompted calls for Jakarta to in...
The Strait of Hormuz was still largely devoid of shipping traffic in the hours following the announcement of a US-Iran peace deal, as analysts warned it remained uncertain how and when normal operations along the waterway would be restored. The only vessel moving in the strait on Monday morning was broadcasting its status as a patrol ship, according to data from vessel tracking platform MarineTraf...
This article was published on June 13, 1991. Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines Volcano’s plume soars 25km by Michael Bociurkiw in San Narciso Theresita Santiago and her neighbours dealt with the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines yesterday (June 12, 1991) the only way they could: they grabbed their children and a few belongings and walked 20 kilometres ...
Japan fans left the stands spotless after their World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Texas on Sunday, saying it was “Japanese culture” to tidy up after themselves. Spectators stayed behind after the 2-2 draw to make sure they left the stadium as they found it, meticulously picking up litter and stuffing it into blue plastic bags. It was a habit first learned at primary school, Japan fan Eit...
Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs will visit the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a check on the progress of the Northern Metropolis part of the itinerary, while sources say the chief executive will join him as he looks into a cross-border technology cooperation platform. The Hong Kong government announced on Monday morning that Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau...
Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s biggest cities in a nighttime bombardment that killed at least 11 people and set fire to a renowned religious site, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials said on Monday. The attacks on the capital, Kyiv, and the second-largest city, Kharkiv, came after Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke separa...
A large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine killed five rescuers in Kharkiv and wounded at least 20 people in the capital Kyiv on Monday as strikes set flat buildings ablaze and sparked a fire at one of the country’s most significant religious landmarks. The rescuers were killed in Kharkiv by a second Russian strike as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko sa...
HSBC and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank had resumed mobile phone service operations by early Monday afternoon after an outage in the morning locked customers out of their accounts for several hours. HSBC, the biggest lender in the city with over 7 million customers in Hong Kong, had its mobile banking service interrupted, with many customers complaining they could not log on to the system on Monday...
HSBC and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank had resumed mobile phone service operations by lunchtime Monday after an earlier outage had locked customers out, but some online services were still temporarily unavailable, according to messages posted on the two lenders’ apps. HSBC, the biggest lender in the city with over 7 million customers in Hong Kong, had its mobile banking service interrupted, with m...
HSBC, the biggest lender in the city with over 7 million customers in Hong Kong, had its mobile banking service interrupted, with many customers complaining they could not log on to the system on Monday morning. More than 10 HSBC customers contacted the South China Morning Post on Monday morning saying they were unable to log into the mobile banking since 9am. The mobile banking app showed a messa...
In China’s premier coal province Shanxi, a massive project that converts ultra-hard coal waste into high-value industrial materials – has begun operations, bringing the country’s zero waste goal for the fossil fuel industry a step closer. The project – in Gaoping, a county-level city in Shanxi’s southeast – is producing 1,000 tonnes per day of building and industrial materials, including sand and ...
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said he is focused on accomplishing much more in the final year of his current term, which he described as a “long period for a lot of things to be achieved” as he shrugged off a question on seeking a second one. Alluding to the adage “a year is a long time in politics”, Lee deflected the question of extending his tenure for another five years and focused inste...
I’m still reeling from last week’s tragedy in Hong Kong: a mother and her 12-year-old daughter lost their lives to suicide within hours of each other reportedly following an argument about “education problems”. While the causes of suicide are complex, the incident should prompt reflection within the education system. For years, many have tried to point out the impact academic pressure without adeq...
The case of a seven-year-old Chinese boy who had to be sent to an intensive care unit (ICU) after drinking just two iced drinks has triggered a heated online discussion. The boy from central China’s Henan province was admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University recently. He showed symptoms of stomachache and vomiting, and was diagnosed with acute volvulus, a bowel obstruction...
