PODCAST

News - South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

All Episodes

Former Singapore police officer jailed for disguising...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

An ex-police officer who disguised himself as a woman to sexually prey on teenage boys in Singapore was sentenced on Friday to three years’ jail and four strokes of the cane.While dressed in a dress and headscarf, Sharizal Shafi’ee, 40, approached three boys, asking them to help adjust his bra. The first two declined. The third agreed, believing Sharizal was genuinely a woman in need of assistance, but was later molested by him. Sharizal was a police officer at the time of the offences but

China police officers dig through sand with bare...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Chinese police officers dug through sand with their bare hands to search for a Taiwan tourist’s lost phone, winning widespread online applause. Having successfully retrieved her phone, the woman presented her Taiwan resident travel permit in front of the camera and exclaimed “We, China is the safest country in the world”. The woman, surnamed Tsao, lost her phone around 11pm in the Singing Sand Dunes tourist site in Dunhuang, northwestern China’s Gansu province, on May 15. The Singing Sand

China’s expanding footprint in Central Asia

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Hong Kong police arrest boy, 14, after blade found on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Hong Kong police have arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with a razor blade found between two seats on a Citybus double-decker earlier this week, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source confirmed the teenager’s arrest. A box cutter measuring about 13cm (5.11 inches), with a 1cm extendable blade, was found between two seats on a route 37A bus, which travels from Pok Fu Lam’s Chi Fu Fa Yuen to Central, at around 5.20pm on Wednesday. Police are expected to share more details on

China’s Innovent Biologics signs US$10.5 billion...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

China’s Innovent Biologics has signed a global collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer worth up to US$10.5 billion to jointly develop 12 cancer treatment programmes. The Hong Kong-listed drug maker said it would receive an upfront payment of US$650 million from Pfizer, and it is eligible for up to US$9.85 billion tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, according to an exchange filing on Friday. Innovent, which is based in Suzhou in China’s eastern Jiangsu...

Woman suffers 40% burns in Hong Kong flat explosion...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A woman has been found with burns covering 40 per cent of her body after a suspected gas leak triggered an explosion at a flat in Hong Kong. Police said they received reports at around 10.30am on Friday that residents had heard a loud explosion from the flat in Lam Bik House, Lam Tin Estate. By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze had already been extinguished. They rescued a woman of unknown age from the flat with burns covering 40 per cent of her body, including her face and both...

Students divided over Hong Kong principal’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

The resignation of a Hong Kong principal who swore at security guards during a school trip to Singapore has drawn mixed responses from students, with some saying he should be held accountable for tarnishing the institution’s image while others felt his apology was sincere. Students made the remarks a day after their principal Lee Cheuk‑hing tendered his resignation on Thursday as principal of San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School in Tuen Mun. On Friday morning, students at the Tuen Mun...

China doubts Musk’s Starship future; ex-TSMC chip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

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 consider subscribing. 1. Concerns mount in China’s space sector that Musk’s Starship will be a failure There are growing doubts within China’s space sector that Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket being developed by SpaceX in the United States, will...

China is growing giant wheat-rye hybrids in its...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Scientists in China are growing towering hybrids of wheat and rye – taller even than some humans – in the deserts of its western Xinjiang region. The hybrids, known as triticale, can adapt more easily than wheat to challenging conditions and, in addition to providing food for humans, their stalks and leaves can be used for animal feed. “It is tolerant of poor soil, cold, drought, salinity, and wind and sand,” Kuang Feiting, the executive director of Xinjiang Maishengdao Biotechnology, the

Meet the professors advancing digital safety and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Digital spaces and molecular bonds may not seem to have much in common. But for two leading academics at Hong Kong Baptist University, both fields reveal how research can lead to important discoveries that have a real-world impact. Christy Cheung, chair professor in information systems and digital innovation management at the School of Business, is studying the human side of technology, from platform safety and online deviance to digital wellness. Professor Wang Jun, based at the university’s...

Can pay penalties improve Hong Kong civil service or...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A revamped appraisal system that denies salary increments to underperforming Hong Kong civil servants is unlikely to significantly improve efficiency, observers have said, calling for a more balanced approach with team-based performance indicators. The revised system, set to be implemented in October, will penalise the bottom 10 per cent of performers – those rated D to F on a six-grade scale – by making them ineligible for a pay increment. A 5 per cent buffer will be allowed depending on...

Blue Origin rocket explodes on launch pad during...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

An uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad during a test on Thursday, in a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s IPO-bound SpaceX. Video posted by NASASpaceflight, a YouTube channel that live-streams launches from Florida, showed the New Glenn igniting on the pad before erupting into a massive fireball that billowed skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air. Blue Origin said it had

China unveils AI system to automate satellite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

The United States is reportedly bringing a powerful new weapon to the Iran war: large artificial intelligence (AI) models tasked with automating every stage of the targeting process, from satellite imagery analysis to final strike selection. But how these systems operate remains strictly classified, with incidents such as the February bombing of a primary school that killed more than 200 children in southern Iran raising public concerns about AI’s potential role in committing war crimes. Now...

Will Hong Kong break its May ‘hot night’ record amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Hong Kong has recorded six consecutive “hot nights”, tying the longest such streak for May, as an intense heatwave grips the city. The Hong Kong Observatory said the minimum temperature at its headquarters had stayed at or above 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit) for six straight days through Thursday night, equalling the previous May record set between May 16 and 21, 2021. Another hot night would extend the streak to seven days and set a new May record. The weather forecaster defines a hot...

China, US at ‘historical crossroads’ Beijing’s envoy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

China’s top diplomat to the United States Xie Feng has told a prominent gathering in New York that US-China relations were at a “historical crossroads”, while acknowledging the winds and bends in the bilateral relationship, following this month’s leaders’ summit. “Two weeks ago, President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump had a successful meeting in Beijing. Together, they agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability,” he told the China...

Health leaders call for closer collaboration to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Greater clarity on costs, stronger co-ordination between public and private sectors, and more comprehensive support for patients emerged as the central themes at the Prudential Health Summit held on March 27. Prudential Hong Kong convened the event to bring together healthcare experts, providers, regulators and patient advocates from Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area to explore ways to deliver better

Note for Trump: US Treasury designs US$250 bill with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

US President Donald Trump could soon appear on a new US$250 bill, in the Republican’s latest move to shatter US traditions by putting his personal stamp on national institutions. A proposal for the new bill, featuring a glaring Trump, was first reported Thursday by The Washington Post. If carried out, it would be the first time the image of a living person - let alone a president - had appeared on US currency in a century and a half. “Right now there is proposed legislation - front of the

TV coverage of Trump’s visit showed Americans how...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Nothing about the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Beijing suggested high drama. The language was restrained, the optics disciplined. The impression it left was simple: escalation of tensions for its own sake is a losing strategy. The announcement that China would buy 200 Boeing aircraft served mainly as a political gesture of goodwill, with the commercial details to be filled in later by negotiators. More important was the pattern across readouts

‘Save her first’: China expectant mum relinquishes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A pregnant woman in eastern China gave up her prepared operating room to save another expectant mother suffering massive bleeding. A video of the emergency “life-and-death relay” in Weifang, Shandong province, has gone viral on mainland social media. According to People’s Daily, the story unfolded at Weifang People’s Hospital, where an unnamed expectant mother was waiting in the operating room fully prepared for surgery. She had fasted for nearly two hours before the procedure while her

Death of Hongkong Post? Mounting losses, dwindling...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

In Hong Kong’s busy commercial area of Causeway Bay, a post office located in a major shopping centre served just a few dozen customers during lunch on Thursday. Across 90 minutes, when nearby restaurants and shops were filled with residents pressed for time, the post office stayed mostly empty, its workers outnumbering the people they were serving. Hongkong Post is struggling with the same existential threat facing other traditional mail service operators worldwide: how to stay relevant in a...

23,277 results