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AdvertisementUnited StatesWorldUnited States & CanadaUS pauses all immigration applications from 19 countriesThe pause applies to people from nations that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPReutersPublished: 10:16am, 3 Dec 2025The Trump administration on Tuesday said it paused all immigration applications, including green card and US citizenship processing, filed by immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing concerns over national security and public safety.
The pause applies to people from 19 countries that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June, placing further restrictions on immigration – a core feature of US President Donald Trump’s political platform.The list of countries includes Afghanistan and Somalia.
AdvertisementThe official memorandum outlining the new policy cites the attack on US National Guard members in Washington last week in which an Afghan man has been arrested as a suspect. One m..

AdvertisementJapanThis Week in AsiaLifestyle & CultureIn greying Japan, killings of parents by elderly children spur soul-searchingTwo cases of victims aged 100 and 102 killed by their children aged above 70 have highlighted the challenges faced by elderly carers
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPJulian RyallPublished: 10:00am, 3 Dec 2025Masato Watabe made no effort to hide the killing. A little over an hour after he held his hand over his victim’s mouth until she was no longer breathing, he called the emergency services. Taken into custody, 79-year-old Watabe admitted to police that he alone was to blame for her death.
Instead of blanket condemnation, however, Watabe has attracted sympathy in Japan, which is struggling to come up with solutions to a rapidly ageing population and growing pressure on families to take care of the elderly and infirm.“I killed my mother,” police quoted Watabe as saying. “I held her mouth. I was too tired from caring for her.
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The White House on Monday defended a follow-up US military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea last September, saying the Navy commander involved acted lawfully, even as the episode triggered bipartisan calls in Washington for investigations and a parallel inquiry in Caracas into the deaths of Venezuelans.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice Admiral Frank Bradley, then commander of Joint Special Operations Command, operated “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second strike on September 2 after an initial hit left survivors on the disabled boat. She added that defence secretary Pete Hegseth had authorised Bradley “to conduct these kinetic strikes.”President Donald Trump distanced himself from the follow-up strike, saying on Sunday he “wouldn’t have wanted that – not a second strike,” though he later defended Hegseth, telling reporters, “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men… And I believe him.”Congress seeks ..

AdvertisementHong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedyHong KongLaw and CrimeBreaking | John Lee orders judge-led independent inquiry to uncover truth behind Hong Kong fireThe committee will be chaired by a judge and will investigate the cause of the deadly fire in Tai Po which claimed 151 lives
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPMatthew ChengPublished: 10:09am, 2 Dec 2025Updated: 10:11am, 2 Dec 2025Hong Kong’s leader has ordered the establishment of an independent inquiry committee, chaired by a judge, to investigate the cause of the deadly fire in Tai Po which claimed 151 lives.
Chief Executive John Lee Ke-chiu said on Tuesday ahead of his weekly meeting with the city’s key decision-making Executive Council that authorities will set up the committee to find out the truth and enable a “systematic change”.
He will be in touch with the judiciary to have a judge to chair the committee, which will conduct its work in “high efficiency”.
AdvertisementThe fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court last We..

AdvertisementHong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedyHong KongSociety‘Grieving and exhausted’: Hong Kong fire victims call for centralised relief platform‘Now all the information is here and there and we have to spend a lot of time searching and filling it in one by one,’ a survivor says
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPJiang ChuqinPublished: 9:42am, 2 Dec 2025Victims of Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades have called for a unified platform to access funds and resources, as some elderly people say they feel “exhausted” having to travel around and repeatedly provide their personal information to different parties for support.
Several people who lost their homes in the Tai Po fire, which had claimed 151 lives as of Monday, told the Post that while retrieving new identity cards and other documents from the Immigration Department was a smooth process, they faced difficulties navigating funds and other forms of support dispersed across various locations.
The Immigration Department said on M..