In recent weeks, truck driver Wang Ping has started changing the route of his regular 5,000km (3,100 miles) round trip from the central Chinese province of Hubei to the Pearl River Delta in the south.With the price of diesel now above 7.2 yuan (US$1....

Hongkongers hoping to travel to mainland China when the border reopens should sign up for a Covid-19 booster shot sooner rather than later, a leading health expert has advised ahead of this week’s launch of third doses in the city.Dr Joseph Tsang K...

A passenger attempted to start a fire on a moving bullet train in southern Japan on Monday morning, just hours after a separate incident in which a man threatened another person on a train in Tokyo with an awl.The incidents come just a week after Jap...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has picked a critic of China’s treatment of the Uygur ethnic group to be his aide for human rights issues, a move that could increase friction between Asia’s two biggest economies.The premier will name former...

A former triad leader in Hong Kong and three other men have been arrested for conspiracy after paying their last respects at the funeral of a high-profile gangster.The man in his 40s, nicknamed “Chi Tang”, had stepped down as the leader of the Wo...

Hong Kong’s taxi industry is trying yet again to persuade the government to clamp down on ride-hailing service Uber, which is hugely popular despite being illegal for vehicles without a hire-car permit.The industry wants all private vehicles with n...

Older residents in Beijing recently stocked up on cabbage, giving a tradition a new lease of life after the government advised people to keep enough basic goods at home in case of emergencies.People have for years bought dozens of large cabbages, whi...

China has reported 65 new local symptomatic Covid-19 cases, up from the past two days, although the number of severe cases dropped to 28 from 35 a week ago as some provinces claimed progress in controlling outbreaks.According to the National Health C...

Hong Kong police have arrested a 28-year-old man after seizing HK$620 million worth of cocaine hidden in barrels of frozen fruit juice arriving from Brazil, the force’s second largest bust of the drug to date.Narcotics bureau officers found 508 sla...

As the world’s powers wrestle over the future of the planet in Glasgow, another politically fractious issue will play out on the sidelines of the COP26 summit – Taiwan’s exclusion from international organisations.Two weeks after US Secretary of...

The Chinese military is using mock-ups of a US aircraft carrier at a weapons-testing range in a remote western desert, new satellite imagery shows, indicating the People’s Liberation Army is focused on neutralising a key tool of US power.Satellite ...

The United States was expecting a flood of international visitors crossing its borders by air and by land after lifting travel restrictions for much of the world’s population first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of Covid-19.United Airl...

Hong Kong recorded the lowest temperature of the autumn so far when the mercury dropped as low as 18.1 degrees Celsius on Monday morning.Forecasters also issued a strong monsoon signal with high winds expected to compound the sense of winter encroach...

Anyone who has been to a cinema in Thailand knows the routine: before the film starts, everyone is asked to stand during a royal anthem to pay respect to the monarch. During the 70-year reign of former King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016, it w...

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega was set to win re-election after jailing top rivals and criminalising most dissent, following a vote that the United States said was a sham whose outcome had been long predetermined.Costa Rica, the country’s so...

[Sponsored article] Philanthropy is not just about kindness, it’s also about vision. For 40 years, The Hongkong Bank Foundation, established by HSBC, has shown an unequivocal dedication to Hong Kong society. With a home-grown bank behind it, the...

A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas jumpers and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion.The social impact of rampant ...

Flying above the Yellow Sea between the Korean peninsula and China, a French naval crew scans the ocean surface for signs of contraband headed for North Korea.The team is part of an international mission enforcing United Nations sanctions on Pyongyan...

Rappers Travis Scott and Drake have been sued for having “incited mayhem” after eight people were killed and dozens injured in a crush during a Texas concert, the law firm confirmed.Texas firm Thomas J. Henry Law on Sunday tweeted a story publish...

Good morning. My name is Mimi Lau, China correspondent with a focus on human rights, religious and ethnic affairs, labour issues, and civil society. I spent nearly eight years in southern China from 2009 before returning to Hong Kong in 2017 and I co...

Carmel Armstrong can recall “crying her eyes out” with joy as she watched a group of teens with Down’s syndrome competing in a dragon boat race and chanting “friendship first, losing second” in late September.The chief operating officer of ...

Japan on Monday began easing border controls for fully vaccinated visitors excluding tourists, responding to requests from the business community following a rapid decline in infections.The new rules allow business travellers to undergo quarantine fo...

When João Lourenço was sworn in as Angolan president in 2017, there was a lot of public optimism that better days were ahead.Lourenço, a former defence minister and independence fighter, promised to curb corruption and diversify the oil-dependent ...

The curious incident of a dog left to die in a crate for transporting cabbages has shocked Indonesia and sparked a discussion on “halal” tourism, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy seeks to attract more Muslim travellers.Last month, a post tha...

Villagers in Hong Kong’s rural north are unconvinced by a government plan to convert their ancestral land into much-needed public housing, with some accusing the authorities of favouring developers’ interests at their expense.Some preferred to bu...

Electricity supplies in China have largely stabilised after the recent power crunch but winter will still be a challenge and localised shortages are still a possibility, the state electric corporation has warned.It said high power consumption, the de...

The failed assassination attempt against Iraq’s prime minister at his residence on Sunday has ratcheted up tensions following last month’s parliamentary elections, in which the Iran-backed militias were the biggest losers.Helicopters circled in t...

US President Joe Biden is pushing forward with a massive plan to require millions of private sector employees to get vaccinated by early next year. But first, he has to make sure workers in his own federal government get the vaccination.About 4 milli...

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz appears to think Big Bird is a government plant.The Sesame Street character announced on Saturday that he had received his Covid-19 vaccine, just days after the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged five ...

The volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma still had no end in sight on Sunday, seven weeks after it started.So far, there is no scientific data to suggest that the eruption will end anytime soon, said Carmen Lopez, spokeswoman for the C...

Greenpeace has accused the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia of trying to block the negotiations at the COP26 world climate conference in Glasgow.Government representatives from Riyadh opposed the “cover decision” for the final text on Friday even...

Chinese astronauts have once again completed an outdoor mission at the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) space station, which is currently under construction.Wang Yaping was the first female Chinese astronaut to undertake a spacewalk, the programme for Chin...

World number one Novak Djokovic got a revenge of sorts when he rallied to beat Daniil Medvedev, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Paris for a record 37th Masters title on Sunday.Djokovic, 34, failed to serve out the match in the eighth game of the final set but did ...

Northern Ireland’s health minister is suing Van Morrison for libel over the singer-songwriter’s criticisms of his handling of coronavirus restrictions, a report said.Robin Swann, the Northern Ireland health minister, has instructed a top libel la...

India’s manufacturing capital Chennai came to a standstill on Sunday with many areas flooded after the southern Indian coast was battered by heavy rainfall overnight, prompting authorities to issue warnings and evacuate people from low-lying areas....

Poland’s government has issued instructions to doctors confirming it is legal to terminate a pregnancy when the woman’s health or life is in danger, a directive that comes amid apparent confusion over a new restriction to the country’s abortion...

About seven in 10 young people have less confidence in the rule of law in Hong Kong than they did before the 2019 social unrest, a survey by an influential youth group has found.Some 45 per cent also said they believed the government could exert infl...

French animal experts are preparing to conduct an autopsy on a 19-metre-long whale that died after getting stranded at the northern port of Calais.The fin whale, weighing around 15 tonnes, apparently beached itself after getting injured, a rare pheno...

Hong Kong’s justice minister has weighed in on rulings concerning illegal assembly and riots by the city’s top court, warning those who were not present at a disturbance could still be dealt with through other means.Secretary for Justice Teresa C...

Hong Kong buyers are betting on an uptick in the city’s housing market amid plans to reopen the border with mainland China by February next year, according to analysts, as results of home sales on Sunday were mixed.As many as 116 flats, or 42.6 per...

After paramount leader Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, China’s communist rulers spent years debating how to take the country forward from more than a decade of international isolation.A decision came in 1981. They would explain, to the Chinese people...

At least two investigations, one of them criminal, are under way into the deadly stampede during rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival that killed at least eight people and injured dozens in Houston.Officials in Houston, Texas said auto...

Hong Kong police have arrested a schoolboy on suspicion of trafficking 23kg of cocaine worth about HK$27 million (US$3.5 million), with officers on Sunday saying the case underlined a growing trend of young people being used by the city’s drug gang...

China welcomes Iran’s decision to return to talks on a nuclear agreement but the US must take remedial action first, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.In a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Saturday, Wa...

Baidu, China’s dominant search engine and artificial intelligence company, has mounted a rigorous defence of autonomous driving, pledging it will eventually be safer than conventional driving.Wei Dong, vice-president and chief operations officer of...

What caused a bout of panic buying in China in November?It started with a notice from China’s Ministry of Commerce on November 1, 2021, telling local authorities to stabilise food supply and prices, including for vegetables, meat and cooking oil in...

China is likely to shrug off the US’ call for rules governing space behaviour because Beijing would view that as legitimising space militarisation, a Chinese expert said, as the nations’ rivalry in the domain intensifies.It was this week revealed...

On Saturday, hundreds of young esports fans packed a popular bar along the banks of Suzhou Creek in Shanghai to watch the broadcast of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship finals in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland.These fans were among million...

Hong Kong police have arrested four inmates and a female accomplice on suspicion of intimidating a prison officer after “hell notes”, joss paper and a paper doll – items associated with death – were left outside a detention centre. The paper...

China on Sunday reported 50 new local symptomatic Covid-19 cases across nine provinces, as one of the country’s biggest outbreaks this year shows early signs of stabilising.Hebei province reported 21 cases, overtaking the northeastern province of H...