A wonton street shop owner in China has become a local celebrity for looking like the Japanese animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Yin Zhenggen, 76, who has been nicknamed the Hayao Miyazaki of Nanjing because he bears a striking resemblance to th...

Chinese airlines have recorded about 491,000 cancellations of tickets to Japan since Saturday – roughly 32 per cent of their total bookings to the typically popular destination – after Beijing advised citizens to avoid travelling there amid a dip...

A 26-year-old Australian man who rushed at Wicked star Ariana Grande during a premiere in Singapore was sentenced to nine days’ jail on Monday for public nuisance. In delivering the sentence, District Judge Christopher Goh told Johnson Wen that he ...

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 forecaster has reminded the public to stay warm as a cold front is due to hit the city on Tuesd...

Ant International, the Singapore-based spin-off of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, is stepping up its global treasury operations through a strategic partnership with Swiss bank UBS, as both companies also seek to explore innovations in blockchain-ba...

China’s ambassador to the United States has come to the defence of the country’s students and academics, saying they have been “smeared” as a threat to national security. “A few individuals in the United States have seen Chinese students, s...

Xiao Mei, a kindergarten teaching assistant living in the suburbs of Hangzhou in eastern China, has barely seen her income rise for three years and is not optimistic about her chances of getting a pay rise any time soon. Still, she counts herself as ...

A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. The ruling is the most dramatic l...

A county-level sanitation office in southern China has invited ridicule and stoked a public debate after posting a job that requires a PhD to supervise garbage trucks and landfills – an unusual demand that critics say epitomises China’s runaway d...

China continued a diplomatic chill with Japan over the weekend by ruling out a leaders’ meeting at the coming G20 summit in South Africa amid heightened tensions. “I can tell you that Premier Li Qiang does not have a meeting arrangement with Japa...

A US-led crackdown on online scams may hand Southeast Asia an opportunity to combat the scourge, analysts say, as Washington and Beijing find common purpose in dismantling criminal networks that exploit lax governance and human trafficking. The Unite...

Alibaba Group Holding has officially launched its multipurpose artificial intelligence app, Qwen, promising a “free-for-all” gateway for consumers to access a variety of AI-powered services, from mapping to shopping. Qwen, powered by Alibaba Clou...

A landslide buried a passenger bus on a treacherous mountain pass in Vietnam, killing six people and injuring 19 others, as more heavy rain was forecast for the week. The earth and rocks collapsed onto the bus late on Sunday as it was travelling thro...

With the rise of social media and generative AI, how much of what we see online is true? In this new series, SCMP Fact-Check, the Post investigates claims circulating online and debunks viral misinformation impacting the daily lives of Hongkongers. A...

Chinese companies expanding overseas are increasingly using the yuan for financing and payments to build their international operations, boosting the currency’s growing clout in international trade and investment. “Based on my calculation, 10 per...

Under pressure from Beijing’s chokehold on rare earths and the simmering feud over chipmaker Nexperia, EU officials have been asked to tone down their public rhetoric on Beijing, even as the bloc moves forward aggressively with its de-risking plans...

Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies is expected to unveil a new artificial intelligence infrastructure technology on Friday that could double the utilisation efficiency of graphic processing units (GPUs), according to the state-owned Shangha...

A Chinese woman who won a bronze medal and a cash prize for lasting 35 days in a wilderness survival contest says the biggest benefit of the event was that she lost 14kg in weight. The 25-year-old nicknamed Zhao Tiezhu has 38,000 followers on social ...

Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested two residents suspected of being core members of a cross-border sham marriage syndicate that generated more than HK$7.5 million (US$964,823) in illicit earnings, following a joint operation with mainland C...

Hong Kong has recorded a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals for the first 10 months of 2025, with around 41 million people visiting the city between January and October, according to the Tourism Board. The city welcomed 9.62 millio...

When a Singaporean man found his girlfriend dead in her bedroom, he tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her before leaving with his belongings. He texted his girlfriend’s sister hours later to say only that the woman was uncontactable. When his gir...

A bridge at a copper and cobalt mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo collapsed due to overcrowding, killing at least 32 people, a regional government official said on Sunday. The bridge at the Kalando mine in Mulondo in Lualaba province ...

Malaysian girl group Dolla have withdrawn their latest music video after religious groups and a government minister accused the performers of wearing overly suggestive outfits amid mounting moral scrutiny of women in the country’s entertainment ind...

Chinese student numbers in the United States have continued to decline over the past year, but they remain the second-largest student group after Indians and the biggest contributors to the US economy, according to new data released on Monday. A tota...

Unitree Robotics, one of China’s leading humanoid robot manufacturers, has completed its pre-initial public offering (IPO) tutoring process in only four months, a major step towards an onshore listing amid Beijing’s push for technological self-re...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Airlines offer Japan trip refunds as row over Tak...

The Malaysian High Court has dismissed an appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them. The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the Inland Revenue Board following Naj...

Ecuadorian voters roundly rejected the return of US military bases to the country in a referendum on Sunday, a major political blow to Trump-friendly President Daniel Noboa. With three-quarters of the vote counted, about 60 per cent of Ecuadorians ha...

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has warned residents travelling abroad to carefully compare the scope of coverage and exclusions of different insurance plans, following complaints regarding disputes over claims. The Consumer Council said on Monday it...

Hong Kong may have silent transmission chains of chikungunya fever in the community, a leading infectious disease expert has warned, as authorities have yet to identify the source of the city’s fourth local case recorded last week. Joseph Tsang Kay...

After 15 years of testing, China unveiled the HQ-29 at its Victory Day parade in September, showcasing the land-based air-defence missile system that is capable of intercepting targets in the near region of space outside the Earth’s atmosphere. The...

A correctional officer at South Korea’s only private prison is under investigation for allegedly demanding 30 million won (US$20,600) from singer Kim Ho-joong in exchange for helping arrange his transfer to the facility – a claim authorities say ...

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has slammed driving schools over opaque fees, with one charging nearly twice the quoted rate for extra lessons to meet the minimum number of training hours. The Consumer Council said on Monday that all 32 basic courses...

More than 70 schools in Australia and New Zealand were closed on Monday for cleaning after asbestos was discovered in widely used children’s play sand products. Recalls have been issued for several colourful play sand products after laboratory test...

The resurgence of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia, just weeks after US President Donald Trump brokered a truce over a violent border row, threatens to complicate the Philippines’ turn as Asean chair. Thailand last week announced it was su...

Few women in Chinese history have been as scorned – or as misunderstood – as Bao Si. For nearly three millennia, the queen has been remembered not as a person, but as a symbol: the beautiful femme fatale whose cold heart and unparalleled beauty b...

A wave of armed robberies targeting Japanese nationals has plunged Japanese-run restaurants in Manila into crisis, forcing many to shut their doors and others to band together for survival. Since October last year, more than 20 robbery cases involvin...

Lower rents improved occupancy rates in Shanghai’s premium office market as the city reported solid economic growth, but most companies remained cost-conscious amid a cloudy economic outlook and expectations for bigger discounts, according to JLL. ...

These are interesting times in Hong Kong politics. Rarely has the city seen the government get so involved in galvanising voters ahead of the Legislative Council election. These things have traditionally been the work of political parties and groups....

A man from southern China who donated 140 yuan (US$20) as a child to help build an aircraft carrier has seen his dream of the country becoming a stronger nation come true. To top his wish, in November, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation invited...

Chile was headed to a tense presidential run-off after a closely fought first-round vote on Sunday set up a showdown between a member of the Communist Party and an ultraconservative veteran politician, sharply polarising the country between the polit...

South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200kg (441lbs) industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back. It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery ar...

Integration with mainland China and boosting Hong Kong’s sluggish economy have dominated the manifestos of candidates contesting functional and Election Committee constituencies in the Legislative Council election, while those running for directly ...

Malaysia’s southern state of Johor is being transformed by a torrent of tech investment. Global heavyweights – Microsoft, Nvidia, ByteDance – are pouring billions into vast data centres, the digital foundries that underpin the international AI ...

Israel’s military said Monday it had killed a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon, a region that has witnessed several attacks despite the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group. “Yesterday evening (Sunday)... The IDF struck and e...

Members of Syria’s security and military services have been detained as part of an investigation into sectarian violence in the southern province of Sweida in July that left hundreds of people dead, investigators said on Sunday. The head of a Syria...

Lu Feng is a professor of economics and a former deputy dean at Peking University’s National School of Development. In more than 40 academic papers, six books and numerous magazine articles, he has studied issues critical to China’s economy, incl...

Thirty years in the making, the world’s biggest archaeological museum – and before its opening also the world’s most delayed museum – is now struggling to cope with the crowds. The Grand Egyptian Museum, located near the Giza Pyramids, was op...

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the US further builds up its military presence near the South American country with t...

US President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it. “We have nothing ...