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Hong Kong authorities should offer more timely and flexible urgent accommodation for residents uprooted by a new regulation aimed at eliminating the city’s notorious subdivided flats, lawmakers have urged. Their comments were made on Tuesday after the Housing Bureau briefed lawmakers on plans to reserve up to 180 transitional flats in urban and extended urban areas to tenants evicted on short notice. Scott Leung Man-kwong, deputy chairman of the Legislative Council’s housing panel, said he...

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Hong Kong authorities have slashed the time needed to send emergency mobile alerts to residents from an hour to 15 minutes under a HK$150 million (US$19 million) system, while messages can now be tailored to specific districts, the security chief has revealed. A hearing session into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in April had exposed the lengthy time needed to trigger the alert. But security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung on Saturday stopped short of specifying the types of incidents, such as major...

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French President Emmanuel Macron is facing backlash after he interrupted a panel at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya to demand silence from the audience. Macron stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for what he called a “total lack of respect”, accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs. He had earlier described himself as a “Pan-Africanist” during a news conference. The summit is meant to showcase France’s new policy for the continent...

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Hong Kong authorities should issue about 20,500 licences in the first phase of regulating ride-hailing platforms, lawmakers and experts have said, arguing that the city needs at least 15,000 active cars daily to meet existing demand and avoid worsening transport shortages. The proposal came as several lawmakers told the South China Morning Post, on condition of anonymity, that the government had recently consulted them on a regulatory framework for ride-hailing services but had not presented any...

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Huaqiangbei, home to the world’s largest electronics marketplace in southern China’s tech hub Shenzhen, is reinventing itself as the world’s artificial intelligence showroom, drawing back foreign traders and tourists hunting for the latest gadgets. For first-time visitors like Abigail Slagveer from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the sheer scale of Huaqiangbei’s electronics market is overwhelming. “I came here one and a half hours ago through that front door,” she said, pointing to an entrance just...

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Singapore and New Zealand on Monday signed the world’s first legally binding bilateral agreement to keep essential supplies – including food, fuel, healthcare products and chemical and construction materials – flowing even during crises. The Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies was signed by Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Energy, Science and Technology Tan See Leng and New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment Todd McClay at the Singapore-New Zealand Annual Leaders’ Meeting in...

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Hong Kong authorities will take public opinion into account when deciding whether to trigger a new investigation mechanism to hold senior officials accountable, the city’s civil service minister has said. Permanent secretaries of bureaus, who are not covered by the proposed “Heads of Department Accountability System”, will also face scrutiny if they are found to be involved in management failures, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said on Saturday. Under the new mechanism,...

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Beijing has promised to restore direct flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan following a visit by the leader of the main opposition party. The 10-point measures, which also include a pledge to ease restrictions on individuals travelling to the island, were announced on Sunday as Kuomintang chairwoman Cheng Li-wun concluded her visit to the mainland. Her trip, which began on Tuesday, included a meeting with President Xi Jinping – the first between the leaders of the Communist Party and...

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Legendary British rock band Deep Purple made ⁠Japanese Prime Minister ⁠Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief ⁠visit to their high-profile superfan on Friday as they returned to the country they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer and fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been ‌well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favourite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi...

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Several major Chinese banks have clawed back staff bonuses or cut salaries amid a sluggish economic recovery and Beijing’s ongoing scrutiny of the financial sector. In their annual reports, an increasing number of lenders, ranging from state-owned institutions to commercial banks, are disclosing the amount of performance-based compensation reclaimed from their employees last year. State-owned Bank of China recovered 47.18 million yuan (US$6.9 million) from 4,630 individuals in 2025, according to...

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Philippine lawmakers have voiced hope that joint oil and gas exploration deals with China could proceed amid the global energy crunch, despite a former Supreme Court justice warning that accepting Beijing’s terms would be tantamount to “suicide” for Manila. Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier this week backed President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s intention to resume talks with China on such ventures, given the impact of the Middle East conflict. In 2023, Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping...

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Taiwanese opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said she hoped to make the Taiwan Strait “safe” and not one of the world’s “most dangerous places” as she left for Shanghai on Tuesday. Kuomintang chairwoman Cheng is leading a 14-member delegation – including three KMT vice-chairmen – on a six-day visit to mainland China. A planned meeting with Communist Party leader Xi Jinping during the trip has drawn scrutiny in Taipei as tensions soar across the strait. Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic...

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“Pet spirit money” in various currencies has emerged as a burgeoning trend, with many promoting “luxury dog funerals” that include paper servants and companion pets, as well as unique paper offerings such as salmon, tuna, steak, Wagyu beef and dried chicken. In China, holding funerals for loved ones and burning joss paper have long been revered mourning traditions, originally intended to express remembrance and respect for the deceased, as well as to convey the hope that they will thrive in the...

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Some Hong Kong taxi drivers have yet to install e-payment options even after the city’s mandatory electronic payment for taxis went into effect, highlighting a digital divide challenge facing cabbies, the South China Morning Post has observed. Starting on April 1, the Transport Department mandated all drivers to offer passengers at least two electronic payment options, encompassing one QR code option and one alternative electronic method. The government initiative aimed to elevate the overall...

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A 55-year-old Chinese medical aesthetics tycoon has shocked the internet by marrying her 25-year-old husband, reportedly with a 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) dowry. Yu Wenhong, 55, was born into a financially modest family in Dalian, Liaoning province, in northeastern China. After her father died, she began working in the beauty industry at the age of 18 to support her mother and younger brother. She started as an eyebrow tattooing technician and later went on to establish her own beauty...

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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he was “pretty surprised” by the US-Israel war on Iran, adding that he did not see any “rationality” in the military campaign. Prabowo, a retired general who now heads the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, said in an interview that Iran recently told him they were wary of entering into negotiations with the US to stop the war because they felt “basically they have been tricked” twice. In an asymmetrical war, he added, “they really just have to...

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Hong Kong authorities have received 221 complaints about illegal petrol stations in the first two months of the year, averaging about 111 per month – 42 per cent higher than the monthly average in 2025 – as drivers continue to grapple with rising fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war with Iran. The Fire Services Department said on Friday that prosecutions in January and February had risen even more sharply, increasing 85 per cent over last year’s monthly average, with illegal operators...

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Political efforts to cripple Turkey’s main opposition and lock up its presidential candidate will never stifle the people’s frustration with the government and their growing demand for change, Istanbul’s jailed mayor has said in an interview. “An irreversible process for a change in power has begun in Turkey and it won’t stop until it is complete. I cannot stop it … nor can the ruling party nor the judiciary,” Ekrem Imamoglu said in a written response to Agence France-Presse questions conveyed...

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This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hongkongers should brace for cooler and rainy weather on Tuesday as temperatures are expected to drop progressively to as low as 16 degrees Celsius (61 Fahrenheit) as a cold front approaches, according to the city’s weather forecaster. The Observatory said on Monday a cold front over inland Guangdong province was moving southwards and was expected to reach...

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