Christine Choy, a trailblazer for Asian-Americans in independent film and whose documentary on the fatal beating of Vincent Chin was nominated for an Academy Award, has died. She was 73. Choy died on Sunday, according to a statement from JT Takagi, executive director of Third World Newsreel, a filmmaking collective Choy helped establish in the 1970s. No ...

In 1865, when a British entrepreneur built a demonstration railroad near Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi saw not progress but danger of disruptions to feng shui, imperial graves and rural order and had the tracks torn up. Two decades later, when a Chinese-built coal line threatened to steam too close to sacred grounds, Cixis solution was not innovation but ...

During a trip home, I took my daughters to the Nanking massacre memorial hall. It is not an easy place to visit. In shadowy rooms, photographs of victims line the walls. The names of the dead stretch across black stone. In glass cases lie bones unearthed from mass graves. I wanted my children to learn history honestly, to understand what war does to people. ...

King Charles said on Friday that his doctors can reduce his treatment for cancer in the new year, describing the moment as a blessing and testament to remarkable medical advances. Charles, 77, was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer last February, and made the latest announcement in a televised broadcast as part of a national cancer awareness ...

Iranian security forces on Friday detained the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi along with at least eight other activists in an arrest condemned as brutal by the Norwegian Nobel committee. Mohammadi, who was granted temporary leave from prison in December 2024, was detained along with eight other activists at the ceremony for lawyer Khosrow ...

The European Union on Friday indefinitely froze Russias assets in Europe to ensure that Hungary and Slovakia, both with Moscow-friendly governments, cannot prevent the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine. Using a special procedure meant for economic emergencies, the EU blocked the assets until Russia gives up its war on Ukraine and ...

European Union members have observed an uptick in Chinas support for Russia, multiple sources said, as Moscows invasion of Ukraine prepares to drag into its fourth year. Officials are parsing evidence of an increase in battlefield weapons being shipped from China to Russia, to add to the well-documented flow of goods with dual civilian and military uses ...

The reigning Miss Finland, Sarah Dzafce, has lost her title and crown due to a racism scandal, the organisers of the beauty pageant announced on Thursday. They said at a press conference that they accepted no form of racism or discriminatory behaviour and apologised for the incident in a statement. Tara Lehtonen, who finished in second place in the ...

The European Union will start collecting a three-euro flat fee for each small parcel valued below 150 (US$176) sent directly from a non-EU country to customers in the bloc, following a decision adopted by the EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday. The move, set to kick in next July, marks a milestone in Europes fight, led by France, against the ...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] The new intelligent dialogue application developed by HKChat OmniServe achieved a significant milestone within five days of its trial launch release on November 20. In that short time, HKChat claimed the top spot on the citys app store free app rankings, a success which underscores ...

The global race to deploy data centres in space to power artificial intelligence (AI) development has begun, with China seizing an early lead. In terms of the highest performance of space-based computing or the completeness of [the] technological framework, we are at the forefront, Beijing-based computer scientist Han Yinhe said. Han is a researcher at the ...

US-based rare earth firm REalloys believes it has a road map to build a North American supply chain for critical minerals that bypasses China, working with Canadian and Japanese partners a potential first, though not without risks and challenges. The Ohio-based company expects to deliver rare earth products, including magnets, in early 2027, using a ...

After witnessing the effects of a tumultuous trade war with the United States this year, Chinas top leaders have issued a directive to fortify the domestic economy against persistent or even heightened trade frictions. Following the annual central economic work conference, which concluded on Thursday and set the agenda for 2026, officials emphasised better ...

Singapores government on Friday gazetted as a national monument the former home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, a site long at the centre of a bitter family dispute among his children. The action marks a pivotal moment in the saga that has gripped the city state since Lees death in 2015, when his children publicly clashed over whether the bungalow ...

Hong Kong health authorities have urged the public to get the latest Covid vaccine as the next wave of the virus is set to arrive. The Centre for Health Protection said on Friday active periods of Covid-19 came in cycles of every six to nine months. More than five months had passed since the last periodic upsurge of Covid activity, it noted, as it asked the ...

Catch up on some of SCMPs biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Japan, US defence chiefs cover radar row and other China tensions in phone call US and Japanese defence chiefs spoke on the phone on Friday about a confrontation between Chinese and Japanese fighter jets over the ...

When it comes to building next-generation stealth jets, experience is the foundation of speed, reliability and combat readiness. Handing this critical job to a company with no stealth fighter experience could significantly delay progress and hand competitors a strategic gift. This is an open message from Yang Shuifeng, a lead designer of Chinas cutting-edge ...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the strategic frontline town of Kupiansk on Friday, just as Ukrainian forces reported retaking parts of the railway hub and encircling Russian troops. Standing at the citys entrance in a bulletproof vest, Zelensky emphasised in a video message that it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines ...

Tom Barrack, the United States special envoy for Syria, recently made waves at an international forum in Doha, Qatar, by suggesting that benevolent monarchies might be the most effective form of government for the Middle East. He also suggested that Israel was not a democracy. His remarks were probably welcomed in some parts of the region, but probably less ...

Yuen Long Tai Bo Cafe shot to Internet fame after it became the subject of a viral copypasta trend on Threads. The lengthy text, which has been copied and pasted on various online posts repeatedly, playfully referred to the cafes meat patties as a tastebud nuke and Asias number one, prompting a wave of customers to experience the hype, some from as far as ...

Chinese autonomous-driving technology firm Pony.ai is betting on an asset-light strategy and newer generations of low-cost driverless cars to drive growth for its robotaxi operation as the company expects to break even by 2030. Under the asset-light model, Pony.ai would team up with third-party companies such as taxi operators or ride-hailing platforms ...

China is expected to set its fiscal deficit ratio at around 4 per cent of gross domestic product in 2026, analysts said, adding the affirmation of a more prominent role for fiscal policy at this weeks central economic work conference indicates a selective approach to increasing government expenditures. In a statement issued after the annual conference ended ...

Manulife (International), one of the biggest life insurers and pension providers in Hong Kong and Macau, has finished moving its domicile to Hong Kong from Bermuda, making it the first insurer to successfully complete the process under a new regime, according to a statement on Friday. The insurer said the redomiciling was a strategic milestone that ...

Hongkong Land is set to launch what it expects to be the largest private real estate fund in Singapore, with more than S$8 billion (US$6.2 billion) in assets under management, including prime commercial projects in the waterfront Marina Bay district. At inception, the Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF) would include one-third stakes in One ...

The UK is facing an unprecedented wave of super flu, a health chief warned on Friday as the health minister urged doctors to call off a threatened five-day strike ahead of Christmas. Wes Streeting said the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) was in an incredibly precarious situation as flu cases mounted, and was facing a challenge unlike any it has ...