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‘Eats 50 rats’: Chinese woman transforms, loses 14kg...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A Chinese woman who won a bronze medal and a cash prize for lasting 35 days in a wilderness survival contest says the biggest benefit of the event was that she lost 14kg in weight. The 25-year-old nicknamed Zhao Tiezhu has 38,000 followers on social media and recently announced her achievement. Zhao took part in the contest which kicked off on an island in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on October 1. She lasted in the wild until November 5. She came third and won 7,500 yuan (US$1,000) in...

2 Hong Kong residents held as HK$7.5m cross-border...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested two residents suspected of being core members of a cross-border sham marriage syndicate that generated more than HK$7.5 million (US$964,823) in illicit earnings, following a joint operation with mainland Chinese law enforcement agencies. Chief immigration officer Tang Wai-yip said on Monday that the department apprehended a 43-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman after searching two residential flats, suspecting the pair to be the syndicate’s...

Hong Kong receives 41 million visitors in first 10...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong has recorded a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals for the first 10 months of 2025, with around 41 million people visiting the city between January and October, according to the Tourism Board. The city welcomed 9.62 million foreign tourists in that period, marking a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in non-mainland Chinese visitors, the board revealed on Monday. The 31.44 million mainland tourists, accounting for 76.6 per cent of total visitors, marked an 11 per

Singaporean man jailed on rare charge of not...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

When a Singaporean man found his girlfriend dead in her bedroom, he tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her before leaving with his belongings. He texted his girlfriend’s sister hours later to say only that the woman was uncontactable. When his girlfriend’s sister showed up at the unit with his girlfriend’s children, she found her sister dead and decomposing. Jason Hong Kai Qi, 34, was sentenced to one week’s jail on Monday for a rare charge of failure to report a death. He had earlier been...

At least 32 killed in DR Congo after bridge at mine...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A bridge at a copper and cobalt mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo collapsed due to overcrowding, killing at least 32 people, a regional government official said on Sunday. The bridge at the Kalando mine in Mulondo in Lualaba province fell on Saturday, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the province’s interior minister, said during a press conference. “Despite the strict prohibition on accessing the site due to heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides, illegal diggers forced their way into

Malaysian girl group Dolla’s ‘immoral’ video pulled...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Malaysian girl group Dolla have withdrawn their latest music video after religious groups and a government minister accused the performers of wearing overly suggestive outfits amid mounting moral scrutiny of women in the country’s entertainment industry. The video for “Question”, released in early November, featured the three members – Sabronzo (Wan Sabrina Wan Rusli), Tabby (Tabitha Ariel Lam) and Angel (Angelina Chai) – confronting a cheating boyfriend inside a retro American-style

Chinese student numbers in US fall as gap with Indian...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Chinese student numbers in the United States have continued to decline over the past year, but they remain the second-largest student group after Indians and the biggest contributors to the US economy, according to new data released on Monday. A total of 265,919 Chinese studied in the US in the 2024-25 academic year, marking a four per cent decrease from the previous academic year, according to the latest annual survey of higher education institutions by the Institute of International

China’s Unitree Robotics completes pre-IPO tutoring...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Unitree Robotics, one of China’s leading humanoid robot manufacturers, has completed its pre-initial public offering (IPO) tutoring process in only four months, a major step towards an onshore listing amid Beijing’s push for technological self-reliance and advancement, according to government documents. The Hangzhou-based unicorn passed regulatory checks with the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau, concluding a pre-listing tutoring period that began on July 18, the China Securities

Japan trip refunds after PM’s remark, miners hit gold...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

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. Airlines offer Japan trip refunds as row over Takaichi’s Taiwan comments deepens 2. Nexperia civil war erupts as Chinese and Dutch arms trade blows 3. Why Singapore’s PAP is taking aim at opposition WP so soon after an election 4. Why China studies scholars in the West have been left in

Najib, son face bankruptcy after Malaysian court’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

The Malaysian High Court has dismissed an appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them. The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the Inland Revenue Board following Najib and Nazifuddin’s failure to settle tax arrears amounting to 1.69 billion ringgit (US$407 million) and 37.6 million ringgit, respectively. Judicial Commissioner Suhendran Sockanathan alias Saheran Abdullah made the dismissal after finding that...

Ecuador voters reject return of US bases, in blow to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Ecuadorian voters roundly rejected the return of US military bases to the country in a referendum on Sunday, a major political blow to Trump-friendly President Daniel Noboa. With three-quarters of the vote counted, about 60 per cent of Ecuadorans had voted ‘no’ to lifting a long-standing ban on foreign bases. The rejection effectively blocks the US military from returning to an airbase at Manta on the Pacific coast - once a hub for Washington’s anti-drug operations. US Homeland Security...

Hong Kong watchdog urges scrutiny of travel insurance...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has warned residents travelling abroad to carefully compare the scope of coverage and exclusions of different insurance plans, following complaints regarding disputes over claims. The Consumer Council said on Monday it had received 221 complaints about travel insurance since 2022, including 152 disputed claims. It noted that 55 such complaints were filed in the first 10 months of 2025, down from 80 in the same period last year. The council said the cases

Chikungunya may be spreading silently in Hong Kong,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong may have silent transmission chains of chikungunya fever in the community, a leading infectious disease expert has warned, as authorities have yet to identify the source of the city’s fourth local case recorded last week. Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, co-chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases, said on Monday that authorities should step up mosquito control, noting that cooler weather and declining cases in neighbouring Guangdong province...

How China’s HQ-29 mid-course missile interceptor...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

After 15 years of testing, China unveiled the HQ-29 at its Victory Day parade in September, showcasing the land-based air-defence missile system that is capable of intercepting targets in the near region of space outside the Earth’s atmosphere. The HQ-29, also known as the Red Flag-29, is considered a key supplement to the top layer of China’s multilayered ballistic missile defence system. The missile is mounted on a six-axle launcher, according to the Chinese military magazine Ordnance

South Korean prison officer probed for asking Kim...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A correctional officer at South Korea’s only private prison is under investigation for allegedly demanding 30 million won (US$20,600) from singer Kim Ho-joong in exchange for helping arrange his transfer to the facility – a claim authorities say is false. The Ministry of Justice said the officer, whose name was not released publicly, could face disciplinary action depending on the result of the investigation. According to the ministry on Sunday, the Seoul Regional Correctional Headquarters is...

Hong Kong driving schools slammed for opaque fees,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has slammed driving schools for their non-transparent fees, with one charging nearly twice the quoted rate for extra lessons to meet the minimum training hours. The Consumer Council announced on Monday that all 32 basic courses offered by 11 driving schools in the city failed to meet the Transport Department’s requirement of 30 hours of practical training, forcing students to buy extra lessons and go over their original budget. “The current situation is not

Asbestos in play sand forces over 70 school closures...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

More than 70 schools in Australia and New Zealand were closed on Monday for cleaning after asbestos was discovered in widely used children’s play sand products. Recalls have been issued for several colourful play sand products after laboratory testing detected traces of tremolite and chrysotile asbestos. A number of schools and preschools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and one in Brisbane shut on Friday after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a

Incoming Asean chair Philippines faces a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

The resurgence of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia, just weeks after US President Donald Trump brokered a truce over a violent border row, is set to pose significant challenges for the Philippines as the next Asean chair. Thailand last week announced it was suspending the peace agreement with Cambodia, signed at the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26. Bangkok accused its neighbour of laying new mines after several Thai soldiers were

Chinese history blamed this woman for 2,796 years....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Few women in Chinese history have been as scorned – or as misunderstood – as Bao Si. For nearly three millennia, the queen has been remembered not as a person, but as a symbol: the beautiful femme fatale whose cold heart and unparalleled beauty brought down a dynasty. According to legend, Bao Si was a queen so aloof she never smiled. Desperate to amuse her, King You of the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1046-771 BC) is said to have played a deadly prank: he lit the kingdom’s sacred beacon fires

‘Sales fallen to half’: violent crime cripples...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A wave of armed robberies targeting Japanese nationals has plunged Japanese-run restaurants in Manila into crisis, forcing many to shut their doors and others to band together for survival. Since October last year, more than 20 robbery cases involving Japanese victims have been reported, according to the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines. The violence has led Japanese companies to restrict evening outings for employees, draining customers from popular nightlife districts once frequented by...

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