News - South China Morning Post

A 59-year-old man stabbed at least eight people on Tuesday at a shopping centre in the South Korean city of Incheon, police and fire officials said. One victim was in life-threatening condition and received surgery at a nearby hospital. The suspect attacked shoppers as he moved through the shopping centre before business owners and bystanders subdued him, according to local police and witnesses. T...

US President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports and allow fresh supplies to reach global markets could give India greater leverage in its own dispute with Washington over discounted crude purchases, analysts said. Beyond the energy dispute, they said the move could also open up diplomatic opportunities for New Delhi, from pressing for more consistent treatment by W...

No Chinese carmakers were represented at a dinner on Sunday attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and around 60 European automotive industry players, but they were hard to miss when he visited the Paris Motor Show the next day. Allianz Trade said in a report that Chinese marques comprised half the exhibitors at this year’s show, even as they dealt with the fallout from a China-EU agreement...

Leaders of India’s “cockroach” protest movement were detained again on Tuesday, their second detention in days, as a stand-off with authorities deepened over a contentious overhaul of voter rolls. Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, two prominent faces of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, were taken into custody with other members after jumping barricades to enter Jantar Mantar, historically one of...

A fire near an MTR track halted train services between Kwun Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations during the evening rush hour in Hong Kong on Tuesday, leaving commuters stranded on packed platforms and concourses. Services along the Kwun Tong line gradually resumed at roughly 6.40pm after the fire was extinguished, the MTR Corporation said. The fire, reported along the Whampoa-bound line at Lam Tin sta...

A sharp sell-off in Asian memory chip stocks this week signals growing investor doubts over whether the sector’s AI-driven profit boom can last, even as soaring prices drive strong quarterly earnings across the sector. Shares in market leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plunged in Seoul on Tuesday, extending a days-long slide that has also swept up Chinese rival ChangXin Memory Technologies...

Four elderly women were injured among nearly 180 reports of people being trapped in lifts after a brief voltage dip in CLP Power’s network tripped building safety mechanisms in various districts across Hong Kong on Tuesday. The Fire Services Department said that from 1.10pm to 3pm, it received 179 reports of persons trapped in lifts and 40 fire alarms going off in parts of Kowloon and the New Terr...

A dance move known as the “flash step” recently went viral on Chinese social media, inspiring countless imitations, memes and creative merchandise, including keychains. In September, Chinese netizens jumped on the bandwagon, copying moves from a dance tutorial video made in the 1990s. They were especially taken with three moves featured in the video: the “flash step”, “prodigal kicking the ball” a...

Huang Qifan, former mayor of Chongqing and a survivor of multiple regional graft scandals, is under investigation for corruption, according to state media. State news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was investigating Huang for alleged serious violations of discipline and law, a euphemism for corruption. Huang, 74, was mayor...

An Indonesian official’s claim that the country exports “oxygen” and not just smoke to its neighbours has renewed criticism of Jakarta’s handling of its annual forest fires, with analysts warning that defensive nationalism risks undermining regional cooperation to tackle the recurring haze crisis. The remarks by Syahganda Nainggolan, the newly appointed head of the Government Communication Agency,...

In a first, China’s largest air show will feature a dedicated naval equipment exhibition area, showcasing active-duty hardware in service with the country’s navy, as this year marks the event’s 30th anniversary, the organisers said. The biennial China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition, also known as the Zhuhai air show, displays China’s civilian and military aircraft for international...

Drones struck two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria on Tuesday, sinking one and prompting emergency rescue operations, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. Rescuers evacuated all 15 crew members from one ship, the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3, with five receiving treatment for minor injuries, Radev said in a video posted to social media. The crew, which included seven Ukrainian citizens and eight Azerb...

A Houthi official on Monday warned the US it would receive a “painful response” if it entered the war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has reportedly requested Washington’s help in dealing with the group as it weathers repeated attacks. Yemen’s civil war - in which a Saudi-led military coalition supports the government against the Iran-backed Houthis - reignited in July, months into the wider regional...

The British Council said its IELTS examinations across China would resume Wednesday, ending four days of cancellations stemming from technical problems that left test takers scrambling at the height of the overseas university admissions season. The organisation announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would hold two free make-up sessions on October 19 and 20 for affected candidates and reimburse rea...

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops in Japan following the alleged killing of an Okinawan woman by a US marine. Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drunk driving by US military personnel have long triggered protests on the southern Japanese island, which has for years urged other regions...

Hundreds of Hong Kong postmen denied permanent contracts will get priority for other civil service jobs and easier entry requirements for clerical posts, as the postal service grapples with financial strain. The Civil Service Bureau outlined the concessionary measures in a closed-door briefing with union representatives and lawmakers on Tuesday, in a bid to support the postal staff affected by Hon...

North Korea now has a museum for its bombs. The National Defence Revolution Museum, which opened on Sunday, is the country’s first dedicated exclusively to military hardware, from rifles to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Observers say it is also intended to send a message to Washington and Seoul, serve as a permanent showroom for the North’s arms exports and visibly enshrine its nucl...

For Hong Kong educator Christine Ma-Lau, preparing children for exams or school interviews is only part of the job – helping them understand who they are, how to treat others and what they can contribute to society matters just as much. Ma-Lau founded JEMS Character Academy in 2009 after concluding that many imported character education programmes did not fully meet Hong Kong’s needs. She develope...

Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang, whose glass-making empire was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary American Factory, has urged Chinese investors expanding overseas to respect local laws, regulations and culture, drawing on decades of experience building a global manufacturing business amid shifting US-China relations. Speaking at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Monday, the founder of Fuy...

The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment ⁠court, approved the ⁠prosecution’s withdrawal of most of ⁠the charges against Vice-President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, in a trial that could kill her hopes to run for president in 2028. Prosecutors have been presenting evidence against ‌Duterte since July on charges that she betrayed public trust, amassed unexplained wealth, violated the constitutio...

Fiji’s Justice Minister Siromi Turaga stepped down from cabinet on Tuesday after an intimate video of him went viral online – the second such scandal to rock the Pacific island nation’s government. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who previously sought credible “proof” before taking action against Turaga, said he accepted his colleague’s resignation. “You mentioned him? Go ahead and report him to m...

Hong Kong police have arrested 20 people in connection with a cross-border prostitution syndicate that allegedly recruited women from Southeast Asia and required them to provide unpaid sexual services to repay travel debts. Police said on Tuesday that the syndicate paid for the women’s travel and accommodation but required them to provide sexual services 30 to 45 times without payment before they...

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. Marcos says Philippines ‘resigned’ to managing South China Sea dispute The Philippines is “resigned” to managing its long-standing dispute with Beijing in the South China...

Nasa’s robotic Perseverance rover has now driven farther than any other vehicle on the surface of any world other than Earth, racking up 45.2km (28.1 miles) since arriving on Mars in 2021, the US space agency said on Tuesday. The car-sized, six-wheeled rover reached the milestone 5½ years into its mission to explore if conditions conducive to microbial life ever existed on Earth’s neighbour. In do...

Beijing and Moscow vowed deeper maritime and logistical cooperation to protect shipping lanes and energy supplies, as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Nikolai Patrushev, chairman of the Russian Maritime Board in the Chinese capital on Monday. “China stands ready to work with Russia to align maritime strategies and leverage their complementary strengths to protect each other’s legitimate mariti...