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Sri Lanka deploys military drones to fight worst dengue outbreak in almost a decade
SCMP

Sri Lanka deploys military drones to fight worst dengue outbreak in almost a decade

Sri Lanka’s ⁠public health services and hospitals are battling the worst outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue in nearly a decade, and turning to the island nation’s armed forces to help curb the spread of the disease. The efforts range from air force drones tracking stagnating rooftop pools of water after monsoon rains to military and police officers helping to inspect homes, building sites and schoo...

To prosper, China must become a magnet for international students
SCMP

To prosper, China must become a magnet for international students

Last month, 12.9 million students in China sat for the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or gaokao, the number sliding for a second year, and down from 13.3 million last year. Given that births have fallen below 8 million annually to a record low, in 18 years, the country’s more than 3,100 universities will find themselves fighting over an even smaller cohort. This will coincide with...

Squally thunderstorms set to hit parts of Hong Kong within hours
SCMP

Squally thunderstorms set to hit parts of Hong Kong within hours

Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has warned that downpours are approaching the city, saying they are expected to become more frequent throughout the day. A spokesman for the Hong Kong Observatory said at 8.20am on Tuesday that an area of thundery showers over western Guangdong was gradually moving eastwards. “Showers are expected to be heavier in some areas, with squally thunderstorms affecting part...

Australian politician barks ‘sit down’ at dog during live interview
SCMP

Australian politician barks ‘sit down’ at dog during live interview

A top lawmaker from Australia’s far-right One Nation party has grabbed headlines after exploding at a misbehaving dog as he was grilled on live TV. Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was being interviewed on national broadcaster ABC on Monday night when he interrupted the one-on-one to shriek: “Sit down!” “Sorry, it’s the dog,” he told the journalist. The errant pooch then interrupted the ...

Chinese teenager lies to parents about holiday to secretly help flood victims in Guangxi

Chinese teenager lies to parents about holiday to secretly help flood victims in Guangxi

SCMP

A teenager from eastern China told his parents he was going on holiday, but secretly travelled with a friend to a flood-stricken region to join relief efforts. Earlier this month, 18-year-old Shanghai student Wu Yulun had just completed the gaokao, China’s national college entrance examination, and was planning a graduation trip. But after seeing an online appeal from a volunteer group in the sout...

Hong Kong’s first-time lawmakers ask fewer questions but attend Legco more often

Hong Kong’s first-time lawmakers ask fewer questions but attend Legco more often

SCMP

Hong Kong’s first-time lawmakers have raised fewer questions than their veteran counterparts but recorded a higher attendance rate, a South China Morning Post check has found. Alan Chan Chung-yee, who is also the chief operating officer of Miramar Group, and athlete turned legislator Vivian Kong Man-wai were among those who submitted the fewest questions to the government. Political observers attr...

Chinese tourists blamed for overtourism in Japan’s Kyoto despite huge fall in arrivals

Chinese tourists blamed for overtourism in Japan’s Kyoto despite huge fall in arrivals

SCMP

Chinese tourists are being unfairly blamed for Kyoto’s overtourism crisis, according to a new report, even as data shows mainland visitor numbers have fallen sharply amid worsening ties between China and Japan. The report released earlier this month by the Kyoto City Tourism Association’s destination management organisation said many local residents assumed crowded public transport, congestion at ...

Chinese robot makers’ lament: if we only had a better ‘brain’, and more data

Chinese robot makers’ lament: if we only had a better ‘brain’, and more data

SCMP

Chinese robotics companies lack both sufficient data and a good “brain” to improve the interaction of their products with the physical world, according to industry insiders at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which concluded on Monday in Shanghai. The most critical challenge for the embodied AI industry was to “link hardware, data, models and real-world scenarios into a closed-...

US Justice Department investigating Harvard over financial aid programmes

US Justice Department investigating Harvard over financial aid programmes

SCMP

The US Department of Justice said on Monday it launched a probe reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programmes were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against ‌the university by President Donald Trump’s administration. “The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-ba...

US Justice Department investigating whether Harvard aid programmes are discriminatory

US Justice Department investigating whether Harvard aid programmes are discriminatory

SCMP

The US Justice Department said on Monday it launched an investigation reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programmes were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against the university by Donald Trump’s administration. “The Justice ‌Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-based ...

Brazil widens lead in China’s soybean market as US shipments fall despite Trump-Xi deal

Brazil widens lead in China’s soybean market as US shipments fall despite Trump-Xi deal

SCMP

China imported 12.08 million tonnes of Brazilian soybeans in June, up 13.7 per cent from a year earlier, while volumes from the United States fell 20.6 per cent to 1.27 million tonnes, far off the pace implied by the purchasing deal agreed by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to figures released on Monday by China’s General Administration of Customs. Total arrivals of the oilseed r...

Trump orders new 50% tariff on many Canadian goods, escalating trade war

Trump orders new 50% tariff on many Canadian goods, escalating trade war

SCMP

US President Donald Trump signed orders on Monday to impose new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods, claiming “discriminatory treatment” by Ottawa against American alcohol, automobile and dairy products. The tariffs take effect in 30 days and cover various items including wine, hockey sticks and cement, said the White House. Trump, who saw many of his tariffs struck down by the Supreme Cour...

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, citing disputes over cars, alcohol and cheese

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, citing disputes over cars, alcohol and cheese

SCMP

US President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50 per cent tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American cars, alcohol and dairy products. The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White Hou...

Trump order targets China-linked military mineral supply chains

Trump order targets China-linked military mineral supply chains

SCMP

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at reducing dependence on China for defence-related critical minerals, directing military contractors to shift away from Beijing-linked supply chains. Without naming China, Trump’s executive order stresses the need to maintain US military dominance “in an era of renewed great power competition”. “The United States must secure its ...

China won’t waste its reserves to cushion oil price impact of Iran war

China won’t waste its reserves to cushion oil price impact of Iran war

SCMP

Oil prices are set to rise once more as renewed US attacks on Iran leave the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of oil trade, closed again. With US strategic petroleum reserves at their lowest in over 40 years, America will have trouble keeping oil prices below US$100 a barrel, as it has mostly done in the war so far. Analysts warn that sustained oil prices above US$100 risk accelerating inflation, ...

Paramount and Warner Bros ordered to pause mega-merger

Paramount and Warner Bros ordered to pause mega-merger

SCMP

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery to temporarily pause their merger while a case brought by multiple states challenging the deal moves forward. The companies are prohibited from closing their US$110 billion deal for 14 days until another hearing is held on August 3 regarding a preliminary injunction, which would prevent Paramount and Warne...

US judge suspends Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros

US judge suspends Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros

SCMP

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery to temporarily pause their merger while a case brought by multiple states challenging the deal moves forward. The companies are prohibited from closing their US$110 billion deal for 14 days until another hearing is held on August 3 regarding a preliminary injunction, which would prevent Paramount and Warne...

Tate brothers to fight extradition from US to UK following Miami arrests

Tate brothers to fight extradition from US to UK following Miami arrests

SCMP

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detention. In ...

Andrew Tate, brother fight extradition to the UK on rape and sex trafficking charges

Andrew Tate, brother fight extradition to the UK on rape and sex trafficking charges

SCMP

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said on Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court on Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detentio...

Tate brothers fight extradition to the UK on rape and sex trafficking charges

Tate brothers fight extradition to the UK on rape and sex trafficking charges

SCMP

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said on Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court on Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detentio...

Tate brothers fight extradition to the UK where they face rape and sex trafficking charges

Tate brothers fight extradition to the UK where they face rape and sex trafficking charges

SCMP

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said on Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court on Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detentio...

US claims 3 China-linked spy sites in Cuba monitoring American military activity

US claims 3 China-linked spy sites in Cuba monitoring American military activity

SCMP

The United States has accused China of operating three intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba and sharply expanding its personnel on the island, portraying Havana as a strategic platform for Beijing to monitor American military activity. A State Department report released on Monday said China maintained a “persistent intelligence-gathering presence” in Cuba, whose location gives Beijing potenti...

Trump turns to China in renewed US birthright citizenship push

Trump turns to China in renewed US birthright citizenship push

SCMP

When the US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, his attention soon turned from the justices to China, prompting a sarcastic social media post. “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump wrote on social media. In the hours that follo...

Trump turns to China in renewed birthright citizenship push

Trump turns to China in renewed birthright citizenship push

SCMP

When the US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, his attention soon turned from the justices to China, prompting a sarcastic social media post. “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump wrote on social media. In the hours that follo...

Chess champion Polgar turns down offer to be Hungary’s president

Chess champion Polgar turns down offer to be Hungary’s president

SCMP

Chess legend Judit Polgar on Monday turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s offer to join his push to break with the Viktor Orban era as the country’s president. The pro-European conservative had nominated Polgar, widely considered the greatest woman to have taken to the chequered board, as a figure from outside politics to help carry out his promise of “regime change” from Orban’s har...

Chess champion Judit Polgar rejects offer to become Hungary’s president

Chess champion Judit Polgar rejects offer to become Hungary’s president

SCMP

Chess legend Judit Polgar on Monday turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s offer to join his push to break with the Viktor Orban era as the country’s president. The pro-European conservative had nominated Polgar, widely considered the greatest woman to have taken to the chequered board, as a figure from outside politics to help carry out his promise of “regime change” from Orban’s har...

China’s Li congratulates Andy Burnham on becoming Britain’s new prime minister

China’s Li congratulates Andy Burnham on becoming Britain’s new prime minister

SCMP

Chinese ⁠Premier ⁠Li Qiang on Monday extended congratulations to Andy Burnham on ‌becoming Britain’s new prime minister. Strengthening dialogue and cooperation between ⁠China and Britain will benefit ‌the two countries and “inject stability into global ‌peace”, Li said in ⁠his ⁠message, Reuters reported. “I am willing to ‌work with the prime minister ‌to strengthen exchanges, ‌enhance mutual ‌trus...

Man charged with murder of former British minister Ann Widdecombe

Man charged with murder of former British minister Ann Widdecombe

SCMP

British prosecutors said ⁠on Monday a 28-year-old man ⁠had been charged with murdering ⁠former government minister Ann Widdecombe, and police said they were still investigating why she was attacked. Widdecombe, 78, who was a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, was found at her home in rural southwest England on July 9, ‌after sustaining what police described as serious injuries....

Man charged with murdering former British MP Ann Widdecombe

Man charged with murdering former British MP Ann Widdecombe

SCMP

British prosecutors ⁠said on Monday ⁠that a 28-year-old ⁠man had been charged with murdering former government minister Ann Widdecombe, who was found dead at her home earlier this month. Widdecombe, 78, who was ‌a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, was found at her home in rural southwest England on July 9 after sustaining what police described as serious injuries. She stood do...