The founder of China’s leading supermarket chain, Pangdonglai, has won admiration for wading into icy water to save a man trapped in a car. The drama unfolded on January 21, when Yu Donglai and his friends were driving several SUVs past the banks o...

Israeli fire in Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians, most of them women and children, hospital officials said on Wednesday. Israel said its strikes came after militants fired on its soldiers, seriously wounding one. Seven women and five children wer...

Nuclear talks between the United States and Iran are expected to take place in Oman ‍on Friday, a regional diplomat said, with a possible confrontation looming as US President Donald Trump builds up forces in the Middle East. Trump has warned that ...

China said Panama risks paying a “hefty political and economic price” following the cancellation of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings’ contract to operate two major ports serving the Panama Canal. “The Panamanian authorities’ insistence...

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit China later this year, as tensions with the United States prompt more European countries to rethink ties with Beijing. A source familiar with the talks said the two sides were discussing details of...

When Malaysian civil engineering contractor BBSB International listed in Hong Kong last month, its offering was oversubscribed by a factor of nearly 11,000, and its shares rose more than fivefold from their offer price of HK$0.60 on the morning of th...

Hong Kong police intensified their crackdown on the illegal use of electric bicycles and scooters in 2025, leading to a 17 per cent jump in arrests to 760, according to transport authorities. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan on Wednes...

Foreign tourists mistaking a funeral for an open air food court were given a taste of Thai hospitality when the hosts served them a meal anyway. In two posts uploaded on social media, Charantorn Chaloemkiad, an ethnic Chinese Thai who was at his fami...

China is seizing its role as the chair and host of Apec 2026 to position itself as a staunch defender of multilateralism, according to analysts, and they see the platform being used to elevate the nation’s economic governance initiatives to a globa...

Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of property buyers under Malaysia’s revamped “My Second Home” (MM2H) programme, the country’s tourism minister said on Wednesday, while cautioning against politicising the issue. Tourism, Arts...

The handbag she carries is sold out, her pink pen has gone viral and even her favourite snacks are in hot demand: Japan’s 64-year-old leader Sanae Takaichi has sparked an unlikely youth-led craze that could propel her to a big election win. Polls s...

Tibet’s exploitable solar, wind and hydropower resources alone could theoretically meet all of China’s energy needs, government survey data suggests. According to researchers from the China Society for Hydropower Engineering and the state-owned P...

We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s flying car makers aim for ...

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament on Wednesday that his government had not agreed to hand over any land to neighbouring Indonesia, calling claims of a large territorial concession “not true” and “a lie”. The row erupte...

Beijing has recently targeted tax incentives in telecoms and other select industries after fiscal revenue dropped sharply in late 2025, fuelling market speculation of similar, larger-scale moves and triggering volatility. The South China Morning Post...

Hong Kong’s food safety watchdog has recalled a batch of Aptamil powdered infant milk formula over concerns it may be contaminated with a toxin found in similar products. The Centre for Food Safety said on Tuesday evening that a local retailer sold...

A woman in northwestern China forgot to turn off the tap of her water heater after bathing, causing an hours-long leak that turned her residential community into an outdoor skating rink. The woman, known as Wang, released a video on social media on J...

A disbanded alliance behind Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square vigil had only intended to promote democracy and greater political freedom when it advocated the abolition of the mainland’s one-party rule, a defence lawyer has said in a high-profile nati...

Lockheed Martin expects to have around 300 of its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets operating in the Asia-Pacific by 2035, one of the US aerospace giant’s senior executives said at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday. Steve Sheehy, aeronautics vice-p...

Hong Kong education authorities have expressed concern over reports that two boys and a girl from a secondary school allegedly sneaked out of their hotel to drink alcohol and rented another room overnight during a mainland China exchange tour. The Ed...

Hong Kong lawmakers have called a new government proposal to allow up to 1,000 restaurants to welcome dogs a “good step forward”, with one legislator saying the measure could be a “test case” for the pet economy. Agriculture and fisheries sec...

Tencent Holdings’ aggressive red-packet blitz to promote its artificial intelligence chatbot Yuanbao ran into a roadblock on Wednesday from the company’s own super app WeChat, dealing a blow to a US$144 million effort to acquire users for the eme...

A proposal to update a nearly 50-year-old law requiring individuals to disclose their political activities in the interest of national security has gained steam amid allegations of the rise of “Filipino trolls” espousing pro-Beijing content. Anto...

Chinese companies are mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence in their own way and should not be judged through a Western lens, according to Chinese industry insiders. The comments come ahead of what is expected to be a busy month for Chinese...

A year after Vietnam elevated its relations with Washington to the highest diplomatic level, an internal document shows its military was taking steps to prepare for a possible American “war of aggression” and considered the United States a “bel...

Tesla has spearheaded a new round of low-interest, long-term loans to spur electric vehicle (EV) sales in mainland China, prompting domestic rivals such as Nio and Xpeng to follow suit in a cutthroat market grappling with raw-material inflation. Howe...

Nasa’s long-awaited moon shot with astronauts is off until at least March because of hydrogen fuel leaks that marred the dress rehearsal of its giant new rocket. It was the same problem that delayed the Space Launch System rocket’s debut three ye...

With the number of deaths during the current severe winter season in Japan expected to rise, environmental and tourism experts have warned of greater risks to lives and property arising from unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change. Parts...

Passersby stopped Thailand’s former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva every now and again to ask for selfies ‌as the salt-and-pepper-haired leader walked through a bustling market in Bangkok, campaigning for general elections on Sunday. “Good to...

The White House’s top trade official has accused Beijing of “weaponising” its dominance in critical minerals, pledging that the US will use pricing, tariffs, and industrial policy to ensure its entire critical minerals supply chain is in the ha...

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late long-time ruler, was killed on Tuesday by gunmen who stormed his home in western Libya’s Zintan, his French lawyer Marcel Ceccaldi said. “He was killed today at 2pm ... in Zintan in his home by a f...

Hong Kong was shaken last week by a 51 million yen (US$327,560) robbery after two staff members from a Japanese currency exchange company reported that their cash was stolen outside a money changer in Sheung Wan. The two Japanese men told officers th...

An advanced stealth attack drone may have been photographed on the Chinese navy’s amphibious assault ship Sichuan, possibly marking another step towards the commissioning of the Type 076 naval vessel that is expected to play a key role in the Taiwa...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears set for a landslide victory in a coming election and is expected to maintain her stoic stance on China but without escalating tensions further, with observers noting Beijing would still be unlikely to en...

Malaysia’s state-owned firm Petronas is set to sign a liquefied natural gas supply deal with QatarEnergy as the Southeast Asian nation seeks more supplies of the super-chilled fuel, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Petroliam Nasio...

An angry father in China smashed up his home and kicked the door of his daughter’s room because she used tissues and not a towel to dry her hair. The father’s behaviour was exposed online by his wife on January 26, sparking public outrage after i...

Travellers in Hong Kong can now book door-to-door limousine rides to Macau through Uber, with analysts expecting the new service – which costs up to HK$3,500 (US$448) per trip – to appeal beyond well-heeled customers. Analysts said the new servic...

A profound energy transformation is reshaping Shanxi, China’s traditional coal heartland, where renewable power capacity has officially surpassed coal-fired generation, marking a historic turning point for one of the nation’s most carbon-intensiv...

Indonesia will press on with reforms of its capital markets and go after market manipulators with the full force of the law well ahead of a May deadline set by leading index MSCI, the country’s top economic minister, Airlangga Hartarto, has vowed. ...

A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coastguard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios has killed at least 15 people, the coastguard said late on Tuesday, while a search and rescue operation involving patrol boa...

Beijing’s bold move to remove top generals accused of corruption reflects its strategic assessment that overhauling the armed forces is more urgent, and that the issue of Taiwan can wait, according to military analysts. The investigation into China...

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and US President Donald Trump appeared to bury the hatchet on Tuesday, after a year of sparring that culminated in threats by Trump to topple the left-wing leader like in Venezuela. “My impression of the meeting a ...

Now we know why they didn’t want to release the Epstein files. It’s not just about implicating US President Donald Trump, who was a long-time close friend of the infamous paedophile and sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. Rather, they basically impl...

US President Donald Trump signed a roughly US$1.2 trillion government funding bill Tuesday that ends the partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend and sets the stage for an intense debate in Congress over Homeland Security funding. The pre...

The first husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release on Tuesday. William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Jill Biden from ...

A US Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, US Central Command said on Tuesday, threatening to ramp up tensions as the Trump administration warns of possible milit...

Nato said on Tuesday that military planning has started for a new mission to bolster security in the Arctic, after US President Donald Trump made protecting the region central to his demands for Greenland. “Planning is under way for a Nato enhanced...

The Walt Disney Company announced on Tuesday that Josh D’Amaro, head of its theme parks division, will replace Bob Iger as chief executive when the entertainment titan steps down in March. D’Amaro, 54, will take the helm on March 18 following a u...

A 14-year-old school student stabbed an art teacher in southern France on Tuesday, leaving the 60-year-old in critical condition, a prosecutor said. The pupil stabbed the teacher at least three times and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of atte...

Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison has launched arbitration proceedings to challenge a Panama court ruling that nullified its right to operate two ports at the country’s canal, hours after Beijing warned that the Central American nation would pay a heavy p...