Hong Kong court to announce verdict on appeals of 12 jailed activists on February 23 A Hong Kong appellate court will announce its verdict next Monday on the appeals of 12 activists convicted of conspiring to subvert state power in an unofficial election, and also rule on an acquitted defendant in the city’s largest national security trial. Eleven of the 12 found guilty over a scheme during the 2020 Legislative Council election to undermine, destroy or overthrow the administration earlier lodged appeals against their convictions and sentences. They have been serving jail...

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong court to rule on appeals of 12 jailed activists on February 23

Court will also rule on one acquitted defendant in city’s largest national security trial of 47 opposition figures over illegal ‘primary’ ele...

Warning of unclear parking offers after Hongkonger charged 7 times more than advertised Some shopping centres in Hong Kong display unclear parking discount terms that often lead to disputes, the consumer watchdog has said, citing a case where a driver was billed HK$1,210 (US$155) for a full day, more than seven times the advertised rate. The Consumer Council said on Monday that complaints about car-park services had remained persistently high in recent years, with 120 cases recorded in 2025, reversing a dip to 96 in 2024 and broadly matching 118 in 2023. In one complaint, a driver...

South China Morning Post

Unclear parking rates flagged after Hongkonger charged HK$1,210 for full day

Consumer Council says complaints about car-park services have remained persistently high in recent years, with 120 cases recorded in 2025.

Campaigning starts for Nepal’s first election since deadly anti-corruption protests Nepalese candidates launched their campaigns on Monday for next month’s parliamentary election, the first since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the previous government last year. “This election will draw the future of the country,” Sushila Karki, who is serving as interim prime minister until the March 5 vote, said ahead of the launch. The youth-led protests were triggered by a brief social media ban but were fuelled by anger at economic stagnation and an ageing elite seen as out of...

South China Morning Post

Nepal starts campaign for first election since deadly anti-corruption protests

Nearly 19 million people have registered to vote, including 800,000 taking part for the first time.

Average South Korean YouTuber earnings jump 25% in 4 years to US$49,000 annually Income earned by single-person media creators such as YouTubers in South Korea has risen by more than 25 per cent over the past four years, surpassing 70 million won (US$49,000) annually on average, while the top 1 per cent made nearly 1.3 billion won each, highlighting stark income polarisation, data showed on Monday. According to Park Sung-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party, YouTubers reported combined earnings of 2.47 trillion won – averaging around 71 million won per person – in...

South China Morning Post

Average South Korean YouTuber earnings jump 25% in 4 years to US$49,000 annually

Growth accelerated after a surge in political broadcasts following 2024’s martial law decree, prompting calls for stricter tax oversight.

Hong Kong set for warmest Lunar New Year’s Eve on record at 28 degrees This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong could experience its warmest Lunar New Year’s Eve since records began in 1884, with temperatures expected to reach 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit) on Monday. The Hong Kong Observatory said temperatures on Monday were expected to range between 22 and 28 degrees. The previous record for the warmest Lunar New Year’s Eve was 27.8 degrees in 1953,...

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong records hottest Lunar New Year’s Eve at 27.9 degrees

Previous record for the warmest Lunar New Year’s Eve was 27.8 degrees in 1953, according to forecaster.

Chinese man wins iPhone at company’s party, finds tiles inside box instead, demands apology A Chinese man experienced an emotional roller coaster as he discovered the latest iPhone model he won at his company’s year-end party turned out to be just tiles. The man, known as Jiang Jiang, said his firm played the prank by announcing him as the winner of its year-end party’s grand prize, an iPhone 17 Pro Max. Jiang, from southern China’s Guangdong province, was ecstatic to receive the prize and decided to wait until he got home to open the box and surprise his wife. According to a video he...

South China Morning Post

Chinese man wins iPhone at firm’s party, finds tiles in box instead, seeks apology

Employee keeps unopened ‘iPhone’ box prize until he gets home to show wife; is dumbfounded to find ceramic slabs, chocolates, lollipops inside.

Epstein funded AI pioneer, helped him get HK$8.9 million in Hong Kong government grants Jeffrey Epstein committed at least US$113,000 to American scholar Ben Goertzel – known for popularising the term “artificial general intelligence” – to help him secure at least HK$8.9 million in Hong Kong government grants at a top city university, a South China Morning Post investigation has found. The almost two-decade relationship between Epstein and computer scientist Goertzel, who previously built artificial intelligence (AI) architecture at Polytechnic University (PolyU), was disclosed in...

South China Morning Post

Exclusive | Epstein funded AI pioneer, helped get him Hong Kong government grants

US government documents show financier’s funding support for Ben Goertzel, who once led AI and robotics projects in city.

US military boards another oil tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean US military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said on Sunday. Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. US President Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure then-President Nicolas Maduro before...

South China Morning Post

US forces board another tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean

The Veronica III, which sails under the Panamanian flag, is subject to US sanctions related to Iran, the US says.

Iran’s top diplomat to attend ‘indirect’ talks with US in Geneva, state news says Iran’s top diplomat was travelling on Sunday from Tehran to Geneva, where the second round of nuclear negotiations with the US will take place, Iranian state media reported. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation left for the Swiss city after the first round of indirect talks took place in Oman last week. Oman will mediate the talks in Geneva, the IRNA state-run news agency reported on its Telegram channel. Similar talks last year broke down after Israel launched what became a 12-day...

South China Morning Post

Iran’s foreign minister in Geneva for second round of talks with US

Talks will centre on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, as the US deploys a second aircraft carrier to the region.

Glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home appears to match one worn by suspect, FBI says A glove containing DNA found about two miles from the house of Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother appears to match those worn by a masked person outside her front door in Tucson the night she vanished, the FBI said on Sunday. The glove, found in a field near the side of the road, was sent off for DNA testing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on Sunday that it received preliminary results on Saturday and is awaiting official confirmation. Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last...

South China Morning Post

FBI says DNA recovered from discarded glove near Guthrie home

The glove appears to match the pair worn by the masked suspect in surveillance video of Nancy Guthrie’s front door.

ICE releases detained Filipino after ‘unreasonable failures of care’ A Filipino man awaiting the result of a deportation order has been released from Tacoma’s Northwest ICE Processing Centre following a federal court order that called the man’s detention unconstitutionally “punitive”. US District Judge Tana Lin granted the release requested in Greggy Sorio’s habeas corpus petition on Friday, saying the Tacoma detention centre’s “unreasonable treatment” of Sorio brought about “extreme consequences” for his health. While in Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

South China Morning Post

ICE releases detained Filipino after ‘unreasonable failures of care’

Greggy Sorio, a Filipino green card holder who lost a toe and part of his foot to a bone infection, wins release following medical neglect.

Israel will begin contentious West Bank land registration in new step to deepen control Israel will begin a contentious land regulation process in a large part of the occupied West Bank, which could result in Israel gaining control over wide swathes of the area for future development, according to a government decision on Sunday. It paves the way for the resumption of “settlement of land title” processes, which had been frozen in the West Bank since the Middle East war in 1967. It means that when Israel begins the land registration process for a certain area, anyone with a claim to...

South China Morning Post

Israel launches new West Bank land policy seen as a ‘mega land grab’

West Bank land registration will force anyone who has a claim to land to prove ownership, a move decried by Palestinians.

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence At a Munich Security Conference drinks reception this week, a seasoned Chinese observer who has been coming to Bavaria for more than a decade said China had long felt like an observer on the periphery. China was mentioned mainly to be blamed, they said – but things flipped last year when, instead of taking Beijing to task, US Vice-President J.D. Vance targeted Europe. Later in the weekend, the event’s CEO Benedikt Franke praised the China Centre for Globalisation – a Beijing think tank – for...

South China Morning Post

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence

For long, China was a magnet for America’s rhetorical aggression. Now, it is the Europeans who are under fire.

Australia unveils billions for new nuclear submarines under Aukus security pact Australia unveiled AU$3.9 billion (US$2.8 billion) in spending on Sunday as a “down payment” on a new facility to build nuclear submarines under the tripartite Aukus security pact with Britain and the United States. The Aukus pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the United States and would provide for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies. The submarines, the sale of which will begin in 2032, lie at the heart of Australia’s strategy of...

South China Morning Post

Australia unveils billions for nuclear submarines under Aukus security pact

The vessels, under agreement with the UK and the US, are at the heart of a major strategy to improve long-range strike capabilities.

Hong Kong cyclist dies after crashing into kerb on notorious Bride’s Pool Road A cyclist has died after crashing into a kerb on Bride’s Pool Road, a notorious accident black spot, in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Sunday morning. Police said the 49-year-old rider sustained a head injury and lost consciousness after hitting the kerb on the road, near Wang Chung Stream, around 10.30am. He was rushed to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital but was declared dead at 11.36am. A source said the victim had set off from Yuen Long at about 7.30am with five fellow cyclists, heading...

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong cyclist dies after crashing into kerb on notorious Bride’s Pool Road

Rider, 49, sustained head injury and lost consciousness after hitting kerb on Bride’s Pool Road near Wang Chung Stream.

Malaysia seeks to seize Saudi prince’s overseas assets worth US$115 million The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has filed a court order to forfeit overseas assets belonging to Prince Turki Abdullah Al Saud. The application to forfeit assets was filed under Sections 56(1), 59 and 61(2) of the Anti-Money-Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act. Around US$115.3 million held in several Swiss bank accounts is subject to the forfeiture order, including funds in JP Morgan (Suisse) and UBS Switzerland. MACC chief commissioner...

South China Morning Post

Malaysia seeks to seize Saudi prince’s overseas assets worth US$115 million

The 1MDB funds are held in several Swiss bank accounts belonging to Turki Abdullah Al Saud.

Beijing warns tech giants to curb ‘involution’ amid AI giveaway war China’s top market regulator has summoned the country’s leading tech companies to demand an end to “involutionary” competition, at the time when the companies are pouring billions of yuan into a Lunar New Year promotional blitz to win over users for services including artificial intelligence apps. The companies summoned on Friday were Alibaba Group Holding, ByteDance’s Douyin, Baidu, Tencent Holdings, JD.com, Meituan and Taobao Instant Commerce, Alibaba’s on-demand delivery unit, the State...

South China Morning Post

Beijing warns tech giants to curb ‘involution’ amid AI giveaway war

Companies should ‘uphold a fair and competitive’ environment to ‘foster innovation and healthy development’, regulator says.

How things went ‘downhill’ for Vietnam’s once-booming cryptocurrency traders As a first-year computer science student in Hanoi, Hoang Le started trading cryptocurrency from his university dorm room, egged on by his gamer friends who were making a killing. At one point his digital holdings jumped to US$200,000 – around 50 times the average annual income in Vietnam. But they crashed to zero when the bottom fell out of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent months. Getting wiped out “hurt a lot”, he said, but he also learned a valuable lesson: he has come to think of...

South China Morning Post

‘Everyone became greedy’: how Vietnam’s crypto gold rush ended in ruins

Vietnam’s crypto boom faces a harsh winter as investors lose fortunes, bankruptcies and lay-offs roil the industry.

Hong Kong to fully review plans for bus seat belt rules before relaunch: Mable Chan Hong Kong’s transport chief has pledged to fully review the ill-fated mandatory seat belt rule for bus passengers, including improving strap designs and examining possible exemptions, before relaunching the policy. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Sunday the government would adopt a four-pronged approach to address public concerns over the requirement, starting by working with franchised bus operators to improve the installation, design and maintenance of seat belts to...

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong to fully review plans for bus seat belt rules before relaunch: minister

Transport chief vows to ‘conduct a fresh and comprehensive review and widely consult the community’.

US military weighs sustained Iran strikes, casting shadow over diplomacy The US military is preparing for the possibility ⁠of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, according to two US officials, in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries. The disclosure by the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the planning, raises the stakes for the diplomacy under way between the United States and Iran. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared...

South China Morning Post

‘For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking’: US eyes expanded Iran strikes

The plan raises regional conflict fears and comes ahead of next week’s talks between the two sides in Geneva.