News - South China Morning Post

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Wanying “Heather” Zhang be held in custody, after her lawyers – who had fought to keep her out of jail – said she “looks forward to establishing” her innocence at trial.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is planning to visit China in the coming weeks, even as relations between the two countries sour over trade, according to multiple sources familiar with the arrangement.

Hong Kong police have arrested a man for allegedly splashing red paint at the joint office of two lawmakers, accusing them of being unhelpful.

A newly opened China-backed air force training centre in Laos could unsettle Vietnam, even as it aims to modernise Vientiane’s military and balance defence ties among Beijing, Moscow and Hanoi, observers say.

A gilded statue of US President Donald Trump naked went on display in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

The US has ended its military mission in Iraq, a move analysts said could give Baghdad more room for diversified partnerships and indirectly benefit China’s energy and commercial interests.

As China and the European Union began a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing on Thursday, observers on both sides appeared to agree on one thing: a big breakthrough was unlikely.

Australia may have vast tracts of land and political will to support the growth of the artificial intelligence industry, but the development of data centres to power the technology is proving more challenging.

Hong Kong police have arrested a foreign domestic helper for allegedly slapping a five-year-old boy who refused to eat his meal at a Kowloon City flat.

Foreign workers building the vast new US consulate compound in Milan signed agreements at a Milan hotel Wednesday securing payouts averaging €45,000 (US$50,400) each for alleged labour abuses while working for an American construction company.

A restaurant boss in China has received widespread online admiration for gifting brand-new BMWs to her top-performing employees because she hated seeing them brave harsh weather on electric bikes during their commutes.

Retail businesses in Shenzhen are gearing up for the imminent opening of the revamped Huanggang Port at the border Hong Kong shares with mainland China, but some fear the area still lacks commercial appeal to make travellers stay.

Washington and Beijing may have signed an agreement built around “reciprocity”.

Hong Kong firefighters have rescued a 13-year-old boy who climbed out a window onto the air-conditioning unit to escape a fire that broke out in his flat, while his mother has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect.

Saudi authorities said Wednesday that three people were killed in attacks on two of the kingdom’s international airports, including in the capital Riyadh, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed to have fired on both transport hubs.

As households across Southeast Asia face rising prices, higher borrowing costs and insecure jobs, analysts say governments should do more to protect a middle class that drives consumer spending but can fall between the cracks of social protection systems…

Elon Musk accused unnamed rivals of blocking SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network in India, an apparent swipe at billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal.

This year’s Chinese National Day reception in Washington felt noticeably jollier than those I have attended in recent years.

The United States should engage with Chinese carmakers and battery manufacturers “strategically”, using targeted safeguards instead of the current “wholesale restrictions”, which could lead US carmakers to lose global market share, according to experts.

Mainland Chinese visitor arrivals in Hong Kong exceeded the government’s forecast for the entire National Day “golden week” holiday in the first six days, as major shopping centres and hotel operators reported brisk business.

Japan is expected to float the idea of acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in revised security documents to be released later this year, with analysts suggesting that Tokyo’s initial aim is to promote discussion of the issue and overcome the p…

Former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher Jacob Coxon said he was 90 per cent certain that China already had spies inside both US artificial intelligence (AI) companies, without providing evidence.

US President ⁠Donald Trump, who waged war ⁠with Iran and has ⁠yet to broker peace in Ukraine, said on Wednesday that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize but acknowledged doubt about his chances.

President Donald Trump will present close ally Elon Musk and other tech bosses with the top US scientific award at a ceremony on Thursday, the White House said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday flexed American power and called on Europe to shake off its “long slumber” in a rousing speech delivered beneath the Acropolis in Athens.

US President Donald Trump pressed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to roll back China’s export curbs on Japan during their meeting in the US, urging talks between the Chinese and Japanese leaders as Tokyo seeks to manage mounting pressure from Beijing.

For decades, the Gulf superhubs of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi performed an improbable trick.

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to face new criminal charges in ‌the US over the alleged torture of Americans held in the South American country, a US official said on Wednesday.

Maricarmen ⁠Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose ⁠dramatic eviction last month sparked mass ⁠housing protests in Spain that ultimately led to an early election, has died, Madrid’s tenants’ union said on Wednesday, provoking an outpouring of grief and anger

A US real estate firm announced on Wednesday it is buying the Chrysler Building and will undertake a vast makeover of the art deco landmark that dominates New York’s skyline.

The US Treasury on Wednesday announced its first penalty under rules governing American investment in sensitive Chinese technologies, revealing a US$200,000 fine against the parent of Plug and Play Tech Centre for failing to report an investment in a Shan…

Canada will not allow medically assisted suicide for people whose only condition is mental illness, the justice minister said on Wednesday, seeking to close debate on one of the country’s most controversial healthcare issues.

Donald Trump wants to turn his luxury Florida golf course into retreat for future US presidents modelled on the historic Camp David getaway, the White House said Wednesday.

The United States has proposed requiring universities and other certified schools to pay US$70,000 for each foreign student entering a post-graduation work programme, a measure that could sharply raise the cost for thousands of Chinese graduates seeking e…

The French government said on Wednesday it was pausing the use of stun grenades in its policing of student protests, after a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off during a clash with riot police, fuelling protesters’ accusations of police brutality.

Singapore’s air pollution worsened to the highest in the world as haze from Indonesia wildfires blankets the region days before the city state’s annual Formula One weekend.

Initial results from the world’s first two working nuclear clocks indicate that China’s timepiece is about six times as stable as the one in Vienna, according to papers published this week by the journal Nature.

Ten people were injured in a knife attack at a ‌school in Ostroleka in northeastern Poland on Wednesday, the town’s mayor said, with police detaining the 19-year-old suspect, who was among those hurt, shortly after the incident.

Around two dozen luxury houses at One Stanley have been sold since Hong Kong authorities launched an investigation into alleged structural defects in March, with buyers including local and international businesspeople.

More than 300 people signed up for Hong Kong’s Election Committee poll as the nomination period opened on Wednesday, vying for seats on the body that chooses the city’s leader.

While China’s export engine still has room to grow, many of its trading partners may be approaching the limit of how much more they can absorb, which could place a ceiling on further growth over the coming years, according to a Goldman Sachs report.

Despite Malaysia’s insistence that its long-standing non-alignment policy extends to cyberspace, analysts say the country’s reliance on American and Chinese technology could make such a stance difficult to sustain amid the rivalry between the two superpow…

Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption authority arrested former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Wednesday over allegations that her charity misused donations collected for a children’s hospital.

“Science has no borders,” Arup Neogi, an India-born scientist who works at a US-sanctioned university, told Chinese state media.

Hong Kong and Indonesia can deepen cooperation in green finance as their ties strengthen, the country’s special envoy for international trade has said, adding that the city’s common law expertise can support the nation’s efforts to attract family offices.

In December 2022, a Chinese J-11 fighter came within metres of a US RC-135 surveillance plane over the South China Sea, according to the US military, which criticised it as an unsafe manoeuvre.

⁠Yemen’s Houthis attacked Aden’s international airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones on Wednesday, the country’s transport ministry said, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi-backed government forces intensified.

The nomination period opened on Wednesday for elections to the 1,500-member body responsible for choosing Hong Kong’s next chief executive and 40 lawmakers.

Hong Kong police have arrested 17 more people linked to a suspected “crash-for-cash” scam syndicate as authorities investigate 669 suspicious claims totalling more than HK$137 million (US$17.4 million).

Bhavya Gupta was a Grade 4 student when the 2012 horrific gang rape and murder of a medical college intern who was on a private bus in New Delhi, which sparked nationwide outrage and led to the execution of four attackers, prompted her teacher to mention…