Hong Kong police will close roads in Central starting from 2pm on New Year’s Eve ahead of a countdown event at the Chater Road pedestrian zone, featuring music and light shows to replace fireworks displays after the deadly inferno in Tai Po. Mason ...

Business boomed at a street snack stall in China in a touching show of support for its owner whose son had died from cancer, leaving the man with three small children to look after. Video clips of long queues in front of a tanghulu stall near the Sha...

In a library in the Philippines, dice rattle on the surface of a board before coming to a stop, putting one of its players straight into the path of a powerful typhoon. The teenagers huddled around the table leap into action, shouting instructions an...

The United States on Monday announced a US$2 billion pledge for UN humanitarian aid as President Donald Trump’s administration continued to slash US foreign assistance and warn United Nations agencies to “adapt, shrink or die” in a time of new ...

Hong Kong’s exports posted their sharpest increase in 22 months, rising 18.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for electrical equipment, machinery and appliances, according to data released on Monday. The value of go...

When US President Donald Trump stood outside the White House on April 2 and unveiled his punitive “Liberation Day” tariffs on most US trading partners, Asia was singled out for particularly harsh punishment. With the region accounting for seven o...

A Chinese government report into the ecosystem of the contested Scarborough Shoal has concluded the reef is in a good overall condition, but suggested that “illegal fishing and frequent intrusive activities” by the Philippines are putting it at r...

Hong Kong authorities have expedited the Northern Metropolis megaproject by setting up a non-statutory company to run a 23-hectare site in Hung Shui Kiu, while putting up the pilot area for tender. In a statement issued on Monday, the Development Bur...

The fresh prison sentence handed to disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has sharpened tensions inside Umno, with analysts warning the legal blow to the party’s former figurehead could fuel calls for a withdrawal from the coalition...

Hongkongers made 2.73 million outbound trips over the Christmas holiday period, an increase of about 11 per cent from last year, with an industry leader reporting a boost in the nightlife sector, and experts saying the food and beverage business rema...

An 82-year-old taxi driver has been acquitted by a Hong Kong court after a teenage passenger accused him of swearing and refusing to print a receipt for a midnight trip last year. Yen Ken-hoi became embroiled in the legal dispute after the 16-year-ol...

Stellantis-backed Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology has become the first Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer to receive investment from a state-owned enterprise amid the strong popularity of its affordable intelligent cars. FAW Group, mainland Chi...

Myanmar’s junta-held election will not mask the nation’s dire economic condition, experts warn, as civil war drives some of the highest inflation in Asia, power shortages hack at production and the country’s military rulers seek fast cash from ...

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump signs executive orders imposing steep tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico US President Donald Trump m...

A fire at an Indonesian retirement home killed 16 older people on Sunday evening, police said. The fire in the single-storey house in Manado in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi Province started while the residents were asleep, police said on Monday. “T...

In the Gobi Desert outside Golmud in the northwestern province of Qinghai, a row of white tanks stands tall in the open wilderness. Inside, air is compressed and cooled to -194 degrees Celsius (-317 Fahrenheit), and then it becomes liquid. When relea...

District councillors have called for more amenities for Tseung Kwan O residents, after the Hong Kong Jockey Club floated a plan last week to build its fourth public riding school in the neighbourhood. Some residents were also worried about the light ...

Online artificial intelligence-generated videos of distraught middle-aged single women regretting not getting married and having children are being used to push young people to tie the knot. Several videos made using artificial intelligence (AI) depi...

Two popular leaders have formed an alliance ahead of March parliamentary elections in Nepal that will challenge the older parties which have dominated the Himalayan nation’s politics for over three decades, party officials and analysts said on Mond...

China’s central bank has set the yuan’s daily reference rate at its strongest level in 15 months, as the currency strengthened in offshore trading and briefly broke through the closely watched seven-per-US-dollar threshold. The People’s Bank of...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese nuclear experts believe Japan could build...

People are flocking to a new boardwalk extension described as the “final piece of the puzzle” linking Hong Kong Island’s 13km (8-mile) promenade, marking the end of 16 years of planning and construction. A glass observatory deck was among the f...

Nepal is stepping up scrutiny of illegal cross-border matchmaking after authorities uncovered cases in which brokers and online intermediaries were marketing Nepali women as prospective brides for Chinese nationals, prompting increased enforcement an...

Mexican authorities ‌said on Sunday that at least 13 people were killed ‍after an Interoceanic Train carrying 250 people derailed in the southern state of Oaxaca. The Mexican Navy said the train, which derailed near the town of Nizanda, was carry...

Cheers and joy filled the air at a fundraising table tennis competition in Hong Kong, as more than 250 adults and students picked up their paddles to play with heart for a good cause. Now in its second year, the Charity Table Tennis Tournament, organ...

China is tapping the brakes on some subway expansions, including in certain affluent cities – a decision that analysts said reflects a shift from the debt-fuelled infrastructure boom of the past to a new era of fiscal discipline and investment effi...

The Yau Ma Tei section of the Central Kowloon Bypass has finally opened. That is no doubt welcome news to commuters heading west to east across Kowloon, with travel time cut from 30 minutes to just five. That is definitely something to celebrate. We ...

North Korea said on Monday it fired long-range strategic cruise missiles into the sea to test the country’s nuclear deterrence, days after it showed apparent progress in the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine. The official Korean C...

A teacher in eastern China has turned her tardy students into an online sensation after transforming their punishment into a viral dance performance. When several 15-year-old boys from Dezhou, Shandong province arrived late for class, their teacher, ...

Hong Kong authorities have distributed about 30 per cent of a HK$4.1 billion (US$528 million) fund set up for residents affected by last month’s deadly fire, along with more than 45,000 donated items. A spokeswoman for the Home and Youth Bureau sai...

Hong Kong is expected to see a rise in bond issuance across multiple currencies in 2026, driven by rising demand for non-US dollar assets amid geopolitical tensions and government initiatives to strengthen the city’s capital markets, according to i...

The People’s Liberation Army kicked off drills around Taiwan on Monday that it called “legitimate and necessary” to safeguard national unity, soon after Washington approved the largest-ever arms sale to Taiwan. Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesma...

The Philippines’ largest-ever education budget has been hailed by teachers and education advocates, but many have also warned that money alone cannot reverse years of weak learning outcomes and chronic teacher and classroom shortages. Last month, t...

US President Donald Trump is expected to ‌push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for talks ‍that will include Israel’s concerns over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. Ne...

Hong Kong’s primary residential home sales in 2026 are forecast to again reach decade-high numbers, as developers continue to clear inventory and homebuyers focus more on small, low-cost flats. Transactions next year were projected to reach about 2...

One of the biggest moments for China’s booming robotics industry this year was the catwalk performance by carmaker Xpeng’s new humanoid robot: it was so lifelike that founder He Xiaopeng had to unzip its back to prove there was no person inside. ...

Ivan Krastev is a Bulgarian political scientist best known for his work on Europe’s democratic crisis, the psychology of post-communist societies and the political legacy of 1989. He is chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, a permane...

There are matters we need to sort out quickly arising from the Tai Po fire tragedy but also systemic issues that need to be tackled if we are to avoid a repeat of the disaster. The fact is that Hong Kong faces two sorts of ageing problems: old buildi...

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he will swiftly form a new government after ‍his party won half the votes in Sunday’s election, signalling a possible end to the year-long political deadlock that has paralysed parliament and delayed key int...

Two helicopters crashed mid-air in New Jersey on Sunday, killing one person and critically injuring another, authorities said. Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11.25am. Video from th...

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were “getting a lot closer, ‌maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while acknowledging that the fate of the disputed Donbas regio...

The UK prime minister is facing criticism after he celebrated the return to Britain of a human-rights activist who was recently released from an Egyptian prison but whose past social media posts apparently contained violent and antisemitic language. ...

At least three people were killed on Sunday during Alawite protests in western Syria, health authorities said, as thousands took to the streets across the religious minority’s heartland following a deadly mosque bombing. Thousands in coastal provin...

Iran launched three domestically built observation satellites into space from Russia on Sunday, state television reported, marking a new step for Tehran’s space programme despite Western sanctions. The country maintains that its aerospace industry ...

When the MetroCard replaced the New York City subway token in 1994, the swipeable plastic card infused much-needed modernity into one of the world’s oldest and largest transit systems. Now, more than three decades later, the gold-hued fare card and...

Of all the warplanes in China’s rapidly growing air arsenal, it was an older model that sent shock waves across the region earlier this month. A rare stand-off between Chinese and Japanese fighter jets took place near the Miyako Strait northeast of...

A 5-year-old boy died after his right arm became trapped in a moving walkway at a resort in northern Japan on Sunday, local authorities said. Firefighters said they received an emergency call from the boy’s mother at about 10am saying he was trappe...

Former Hong Kong star fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai will transition to a consultant role at the Jockey Club after she is sworn in as a tourism lawmaker, her former boss has said. The retired Olympic fencing gold medallist joined the club in August 2024 ...

While US-China relations are likely to warm in 2026 and US President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy strikes a comparatively softer tone, the long-term trajectory of the two nations’ rivalry remains irreversible. Strategic competition w...

A senior cadre at Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong with a rich financial background is expected to be transferred back to the capital for a new role in a committee advising leadership on economic policies for the next five-year plan, the Post ...