13 m. ago Bikes, boats in demand as London’s Tube strike puts brakes on city

Commuters in London turned to bikes, buses and boats on Tuesday as a staff strike shut down the British capital’s underground Tube network for a second day. With almost no underground trains running until Friday, demand for shared bike services and river transport surged as Londoners looked for alternative ways to get to work, causing longer journeys and crowding on other parts of the transport network. The London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates the strike will have a...

Events

25 m. ago Female pedestrian killed, 5 others injured in crash in Hong Kong

A woman has died after being hit by a vehicle belonging to CLP Power, which subsequently collided with another car in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon. Police received multiple reports at around 3.35pm of a serious collision near the entrance to the Ma Tau Wai Estate car park on Shing Tak Street, To Kwa Wan. The vehicle reportedly first hit the female pedestrian, then collided with another car. The woman was found unconscious and rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital, where she was later pronounced...

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46 m. ago Peek behind Putin’s hotel door shows China delivering a colourful welcome

Newly published video offers a rare glimpse into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stay in China last week, after a Russian state media journalist posted the footage to his Telegram channel. Contrary to the president’s public image as a tough guy, the Russian leader’s residence in China was decorated with colourful Chinese figurines. Footage posted by Pavel Zarubin on Monday showed dolls dressed in Chinese opera costumes, Chinese dancing lion statues and panda figurines in the style of Russian...

Politics

83 m. ago Philippine contractors allege political bribery in flood control scandal

Two contractors at the centre of the Philippines’ growing flood control scandal have named nearly 20 lawmakers and government officials they accuse of demanding kickbacks and offered to turn state witnesses, but legal experts say their alleged role in the scheme could undermine their plea for immunity. In sworn testimony presented to the Senate on Monday, Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya – a married couple – claimed that corrupt politicians and Department of Public Works and...

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3 h. ago Chinese warned about foreign spies posing as NGO staff to target military units

Beijing’s top anti-spy agency has warned the Chinese public about espionage being carried out in the country’s border areas under the guise of philanthropy. The Ministry of State Security announced on Tuesday that it had uncovered a case involving foreign spies operating near China’s military installations while posing as members of a charity organisation. In a case briefing posted on its social media platform, the ministry said villagers living near an unidentified restricted military zone...

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3 h. ago China public security authority accuses Dior’s Shanghai branch of illegal data transfer

China public security authority accuses Dior’s Shanghai branch of illegal data transfer  1470 & 100.3 WMBD

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4 h. ago ‘Prosperity for generations’: Malaysia urges Hong Kong to tap Asean ‘as a bloc’

Business leaders and governments should think of Asean as a bloc with nearly 700 million people and an emerging middle class instead of individual countries when considering the vast trade potential of the region, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Tuesday. While Hong Kong was essential to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as an international financial hub that promoted technological innovation with a well-regarded legal system, the bloc could also offer great...

Politics

4 h. ago Malaysia tightens security at Petronas’ Bintulu LNG hub to investigate ‘threat’

Malaysia’s National Security Council has ordered a temporary tightening of security at Petronas’ massive gas facility in Borneo and launched an immediate investigation into what it described as a “threat” to the critical energy infrastructure. The NSC on Monday said it was taking “proactive measures” in response to security threats targeting liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities nationwide, with a particular focus on the complex in Bintulu, a town in the Bornean state of Sarawak. “The Malaysian...

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6 h. ago Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra ordered to serve 1 year in jail by Supreme Court

Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail because his detention in the VIP wing of a hospital in lieu of prison was unlawful, in another major blow for a powerful family that has dominated Thai politics for two decades. The court would take the 76-year-old into custody, a reporter who attended the verdict said. On return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, Thaksin spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to...

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6 h. ago Thaksin Shinawatra’s fall from grace ends in a Thai prison cell

Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon who once dominated Thai politics, will spend his first night behind bars on Tuesday after the Supreme Court sentenced him to a year in prison. The verdict was a stunning blow for the former prime minister, whose political dynasty has, for now, been pushed aside. Thailand’s top court found that Thaksin, 76, knowingly exaggerated illness in 2023 to secure a lengthy stay in a VIP ward of a police hospital rather than in a prison cell. Judges ruled that his...

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13 h. ago More factories but less pollution: how China’s green tech revolution works

Over his nearly two-decade career as an environmental researcher, Ma Jun has witnessed arguably the fastest environmental improvement in the world. In 2006, he founded the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) – a non-profit environmental research organisation based in Beijing. At the time, data collected by his organisation showed around 28 per cent of monitored water sources nationwide were severely polluted and rendered unusable, leaving nearly 300 million people without...

Politics

19 h. ago Hong Kong officials ‘could have provided better guidance to failed balloon event’

Hong Kong authorities could have provided better guidance to the organiser of a HK$30 million (US$3.85 million) botched hot-air balloon festival, lawmakers have said, even as the government stressed it had already offered professional advice. Lawmakers Doreen Kong Yuk-foon and Michael Tien Puk-sun said on Monday that the government should be more proactive when dealing with high-risk or special events and could conduct reviews for activities held in public venues. “I hope the government can...

Politics

20 h. ago Cheche Expands NIO Partnership As Record Deliveries Fuel China EV Insurance Race

Cheche Expands NIO Partnership As Record Deliveries Fuel China EV Insurance Race  Yahoo Finance

Politics

21 h. ago Hong Kong to review public housing workflow after mother, son suicide case

Hong Kong’s Housing Department has pledged to review its work procedures on public flat tenants with special needs after a mother and son, both reportedly suffering from mental illnesses and facing eviction, committed suicide. Social workers and housing advisers said on Monday that authorities could improve administrative procedures to be more accommodating in such cases, and consider and streamline rehousing arrangements for them. “It is reasonable to take back flats and combat the abuse of...

Events

24 h. ago Are ‘unscrupulous’ insurers causing richer Malaysians to seek public hospitals?

Malaysians from the highest income group are increasingly turning to public hospitals for treatment as surging private healthcare costs drive up insurance premiums, with lawmakers and industry professionals warning of more pressure on the national healthcare system. The cost of private healthcare in Malaysia rose by nearly 12 per cent in 2024, well above the global average of about 6 per cent, according to a report on medical trends around the world by professional services firm Aon. A separate...

Politics

29 h. ago Malaysian woman who tried to hug Perak’s sultan charged with assault

A 41-year-old woman has been charged with assault in Malaysia after she attempted to embrace the Sultan of Perak last month. The incident, which took place in front of the Ipoh Town Hall at 8.20am on August 31 during Independence Day celebrations, has prompted scrutiny of security arrangements surrounding Malaysia’s royalty. Nurhaswani Afni Mohamad Zorki from Kampung Manjoi appeared before Magistrate Mohd Harith Mohd Mazlan on Monday, where she was formally charged under Section 352 of the Penal...

Events

30 h. ago ‘Drowning in money’: Filipinos seethe over ‘stolen’ flood control funds

Mud splattered across gates. Walls daubed with “thief” and “corrupt”. In the Philippines, anger over the misuse of funds set aside for flood control projects has found its target: the properties of contractors accused of siphoning off billions and the offices of government agencies. After rallying outside the Department of Public Works and Highways and pelting it with waste water-filled balloons and rotten fruit on Thursday, protesters descended on the House of Representatives the day afterwards...

Events

33 h. ago Hong Kong scientists developing new blood treatment to aid diabetes Patients

A team of Hong Kong scientists is developing an injectable treatment that could potentially improve blood flow in diabetes patients’ feet, in the hopes that it will reduce the need for amputation by rebuilding tissue in the arteries. They also hope to apply the treatment to peripheral artery disease or PAD, a condition caused by the build-up of fatty deposits in arteries that affect blood circulation in the feet. Jack Wong Wing-tak, associate professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s...

Events

46 h. ago Ukraine government building ablaze in Russia’s biggest air attack of war

Russia launched its largest air attack of the war on Ukraine overnight, setting the main government building on fire in central Kyiv and killing at least four people, including an infant, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drone and missile barrage killed four people and caused damage across the north, south and east of the country, including the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa, as well as in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions. “Such killings now,...

Events

47 h. ago Hong Kong to issue T8 typhoon signal as storm Tapah closes in

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong readers now get 50% off their first year of subscription until September 21, 2025. The Hong Kong Observatory is set to issue the No 8 typhoon signal at 9.20pm on Sunday as tropical cyclone Tapah is expected to make landfall over western Guangdong the following morning. With Tapah – the Malay word for a type of giant freshwater catfish – expected to...

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