A traditional custom in northern China known as “hiding from the lanterns” requires that newly married women leave their husband’s home and avoid the groom’s family lantern on their first Lantern Festival after marriage. In China, lanterns ar...

The death toll in violence surrounding protests in Iran has risen to at least 35 people, activists said Tuesday, as the country’s theocracy acknowledged the unrest in one western province where security forces reportedly raided a hospital. The figu...

A site on northwest Lantau Island is likely to be chosen for a French aeronautical services company to build a factory that will house Hong Kong’s first aircraft dismantling business, the Post has learned. Sources on Tuesday said the site at To Kau...

Morgan Stanley upgraded Hong Kong’s property sector to “attractive”, noting that an all-round improvement in the city’s economy and a policy-driven recovery will continue to push prices higher this year. The US investment bank forecast home p...

As Japanese employers search for new ways to retain workers amid the country’s labour shortages and declining birth rate, some are embracing an unconventional addition to their benefits packages: corporate-only dating apps. The services, which allo...

Hong Kong’s innovation and technology minister has cancelled his trip to the United States, just four hours after the government announced his three-day itinerary for the visit. In a statement issued at 4.20pm on Tuesday, the government said that S...

China’s car industry is expected to stagnate this year as it tries to catch its breath after years of growth. New energy vehicles (NEVs) are likely to continue increasing their market share but growth will be much lower than in recent years, with t...

Hesai Group, the world’s largest maker of vehicle lidar sensors, has struck a partnership with US chip giant Nvidia to help develop an autonomous driving platform, as the Shanghai-based firm pushes its global expansion to serve more international m...

China has banned the export of goods with both commercial and military applications to end users linked to the Japanese military amid a protracted diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo. Effective immediately, the export of these items – known as...

Hong Kong police are searching for two suspects who allegedly assaulted a homeless man with a standing floor sign and set fire to objects at a public stairwell in the early hours of Tuesday. A security guard alerted police about a stairwell fire unde...

Washington’s abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro last week has been characterised by many – including US President Donald Trump – as an attempt to gain control over the South American nation’s oil industry. But analysts said the cri...

In the wake of last weekend’s US military action in Venezuela, the US news media got something it has seldom heard from the Trump administration: a “thank you”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited news organisations that had learned in adva...

Tai Po district councillors have urged the government to expedite rebuilding plans and offer Wang Fuk Court residents a range of rehousing options after Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, as officials pledged to weigh the pros and cons of each ...

China’s top real estate developers continue to shrink, according to industry data. The number of mainland property developers achieving annual contracted sales of at least 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) dropped to just 10 in 2025 from a peak of 4...

Chinese investment bank Citic Securities took the top position for overall investment banking fees in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, in 2025, driven by its strong business performance in bond and initial public offering (IPO) underwriting, according ...

China’s ideology chief has again called on propaganda officials to focus on the economy, as the country grapples with a slowdown, high unemployment and weak consumer demand. Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, told a national meet...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday credited Chinese start-up DeepSeek with “activating” a global shift towards open-source artificial intelligence, as he used a keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to unveil new hardware aim...

During a visit to Guangdong, China’s largest provincial-level contributor to gross domestic product, Premier Li Qiang emphasised the need for the province to continue leading the national economy, while Guangdong’s senior officials vowed “extra...

Thailand’s army said on Tuesday its Cambodian counterpart claimed fresh cross-border fire was an accident, after Bangkok accused Cambodian forces of violating a 10-day-old truce with a strike that wounded a soldier. The decades-old dispute between ...

Air China has sold part of its stake in Cathay Pacific Airways for HK$1.32 billion (US$167 million), but the Hong Kong carrier’s CEO has said the move will not affect the mainland airline’s role as a strategic shareholder. Cathay Group CEO Ronald...

Hong Kong science fiction blockbuster Back to the Past has overtaken A Guilty Conscience and The Last Dance to become the highest-grossing film in its opening week. Industry body Hong Kong Box Office Limited on Tuesday said that Back to the Past, sta...

A beauty influencer with cerebral palsy from southwestern China who paid off her family’s debt has faced accusations of faking her condition. Lin Ling, 25, who is also known online as “Glutinous Rice Cake Lin”, was born into a rural family in B...

Two-time former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was admitted to hospital on Tuesday to treat a fracture in his right hip after suffering from a fall in his home in Kuala Lumpur, his aide said. The centenarian fell around 7.30am while walkin...

China risks losing access to satellite tracking stations and other sensitive technology infrastructure in Venezuela after the United States seized control of the country’s leadership and snatched its president, Nicolas Maduro, taking him to New Yor...

Hong Kong police have arrested an off-duty officer for allegedly assaulting colleagues responding to a noise complaint in a flat. The force said on Tuesday that the 32-year-old man was apprehended on suspicion of attacking the officers who arrived at...

Hong Kong authorities have tightened requirements for future tenants of the Central Harbourfront Event Space by introducing key performance indicators (KPIs) for tenders and penalties for poor execution, with some analysts saying the move would help ...

The mild responses by America’s Asian allies over the US military strike on Venezuela stem from a desire not to “bite the hand that feeds” them, analysts have said, noting that some countries were buying time by claiming to monitor the situatio...

The Venezuelan government has sought to show its people and the world that the country is being run independently and not controlled by the United States following its stunning weekend arrest of President Nicolas Maduro. Lawmakers aligned with the ru...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Malaysia’s touris...

A woman and two teenagers bound for the United States and Canada have been arrested at Hong Kong International Airport after suspected pepper spray canisters and brass knuckles were found in their luggage. Police said on Tuesday they had received thr...

The man who went viral for allegedly refuelling a Singapore-registered car with subsidised RON95 petrol at a fuel station in Johor has come forward, Malaysian police said on Monday. Kulai Assistant Commissioner Tan Seng Lee said that the 63-year-old ...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Hong Kong will experience cooler weath...

Tesla’s deliveries in China jumped to an all-time high in December, buoyed by a buying spree before the government withdrew part of a tax incentive. But the US carmaker is still facing an uphill battle to reclaim its once-secure lead in the world�...

A blunt White House social media post following the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has drawn unexpected attention among South Koreans online, where users quickly identified the photo’s background as a South Korean airport and began spec...

Hong Kong children whose schools and parents prioritise academic success over outdoor activities have few chances to experience nature, a charity has said. Gaia Education Limited said the severity of the “nature deficit in children” in the city w...

Venezuelan Manny Reimi was queuing for Hong Kong’s Peak Tram on Saturday with his cousin and her family, whom he had not seen in 15 years, when news broke that the United States had captured Nicolas Maduro, the president of his homeland. The 37-yea...

The recent opening of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Hetao cooperation zone is a defining milestone in Hong Kong’s journey to become an international tech hub. Heralded by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu as a pivotal ...

The operator of a nuclear power plant in central Japan said on Monday its employees may have used cherry-picked data for a potential earthquake in quake-resistance tests at the plant to pass the regulatory screening for restart. The Nuclear Regulatio...

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated the user interface of its flagship chatbot by adding an advanced “thinking” feature, as its app recorded a massive 90 per cent jump in monthly active users (MAU) in December. The upgra...

As the new year unfolds, China finds itself grappling with strategic pressures fuelled by two US treaty allies at its doorstep – Japan and South Korea. In the first of a two-part series, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at how historically fraught China-Japa...

An insecticide company in Japan has attracted attention online by holding a memorial service for the insects it killed during product testing. On December 23, around 100 employees from Earth Corporation gathered at Myodoji Temple in Hyogo prefecture,...

Hongkongers displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire feel as if they are “being tossed around like a ball” after being told to leave their temporary accommodation by the end of the month, and are urging authorities to let them stay until long-term hou...

China’s robotics industry may need at least five years before humanoid models reach a similar level of acceptance to electric vehicles, according to private equity firm Hermitage Capital, the latest voice warning of a potential bubble in the sector...

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has hailed the sudden arrest of retired air force general Romeo Poquiz over inciting to sedition as within the “rule of law”, after a video surfaced of him openly urging the military chief to withdraw support f...

The recent arrest of Nicolas Maduro has inadvertently become a major advertisement for Nike tracksuits, thanks to a photo ‌posted by US President Donald Trump of the Venezuelan president in US custody. The ‍image seen by millions around the world...

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to China and Russia on Monday, declaring that the United States is rebuilding military dominance to a level so absolute that its enemies would “not dare” test it. Addressing shipyard ...

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings apologised after its artificial intelligence chatbot Yuanbao was accused of “verbally insulting” a user, fuelling online debate about the risks posed by fast-evolving generative AI tools. Yua...

Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke has started a GoFundMe account to pay back nearly US$60,000 in rent arrears and avoid eviction. He was ordered last month to pay back rent or vacate the three-bedroom bungalow in Los Angeles and his landlord sued h...

The explosions that rocked Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in the early hours of January 3, signalled the definitive collapse of the post-war international order. With the announcement that US forces had captured president Nicolas Maduro and his wife...

Denmark’s prime minister warned on Monday that any US move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years of transatlantic security links, after US President Donald Trump repeated his desire to annex the mineral-rich Arctic territory. Washington...