Regulators across Asia are stepping up scrutiny of cybersecurity risks in their financial systems, as concerns over Anthropic’s latest AI model Mythos spread. Singapore’s financial regulator is urging banks to plug holes, while South Korea’s government agencies have met to review and discuss how to respond to the risks. In Australia, authorities expect lenders to be vigilant to ensure clients are not put at risk by inadequate controls. The actions around the region reflect rising global concern...

A former kindergarten administrator at Hong Kong’s biggest international school group has been sentenced to 25 months in jail for accepting more than HK$640,000 (US$81,700) in bribes from 13 parents and a middleman to secure places by tampering with the admissions system. Fatima Rumjahn, 56, earlier admitted to accepting bribes ranging from HK$20,000 to HK$200,000 from parents eager to secure enrolment for their children at the English Schools Foundation’s (ESF) Wu Kai Sha International...

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority has launched its marina project as part of the broader SkyCity blueprint, seeking global interest from the yachting, hospitality and water sports sectors to help shape the 200-hectare (494 acres) development, with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2028. Cissy Chan Ching-sze, the authority’s commercial executive director, said on Monday the development – a key component of the Skytopia project – is aimed at a global yachting market expected to reach HK$352...

For Southeast Asia, trust in Japan runs deepest where China presses hardest and breaks down where neutrality is a point of pride. Analysts say that dynamic, revealed in an annual survey released earlier this month, explains why Vietnam and the Philippines both see the East Asian nation as a trusted partner while Indonesia, a country that has long prized non-alignment, is uncomfortable with Tokyo’s deepening embrace of Washington. Trust in Tokyo is highest in the Philippines (77.3 per cent),...

An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has warned of “a chain-reaction response” in more critical shipping lanes, including in the Malacca Strait in Southeast Asia, after Iran declared another full closure of the Hormuz Strait before a fragile ceasefire is due. “The era of imposing security from across the oceans has come to an end. Today, not only has the security of Hormuz and Malacca been guaranteed under the shadow of our power and that of our strategic partners, but the...

Global drug maker Pfizer and biotech firm Amgen, each valued at over HK$1 trillion (US$153 billion), are among 22 strategic enterprises planning to open or expand offices in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said on Monday that these industry leaders were among companies from the fintech, cloud computing and aerial transport sectors set to sign agreements with the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises. The move will mark the sixth cohort under the government’s...

Hong Kong artiste Kristal Tin Yui-lee has revealed on social media that cancer cells were found in her lymph nodes, more than a year after being diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer, drawing renewed attention to the disease. A former leading actress at TVB after starting her career at the now defunct ATV, the 48-year-old has shifted her focus in recent years to screenplays and online media. She won the best lead actress award in 2024 for her role as a wife in Big Divorce Day, a theatre...