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Venezuela quakes kill almost 1,500, with millions more in need
SCMP

Venezuela quakes kill almost 1,500, with millions more in need

The death toll in Venezuela’s twin earthquake disaster reached 1,430 Saturday, and millions more were feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs, as the first US aid flights trickled into Caracas. Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, US-backed interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez said the country was “not alone”. The US said one runway at Simon Bolivar International ...

US, Mexico Catholic bishops call for humane treatment of migrants
SCMP

US, Mexico Catholic bishops call for humane treatment of migrants

More than 100 Catholic bishops, nuns, priests and parishioners joined a procession across ⁠the US-Mexico border on Friday evening, urging the US government to treat migrants with dignity and respect. The procession, from Nogales, Arizona, to its sister city in the Mexican state of Sonora, was planned to coincide with commemorations of America’s 250th anniversary. “We want to be well together. This...

Australia PM: ‘too many children on social media’, ban too easy to avoid
SCMP

Australia PM: ‘too many children on social media’, ban too easy to avoid

Australia said on Saturday it would double the maximum penalty it can impose on tech firms found to have failed to uphold a groundbreaking social media ban for children, as evidence mounts that the ban has had little effect on teen use. The government will also strengthen the information-gathering powers of its internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, allowing it to compel social media compan...

Boy, 11, dies after showing signs of heatstroke at Hong Kong sports ground
SCMP

Boy, 11, dies after showing signs of heatstroke at Hong Kong sports ground

A boy has died after showing signs of heatstroke, including vomiting and fainting, following a 400-metre training run at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong. A police spokesman said the force was alerted at 5.11pm on Saturday that the boy, 11, had vomited and was displaying signs of heatstroke at the sports complex. “He was sent to Tseung Kwan O Hospital unconscious,” the spokesman said. The ...

Boy, 11, showing signs of heatstroke dies after run at Hong Kong sports ground

Boy, 11, showing signs of heatstroke dies after run at Hong Kong sports ground

SCMP

A boy who showed signs of heatstroke, including vomiting and fainting, after completing a 400-metre training run at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong has died. A police spokesman said the force was alerted at 5.11pm on Saturday that the boy, 11, had vomited and was displaying signs of heatstroke at the sports complex. “He was sent to Tseung Kwan O Hospital unconscious,” the spokesman said. ...

Boy dies after suspected heatstroke at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong

Boy dies after suspected heatstroke at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong

SCMP

A boy who showed signs of suspected heatstroke has died after vomiting and fainting at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in Hong Kong. A police spokesman said the force was alerted at 5.11pm on Saturday that the boy, aged between 10 and 12, had vomited and was displaying signs of heatstroke at the main playground of the Tseung Kwan O sports complex. “He was sent to Tseung Kwan O Hospital unconscious,” t...

Rise in elite civil servants leaving prompts calls for hiring rethink

Rise in elite civil servants leaving prompts calls for hiring rethink

SCMP

The number of elite Hong Kong public servants who resigned or retired climbed by a third in the past financial year compared with the previous one even as overall civil service turnover declined, prompting calls to expand open recruitment for senior posts. Figures from the Civil Service Bureau show that 36 administrative officers left the government in 2025-26, up by 33 per cent from 27 a year ear...

‘This is an unhealthy environment’: Arctic researcher Li Xueke leaves the US for Hong Kong

‘This is an unhealthy environment’: Arctic researcher Li Xueke leaves the US for Hong Kong

SCMP

For climate scientist Li Xueke, the decision to leave the University of Pennsylvania for Hong Kong was a pivot to the front lines of the global green economy. As climate change turns the Arctic into a seasonally navigable ocean, Li’s research on critical new shipping routes could shed light on the economic impacts of a warming planet. Li joined City University of Hong Kong (CityU) last month as an...

China urges easing of travel barriers as Apec tourism ministers meet in Macau

China urges easing of travel barriers as Apec tourism ministers meet in Macau

SCMP

China will strengthen coordination with other countries to remove bureaucratic barriers and make travel more convenient for international tourists, Beijing’s tourism chief has told an Apec meeting attended by ministers from Hong Kong and other jurisdictions. Sun Yeli, China’s minister of culture and tourism, also called for closer cooperation within the Apec community to promote tourism as a regio...

Trump says US hit Iran again, may be ‘forced to militarily complete the job’

Trump says US hit Iran again, may be ‘forced to militarily complete the job’

SCMP

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that ‌the American military struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar ⁠sites for violating a US-Iran ‌ceasefire agreement. “There may come a point ‌when we are no ⁠longer ⁠able to be reasonable, ‌and will be forced to ‌militarily complete ‌the job that we ‌very successfully started,” ⁠Trump wrote on social media. “If that happe...

US says it hit Iran again, after tanker struck in Hormuz

US says it hit Iran again, after tanker struck in Hormuz

SCMP

American forces conducted new strikes against multiple targets in Iran on Saturday, US Central Command said, after earlier reports that a tanker had been hit in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said in a social media post that Iran’s forces had launched a drone attack on the Panama-flagged M/T Kiku at 4.30am on Saturday as it was transiting near the key waterway with more than 2 million barrels of oi...

Tanker struck in Hormuz, as Iran and US trade attacks in worst escalation since peace deal

Tanker struck in Hormuz, as Iran and US trade attacks in worst escalation since peace deal

SCMP

A tanker reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Britain’s maritime security agency said, after the US and Iran each launched strikes in the worst escalation since they signed an interim peace deal. The warring sides each accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict. Washington said it hit Iranian targets o...

US ally Bahrain claims Iran attacked navy base as Hormuz closed

US ally Bahrain claims Iran attacked navy base as Hormuz closed

SCMP

Iran said it struck targets linked to US forces on Saturday in response to US air strikes on its southern coast, as each side continued to accuse the other of violating last week’s agreement meant to end the four-month-old war. Iran’s foreign ministry did not identify the locations of its “defensive” attacks, which it said were a response to “the barbaric air strikes” by the US on its coastal surv...

AI K-pop video pulled after anti-drug message backfires for Hong Kong prison service

AI K-pop video pulled after anti-drug message backfires for Hong Kong prison service

SCMP

Hong Kong’s prison service has withdrawn an anti-drug video featuring a group of beautiful AI-generated virtual K-pop girls from social media and revised it after internet users said it resembled a promotion campaign for illegal substances. The Correctional Services Department uploaded the controversial video, titled “Obsession: The Sugar-Coated Trap”, to its social media platforms on Friday. In t...

Discovery of fish-eating raptor in Argentina points to prehistoric links with China

Discovery of fish-eating raptor in Argentina points to prehistoric links with China

SCMP

Scientists have uncovered a new species of raptor in Argentina that sports the same telltale curved claw as the velociraptors found in China, some 19,000km (11,800 miles) away. Though they were found on opposite ends of the world, these two dinosaurs were close kin – tracing back to a common ancestor from an era when the continents were knitted together to form one big land mass. This discovery, p...

French heatwave packs hotels as city dwellers struggle to sleep

French heatwave packs hotels as city dwellers struggle to sleep

SCMP

As France sweltered under one of the worst ⁠heatwaves ever recorded this ⁠week, city dwellers scrambled for any ⁠escape they could find, with many checking into hotels to benefit from air conditioning and access to pools. Temperatures in Paris hit a June record of 40.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, a day after France recorded its hottest day since records ‌began nearly 80 years ago. But few privat...

Why are Hong Kong, mainland universities rising in global rankings as US ones fall?

Why are Hong Kong, mainland universities rising in global rankings as US ones fall?

SCMP

The global higher education landscape has shifted markedly over the past five years, with universities across Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and mainland China, climbing international rankings while more than 70 per cent of US institutions slipped, a South China Morning Post analysis has found. UK-based education data firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) said the trend signalled that excellence in high...

Why are Hong Kong, mainland China universities gaining ground in global rankings?

Why are Hong Kong, mainland China universities gaining ground in global rankings?

SCMP

The global higher education landscape has shifted markedly over the past five years, with universities across Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and mainland China, climbing international rankings while more than 70 per cent of US institutions slipped, a South China Morning Post analysis has found. UK-based education data firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) said the trend signalled that excellence in high...

Hong Kong football clubs acknowledge arrests linked to illegal betting, match-fixing

Hong Kong football clubs acknowledge arrests linked to illegal betting, match-fixing

SCMP

Two of the 19 people reportedly arrested this week as part of a major crackdown on an illegal bookmaking ring in Hong Kong have been identified as prominent football coaches in the city. Lo Kwan-yee, head coach of local first division champions Supreme, and Poon Man-chun, coach of the under-18 and under-22 teams at local Premier League champions Kitchee and father of Hong Kong international Max Po...

Thousands pack Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade for annual dragon boat races

Thousands pack Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade for annual dragon boat races

SCMP

Thousands of spectators and paddlers have descended on Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to cheer and compete as the 50th anniversary of the city’s annual International Dragon Boat Races gets under way. More than 220 teams from 16 jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Australia and Qatar, are competing in the two-day event starting on Saturday, drawing tourists and locals alike to cheer on their f...

China confirms death of pilot in Citic Tower plane crash

China confirms death of pilot in Citic Tower plane crash

SCMP

The pilot of a light sport aircraft that hit Beijing’s tallest skyscraper on Friday died. In a statement on Saturday, the Chaoyang district government said that only the pilot was in the two-seater plane when it hit Citic Tower. In addition, 13 people were injured in the incident. The statement, issued after hours of silence, said the circumstances surrounding the crash were still under investigat...

Can Andy Burnham fix Britain’s essential services and debt problem?

Can Andy Burnham fix Britain’s essential services and debt problem?

SCMP

Nowadays, prime ministers and even presidents cower before the mighty bond markets. These have the ability – in democracies, at least – to have leaders ejected from office via the ballot box, as even US President Donald Trump appears to acknowledge. However, it is not enough to simply offer dismissive gestures towards the bond markets, as some political leaders have discovered to their cost. It is...

Time runs out for thousands missing after Venezuela earthquakes

Time runs out for thousands missing after Venezuela earthquakes

SCMP

The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and flat blocks three days after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out to find survivors. Authorities announced on Friday night that they would block access to La Guaira, the epicentre of the destruction, as chaos and traffic ...

India’s late monsoon rains leave cities and fields parched

India’s late monsoon rains leave cities and fields parched

SCMP

The late arrival of India’s monsoon season and below-average rainfall have caused problems ranging from planting delays for farmers to water restrictions for construction sites in its largest business hub, Mumbai. Water shortages have been reported around the country due to the late start of the rainy season, which typically begins in June but has grown erratic in recent years. Climate experts sai...

Cathay Pacific says sorry to actor Wu Chun over 3-day luggage delay ordeal

Cathay Pacific says sorry to actor Wu Chun over 3-day luggage delay ordeal

SCMP

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has apologised to actor and singer Wu Chun after the star, who was featured in its recent promotional campaign, vented his frustration online at the airline’s failure to find his missing luggage despite his “countless” phone calls over three days. The incident sparked a public outcry against the airline, reportedly prompting the company to apologise an...

China ‘Spider-Woman’ single mum cleans, repairs high-rises to support disabled son, ailing mother

China ‘Spider-Woman’ single mum cleans, repairs high-rises to support disabled son, ailing mother

SCMP

A single mother in eastern China has won widespread admiration online for her remarkable dedication, braving a job suspended hundreds of metres in the air to support her family. In Hefei, Anhui province, Xu Junyun works on the exterior walls of high-rise buildings, secured by two safety ropes. Known online as “Spider-Woman,” this 36-year-old cleans, repairs, and waterproofs structures to fund her ...

Thousands flock to PLA airbase amid Hong Kong handover celebrations

Thousands flock to PLA airbase amid Hong Kong handover celebrations

SCMP

Thousands of residents have braved the scorching heat to watch helicopter demonstrations and try out military equipment at a PLA airbase near Hong Kong’s border. Military enthusiast Kin Man arrived at Shek Kong with his mother from Tai Po more than an hour before the 9am opening on Saturday. They were among the first ticket holders in line for the open day, part of celebrations marking the 29th an...

Malaysia’s Johor election campaign begins as federal allies clash

Malaysia’s Johor election campaign begins as federal allies clash

SCMP

Malaysia’s southern Johor state was braced for a bruising 14-day election campaign on Saturday after 172 candidates were cleared to contest a poll pitting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal allies against each other in one of the country’s most economically important battlegrounds. The state, which borders Singapore, goes to the polls on July 11, with 2.72 million voters eligible to choose rep...

When Hong Kong hosted its first International Film Festival in 1977 – SCMP archive

When Hong Kong hosted its first International Film Festival in 1977 – SCMP archive

SCMP

This article was first published on June 28, 1977. Film festival off to impressive start by SCMP reporter Hongkong’s First International Film Festival got off to an impressive start last night (June 27, 1977). It was not quite the glittering social occasion as the Cannes Film Festival and there certainly was not the profusion of topless models and eager starlets that the Mediterranean occasion pro...