South China Morning Post

• the search,
• Breaking news
• World news
• Facebook
• Twitter
• headlines

All the breaking news and latest world news from South China Morning Post, with Twitter and Facebook search trends.

Twitter Search News Trending

Tweets by SCMPNews

Facebook Search News Trending

1. Hong Kong transport official defends compulsory bus seat belt rules amid backlash

   A senior transport official has said Hong Kong’s hilly landscape and the prevalence of short-haul journeys on highways justified the need for a mandatory seat belt rule, adding that bus companies would deploy ambassadors to bus stops to raise awareness, particularly among elderly passengers. Transport Department safety director Stella Lee Yim-fong defended the regulation, which has been in...

2. China’s ‘gold fever’ sparks US$1 billion scandal as trading platform collapses

   The sudden demise of a major gold trading platform has rocked the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, leaving tens of thousands of retail investors with combined losses totalling more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion), according to investors and domestic media reports. Chinese retail investors have rushed to capitalise on the unprecedented rally in global gold prices in recent months, leading...

3. ASML reports heated global demand in 2025, but cools China outlook amid US sanctions

   The financial head of Dutch chipmaking equipment giant ASML – following a year of double-digit sales growth for the company’s machines – said he expects the firm’s already declining sales to China to fall even further, as trade restrictions prevent shipments of the firm’s most advanced units to Chinese clients and demand for other models is likely to taper off after an earlier rush. China’s...

4. Syrian leader meets Putin in Moscow with Russian military bases on agenda

   Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Moscow on Wednesday for the second time in less than four months, and Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to help the country rebuild its war-battered economy. “I know that there is a lot that’s necessary to restore in Syria, and our economic operators, including the construction sector, are ready for this joint work,” Putin...

5. Singapore to acquire Lee Kuan Yew’s 38 Oxley Road home for preservation

   The site at 38 Oxley Road was gazetted for acquisition on Thursday, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the National Heritage Board (NHB) said in a media release. This follows the gazetting of the site as a national monument on December 12, 2025. The site was the home of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. It was also where events took place that shaped the country’s...

6. 4 still in hospital, 75 discharged after Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire

   Four people injured in Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire remain in hospital in stable condition, while 75 others have been discharged as of Thursday, according to health authorities. A government spokesman said that healthcare staff would continue to provide appropriate treatment and care to the patients from the Wang Fuk Court fire, which claimed at least 168 lives and injured 79 in November last...

7. Japan’s ‘new-wave yakuza’: tokuryu gangs take control of lucrative sex business

   Tokyo police have arrested the suspected head of one of Japan’s largest tokuryu organised crime groups after a year-long manhunt, but analysts have warned that such gangs are typically resilient and can operate without their leaders. Horaki Obata, 40, was arrested on Monday on the island of Amami in Kagoshima prefecture in southern Japan following a tip-off, police said. Obata is accused of...

8. How shared Asean visa could help Philippines find its travel feet

   As Asean tourism leaders met this week to discuss regional matters, observers say a common visitor visa for the bloc and aligned digital connectivity will even out tourism growth and help lagging countries like the Philippines catch up. The 63rd Asean National Tourism Organisation Meeting, held in Cebu in the Philippines on Monday, was also attended by tourism chiefs from Japan, China and South...

9. Partial US shutdown looms amid political stand-off over ICE

   With a partial US government shutdown looming, Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands on Wednesday for the Department of Homeland Security, including an enforceable code of conduct for federal agents conducting immigration arrests and a requirement that officers show identification as the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis. It...

10. Xi urges ‘stable’ partnership as Starmer makes first China trip by British PM in 8 years

    China and Britain should deepen dialogue and strengthen cooperation amid an increasingly complex international environment, Chinese President Xi Jinping said as he began talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In his brief opening remarks at their meeting in Beijing on Thursday, the Chinese leader said their relationship had suffered setbacks in recent years but the two countries had the...