China has denied Australian claims that a warship shone a laser at a surveillance aircraft last Thursday, accusing Canberra of spreading false information.Wang Wenbin, spokesman of China’s foreign ministry, said the information released by the Aust...

Baidu, operator of China’s top internet search engine, said it has fixed a technical glitch that temporarily censored search results on China Judgments Online, the country’s official database of rulings that is under the Supreme People’s Court....

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate for the three months ending in January held steady at 3.9 per cent, with the government warning that tough social-distancing measures amid a ballooning Covid-19 crisis pose a serious threat to job security.The figure w...

Chinese short video app TikTok has restored the account of a Russian state news agency after Moscow intervened when the account was blocked over the weekend, highlighting the social media platform’s increasing influence that has led to heightened s...

Taiwan on Monday lifted an import ban on food products from Fukushima and four other Japanese prefectures imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.Amid efforts to secure Japanese support for its bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partner...

As Hong Kong battles its worst Covid-19 outbreak, pleas for the city’s large proportion of unvaccinated elderly residents to urgently get their jabs have come from across society – from the chief executive, doctors, social workers and even their ...

Beijing will include more than a dozen fertility services in a government-backed medical insurance scheme for the Chinese capital, state media reported on Monday, supporting those seeking to have babies with China’s birth rate at a record low.A tot...

A woman has been spared jail for trapping her cat in a washing machine as punishment for defecating on her clothes in a Hong Kong flat last year.Insurance agent Yuki Wong Yee-ting received 80 hours of community service on a count of animal cruelty at...

Myanmar’s junta is set to replace Aung San Suu Kyi at the UN’s top court on Monday as it seeks to dismiss a case over the alleged genocide of Rohingya Muslims.Suu Kyi personally presented Myanmar’s arguments at the International Court of Justic...

Some 200 coaches and minibuses started ferrying Covid-19 patients to quarantine hotels and other isolation facilities in Hong Kong on Monday as part of a government drive to ease the strain on ambulance services amid an exponential surge in infection...

Donald Trump’s new social media venture, Truth Social, launched late on Sunday in Apple’s App Store, potentially marking the former president’s return to social media after he was banned from several platforms last year.The app was available to...

China’s health authorities announced 144 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, with 32 of the 71 local cases logged in Inner Mongolia, and nine imported cases detected in Beijing – all originating in Hong Kong.The Inner Mongolia autonomous r...

Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot has stopped accepting bookings to Hong Kong until March 7, signalling it is the latest airline to be banned from flying to the city for two weeks.The move severs one of the last air links between the Asian f...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.Hong Kong will press ahead with the launch of a so-called vaccine pass requiring people to show proof of inocu...

US President Joe Biden’s administration has prepared an initial package of sanctions against Russia that includes barring US financial institutions from processing transactions for major Russian banks, three people familiar with the matter said.The...

As war brews on the eastern front, European leaders are pushing back against what they say is a Russian-Chinese attempt to “redefine” the post-war order.A series of speeches over the weekend showed that Brussels’ bigwigs are now saying in publi...

Doy, one of South Korea’s most famous tattoo artists having signed the likes of Brad Pitt, just wants to practice his craft without fear of going to jail or hefty fines.South Korea is the sole developed country in the world where tattooing is consi...

A routine identity check on a 19-year-old Hong Kong man led to the seizure of HK$7 million (US$897,000) worth of narcotics in Mong Kok on Sunday night.Police officers from the emergency unit asked the man for his ID after finding him acting suspiciou...

Rents have exploded across the United States, causing many to dig deep into their savings, downsize to subpar units or fall behind on payments and risk eviction now that a federal moratorium has ended.In the 50 largest US metro areas, median rent ros...

International tourists and business travellers on Monday began arriving in Australia with few restrictions for the first time in almost two years, after the government lifted some of the strictest pandemic measures of any democracy in the world.Vacci...

News that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth had tested positive for Covid-19 drew shock, concern and messages of goodwill from across the country, with politicians and the public willing the 95-year-old to recover.On a wet and blustery day on Sunday, a few...

Stemirna Therapeutics is preparing to launch a global multi-site human trials of its Covid-19 vaccine soon as the firm pushes for the second Chinese-made shot based on mRNA technology to protect against the coronavirus.Li Hangwen, co-founder and chie...

Hong Kong’s spiralling Omicron-fuelled coronavirus crisis has sparked a run on rapid self-test kits for Covid-19, with many shops running out of stock or selling them at higher prices. But some tests have reportedly given false negative results, ra...

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine, US and French leaders said, offering a possible path out from one of the most dangerous European crises in decades.The office of French Pre...

Malaysia’s political instability may be nudging foreign investors, especially tech giants, towards neighbouring Indonesia, where clear regulations and a thriving start-up ecosystem are giving it an edge in the race to dominate Southeast Asia’s bu...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Monday set out plans to scrap coronavirus restrictions as part of a “living with Covid” strategy that aims to achieve a faster exit from the pandemic than other major economies.As Hong Kong builds isol...

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is expected to provide a lifeline to a struggling Hong Kong in his budget speech on Wednesday, with a fresh round of consumption vouchers and help for desperate businesses and the unemployed.With the city reeling f...

Hong Kong’s government has been criticised for the uncompromising harshness of its efforts to track and try to eliminate Covid-19 infections – to the point where even old-age pensioners are forced to buy and learn to use a smartphone to dine out....

Hong Kong is mobilising police in the battle against Covid-19 by getting a new anti-epidemic task force under the Security Bureau to prepare for universal testing, the Post has learned.Sources said the former head of the police public relations branc...

I didn’t think our government could be more disorganised and unprepared than it had been for the fifth wave of Covid-19, but the sight of beds, patients, tents and health workers gathered outside overwhelmed public hospitals shocked me to the bone....

Ukraine and Russia called for intensified diplomatic efforts Sunday to avert all-out war, each blaming the other for a sharp escalation in shelling on the front line separating Kyiv’s forces from Moscow-backed separatists.After separate calls with ...

Sammy Abdella and his more than 100 employees and associates in Addis Ababa have had a terrible start to the year. Since January 1, they have not been able to export their apparel to the US, their biggest market for the past decade – because duty-f...

A growing number of Chinese beauty brands are looking to woo overseas consumers in less competitive markets amid weakened domestic consumption.Over the last two years, Chinese cosmetics companies that sell online have been eyeing neighbouring markets...

Relatives of Christina Yuna Lee have broken their silence by starting an online fundraising campaign in memory of the slain Chinatown resident.“Christina’s death has shaken us to our core,” the GoFundMe page created by her family reads. “Noth...

Credit Suisse bank, still reeling from losing billions of dollars last year, faced a fresh challenge on Sunday: allegations from an international investigation that it had handled dirty money for decades.A cross-border media investigation broke Sunda...

With some 150,000 Russian troops amassed on the Ukrainian border, the world watches in trepidation as what could be the largest military conflict since World War II threatens to break out between Europe’s two largest nations.The Russian threat of f...

Myanmar’s government has criticised calls for the Asean’s special envoy to the conflict-torn country to meet bodies that oppose last year’s coup, which the junta has declared as “terrorist” groups.With little sign of the junta implementing ...

[Sponsored Article] To keep pace with real-world developments, the course content of the MSc in Business Analytics offered by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is continually reviewed and updated.  That is essential to ensure the progra...

In February 1972, US president Richard Nixon defied conventional foreign policy wisdom when he arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. In recognition of the trip’s historical significance, the South China Morning Post is run...

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have found that the coronavirus could damage testicles, lower sex drive and affect fertility in men.The findings, released on Sunday by Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and his team from HKU, were based on a...

Electric stimulation of the brain can help winter sports athletes perform better, but increasing the current does not lead to better results as previously thought, according to a group of Chinese scientists.The US Winter Olympic team has been using a...

The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will step up border controls to stop the spread of the coronavirus but will also continue to funnel resources to neighbouring Hong Kong as it grapples with a surge in cases.Addressing a municipal pandemic control...

Private hospitals have been urged to charge less for Covid-19 testing services as a way to contribute to Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic efforts.The calls came as a local deputy to the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, accused pr...

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, 95, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms but expects to continue light duties this week, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday.“The queen has today tested positive for Covid,” the palace said....

More than three-quarters of parents with young children have said they will not let their youngsters receive a Covid-19 vaccine, with 80 per cent citing side effects or death as their main concern, according to a survey.The survey was published by th...

The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of every country must be safeguarded and “Ukraine is no exception”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on the weekend as he warned against Nato’s eastward expansion.“All countries’ ...

President Xi Jinping is well recognised both at home and internationally as the most powerful Chinese leader since the late chairman Mao Zedong.In China’s political structure, Xi holds three titles: general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party,...

Hong Kong contact tracer Sammy Li Ka-yu was tracking down everyone at a Lunar New Year family dinner attended by a confirmed Covid-19 patient, when she stumbled on the fact that a couple in their 90s were present.The female patient had not disclosed ...

The United Arab Emirates is moving ahead with plans to invest US$10 billion in Israel, underpinning a partnership which has rapidly developed in the 18 months since the pair normalised diplomatic relations.It comes as both the small but influential M...

One of the passengers missing aboard the ferry ablaze off Greece was found alive on Sunday, Greek coastguards said.The man was one of the 12 truck drivers who were missing following the blaze, the coastguards said.Rescuers spotted the man on the stri...