3 h. ago Heavy rain, thunder do little to deter fans as Hong Kong racing season begins

The heavy rain and thunder brought by the approaching Tropical Storm Tapah did little to deter racing fans, as the Hong Kong season opened in Sha Tin on Sunday. Crowds started gathering at the racecourse from 8am, with punters eager to get a spot near the parade ring for the opening ceremony, which included a performance by singer MC Cheung Tin-fu. And the opening day was the first opportunity many experienced punters got to see the new facilities, with opinion divided on the latest phase of the...

Politics

5 h. ago Rare chance for Hongkongers to visit exhibition showcasing Tang dynasty treasures

Nearly 300 well-preserved exhibits from 28 museums and institutions in mainland China have gone on show in Hong Kong in a rare showcase of the prosperous Tang dynasty (618-907), with new incentives to encourage student visits. Themed “Tang Vogue Beyond the Horizons: A Golden Era of Multicultural Integration and Openness”, the exhibition has been organised by the Antiquities and Monuments Office and is running at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre in Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui until the...

Politics

7 h. ago In a summit full of symbolism, China lays out vision for multipolar order

The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that concluded in Tianjin on September 1 was a significant diplomatic triumph for President Xi Jinping and Beijing. The forum sought to burnish China’s geopolitical profile as a reliable interlocutor and an alternative voice for stability in global governance. SCO summits tend to be low-key and do not garner much notice. This time, though, China used the opportunity to signal it had arrived at the global high table at a time when US...

Politics

14 h. ago Iran executes man accused of killing security guard in Mahsa Amini protests

Iran on Saturday executed a man accused of involvement in a deadly attack on security forces during nationwide protests in 2022, the judiciary’s official news agency reported. Mizan Online identified the man as Mehran Bahramian, who reportedly opened fire on a security vehicle during the unrest, killing one officer and wounding others in December 2022, in Semirom county, Isfahan province. It added that Iran’s Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence. The execution marked the 12th known case of...

Events

22 h. ago Thailand’s next PM Anutin reaffirms promise to hold fresh election

Thailand’s next prime minister on Saturday pledged to make good on his promise to lead the fractured interim government to new polls. Conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul was confirmed by parliament on Friday, ending a week-long power vacuum following the ousting of his predecessor Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The construction magnate cobbled together a coalition of opposition blocs to shut out Pheu Thai, the electoral vehicle of the once-dominant Shinawatra dynasty’s patriarch Thaksin. Anutin...

Politics

26 h. ago Another Hong Kong homeowner convicted over illegal structures, fined HK$150,000

Another homeowner in Redhill Peninsula has been found guilty of carrying out unauthorised building works and fined HK$150,000 (US$19,230), marking the 12th conviction after Hong Kong authorities’ crackdown on illegal construction. The owner of a detached home in the private housing estate on Hong Kong Island pleaded guilty at Eastern Court on Friday to knowingly undertaking building works without prior approval and consent from the Buildings Department. “Investigations found that the owner of...

Events

28 h. ago Ballooning crisis: 200 customers plan legal action over Hong Kong fest fiasco

More than 200 angry customers are planning to take legal action against a trouble-plagued hot-air balloon festival in Hong Kong, with grievances mounting over deflated displays, a singer pulling out of a related concert and the event potentially being cancelled because of an approaching storm. Visitors to the AIA International Hot Air Balloon Fest Hong Kong at the Central harbourfront faced disappointment for a third day on Saturday, as the organiser deflated displays again for part of the...

Economics

28 h. ago Ballooning crisis: 300 customers plan legal action over Hong Kong fest fiasco

More than 300 angry customers are planning to take legal action against a trouble-plagued hot-air balloon festival in Hong Kong, with grievances mounting over deflated displays, a singer pulling out of a related concert and the event potentially being cancelled because of an approaching storm. Visitors to the AIA International Hot Air Balloon Fest Hong Kong at the Central harbourfront faced disappointment for a third day on Saturday, as the organiser deflated displays again for part of the...

Economics

30 h. ago Australia posts US$659,000 reward for gunman’s arrest over police killings

Australia posted a US$659,000 reward on Saturday for the arrest of a gunman on the run for a 12th day after allegedly killing two police officers. Police in the eastern state of Victoria said they were offering the “life-changing” amount in their hunt for the 56-year-old fugitive, Desmond Freeman. Freeman is accused of opening fire when police arrived at his home in Victoria with a search warrant. The shooting killed 59-year-old detective Neal Thompson and 35-year-old senior constable Vadim de...

Events

30 h. ago China’s party diplomacy in play as communist leaders gather for parade

The past week has been a flurry of not only state-level diplomacy but also party-to-party outreach, with President Xi Jinping receiving a series of leaders from the four remaining communist countries on a single day. Xi held meetings with leaders from Cuba, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam, all of whom attended Wednesday’s military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the war against Japanese aggression. While Beijing has no interest in promoting a communist...

Politics

32 h. ago Hongkongers learn how to ‘break the gates of hell’ for Hungry Ghost Festival

Forming a circle in front of a temple in Yuen Long, a group of Hongkongers make sweeping, dance-like movements before smashing ceramic tiles on the ground with wooden swords under the guidance of their coach. They are learning to perform the solemn ritual of “breaking hell’s gate”, a traditional funeral practice that is typically performed by Taoist priests and long considered taboo by many. Thursday’s workshop was part of a three-day “soul deliverance” ceremony at Tin Hau Temple in Yuen Long’s...

Politics

32 h. ago Japan survey exposes social media’s role in disaster misinformation

More than a quarter of Japanese citizens were exposed to rumours or falsehoods on social media following natural disasters, according to a new survey, with some admitting they inadvertently hampered emergency responses by sharing the misinformation. The study was conducted by the Japanese Red Cross Society in the run-up to Disaster Prevention Day on Monday. The annual event commemorates the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, a magnitude-8 tremor that struck some 60km southwest of Tokyo and caused...

Events

34 h. ago Parading for peace in celebration and commemoration of China's V

Parading for peace in celebration and commemoration of China's V-Day  Morningstar

Politics

35 h. ago China’s biotech industry is gaining on the US. Can tariffs hold them back?

In the summer of 2015, a time when China’s pharmaceutical market was in a phase of rapid expansion, a sudden regulatory change sent tremors through the industry: drug companies would need to audit the clinical trial data for all pending applications. If withdrawn within a month of the announcement, firms could avoid penalties for submitting flawed applications, but hiding or falsifying data would court severe punishments, including multi-year filing bans. The response from the industry indicated...

Economics

43 h. ago Was Philippine police chief sacked for rejecting ‘overpriced’ gun deal?

A controversy over an alleged overpriced firearms deal has intensified in the Philippines, with insiders claiming that national police chief Nicolas Torre III was removed from his post for rejecting a proposed procurement of 80,000 assault rifles – a transaction some believe was padded by billions of pesos. While officials framed Torre’s dismissal as an administrative matter, multiple sources told This Week in Asia he was sacked for rejecting the “overpriced” 8 billion Philippine peso (US$140...

Economics

43 h. ago US stocks wobble as Wall Street wrangles with whether job market is too weak

US stocks wobbled lower on Friday as Wall Street questioned whether the US job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way. After rising to an early gain, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3 per cent below the all-time high it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5 per cent, after swinging between an early gain of nearly 150 points and a loss of 400....

Politics

44 h. ago Europe’s summer from hell, China’s stablecoin dilemma: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Europe’s summer from hell bleeds into autumn as Trump and Xi turn the screws If Brussels’ bureaucrats returning from their long summer breaks this week were wondering what they missed, the local press had them covered. Unbecoming scenes at June’s Nato summit, the “hopelessly one-sided” trade deal with the United States in July, as well as Chinese President...

Politics

44 h. ago Europe’s summer from hell, the future of air combat: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Europe’s summer from hell bleeds into autumn as Trump and Xi turn the screws If Brussels’ bureaucrats returning from their long summer breaks this week were wondering what they missed, the local press had them covered. Unbecoming scenes at June’s Nato summit, the “hopelessly one-sided” trade deal with the United States in July, as well as Chinese President...

Politics

44 h. ago 1 person killed, 3 hurt in Xinjiang traffic accident involving Hong Kong tour group

One person has died and three others have been injured in a traffic accident involving a Hong Kong tour group in Xinjiang. The Travel Industry Authority said on Friday that it was notified by Travel Circle International on Wednesday that the tour group was involved in a traffic accident that day in the autonomous mainland Chinese region. The group, which included 20 tourists, departed on August 27 on an 18-day visit to Xinjiang. Four tourists from two families were injured, including one who...

Events

45 h. ago Taiwan holds back on penalties for Victory Day parade supporters

Taipei authorities have taken a softer line on Taiwanese individuals attending Beijing’s Victory Day military parade this week, despite repeated warnings in the weeks leading up to the event. Former Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu defied the warnings and appeared on the rostrum overlooking Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, watching the parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The next day, Liang Wen-chieh, deputy minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, said...

Politics