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AdvertisementHong Kong societyHong KongSocietyOperation Santa Claus helps Hong Kong children with rare rheumatic diseasesHong Kong Paediatric Rheumatism Association subsidises medicine and provides support for children with rheumatic diseases and their carers
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPCindy SuiPublished: 10:15am, 9 Dec 2025Imagine waking up one day and suddenly being unable to use your legs. That was what happened to Rain Shiu Tin-yung in Hong Kong when he was six.
“He got up that morning, but his knees hurt so much that he couldn’t walk. He was in so much pain,” Shiu’s mother, Apple Kwok Siu-ping, recalled.
The pain only worsened.
Advertisement“All his joints were inflamed. It was so painful he would wake up crying,” Kwok said. “He went from being able to walk to not walking at all.”
It took several visits to the doctors and tests before Shiu, now 20, was diagnosed with paediatric rheumatism, a broad term for more than 100 autoimmune disorders in children, where the ..

A drone view of the lighting up of a Christmas tree in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank JERUSALEM: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the second phase of a US plan to end the war in Gaza was close, but cautioned several key issues still needed to be resolved, including whether a multinational security force would be deployed in the Gaza strip. Netanyahu, speaking to reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said that he would hold talks with US President Donald Trump at the end of the month on how to ensure the plan's second phase was achieved.The prime minister's office in Nov said that Trump had invited Netanyahu to the White House “in the near future”.A Hamas member said Sunday the group is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons as part of its ceasefire with Israel, offering a possible formula to resolve one of the thorniest issues in the agreement. Bassem Naim, a member of Ha..

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's watch sold for $11 million (Picture credit: NYT) By Jacob BernsteinLast March, the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola said he was nearly broke after spending millions of dollars of his own money to finance the film “Megalopolis.” In Oct, he said in an interview with the New York Times that to “keep the ship afloat” he was selling several of his watches through Phillips, a leading auction house.On Saturday, during a frenzied bidding war on Park Avenue, an F.P.Journe timepiece from his collection sold for nearly $11 million. It was the sixth-most-expensive watch to ever be sold at auction. And it is the only watch on that list that was not manufactured by Patek Philippe or Rolex. Coppola designed the watch in 2014 as a collaboration with F.P. Journe, a Swiss watch company whose horological marvels are so expensive that they make Rolex look like Swatch.Called the FFC, the watch sold on Saturday has an openwork design, which means its inner workings are on..

AdvertisementJapanThis Week in AsiaLifestyle & CultureJapan’s youth are now the most hostile to immigration, survey findsObservers say daily exposure to overcrowding and disruptive behaviour in urban centres has made young adults the most resistant to change
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPJulian RyallPublished: 10:30am, 8 Dec 2025Younger Japanese are proving to be the most resistant to immigration, defying assumptions that generational change would produce greater cosmopolitanism.
A new survey found that 70 per cent of those aged 18 to 39 expressed safety concerns about foreign workers – higher than any other demographic.
This unexpected reversal reveals a generation grappling with anxieties that cut across conventional narratives of openness and globalisation.
AdvertisementThe study by the Yomiuri newspaper and Waseda University’s Institute for Advanced Social Studies, published on December 2, found that nearly 60 per cent of 2,004 respondents opposed accepting more forei..

AdvertisementChina-Japan relationsChinaDiplomacyMid-air military stand-off triggers duelling protests in China-Japan row latestChina responds to ‘ill-intentioned’ Tokyo with counter-protest over ‘dangerous’ Japanese maritime behaviour
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP1Orange WangPublished: 10:01am, 8 Dec 2025Updated: 10:35am, 8 Dec 2025Beijing has hit back with “counter-protests” against Japan’s representations over the weekend mid-air military stand-off northeast of Taiwan near the Miyako Strait, accusing Tokyo of “purely ill-intentioned” rhetoric.The escalation of the diplomatic clash showed that tensions between the two neighbours continue to heighten following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November over Taiwan.According to Japan’s defence ministry, there were two separate instances of radar targeting of its F-15J jets on Saturday, involving J-15 fighters launched from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier.

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Why have Takaichi’s Taiwan comments sent..

Internet sensation IShowSpeed shows surprising wrestling talent during WWE training. However, wrestling icon John Cena advises him against a career switch. Cena believes Speed's unique charisma and livestreaming success offer a more promising future. He suggests Speed maintain his digital career, occasionally surprising fans with wrestling skills for crossover stardom. IShowSpeed may be one of the internet’s most energetic entertainers, but his recent dive into WWE training has sparked a more serious conversation: could the 20-year-old streamer actually become a professional wrestler? From running drills at the WWE Performance Center to taking bumps from established stars, Speed has shown he’s not just playing for the cameras. He sells moves convincingly, engages the crowd like he’s been doing it for years, and brings a natural athletic flair that most rookies don’t have. Yet, even with that potential, John Cena, one of WWE’s biggest icons, thinks Speed’s future belongs somewhere ..

Tim Pool reports shooting at his house as podcast stirs storm over Erika Kirk divorce and Charlie Kirk gay talk (Image via Getty) Tim Pool said someone fired shots at his home in West Virginia, just hours after a podcast episode went viral for making shocking claims about Erika Kirk and Charlie Kirk. Pool shared the update on December 6, saying the incident happened the night before. He stressed that no one was hurt.Pool said the shooting happened at his property in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Writing on X, he claimed a vehicle came toward his home and opened fire. Pool said his private security team is now checking footage and plans to share a report with law enforcement. He also suggested the shooting may have been meant to scare him rather than cause harm.The post quickly spread online and led to strong reactions from political figures and commentators. Authorities in West Virginia have not yet confirmed the shooting, according to People magazine.Pool later added that his home has..

AdvertisementIndonesiaAsiaSoutheast AsiaIndonesia’s Bali arrests OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue on porn chargesThe 26-year-old British content creator is accused of flouting Indonesia’s ‘morality’ laws
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPTribune News ServicePublished: 10:08am, 7 Dec 2025OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue – famous for claiming to have slept with more than 1,000 men in 12 hours as part of a viral stunt earlier this year – has been arrested in Bali alongside over a dozen men for allegedly violating Indonesia’s “morality” laws.The 26-year-old British content creator, real name Tia Billinger, remains in custody in Kuta, as does a 28-year-old Australian male and a pair of British men, according to Australia’s 9News. Fourteen others, all from Australia, have since been released without charge.The influencer and 17 male tourists, whose ages range from 19 to 40 years old, were taken into custody on Thursday afternoon following a raid on a holiday rental studio, which they were alleged..

AdvertisementChina’s private sectorBusinessChina BusinessByteDance’s agentic AI smartphone dials up a digital backlash from China’s top appsByteDance’s new AI smartphone has run into resistance, as major Chinese platforms move to block its features citing fairness and security
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPEunice XuPublished: 10:00am, 7 Dec 2025ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has moved to tighten controls on its artificial intelligence-powered smartphone after several of China’s most widely used apps restricted its voice-operated functions.
The company said it had scaled back the capabilities of Doubao, the agentic AI that runs on the device.In a statement issued on Friday, ByteDance said it would prevent the Nubia M153 AI phone from claiming incentives that were intended for active human users.
AdvertisementIt was also disabling the assistant’s interaction with financial apps, including banking and payment services, and suspending AI features in competitive games to pres..

AP file photo Vice President JD Vance on Friday dismissed a wave of online speculation about his marriage, saying his relationship with Second Lady Usha Vance is “as strong as it’s ever been.”He said the couple has taken the growing swirl of social media rumors in stride, opting to laugh off the speculation about their personal lives.This comes after a recent rash of tabloid-style headlines that surfaced when the second lady was photographed without her wedding ring.“I think that we kind of get a kick out of it,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News, when asked whether the recent controversy had frustrated him.“With anything in life, you take the good with the bad,” Vance said, adding that “there are some sacrifices and there are some very good things that come along with it, too. But our marriage is as strong as it’s ever been, and I think Usha’s really taken to it, and it’s been kind of cool to see how she’s developed and evolved in this new role.”The couple’s marriage drew onlin..