US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that an initial deal to end the war in the Middle East would be signed on Sunday, although Iran denied the signing would take place so soon. Trump added in a social media post that the Strait of Hormuz, a ‌vital artery for global oil supplies which Iran has blocked, would be immediately “open to all” after the deal is signed. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the two sides had agreed on a framework for a peace deal and that Islamabad was...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea this week helped to improve Kim Jong-un’s international standing and gave him a “big strategic win”, analysts said. Pyongyang has become increasingly close to Russia in recent years and has sent thousands of troops to support its war against Ukraine, but Xi’s visit reinforced the long-standing economic and cultural ties between China and North Korea. It was the Chinese leader’s first foreign trip of the year and came less than a month after ...

China should not try to copy SpaceX despite the US company’s successful IPO, a leading economist has said. The company raised US$75 billion when it went public on Friday and made its chief executive Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. But Shen Yingchun, a professor at Beihang University, told Beijing Daily: “China does not need to and cannot copy SpaceX.” She said “the strength of the US model is efficiency”, using the market to drive down costs and forcing companies to innovate. Shen...

Five Indian air force personnel were killed when a military plane crashed while landing at a base in the country’s remote northeast on Saturday, the military said in a statement. “The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat”, a city in Assam state, the air force said in a statement. It did not say how many people were on board at the time, or whether there were any survivors. However, an air force official, speaking on condition of anonymity ...

A pair of rare brown wood owls have been bred at a botanic garden in Hong Kong, with two chicks fledging last month. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po kept the breeding programme under wraps for weeks, allowing the chicks to grow undisturbed before announcing it. The chicks, still downy white, were seen peering curiously from their nest among ferns in the farm’s mature forest. Their mother kept watch from a nearby tree during the day and foraged for food at night, the farm said in a...

In a blaring nightclub in wartime Myanmar, partied-out revellers doze until dawn by the dance floor, wary of journeying home despite the end of a post-coup curfew. Lasers streak the smoke-filled air and music is cranked up to 150 decibels, according to one DJ – as loud as a jet engine at take-off – but the weekend clubbers slumbering on sofas dotted around the warehouse-sized Yangon venue do not stir. “That became a habit, they’re used to it,” said one 29-year-old veteran of the capital’s eli...

A woman swimmer was ⁠seriously injured in a shark ⁠attack at a Sydney beach on ⁠Saturday, authorities said, in the latest of a spate of such encounters off Australia’s coast. Emergency services were called to Coogee Beach in the east of Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in the morning on reports that the 35-year-old had been bitten by a large shark about 30 metres (100 feet) from the shore. “The woman was pulled from the water by members of the public, who commenced first aid,” police said in...

A Hong Kong intern doctor arrested on suspicion of unauthorised access to patient data remains in custody, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source familiar with the matter told the SCMP that the 24-year-old woman, surnamed Lai, was arrested at about 7pm on Friday and was still being held at Cheung Sha Wan Police Station on Saturday morning She was arrested on suspicion of access to a computer with dishonest intent. The arrest came within three days of police receiving a report from...

The Kennedy Centre was running out of options on Friday evening to keep President Donald Trump’s name on the facade of the iconic performing arts venue. A judge earlier in the afternoon rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the Kennedy Centre’s operations. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed on Friday evening. Scaffolding was erected around a section of the building...

China activated the world’s first three-band optical fibre communication system early this month, technology that its developers say could expand the carrying capacity of future AI networks. According to the project team, a single fibre can carry more than five times the traffic of conventional systems, while transmission capacity per core increases by nearly half. The project, completed in Qingdao in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, was jointly developed by state-owned...

Hong Kong has been hit by more heavy showers and thunderstorms as a trough of low pressure moved over the Pearl River Estuary. The downpours prompted the Hong Kong Observatory to issue an amber rainstorm warning – the lowest in a three-tier system – at 5am on Saturday, before cancelling it at 8.45am. More than 30mm of rainfall was recorded in many areas during the morning. Tsuen Wan was among the worst hit, recording 70mm of rain – a level comparable to the threshold for a top-tier black...

As Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi heads to the G7 meeting in France next week, she is expected to hear rumblings of discontent over Tokyo’s apparent diplomatic outreach to Moscow. With European Union member states and most Nato nations united in their resolve to push back on Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and isolate Moscow, Japan’s very different approach to Vladimir Putin’s regime has not been overlooked. Senior officials from Japan’s foreign and trade ministries travel...

A woman in eastern China has been reunited with her birth family 22 years after running away as a child, fearing punishment for breaking a bottle of shower gel. Liu Xiuhong, from a rural family in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, was nine years old when she moved with her migrant-worker parents to Jieyang, Guangdong province, where they lived in a cramped rented room, according to the mainland outlet Shicheng Media. While playing at a friend’s home in 2004, Liu accidentally smashed a glass bottle o...

Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house in Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a US attack on a ship off Oman. “If he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,” she cried out as women from the family gathered around to console ‌her. “The government should not allow people to go there.” India on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over the strike that took place more th...

The Philippines’ confrontational approach to maritime territorial disputes, such as its championing of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling, has not only failed to resolve regional tensions, it also risks undermining Asean centrality. In May, addressing Japan’s National Diet, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr announced that Manila would mark the ruling’s 10th anniversary in July, an occasion he said “embodies our determination to resolve disputes through peaceful means”. That i...

Even popes have travel delays. Lucky for Pope Leo, King Felipe VI offered a way out, and a way home. Leo’s Iberia charter, due to take him back to Rome after a week-long visit to Spain, was grounded by a technical problem Friday, prompting Spain’s king to offer his private jet instead. Felipe escorted Leo to his Falcon on the tarmac at the airport in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Leo and members of his delegation boarded the plane and took off, more than three hours after he ...

In a post on the social media platform he owns, Elon Musk recently lamented: “Whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about.” Now the world’s richest person can put that maxim to an even bigger test as he adds a new title: world’s first trillionaire. SpaceX shares opened at US$150 each, 11 per cent above their offering price after they began trading in New York on Friday, valuing the rocket and AI-company Musk founded at roughly US$2 trillion. His fortune n...

Huawei Technologies is studying whether to run its newest Ascend artificial intelligence chips inside its cloud and AI services in Latin America, a senior executive has confirmed, in a move that would push Chinese-designed hardware deeper into a region long courted by US suppliers. Mark Chen, president of Huawei Cloud Latin America, gave the confirmation in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post after his presentation at the Rio Web Summit, the technology and innovation...

As the United States quietly pulls its most precious military assets away from the coasts of Asia, they are falling back to places like Guam in Micronesia, a US island territory far beyond the reach of most conventional missiles. It sounds like a retreat but for the Chinese military it is actually a much trickier problem. In modern warfare, distance can become a shield and dispersion a weapon. This is the puzzle a team of Chinese defence scientists has been solving. Their answer, published...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday ⁠rejected the ⁠idea that he had ⁠lost authority in his role, and said he would fight to keep his job, adding that anyone who wanted to replace him would have to deal with the same financial ‌constraints. The comments come a day after Defence Minister John Healey delivered a fresh blow to the prime minister’s already weakened leadership by quitting and accusing Starmer of being unable to commit the resources needed to keep the country safe, in a di...

Armed men in Haiti have kidnapped James Boyard, cabinet director of the Defence Ministry and a highly respected security expert who also serves as inspector general of Haiti’s police, a person with the knowledge of the situation said on Saturday. He is the highest-ranking official to be kidnapped in the gang-wracked Caribbean country in recent years. A person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorised to speak publicly about the case confirmed the kidnapping to Associated Press on...

Beijing has warned of a resolute response to the Pentagon’s newly expanded blacklist of Chinese companies, accusing Washington of using national security as a pretext to curb the development of Chinese firms. The warning came after the US Defence Department released its updated Section 1260H list on Monday as required by American law, expanding the roster to 188 entities, up from 134 last year. The list names what the department says are “Chinese military companies” operating, directly or...

Fluency in Cantonese has captured public attention after a mainland Chinese contestant in a celebrated Hong Kong beauty queen contest spoke about her difficulties learning the language, prompting a talent group to call for inclusion as the city seeks to preserve its culture. A political observer also said it was unnecessary to focus solely on contestants’ fluency in Cantonese, suggesting instead that the organiser could include more local elements in the contest to strengthen representation a...

Hong Kong police have arrested four men and seized 9.5kg of suspected drugs worth about HK$7.2 million (US$918,850) in a case involving two mainland Chinese men allegedly recruited by a syndicate through online gaming platforms. Police said on Saturday that the operation began on Thursday, when officers intercepted a suspicious 21-year-old man from the mainland who attempted to flee in Tsim Sha Tsui. They escorted him to a nearby flat, where they seized 399 grams (14 ounces) of ketamine and 1...

The administrator of the Hong Kong estate devastated by a deadly fire last November has missed the deadline to hold a much-anticipated meeting with flat owners, but has promised to resolve various challenges and make new arrangements soon. Hop On Management Company issued a notice about the delay to Wang Fuk Court residents on Saturday, the day the meeting was supposed to be held and the deadline upheld by the Lands Tribunal last week in line with the Building Management Ordinance. The tribun...

Chinese investors in Indonesia’s nickel industry recently sent a formal protest letter to President Prabowo Subianto. The message reflects their concerns over Indonesia’s political and economic direction, and the long-term trajectory of Chinese investment and Indonesia’s industrialisation programme will hinge on how Indonesia resolves them. The letter, submitted by the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (CCCI), complained about a series of government policies, including proposed royalty...

Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait needs a “joint answer” from people on both sides, Beijing’s top Taiwan affairs official said on Saturday. “As profound changes unseen in a century accelerate across the world, the international landscape is becoming increasingly turbulent and complex, the situation in the Taiwan Strait remains complex and severe,” Wang Huning told the Straits Forum, an annual event designed to boost exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China. “The future direction of...

The United States said it downed multiple Iranian drones targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday, hours after both sides said a deal to end the Middle East war was closer than ever. The interception came after weeks of halting talks between Tehran and Washington, mediated by Pakistan, that have been marked by threats and exchanges of fire despite a fragile truce agreed in April. US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees operations in the region, posted on socia...

With more than 20 years of experience as a light goods van driver, Hongkonger Fung Fu only started considering switching to becoming a private driving instructor when he noticed the economic outlook was getting gloomier. “Many restaurants have closed down, and companies are making fewer orders of goods. Besides, more drivers are joining the logistics industry, resulting in keener competition,” the 48-year-old told the South China Morning Post. “As I am getting older, my job of carrying heavy...

The International Criminal Court ordered a medical assessment of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, with proceedings set to start in November. It is the second time that Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity over his drug war that killed thousands of people, will undergo a health check ordered by the court. The ICC’s pre-trial chamber found in January that the former leader, who ruled the Philippines from 2016 to 2022...

After seven years working in the shadows, He Tingbo stepped back into the limelight last month. The head of Huawei Technologies’ secretive semiconductor business – widely dubbed the company’s “chip queen” – had been out of the public view since 2019, when Washington severed the Chinese company’s global access to advanced technology, including semiconductors. Her retreat into the background became a symbol of Huawei’s battle for survival. That all changed last month on a global academic stage ...

Let me pick up where I left off in a previous column. On sabbatical in China, I was reeling from being pored over by parents at the Shanghai marriage market, and judged to be too old and overqualified. But if no vigilant parent would have me for their offspring, perhaps someone in my more permanent home of London would? So I began again. Although nine months away from British dating apps had not changed them, something in myself had changed. The algorithms may rely on Photoshop and well-meani...

A US federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and then lied about it wrote a letter to a former law clerk apologising for her “harmful, offensive, and unprofessional behaviour”. An investigation initiated last year by the chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit found that US District Judge Eleanor Ross had sex in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within earshot of staff, attended a partisan...

Japan’s transport ministry on Friday reprimanded Japan Airlines and urged it to compile preventive measures by July 17 after an incident in which two cabin attendants drank the day before a flight in May, delaying a scheduled flight for about 40 minutes. The female JAL employees had falsely reported in an internal investigation that they had not consumed alcohol in violation of company regulations, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The ministry determin...

Inside a sprawling broadcast hub in Dallas, thousands of devices supplied by Lenovo are helping Fifa manage and distribute content from stadiums across the United States, Canada and Mexico, forming part of the technological backbone of the largest World Cup ever staged. The central role played by the Chinese-founded technology company highlights a reality often obscured by geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing: while US policymakers have increasingly scrutinised Chinese technol...

Catapulted by the market debut of his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire. That level of wealth, all owned by just one person, was once unfathomable. Before Friday, the trillion dollar mark was reserved for measures like the GDP (or staggering debt) of a handful of major economies – and, in the last decade alone, the value of some of the biggest companies to ever trade on the stock market. Musk’s new title arrives amid a wider acceleration for the richest of...

British artist David Hockney, one of the most influential and defining figures in contemporary art whose paintings captured the world in brilliant colour, has died aged 88, his publicist announced on Friday. Tributes poured in for the 1960s pop art pioneer who established himself as a globally renowned painter and master draughtsman and kept painting, experimenting and exhibiting right up until his death. “I think I’ve something to say to people – that’s why,” he told the Daily Telegraph in...

The Tumen River has resurfaced as one of the big issues for keen observers of relations between China and North Korea but after the leaders of the two countries met this week, there was no mention of it in the official statements after the summit. The river is a natural border between China, North Korea and Russia, and a narrow strip of it that runs between North Korea and Russia blocks Chinese access to open waters. Beijing has long tried to convince its two neighbours to open the waterway t...

Hong Kong’s finance chief praised a blockbuster film about the Teochew community as it premiered locally on Friday, and highlighted the ethnic group’s contributions to the city’s development, even as some critics slammed the production as overly patriotic. Dear You, an unexpected box-office hit that was shot on a shoestring budget, focuses on a grandson’s efforts to learn more about his family history by tracing letters sent home decades ago between Chaoshan and Thailand. The film will screen...

China’s decision to ban Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr and his family from Chinese territory has taken Beijing’s maritime feud with Manila into unusually personal territory, with analysts saying the move appeared aimed at warning other Philippine officials against taking a hard line. The sanctions, announced by China’s foreign ministry on Thursday following Teodoro’s recent criticism of Beijing, also prohibit Chinese organisations and individuals from engaging in transactio...

US President Donald Trump is expected to discuss plans to demine the Strait of Hormuz with allies during next week’s Group of Seven summit in France, a senior US administration official said on Saturday, as mediators said an agreement to end the war was close. Britain and France, who are both members of the G7, have expressed interest in assisting with demining the critical waterway once the conflict is paused. The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on ground rules ...

Iran’s state-run news agency said on Saturday funeral processions for its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be held in July, as mediators say an agreement to end the war is close. The funeral, burial, and farewell ceremonies for Khamenei would take place between July 4 and 9, Iran’s state-run television IRIB reported. Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo of the war that Israel and the United States launched against Iran in late February. He has since been replaced by hi...

In the 21st century race to the moon, there is a question that engineers must ask: what happens when the main engine fails? China and the United States are answering this in contrasting ways. Their answers could reveal the value they place on human life. From the Apollo Lunar Module in the 1960s to Nasa’s new Orion spacecraft for the Artemis programme, the American architecture relies on a single, powerful main engine to do the heavy lifting. On the descent stage, one main engine controls the...

The United States can launch stealth bombers across continents, track missiles from space and deploy forces anywhere on the planet. But as the nation approaches its 250th birthday next month, studies suggest a more basic question demands attention in Washington: can the military reliably fuel, sustain and connect those forces in a crisis? From the skies to orbit, two new reports point to vulnerabilities in critical pillars of US power projection at a time of intensifying strategic competition...

The invention of modern anaesthetics in 1846 is a pivotal milestone in the history of modern medicine, yet humans have long sought to alleviate surgical pain. Recent research has showed that in the 14th century, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) surgeons utilised a toxic plant concoction to create an anaesthetic, developed by the renowned traditional Chinese medicine surgeon Xia Quan. This discovery provides physical evidence that supports ancient texts, making it a fascinating contribution to medical...

Two major Japanese chemical manufacturers could halt production of a gas crucial to AI chipmaking starting next month, as supply tightens and prices surge amid Beijing’s export controls on tungsten. The price of tungsten hexafluoride has jumped more than 200 per cent year on year because of supply bottlenecks, coupled with rising chip demand, market data showed. The gas is a critical precursor in the semiconductor industry, where it is used to develop the microscopic connections inside advanc...

Bangladesh’s new leader is set to visit Malaysia and China later this month in a trip that Dhaka says reflects its independent foreign policy – with the decision to skip India seen less as a snub than a bid to strike a diplomatic balance. Tarique Rahman, who became Bangladesh’s 11th prime minister in February, plans to visit Malaysia on June 21–22 before a three-day official visit to China from June 23 on his first overseas trip since taking office. The Malaysia leg, scheduled ahead of any vi...

Washington has ordered Anthropic – a leading entity in America’s AI sector – to block all foreign nationals from accessing its latest models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns, according to the Silicon Valley-based firm. The unprecedented export-control measure – the first to target specific AI models – came just days after Anthropic released the models, underscoring Washington’s increasingly hands-on approach to regulating frontier artificial intelligence...

When Natasha Ann Lum was growing up, there was no place for Singlish – an English-based creole language in Singapore – at home. Her father was adamant that Lum and her brother not speak with broken grammar or use conversational markers such as “lah”, “lor” or “eh”. “He didn’t have the luxury of education and felt like he missed out on work opportunities because he didn’t speak English at a level that was required, so he wanted to make sure my brother and I would be better off,” said the softw...

A possible meeting next week between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump offers a chance to reset ties following a year of strained relations over tariffs, Pakistan, and now, the Iran war. US forces this week attacked three Indian-crewed vessels in the Gulf of Oman region, killing at least three sailors and prompting protests from New Delhi. Modi and Trump would likely want to contain the latest tensions and avoid derailing efforts to get relations back on track...

⁠President ⁠Donald Trump said late on Friday that the US ‌had carried out a lethal strike on Hector Rusthenford ⁠Guerrero Flores, also known as Nino Guerrero, the leader ‌of Venezuelan prison ⁠gang ⁠Tren de ‌Aragua. Tren de Aragua has been labelled by the United States as a terrorist organisation. Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authoritie...

Hong Kong’s Development Bureau will test whether heavy-duty drones, weighing nearly 150kg (330.6lbs) each, can carry essential items across up to six sites over the next 12 months, the South China Morning Post has learned. In response to queries from the SCMP, the bureau revealed it was partnering with two companies to test whether the devices could carry heavy materials such as cement and manhole covers for construction work. Other potential applications include clearing drains and cleaning...

Dan Rae Hugo has never heard of the Asean Petroleum Security Agreement. All he knows is that his diesel costs have doubled, his profit margins have evaporated and the rice on his neighbours’ tables now costs 20 per cent more than it did before the Iran war. The 43-year-old has been farming the fields of Iloilo, the Philippines, for 18 years. He has never worked harder for less. “It’s all the inputs: the diesel, the labour for operating the machines, the transportation when we harvest … It’s t...

In an era of naval warfare defined by air superiority, precision missiles and autonomous drones, China’s navy appears to be bringing back the “big guns”. A new naval gun system is said to be in development which takes 155mm, or 6.1-inch, artillery shells. That would make it the largest of its kind in the world today. The naval gun has recently been spotted undergoing sea-based performance testing from an experimental warship, which suggests it is moving closer to being deployed by the People’...

A shooter who opened fire in the West Texas city of Midland died on Friday after a stand-off with police following an attack that left one person dead and at least nine others injured, city officials said. The suspect, 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal, had shot at police just days earlier during a chase and was already being sought by authorities when he began firing at officers and bystanders in Midland, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Police were called to the area aft...

The US and Iran have “never been closer” to a deal on ending the war in the Middle East, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday, as mediator Pakistan said a final text had been agreed on. “The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer,” Araghchi wrote on social media, referring to the Pakistani capital which hosted previous US-Iran talks. “Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,” he added, after purporte...

A one-year-old boy remains in a critical condition in a Hong Kong hospital after contracting Covid-19, the second infant confirmed as severely infected with the contagious disease within a week, according to health authorities. The Centre for Health Protection at the Department of Health said on Friday that both boys had good past health but had not been inoculated against Covid-19. The centre urged unvaccinated high-risk groups to get vaccinated, warning that the overall Covid-19 activity co...

The United States and China should hold regular high-level meetings and deepen cooperation on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, as greater transparency is essential to avoid a downturn in relations, a veteran US diplomat has said. Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, said meetings between senior officials from Washington and Beijing should become routine, rather than being treated as “news”. “This is a relationship that needs to be...

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has fired an intern doctor for serious misconduct including breaching patient privacy and professional confidentiality. The authority said on Friday that it maintained a high standard of ethics, integrity and discipline, adding that the dismissal followed an investigation by an independent committee. The intern had violated medical ethics and integrity, infringed upon patient privacy and professional confidentiality, and failed to adhere to instructions when...

A Hong Kong court has extended an injunction restraining the finance chief of a private college, his wife and two other defendants from handling more than HK$25 million in allegedly misappropriated funds. The High Court on Friday also ordered the four defendants to disclose to Hong Kong Chu Hai College all of their assets worth HK$50,000 or more within 21 days, to help the plaintiff assess which items could be linked to the case. Finance director Ray Yip Kam-chun appeared in court for the fir...