China’s central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are consolidating scattered overseas accounts into unified treasury hubs, with Hong Kong emerging as the preferred base amid a broader crackdown on outflows of state cash. Decades of overseas expansion had seen many SOEs build up assets in multiple jurisdictions, leaving cash management fragmented and making it harder for regulators and company headquarters to track liquidity, foreign-exchange risk and cross-border financing, analysts said. Central...

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years. The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and supporter of the internationally recognised Yemeni government. Houthi military spokesman Yahya...

The Philippines is reopening Metro Manila to new outsourcing hubs as it tries to defend its place in the global services market and win more complex work from multinational companies. Officials, industry executives and property analysts say the move could help the country compete for higher-value offshore functions – from software engineering and finance to healthcare documentation, data work and AI-related services – by making more modern, incentive-eligible office space available in the...

Professor Wang Gungwu is regarded internationally as an authority on Chinese history. The 95-year-old is best known for his explorations of Chinese history in the long view, and for his writings on the Chinese diaspora. He has been a professor at the National University of Singapore since 2007 and emeritus professor at the Australian National University since 1988. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1995. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open...

A man in central China has gone viral for a series of “second-hand brat recycling” videos that are splitting public opinion, with some praising them as vital educational tools and others warning that they cause childhood trauma. Yan Zhengjun, known by the nickname “Uncle A Jun,” hails from Henan province and has amassed 1.6 million followers on a popular platform. Since 2021, Yan has created hundreds of humorous videos centred around the theme of “recycling naughty kids.” In these videos, he...

A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state’s claims that the social media giant created a “public nuisance” and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay US$375 million in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms. “We disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” Meta said in a statement Thursday. “We work...

Germans have emerged as some of Europe’s most hawkish voters on China, more likely to consider Beijing as a rival or an adversary than in any other major EU country, a new survey has shown. Published amid a bout of soul-searching in Berlin over whether to back a tougher approach towards China on trade, the findings suggest that the country’s citizens might not be opposed to such a shift. A combined 49 per cent of German people polled considered China to be primarily a rival or an adversary, way...