7 h. ago Hong Kong T8 signal to remain in force on Monday morning; classes suspended

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 issued the No 8 typhoon signal at 9.20pm on Sunday, with tropical cyclone Tapah expected to make landfall over western Guangdong the following morning. Tapah – the Malay word for a type of giant freshwater catfish – is expected to skirt...

Politics

9 h. ago China girl who begged with blind dad gained national profile; gets university place

A young Chinese woman who was forced to beg on the streets with her blind and poverty-stricken father at the age of seven has been admitted to university, sparking widespread attention online and a national discussion. In 2013, Zhang Yan, from Nanjiang county in Bazhong, Sichuan province, southwestern China, captured national attention when it was reported that she led her blind father, Zhang Shiming, begging on the streets for survival. In 2010, her father injured one of his eyes on a rusty...

Politics

16 h. ago T3 typhoon signal to remain in force in Hong Kong for the rest of Sunday

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 has said the No 3 typhoon signal will remain in force for the rest of Sunday, with a tropical cyclone expected to skirt about 200km (124 miles) southwest of the city on Monday morning. The forecaster issued the No 3 signal at 2.40am on...

Politics

16 h. ago Ferry services suspended as T3 remains in force in Hong Kong for rest of Sunday

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. Some after-school classes and ferry services have been suspended in Hong Kong after the Observatory issued the No 3 typhoon signal, which it said would remain in force for the rest of Sunday. The forecaster issued the No 3 signal at 2.40am on Sunday, as Tropical Storm...

Politics

16 h. ago Hong Kong to issue T8 signal on Sunday night as Tropical Cyclone Tapah approaches

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. Hong Kong will issue a No 8 typhoon warning signal between 9pm and midnight on Sunday, as Tropical Cyclone Tapah approaches closest to the city the next morning, the Observatory said. The storm is expected to pass within 200km (124 miles) southwest of the city on...

Politics

16 h. ago T8 signal to be issued at 9.20pm as Hong Kong cancels all school classes on Monday

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. Hong Kong will issue a No 8 typhoon signal at 9.20pm on Sunday, as Tropical Cyclone Tapah is expected to make landfall over western Guangdong the following morning, the Observatory said, with all schools suspending classes on Monday. “Tapah is expected to skirt within...

Politics

16 h. ago T8 signal issued at 9.20pm as Hong Kong cancels all school classes on Monday

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. Hong Kong issued the No 8 typhoon signal at 9.20pm on Sunday, with Tropical Storm Tapah expected to make landfall over western Guangdong on Monday morning, the Observatory said, triggering the suspension of school classes and disrupting the start of the work week for...

Politics

21 h. ago US woman who registered dog to vote in 2 elections charged with 5 felonies

A Californian woman accused of registering her dog to vote and casting two ballots in the dog’s name has been charged with five felonies, authorities said on Friday. Laura Lee Yourex, 62, allegedly registered her dog, Maya Jean Yourex, to vote and cast two mail-in ballots – in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom and the 2022 primary election, Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said. The first ballot was counted; the second...

Politics

24 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

28 h. ago Dozens arrested at latest UK protest for banned group Palestine Action

British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organisation. Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Police have arrested...

Events

35 h. ago Israel’s army urges Gaza City residents to move to ‘humanitarian zone’

The Israeli military said on Saturday that Palestinians in Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban area, should leave for the south, warning that the military was operating throughout the city. Israeli forces have been carrying out an offensive on the suburbs of the northern city for weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to capture it. Netanyahu says Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian Islamist militants,...

Politics

37 h. ago Officer allegedly tricked into Cambodian scam farm returns to Hong Kong, resigns

A Hong Kong officer allegedly tricked into working at a Cambodian scam farm has returned to the city and handed in his resignation, the police chief has revealed. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming also said on Saturday that the case was now being handled by the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau after the force sent a four-member team to Cambodia to arrange and aid the former officer’s return. Last week, the force confirmed that the officer managed to flee from a scam farm in Cambodia after...

Events

37 h. ago Police officer allegedly tricked into Cambodian scam farm returns home, resigns

A Hong Kong officer allegedly tricked into working at a Cambodian scam farm has returned to the city and handed in his resignation, the police chief has revealed. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming also said on Saturday that the case was now being handled by the organised crime and triad bureau after the force sent a four-member team to Cambodia to arrange and aid the former officer’s return. Last week, the force confirmed that the officer had managed to flee from a scam farm in Cambodia...

Events

37 h. ago How Thailand’s local talent is fuelling global film productions

From the ready-made “dystopia” of Bangkok’s skyline to the moody limestone cliffs of Krabi, Thailand has for decades served as the backdrop for foreign filmmakers’ flights of fancy. Now, the country is looking to fly even higher by luring in global streaming platforms with a combination of generous tax breaks and highly skilled local production crew. Its largest and most recent catch is the sci-fi series Alien: Earth on Disney, created by Noah Hawley with Ridley Scott serving as one of the...

Politics

41 h. ago China’s yuan rallies with central bank backing as worries mount over US dollar

A recent rally in China’s yuan has been primarily fuelled by stronger guidance from its central bank rather than by market forces, analysts said, pointing to a mostly steady US dollar index. However, they noted, this period of strengthening is likely to remain measured, as Beijing prefers to avoid harming the competitiveness of its exporters amid trade tensions with the United States. Over just five trading days last week, the People’s Bank of China pushed the yuan’s reference rate against the...

Politics

41 h. ago Venezuela’s Maduro calls for talks after Trump’s threat over military jets

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has called for dialogue with Washington, hours after President Donald Trump threatened to shoot down Venezuelan military jets if they pose a danger to US forces. Tensions between the two countries soared in recent days after the Pentagon accused Venezuela of buzzing its ships in the Caribbean following a deadly US strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat. “None of the differences we have and have had can lead to a military conflict,” Maduro said on Friday in a...

Events

43 h. ago ‘Nobody said anything’: Malaysia confronts its deadly school bullying problem

The guilt hangs heavily over Jerry* whenever his mind drifts back to his school days in Kota Kinabalu and that quiet “awkward kid” he once tormented. Sitting at the back of the classroom, the boy was an easy target for Jerry and his friends, who delighted in humiliating him by stealing his shoes, tugging down his trousers or meting out the occasional beating. They were only 12, behaving as children do, he once thought. But more than two decades later, Jerry feels the weight of what those moments...

Events

51 h. ago Google hit with US$3.45 billion EU antitrust fine over adtech practices

Alphabet’s Google was hit with a €2.95 billion (US$3.45 billion) EU antitrust fine on Friday for anticompetitive practices in its lucrative adtech business, marking its fourth penalty in its decade-long fight with EU competition regulators. The move by the European Commission was triggered by a complaint from the European Publishers Council and comes amid a threat by US President Donald Trump to retaliate against the European Union for any push against Big Tech. The EU competition enforcer had...

Economics

58 h. ago Belt and Road Summit marks a decade of deals as Hong Kong eyes new chapter of collaboration

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Co-organised by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 10th Belt and Road Summit will return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 10-11.  Bringing together over 90 speakers from 18 Belt and Road economies, this year’s two-day programme continues a ten-year run of policy dialogue, business exchange and investment matchmaking under the theme “Collaborate for...

Politics

58 h. ago Thai parliament elects Anutin as new PM, ending political stalemate

Anutin Charnvirakul, a prominent construction tycoon and political conservative, has been chosen as Thailand’s next prime minister, capping a week of extraordinary political upheaval that saw the removal of his predecessor and the sudden flight of divisive billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra. Anutin, 58, secured a clear majority in Friday’s parliamentary vote, surpassing the 247-vote threshold required for victory in the lower house. His triumph was bolstered by the unexpected support of the...

Politics