Hong Kong has raised its full-year economic growth forecast for 2026 to a range of 3.5 to 4.5 per cent after expansion of 4.3 per cent in the second quarter, supported by buoyant external trade and resilient domestic demand. Releasing its half-yearly...

A UN investigative report accusing Myanmar’s military of carrying out a “sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians” has muddied Min Aung Hlaing’s push for regional acceptance – but analysts say it is unlikely to derail his effor...

In a rare intervention, the US has propped up the Japanese yen. The move is seen as a bid to hold off a further rise in yields for US government bonds – amid Japan’s sell-off of US Treasuries to fund its shoring up of the yen – a rise that thre...

China should try to make sure that its new international artificial intelligence body is not seen as “naturally opposed” to the United States and its allies in case it puts off prospective members, analysts have warned. They said the World Artifi...

A teenager who fears dying young has narrowly escaped death twice this year after contracting influenza and respiratory virus infection, enduring what he described as his “most emotionally devastating breakdown”. Chen Tsz-kin, 17, was diagnosed w...

The United States’ organ transplant system has been plunged into a crisis of public trust after federal health authorities decertified a major organ procurement organisation (OPO) over allegations that organs were harvested from donors who may stil...

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a former jewellery procurement manager to six years and eight months behind bars for stealing HK$11 million (US$1.4 million) worth of diamonds from suppliers to fund his gambling habit. Mui Ka-fai, 63, pleaded guilty o...

A man who decided to burgle homes on his first visit to Singapore after finding the country “rich” was sentenced to three years and eight months’ jail on Friday. Huang Xiaozong broke into a suite at the Capella Singapore and two houses in Seran...

A Malaysian university has drawn anger over an event invitation to Abdul Razak Baginda, the former lover of a Mongolian woman whose body was blown up with military-grade explosives in one of the country’s most notorious murders. The controversy has...

A moving services manager has admitted to repeatedly molesting the 11-year-old daughter of his girlfriend in their Hong Kong home, and possessing more than 200 videos and photos he took during the seven assaults. Deputy District Judge Ivy Chui Yee-me...

For Eric Huang, a Guangdong-based healthcare entrepreneur who owns a Lamborghini Aventador and a Tesla Model S Plaid, the appeal of Chinese premium electric vehicles (EVs) has grown as their technology has caught up with his expectations. “I hold e...

China’s embassy in Wellington has rejected New Zealand’s latest security assessment as the product of “foreign interference” and a “Cold War mentality”, as tension grows in a relationship already strained by geopolitical and security conc...

Credited as a co-engineer of one of the greatest economic reforms in human history, former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died on August 12, 2026, at the age of 97. We have put together seven stories from the South China Morning Post’s coverage of Zhu�...

Online fast-fashion platform Shein believes it deserves a premium valuation comparable to that of industry peers like H&M, citing its business model and global customer base as major competitive advantages, according to internal documents seen by the...

A former wealthy Chinese student in the US transformed her life into that of a private chef after her family faced bankruptcy, establishing a business that now earns her up to US$118,600 annually. The 31-year-old woman, known by the pseudonym Chengzi...

Malaysian Formula One (F1) fans hoping to catch the sport’s one-off return to Sepang International Circuit (SIC) after almost a decade are facing a frustrating race of their own, with many complaining of confusing ticketing arrangements and broken ...

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is actively looking at adding equipment in its factories after demand for mature-node chips used alongside AI processors surged beyond expectations, according to company management. China�...

Hong Kong’s once-iconic neon signs and outdoor hawker stalls were brought back to life as hundreds flocked to Central for a glimpse of British actor Henry Cavill, who was in the city filming a new movie. Cavill, known for his roles as Superman and ...

Hong Kong is set to welcome its first Shanghai free-trade zone offshore bond, using the landmark listing to defend its status as the world’s pre-eminent offshore yuan hub, amid mounting competition from its mainland rival. Hong Kong Exchanges and C...

Hong Kong tour groups returning from Japan’s capital are seeking alternative routes to Narita Airport after a record rainstorm on Thursday disrupted transport and left thousands of travellers stranded, including Hongkongers who spent the night on t...

The top US priority now in the Iran war is no longer its nuclear programme but to bring petrol prices down for American consumers, the vice-president said on Thursday, with the treasury secretary adding that new economic punishment to wear down Tehra...

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...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Friday his country faced problems but his administration had started to resolve some of those and he believed economic growth of 6 per cent could be achieved this year. In remarks during his Independence ...

For generations, working with ancient Chinese texts has been a painstaking task. Specialists would spend years deciphering unfamiliar characters, copying manuscripts by hand, adding punctuation to texts written without it, comparing different edition...

Record rainfall left thousands of travellers ‌stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Friday morning as flooding in the surrounding area disrupted transport, knocked out power to 20,000 homes and claimed at least eight lives. More than 360mm (1 foo...

Some sailors have reportedly tried throwing themselves into the sea, basic supplies can run short and sanitation is going awry: life on America’s giant Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is increasingly difficult as the Iran war drags on. The ship �...

A husband in southeastern China has insisted on going Dutch with his wife for 40 years and even installed home surveillance cameras to monitor her; despite this, the wife wants to give their marriage another try. The couple from Fujian province sough...

Hong Kong’s life insurers could still see annual premium growth of 8 to 10 per cent over the next two years, despite a recent regulatory shift stemming from Beijing’s overseas taxation rules, according to S&P Global Ratings. Resilient demand for ...

When Beijing-based neurosurgeon Jin Shanmu pulled up a chair at his computer, he was not looking to make mathematical history. He was simply trying to crack a problem related to brain ultrasounds. Instead, the self-taught maths enthusiast, with help ...

In every civilisation, certain stories capture the psyche so profoundly that they are retold across centuries. In the West, Homer’s Odyssey is the one. Countless adaptations have emerged over millennia, inspiring literary giants from Dante Alighier...

Temperatures have dropped in Hong Kong after a streak of nine very hot days, with the city’s weather forecaster issuing the amber rainstorm warning on Friday morning. The Observatory recorded temperatures between 23 and 29 degrees Celsius (73 and 8...

A provincial propaganda department in China has warned the public against subscribing to growing conspiracy theories on history, such as those stating that Aristotle and Ancient Greece never existed. In a post on Wednesday, “Zhejiang Propaganda” ...

Hong Kong is betting big on the Northern Metropolis with a university town as a core engine. In this third of a five-part series on the city’s first five-year blueprint, we look at the talk of the town. Read part one here and part two here. Hong Ko...

Nearly 30 years after the closure of Hong Kong’s iconic Kai Tak Airport, state-owned giant China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) hopes to provide the nearby waterfront area – a narrow stretch of land that juts into Victoria Harbour – w...

South Korea is banking on moonshots in a post-AI economy to stem sluggish growth potential amid an ageing population and deepening reliance on its semiconductor exports. From quantum chips and fusion power to a lunar landing, Seoul this week unveiled...

President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to return to using steam catapults to launch planes off of aircraft carriers, acting on a long-time complaint despite opposition from many naval officers. In a presidential memorandum, Trump ordered US Defen...

Three Latin American governments that moved against Chinese commercial interests over the past year were named in a White House report on Thursday, which accused Chinese exporters of routing goods through third countries to evade US tariffs. Mexico, ...

Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty on Friday to resolve federal charges relating to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson, and prosecutors will recommend he serve life in prison, a person familiar with the matter s...

For generations, China’s brightest science and technology minds followed a well-worn path: board a Westbound flight and claim a seat at a globally renowned university. That once-reliable trajectory has fractured. Escalating US-China tech competitio...

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca defence agreement, they executed a structural overhaul of the Middle East’s security architecture. The...

⁠Bird remains were found ⁠in the engine of a Ryanair Boeing 737 NG plane where a passenger was partially sucked through a broken window shortly after take-off from Greece in July, the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. The ...

The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading towards the Middle East, according to Navy statements and open source information on the ship’s movements. This comes as reports have emerged of mental health and supply iss...

The Kennedy Centre board voted on Thursday to add US President Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the performing arts venue and move forward with a two-year closure, according to congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a trustee through her position in Congr...

A passenger train derailed on Thursday in southern England, seriously injuring two people and causing minor injuries for nine others after three carriages overturned, the British Transport Police said. The Southern Rail train from Victoria station in...

A professor managed US funding of computer science research for more than two years while failing to disclose that he was simultaneously involved in Chinese government programmes, according to previously unreported documents. The professor, Tao Li, w...

Former Hong Kong opposition leader Wu Chi-wai, who has been granted permission to enter the United Kingdom, will not be deported despite earlier complications in his attempt to settle in the country, the British immigration minister has confirmed. In...

The composite waiting time for general applicants for long- and short-term subsidised public rental housing in Hong Kong has edged up slightly to 4.8 years at the end of June, authorities have said, adding that a higher proportion of coveted homes in...

Hong Kong residents have borne the brunt of extreme weather this summer, with July rainfall exceeding the monthly norm by 23 per cent, followed by hot spells in August linked to Tropical Cyclone Dolphin’s influence. As of Thursday, the maximum temp...

Poland has ⁠arrested a ⁠Russian man who was ⁠hired by Moscow to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday. The Russian was detained on August ‌7 and had been recruited to kill a man who wa...

The F-35 and F-22 may be among the world’s most advanced stealth fighters, but they cannot hide one thing: heat. When heat-seeking missiles lock onto aircraft, fighters release flares to confuse infrared sensors and break missile tracking. But the ...