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Japan is positioning itself as a partner for Pacific Island nations struggling with rising seas and caught between the US-China rivalry, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledging on Wednesday to help fight climate change and boost maritime cooperation. Speaking at the inaugural Island States Ocean Summit in Tokyo, Takaichi made a direct pitch to Pacific leaders, presenting Japan as a reliable pa...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally received the country’s AFC Women’s Champions League winners in Pyongyang earlier this week, embracing the players and posing for photographs with them as they wept with joy and leapt in celebration. Naegohyang Women’s FC clinched Asia’s top club title with a 1-0 defeat of Tokyo Verdy Beleza of Japan in the final in Suwon on May 23, becoming the first Nort...
Veteran Hong Kong theatre figure “King Sir” Chung King-fai has died at the age of 89. Chung’s nephew confirmed the actor’s death on Wednesday, saying he had died peacefully in his sleep at home in the morning. “My uncle dedicated his entire life to the theatre, leaving behind a lasting legacy through the generations of students he inspired,” the nephew said through the social media page of free-to...
Veteran Hong Kong theatre figure “King Sir” Chung King-fai has died at the age of 89. Chung’s nephew confirmed his death on Wednesday, saying he had died peacefully in his sleep at home in the morning. “My uncle dedicated his entire life to the theatre, leaving behind a lasting legacy through the generations of students he inspired,” the nephew said through the social media page of free-to-air bro...
A celebrity dog in central China was stolen and slaughtered, leaving its owner seeking justice but confronting gaps in the country’s legal protections for pets. Guo, a travel influencer from Henan province, raised Chutou, an eight-year-old Border Collie known for his intelligence, energy and gentle temperament. The dog had amassed more than 1.5 million followers on mainland social media after acco...
An administrator appointed to oversee the affairs of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has said it will arrange an extraordinary general meeting at the request of displaced owners, but stopped short of providing a time frame. In a written statement on Wednesday, Hop On Management Company said it was studying the Lands Tribunal’s reasons for dismissing its application to extend the statutory ...
A wanted director of a scandal-hit Hong Kong charity who fled the city is facing a sweeping 14-count civil lawsuit in the United States over an alleged multimillion-dollar property scheme that the plaintiff described as a “shell game”. In a complaint for damages and equitable relief seen by the South China Morning Post, developer Joseph Lee Daniell accused Jacob Lam Hay-sing, the founder and direc...
Li Xiaohong, a former senior disciplinary official in charge of national inspection, has been placed under investigation for suspected severe disciplinary and legal violations, China’s top anti-corruption authorities said on Tuesday. The downfall of the 73-year-old veteran – known for spearheading high-level anti-corruption crackdowns and his top disciplinary roles at the securities regulator – un...
CBS News has terminated the contract of 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, two sources at the network said on Tuesday, joining more than half a dozen departures in recent weeks. “Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you,” the show’s executive producer, Nick Bilton, wrote in a Tuesday email to Pelley that was seen by Reuters. “I therefor...
Two siblings allegedly racing against each other in luxury cars, causing a multivehicle crash in Johor state that killed five people – including four members of a family – have once again put the spotlight on the “serious public health challenge” facing Malaysia’s roads. Police arrested a 19-year-old driver of a Mercedes-Benz, identified by local media as a Singapore university student, over Monda...
South Korea has emerged as a rare bright spot among East Asian economies trading with China, as booming demand for memory chips pushes its balance with its largest trading partner back into a surplus. The country’s trade position with China had strengthened steadily this year, swinging from a US$764 million deficit in December 2025 to a US$1.1 billion surplus in February, before widening further t...
Video of a dying student who was handcuffed by British police after being stabbed by a Sikh man and falsely accused of racially abusing his murderer sparked outrage on Tuesday, with protesters throwing bricks at police. Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak was heard repeatedly telling officers: “I can’t breathe” in police bodycam footage captured as he lay mortally wounded in December after a night out w...
Video of a dying student who was handcuffed by British police after being stabbed by a Sikh man and falsely accused of racially abusing his murderer sparked outrage on Tuesday, with protesters throwing bricks at police. Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak was heard repeatedly telling officers: “I can’t breathe” in police bodycam footage captured as he lay mortally wounded in December after a night out w...
Beijing has condemned remarks by Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro Jnr, saying the comments seriously damaged bilateral trust and showed a lack of gratitude for Chinese aid. China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday called on Manila to take action to prevent “a few clowns” from sabotaging bilateral ties through repeated political theatrics, as ties between the two neighbours remained strained. O...
Beijing has condemned remarks by Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro Jnr, saying the comments seriously damaged bilateral trust and showed a lack of gratitude for Chinese aid. China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday called on Manila to take action to prevent “a few clowns” from sabotaging bilateral ties through repeated political theatrics, as ties between the two neighbours remained strained. O...
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to position the Northern Metropolis as a platform connecting ASEAN businesses with opportunities across the Greater Bay Area, as diplomats, chamber representatives and business leaders from Southeast Asia were brought on a government-led tour of the mega-development project. The nearly 70-s...
For years, Hong Kong’s obituary has been repeatedly written by international commentators. Geopolitical tensions, pandemic isolation, concerns over capital flight and questions surrounding the city’s future contributed to a narrative of irreversible decline. In many Western analyses, the assumption that Hong Kong’s best days as an international financial centre were behind it became almost automat...
Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday, with an Iranian missile attack damaging Kuwait’s airport and the US military carrying out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran showed little progress. The latest flare-up, comes with the conflict stalemated in a shaky ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, more than three months after initial US and I...
Gulf hostilities flared anew on Wednesday, with the US military saying Iranian missile attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and other regional targets were either thwarted or failed as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran showed little progress. Two Iranian missiles shot at Kuwait fell short or broke apart in-flight, several ballistic missiles aimed at regional targets failed and three missiles headin...
Despite repeated directives to ease the burden on local officials and curb formalism, many of China’s cadres still find themselves trapped in a frustrating cycle of working harder yet achieving fewer tangible results, according to state-linked media. Banyuetan, an influential biweekly magazine affiliated with state news agency Xinhua, outlined five symptoms of this “busier-but-emptier” phenomenon ...
A woman in China with no formal training in the arts has used 60kg of chocolate to make a 3D miniature copy of the famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival. A video showing the chocolate version of ancient Bianjing city released by the blogger, who uses the alias Fan Sumu, in late May has garnered about one million likes, Jimu News reported. The masterpiece was painted by Zhang...
The parents of an undocumented baby had their DNA samples taken for tests required for their son’s birth registration after they were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of child neglect, Hong Kong police have revealed. The development on Wednesday came after the Social Welfare Department on Tuesday night said that it had applied to the court for a protection order in the boy’s best interests and had...
Hong Kong social welfare authorities are expected to take over the care of an undocumented baby for at least a year and may arrange foster care after his parents were arrested over suspected child neglect, a lawmaker has revealed. Legislator Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming told the South China Morning Post that the Social Welfare Department would later consider placing two-month-old Danny in foster ca...
Three men have been arrested after they allegedly robbed a woman and locked her and her child on a balcony at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore. The police said on Tuesday that they were alerted at about 7pm the day before to a case of robbery with hurt along Bayfront Avenue. According to preliminary investigations, a 45-year-old woman visited the area after agreeing to exchange S$50,000 (US$39,...
Three men have been arrested after they allegedly robbed a woman and locked her and her child on a balcony at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore. The police said on Tuesday that they were alerted at about 7pm the day before to a case of robbery with hurt along Bayfront Avenue. According to preliminary investigations, a 45-year-old woman visited the area after agreeing to exchange S$50,000 (US$39,...
Domestic workers in Hong Kong are routinely banned from switching on air conditioning when working at home alone, union leaders have said, urging employers to allow helpers to use it during very hot weather. The issue surfaced last week after an employer drew widespread online criticism for scolding her domestic helper for switching on an air conditioner an hour earlier than household rules allowe...
A Japanese lawmaker’s claim that China has its eyes on “a treasure trove” of resource wealth hidden beneath the Antarctic ice sheet has been dismissed by a polar law expert as a misreading of international obligations. But the claims made in parliament by Mitsuhiro Yokota, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, have also raised questions about what might happen to the world’s last great wildernes...
The Trump administration on Tuesday formally appealed against a judge’s order for refunds of the US president’s global tariffs after they were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year. At stake is some US$166 billion in revenue. A refunds system handled by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already begun to process repayments. Last month, the CBP said in a court filing that it wa...
At least one company under Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange this year, the head of the city’s Trade Development Council has said. Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang on Tuesday also underscored the country’s huge potential, noting that Kazakhstan was seeking to privatise its state-owned companies and Hong Kong had emerged as the ideal location due to i...
Canada and Mexico on Tuesday called for a 16-year renewal of the North American free trade agreement with the United States, in hopes of binding the three countries to a pact that US President Donald Trump has openly questioned. The agreement is vital for Canada and Mexico, as the US is their main trading partner and the destination for 75 and 80 per cent of their exports, respectively. In a lette...
