4 h. ago Singapore cyber summit stresses need for unified front amid rising threats

Experts and officials at a major cybersecurity summit in Singapore have called for deeper collaboration between governments and tech giants, warning that fragmented efforts are no match for increasingly sophisticated digital threats. Speaking at the Singapore International Cyber Week, policymakers and industry leaders said closer partnerships were essential to sharing threat intelligence, innovating jointly and mounting coordinated responses to cyberattacks. These partnerships were crucial as...

Politics

9 h. ago Can the Philippines regain its tourism edge with revival of China e

The Philippines will revive its electronic visa programme for Chinese tourists next month, nearly two years after its abrupt suspension, as part of a broader push to boost lagging visitor arrivals and regain lost ground in the regional tourism race. The Philippine embassy in Beijing confirmed in a statement issued on October 15 that Chinese citizens – including those from Hong Kong and Macau – would again be able to apply for short-stay e-visas online for up to 14 days of travel for tourism or...

Politics

10 h. ago Singapore hospital counters woman’s illegal restraint, forced injection claims

Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore on Tuesday defended the actions of a clinical team that attended to one of its patients after the woman claimed that she was mistreated at the hospital. “We are aware of recent online posts by a patient alleging that her treatment at our hospital was insensitive and inappropriate. We take the allegations seriously,” the hospital said in a social media post. “Our clinical team’s actions were guided by our foremost duty to ensure the safety and well-being of the...

Events

15 h. ago Doing ‘fantastic job’: Australian PM defends envoy Rudd amid Trump’s dislike

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese endorsed Australia’s ambassador in Washington as doing a “fantastic job”, describing comments by US President Donald Trump that he does not like Kevin Rudd as “lighthearted”. Australia’s main conservative opposition party has called for Rudd, a former Labor prime minister, to be sacked after Trump made the comments at a press briefing in Washington on Monday. Asked by an Australian reporter about Rudd’s past criticism of the president on social media, and told...

Politics

16 h. ago South Korea trade envoy seeks removal of China curbs on Hanwha Ocean's US units

South Korea trade envoy seeks removal of China curbs on Hanwha Ocean's US units  Reuters

Politics

31 h. ago Ryan Adams calls Australia ‘worst country ever’ after Melbourne meltdown

US singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has labelled Australia as the “worst country ever” in an expletive-laden tirade after wrapping up a controversial anniversary tour, while also hinting he may have played his final international gig. Adams recently performed in Australia and New Zealand to mark the 25th anniversary of his debut solo album, Heartbreaker, but the shows were marred by his tirade against fans, who called the October 12 concert in Melbourne a “train wreck” after he abruptly stormed off...

Politics

34 h. ago Evangelista’s wealth under fire, Singaporeans flock to Johor: 7 Asia highlights

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week 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. US call centre bill threatens Philippines’ US$30 billion outsourcing boom As dusk settles over Angeles City, Justin Cunanan prepares for another long night. While the rest of the Philippines sleeps, he joins millions of his compatriots powering a global industry that is...

Events

35 h. ago Malaysia’s illegal firework trade under fire as ‘coconut’ explosive injures 22

What should have been an evening of light and celebration to mark Diwali in Malaysia descended into chaos on Monday after a fireworks blast injured 22 people, reigniting concerns over lax enforcement of a ban on high-powered explosives. The explosion in Kulim, northern Kedah state, left one man with a fractured skull while others suffered burns and broken bones, police said. Unconfirmed local media reports said other injuries included severed fingers and permanent hearing loss. Kulim district...

Events

51 h. ago Hong Kong woman, 81, loses HK$5 million to romance scammer posing as PLA officer

An 81-year-old woman in Hong Kong has lost more than HK$5 million after falling victim to an elaborate online romance scam involving a fraudster who posed as a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer from mainland China. In a post on its CyberDefender social media page on Monday, police said the woman received a WhatsApp message from a man who claimed to be a PLA officer and invited her to visit a military camp. They quickly built an online romantic relationship through frequent affectionate...

Economics

51 h. ago 3D printing trailblazer Chua Chee Kai relocates to China from Singapore hub

Singaporean 3D printing pioneer Chua Chee Kai has joined Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST) as a full-time distinguished professor, receiving his appointment in a ceremony on October 10, according to the university’s website. For decades, Chua led major 3D printing research initiatives in Singapore, helping to turn the country into a global hub for additive manufacturing technologies used in aerospace, biomedical and electronic applications. In his remarks at the ceremony, Chua...

Politics

55 h. ago From Fortnite to Alexa, Amazon’s AWS outage causes global outage

Amazon’s cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps, including Fortnite and Snapchat. “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region,” AWS said in an update on its status page. AI start-up Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS. “Perplexity is...

Politics

55 h. ago From Fortnite to Alexa, Amazon’s AWS disruption causes global outage

Amazon’s cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps, including Fortnite and Snapchat. “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region,” AWS said in an update on its status page. AI start-up Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS. “Perplexity is...

Politics

59 h. ago Chinese man returns to terminally ill ex, vows unwavering support

A Chinese man has returned to his first love after learning about her rare disease, which has begun to manifest symptoms, touching many online. A July video featuring the man, known as Fusheng, making a heartfelt confession of love to his ex-girlfriend, Cheng Aixiao, in their hometown in eastern China’s Fujian province, quickly went viral. Cheng suffers from hereditary ataxia, a disorder that results in muscular dystrophy and leads to uncoordinated movements, as well as difficulties with walking...

Politics

3 d. ago France hunts thieves who stole crown jewels from Louvre in daring minutes

The hunt was on Monday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight. Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that Sunday’s raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group. In France, it reignited a row over the lack of security in France’s museums, which the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged was a “major weak spot”. The thieves arrived between 9.30am...

Politics

3 d. ago Flu’s spread across Asia prompts Hong Kong groups to join vaccination appeal

Medical organisations and politicians in Hong Kong, Macau and other parts of Asia have issued a joint appeal to take preventive steps against the spread of influenza across the continent, with a local expert calling on residents to get vaccinated early. Dr Mike Kwan Yat-wah, president of the Asian Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, said on Sunday that influenza was spreading not only in Hong Kong, but in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore. “After the Covid-19...

Politics

3 d. ago Why a US$70 day trip to Johor is now Singaporeans’ favourite leisure hack

Every month, Rachel Tan, a 53-year-old Singaporean tutor, boards a bus across the 1km (0.6 mile) causeway for a day trip to Malaysia’s Johor state, where she stocks up on groceries and treats herself to lunch and a film. Thanks to streamlined immigration procedures, she rarely needs to present her passport, using a QR code to pass the checkpoint before catching a complimentary shuttle bus that whisks her to R&F Mall. The entire day out, including shopping, typically costs her about 300 ringgit...

Politics

4 d. ago Dozens injured at memorial for revered Kenyan politician Odinga: Red Cross

Dozens of mourners were injured on Saturday at a memorial service for Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga as crowds swelled, with some in critical condition taken to a nearby hospital, a Kenyan Red Cross official said. A Reuters witness saw injured people receiving treatment at the scene in the city of Kisumu in western Kenya, the political heartland of Odinga’s Luo tribe. The Standard newspaper had said on X that hundreds had been injured. Two people were killed and more than 160 others were...

Politics

4 d. ago Battery fire aboard Air China flight to South Korea forces emergency landing

An Air China flight from Hangzhou to Seoul was forced to make an emergency landing in Shanghai on Saturday after a lithium battery caught fire in the plane’s cabin. In a statement on social media, Air China confirmed the incident. “On October 18, on flight CA139 from Hangzhou to Incheon, a lithium battery in a passenger’s carry-on luggage stored in the overhead compartment spontaneously ignited,” the airline said. The crew handled the situation quickly, it added, and “to ensure flight safety”,...

Events

4 d. ago New lending and repo plans accelerate the yuan’s challenge to the US dollar

When Hong Kong businessman Sunny Yip Yuk-chik heard about a new scheme that would make it easier and cheaper to borrow Chinese yuan, he immediately called his staff on the Chinese mainland with the news. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched a 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) Renminbi Business Facility (RBF) that would enable business owners like Yip to borrow yuan from Hong Kong banks for up to 12 months at the onshore yuan interest rate, easing trade...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump confirms Xi meeting, retreats on 100% tariffs: ‘not sustainable’

In a turnaround from the tough stance he took a week ago, US President Donald Trump said Friday that he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in two weeks and suggested that imposing an additional 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods appeared unworkable. But he also blamed China for the latest stand-off in trade talks. The mercurial president called into question his planned sit-down with Xi seven days ago and threatened the draconian tariff increase in addition to...

Politics