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Australia forecasts a A$38 billion (US$26 billion) lift in its export income as commodity and energy prices rise because of the war in Iran. The nation’s resources exports are set to rise almost 3 per cent to A$416 billion in the financial year through June 2027, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources said in its latest resources and energy quarterly on Friday. The extra earnings assume...
When the ground shook off Iwate prefecture at 9pm on Wednesday, the magnitude 6.0 jolt – the latest in a series of sizeable tremors – barely registered in a country still mopping up after two powerful typhoons and bracing for a fresh bout of torrential rain and landslides. Natural disasters have long been a fact of life in Japan, where schoolchildren rehearse earthquake evacuations the way other n...
The latest child suicide figures from the Education Bureau make for grim reading. For three academic years in a row, suspected suicide cases among primary and secondary school students have remained stubbornly high – 32 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 31 in 2025. Despite a deluge of government resources, the three-tier emergency mechanism in secondary schools and public awareness campaigns, these numbers...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory has cancelled the amber rainstorm warning after two hours, and has said the chances of the current No 1 typhoon signal being upgraded are “relatively low”. The Observatory cancelled the amber warning signal at 4.10pm, but warned that v...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong issued the amber rainstorm warning on Friday afternoon, after the local forecaster said it would keep the No 1 typhoon signal in force at least until the evening before deciding whether to upgrade the storm notice. The Observatory sent out the amber r...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster will keep the No 1 typhoon signal in force until at least Friday evening, after which it will assess whether to issue the No 3 warning depending on the tropical storm’s intensity. The Hong Kong Observatory said Tropical Storm Mays...
A man in China has been refunded by a gym which asked him not to use the premises any more and even offered him a three-month membership card at another gym because management had received too many complaints about his strong body odour. The man, identified only as Shi, lives in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. He spent 6,388 yuan (US$940) on a three-year membership at a gym in May 2...
Two Chinese generals were seated for the first time alongside top People’s Liberation Army officers in a high-profile ceremony this week – a clear sign that they have emerged as front-runners for the leadership of the world’s largest standing army. During an evening gala marking the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding on Monday, lieutenant generals Zhang Shuguang and Wang Gang were...
Hong Kong authorities’ proposed overhaul of the city’s sexual offence laws has gone further than suggestions made by a law reform body, but some advocates remain concerned over a legal defence loophole. Advocacy groups have welcomed authorities’ proposals to include a list of circumstances that define situations of no consent to a sexual act, as well as adopting gender-neutral wording to cover vic...
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived in India this week seeking a deeper economic and security partnership, but analysts say the bigger question is how far New Delhi is prepared to align with Tokyo’s China-focused Indo-Pacific strategy. Takaichi held talks with her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in Delhi on Thursday, with economic security, strategic cooperation and collaboration on i...
The Nato summit beginning on Tuesday in Turkey is expected to be low-key as European members track their progress towards increased defence spending goals and Beijing watches intently from afar. Low-key, that is, with one major caveat. Will the get-along US President Donald Trump show up, or the raging Trump who slammed the alliance, questioned its purpose and threatened repeatedly to take his mil...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. In this article, Jane Cai and Yuanyue Dang examine Chinese people’s changing attitudes towards the US. As the United States prepares to ce...
Hong Kong is trapped in a structural economic paradox that threatens both its long-term competitiveness and social stability. Organisations are paralysed by the urgent need for artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, complaining day in and day out that they lack technological talent. An International Data Corporation (IDC) study last year revealed that 55 per cent of Hong Kong companies face ...
The first act of pop sensation Taylor Swift’s wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce kicked off Thursday, with a rehearsal dinner for 100 guests ahead of a star-studded extravaganza at the famed Madison Square Garden. The billionaire singer and three-time Super Bowl champion, both 36, have kept fans guessing, but media reports describe an over-the-top celebration befitting one of the world’s most famous...
Pop music megastar Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce are married, the New York Post’s Page Six reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources as preparations for an expected celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York were under way. The pair exchanged vows in front of a “tiny group of loved ones”, the outlet said. It did not say when or where the nuptials took plac...
A growing number of US lawmakers see the tax code as a way to shift corporate America’s reliance on Chinese technology, framing economic ties as a national security risk, seen most recently in a congressman’s comments on Thursday. Representative Nathaniel Moran said Thursday that business leaders must remember China is an “adversary”, arguing that the American business world remains trapped in a “...
A former Olympian was indicted on Thursday on a felony charge in what US President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Reflecting Pool. David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in a Washington court. District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on pool in “a deliberate act” that caused m...
Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a ...
Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a ...
China told the European Union that it is open to exploring ways to cut its massive trade surplus with the bloc during talks in Brussels on Monday, according to multiple people briefed on the discussion. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signalled to EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic that China was willing to consider purchase agreements covering European goods. The discussions touched on lowering ...
A bomb blast rocked a cafe in Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, killing nine people and wounding 20, authorities said, in the latest challenge for the country’s Islamist leaders as they seek stability after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key ...
A bomb blast at a cafe in Damascus on Thursday killed nine people and wounded at least 20, authorities said, in the latest challenge for Syria’s Islamist leaders as they seek to stabilise the country after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key gover...
A bomb blast at a cafe in Damascus on Thursday killed six people and wounded 22, authorities said, in the latest challenge for Syria’s Islamist leaders as they seek to stabilise the country after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key government buil...
A bomb blast at a cafe in Damascus on Thursday killed six people and wounded 22, authorities said, in the latest challenge for Syria’s Islamist leaders as they seek to stabilise the country after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key government buil...
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship which sparked international alarm, after the last person left quarantine. There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths. But while the outbreak is now over, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages, as they try to ...
Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. With the official death toll nearing 2,300 and huge numbers of people still missing, the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretcher ...
Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced on Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. With the official death toll nearing 2,300 and huge numbers of people still missing, the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretch...
A cyberattack on leading Hong Kong appliance distributor Shun Hing Group has compromised the personal information of more than 1 million people, according to the city’s privacy watchdog. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said on Thursday that it had launched an investigation into the incident after receiving a data breach report from Shun Hing Group on March 23. The latest i...
Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has said he is deeply saddened by the death of Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, who publicly recounted being abducted and detained by mainland Chinese authorities in 2015. Lam died at the age of 70 after a years-long battle with lung cancer, according to Taiwanese media. Local reports said Lam, who moved to Taiwan in 2019, was admitted to Mackay Memorial Hos...
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, who publicly recounted being abducted and detained by mainland Chinese authorities in 2015, has died at the age of 70 after a years-long battle with lung cancer, according to Taiwanese media. Local media reported that Lam, who moved to Taiwan in 2019, was admitted to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday, but his condition worsened and he fell into a coma...
