Chinese scientists have developed a plant-inspired method to convert carbon dioxide and water into valuable chemicals, such as the building blocks for petrol, by using solar energy. The process – inspired by photosynthesis, where plants harness sun...

The increasing flow of foreign travellers to China in recent years has been given a shot in the arm with many people coming to the country to seek medical treatment. The trend has attracted attention online recently after overseas bloggers shared the...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Temperatures on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island and in some rural areas could reach as low as eight degrees Celsi...

A sign hanging from a rusty shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia proclaims: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.” On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fr...

Hong Kong police have arrested a man for allegedly making a bomb hoax threat targeting Admiralty MTR station on an online war game forum. Inspector Luke Hung Sze-tat of the Central police district said on Saturday that officers had arrested a 31-year...

Many tourism entrepreneurs in Nepal have welcomed the arrest of executives accused of orchestrating fake rescue operations on the country’s Himalayan trekking trails and swindling millions of dollars from insurers. The arrests follow a nearly three...

With the Winter Olympics now under way in Milan and Cortina, Chinese brands involved in the Games are mounting an ambitious marketing push across Italy and Europe, with sportswear and sports equipment naturally taking centre stage. At the forefront i...

China is experiencing an extraordinary rise in “granfluencers,” or senior influencers, since 2019, as its growing ageing population embraces the online community. Major social media platforms in mainland China have seen a rapid increase in senior...

A “massive attack” by Russian forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has caused power outages across the country, the state grid operator said on Saturday. Russia has pressed on with its invasion of Ukraine in recent days despite the two cou...

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog plans to consult lawmakers this year about introducing mandatory data breach reporting and related penalties, the body’s chief has said. Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Ada Chung Lai-ling on Saturday revealed d...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed an interim trade agreement with the United States, saying it would bolster global growth and deepen economic ties between the two countries. The pact cuts US “reciprocal” duties on Indian pro...

Hong Kong authorities are tightening crowd control and environmental protection measures at popular hiking and camping spots ahead of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, with officials estimating that 1.43 million mainland Chinese tourists will visi...

Taiwan is moving to plug one-year conscripts directly into frontline combined-arms operations, mandating joint live-fire training with troops across all services to bolster resilience against a potential attack from Beijing. But the push is facing ch...

If you’re enjoying a cup of apple herbal tea, starting your day with tai chi, and winding down with a soothing foot bath, you may be part of an intriguing trend known as “Becoming Chinese.” Since January, a TikTok influencer has unintentionally...

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said on Saturday it had accidentally given away more than US$40 billion worth of bitcoin to customers as promotional rewards, triggering a sharp sell-off on the exchange. Bithumb apologised for the mistake...

Hashim Djojohadikusumo is smiling almost beatifically, but the trademark feistiness is unmistakable. We are sitting down for a chat amid the turmoil gripping Indonesia’s capital markets and he says emphatically that “it’s good, it’s good” t...

The Pentagon is cutting ties with Harvard University, ending all military training, fellowships and certificate programmes with the Ivy League institution. Friday’s announcement marks the latest development in the Trump administration’s prolonged...

Hong Kong’s commerce minister has condemned a court ruling to annul CK Hutchison Holdings’ right to operate two ports in the Panama Canal after summoning the country’s envoy in the city, warning the decision “seriously undermined” internati...

Hong Kong animal rights activists have called on the government to create a list of approved pets after an abandoned 85kg (187lbs) alligator snapping turtle was found eating fish in a New Territories pond. They also called on authorities to microchip...

Funerals will take place on Saturday for some of the victims of a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, that killed at least 31 people and wounded scores more during Friday prayers. The Islamic State group (Isis) has cl...

A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed 189 decomposing bodies in a building over four years and gave grieving families fake ashes was sentenced to 40 years in state prison on Friday. During the sentencing hearing, family members told Judge Eric Be...

China’s engagement with traditional US allies amid the turmoil of Donald Trump’s presidency may be a sign that it is moving away from its customary diplomatic approach in favour of a “wedge strategy” that some observers believe may help resha...

“Three Starbucks peach lattes for 84.90 yuan [US$12]”, a live streaming host tells viewers on Douyin, China’s popular short-video platform. “Three, two, one – the link is up. Don’t miss this deal, babes.” As Starbucks’ planned sale of...

A top South Korean official has hinted at a possible shift in frozen ties between the United States and North Korea, raising expectations that Washington could articulate a more open security stance on Pyongyang. In an informal meeting with South Kor...

Hong Kong introduced a public hospital fee overhaul at the start of the year in response to long-standing pressures from an ageing population, rising chronic diseases and growing expenditure. Early data from the Hospital Authority suggests the fee in...

Panama is aiming to mitigate geopolitical risks and respond to US pressure by adopting a multi-operator model for its strategic canal after nullifying the concession granted to Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison to operate two of the ports, analysts have sai...

A working Japanese couple with six children have sparked outrage by letting their oldest child, 12, babysit his younger siblings every day, leaving no time for himself. The boy’s story was exposed by the Japanese media outlet Asahi Broadcasting Tel...

In a Cambodian compound with rooms designed to look like Singaporean and Australian police offices, papers were strewn across desks and floors: the detritus of a fraud factory abandoned in haste. Among the documents were profiles of a 73-year-old Jap...

When India sealed a landmark free-trade pact with the European Union last month, Brussels’ top bureaucrat saw more than an economic deal taking shape. “India has risen and Europe is truly glad about it,” European Commission President Ursula von...

The US stock market roared back on Friday, as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge, at least for now. The S&P 500 rallied 2 per cent for its best day since May. The Dow Jones Industri...

“I would be grateful if they take me. If they don’t, there’s nothing I can do.” At first glance, the North Korean prisoner of war captured in Ukraine looked rather calm as he appeared on MBC’s investigative programme, PD Notebook. But in re...

Just days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump held a two-hour phone call aimed at stabilising bilateral ties, the US confirmed it would play an active role at this year’s first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) seni...

Jeffrey Epstein’s sphere of influence among businessmen, politicians and academics also reached India, with the disgraced financier spending years cultivating a relationship with a scion of the nation’s wealthiest family, according to a trove of ...

Across Europe, demand for Chinese goods is soaring as consumers seek quality products at a lower cost. Some goods – particularly electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels – have been shipped from China at a large enough scale that the contine...

For the India-China-US triangle, the new US-India trade deal, announced with Trumpian flourish on social media on Monday, has potentially significant economic, geopolitical and strategic implications. US President Donald Trump’s post, which came af...

Canada and France, which both oppose US President Donald Trump’s claim to Greenland, opened consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Friday, in a show of support for the local government. Since returning to the White House last ...

West Wing and Field of Dreams actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted by a grand jury on four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child, a New Mexico prosecutor announced on Friday. The allegations are tied to Busfield’s work as a director on...

The United States accused China on Friday of failing to disclose a 2020 nuclear test, violating what a US official suggested was an understanding involving a 1996 nuclear test ban treaty that both countries signed but neither ratified. This came as W...

The US has arrested a person suspected of ‍playing a central role in the 2012 attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Bondi said Zubayar al-Bakoush has been ⁠extradited to the United States and will ...

A one-year-old girl may have suffered food poisoning after consuming Nestlé infant milk formula, Hong Kong authorities have said, while revealing they have received about 50 reports of children feeling unwell amid a growing contamination scare. The ...

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit said on Friday she “deeply regretted” her friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the embarrassment it has caused the royal family. A commoner who married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, Me...

Tesla has begun operating a China-focused artificial intelligence training centre to enhance its cars’ self-driving capabilities in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, following Beijing’s deregulation of the technology. Grace Tao,...

China has promised to send more aid to Cuba and deepen cooperation with Uruguay as it reaches out to its Latin American allies to fend off renewed American interest in the region. Cuba became the second Latin American country to send a high-ranking o...

Hong Kong authorities have proposed requiring the Medical Council to set a time frame for handling complaints, following a public backlash over a 15-year delay to an inquiry into an alleged medical blunder that left a child permanently disabled. The ...

Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman over Tehran’s nuclear programme on Friday, months after America bombed Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and just weeks following nationwide protests that convulsed the Islamic Republic. Iran�...

Hong Kong’s CLP Power said it was investigating a voltage dip in the New Territories that left dozens of residents trapped in lifts on Friday evening. More than 50 reports of people trapped in lifts were received by the Fire Services Department bet...

Adidas has apologised and said it will conduct a comprehensive review of its fitting rooms to better protect customer privacy, after a woman complained that a staff member and other patrons opened the curtain while she was inside one at a store in Ho...

China’s market regulator has penalised several companies for posing as DeepSeek and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to defraud users, in its latest crackdown on unfair competition in the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector. The State Administration for ...

London has cemented its role as a leading offshore hub for China’s yuan, according to a new financial cooperation agreement that also aims to ease the cross-listing of firms in each other’s markets. This emerged from the first meeting of the UK-C...

Chinese scientists and engineers are developing a smart, ultra-small hypersonic glide missile that can be fired from an 80mm (3.4-inch) anti-aircraft gun. Upon leaving the barrel, the missile reaches a speed close to Mach 6, far faster than a convent...