The first person jailed for possessing zip ties during Hong Kong’s civil unrest almost two years ago has failed to overturn his conviction, with an appellate court finding that the everyday item could be an “instrument fit for unlawful purposes�...

Mainland Chinese authorities and Hong Kong business leaders have teamed up to launch a new commercial services centre in Guangdong province.Sixteen local business, professional and policy research groups – the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce ...

Iraq said on Monday it has detained a top leader of Islamic State and a long-time al-Qaeda operative in a cross-border operation.Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi tweeted the news, identifying the man as Sami Jasim, who oversees Islamic State�...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak on Tuesday via video link at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) summit, according to China’s foreign ministry.The COP15 conference, which started on Monday, is taking place in the southwestern...

The exclusive right of male indigenous villagers to build three-storey homes in space-starved Hong Kong is not protected by the city’s mini-constitution, lawyers for the “king of judicial reviews” have argued in a landmark case at the top court...

Happy Monday!I’m Amber Wang, a reporter at the South China Morning Post who focuses on diplomacy and defence.As part of a new series, every Monday we will be catching you up on the biggest news items from the previous week, and what is happening in...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s office on Monday congratulated journalist Maria Ressa for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, calling it “a victory for a Filipina” for which it was happy to see.Ressa, founder of Philippine news site Rappler, ...

The United States and Britain warned their citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan, days after dozens were killed at a mosque in an attack claimed by Islamic State.The Taliban, which seized power in August and declared an Islamic emirate, i...

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has urged officials to overcome a “grim situation” facing the country and make stronger efforts to improve the food and living conditions of his people.State media on Monday did not report any comments by Kim to...

Authorities across the border have arrested two mainland Chinese men and seized a speedboat in connection with the death of a Hong Kong police officer killed during a maritime anti-smuggling operation last month.The men, aged 31 and 35, were arrested...

Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, was in hospital on Monday for a check-up related to a previously undisclosed operation, his spokesman said.“Mr Tung Chee-hwa underwent an operation at Queen Mary Hospital last month and it went we...

Although the general election is three years away, some observers argue that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made his pitch for another term: clean water in every Indian home.Even 75 years after independence, millions of women have to spend ...

China has accused India of making unreasonable demands in their latest round of talks as the two neighbours continued to blame each other for the latest flashpoints on their disputed border.India rejected the accusation, saying its suggestions to imp...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has said it will issue a typhoon warning by Monday night, as a second major s...

Sydney’s cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen the country.Some pubs in Sydney, Australia’s...

When art educator Dahlia Osman was a child, she would visit her grandparents during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at a house in a sprawling estate near Singapore’s Botanic Gardens.Known as Tyersall Park, the estate, which belongs to the royal f...

Airbus has raised the alarm over the standstill in Asian air travel that continues to hobble pandemic-battered airlines, with the European planemaker saying it is struggling to restructure deals for a large number of aircraft ordered by the region’...

Riot police clashed with protesters on Sunday during a rally by the Indigenous Mapuche community, leaving 18 people injured and 10 arrested, authorities said.About a thousand activists marched in the centre of Santiago, many wearing ponchos and tradi...

Chinese infrastructure-for-minerals deals across Africa are coming under growing scrutiny amid concerns that the promised benefits have failed to materialise.In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Felix Tshisekedi recently ordered renegot...

Thousands of people across Poland showed against a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court and for their country to remain in the European Union.In Warsaw, demonstrators gathered in the Castle Square. They waved Polish and EU flags, shouting...

The US has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country’s new Taliban rulers, the Taliban said.The statement came Sunday, at t...

At least five people were killed on Sunday in a car bombing that targeted a convoy of government officials in war-torn Yemen’s southern city of Aden, a security source said.Agriculture Minister Salem al-Socotri and Aden's governor, Ahmed Lamlas, s...

Paul McCartney has revisited the break-up of The Beatles, flatly disputing the suggestion that he was responsible for the group’s demise.Speaking on an episode of BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life that is scheduled for broadcast on October 23, McC...

The UAE authorities seized half a tonne of cocaine worth more than US$136 million, Dubai police said on Sunday, in one of the biggest drug busts in the Gulf country.Officers “recently thwarted a smuggling attempt of 500kg of pure cocaine into the c...

A US Navy nuclear engineer with access to military secrets has been charged with trying to pass information about the design of American nuclear-powered submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who turned out ...

Iraqis voted on Sunday in parliamentary elections held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement.But the voting was marked by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the young act...

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Meredith McGraw on politico.com on October 9, 2021.Nine months ago, Republicans were questioning Donald Trump’s place as the lead fixture of their party. ...

What should have been a 12-hour flight from Britain to Hong Kong turned into a 36-hour ordeal for about 100 passengers stuck aboard a British Airways plane that was forced to divert to Manila due to Tropical Storm Lionrock.Flight BA031 took off from ...

George Clooney on Sunday ruled out having a second career in politics, saying he would rather have a “nice life” and is looking to reduce his workload.Nevertheless, the 60-year-old actor and director waded into politics during an interview with t...

Child abuse cases in Hong Kong have risen an alarming 70 per cent in the first eight months of the year, while the number of sexual assaults are also climbing as the pandemic levels off.Police said that about 30 per cent of the 231 indecent assaults ...

The latest US effort to challenge China’s expanding global footprint will take place on Wednesday when Washington is expected to return to the United Nations Human Rights Council at a time when Beijing is working overtime to blunt criticism over it...

Hong Kong’s main provider of public housing should be made to distribute support payments from its own budget to residents waiting years for subsidised flats in a bid to encourage an acceleration of its building programme, according to the city’s...

The Czech Republic was plunged into uncertainty on Sunday as President Milos Zeman was rushed to hospital a day after his ally, populist billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, narrowly lost an election.The president, who plays a critical role in no...

At least five people are dead and 120,000 people displaced after days of heavy downpours led to floods and landslides in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi.The largely arid province has reported more than five times its usual rainfall since the ...

A planned new urban centre along the border with mainland China will become the second great economic engine of Hong Kong, complementing the financial district that has historically defined the city’s identity, the financial chief has said.Having o...

Chinese state media has denied reports that border troops had been detained by the Indian army but said a routine patrol had been “unreasonably obstructed” late last month.The two sides are separated by the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they h...

Why is China in the midst of a critical power crunch?China experiences power shortages from time to time, and these are often the result of a conflict between market-oriented coal prices and government-controlled electricity rates.On January 1, 2020,...

Indomie has reinforced its status as Indonesia’s most-loved export product, after being the only brand mentioned twice in New York Magazine’s latest rankings of the world’s best instant noodles.The list saw a group of US food writers and chefs ...

Sixteen people were killed after an aircraft carrying parachutists crashed in central Russia on Sunday, the emergencies ministry said.The L-410 plane carrying 22 people crashed around 9.23am (local time) near the town of Menzelinsk in the republic of...

Sydney was set to reopen after months in lockdown, officials said on Sunday, with businesses readying themselves to welcome fully vaccinated residents from Monday.New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported 477 new coronavirus cases ...

Dolce & Gabbana plans to remain independent to preserve its creative freedom, even as the Italian fashion house claws back sales lost to the coronavirus pandemic and a bungled advertising campaign in China.The privately held label is a favourite of i...

Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities need to agree on the specific circumstances that will trigger the suspension of quarantine-free travel in the negotiations for reopening the border, the city’s leader has said.Chief Executive Carrie Lam Ch...

The US should stop drawing on its 007-style cold war playbook and sit down with China to talk about “recoupling” the two economies, according to China’s top diplomat in Washington.Chinese ambassador Qin Gang made the call after the US Central I...

Malaysia will end a ban on interstate movement and relax outbound international travel for vaccinated residents starting Monday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, in a major reopening milestone as the country’s adult Covid-19 vaccination rat...

Suma* turns the mustard-yellow sleeve inside-out, straightens the creases, and places it neatly on top of a pile. Next to it are two other piles – one for necks, and another for body pieces.Sitting cross-legged on a floor mat, the 14-year-old works...

Hong Kong’s police chief has said the force will enhance its cyber-intelligence capabilities to detect anyone committing seditious acts, as he warned of the potential for violent elements of the anti-government movement to shift their operations un...

China’s consulate in Los Angeles has warned Chinese students of security risks at United States borders after a number were “interrogated repeatedly” at the city’s airport.“The consulate general in Los Angeles reminds students studying abro...

Hong Kong’s leader has brushed aside suggestions that Beijing’s officials in the city are forming a “second governing team”, after the liaison office vowed to make its public outreach campaign a regular event.Instead, Chief Executive Carrie L...

Abdul Qadeer Khan, a controversial figure revered as the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb”, has died at 85, authorities said on Sunday, having been hospitalised with Covid-19.The atomic scientist was hailed as a national hero for transforming...

Taiwan’s authorities have been warned some military bases are at greater risk of attack after the People’s Liberation Army sent a record number of warplanes to test the island’s air defences earlier this month.Analysing the recent spike in PLA ...