News - South China Morning Post

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...

A former department head of Hong Kong’s fintech hub Cyberport has been granted bail after being charged with accepting bribes to help an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up secure HK$20 million in funding from a government-subsidised programme. Alice So Nga-lai, 59, former head of entrepreneurship of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company, was accused of receiving advantages such as flight t...

Many rural projects in Hong Kong start with funding, run for a year or two, then disappear when the money runs out. Good Old Soil, a community organisation, is trying to take a different approach on Lantau. Supported by the non-profit Land Education Foundation, the organisation works with farmers, young people, restaurants, craftspeople and businesses to build a local economy that can sustain itse...

China is seeking public comments on draft rules that would streamline procedures for “low-risk” exports of aviation components such as engines and inertial navigation systems to give the industry a competitive boost. Such avionics currently are classified by Chinese authorities as “dual-use” items, which can serve both civilian and military purposes, and are subject to strict export licensing requ...

Haidilao International Holding has agreed to provide its founder, Zhang Yong, with a one-month loan of up to the Hong Kong dollar equivalent of 100 million yuan (US$14.9 million), a move that has raised market speculation as investors closely watch Beijing’s October 22 deadline for offshore trust taxation. The Hong Kong-listed hotpot chain said in a stock exchange filing on Monday night that it wo...

A mysterious glow of high-energy light in our Milky Way galaxy could be the remains of an extremely rare cosmic “gold factory”, according to a new study by Chinese and US researchers. The collision of two orbiting neutron stars – dead stars so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh a billion tonnes – may have shone as brightly as Jupiter in the sky, they wrote in a paper posted last wee...

Hong Kong’s new Huanggang Port recorded 79,500 passenger movements and 8,000 vehicle movements on its first day of operations, with transport officials preparing for heavier flows expected during the coming holiday weekend. Statistics from the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection showed 41,300 passenger trips entered Hong Kong through the rebuilt checkpoint on Monday, whi...

As missiles and drones take a bigger role in modern warfare, major defence contractors gathered in Washington this week to showcase their latest advances in the technologies – and systems to counter them. The three-day Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition, which opened on Monday, is one of the largest ground-based weapons shows in the US. This year there was a...

The People’s Bank of China on Tuesday gave its approval to Visa to make preparations for a locally registered bank card clearing organisation, calling the move a major step in the country’s financial opening up in an online statement. The US card payment giant will have one year to finish its advance arrangements, after which it may submit an application to begin operations, the central bank added...