Children returned to school in England on Monday for the first time since January, as the government began to ease tough restrictions thanks to a mass vaccination drive against the coronavirus.Throughout the latest lockdown since the start of the new...

India has urged the United States, Japan and Australia to invest in its vaccine production capacity, an Indian government source said, as the so-called Quad alliance tries to counter China’s growing vaccine diplomacy.Beijing has committed to provid...

The World Health Organization has said it will release a full report next week from its Covid-19 fact-finding trip to China amid growing concerns about lack of access to relevant data in the country where the disease was first identified in Wuhan cit...

Chinese carrier Donghai Airlines on Sunday said it had suspended a male pilot and a male flight attendant after allegations the pair assaulted each other during a flight.The assault started from an argument 50 minutes from landing on the flight DZ629...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out at Western critics of China’s policies in Xinjiang on Sunday, describing as “extremely absurd” and “downright lies” mounting claims of genocide.On the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary s...

For some survivors, the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami disaster will bring back memories of the sexual abuse they suffered a decade ago. This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Wo...

Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison’s ports division has secured a strategic win from the UK’s post-Brexit pivot towards Asia.Two of Hutchinson’s three ports on England’s east coast, in Felixstowe and neighbouring Harwich, were last wee...

This article is republished from a three-part newsletter series – “Decoding China’s Two Sessions 2021” – curated exclusively for our digital subscribers.To access this newsletter series and others like it in the future, please support SCMP ...

It’s sleepy by Donald Trump’s standards, but the former president’s century-old estate in New York’s Westchester County could end up being one of his bigger legal nightmares.Seven Springs, a 213-acre swathe of nature surrounding a Georgian-st...

South Korea said on Monday it had found no link between the coronavirus vaccine and several recent deaths, as it ordered nearly 100,000 foreign workers to be tested after clusters emerged in dormitories.Health officials had been investigating the dea...

Hong Kong customs has shut down 17 webpages selling fake brand-name products, made 22 arrests, and seized HK$1.8 million (US$231,000) worth of counterfeit goods over the past four months as it targeted swindlers hoping to cash in on a pandemic-driven...

China’s annual parliamentary meetings, the Two Sessions, are under way in Beijing and are expected to discuss issues ranging from economics and religion to sport, health and foreign affairs.For International Women’s Day we have put together a lis...

An elderly man has died in Hong Kong days after receiving China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, becoming the third such fatality, even as the city’s leader and health experts offered a unified front in insisting the mass inoculation drive must go on....

MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, author and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has married a Seattle science teacher who expressed gratitude “for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do ...

Like many small nations reliant on trade with China, Ireland has long been careful not to rock the boat on issues deemed sensitive to Beijing.But a row over Huawei, a businessman’s ongoing lengthy detention in Shanghai, and a rising backlash agains...

Hong Kong’s leader has promised to launch an “intensive” drive to explain to the public the drastic shake-up of the city’s electoral system proposed by Beijing last week, but ruled out conducting a formal consultation exercise.Chief Executive...

As US President Joe Biden seeks to return his country to the global centre stage, China’s top diplomat has signalled Beijing’s desire to counter Washington by establishing its own sphere of influence, observers said.State Councillor and Foreign M...

In a wide-ranging interview aired on Sunday, Harry and Meghan described painful discussions about the colour of their son’s skin, losing royal protection and the intense pressures that led the Duchess of Sussex to contemplate suicide.The interview ...

For the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s much publicised interview with Oprah Winfrey that just aired in the United States, a pregnant Meghan wore an Armani dress cinched with a matching belt and embellished with floral embroidery on one shoulder. The ...

Saudi Arabia said one of the most protected crude facilities in the world came under missile attack, in a clear escalation of hostilities that sent oil prices surging.The drone and missile attacks on Sunday were intercepted and crude production appea...

Movie theatre chain UA Cinemas has become the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic, announcing it will close down for good after 36 years in Hong Kong.A message on its official website on Monday morning said it would cease business with immediat...

China is concerned about population growth and the ageing workforce. But women say there must be major social and economic change rather than policy tweaks to address the demographic problem. This is part of a series of stories on women’s issues in...

Two protesters were killed by gunshot wounds to the head in Myanmar on Monday, witnesses said, while shops, factories and banks were closed in the main city Yangon as part of the uprising against the country’s military rulers.Photos posted on Face...

After months of angst and speculation in Hong Kong political circles, Beijing’s plan to drastically revamp the city’s electoral system has finally been officially unveiled, with top officials insisting on the urgent need to ensure the city is run...

Hong Kong must do more to promote women, according to the city’s top female financial executives.While at the entry level the sector is filled with women, few have managed to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. As of 2018, the sector had 263,...

Green bonds – fixed income securities that raise capital for environmental initiatives – are not quite the new kid on the global financial scene.But 14 years since the first green bond was issued by the European Investment Bank, the instruments m...

The two top Democrats in New York’s state legislature said on Sunday that sexual harassment allegations levelled against Governor Andrew Cuomo by five women, most of them former aides, have undermined his ability to lead and he should resign.In cal...

South Korea will increase its contribution to the cost of US forces stationed in the country under an agreement reached with Washington, the State Department said on Sunday, easing an irritant in ties between the two allies.The agreement reflects the...

China’s foreign minister tried to put a positive spin on ties with Japan and India on Sunday, seeking to pacify the two countries about territorial disputes amid renewed US interest in the region.In response to concerns from Japan about China’s n...

At least 20 people have been killed and 600 injured after a series of powerful explosions hit a military camp in Equatorial Guinea, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said, pointing the finger at “negligent” soldiers for the blast.The TVGE channel b...

French billionaire Olivier Dassault, a politician and scion of the Dassault aircraft-making family, was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.Dassault, 69 and a father-of-three, died around 6pm local time when his helicopter crashed near the upmarke...

If there is an African country that has sought to emulate the Chinese development model, it is Ethiopia. In the capital Addis Ababa, evidence of Chinese money and influence is everywhere: roads, skyscrapers, airports and an electrified railway.But Et...

The White House on Sunday urged computer network operators to take further steps to gauge whether their systems were targeted amid a hack of Microsoft Corp’s Outlook email programme, saying a recent software patch still left serious vulnerabilities...

Before Prince Harry and Meghan’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday evening, the queen has a message of her own.Queen Elizabeth celebrated “unity” and “selfless dedication” amid challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic in...

Switzerland will ban the wearing in public of burkas, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women, and other full-face coverings, after a referendum showed a narrow majority in favour of it.According to the final count on Sunday evening, 51.21 p...

The United States will “do what’s necessary” to defend itself, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said on Sunday, days after rockets hit an Iraqi base hosting coalition troops, further escalating US-Iran tensions on Iraqi soil.US defence secretary Aus...

A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano belched out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone Sunday onto Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology...

US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Sunday designed to make it easier for Americans to vote, the White House said, as Republicans across the country seek to limit voting rights in the wake of the 2020 election.Biden’s order comes on...

China has drawn a line in the sand on its relations with the United States, saying there is no room for compromise on Hong Kong and Taiwan but other issues are up for discussion and cooperation.In his annual media conference on Sunday, Chinese Foreig...

The UK government on Sunday called for the immediate release of a British-Iranian woman after her five-year sentence for sedition ended in Iran, as a new court summons caused further uncertainty about her fate.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been ...

China is committed to living up to promises it made in the landmark investment treaty with the European Union, including over human rights issues, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday, as he also urged Brussels to walk its own way on foreign affai...

Scores of Myanmar nationals have gathered at the border with India waiting to join about 50 who have already crossed the frontier to flee the country’s coup turmoil, Indian officials said on Saturday.Myanmar authorities have meanwhile asked India t...

It once produced more than half a million airline meals each month, but caterer Gate Gourmet’s Hong Kong airport kitchen is just a shadow of its former self, notching up a record low of 83 servings one day recently.Coronavirus-related border closur...

China will launch a programme to help vaccinate its nationals abroad against the coronavirus and introduce a digital health passport for global travel, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.Wang told a news conference on the sidelines of the Nation...

Munawar Faruqi had not even started his set at the Munroe Café in Indore on January 1 when he and another stand-up comic were arrested, alongside two of the event’s organisers, for violating India’s colonial era anti-blasphemy laws. The 28-year...

Fresh signs of tensions are emerging in the East China Sea as Japan considers sending its armed forces to deal with a surge in Chinese activity near islands claimed by both countries.The China Coast Guard has expanded its presence in the contested wa...

A female employee at a petrol station in Hong Kong was left in a coma on Sunday after a Mercedes-Benz limousine collided with a car she was refuelling.According to police, the incident was reported at 10.56am at a Caltex Petrol Service Station on Tai...

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will “ignore” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's much-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey, media reported.Prince Harry and Meghan's televised conversation with the famous talk show host, which has fuelled tensions w...

Muslim and Christian residents of Mosul told Pope Francis of their lives under the brutal rule of Islamic State on Sunday as the pontiff blessed their vow to rise up from ashes, telling them that “fraternity is more durable than fratricide.”Franc...