China could lead the way in Asia in forging new pathways for plurilateral cooperation, Singapore’s prime minister said, calling for smaller groups of like-minded countries to work together to address challenges in multilateralism. Delivering a keyn...

Chinese government advisers are calling for government-set “red lines” in artificial intelligence development and applications, as mounting threats of job displacement and data security challenges spark concerns in the country. Jiang Xiaojuan, fo...

For the second year in a row, Asia’s vulnerability to global shocks is a source of concern. Almost exactly a year since US President Donald Trump launched his assault on the global trading system, the external dependencies of leading Asian economie...

A man and woman caught engaging in a sexual act at the Batu Gantung Chinese Cemetery in Penang, Malaysia, have each been jailed for a year. M. Jegathesan, 58, and Halila Abu Bakar, 37, pleaded guilty to committing the offence when the charges were re...

A visit by a top American official to India this week has raised expectations that bilateral defence ties are getting “back on track” amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. But analysts warn that both sides are unlikely to reach full agree...

While China appears better prepared than other countries to deal with the shocks brought by the US-Israel war on Iran, its economy would still come under pressure in the short term if its regional partners suffer, an executive with a global consultan...

A joke made on a major US talk show has triggered backlash just as BTS prepares for a high-profile American television return – prompting a swift apology from a comedian caught at the centre of the controversy. Seth Herzog, a resident comedian on T...

Even as Donald Trump pushes for talks to end the war against Iran, the US has ordered thousands of troops to the region, fuelling fears that the American president is gearing up for exactly the sort of risky ground invasion that he once campaigned ag...

An air conditioner technician was critically injured after falling from a ladder in Hong Kong’s Tsuen Wan on Thursday morning. Police said they received a report at 9.18am that the man, who is in his sixties, had fallen while working at a building ...

As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, has told the Boao Forum for Asia – a high-level gathering of governments and business leaders – that power politics should be rejected in favour of economic development...

The Iran war has deflected global attention from Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour Ukraine as Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II enters its fifth year and an emboldened Kremlin undertakes a spring offensive. The past week showe...

A young Chinese woman lives in a nursing home and pays just 200 yuan (US$30) in rent a month in exchange for offering companionship to the elderly. The life choice of 25-year-old Zhang Jin reveals a new pattern for young people to live under less pre...

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday designated the transatlantic African slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”, despite opposition by the United States and some European countries. In a move advocates hailed as a step towards heali...

The Transportation Security Administration warned that US airport security was under severe strain as a weeks-long Department of Homeland Security funding shutdown drives staffing shortages, long wait times and mounting disruptions across the United ...

Six people have been injured, some with serious burns, in an explosion at a recycling yard in northern Hong Kong, with more than 100 people on a school trip nearby evacuated. A police spokesman said that as of 1pm on Thursday, three people with injur...

A man was killed after receiving an electric shock from a lamp post while wet following a visit to a beach on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, with staff at a nearby resort saying the light had not been checked for 10 years. Police received a report at 8...

A Chinese military research team has released what it described as the first publicly available visible light-infrared ship detection data set, a resource that could sharpen maritime target recognition for drones, missiles or surveillance systems ope...

“I hardly drink at all – one or two glasses of beer at most.” Kim Min-ha, a 21-year-old student at Sookmyung Women’s University, recently headed to a cafe with fellow club members after a meet-up. They each ordered one of the newly released d...

At least 10 weight-loss injections and oral pills are lining up for regulatory approval in China, in a market projected to reach about US$14 billion by 2030. Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster semaglutide, which generated about US$35 billion in global reve...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. A public evidential hearing by an independent committee into a fire that killed 168 people at a Hong Kong est...

Professor Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University has repeatedly warned that the US dollar is approaching a crisis of legitimacy. Having written extensively on the global recession in the late 2000s, Rogoff has turned his focus to the US currency’s in...

Japan should consider sending warships to help jointly secure the Strait of Hormuz with other nations and protect both its own vessels and those of other nations – even before a ceasefire, according to a former top national security adviser. A spec...

A Chinese commercial satellite has completed a refuelling test in low Earth orbit using a flexible “octopus tentacle” robotic arm, advancing efforts to extend spacecraft lifespans and develop in-orbit servicing abilities. The Hukeda-2, or Yuxing-...

Picture this – you’re having a few pints with your mates down at the pub during an open-mic comedy night. The aspiring comedian then, without much tact, mildly suggests that a certain public figure (without naming him or her) has a questionable p...

On most nights, the sound that defines Tehran is not conversation or traffic. Instead, it is a distant explosion, a jet overhead, a pause in the rhythm of ordinary life. A few days ago, that distance collapsed. An explosion in eastern Tehran, where I...

A “ChatGPT moment” for China’s humanoid robots – the tipping point at which the technology becomes widely usable – remains years away as persistent challenges in adapting to new tasks and training efficiency continue to hold back the indust...

Singapore is delaying a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) levy that airline customers were meant to start paying next month, citing the surge in fuel costs spurred by the Iran war. Additional charges will now begin on October 1 as a result of the “im...

A seven-year-old boy has become China’s youngest professional rally car driver after being certified at the age of five. Shao Ziyan, from Wenzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, has amazed mainland social media with his professionalism and ...

CLP Power customers face heftier electricity bills from next month, with Hong Kong’s largest supplier saying it will raise its fuel cost adjustment (FCA) charge, blaming changes in actual fuel prices compared with forecasts. Starting from April 1, ...

Elderly Hongkongers and people with chronic illnesses should protect themselves from health problems arising from high humidity by using dehumidifiers and removing mould, a doctor and a community advocate have said, as damp conditions are expected to...

The US-Israeli war in Iran could weaken the US dollar’s historic dominance in the oil-rich Middle East and bolster a “petroyuan” alternative backed by China’s currency, according to analysts at a leading European bank. Fallout from the nearly...

Japan is reportedly planning to deploy advanced anti-ship missiles on Minamitorishima, the country’s easternmost island, as it moves to enhance its defence posture against what it perceives as rising Chinese military activity in the region. The def...

In two different cases on Wednesday, United States authorities charged Chinese nationals on offences ranging from conspiring to smuggle advanced AI chips to China to drug trafficking and money laundering. The cases came on the same day US President D...

North Korea and Belarus’ strongmen leaders signed a “friendship and cooperation” treaty on Thursday after Kim Jong-un gave a lavish welcome to President Alexander Lukashenko on his maiden visit. Besides supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine...

The US Justice Department has settled for roughly US$1.2 million a lawsuit from Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty during the Republican’s first term to lying to the FBI about his conver...

US President Donald Trump will not attend a major annual gathering of American conservatives for the first time in a decade, a White House official said on Wednesday. The Republican billionaire has been a marquee fixture at the Conservative Political...

Beijing’s long-standing geopolitical playbook – stay in your lane, avoid military entanglement, prepare exhaustively and issue bland “win-win” statements about the UN charter and calls to talk not fight – could see China emerge favourably f...

Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in prison by a Paris criminal court for the rape of three women. The verdict marks the latest fall from grace for the former Oxford University professor, who faces a string of...

Like many Asian-Americans, US-born Tiffany Chin has faced her share of slights, including being treated as “other” or “foreign” and judged at times by her race rather than her accomplishments. Growing up outside Chicago, she recalls that in p...

The United States on Wednesday offered ⁠a reward of up to US$3 million and possible relocation in exchange for information on the financial activities of Haiti’s Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif criminal groups. Washington has designated both groups, whi...

A tearful Savannah Guthrie, in her first interview since her 84-year-old mother was apparently abducted from her Arizona home, said that “someone needs to do the right thing” and come forward with information to help the investigation. “We are ...

Newly released records in the ⁠now-dismissed classified documents case against US President Donald Trump raise fresh concerns over national security risks and potential private business motivations, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee...

Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including strikes that hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire. Iran’s defiance c...

After weeks of speculation and behind-the-scenes intrigue over the delayed summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the White House announced on Wednesday new dates for the long-anticipated, high-stakes meeting. “I’m ple...

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman because of an addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay US$6 million in damages, including US$3 million in punitive damages....

The woman alleged to have shot up Rihanna’s luxury Los Angeles home pleaded not guilty to attempted murder when she appeared in court on Wednesday, as details emerged of a near miss for the global megastar. The “Umbrella” singer and her partner...

The skeleton of famed French musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan may have been found in front of a church altar in the Dutch city of Maastricht, church officials and an archaeologist said on Wednesday. Workers ‌discovered a grave c...

A former nurse made history on Wednesday when she was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to lead the centuries-old mother church of the world’s 85 million-strong Anglican community. Sarah Mullally, 63, formally steps into the ro...

Hong Kong has held onto its crown as the exclusive regional home of Art Basel for the next five years, the culture minister has announced, after a deal was struck to secure the partnership as the city looks to enhance its status as an international a...

China Eastern Airlines said on Wednesday it placed a multibillion-dollar order for 101 Airbus A320neo aircraft, marking another success for the French company after it raked in big orders from Chinese airlines in December and amid uncertainties relat...