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China may be seen as a potential mediator in the Middle East but economic integration within the region is more likely to drive change there, according to observers at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian. The “Summer Davos” gathering in Liaoning province this week comes as Washington and Tehran try to reach agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme and ...
Hong Kong police have arrested 29 people in a crackdown on a loan-sharking and money‑laundering ring that charged victims annual interest rates as high as 3,000 per cent. Police said on Wednesday that the syndicate had set up a secret call centre in Tsuen Wan and posed as licensed finance companies, randomly phoning people in an attempt to lure them into borrowing money. In the process, they extra...
As Singapore bets on becoming Asia’s leading wellness destination, tourism experts say the city state must prove that its attractions can draw international visitors in a region replete with spas, retreats and hot springs. A S$1 billion (US$770 million) waterfront complex scheduled to open in 2030 is expected to be a major driver of the country’s wellness sector. European developer Therme Group is...
Requiring that only incombustible materials be used for large-scale renovations at housing estates is unrealistic and fails to take into account risks that arise after prolonged use, a public inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades has heard. The use of polyfoam boards to seal windows was among five key factors that led to the death toll of 168 people at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po last...
A wave of power outages across Indonesia’s Java island has left millions of residents and business owners in the dark, igniting public fury and raising questions as to how the world’s largest coal exporter is failing to keep its own lights on. The answer, analysts say, lies less in a coal shortage than in the rules and incentives governing who gets to buy it, at what price and when. Hours-long bla...
China’s telecoms giants are pushing for “air-space-ground-sea” networks amid Beijing’s push to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure, as SpaceX’s market debut has ignited the industry’s focus beyond the Earth. At the opening of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai on Wednesday, telecommunications executives framed the next phase of infrastructure as one that needs to encompass both the...
Ukrainian drones knocked out power in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-held Crimea, on Wednesday and targeted facilities in central and southern Russia, local officials said, underscoring the reach of Kyiv’s attacks on energy infrastructure. Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes this year, pushing up petrol prices in Russia, where authorities h...
Morgan Stanley has again raised its forecast for China’s humanoid robot shipments this year, lifting its estimate to 50,000 units from 28,000 as commercial validation, policy support and supply-chain momentum accelerate adoption. The investment bank had already doubled its projection to 28,000 units in January. In a report published on Tuesday, it said the latest upgrade reflected a growing number...
Senior Chinese defence industry official Bian Zhigang is under investigation for corruption, the latest high-profile target in Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on its military sector. Bian, deputy head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law”, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspect...
Hong Kong education authorities have revealed that 91 students are suspected to have died by suicide between 2023 and 2025, with most cases involving secondary pupils and boys. The Education Bureau told lawmakers on Wednesday that the numbers of suspected fatal cases among primary and secondary students were 32 in 2023, 28 in 2024 and 31 in 2025. An advocacy group said youth suicide was rarely cau...
China’s most renowned amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient, Cai Lei, has been battling the illness for seven years following his diagnosis. His wife, Duan Rui, has supported him in her own way, also becoming a pillar for other families affected by ALS. After the former vice-president of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com received his ALS diagnosis in 2019, Cai, now 48, emerged as one of the wo...
Chinese-Filipino business groups have sent aid to earthquake-hit residents in the southern Philippines, continuing their tradition of providing disaster relief at a time when worsening Manila-Beijing ties have complicated public perceptions of people and organisations linked to China. In General Santos City, among the areas hardest hit by the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the co...
After two teenagers opened fire at a Philippine high school this week, the first question lawmakers asked was not about gun control, but the internet. Three pupils were killed and 20 injured at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, Leyte province, on Monday – the highest total casualty count of any Philippine school shooting. It has renewed calls to restrict Filipino children’s access to...
Rare but intense rainfall in China’s biggest desert that triggered flooding – and damage – across parts of Xinjiang has underscored the growing risks posed by extreme weather in the country’s arid northwest. According to China Weather Network, the public information platform of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), two major flood events have occurred along the margins of the Taklamakan D...
Eight companies and 12 individuals suspected of rigging bids for at least 11 building maintenance projects in Hong Kong, including at Wang Fuk Court where 168 people died in a fire last year, are expected to face a month-long trial no earlier than 2028. The Competition Tribunal held its first hearing on Wednesday for the companies and individuals accused by the Competition Commission of acting as ...
Hong Kong doctors have performed the world’s first robotic living-donor liver transplant as part of a pioneering microsurgery programme, researchers have revealed. Sharing results of the clinical trial on Wednesday, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) team said surgeons at Queen Mary Hospital had completed 48 procedures since June 2025, with no long-term or post-operative complications. Microsurgery...
Hong Kong doctors have performed the world’s first robotic living-donor liver transplant as part of a pioneering microsurgery programme, researchers have revealed. Sharing results of the clinical trial on Wednesday, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) team said surgeons at Queen Mary Hospital had completed 48 procedures since June 2025, with no long-term or post-operative complications. Microsurgery...
As European leaders convened at the European Council meeting in Brussels this month, the spectre of a full-blown trade war with China cast a long shadow over the proceedings. Amid ongoing anti-subsidy probes into Chinese green technology and the looming threat of retaliatory tariffs, the economic bedrock of the China-EU relationship appears increasingly fragile. Yet, beneath the hawkish political ...
China has detained two Japanese nationals over alleged attempts to take rare earth-related products out of the country. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Wednesday that one of the two was detained by Chinese authorities on May 18 and the other a week later, accused of violating Chinese laws governing the import and export of restricted goods. Tokyo confirmed the detentions, wi...
We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. The hidden cost of China’s electric car boom: a spiralling roadworks bill China’s rapid transition to electric vehicles (EVs) has been widely hailed as an economic success story. But it ...
Upset with the way that her domestic worker had performed tasks such as hanging the laundry or cleaning bottles, a 67-year-old woman slapped, punched and scratched her, drawing blood. The victim, who earned S$470 (about US$360) a month, told staff members from Singapore’s Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) during a routine call about the abuse, and a police report was made. Hazel Phang Fong Yen, ...
Keiko Fujimori is poised to become Peru’s next president after running her fourth consecutive campaign, according to figures published late Tuesday by the elections regulator after weeks of adjudicating disputed ballots. With 43,386 votes between Fujimori and leftist rival Roberto Sanchez, and no more than 39,300 votes in dispute, the conservative had enough of a margin to secure her lead. Fujimor...
Beijing’s recent investigation into three brokerages – Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers and Long Bridge – was partly driven by concerns over foreign exchange “leakage” and the need to protect mainland China’s vast base of retail investors, Hong Kong’s finance chief has said. At a closed-door C-Suite roundtable organised by the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) ...
Beijing’s recent investigation into three brokerages – Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers and Long Bridge – was partly driven by concerns over foreign exchange “leakage” and the need to protect mainland China’s vast base of retail investors, Hong Kong’s finance chief has said. At a closed-door C-suite round table organised by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-...
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered an investigation into allegations of mass cheating in civil service exams to attain government jobs, after thousands of tests were allegedly tampered with to boost scores in exchange for fees of up to US$24,000 each time. The scandal erupted after police and anti-corruption officials raided a company address in Nonthaburi outside Bangkok on...
Hong Kong police have arrested a 15-year-old boy and his father in Wan Chai after officers intercepted the teenager behind the wheel at a late-night traffic checkpoint. Officers from the force’s Hong Kong Island traffic section set up a roadblock at the junction of Marsh Road and Hung Hing Road at around 10pm on Tuesday. During the routine traffic enforcement operation, police stopped a car and fo...
Hong Kong police have arrested a 15-year-old boy and his father in Wan Chai after officers intercepted the teenager behind the wheel at a late-night traffic checkpoint. Officers from the force’s Hong Kong Island traffic section set up a roadblock at the junction of Marsh Road and Hung Hing Road at around 10pm on Tuesday. During the routine traffic enforcement operation, police stopped a car and fo...
Chinese carmakers continued their rapid expansion in Europe last month according to industry data released on Tuesday, as Brussels reportedly weighs fresh tariffs aimed at slowing their advance. Geely Group was the highest-placed Chinese carmaker, ranking eighth among all manufacturer groups in May, according to the latest sales data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (A...
A Pentagon decision to strip “Indo” from the name of its largest unified military command eight years after it was initially added has raised questions about the United States’ continuing commitment to India. In a statement announcing the Indo-Pacific Command’s name change on June 16, US officials portrayed the move as a matter of “honour”, “pride” and respecting “historical roots”. But analysts t...
A camel was seen crying out continuously while carrying a tourist on its back at a major attraction in China, sparking public outrage. The camel drew significant attention online after a blogger released a video on June 15, showing that the skinny animal was forced to stand despite appearing exhausted while carrying a female tourist who was taking photos, as reported by the news portal The Cover. ...
