News - South China Morning Post

In December 2022, a Chinese J-11 fighter came within metres of a US RC-135 surveillance plane over the South China Sea, according to the US military, which criticised it as an unsafe manoeuvre. China, however, held the American crew responsible and claimed the RC-135 had suddenly veered towards the Chinese jet despite repeated warnings. Both sides released video footage, yet neither accepted the o...

⁠Yemen’s Houthis attacked Aden’s international airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones on Wednesday, the country’s transport ministry said, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi-backed government forces intensified. Fighting has been focused in recent days on areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping route that has become more crucial for energy exports si...

The nomination period opened on Wednesday for elections to the 1,500-member body responsible for choosing Hong Kong’s next chief executive and 40 lawmakers. Hopefuls from at least four subsectors submitted their nomination forms on the first day. The South China Morning Post explains the significance of the Election Committee polls, who signed up on the first day and what to watch for. What is the...

Hong Kong police have arrested 17 more people linked to a suspected “crash-for-cash” scam syndicate as authorities investigate 669 suspicious claims totalling more than HK$137 million (US$17.4 million). Among those arrested was an insurance claimant accused of filing 12 compensation claims worth more than HK$3 million. Officers from the commercial crime bureau arrested the 17 claimants aged 27 to...

Bhavya Gupta was a Grade 4 student when the 2012 horrific gang rape and murder of a medical college intern who was on a private bus in New Delhi, which sparked nationwide outrage and led to the execution of four attackers, prompted her teacher to mention the case in class to raise awareness about women’s safety. “My teacher gathered all the girls in the classroom and told us about it, and after th...

Chinese contractors will build Latin America’s longest cable-stayed bridge, a trans-bay span in Brazil, as their latest stamp on new infrastructure overseas. A consortium of Chinese companies is set to construct much of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge, which is due to become the region’s biggest cross-sea project supported by cables once completed in 2031, Chinese and Brazilian media said. They woul...

The mother of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has told a court that her daughter’s former brother-in-law was a “bootlicker” who coaxed her into funding an egg waffle shop and hiring him as a driver months before her death. Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, said on Wednesday that Anthony Kwong Kong-kit had frequently sought financial support from her daughter before he allegedly joined his...

The European Parliament voted for a significantly tougher China position on Wednesday, despite strong and long-standing lobbying from Beijing to tone down its official stance. The chamber backed stronger actions against Beijing, stating it is a “decisive enabler” of Russia, calling for a “continuous [European] naval presence and joint exercises” in and around the Taiwan Strait, and urging swift ac...

Monsoon floods in Thailand have killed 60 people since mid-September, officials said, as surging waters exact an increasing economic toll – destroying homes and crops, killing livestock and flooding factories. Bangkok buckled at the end of September as 300mm (11.8 inches) of rain – around one month’s worth – hit its creaking drainage system over just three days. The floodwaters have largely retrea...

Hong Kong’s stock index compiler will add 10 fast-growing companies with at least HK$500 million (US$64 million) in annual sales into the city’s technology-focused benchmark in a bid to revitalise an index that has missed out on artificial intelligence-driven gains. The threshold is among a set of new measures Hang Seng Indexes Company will use to reform the Hang Seng Tech Index, which is referred...

In a Moscow museum that once housed evidence of Stalin-era repression, serene family scenes flickered on a screen as a narrator hailed the tranquillity of pre-World War II life in the Soviet Union. The museum – set up to commemorate the “genocide of the Soviet people” – has elbowed out the award-winning Gulag History Museum, a harrowing collection that had for years cast a light on the killings an...

The annual Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival in late October will extend its opening hours until 1am on two nights and feature 10 per cent more booths, with the Tourism Board rolling out a gourmet month throughout November to boost visitor spending and encourage longer stays. Organised by the board under the theme “Taste the World’s Best”, the festival will be held from October 29 to November 1 at...

Hong Kong education authorities have revealed that at least 60 per cent of suspected student suicide cases in the last three academic years involved children aged 15 or below, urging schools to avoid giving excessive homework so pupils can lead a balanced lifestyle. The Education Bureau also told lawmakers on Wednesday that school principals had directly referred 547 students at high risk of suici...

The Philippine Coast Guard will receive three longer-range aircraft from the US, two of them modified for improved surveillance, giving Manila greater reach and endurance to monitor Chinese coastguard, naval and research vessels across the South China Sea. Under a US$39.6 million contract awarded by the United States Navy on September 28, the three second-hand, extended-range King Air 350-series a...

The recent arrests of 11 suspected terrorists by authorities in Indonesia underline how terrorism remains a persistent security challenge, with analysts warning that militant networks are communicating online through smaller and decentralised cells despite stronger enforcement. The Indonesian National Police’s counterterrorism force, Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88), said on Sunday that 11 suspec...

Advanced-stage cancer patients could spend half as long in hospital and avoid more than a third of unplanned admissions if a symptom-tracking mobile app is added to their routine care, according to new research from the University of Hong Kong. The SUPPORT+ mobile app, developed by HKU’s clinical oncology department, provides symptom-management information and a direct line of communication with h...

A Chinese father-and-son duo established a home laboratory to create miniature models of China’s significant national strategic hardware, captivating many online with their skill and passion. Duan Yanjuan, a 13-year-old second-year junior secondary school student in Shanghai, has already replicated turbojet engines, pulse detonation engines, and an electromagnetic aircraft launch system, with assi...

Hong Kong’s economy continued to expand in the third quarter of this year, driven by strong exports and tourism, the city’s finance chief has said, while warning of risks including the war in the Middle East and inflation. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also reiterated his confidence that the economy would grow by between 3.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent this year. He was speaking during a Legis...

Despite the recent surge in French borrowing costs that pushed the country’s 10-year bond yield spread with Germany to a level unseen since the euro zone crisis, analysts are urging calm, saying France is not facing a debt crisis but cautioning that future uncertainties remain. “The short answer is no, this is not a debt crisis,” said Stephane Colliac, senior economist at BNP Paribas. France’s eff...

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. “So this year’s ‌prize is about foundational chemistry. Many molecules occur in two different versions. Like my hands. They are one another’s mirror image, they look alike, but they are not identical. I cannot put my hands...

A former Buddhist monk in Thailand was convicted on Wednesday of misusing donations to a highly praised hospice he established for people with HIV/Aids and given the maximum term of 50 years in prison. Alongkot Poonmook, formerly known as Phra Ratcha Wisutthiprachanat, was forced to leave the monkhood after he was arrested last year along with an associate, Seksan Sapsubbsakul, who served as a fun...

Nasa has released a striking image of dawn on the Martian surface taken by its Curiosity rover, showing sunlight bathing jagged crags formed billions of years ago as the car-sized vehicle continues to explore Earth’s planetary neighbour. Curiosity landed in 2012 in Gale Crater near the Martian equator, and since 2014 has been climbing Mount Sharp, ‌a 5km-tall (3-mile-tall) mountain rising from the...

Higher interest rates have weighed on property markets in both Hong Kong and New York, but Morgan Stanley sees greater upside potential in the Asian financial hub – particularly the office segment – in the months ahead, according to its latest report. The US investment bank highlighted the similarities between two of the world’s leading financial centres, pointing out that Hong Kong’s monetary pol...

China and the US – Iran’s key partner and its chief adversary – found firmer common ground on Tehran at the Washington summit last month, and further head-of-state diplomacy could work in Iran’s favour, according to analysts. Iran was on the agenda when the presidents of the United States and China met in Beijing in May and again in Washington in September. There was no direct reference to Tehran...

Standing alongside prominent technology executives, US President Donald Trump announced a voluntary agreement under which major artificial intelligence (AI) companies will use internal controls and monitoring, outside audits and board oversight to manage risks. The White House calls the commitments “morally binding”, but the accord does not create a comparable system of legal enforcement. The admi...