37 h. ago Power outage briefly leaves 5,000 Hong Kong households in darkness

A power outage briefly left Hong Kong’s Kowloon City, a densely populated neighbourhood, in darkness on Thursday, with traffic lights malfunctioning, people trapped in lifts and about 5,000 households affected. Police said they received a report at 4.18pm that people were trapped in a lift at Kowloon City Plaza and the shopping centre was in total darkness. The case was later classified as “assistance not required”. At 5.04pm, another report was filed with the force concerning malfunctioning...

Politics

39 h. ago Hong Kong Palace Museum says Egyptian exhibition will be most profitable show yet

A display of hundreds of ancient Egyptian artefacts will be the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s most profitable exhibition yet, the institution has said, while also revealing that nine other shows are in the pipeline for next year. Director Louis Ng Chi-wa said on Thursday about 76,000 people had visited “Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums” in the first four weeks of its run. “We expected it would be popular, but it is even more popular in terms of both visitor numbers and demand...

Politics

3 d. ago Malaysians fume as Indonesian minister belittles flood aid: ‘just say thank you’

Malaysians hit back online this week after Indonesia’s home affairs minister appeared to play down the significance of flood relief Malaysia sent to the neighbouring nation’s disaster-hit Aceh province, where catastrophic floods and landslides on Sumatra’s northern tip have killed more than 1,000 people. The backlash followed remarks by Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian in a podcast clip published on Saturday, which later went viral, in which he said that the medical supplies delivered from...

Events

4 d. ago Indonesia to revoke 22 forestry permits after floods that killed over 1,000 people

Indonesia will revoke more than 20 forestry permits across the country, the forestry minister said on Monday, after deadly floods and landslides devastated parts of the northwestern island of Sumatra. Environmentalists and experts have pointed to the role forest loss played in flash flooding and landslides that this month killed more than 1,000 people and washed torrents of mud into villages. The government will revoke 22 forestry permits that encompass more than one million hectares of land,...

Events

5 d. ago Japan risks 199,000 deaths in overdue megaquake amid fresh tremor swarm

A cluster of tremors off Japan’s northeastern coast has raised alarms among seismologists, as a new government study warns that up to 199,000 people could be killed if a magnitude-9 earthquake strikes. The most recent quake, a magnitude 4.9 offshore tremor recorded on Sunday evening near Miyako in Iwate prefecture, was small and caused no reported damage. Yet authorities are urging residents to remain vigilant and review their evacuation plans after a succession of smaller offshore quakes in...

Events

6 d. ago Filipino helper killed in Hong Kong fire ‘was going home for good to be with son’

A domestic helper who died in Hong Kong’s devastating Tai Po fire last month planned to return home permanently to the Philippines to be with her 10-year-old son and was due to leave on Saturday, the Post has learned. Maryan Pascual Esteban, 39, died with her ward, five-year-old Hannah, in the inferno at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate, which killed at least 160 people and displaced more than 4,000 residents. Ten domestic workers – Esteban and nine Indonesians – were among the fatalities when...

Events

8 d. ago Thailand says its military drones struck a bunker and casino along Cambodian border

Aerial footage released by the Thai military shows what was described as drones striking a casino complex and a Cambodian military bunker near the nations’ shared border. Thai officials said the recent clashes have killed at least 15 people and forced more than 500,000 to evacuate from border areas, where fighting continues despite a recent truce brokered by the US and Asean.

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong steps up probes, crackdown on firms linked to Wang Fuk Court blaze

Hong Kong authorities and professional bodies have stepped up investigations into the city’s deadliest fire in decades and started taking disciplinary action against any parties found to have breached regulations, the Post has learned. The probes follow last month’s blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, which killed at least 160 people, including a firefighter, and left nearly 5,000 homeless. Six people remain uncontactable. So far, 21 people have been arrested by police and the...

Events

2 w. ago Afghan boy, 13, executes family’s killer in echoes of worst days of Taliban rule

A 13-year-old boy executed a man found guilty of killing his family in front of a cheering crowd in Afghanistan, in a chilling detail revealed after the event. The public execution, echoing the worst days of Taliban rule, was of a man who the Supreme Court ruled had killed 13 members of the same family, including nine children and their mother. About 80,000 people, including relatives of the victims, attended the execution in the sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday. The...

Events

2 w. ago Students, workers, domestic helpers hit by Hong Kong fire get HK$20,000 payout

Students, workers and domestic helpers affected by the deadly Hong Kong blaze that claimed 151 lives will each receive a payout of HK$20,000 (US$2,570) as part of government relief efforts. Donations to the government’s relief fund have reached HK$1.6 billion. The authorities on Monday also announced grants ranging from HK$50,000 to HK$100,000 for the dozens of people injured in the fire. Aid continued to pour in from the authorities and private sector after last Wednesday’s deadly fire at Wang...

Economics

2 w. ago 2,100 residents left homeless by Hong Kong fire move to temporary housing, hotels

More than 2,000 people left homeless last week by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades have been settled in temporary housing and hotels, while some residents are choosing to stay with friends and relatives after deeming the offered locations too remote. Undersecretary for Home and Youth Affairs Clarence Leung Wang-ching said on Monday that 2,000 transitional flats and 1,000 short-term rooms in youth hostels and hotels were available for the affected families previously living at Wang Fuk Court...

Society

2 w. ago Soldiers deployed in Sri Lanka, Indonesia as Asian flood toll approaches 1,000

Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days. Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week. Arriving in North Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the government’s “priority now is how to...

Events

2 w. ago 123 dead, 130 missing in Sri Lanka after cyclone wreaks havoc

The death toll from heavy floods and mudslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka rose to 123, with 130 people still missing, authorities said Saturday. Nearly 44,000 people have been displaced and are in temporary shelters, the South Asian country’s disaster management centre said. The death toll is expected to rise. Social media posts on Saturday showed several areas affected by overnight mudslides that authorities have yet to reach. Sri Lanka has been battered by severe weather since last...

Events

2 w. ago 153 dead, 191 missing in Sri Lanka after cyclone wreaks havoc

The death toll from heavy floods and mudslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka has risen to 153, with 191 people still missing, authorities said on Saturday. The extreme weather has destroyed more than 20,000 homes, sending 108,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) reported. A further 798,000 people required help after being temporarily displaced by the floods, DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said. The death toll is expected to rise. Social media...

Events

4 w. ago ‘Unpredictable risks’: China to see record graduates next year amid jobs crunch

China is preparing for an unprecedented wave of new university graduates next summer – a record 12.7 million outgoing students – intensifying pressure on an already strained job market and a slowing economy. The 2026 cohort will be about 4 per cent larger than the 12.22 million graduates in 2025 – an additional 480,000 young people competing for jobs, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE). It announced the figures on Thursday, as it launched new campaigns to ensure sufficient...

Events