A growing number of Chinese retirees are embracing home-swapping holidays, exchanging keys with strangers to travel on a budget and expand their social circles. The concept dates back to European teachers in the 1950s and gained global popularity thr...

A People’s Liberation Army air defence unit has for the first time intercepted two new types of missile simultaneously during a drill – including one that made a sudden change of direction, according to state television. The CCTV report on Monday...

China’s embassy in Papua New Guinea has disputed reports that a suspected Chinese-made artillery shell was found in a shipping container in Port Moresby, saying the object was instead a shell-shaped wine bottle. The embassy said in a social media p...

An Indian tourist was killed and a New Zealand national injured when two helicopters collided and crashed while attempting to land in Nepal’s Everest region on Tuesday, police said. There are few roads in the Himalayas, and helicopters are widely u...

A rally organised by Jakarta police to promote national unity has instead raised questions about whether the Indonesian government is using public events to blunt dissent, with questions raised over the identities of some participants after one admit...

A new public opinion poll released on the eve of the US midterm elections indicates that while few Japanese favour President Donald Trump’s policies, most say they wish Japan had a “strong” head of state who could make difficult decisions. Anal...

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng said that building Hong Kong “remains a key strategy for China” as he outlined four ways for the city to boost its long-term prospects and support the country’s development. The city should strengthen its role as ...

The artificial intelligence boom is creating an unprecedented demand for capital and infrastructure, raising questions about whether debt markets, power grids and corporate productivity can keep pace with the technology’s expansion, executives of g...

Hong Kong’s economy grew by 5.2 per cent year on year in the third quarter, marking its 15th consecutive quarter of expansion, while retail sales rose by 6.4 per cent in September. For the first three quarters combined, the economy expanded by 5.1 ...

An organiser behind a fundraiser for a boy whose parents died in an alleged hit-and-run accident in Singapore has vowed transparency, thanking donors for their “overwhelming” kindness amid debate over the campaign’s authenticity. Farah Diyanah ...

Suspected militants riding a motorcycle shot and killed two police officers assigned to protect polio workers during a door-to-door vaccination campaign on Tuesday in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. The drive-by shooting in Mohmand, a district...

Hong Kong will launch a 30,000-place youth employment and internship programme in the first quarter of 2027. Before applications open, the government should decide what it is buying: a temporary increase in headcount or a durable increase in professi...

This article was first published on November 4, 2011. China a step closer to building its own space station by Stephen Chen Encouraged by yesterday (November 3, 2011) morning’s historic rendezvous and docking of the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft, Chines...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Indonesia’s haze ...

Malaysia’s unity government is facing an increasingly uncomfortable test ahead of the Melaka state election, with parties governing together at the federal level reverting to old rivalries as they compete for votes in a contest that could foreshado...

An anticancer drug developed by Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical took centre stage in a late-breaking oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid last week. Researchers said the drug, iza-bren, showed a signi...

Beijing says it will introduce extra measures, as needed, to bolster Hong Kong as an international financial centre, with Vice-Premier He Lifeng pledging continued support in a speech on Tuesday. Delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the 2026...

Travellers flying from Hangzhou or Wuhan to overseas destinations via Hong Kong on different airlines can have their baggage checked through to the final destination under a newly launched service that aims to streamline connections between mainland ...

Hong Kong’s transport authorities have launched an investigation into a four-hour outage of the city’s parking meter system on Tuesday morning and ordered operator HKT to submit a report. The Transport Department said HKT had notified it at about...

China plans to expand foreign exchange settlement services and streamline cross-border trade payments, in a move to lower transaction costs and facilitate international commerce. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) on Monday released ...

The discovery of dozens of pet remains dumped in sacks along a roadside in the Philippines has sparked public outrage and raised questions over whether the country’s animal welfare laws adequately protect pets after death. A pet crematorium in Baco...

China’s “Lipstick King” has traded make-up swatches for artificial intelligence. Top live-streamer Li Jiaqi on Monday evening teamed up with an executive from Alibaba Group Holding to pitch AI subscriptions, selling nearly 100,000 monthly packa...

Singapore will work with Asean member ⁠states to strengthen ⁠the implementation of ⁠an agreement on transboundary haze when it chairs the regional bloc next year, the country’s environment minister said on Tuesday. It will also work with the ...

A Hong Kong district councillor has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl 15 years ago, with a judge noting he had shown no remorse towards a victim he claimed to have loved. District Court...

Malaysia’s halal safeguards are under scrutiny after filthy conditions and suspected slaughtering breaches at a chicken plant sparked demands to explain how it ignored warnings and operated for years without certification. The hygiene failures at t...

The United States has attacked an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of covert, limited strikes ahead of the US midterm elections, as President Donald Trump signalled progress in talks with Tehran and mediators continue pu...

Beijing has formally removed Hong Kong’s housing chief, Winnie Ho Wing-yin, from her post, after she resigned last week to take political responsibility for the deadly Tai Po fire. According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the State Council re...

Chinese President Xi Jinping met four foreign leaders in October – two each from Africa and Europe – with the month dominated by the Communist Party Central Committee’s fifth plenum. The pace will probably pick up in November. Xi has already me...

A key document endorsed by the Communist Party proposes stronger oversight of principal leaders below the central level, barring them from demanding personal allegiance from their leadership teams – a demand that is only for the top leaders. The pr...

The New ⁠York State Department of Health ⁠said on Monday that a ⁠child in Lewis County had died in connection with an ongoing measles outbreak, marking the state’s first known measles-associated death in more than 30 years. Last month, Govern...

Hong Kong’s plan to start an interbank tokenised gold transaction project marks a crucial step in its quest to make itself a key global hub for the precious metal, according to analysts. The city planned to launch a gold token representing a standa...

Hong Kong is rewriting its economic playbook amid intensifying geopolitical tensions and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), and is pivoting towards commodity trading, fintech and green finance, the city’s leader has said, while ...

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was taking steps to reissue passports for all 168 people affected by an online leak of sensitive personal information, including President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea-kyung, as police inves...

A 61-year-old Hong Kong man has been arrested for allegedly spiking the drink of Japanese disc jockey Mao Hamasaki at a Tsim Sha Tsui nightclub over the weekend, leaving her in intensive care. The police on Tuesday said that after investigations by t...

The National Transportation Safety Board said ⁠on Monday a Learjet ⁠60 that crashed on Sunday ⁠in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board, may have broken up before hitting the ground at high speed. Th...

A food delivery driver from northeastern China, whose whirlwind marriage to an American teacher captivated social media, has announced their divorce. Liu Hao, 28, from Liaoning province, met Hannah Harris, 31, an English teacher from Alabama, in Nove...

The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio may soon draw to a close after the prosecution decided to drop several of her charges, a move that legal experts have said is intended to speed up the trial and secure a convictio...

Retail is making a comeback in Hong Kong. Deloitte China reported an encouraging HK$203 billion (US$25.9 billion) in sales volume in the first half of 2026, beating expectations. Accordingly, they forecast the retail market to reach HK$412 billion by...

A 29-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to five years and nine months’ jail in Australia on Monday after he killed a man who stole a backpack from his rental car. Lincoln Ng Jing Kai chased the man in a car and knocked him off his e-bike before...

China’s ruling Communist Party has pledged to target “old nice persons” within its ranks as it steps up its anti-corruption drive ahead of a major leadership reshuffle next year. Rendered in Chinese as lao hao ren, the term refers to unprincipl...

Water shortages, gruelling course conditions and a lengthy post-race walk marred Hong Kong’s inaugural Northern Metropolis Marathon on Sunday, participants have said, prompting calls for organisers to overhaul arrangements if the event is to return...

A top OpenAI executive said on Monday that Washington needs to be “clear-eyed” and “aware” about sharing information with Beijing during coming talks on artificial intelligence (AI), while also warning about the threat posed by alleged Chines...

North Korea is rapidly advancing its drone warfare capabilities by drawing lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, even as South Korea’s efforts to keep pace remain bogged down by procurement delays and bureaucratic red tape, observers warn. They also...

Chinese carmakers’ marketing tactics are under the spotlight after a controversy surrounding a comment by an Xpeng employee drew harsh criticism from middle-aged consumers. The incident comes as regulators step up quality checks on the reliability ...

Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, in midterm elections that could reshape the final two years of Donald Trump’s second term as president. Control of both chambers of Congress is in play, along with 36 governorships. Polls suggest De...

North Korea on Tuesday slammed the FBI’s allegations that Pyongyang was behind the theft of US$6 billion from cryptocurrency platform Binance, with Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister labelling it a “grave political provocation”. Kim Yo-jong, in a ...

US President Donald Trump’s approval rating held near a career low as a broad swathe of the US electorate saw their vote in Tuesday’s congressional midterm elections as a way to oppose the Republican president, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll c...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for another wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter. A return to full-scale...

US President Donald Trump is likely to continue on a path of trying to stabilise ties with Beijing – even if the Democrats flip the House of Representatives, according to analysts. But they said if the Republicans lost control of the House in this ...

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by US President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to force Harvard University to turn over records for an investigation into whether it continues to consider race in its student admissions process. ...