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Hongkongers can enjoy faster border access under new...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Hongkongers will be able to use facial recognition at more mainland Chinese checkpoints, while more professionals from additional regions across the border will be granted longer stays in the city under new policies announced by national immigration authorities on Monday.According to the National Immigration Administration, Hong Kong residents with a mainland travel permit will, from Wednesday onwards, be able to cross the border through “intelligent” fast lanes at designated mainland ports

Lee Kuan Yew’s home ‘worthy of preservation’ as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

The site of 38 Oxley Road was “more than just the home” of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – it was where Singapore’s independence movement took shape, a government advisory board said on Monday. The Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board assessed the site as having “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, describing it as a foundational part of Singapore’s independence that is “not represented by any other site or monument”. The site...

Top Belgian neurologist Steven Laureys joins China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

World-renowned neurologist and consciousness research pioneer Steven Laureys has taken up a full-time university position in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. The 56-year-old Belgian scientist joined Hangzhou Normal University earlier this year as a professor at its School of Basic Medical Sciences, according to a university news release. Before moving to China, Laureys spent decades in Europe and had a brief stint in North America. He is widely recognised as one of the first researchers to

Chinese woman spends US$140,000 entrusted to her by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A Chinese man who entrusted more than one million yuan (US$140,000) in savings to his girlfriend for safekeeping was shocked when she spent it all on cosmetic procedures. The man, surnamed Jin, and his girlfriend, Min, were in a romantic relationship when the cash was handed over. Min had relocated from southeastern Jiangxi province to Chongqing in southwestern China to live with Jin. To give her a sense of security, Jin entrusted her with more than one million yuan in business earnings over

Chinese film 731’s historical hiccups eclipse...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A Chinese historical film about Japan’s wartime atrocities has drawn criticism not for its subject matter, but over what many viewers have described as a clumsy portrayal of one of the darkest chapters of World War II. 731 – a drama centred on the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious biological warfare unit that conducted experiments on Chinese civilians under the guise of disease prevention – premiered on September 18 to coincide with the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, the false-flag...

Japanese woman held for 1999 murder says she lived in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A 69-year-old woman arrested for a 1999 murder in Nagoya, central Japan, told investigators that she had long feared being caught and felt depressed each year as the anniversary of the killing approached, police said on Monday. Kumiko Yasufuku was arrested on Friday on suspicion of killing Namiko Takaba, then a 32-year-old housewife, at the victim’s flat 26 years ago. The suspect was identified by the victim’s husband as his former high school classmate. “I felt uneasy, and my heart sank...

New World Development offers US$1.9 billion debt swap...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Heavily indebted New World Development (NWD) has launched exchange offers for US$1.9 billion of its outstanding perpetual securities and notes to optimise its debt profile, enhance its liquidity and improve its financial position amid a challenging property market. The exchange offers covered a series of existing instruments, including perpetual securities issued by NWD Finance and notes issued by NWD (MTN) and New World China Land, which were guaranteed by NWD, according to a filing to the

Roblox vows to step up monitoring after Malaysian boy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Roblox has pledged to improve safety through the use of artificial intelligence technology and human monitoring after a Malaysian boy allegedly stabbed his brother over a dispute linked to the online gaming platform. Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the company expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Malaysian government, particularly on data sharing and compliance with regulations. In a social media post on Monday, Yeoh raised her concerns over child safety on the popular...

Hong Kong lawyer pleads guilty to sex with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A Hong Kong lawyer has admitted to having sex with a 12-year-old girl twice and taking more than 200 photographs and videos of the illegal acts. The District Court heard on Monday that Kelvin Luk Kin-ting, 40, befriended the Form One pupil on dating app Heymandi and claimed that he was around 28 to 29 years old when they first met on March 4 last year. Luk, formerly a consultant at local law firm HY Leung & Co LLP, kissed the girl at a Ma Wan beach that morning before taking her to his

Trump says he has assurances from Beijing of no...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

US President Donald Trump has said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping gave him assurances that Beijing would take no action on Taiwan, as long as the Republican leader was in power. In an extract from a CBS News interview first released on Sunday, Trump said the island, which Beijing regards as part of its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary, “never even came up as a subject” when the two leaders met last week. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan

China’s rare earths challenge, Apec meeting in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

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. Is the G7’s new rare earths alliance a big challenge to China? 2. How did Chen-ning Yang miss out on a second Nobel Prize in physics? 3. China to host 2026 Apec meeting in Shenzhen, ‘vigorously’ push AI cooperation 4. Hong Kong comedian Stanley Fung dies days after friend Benz Hui 5....

Database of younger scientists’ deaths triggers...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A database tracking the deaths of young Chinese scientists has triggered a heated debate amid growing concern about whether there is a disturbing pattern emerging among the academic community. But the list also triggered a public backlash, with critics raising ethical concerns about the way the information was used and questioning whether it was giving the full picture. According to the file posted on CSND, an online platform for computer programmers, last week, at least 76 researchers under

Malaysia’s super magnet plant will boost attraction...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the development of a 600 million ringgit (US$143 million) super magnet manufacturing facility in the state of Pahang would strengthen the nation’s rare earth sector, state media reported. In July, Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths and South Korea’s JS Link signed a deal to develop a 3,000-tonne (3,300-ton) neodymium magnet manufacturing facility near Lynas’ advanced materials plant in Malaysia’s Kuantan district. Anwar said Malaysia’s trade minister

‘Not funny’: South Koreans unamused by US jokes about...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A wave of satire on American late-night television over South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s gift of a replica Silla-era gold crown to US President Donald Trump has provoked strong reactions in the country, highlighting lingering sensitivities amid recent strains in the alliance over tariffs and labour issues. The ornate replica crown, presented during the South Korea-US talks on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province, quickly

Hong Kong’s large-scale genome sequencing project...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Hong Kong’s first large-scale genome sequencing project has recruited more than 52,000 participants in about four years of operation, exceeding its original target, with the body behind it hoping to expand the scheme further to help more patients discover the causes of their undiagnosed diseases. The Hong Kong Genome Institute, a government-owned organisation that runs the Hong Kong Genome Project, said that more than three-quarters of participants had experienced positive treatment changes...

‘Affordable dignity’: Chinese develop taste for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Students, white-collar workers and families filled the tables during a recent dinner rush at a branch of Saizeriya – a Japanese-owned chain of Italian restaurants – in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. In the same shopping district, a queue stretched outside a Sushiro conveyor belt sushi restaurant at 8pm. “We waited two hours for a seat, but it was worth it,” said one diner. Such scenes present a contrast to China’s generally sluggish catering market, with analysts saying that budget...

Hong Kong Olympic champion Vivian Kong to sign up for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong Man-wai will sign up for the coming Legislative Council election on Monday, vying for the tourism sector seat. Her election office confirmed that the 31-year-old would submit her nomination form for the tourism functional constituency in the afternoon, ending weeks-long speculation. On her Instagram account, Kong said that all her previous posts had nothing to do with the Legco election. Perry Yiu Pak-leung, the incumbent lawmaker representing

Filipinos rally behind coastguard amid sea tensions,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Filipinos have placed higher levels of trust in the coastguard and the armed forces despite public rows between officials and pro-Duterte politicians over the country’s deepening ties with the US, according to the latest poll. Among the 1,200 people surveyed by research firm OCTA in September, 75 per cent expressed satisfaction with the Philippine coastguard’s (PCG) performance over the past three months and 71 per cent said they trusted the outfit. The results, released on October 22, also...

Hong Kong can live with cosmetic changes. Just don’t...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

Hong Kong is bouncing back, especially in finance, defying predictions of decline after the 2019 unrest and the 2020 national security law. The Hong Kong stock exchange has surged to the top of this year’s global rankings as the world’s largest initial public offering venue, with over 300 companies queuing up to list their shares. This resurgence signals resilience, but it also ignites a deeper debate: what kind of Hong Kong is emerging? Concern has swirled around the recent influx of

Powerful 6.3 quake kills at least 20 in Afghanistan,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/03

A powerful, 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn on Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 300 others, a health official said. The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was located 22km (14 miles) west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and that it struck at 12.59am at a depth of 28km (17 miles). The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, which is an automated system that produces information on the impact of earthquakes, and...

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