Hong Kong police have arrested 120 people, including 14 minors, and seized substances worth HK$26 million (US$3.31 million) in a month-long operation targeting the sale of narcotics and related products online. Chan Lik-ho, a senior inspector with th...

Beijing has blocked the proposed purchase by Meta Platforms of artificial intelligence firm Manus, a start-up that is officially registered in Singapore but developed its products in mainland China. The National Development and Reform Commission, the...

Hongkongers and visitors will be able to enjoy large-scale events such as beer and barbecue festivals at three public beaches under a pilot scheme that will allow private-sector operators to upgrade facilities, a district councillor has suggested, wi...

China has delivered its largest-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, bringing the number of domestic shipyards capable of designing and building the advanced vessels to five, as the country steps up its challenge to South Korea’s dominance in ...

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has dropped his legal bid to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest, closing off a closely watched appeal tied to his 2024 royal pardon. Najib, 72, is serving a six-year jail sent...

At least ⁠14 people ⁠were killed after lightning ⁠strikes hit several parts of Bangladesh, officials said on Monday, as seasonal thunderstorms swept across the country. The deaths were ‌reported from several districts after sudden storms brou...

Customers of Ikesu Onsen, a traditional Japanese bathhouse in Tsushima in Aichi prefecture, have had to delay their daily dips due to the Iran war. The sento, or public bathhouse, has been forced to push back its opening time by an hour since late Ma...

Twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand were arrested on Sunday at the main international airport with 110kg (242lbs) of powerful cannabis, officials said. A Sri Lanka Customs spokesman said the group, returning home after a four-day holi...

US law enforcement officials are reassessing security arrangements after ⁠a gunman opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, raising questions about ⁠how he was able to get so close to an event attended by President D...

North Korea and Russia are moving to consolidate their military ties at a time of deepening global instability, with both sides using the Ukraine war as a symbol of their unwavering alliance. Sunday’s unveiling of a memorial museum in Pyongyang for...

A large ice chunk is blocking the climbing route to Everest’s summit, risking delays in the summit season at the world’s highest peak, according to officials. A team of highly skilled mountaineers, known in Nepal as “icefall doctors”, began f...

In a tragic and mysterious ancient custom in China, unmarried girls were chosen as brides by a legendary “Cave God” and sent to live in caves, where they would fast to death as a form of sacrifice. The practice, known as Luo Hua Dong Nv is a folk...

The ruling administration of Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state is at the brink of collapse after a key ally withdrew support on Monday in a spat that has shone the spotlight on increasingly fragile ties within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalit...

The appreciating yuan and ongoing Sino-Japanese tensions have given Hong Kong tourism a boost ahead of mainland China’s Labour Day “golden week” holiday, with hotel prices rising by as much as 8 per cent, an industry representative has said. La...

Malaysian immigration authorities say they have uncovered an Indonesian migrant-smuggling syndicate that moved people from sea crossings to a more elaborate route through Singapore and southern Thailand. The raid, carried out before dawn on Saturday ...

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. As DJI duels Insta360, China sharpens global hard...

Chinese scientists have achieved a breakthrough in “all-iron flow battery” technology that could sharply reduce the cost of storing renewable energy while significantly extending battery lifespan. Lithium costs over 80 times more than iron as a r...

Two of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most formidable political rivals said on Sunday they were joining forces in a bid to oust his coalition government in the coming election expected later this year. The former prime ministers - righ...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court fire will scrutinise the roles of ...

Police in Thailand have arrested an Indonesian who allegedly defrauded Americans of about US$10 million, Thai authorities say, adding that they will extradite him to the United States. The 33-year-old Indonesian man was arrested on Friday at a luxury...

Electric vehicles (EVs) made in China now account for one in every three new registrations in South Korea, as Tesla’s Shanghai-built models power the surge and Chinese carmakers start to gain traction. The country’s auto manufacturers have furthe...

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Sunday killed 14 people, the deadliest day since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war came into force over a week ago. It came as Israel and the Iran-backed group traded ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country would continue to support Russia’s policies and he discussed the international political situation with Russia’s defence minister, state media KCNA reported on Monday. A Russian delegation includin...

Kudos to the Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan for introducing a two-tier civil service accountability system. This will include giving an independent statutory body, the Public Service Commission, powers to investigate “wides...

China has launched a comprehensive national campaign against Alzheimer’s, as projections warn the degenerative brain disease could affect nearly 10 per cent of citizens by 2050. With the world’s fastest-growing dementia caseload set to sharply gr...

In several first-tier Chinese cities, chickens, which were once confined to the dinner table, are finding a new role: cherished household companions. On social media, posts and videos about “pet chickens” have racked up over 3.1 billion views, un...

The reserves of Hong Kong’s largest international school group have more than tripled to HK$3.75 billion (US$480.8 million) in over a decade, even as it taps different income sources to offset shrinking government subsidies, the South China Morning...

A strong earthquake rattled Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido early on Monday, US and Japanese meteorological agencies reported, the latest in a series of powerful tremors to hit the island nation. The 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 5.23am in Hokk...

Japan is planning to build what could become the world’s largest floating wind farm – a gigawatt-scale project off the Izu Islands to power the island chain and Tokyo. But the plan, championed by Governor Yuriko Koike, is facing questions over wh...

US President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is using the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday to try to pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned US$400 million ballroom on the site of the forme...

Military spending in the Asia-Pacific rose at the fastest pace for 16 years in 2025 as US allies felt “growing uncertainty” over whether Washington would honour its security commitments, according to a new report. Total global spending reached US...

Daniel Gros is the director of the Institute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University. Previously, he served as an adviser to the European Parliament, collaborated with the European Commission as economic adviser to the Delors Committee, which...

Geopolitics, at its core, examines how geography shapes international politics, power distribution and security dynamics. One enduring idea is geographer Halford Mackinder’s “heartland” theory, which situates Eurasia as the central arena of glo...

The ⁠Italian government has extradited to ⁠the United States a Chinese man wanted by authorities there on hacking charges that include stealing Covid-19 medical research, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The source ‌de...

The state visit by Britain’s King Charles to the US would take place as planned, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday, following a shooting at a Washington media gala. The incident late on Saturday at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents...

Mali’s military rulers faced a security crisis on Sunday after coordinated nationwide attacks by jihadist fighters and separatist rebels this weekend killed the defence minister and reportedly left a key northern town in rebel hands. There was no w...

Strikes across Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia over the past day killed at least 16 people, authorities said on Sunday as the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster prompted new warnings about risks posed by attacks near th...

Japan has deployed 1,400 firefighters and dozens of Self-Defence Force personnel to battle mountain blazes that have been raging in the north for five days and threaten to reach homes in the ‌picturesque coastal town of Otsuchi, officials said on S...

An international research team in China has developed a microscopic “predator-like” material capable of swimming through water and hunting uranium ions, a breakthrough that could open new possibilities for nuclear fuel extraction and cleaning up ...

A Hong Kong doctor accused of a blunder that left a boy permanently disabled 16 years ago said he did not return to the hospital to examine the infant immediately as he initially diagnosed the emergency as a choking case, the Medical Council heard on...

A Hong Kong survey has found a 20 percentage point gap in relationship scores between parents and children who play video games together and those who do not. The Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong on Sunday urged parents to adopt a new approach to supervisin...

The China-Europe railway network has evolved in the past decade from a nascent logistical experiment into a growing commercial alternative to maritime and air freight. In the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran, it might now be assuming an unanticipate...

In the face of a prolonged US energy blockade of Cuba, solar panels from China have come to the rescue and provided a model of independence from fossil fuels that is resonating globally amid what is being called the worst energy crisis in history. Wi...

The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad opened in Damascus on Sunday. Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s D...

China has demanded that the European Union remove Chinese businesses and individuals from its latest sanctions list related to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing also warned the bloc that it would take whatever measures we...

Li Auto, one of Tesla’s major rivals in mainland China, has set its sights on the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, with its premium intelligent models poised to take on petrol car brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The Beijing-based electric vehicl...

People streamed into the central square of Slavutych in the early hours of Sunday, placing candles on a large radiation hazard symbol laid out on the ground as a midnight commemoration began for those killed in the Chernobyl disaster 40 years ago and...

China has pledged to help Myanmar’s new government to engage more with multilateral platforms and eradicate telecoms scam operations. Capping a five-day trip to Southeast Asia on the weekend, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Min Aung Hlaing, M...

Chinese scientists have developed a way to generate electricity and achieve higher energy efficiency than conventional burning methods, while producing zero carbon dioxide emissions, by placing coal inside a “battery”. “Coal-fired power” conj...

Two female Gen Z snipers in China have drawn attention on the training ground, defying gender stereotypes with their marksmanship and grit. Liu Jiangtao, 26, from Chongqing in southwestern China, serves as a sniper in a mobile unit of the Sichuan cor...