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Plans for US Vice-President J.D. Vance to travel to Switzerland for a new round of talks with Iran have been delayed, the White House said on Thursday. In a statement, the White House said plans for the technical talks had not yet been finalised and that the US delegation remained prepared to depart at the first available opportunity. “The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or ...
Yusran first learned about the danger facing his teenage cousin, Elmi Febrianti, at an Indonesian tourist attraction in South Sulawesi when he got a phone call from a family member who sounded frantic. Elmi, a 17-year-old Indonesian student, had been at a popular photo spot in Apparalang, Bulukumba Regency, and had fallen into the sea in the afternoon on June 7 while taking a selfie on the picture...
Hong Kong homebuyers showed interest in 130 flats put on sale by developers on Thursday evening, but the pace of buying was more measured after an interest-rate increase later this year became more likely. Agents said 30 of the 75 units put on sale at Phase 4B of La Montagne at the Southside project at Wong Chuk Hang MTR station sold on Thursday. The two-bedroom units had saleable areas ranging fr...
A Hong Kong surgeon who operated on the wrong organ of an elderly patient had shown “confirmation bias” in identifying structures in the abdominal cavity, an investigation into the blunder has found, prompting a former lawmaker to call for his dismissal. Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Thursday released a cause analysis report on the February 7 incident involving an 85-year-old woman with obstructive si...
As a cultural strategist, my work takes me across the region as I explore new markets, mine local insights and connect with new consumers. Most recently I was in Seoul, a city voted for four consecutive years by millennial and Gen Z readers of a US-based travel media outlet as their favourite place to visit. Walking the streets of cool-kid neighbourhoods such as Hannam-dong, Seochon and Seongsu-do...
Nie Huihua, a professor of economics at Renmin University, discusses how an effective understanding of China’s development requires a shift from Western-centric frameworks to an integrated perspective that recognises how formal institutions, informal grass-roots mechanisms and cultural collectivism couple together to create a self-consistent and adaptive governance system. SCMP Plus readers get ea...
South Korean police have taken the rare step of placing three 12-year-old boys in juvenile facilities after they allegedly stole cars and drove without licences in two separate incidents within a week, underscoring growing concern over serious offences committed by children too young to face criminal prosecution. Police in Cheonan, a city about 90km south of Seoul, said on June 17 that the boys ha...
Using a few mirrors, solar panels and a microwave transmitter, Fan Guanheng and his team can send power over 100 metres (330 feet) through the air. But they are dreaming much bigger – 36,000km (23,460 miles) bigger. The team at Xidian University in Xian, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi province, are testing hardware that could one day be used to generate power in space and send it back to Ear...
An artificial intelligence model recently deployed at the Hong Kong Observatory and mainland China’s National Meteorological Centre can solve one of the toughest challenges in weather forecasting: predicting when a typhoon will rapidly intensify. Li Qinglan, a professor at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) who is leading the project, said the system was installed around three w...
A Chinese health centre scammed more than 100 elderly people out of a total of over 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) by putting soy sauce in an intestinal cleaning liquid to dupe them into thinking they had toxins in their bodies. The Beijing police have arrested more than 30 people involved on suspicion of fraud. They cracked the case after the family of a woman in her 60s discovered she had spen...
A Chinese health centre scammed more than 100 elderly people out of a total of over 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) by putting soy sauce in an intestinal cleaning liquid to dupe them into thinking they had toxins in their bodies. The Beijing police have arrested more than 30 people involved on suspicion of fraud. They cracked the case after the family of a woman in her 60s discovered she had spen...
In the first of a two-part series tracing the new trends of illegal betting in Hong Kong amid excitement over the World Cup 2026, Edith Lin looks at how social media has become a new channel pushing the youth to engage in unlawful bookmaking activities. Ken Chan* started betting on football matches when he was 18. He started betting through legalised channels, spending a third of his income for a ...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 10km (6 miles) from the border. The remarks were his first comment since the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the militant Hezbollah group. It was unclear...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 10km (6 miles) from the border. The remarks were his first comment since the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the militant Hezbollah group. It was unclear...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ruled out a withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon for the foreseeable future. In a speech, Netanyahu described the “security zone” established by the Israeli military as a barrier between the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and civilians and communities in northern Israel. Israel would not withdraw as long as its security needs requir...
A recent survey in Japan and South Korea has revealed that strategic elites in both countries remain sceptical about developing nuclear weapons. However, should one of the two countries take the lead in acquiring nuclear weapons, support for such a move in the other country could rise rapidly, according to the survey published on Thursday by Washington-based think tank the Centre for Strategic and...
A recent survey in Japan and South Korea has revealed that strategic elites in both countries remain sceptical about developing nuclear weapons. However, should one of the two countries take the lead in acquiring nuclear weapons, support for such a move in the other country could rise rapidly, according to the survey published on Thursday by Washington-based think tank the Centre for Strategic and...
Cuban lawmakers Thursday adopted nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade. In a landmark speech to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero unveiled 176 measures aimed at rolling back the state’s role in the economy and attracting investment in everything from banking to tourism and agriculture. ...
Cuba on Thursday unveiled nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade. In a landmark speech to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero detailed 176 measures aimed at rolling back the state’s role in the economy and attracting investment in everything from banking to tourism and agriculture. These h...
A top US trade official took a veiled swipe at China on Thursday for a range of unfair trade practices, but also criticised the United States for being asleep at the wheel for far too long. “They subsidised, they dumped, they erected regulatory barriers, they supported state-owned enterprises, they used every tool available to build their industries and capture a greater share of the American mark...
A China-led team of researchers has developed a powerful brain implant electrode array that is as soft as brain tissue, thinner than a strand of hair and more durable than anything before it. In animal trials, a new flexible brain implant recorded neural activity with unprecedented long-term clarity and remained safely functional inside the body for 18 months. The breakthrough addressed a major hu...
Alex Doran, a 28-year-old corporate strategist, is cheering for the US national team and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its initial win against Paraguay last week, while acknowledging that his team is unlikely to go all the way. While he does not expect to attend a match in person involving tickets costing thousands of US dollars, he has been watching avidly online and hopes to see some m...
Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijing’s 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation exercise has just started. But what is the nation’s 15th five-year plan, why is it important and what’s Hong Kong’s role? China’s five-year plan responds to “great changes unseen in a century”, prescient words used by Presi...
Vice-President J.D. Vance went on the offensive on Thursday to defend the “win-win” US-Iran agreement as critics slammed its vague provisions, even as others welcomed the apparent end to an expensive and unpopular war, no matter how potentially flawed the deal might be. “We have all the cards,” Vance told reporters at the White House. “Have a little bit of faith in the president of the United Stat...
An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later. Anger grew after it emerged that the main su...
An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later. Anger grew after it emerged that the main su...
Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One? White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar was due to enter service. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘Th...
White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to US President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now set to enter service. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,’” Trump’s communications director...
White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to US President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now set to enter service. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,’” Trump’s communications director...
SpaceX’s bankers are preparing to meet investors as early as next week to discuss a bond offering of at least US$20 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as Elon Musk’s newly public company seeks funding for an ambitious and capital-intensive AI expansion. SpaceX’s AI ambitions come with a steep price tag, requiring tens of billions of dollars in investment for data cen...
