On June 4, at a packing facility in Limuru near Nairobi, Kenya, avocados were being prepared for the Chinese market. The scene may seem mundane, but the politics behind it is significant. China has removed tariffs on imports from 53 African countries...

Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to add value to Beijing’s “China Opportunity 2.0” narrative, serving as a bridge and catalyst for the global expansion of mainland Chinese enterprises, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Pa...

A father from southern China has sparked public outrage after signing a letter of understanding to forgive his girlfriend, who killed his 18-month-old son by kicking him in the belly. The case, which occurred in Guangdong province, received widesprea...

Japan and South Korea scrambled fighter jets in response to a joint Russian-Chinese bomber patrol on Saturday. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force said the patrols passed over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific, adding ...

Hong Kong boy band Mirror member Stanley Yau Sze-chun recently lost his iPhone in the city and was surprised to discover it had surfaced at a market in neighbouring Shenzhen, sparking heated discussions on the internet. Information technology experts...

It has been 25 years since Indonesia’s Liberal Islam Network (Jaringan Islam Liberal or JIL) was established in March 2001, just three years after Reformasi. The intellectual network has been in disarray for much of the past decade, reflecting the ...

Customers with one of Hong Kong’s top energy firms have been forced to bear the brunt of steeper supply costs after the conflict in the Middle East cut off gas from Qatar earlier this year, the company’s CEO has said. HK Electric’s Francis Chen...

For a growing number of Singaporeans, furnishing a new home has become reason enough to book a holiday. Not the sort involving beach clubs or Michelin-starred restaurants. Instead, these design-savvy travellers are flying to China armed with camera r...

Hong Kong should broaden mental health support beyond high-risk students amid the growing impact of social media on young people, a government adviser has urged, as a prominent tycoon pledged to empower more young philanthropists to tackle the proble...

As the lights dimmed in the Shanghai theatre, the string quartet struck up once more for the encore. Tina Zhang was fully drawn into the psychological thriller, but it was not until after the show that she found out that the musical was originally fr...

The last time Pakistan’s navy operated a submarine in the Bay of Bengal, India sank it. That was 1971. Fifty-five years on, Islamabad is signalling its intent to go back. The vessel delivering that message, PNS Hangor, arrived in Karachi on June 11...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory has cancelled an amber rainstorm warning in force for about 3½ hours, after earlie...

Bangkok residents began voting on Sunday for governor of the Southeast Asian megacity, with Chadchart Sittipunt tipped to return to City Hall to steer a capital blighted by floods, traffic and pollution. Over 4.5 million Bangkokians are eligible to v...

Domestic makers of heavy-duty trucks are emerging as the latest beneficiaries of accelerating electrification on China’s roads, as technological gains and lower ownership costs are bolstering overseas sales amid a global energy crisis. Southeast As...

Iran and the US continued their attacks in the Gulf as each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month-old war. Shortly after President Donald Trump warned the US might “militarily complete...

A new Chinese law that pledges to hold overseas individuals and organisations responsible for undermining ethnic unity is mainly intended to have a “deterrent effect”, according to analysts. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was pass...

A recent apology by the Dutch prime minister to the Netherlands’ Malukan community for systemic mistreatment by the state has met with mixed responses; some welcomed the remorse while others demanded concrete action over symbolic words. On June 21,...

Hong Kong cannot be faulted for not working hard enough to catch up in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Government funding is flowing generously towards projects focused on AI adoption. In recent years, the government has pumped billions...

A police dog in southwestern China, who continuously refused food and water while awaiting the return of its injured handler, has captured the hearts of millions online after their emotional reunion went viral. According to Yunnan police, the officer...

The legality of prediction markets in Hong Kong has been called further into question, with at least one international brokerage firm operating such a platform in the city, prompting the market regulator to say certain activities may be considered �...

With Japan imposing higher visa fees for tourists from July while moving away from an ultra-loose monetary policy, foreign investors must prepare themselves for both direct and indirect impacts on their real estate assets, according to agents and ana...

Stand on the pedestrian crossing outside McDonald’s in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, and you will understand something about how travel works in the 21st century. To the office workers and taxi drivers streaming past, it is just another junction in ...

Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that he would resign his post within weeks, paving the way for early elections following youth-led protests that shook his tight grip on power. Vucic did not specify exactly when he woul...

A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan is eligible to challenge the senator in the August primary, a judge ruled on Friday. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’ ruling overturns a June 15 decisi...

An 11-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble more than three days after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, as rescuers on Saturday raced to find survivors and the death toll reached 1,430. Tens of thousands of people were reported missing as collap...

More than 100 Catholic bishops, nuns, priests and parishioners joined a procession across ⁠the US-Mexico border on Friday evening, urging the US government to treat migrants with dignity and respect. The procession, from Nogales, Arizona, to its si...

Australia said on Saturday it would double the maximum penalty it can impose on tech firms found to have failed to uphold a groundbreaking social media ban for children, as evidence mounts that the ban has had little effect on teen use. The governmen...

A boy has died after showing signs of heatstroke, including vomiting and fainting, following a 400-metre training run at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong. A police spokesman said the force was alerted at 5.11pm on Saturday that the boy, 11, h...

The number of elite Hong Kong public servants who resigned or retired climbed by a third in the past financial year compared with the previous one even as overall civil service turnover declined, prompting calls to expand open recruitment for senior ...

For climate scientist Li Xueke, the decision to leave the University of Pennsylvania for Hong Kong was a pivot to the front lines of the global green economy. As climate change turns the Arctic into a seasonally navigable ocean, Li’s research on cr...

China will strengthen coordination with other countries to remove bureaucratic barriers and make travel more convenient for international tourists, Beijing’s tourism chief has told an Apec meeting attended by ministers from Hong Kong and other juri...

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that ‌the American military struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar ⁠sites for violating a US-Iran ‌ceasefire agreement. “There may come a point ‌when we are no ⁠lon...

Hong Kong’s prison service has twice withdrawn an anti-drug video featuring a beautiful AI-generated virtual K-pop girl group from social media after internet users said it resembled a promotion campaign for illegal substances. The Correctional Ser...

Scientists have uncovered a new species of raptor in Argentina that sports the same telltale curved claw as the velociraptors found in China, some 19,000km (11,800 miles) away. Though they were found on opposite ends of the world, these two dinosaurs...

As France sweltered under one of the worst ⁠heatwaves ever recorded this ⁠week, city dwellers scrambled for any ⁠escape they could find, with many checking into hotels to benefit from air conditioning and access to pools. Temperatures in Paris ...

The global higher education landscape has shifted markedly over the past five years, with universities across Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and mainland China, climbing international rankings while more than 70 per cent of US institutions slipped, ...

Two of the 19 people reportedly arrested this week as part of a major crackdown on an illegal bookmaking ring in Hong Kong have been identified as prominent football coaches in the city. Lo Kwan-yee, head coach of local first division champions Supre...

Thousands of spectators and paddlers have descended on Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to cheer and compete as the 50th anniversary of the city’s annual International Dragon Boat Races gets under way. More than 220 teams comprising over 4,500...

Authorities in China have confirmed the death of the pilot of a light sport aircraft that hit Beijing’s tallest skyscraper on Friday. In a statement on Saturday, the Chaoyang district government said the pilot was alone in the two-seater plane when...

Nowadays, prime ministers and even presidents cower before the mighty bond markets. These have the ability – in democracies, at least – to have leaders ejected from office via the ballot box, as even US President Donald Trump appears to acknowled...

The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and flat blocks three days after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out to fi...

The late arrival of India’s monsoon season and below-average rainfall have caused problems ranging from planting delays for farmers to water restrictions for construction sites in its largest business hub, Mumbai. Water shortages have been reported...

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has apologised to actor and singer Wu Chun after the star, who was featured in its recent promotional campaign, vented his frustration online at the airline’s failure to find his missing luggage despite...

A single mother in eastern China has won widespread admiration online for her remarkable dedication, braving a job suspended hundreds of metres in the air to support her family. In Hefei, Anhui province, Xu Junyun works on the exterior walls of high-...

Thousands of residents have braved the scorching heat to watch helicopter demonstrations and try out military equipment at a PLA airbase near Hong Kong’s border with mainland China. Military enthusiast Kin Man arrived at Shek Kong barracks with his...

Malaysia’s southern Johor state was braced for a bruising 14-day election campaign on Saturday after 172 candidates were cleared to contest a poll pitting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal allies against each other in one of the country’s ...

This article was first published on June 28, 1977. Film festival off to impressive start by SCMP reporter Hongkong’s First International Film Festival got off to an impressive start last night (June 27, 1977). It was not quite the glittering social...

On a drizzly, windy morning in June, a family gathered before a tombstone at Wo Hop Shek Cemetery in northern Hong Kong to bid farewell to a loved one who died in the Wang Fuk Court fire. Beneath the muddy grave and scattered stones lies a man surnam...

A Filipino teenager has drowned after losing his balance while walking on a bridge and falling into the sea off an outlying island in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post has learned. According to a source, the 17-year-old boy, who held a Hong Kon...

China has removed six senior PLA officers from the country’s top legislative body, a sign that President Xi Jinping’s military anti-corruption campaign is not slowing down. According to a late-night notice issued by the National People’s Congre...