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At least 19 killed in Honduras palm plantation massacre
SCMP

At least 19 killed in Honduras palm plantation massacre

At least 19 people were killed at a palm plantation in northern Honduras, authorities said Thursday, as the Central American nation prepares for a resurgent wave of anti-gang militarisation. The killings took place the previous night in Rigores, in the restive Bajo Aguan region, where rival gangs have fought over control of palm plantations and drug trafficking routes. The attack came shortly afte...

16 dead after gunmen open fire in 2 separate attacks in Honduras
SCMP

16 dead after gunmen open fire in 2 separate attacks in Honduras

Gunmen opened fire in two separate attacks on Thursday on the Honduran coast, killing at least 16 people, including six police officers, police said. The first incident took place at a plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras, where at least 10 workers were shot and killed, National Police spokesman Edgardo Barahona said. The resource-rich region has been the site of a decad...

AI boom fuels US$11.6b data centre investment in Asia-Pacific as Hong Kong eyes niche role
SCMP

AI boom fuels US$11.6b data centre investment in Asia-Pacific as Hong Kong eyes niche role

The artificial intelligence boom is partially spurring investment in Asia-Pacific’s data centre properties with a record US$11.6 billion worth of capital poured into the segment in 2025, according to CBRE. In Hong Kong, while AI-related demand is unlikely to be met because of technical limitations, leasing of data centre space was supported by “hyperscale CSPs (cloud service providers), mainland C...

Trump says he is sending 5,000 more troops to Poland, stirring European confusion
SCMP

Trump says he is sending 5,000 more troops to Poland, stirring European confusion

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing – not increasing – the American military footprint in Europe. The Trump administration has said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and US officials confirmed about 4,000 ser...

US to send 5,000 troops to Poland, Trump says, after earlier deployment called off

US to send 5,000 troops to Poland, Trump says, after earlier deployment called off

SCMP

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was sending 5,000 troops to Poland, after Washington said an earlier planned deployment had been called off amid pressure on Europe to fend for itself. Trump said the move was based on his relationship with Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, a nationalist ally whom he said he was “proud to endorse” in elections that Nawrocki won last year. “I am please...

Israel deports hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists as arrivals recount abuse

Israel deports hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists as arrivals recount abuse

SCMP

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody. Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the...

First Gaza flotilla activists arrive in Turkey after Israel deportation

First Gaza flotilla activists arrive in Turkey after Israel deportation

SCMP

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody. Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break ...

China is replacing Middle East oil with Xinjiang coal. What does it mean for the world?

China is replacing Middle East oil with Xinjiang coal. What does it mean for the world?

SCMP

As the war in Iran disrupts global oil and chemical supplies, China’s coal-heavy energy sector is seizing an unprecedented opportunity. Dannie Peng visited the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang – one of China’s four major bases for large-scale, modern coal-chemical production. In the second of a two-part series, she discovers how China is leveraging coal chemicals to offset oi...

Not even a quick end to Iran war can save AI stock bubble now

Not even a quick end to Iran war can save AI stock bubble now

SCMP

The Iran war has baked in stagflation and starvation through big reductions in the supply of oil and fertilisers. This inflationary pressure will only increase. As inflation sucks liquidity out of financial markets and into the real economy, bond yields are being pushed up across the world. If bond yields rise by more than a percentage point, a likely scenario before the year’s end, the liquidity ...

US voices hope for Iran deal as Pakistan mediator seeks breakthrough

US voices hope for Iran deal as Pakistan mediator seeks breakthrough

SCMP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief poised for talks in Tehran. The role played by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, has taken on increased significance as US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “bor...

US voices hope for Iran deal as Pakistan mediator seeks to break impasse

US voices hope for Iran deal as Pakistan mediator seeks to break impasse

SCMP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief poised for talks in Tehran. The role played by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, has taken on increased significance as US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “bor...

US voices hope on Iran deal progress before Pakistan army chief visit

US voices hope on Iran deal progress before Pakistan army chief visit

SCMP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks. The expected visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, comes a day after US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “...

US casts Cuba as China-linked security threat while still pushing for talks

US casts Cuba as China-linked security threat while still pushing for talks

SCMP

One day after the United States brought criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio portrayed Cuba as both a growing national security threat tied to China and Russia and a candidate for a negotiated political transition. The comments came amid renewed friction between Washi...

US foreign affairs chairman warns of China role in Argentina contract bid

US foreign affairs chairman warns of China role in Argentina contract bid

SCMP

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast has warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “Chinese malign influence” in a bid for a major contract in Argentina, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The April 23 letter concerns an auction for a 25-year contract to dredge and operate Argentina’s Parana River, a vital waterway for most of ‌the country’s agricultural exports, that Argen...

Pair charged in US under new law for creating AI celebrity porn

Pair charged in US under new law for creating AI celebrity porn

SCMP

US federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested on Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaint...

2 men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new US law targeting ‘deepfakes’

2 men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new US law targeting ‘deepfakes’

SCMP

Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested on Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints. ...

2 men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new law targeting ‘deepfakes’

2 men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new law targeting ‘deepfakes’

SCMP

Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested on Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints. ...

Trump scraps signing AI executive order to keep ‘lead’ over China in industry

Trump scraps signing AI executive order to keep ‘lead’ over China in industry

SCMP

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he postponed the signing of a planned executive order on regulating artificial intelligence (AI), out of concern it might undermine America’s leading position over China in the field. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Th...

New Taliban law in Afghanistan implies that child marriage is permitted, UN says

New Taliban law in Afghanistan implies that child marriage is permitted, UN says

SCMP

The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against women and girls. The government rejected the accusations, saying the decree follows Islamic law and insisting the country has already banned the forced mar...

UN ‘concerned’ over Taliban law that includes child marriage provision

UN ‘concerned’ over Taliban law that includes child marriage provision

SCMP

The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against women and girls. The government rejected the accusations, saying the decree follows Islamic law and insisting the country has already banned the forced mar...

UN expresses grave concern over Taliban decree that includes provision on child marriage

UN expresses grave concern over Taliban decree that includes provision on child marriage

SCMP

The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against women and girls. The government rejected the accusations, saying the decree follows Islamic law and insisting the country has already banned the forced mar...

Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan becomes first woman to lead San Francisco Symphony

Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan becomes first woman to lead San Francisco Symphony

SCMP

Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan has been named music director designate of the San Francisco Symphony, capping months of intense industry speculation over her next permanent posting. The orchestra announced on May 21 that Chan will officially begin her tenure in September 2027. She will serve an initial six-year term, becoming the first woman and 13th music director in the institution’s 115-yea...

Mother arrested in Portugal after young sons blindfolded and abandoned

Mother arrested in Portugal after young sons blindfolded and abandoned

SCMP

Portuguese police on Thursday arrested the mother of two young French boys found abandoned by a main road in the south of the country, alone and crying. The boys, aged four and five, were rescued on Tuesday by a passing motorist near the resort town of Comporta, where they had been left with backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents, according to Portuguese media. A manhunt was...

Mother arrested after young French boys abandoned in Portugal

Mother arrested after young French boys abandoned in Portugal

SCMP

Portuguese police on Thursday arrested the mother of two young French boys found abandoned by a main road in the south of the country, alone and crying. The boys, aged four and five, were rescued on Tuesday by a passing motorist near the resort town of Comporta, where they had been left with backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents, according to Portuguese media. A manhunt was...

DR Congo police fire warning shots as protesters burn Ebola patient tents

DR Congo police fire warning shots as protesters burn Ebola patient tents

SCMP

Police fired warning shots and tear gas ⁠as part of a dispute in Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast over the burial of a suspected Ebola victim, a footballer who played for local teams, that saw protesters burn down tents for Ebola patients, Reuters witnesses said. The incident highlighted the struggle Congolese authorities could face to enforce the safe burials of people with confirmed and ...

DR Congo police fire warning shots in burial dispute after suspected Ebola death

DR Congo police fire warning shots in burial dispute after suspected Ebola death

SCMP

Police fired warning shots and tear gas ⁠as part of a dispute in northeastern DR Congo over the burial of a suspected Ebola victim, a footballer who played for local teams, that saw protesters burn down tents for Ebola patients, Reuters witnesses said. The incident highlighted the struggle Congolese authorities could face to enforce the safe burials of people with confirmed and suspected cases tha...

Residents set fire to an Ebola centre in DR Congo as fear and anger grow over outbreak

Residents set fire to an Ebola centre in DR Congo as fear and anger grow over outbreak

SCMP

People set fire to an Ebola treatment centre in a town at the heart of the outbreak in eastern DR Congo on Thursday after being stopped from retrieving the body of a local man, a witness and a senior police officer said, as fear and anger grow over a health crisis that doctors are struggling to contain. The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges of health workers trying to curb a rare Eb...

Court rules to oust leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party

Court rules to oust leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party

SCMP

An Ankara court on Thursday annulled the 2023 leadership election of Turkey’s main opposition CHP party in a sharp escalation against the country’s embattled opposition. It is the latest in a string of moves targeting the Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s oldest political faction that won a huge victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP in the 2024 local elections and has been ris...

Court annuls leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party

Court annuls leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party

SCMP

An Ankara court on Thursday annulled the 2023 leadership election of Turkey’s main opposition CHP party, state news agency Anadolu reported, in a sharp escalation against the country’s embattled opposition. The ruling overturns the result of the leadership election that brought in current party head Ozgur Ozel and ordered that the party’s former long-term chairman, Kemal Kilicdaroglu - who lost th...