Residents of Section 9 in Kota Damansara thought they knew what was coming to the vacant land opposite their homes. The site, beside a community forest in the Malaysian township, was expected to become a high street retail development. Instead, they learned that Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had received an application for two three-storey data centre blocks – part of the vast physical infrastructure now being built across Southeast Asia to support cloud computing and artificial...

Guo Yanliang, a champion debater who honed his argumentation skills in international contests and on online variety shows, has left one of Europe’s top quantum laboratories to set up his own research group in Beijing. Guo, 33, says he sees scientific research as a debate between different opinions, which made him more compatible with China than Europe. This year, he returned to China to take a position as associate professor at Renmin University of China where he is building an ultracold atom...

From switching ingredients to staggering price increases, Philippine companies are rethinking strategies to cover rising costs without losing customers squeezed by inflation and a weak peso. The Philippines is now grappling with the second-weakest growth and fastest inflation among Southeast Asia’s economies after a corruption scandal weighed on confidence and the Iran war stoked consumer prices. The peso, Asia’s third-worst-performing currency this year, is also making imports more...

A woman from central China undertook a fasting regimen for half a month and lost 20kg, but ultimately suffered from a serious brain disorder from which she may never fully recover. The 31-year-old woman from Henan province, who wishes to remain anonymous, was recently reported by local media to have developed walking difficulties and memory deterioration after consuming nothing but water for 15 consecutive days. Standing at 160 cm tall, the woman, previously weighing 70kg, managed to shed 20kg...

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. Public debate over Hong Kong’s recent heatwave has rightly focused on protecting frontline workers. However, one group remains largely absent from the discussion: site managers and project supervisors who carry responsibility for worker safety, project delivery and contractual...

At least 47 people were killed and 22 more injured in an overnight gang raid on a neighbourhood overlooking Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, the UN said on Monday, prompting anger over the lack of protection from repeated deadly attacks. The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti ‌said estimates could still change. The hillside community of Kenscoff, in a strategic position overlooking routes into the capital, has suffered a dozen attacks by armed gangs since last year, forcing thousands to...

This article was first published on August 26, 1976. Tragedy hits Sau Mau Ping At least seven people, including four children, were killed by the landslide that hit Sau Mau Ping Estate yesterday (August 25, 1976). Yesterday’s disaster was only a few blocks away from a slope which slipped on June 18, 1972, killing 67 people. Fire Services teams, assisted by the Army, spent the night under search lights trying to locate people still not accounted for and thought to be buried under tons of mud...