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AdvertisementChina societyOpinionChina OpinionPhoebe ZhangOpinion | Elite success stories are cold comfort for disillusioned young workersThe backlash over a tycoon’s letter to overburdened staff during his trip to Antarctica reveals a fissure beyond a generational divide
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPPhoebe Zhangin ShenzhenPublished: 9:30am, 27 Nov 2025On the 32nd anniversary of New Oriental, a private Beijing-based education services provider, the company’s founder, Yu Minhong, wrote an internal letter to his staff about his trip to the South Pole.“I am standing in the icy world of Antarctica, surrounded by vast expanses of pure white, emerald-like icebergs and boundless tranquillity,” he wrote. “The glaciers shimmer with a captivating glow under the sunlight, as if to silently declare the power of time and the meaning of perseverance.”
He went on to reminisce about his difficult journey from the lecture halls of Peking University to launching his business. He then wrot..

AdvertisementSouth KoreaAsiaEast AsiaItalian TV host Alberto Mondi apologises for ‘careless’ South Korea-Japan history remarksMondi pledged to study history after saying ‘you should listen to both sides’ on Japan’s colonial rule
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPThe Korea TimesPublished: 9:03am, 27 Nov 2025Italian TV personality Alberto Mondi has apologised for comments that sparked controversy over historical distortion involving South Korea and Japan.Posting on his social media on Wednesday, Alberto said, “I sincerely apologise for causing concern with my remarks in the recently released Team354 video. I deeply reflect on the discomfort and disappointment my shortcomings have caused.”
He added that historical issues between South Korea and Japan carry “pain and memories for many people” and that he failed to consider the weight of the topic. “I made a careless remark without fully acknowledging that gravity, and the responsibility is entirely mine,” he said.AdvertisementAlb..

. Paris prosecutor on Tuesday announced four more arrests linked to the major jewellery heist at the Louvre Museum in October, where a gang escaped with jewels worth $102 million. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the two men and two women arrested are from the Paris region and are between 31 and 40 years old. Her statement did not specify their suspected roles in the 19 October theft. Police can question them for up to 96 hours. French media reported that one of the arrested individuals, a 39-year-old already known to police, is believed to be the fourth member of the group that carried out the daytime robbery. He is said to be from Aubervilliers, a suburb north of Paris, where other suspects also have links. The other three suspected gang members had been arrested earlier. They face preliminary charges of theft by an organised group and criminal conspiracy. Investigators say their DNA was found at the scene or on items connected to the robbery. A woman arrested in October is accused of h..

. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday denied a report that president Donald Trump was considering firing FBI Director Kash Patel. Leavitt shared a photo of Trump smiling beside Patel in the Oval Office to counter the report. She wrote on X that she was in the room when the story was published. “This story is completely made up. I was in the Oval office, where president Trump was meeting his law enforcement team, including FBI director Kash Patel,” she said. Leavitt added that she read the headline aloud and Trump laughed. According to her, Trump said, “That’s totally false. Come on, Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job.” She ended her post saying, “Do not believe the fake news.” Earlier, MS NOW had reported that Trump was considering removing Patel as FBI director. The outlet, citing three unnamed people, said Trump and his senior aides were unhappy with negative headlines involving Patel. The report further said Trump was weighing Patel’..

AdvertisementScienceOpinionWorld OpinionAlex LoOpinion | Simulation hypothesis is really a proof for the existence of GodWhile science still disagrees on whether humanity lives in a simulation, philosophy has yet to rule out a ‘cosmic host’
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAlex Loin TorontoPublished: 9:30am, 26 Nov 2025Well, thank God we don’t live in a computer simulation after all. At least that’s according to a new paper by University of British Columbia physicist Mir Faizal and his team of international researchers, including cosmologist and science writer Lawrence Krauss.
AdvertisementOr rather, there is no God to thank because if our universe is not a computer simulation, there is no supreme programmer in the first place.
The team targets an influential simulation argument proposed by Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, who believes there is a very good chance we’re all like Neo, the hacker played by Keanu Reeves and trapped inside The Matrix.But after their paper was pu..

AdvertisementViral storiesPeople & Culture‘Don’t sell loneliness’: Korean restaurant refuses service to solo diners, sparks debateNoodle outlet advertises sarcastic ‘options’ for people who want to dine alone as country faces rising number of single households
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAlice Yanin ShanghaiPublished: 9:00am, 26 Nov 2025A restaurant in South Korea has caused controversy by refusing to serve solo diners as the country experiences an increase in the number of people staying single.
AdvertisementA sign outside the noodle restaurant in Yeosu City, South Jeolla Province in the south of South Korea, went viral on social media after an internet user who visited the eatery posted it online on November 17, according to a report by the Korea Times.
The notice said the restaurant provides four “options” for customers eating alone: pay for two servings, eat two servings, call a friend and come back with your wife next time.
This relatively quiet fast food restauran..

. US president Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to start the process of declaring certain branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organisations. The order names chapters in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. According to the order, these branches “engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilisation campaigns” that harm their regions, US citizens and US interests.“President Trump is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood’s transnational network, which fuels terrorism and destabilisation campaigns against US interests and allies in the Middle East,” the White House said.Trump Targets Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organization The Muslim Brotherhood is a pan-Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928. Its founder, Hassan al-Banna, believed that returning to Islamic principles would help the Muslim world resist Western influence. A US “terrorist” designation allows Washington to freeze any assets the group may hold in the country and block members from en..

Letitia James and James Comey A federal judge on Monday (local time) dismissed the indictments against former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James. The decision came after the court ruled that president Donald Trump’s appointment of interim US attorney Lindsey Halligan in Virginia was invalid.Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, in her order, wrote that the attorney general’s attempt to install Halligan as the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia “was invalid,” and that all actions taken under her “defective appointment”, including the indictments, were unlawful.Letitia James welcomed the decision, saying, “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” she said. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”Comey responded in an Instagram video, saying, “I’m grateful that the court ended the case against ..

AdvertisementThe PhilippinesAsiaSoutheast AsiaPhilippines’ Marcos on sister’s drug claims: ‘we’re worried about her’The president suggested that something was troubling Imee Marcos, saying ‘the lady that you see talking on TV is not my sister’
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 9:30am, 25 Nov 2025Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr refused to respond on Monday to an allegation by his estranged sister, a senator, that he has been a long-time drug addict whose cocaine dependence has undermined his governance, saying with a sombre tone that he did not want to discuss a family rift in public.AdvertisementCommunications Undersecretary Claire Castro has said that Senator Imee Marcos’ accusations against her own brother before a huge religious rally in Manila last week were “a web of lies”, and may have been a desperate attempt to distract from ongoing investigations into a corruption scandal that may implicate her opposition allies in the Senate.Aide..

AdvertisementWomen and genderOpinionWorld OpinionChristile DrulheOpinion | Together, we can move closer to eliminating violence against womenNo jurisdiction is spared from gender-based violence. Thus international cooperation is essential to build momentum and find solutions
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPChristile DrulhePublished: 9:30am, 25 Nov 2025On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, how can we unite and act together to defend gender equality and the rights of women and girls? This was the guiding question of the fourth ministerial conference on Feminist Foreign Policy, which France hosted late last month, convening governments from across the globe, representatives of international organisations, public development banks, as well as civil society, research bodies and philanthropic foundations.
AdvertisementOn this occasion, a coalition of 31 states pledged to support gender equality and build a firewall against the threats targeting w..