72 m. ago Impulse control: Malaysia’s social media ban targets teen minds

Eric Wong is only 20, but his life online is so consuming that he struggles to draw a line between his digital presence and the physical world. A member of Malaysia’s Gen Z – those aged 13 to 29 this year – Wong belongs to the first generation of true digital natives, raised on a steady stream of social media, online gaming and endless internet connectivity. “If there’s time in between classes, me and my friends will gather in the cafeteria or the nearby mamak (food stall) to play PUBG or Mobile...

Events

17 h. ago China woman, 47, shares civil servant life in Iceland, appreciates culture that respects choices

A 47-year-old Chinese woman shares her idyllic life as a civil servant in a remote town in Iceland, igniting interest and spirited discussions on social media in mainland China. The woman, known as Megan, hails from Beijing. In 2020, at the age of 42, she decided to pursue a second master’s degree in Iceland, a few years after her divorce. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting and her first master’s in business computing in the UK before transferring to a new energy major at a...

Politics

17 h. ago China woman shares civil service life in Iceland, admires culture that respects choices

China woman shares civil service life in Iceland, admires culture that respects choices  South China Morning Post

Politics

19 h. ago Chinese woman seeks online help to slaughter pigs, attracting over 1,000 volunteers to her farm

A woman in southern China who did not know how to slaughter a pig turned to the internet for help, unexpectedly sparking a heartwarming viral reaction that attracted over 1,000 enthusiastic volunteers and transformed the event into a festive gathering. The story began on January 9, when a woman nicknamed Daidai from Hechuan, Chongqing, posted a short video on social media inviting netizens to assist in holding down two pigs for slaughter, while also extending an invitation to enjoy a traditional...

Politics

23 h. ago Musk’s xAI sued over Grok deepfakes – this time, by mother of his child

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitative deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. Ashley St Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleged in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing...

Politics

24 h. ago Unaware of owner’s death, loyal China dog waits daily in corridor for his return, moving many

A pet dog in China has been waiting outside his owner’s home for weeks, unaware of his passing. Refusing to eat or drink, the loyal canine has captured the hearts of countless social media users. This touching story, centred around the dog nicknamed Ah Wang, has drawn comparisons to the 2009 film Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, inspired by a true story from Japan in the 1920s. In the film, the dog Hachi waits every day for its owner at a railway station for 10 years following his death, until the day it...

Events

31 h. ago NASA's Mars Sample Return is dead, leaving China to retrieve signs of life from the Red Planet

NASA's Mars Sample Return is dead, leaving China to retrieve signs of life from the Red Planet  Live Science

Events

34 h. ago Tesla’s defeat, Harvard’s success, Trump ‘top global risk’: 7 US

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. BYD’s win, Tesla’s defeat, Ford’s pivot: the widening gap in US-China EV markets After years of competing head-to-head with China in electric vehicles, the United States is now widely seen as falling behind – a reality increasingly acknowledged even within Detroit. Read the full story...

Politics

36 h. ago As families shrink, our primary relationship is increasingly with ourselves

More than 2,300 years ago, Aristotle mused in Politics that to live alone, a man must be a god or a beast, or words to that effect. I wonder what he would have thought of the popularity of China’s “Are You Dead?” app. For Aristotle, we are social animals, thriving in the “polis” in the company of family, friends and fellow citizens. The average mother had at least five children. Many homes housed three, even four, generations. Family life was noisy and crowded, full of companionship, contest and...

Politics

42 h. ago In Xi’s winter wonderland, life without coal is the coldest comfort

In Xi’s winter wonderland, life without coal is the coldest comfort  The Times

Politics

45 h. ago Hong Kong temperatures to fall to 12 degrees next week as winter monsoon arrives

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to sharply dip to as low as 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday next week as a cold front moves through the city midweek. The Hong Kong Observatory said the fine and relatively warm weather on Friday, brought by a dry northeast monsoon,...

Politics

54 h. ago An app’s blunt life check adds another layer to the loneliness crisis in China

An app’s blunt life check adds another layer to the loneliness crisis in China  Los Angeles Times

Events

62 h. ago Omdia: Mainland China’s Smartphone Market Declined 1% in 2025 as Huawei Reclaimed the Top Spot After Five Years

Omdia: Mainland China’s Smartphone Market Declined 1% in 2025 as Huawei Reclaimed the Top Spot After Five Years  Yahoo Finance

Politics

64 h. ago China's 'Are You Dead?' app goes viral as young people seek a one

China's 'Are You Dead?' app goes viral as young people seek a one-tap proof of life  TRT World

Events

67 h. ago Alibaba’s Qwen AI app hits 100 million users as upgrade broadens role in daily life

Alibaba Group Holding has rolled out a major update to its flagship Qwen artificial intelligence app, integrating it more deeply into the company’s expansive ecosystem, from online shopping to travel booking, as it pushes to make the service an AI-powered gateway to daily life. The upgrade came as Qwen surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of January, said Wu Jia, vice-president of Alibaba, at a corporate event on Thursday in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, where...

Events

3 d. ago Huawei reclaims top spot over Apple in China smartphone market after chip breakthrough

Huawei Technologies edged out Apple to reclaim the No 1 spot in mainland China’s smartphone market in 2025, a new report showed, as the domestic handset maker overcame crippling US sanctions. For the full year, Huawei captured 16.4 per cent of China’s smartphone market with 46.7 million units shipped, narrowly beating Apple, which shipped 46.2 million iPhones for a 16.2 per cent share, research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) said on Wednesday. Huawei’s smartphone shipments fell 1.9...

Politics

3 d. ago Hong Kong man who claimed to be reincarnated Thai king gets life for axe murder

A Hong Kong man who claimed to be the reincarnation of a late Thai king has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the gruesome murder of an elderly man four years ago. The High Court on Wednesday sentenced 35-year-old Mang Yat-lam to mandatory life in prison after a seven-member jury unanimously rejected his claim that he had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the random attack. Mang, who was unemployed, told the court he did not know his victim, 70-year-old Cheung...

Events

3 d. ago I'm 32 and have lived abroad for nearly a decade. Now, I'm weighing life in China against returning to the US.

I'm 32 and have lived abroad for nearly a decade. Now, I'm weighing life in China against returning to the US.  Business Insider

Politics

3 d. ago At least 4 migrants have died in US immigration custody since start of 2026

Four migrants died while in custody of US immigration authorities over the first 10 days of 2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under US President Donald Trump. The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from January 3-9, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Trump administration was aiming to ramp up deportations and has increased the...

Events

3 d. ago Hong Kong’s John Lee to open new Legco’s first meeting with Tai Po fire on agenda

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Hong Kong’s new Legislative Council will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, with lawmakers set to focus on follow-up actions after last year’s Tai Po fire that claimed at least 161 lives. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will address the new batch of 90 lawmakers, followed by a...

Events