Three years after its maiden commercial flight as China’s flagship civilian airliner, the C919 is entering a pivotal maintenance phase, with jets across the series being progressively grounded for rigorous inspections. The results of these safety-f...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr did not dwell on warships or water cannons when he rose to speak at the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Friday. Instead, he signalled a new strategy in broaching the topic of the South China Sea:...

A Hong Kong court has issued an arrest warrant for a British tourist who allegedly jumped bail after being charged with vandalising self-check-in kiosks at the city’s airport earlier this year. Youcef Bennoui, 35, failed to appear at West Kowloon C...

Why do some governments consistently turn long-term goals into visible results while others struggle to move beyond policy announcements? The answer often lies not in ideology and planning but in governance: the ability to identify priorities, coordi...

Hong Kong authorities will tighten the regulations governing a labour importation scheme by introducing a two-tier vetting system and raising the maximum penalty for non-compliant employers, with the new arrangements taking effect on Tuesday. Followi...

By many historical accounts, the Ming dynasty’s doom was sealed when Li Zicheng, the leader of a peasant rebel army, invaded Beijing in 1644. Less than 24 hours after the rebel forces breached Beijing’s inner defences, Chongzhen, the Ming dynasty...

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has urged hotels and online booking platforms to clearly outline their responsibilities in cases of reservation changes or refunds, after general complaints reached up to 1,050 annually over the past three years. The C...

A Tai Po villa serving as a new shelter for distressed Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong is ready but must receive the green light from local authorities before it can open, with the Philippines’ top labour minister saying the facility is bigg...

A stone’s throw from the barbed wire and minefields that separate the two Koreas, thousands gathered for a music festival this weekend to sing about peace in a place synonymous with conflict. The DMZ Peace Train Music Festival, named after the demi...

The stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of domestic violence and other crimes and sentenced to four years in prison, an Oslo court ruled on Monday. Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, who joined the royal fa...

A Mexican man who led an engineering guild has apologised after losing his position over a video showing him making a racist gesture at a South Korean fan during a World Cup match in Guadalajara. Ulises Fernando Bernal Miramontes came under fire afte...

For much of Malaysia’s post-independence history, Malay voters largely faced a binary choice: Umno, the oldest Malay nationalist political party that governed the country for more than six decades until 2018, or the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic P...

Hong Kong developer Lai Sun Development, chaired by businessman Peter Lam Kin-ngok, who also chairs the city’s Tourism Board, has launched an exchange offer for its outstanding US$493 million worth of 5 per cent guaranteed notes due July 2026, in a...

Police shot and killed an Australian child in eastern Pakistan, authorities said, with Canberra calling on Monday for an investigation into the incident that also wounded two of the girl’s family members. Police in Pakistan’s most populous easter...

The United States, Iran and their mediator Pakistan each announced on Sunday that Washington and Tehran had reached an agreement intended to end the conflict between them that has lasted more than 100 days. Writing on social media on Sunday, US Presi...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory is considering whether to issue a red rainstorm warning, less than two hours after ...

A Chinese man climbed out of his 27th-floor flat after eating self-cooked jianshouqing mushrooms at home and having hallucinations. The man, surnamed Xue, from southwestern China’s Yunnan province, said he believed his family was inviting him to �...

A 21-year-old woman who died in dramatic fashion, when two rope jumping instructors threw her from a bridge without first harnessing her to security equipment, was buried on Sunday in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was...

Hong Kong plans to publish its first “strategic, forward-looking and operable” five-year blueprint in the third quarter of this year, the city’s constitutional affairs chief has said, as authorities began a public consultation while rejecting c...

The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Gaza war has surpassed 73,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, as Israeli military operations continue despite a stalled and fragile ceasefire in place since October. Israel says it is targeting Hamas...

Complaints against Hong Kong claw machine operators have skyrocketed by more than 760 per cent over the past three years, driven by anger over misleading displays, rigged settings and poor-quality prizes, the city’s consumer watchdog has said. Figu...

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. 5. How to say ‘tomato sauce’ in Cantonese? Miss ...

Starbucks stores across South Korea will close for half a day next week for staff to attend a history lesson following a promotional campaign gone awry, the coffee giant said on Monday. Starbucks Korea, with more than 2,000 stores nationwide, found i...

Four people have been arrested in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor after videos circulating online appeared to show an Indonesian domestic worker being slapped, punched and verbally abused inside a private home. The footage has renewed concerns a...

The Strait of Hormuz was still largely devoid of shipping traffic in the hours following the announcement of a US-Iran peace deal, as analysts warned it remained uncertain how and when normal operations along the waterway would be restored. The only ...

This article was published on June 13, 1991. Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines Volcano’s plume soars 25km by Michael Bociurkiw in San Narciso Theresita Santiago and her neighbours dealt with the volcanic eruption of Mount P...

Japan fans left the stands spotless after their World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Texas on Sunday, saying it was “Japanese culture” to tidy up after themselves. Spectators stayed behind after the 2-2 draw to make sure they left the stad...

Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs will visit the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a check on the progress of the Northern Metropolis as part of his itinerary, while sources say the chief executive will join him as he looks into...

A large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine killed five rescuers in Kharkiv and wounded at least 20 people in the capital Kyiv on Monday as strikes set flat buildings ablaze and sparked a fire at one of the country’s most significant religious landmark...

HSBC and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank had resumed mobile phone service operations by lunchtime Monday after an earlier outage had locked customers out, but some online services were still temporarily unavailable, according to messages posted on the ...

In China’s premier coal province Shanxi, a massive project that converts ultra-hard coal waste into high-value industrial materials has begun operations, bringing the country’s zero waste goal for the fossil fuel industry a step closer. The proje...

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said he is focused on accomplishing much more in the final year of his current term, which he described as a “long period for a lot of things to be achieved” as he shrugged off a question on seeking a second o...

I’m still reeling from last week’s tragedy in Hong Kong: a mother and her 12-year-old daughter lost their lives to suicide within hours of each other reportedly following an argument about “education problems”. While the causes of suicide are...

The case of a seven-year-old Chinese boy who had to be sent to an intensive care unit (ICU) after drinking two iced drinks has triggered a heated online discussion. The boy from central China’s Henan province was admitted to the First Affiliated Ho...

The Hong Kong government will conduct a consultation on its slew of pro-baby incentives amid persistently low birth rates, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said, noting that delayed marriage and cultural shifts are limiting the effectiveness of s...

The Abu Dhabi government is fast-tracking its push to extensively tap into China’s technologies, from renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) to robotics, as it pursues a greener economy, according to its energy chief. Abdulla Humaid Al Jarwan...

Mariko was a teenager the day she found herself alone in a near-empty carriage with a man who sat across from her, exposed himself and began to masturbate. Terrified that fleeing or crying out might provoke something worse, she fixed her gaze elsewhe...

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and Hong Kong’s bourse are actively engaging with mining companies in Kazakhstan to explore dual-listing opportunities in the city, following a groundbreaking case last year, the head of the Central ...

The United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war and will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media early on Monday. “The Deal with ‌the Islamic...

US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Sunday that a landmark agreement has been reached with Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and end the US naval blockade. “The Deal with the Islamic Republ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit may ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the international debate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. While most headlines focused on the visit’s timing and the many pledges made b...

British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson ⁠said he was ⁠detained at Heathrow ⁠Airport on Saturday and had his phone seized, after a week when he posted heavily online about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland. Robinson, whose r...

A plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers planning to spend a sunny afternoon skydiving crashed on Sunday in Missouri, killing all aboard, authorities said. Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the crash site, help...

US ⁠Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on Sunday, his spokesman said, but there was no immediate information about why he was there or his prognosis. McConnell, 84, was the longest-serving Senate leader in history before stepping asid...

At least six people died in Brazil on Sunday after two helicopters collided in western Rio de Janeiro, firefighters said. The helicopters crashed into the car park of an electric car showroom, igniting a fire that engulfed at least 20 cars. A stateme...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each held phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, as Trump marked his 80th birthday and the war in Ukraine remained a flashpoint ahead of this week’s G7 summi...

China is capable of a direct missile strike on Australia and the threat is growing as Beijing amasses long-range and hypersonic weapons and builds islands in the South China Sea, an Australian think tank said on Sunday. A Lowy Institute report found ...

Protesters in Geneva clashed with police, set a car on fire and smashed the windows of a bank on Sunday to show their discontent with the G7 group of major advanced economies on the eve of a summit in nearby France to be attended by the group’s lea...

US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged no further attacks by anyone after Israel’s military said it launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, potentially complicating efforts to finalise a deal to end the US-Iran war. As smoke rose over t...