Funding for China’s artificial-intelligence-related start-ups jumped nearly threefold year on year in the first quarter, as investors poured capital into large language models (LLMs) and embodied AI amid growing optimism over the country’s techno...

China criticised the United States for filing criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro, as the Trump administration stepped up pressure on the Communist-ruled Caribbean island. “The United States needs to stop wielding the big st...

Hong Kong film producer and actor Raymond Wong Pak-ming has been found guilty of sharing insider information with his sister to trade shares of an entertainment company he chaired in 2017, bringing her more than HK$1 million (US$127,650) in profit. M...

Perhaps the most fascinating and important aspects of US President Donald Trump’s jolt to the global economy have been its unintended consequences, especially the impact on relations between China and India. Two consistent aspects of Trump’s mean...

Bowing to pressure ⁠from within its ranks, the Democratic National Committee released on Thursday its long-withheld “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race – only to quickly disavow it. The report foun...

Former Malaysian economy minister Rafizi Ramli’s breakaway gamble is unlikely to bring down Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on its own, analysts say, but could still wound the ruling coalition by peeling away reformist voters who helped Pakatan Harapa...

Scientists from China and the Netherlands have created a corn protein-based biopolymer with a process inspired by spider silk that could offer a sustainable alternative to plastics based on fossil fuel. “Plant-derived biopolymers may become sustain...

The Brazilian head of a victims’ association for the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris said that justice has yet to be served in France’s worst aviation crash after a Paris appeals court found Airbus and Air France guilty of manslaughter...

On Cenang Beach, Mohamad Zaki Najmi sells jet ski rides and boat tours in Langkawi’s turquoise water: adventure activities that have powered the Malaysian island’s tourism economy for years. But costs are rising fast on the popular resort island,...

Financial news outlet Bloomberg harboured “unprecedented” malice in the publication and handling of an article about the purchase of good class bungalows in Singapore, lawyers for two Singaporean cabinet ministers alleged on Friday during closing...

The presidents of the United States and Russia visited Beijing on separate trips in May to meet with President Xi Jinping. The South China Morning Post produced extensive coverage of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s summit meetings in Beijing. Her...

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London can continue its “legitimate activity”, the UK government has said, despite political pressure after a British court found two men linked to the office guilty of spying on activists. But t...

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is expected in Brussels for crunch talks with EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic on June 29 and 30, as trade tensions between the sides threaten to reach fever pitch. Wang’s trip – confirmed by people familiar with the pl...

Paul McCartney led an all-star line-up for the final episode of The Late Show as frontman Stephen Colbert bowed out after broadcaster CBS cancelled his show as it courted US President Donald Trump. But one A-lister who eluded the comic to the end was...

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has launched a US$10 billion facility to support members affected by conflict in the Middle East, the group announced on Thursday. The Energy, Food Security and Economic Resilience Facility, sitting alo...

China’s “most devoted fraudster” has returned to public attention after mainland media revisited his case of forging hospital payment slips to keep his wife alive. Liao Dan, a former factory worker in Beijing with only a secondary school educat...

Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has charged a 62-year-old woman with allegedly offering a bribe to a Legal Aid Department clerk in an attempt to secure custody of her grandson. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Thurs...

This article was first published on May 23, 1976. Australia’s long distance swimming heroine, Linda McGill, staggered ashore at crowded Repulse Bay beach yesterday afternoon (May 22, 1976) after completing her round Hong Kong Island swim and said: ...

Hong Kong’s medical watchdog and Coroner’s Court will look into an incident in which an eight-year-old girl died two years ago after a delayed blood transfusion during surgery at a public hospital. Eddie Chau, the father of the girl, Chau Tin-yu,...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please conside...

Vietnam auctioned off two Hermes handbags owned by real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, convicted in the nation’s largest fraud case, for 14.21 billion dong (US$539,000) as efforts to claw back billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth accelerate. The ...

A leading Chinese university has given a Russian banker sanctioned by the United States a prestigious honorary academic title, soon after they signed a partnership agreement on innovative development. German (also known as Herman) Gref, CEO and chair...

China’s landmark Pinglu Canal has entered its final phase of construction and is set to begin trial operations as early as September, with a first shipping route linking the country’s heartlands to the free-trade port of Hainan, according to Chin...

A scam syndicate has been renting a bungalow in an upmarket area in Malaysia’s Johor state and using AI to carry out job scams all the way in Spain. Police uncovered their activities when they arrested a total of 35 Chinese nationals during a raid ...

Dr Evan Medeiros is the Penner family chair in Asia studies and the Cling family distinguished fellow in US-China studies at Georgetown University. He has served as the National Security Council’s director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, and later ...

A Hong Kong resident has died and four others were injured after a fire broke out late on Thursday in an old building under renovation in Jordan, prompting the evacuation of about 300 people. Police received a report at 10.49pm of a fire in a subdivi...

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When Air Force One touched down in Beijing, one of the most photographed passengers was Boeing’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, there to close a deal. Washington had come to sell aircraft. Beijing was buying something else. The last time this scen...

Former US ambassador to China Max Baucus has described the latest US-China summit as ushering in a new phase of wary “constructive stability”, with both sides focused more on preventing crises rather than building trust or meaningfully resetting ...

For years, Liu Wei was synonymous with Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings’ artificial intelligence efforts. A distinguished scientist at the Shenzhen-based company, Liu was also head of its Hunyuan team, the firm’s foundational model development...

A Chinese influencer has turned the flying sword in Chinese xianxia fantasy novels into reality by creating a specially-shaped aerial vehicle. Fan Shisan, from southwestern China’s Sichuan province, recently posted a video of himself riding a sword...

The new industrial park under the Northern Metropolis megaproject has attracted strong global interest from companies in environmental and AI sectors, its chairman has said, with plans to provide international education and accommodation facilities. ...

As robots become more advanced to carry out complex tasks, they are set to be at the forefront of the next phase of Singapore’s goal to become a world-class artificial intelligence hub. The city state hopes to position itself as a hub for “physic...

The leader of a Minnesota non-profit group was sentenced to 41 years in prison on Thursday after she was convicted last year of being the ringleader of a US$250 million ‌scheme to defraud a federally funded child nutrition programme. Aimee Bock, 45...

At least 19 people were killed at a palm plantation in northern Honduras, authorities said Thursday, as the Central American nation prepares for a resurgent wave of anti-gang militarisation. The killings took place the previous night in Rigores, in t...

The artificial intelligence boom is partially spurring investment in Asia-Pacific’s data centre properties with a record US$11.6 billion worth of capital poured into the segment in 2025, according to CBRE. In Hong Kong, while AI-related demand is u...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing – not increasing – the American military...

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody. Hundreds of activists from countries arou...

As the war in Iran disrupts global oil and chemical supplies, China’s coal-heavy energy sector is seizing an unprecedented opportunity. Dannie Peng visited the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang – one of China’s four major b...

The Iran war has baked in stagflation and starvation through big reductions in the supply of oil and fertilisers. This inflationary pressure will only increase. As inflation sucks liquidity out of financial markets and into the real economy, bond yie...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief poised for talks in Tehran. The role played by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in...

One day after the United States brought criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio portrayed Cuba as both a growing national...

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast has warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “Chinese malign influence” in a bid for a major contract in Argentina, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The April 23 letter concerns an a...

US federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernan...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had postponed the signing of a planned executive order on regulating artificial intelligence (AI), out of concern that it might undermine America’s leading position over China in the field. “We�...

The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against...

Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan has been named music director designate of the San Francisco Symphony, capping months of intense industry speculation over her next permanent posting. The orchestra announced on May 21 that Chan will officially begi...

Portuguese police on Thursday arrested the mother of two young French boys found abandoned by a main road in the south of the country, alone and crying. The boys, aged four and five, were rescued on Tuesday by a passing motorist near the resort town ...

Police fired warning shots and tear gas ⁠as part of a dispute in Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast over the burial of a suspected Ebola victim, a footballer who played for local teams, that saw protesters burn down tents for Ebola patients...

An Ankara court on Thursday annulled the 2023 leadership election of Turkey’s main opposition CHP party in a sharp escalation against the country’s embattled opposition. It is the latest in a string of moves targeting the Republican People’s Pa...