https://www.scmp.com/rss/501874/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Sometime last autumn, a security contractor based in Asia took a call that he found curious. The man on the other end of the line, a long-time acquaintance and, like him, an expert in protecting VIPs and valuable cargoes in challenging environments, was looking to hire for a job in Japan. He offered few specifics. The assignment would involve escorting someone out of the country, he said. It would pay well. And he was looking for operatives with military or police experience and, ideally,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3049094/how-carlos-ghosn-escaped-japan-story-how-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3049094/how-carlos-ghosn-escaped-japan-story-how-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2020 21:00:11 +0000 One morning in July, Mongolia’s president, Khaltmaa Battulga, prepared to take the podium at the National Sports Stadium in Ulan Bator. He was there to officially open the traditional summer festival of Naadam, during which virtually everyone in the country of three million celebrates feats of archery, wrestling and especially horse­man­ship. Riding has been central to the national culture since the 13th century, when a tribal leader named Genghis Khan united a disparate group of steppe clans... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3031376/mongolias-khaltmaa-battulga-other-populist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3031376/mongolias-khaltmaa-battulga-other-populist?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2019 23:15:12 +0000 In November last year, customs agents at Hong Kong International Airport spotted something unusual as they X-rayed the baggage of a Chinese man who had just arrived from Ethiopia. They told the passenger, 44-year-old Lin Jinbao, he’d have to open his suitcases before being allowed to board a ferry to his next destination, Macau. Inside, the agents found 24 tightly packed aluminium foil pouches. Each was filled with hundreds of mottled, brownish-red flakes – some shaped like jagged circles,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3023842/chinese-and-vietnamese-demand-pangolin-scales?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3023842/chinese-and-vietnamese-demand-pangolin-scales?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2019 07:00:12 +0000