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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...
The Hong Kong government will conduct a consultation on its slew of pro-baby incentives amid persistently low birth rates, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said, noting that delayed marriage and cultural shifts are limiting the effectiveness of such policies. The number of registered births in Hong Kong hit a historic low of 31,100 in 2025, despite a range of government initiatives aimed at bo...
The Abu Dhabi government is fast-tracking its push to extensively tap into China’s technologies, from renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) to robotics, as it pursues a greener economy, according to its energy chief. Abdulla Humaid Al Jarwan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi department of energy, told the SCMP that his department was in talks with 22 Chinese firms, including Contemporary Amperex T...
Mariko was a teenager the day she found herself alone in a near-empty carriage with a man who sat across from her, exposed himself and began to masturbate. Terrified that fleeing or crying out might provoke something worse, she fixed her gaze elsewhere and waited for the next station. “There was nothing I could do,” said Mariko, now 33, who asked that her family name not be published. “I was terri...
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and Hong Kong’s bourse are actively engaging with mining companies in Kazakhstan to explore dual-listing opportunities in the city, following a groundbreaking case last year, the head of the Central Asian country’s special financial zone has said. AIFC governor Renat Bekturov also said several partnership agreements the body had signed with Hong Kon...
The United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war and will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media early on Monday. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly after Sharif made his announcement. The agreement...
US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Sunday that a landmark agreement has been reached with Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and end the American naval blockade. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” Trump posted on social media without providing any details of the agreement. “I hereby fully aut...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit may ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the international debate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. While most headlines focused on the visit’s timing and the many pledges made by the two leaders aimed at expanding cooperation, the most significant development may have been what was left unsaid. Throughout the visit, neither side pu...
British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson said he was detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday and had his phone seized, after a week when he posted heavily online about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said on social media he was held on Saturday evening for around three hours under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Secur...
A plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers planning to spend a sunny afternoon skydiving crashed on Sunday in Missouri, killing all aboard, authorities said. Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the crash site, helping the Butler Police Department & Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The crash happened near Butler Memorial Airport. The small town of Butler has a popu...
US Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on Sunday, his spokesman said, but there was no immediate information about why he was there or his prognosis. McConnell, 84, was the longest-serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role while finishing his final term, which ends in January. “Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving ex...
At least six people died in Brazil on Sunday after two helicopters collided in western Rio de Janeiro, firefighters said. The helicopters crashed into the car park of an electric car showroom, igniting a fire that engulfed at least 20 cars. A statement from firefighters said initial reports pointed to a mid-air collision, adding “six fatalities have been confirmed, all were crew members of the air...
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each held phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, as Trump marked his 80th birthday and the war in Ukraine remained a flashpoint ahead of this week’s G7 summit. Putin’s call with Trump lasted just under an hour, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters. On Ukraine, Ushakov sa...
China is capable of a direct missile strike on Australia and the threat is growing as Beijing amasses long-range and hypersonic weapons and builds islands in the South China Sea, an Australian think tank said on Sunday. A Lowy Institute report found the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that could reach th...
Protesters in Geneva clashed with police, set a car on fire and smashed the windows of a bank on Sunday to show their discontent with the G7 group of major advanced economies on the eve of a summit in nearby France to be attended by the group’s leaders including US President Donald Trump. Environmentalists and feminists joined foes of imperialism, defenders of independent media, supporters of Pale...
Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday there was “no point” in continuing peace talks with the United States after its ally Israel attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs. “The Zionists’ aggression against Dahieh once again showed that the United States either lacks the will to implement its commitments or lacks the ability to do so,” Ghalibaf said on social media following Is...
Residents of a luxury home in Hong Kong have lost jewellery worth HK$751,000 after a break-in while they were dining downstairs. Police received a report of the break-in at 9.50pm on Saturday from a 69-year-old man, the owner of the two-storey house at Greenwood Terrace on Sui Wo Road in Fo Tan. He said his master bedroom had been broken into and a jewellery box pried open, with 10 necklaces, 15 r...
A lightning strike at a Hong Kong swimming pool has prompted calls for mandatory closures of outdoor public venues during thundery weather and stronger protection measures. One day after the incident on Saturday, experts told the South China Morning Post that extra caution was needed at venues such as swimming pools because water was highly conductive and lightning-protection systems were not fool...
In a packed auditorium steps from the Vatican, Roberto Vannacci – the former Italian army general known to supporters as ‘Il Generale’ – is rallying followers of his fledgling party, casting himself as an outsider while reshaping Italy’s right and challenging Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of US President Donald Trump. Vannacci’s fast-rising “Futuro Nazionale” party is injecting new u...
The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning on Sunday night and said that unsettled weather was expected to persist over the next few days. The warning was issued at 9.40pm, signalling that more than 30mm of rain had fallen or was expected to fall across the city within an hour. The alert also indicates that downpours are likely to continue. The Observatory said that under the infl...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hailed increasing defence cooperation with the UK during a meeting with her British counterpart Keir Starmer on Sunday, amid uncertainty about a new fighter jet programme. “The UK is a very important partner to Japan given the deepening of ties across a wide range of fields, including security and defence,” Takaichi said as she met with Starmer in London. “Gi...
Taiwan has for the first time reported mainland Chinese law enforcement vessels near an island it controls in the South China Sea, a development experts say could form the basis of Beijing’s effective control in the waters. The move comes after Beijing accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of inaction in the face of Japan-Philippines maritime delineation talks, which could concern e...
Although China has no team on the pitch at the 2026 World Cup, the country’s industrial and technological presence is dominating the tournament’s logistics in Mexico. China has bolstered Mexico’s capacity as a host country with railways and buses, as well as the tournament’s official footballs. And that support comes at a time when the Latin American country is navigating its relations with Beijin...
The Swiss appeared to have voted down a divisive anti-immigration proposal to cap the country’s population, early projections showed on Sunday. Shortly after polls closed at noon, initial projections from the GfS.bern institute indicated around 55 per cent opposition to the initiative, which had sparked warnings of “chaos” and devastating impacts for the Swiss economy and European Union relations....
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s flagship property developer CK Asset Holdings has sold a penthouse mansion at a luxury development in Mid-Levels in Central for HK$362 million (US$46.2 million), setting a per square foot price record for first-hand transactions this year. The 2,911 sq ft unit on the 20th floor of the second phase of 21 Borrett Road went for HK$124,356 per square foot via public...
Not long ago, China was the villain of choice in much of India’s public discourse. The 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, in which both sides lost soldiers in hand-to-hand combat over their disputed Himalayan border, changed Indian public sentiment almost overnight. From WeChat to TikTok, Chinese apps disappeared from Indian app stores. Investment rules tightened. Television debates grew more jingoistic ...
Hundreds of Hong Kong basketball fans packed a Kowloon Bay cinema on Sunday to witness the New York Knicks secure their first NBA championship in 53 years, joined by seven-time ring winner Robert Horry as the franchise ended one of the longest title droughts in professional sports. Organised by the NBA, the watch party drew fans of both the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, who gathered for t...
A landlord and a tenant have been arrested after a rental dispute turned violent inside a subdivided flat in Hong Kong. Police received a report at about 11 a.m. on Sunday that a man had splashed suspected corrosive liquid on another man at a flat in a building on Prince Edward Road West near Portland Street in Mong Kok. Officers wearing shields rushed to the scene and found a 41-year-old landlord...
The head of a Taiwanese sea search-and-rescue group has called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to work together on maritime emergency drills. Yin Liu-sheng, secretary general of the Taiwan-based volunteer group Chinese Search and Rescue Association, said in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sunday that “maritime search and rescue should remain completely above politics” and that Beijing and Taipei sh...
