After two wars in the space of a year, diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme has come back to much the same place it was before the fighting began. The memorandum of understanding signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, M...

The Group of Seven nations this week agreed to pare their reliance on China for vital raw materials, while European leaders struggled to reach a consensus on how to respond to a flood of low-cost Chinese imports. No single country should supply more ...

Hong Kong actor and singer Eason Chan bought a HK$182.53 million (US$23.29 million) property in the city’s Southern district, according to official records, joining a list of the rich and famous who have recently snapped up luxury homes. Chan, whos...

A mainland Chinese research vessel has conducted a marine environmental survey in waters east of Taiwan, the latest sign of Beijing’s bid to reinforce its jurisdictional claims in the area following Japanese-Philippine maritime boundary talks. The ...

As China’s relationship with African countries has deepened, the country’s influence is spreading into more areas. In the first of a series of articles, Jevans Nyabiage explores how a drive to expand Chinese language education in Africa is being ...

Lebanon said 18 people were killed on Friday in Israeli air strikes in the south, while Israel’s military reported its first soldiers killed there since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. Israel had sai...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong enjoyed a few sunny spells on the Tuen Ng Festival, just a day after the city issued its top-tier b...

Filipinos are losing faith in the news faster than audiences almost anywhere else in the world, as analysts attribute the decline to years of sustained attacks on the Philippine media industry and the growing reach of influence operations on social m...

The sportswear brand Lululemon has apologised and withdrawn its latest marketing video in China because of a controversy surrounding a big Japanese drum and the Great Wall. The video was designed to promote a yoga-themed event the brand held on the w...

Hong Kong’s welfare minister has defended the government’s earlier decision to drop the poverty line as an indicator for allocating assistance, saying it was a limited “statistical concept” that failed to identify needy groups beyond those wi...

Visitors to the Acropolis can now see the Parthenon’s western side looking whole for the first time in about 220 years. Officially unveiled Thursday, restorers have slotted two new marble blocks into long-empty gaps high on the temple’s western e...

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...

Drumming, powerful paddling and the cheers of thousands of competitors and revellers electrified the atmosphere along Hong Kong’s shores on Friday as dragon boat races went ahead during the Tuen Ng Festival despite unsettled weather. Just a day aft...

European Union national leaders have asked Brussels to come up with new trade instruments to deal with the economic threat posed by China, following a rare summit debate about Beijing late on Thursday night. After a two-hour discussion, the EU’s ex...

Ghost nets and plastic pollution plague Indonesia’s Anambas Islands, harming marine life and exposing the gap between regional pledges and enforcement. This environmental crisis is further worsened by rapidly surging growth-driven consumption, camp...

Malaysian police arrested 58 people and seized more than half a million ringgit (US$124,000) in illicit proceeds in a World Cup gambling sweep as authorities in Southeast Asia crack down on illegal football betting during the tournament. Malaysia, wh...

Foreign trawlers slip into waters off the Malaysian state of Terengganu under cover of darkness, local fishermen say, working near Pulau Redang and Pulau Bidong before leaving by dawn to avoid detection. The incursions have become a recurring problem...

Labour mayor Andy Burnham cleared a path on Friday to ousting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, potentially ushering in a new bout of political instability, by decisively winning a parliamentary seat in northern England. Burnham, the Greater Manch...

Plans for US Vice-President J.D. Vance to travel to Switzerland for a new round of talks with Iran have been delayed, according to the White House. In a statement on Thursday, the White House said the arrangements for the “technical talks” had no...

Yusran first learned of the danger facing his teenage cousin, Elmi Febrianti, at an Indonesian tourist attraction in South Sulawesi when he received a frantic phone call from a family member. Elmi, a 17-year-old Indonesian student, had been at a popu...

Hong Kong homebuyers showed interest in 130 flats put on sale by developers on Thursday evening, but the pace of buying was more measured after an interest-rate increase later this year became more likely. Agents said 30 of the 75 units put on sale a...

A Hong Kong surgeon who operated on the wrong organ of an elderly patient had shown “confirmation bias” in identifying structures in the abdominal cavity, an investigation into the blunder has found, prompting a former lawmaker to call for his di...

As a cultural strategist, my work takes me across the region as I explore new markets, mine local insights and connect with new consumers. Most recently I was in Seoul, a city voted for four consecutive years by millennial and Gen Z readers of a US-b...

Nie Huihua, a professor of economics at Renmin University, discusses how an effective understanding of China’s development requires a shift from Western-centric frameworks to an integrated perspective that recognises how formal institutions, inform...

South Korean police have taken the rare step of placing three 12-year-old boys in juvenile facilities after they allegedly stole cars and drove without licences in two separate incidents within a week, underscoring growing concern over serious offenc...

Using a few mirrors, solar panels and a microwave transmitter, Fan Guanheng and his team can send power over 100 metres (330 feet) through the air. But they are dreaming much bigger – 36,000km (23,460 miles) bigger. The team at Xidian University in...

An artificial intelligence model recently deployed at the Hong Kong Observatory and mainland China’s National Meteorological Centre can solve one of the toughest challenges in weather forecasting: predicting when a typhoon will rapidly intensify. L...

A Chinese health centre scammed more than 100 elderly people out of a total of over 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) by putting soy sauce in an intestinal cleansing liquid to dupe them into thinking they had toxins in their bodies. The Beijing police...

In the first of a two-part series tracing the new trends of illegal betting in Hong Kong amid excitement over the World Cup 2026, Edith Lin looks at how social media has become a new channel pushing the youth to engage in unlawful bookmaking activiti...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 10km (6 miles) from the border. The remarks were his first comment since the United States and Iran signed ...

A recent survey in Japan and South Korea has revealed that strategic elites in both countries remain sceptical about developing nuclear weapons. However, should one of the two countries take the lead in acquiring nuclear weapons, support for such a m...

Cuban lawmakers on Thursday adopted nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade. In a landmark speech to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero unve...

A top US trade official took a veiled swipe at China on Thursday for a range of unfair trade practices, but also criticised the United States for being asleep at the wheel for far too long. “They subsidised, they dumped, they erected regulatory bar...

A China-led team of researchers has developed a powerful brain implant electrode array that is as soft as brain tissue, thinner than a strand of hair and more durable than anything before it. In animal trials, a new flexible brain implant recorded ne...

Alex Doran, a 28-year-old corporate strategist, is cheering for the US national team and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its initial win against Paraguay last week, while acknowledging that his team is unlikely to go all the way. While he doe...

Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijing’s 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation exercise has just started. But what is the nation’s 15th five-year ...

Vice-President J.D. Vance went on the offensive on Thursday to defend the “win-win” US-Iran agreement as critics slammed its vague provisions, even as others welcomed the apparent end to an expensive and unpopular war, no matter how potentially f...

An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May ...

Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One? White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 7...

⁠SpaceX’s bankers are preparing to meet investors as early as next week to discuss a bond offering of at least US$20 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said ‌on Thursday, as Elon Musk’s newly public company seeks funding for an amb...

A group linked to al-Qaeda claimed Thursday’s attack on the airport of Niger’s capital, Niamey, that killed at least 11 soldiers and two civilians, six months after other jihadists staged a large assault on the sensitive site. Twenty-two attacker...

The death of a young tourist who jumped from a runaway horse carriage in Central Park has intensified calls to ban the old-time attraction from one of New York City’s most recognisable destinations. Romanch Mahajan, 18, died after he got off the fo...

A man has ⁠been arrested ⁠on suspicion of attempted murder ⁠after a three-year-old boy ended up in a crocodile enclosure at a zoo in central England on Thursday, resulting in him sustaining ‌critical injuries, police said. Cambridgeshire Poli...

All living US ex-presidents – with the notable absence of current White House occupant Donald Trump – joined a star-studded line-up on Thursday for the opening of Barack Obama’s presidential centre in Chicago. Obama, 64, struck his trademark ho...

US President Donald Trump is not expected to have a phone call with Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te any time soon, despite saying earlier that he would be open to speaking with the person “running” the island. Two people familiar with the matter sa...

Hong Kong property tycoon Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has said he is “very optimistic about the future of China” due to its “stability” as he received the Game Changer Award from the Asia Society for his contributions to the country’s development...

North Korea’s Kim ⁠Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, condemned a G7 call for the country’s denuclearisation as a violation of its constitution and an infringement of ‌sovereignty, state media KCNA said on Thursday. Kim said ...

A US$300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran has emerged as a flashpoint in a newly reached ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran, raising fresh questions over who will ultimately bear the cost. Outlined in a 14-point memorandum of under...

A Vietnamese police operation rescued about 400 pet cats destined for the dinner plate, uncovering a nationwide racket fuelling the country’s rampant pet meat trade that uses a criminal corridor running from the south to the north. Hundreds of desp...

Trials are under way in China to roll out autonomous navigation and other smart shipping solutions to slash logistics costs ahead of the opening of the landmark Pinglu Canal, which will link its landlocked southwestern regions to Southeast Asia to sp...