Hilton Cheong-Leen, a former Urban Council chairman and lawmaker known as “Hong Kong’s mayor”, has died at the age of 99.Cheong-Leen, who co-founded the Hong Kong Civic Association in 1954, died in the early hours of Tuesday at his home, his da...

More than 1 million people in the United States were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday as a tsunami of Omicron swamps every aspect of daily American life.The highly mutated variant drove US cases to a record, the most – by a large margin – that a...

Activists are appealing to Tesla to close a new showroom in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, where officials are accused of abuses against mostly Muslim ethnic minorities.The appeals add to pressure on foreign companies to take positions on ...

The full lockdown in the Chinese city of Xian, which has entered a 13th day, will be lifted only when “zero social transmission” of Covid-19 infections is achieved, local authorities said on Tuesday.Zero social transmission would mean that new co...

Hong Kong police arrested a motorist on suspicion of drug trafficking after intercepting a car outside Chinese University (CUHK) and seizing about HK$112,000 (US$14,362) worth of marijuana products disguised as tea bags.The 56-year-old woman was also...

Hong Kong’s leader has refuted suggestions that the recent closures of two independent online news portals are related to the Beijing-imposed national security law, saying that press freedom also thrives in Western countries with “draconian” le...

China pushed for the world’s major nuclear states to explicitly reaffirm that they would not target any nation with nuclear weapons as part of a new non-proliferation agreement.The United States, China and three other nuclear-armed countries collec...

Hong Kong Disneyland theme park apologised on Tuesday to its annual pass holders over the loss of car parking benefits that led to disgruntled fans complaining on social media and the city’s consumer watchdog stepping in.Unhappy customers took to s...

China Evergrande Group said it would abide by a government instruction to demolish more than three dozen structures on one of its flagship property projects in Hainan for breaching building approval procedures, as the woes pile up for the country’s...

At the heart of Hong Kong’s business district, the latest big advertisements are not about asset management, stocks or diamonds – they are for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of digital avatars in the form of koalas and apes.On the first day of 2022, ...

China’s regulators will exempt Hong Kong from the rigid cybersecurity review process for all initial public offerings (IPOs) in foreign markets by companies with the personal data of at least 1 million customers, according to analysts’ reading of...

A divided nation will experience an ominous split-screen moment on Thursday when President Joe Biden uses the anniversary of the January 6 attack on Congress to warn of threats to US democracy and Donald Trump goes live with his conspiracy theories.O...

When V. Rajapandian was pushed out of his job at a heat treatment plant in India, the reason had nothing to do with performance or falling revenue. Instead, his boss offered a peculiar explanation: after Rajapandian defaulted on a loan from a mobile ...

A former vice-chairwoman of the group behind Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square vigil has been ordered to serve 10 extra months behind bars on top of her existing one-year term, after a magistrate convicted her of inciting others to join last year’s ba...

First it was Corona beer, then Delta Air Lines. Now, singer Omarion has become the latest victim of an unfortunate comparison to Covid-19 with the rise of the Omicron variant.But the singer-songwriter and former B2K member has responded in a series o...

Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln made history on Monday when it set sail from San Diego, becoming the first US Navy carrier to deploy under the leadership of a female commanding officer.Captain Amy Bauernschmidt assumed command of...

Hong Kong loves its property. Despite another fraught year and lingering coronavirus concerns, the local property market bounced back with a vengeance in 2021.After some jitters and uncertainty early in the previous year, when the coronavirus was spr...

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 plan to bar those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 from all restaurants, leisure ve...

Taiwan’s claim to be a regional bastion of human rights is undermined by its retention of capital punishment, activists say as they campaign to exonerate the island’s oldest death row prisoner.Wang Xin-fu is among 38 inmates in Taiwan awaiting ex...

In 2021, at least 40 residential properties sold for more than US$50 million in the US, according to data compiled by the appraiser Miller Samuel.That’s about a 35 per cent increase over 2020, which was also a record year. “The surge in this tier...

Sri Lanka will increase pay and pension for government employees, remove some taxes on food and medicine, and provide cash for its poorest citizens as prices of essential items surge in the nation that is running out of foreign exchange to pay for im...

A US jury found fallen Silicon Valley star Elizabeth Holmes guilty of fraud for turning her blood-testing startup Theranos into a sophisticated sham - one that duped billionaires and other unwitting investors into backing a seemingly revolutionary co...

Japan will ramp up efforts to deal with a possible surge in Omicron coronavirus cases and aim to deliver oral treatment using Pfizer Inc’s drugs nationwide next month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday.Kishida also said the government wi...

DSC International School in Hong Kong topped fundraising records – three times the intended target – for charity last year. Its secret? Funky hats, wigs and shaved heads.Sundae cups, clown wigs, a half-metre-long rocket and Hershey’s Kisses wer...

China’s factory activity grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, driven by production hikes and easing price pressures, but a weaker job market and business confidence added uncertainty, a private survey showed on Tuesday.The Caixin/Mar...

The late Bruce Lee famously told people to “be water”. That is something desperately needed in Malaysia after at least 48 people died in the government’s latest abysmal performance in flood management.That is 48 lives too many for what is widel...

Every Sunday Sunita Sharma, 39, her daughter Priti and sister-in-law Aarti huddle around her phone for two hours after wrapping up their household chores to watch make-up tutorials by leading beauty influencers on YouTube.“We take notes, shop onlin...

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) has replaced New World Development as the biggest seller of new homes in Hong Kong after the latter had to tear down and rebuild hundreds of flats under construction in Tai Wai.Chaired by Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, SHKP re...

Hong Kong has marked a recent surge in bookings for Covid-19 vaccinations, seemingly sparked by a contentious vaccine passport plan which will bar those who have not received jabs from entering restaurants and entertainment venues.Chief Executive Car...

A Taiwanese government-owned liquor firm said it stepped in to buy a shipment of Lithuanian rum that had been bound for mainland China, after being told it was about to be blocked by Chinese customs.In a statement on Monday, Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor...

Egypt’s prosecution ordered the release of Egyptian-Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath on Monday after almost two and a half years in detention, a judiciary source told Agence France-Presse.The source said that Shaath, the son of veteran Palestinian ...

The resignation of Sudan’s prime minister leaves the military in full command and threatens a return to the repressive policies of the regime of ousted strongman Omar al-Bashir, analysts say.After months of street protests and violent crackdowns th...

China’s short-term energy supply is under threat from Indonesia’s decision to ban thermal coal exports in January, but any long-term impact is “generally manageable” due to the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, analysts said.The Southeast Asia...

US Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer threatened on Monday to change the Senate’s rules if Republicans continue to block voting rights legislation.Schumer, in a letter to fellow senators, compared laws passed by Republican-led legislat...

David Bowie’s estate has sold the publishing rights to his “entire body of work” to Warner Chappell Music, the company said on Monday, the latest massive deal of the recent song rights purchasing boom.Warner Chappell did not reveal financial te...

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was targeted in an assassination attempt during weekend national day celebrations.“An attempt has been made against me personally. My life has been put in the crosshairs,” said Henry, who has been de fac...

A new blaze at the complex housing South Africa’s parliament in Cape Town was brought under control overnight, city officials said on Tuesday, as a suspect arrested in connection with the fire was due to appear in court.An initial fire on Sunday ca...

Prince Andrew’s sexual assault accuser had agreed not to sue “other potential defendants” related to Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex crimes, a once-confidential document released on Monday showed.Lawyers for the British royal argue that the set...

New York’s attorney general has subpoenaed two of Donald Trump’s adult children, Donald Trump Jnr and Ivanka Trump, as part of her civil investigation into the former US president’s business practices and namesake company.The subpoenas from the...

Yemen’s seven-year war lurched into its latest crisis Monday with Houthi rebels saying they have seized an Emirati-flagged military ship which the Saudi-led coalition insisted was carrying medical supplies.The Iran-backed Houthis released images of...

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge against Donald Trump unless the former US president is tried over the killing of Qassem Soleimani, as Tehran marked two years since the revered commander’s death.The Islamic republic and its allies acr...

China’s no-holds-barred approach should be able to keep the highly transmissible Omicron variant from exploding within its borders, but the country will still need a long-term strategy as Covid-19 looks set to become endemic, analysts have warned.T...

Over 4,000 migrants died or disappeared trying to reach Spain by sea in 2021, twice as many as in the previous year, a migrant rights group said on Monday.Migrant arrivals in Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic have increased since late 2019 aft...

The United States, China and three other nuclear-armed countries collectively known as the “P5” released a joint statement on Monday pledging to use nuclear weapons only for defensive purposes.The move comes amid rising concerns over the growth o...

The president of Brazil has been taken to hospital with an intestinal blockage but is in a stable condition, according to a medical note from the hospital.Jair Bolsonaro was flown to a hospital in Sao Paulo in the early hours of Monday, cutting short...

China’s largest soybean producing province has taken its first step to boost production in 2022, following Beijing’s recent warning about dependence on imports for a commodity regarded as essential to national food security.The northeastern provi...

Cambodian police on Monday arrested 15 workers protesting against lay-offs at the country’s biggest casino run by a Hong-Kong listed firm, a union leader said.Thousands of workers have been on strike since last month in front of Nagacorp Ltd’s ho...

Hong Kong parents said competition for school places for their children had waned as a discretionary admission exercise kicked off on Monday, with some pointing to an overall withdrawal of students amid a broader emigration wave as the cause.The city...

Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is facing an uphill battle to get parliament to approve a controversial US$500 million grant from the American government to build electrical power lines and upgrade roads in the impoverished Himalayan coun...

Hong Kong retail sales jumped 7.1 per cent year on year to HK$30.7 billion (US$3.9 billion) in November, marking the 10th straight month of recovery, but industry chiefs worry about the potential impact of a new coronavirus wave involving the Omicron...