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The Gaza war was the spark that touched off years of Middle East conflict culminating in the US-Israeli war with Iran, but as Washington and Tehran wrangle over terms for peace, the devastated territory’s fate seems largely out of mind. “Ever since the United States went to war with Iran, the whole world has forgotten Gaza and its tragedy. We no longer have anyone standing by us,” Palestinian Ahme...
The life-size robotic elephants in Prasanth Prakashan’s backyard workshop have ears that flap, tails that swish and trunks that squirt water. But that’s about all they have in common with their real-life counterparts revered across India as manifestations of the divine. The animatrons, crafted from fibreglass, iron and rubber, are intended to take the place of live elephants in Hindu temples. The ...
Funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei officially began on Saturday, state television reported, an event drawing thousands and intended to serve as a show of strength to the Islamic republic’s foes. Iranian authorities say they anticipate between 15 and 20 million participants in Tehran alone over the next three days for tributes to the man who ran the country for three-and...
How many crises does it take to change the way the world trades? For Asia, the answer appears to be three. First Covid closed the factories that fed the logistics networks, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine choked off Black Sea grain exports and sent energy prices spiralling. Now, the US-Israel war on Iran may have hammered the final nail in the coffin of “just in time” supply chains that some eco...
Former Hong Kong lawmaker Andrew Wan Siu-kin has been released from prison after completing his jail term in a landmark subversion case, saying he hopes to turn a new page in his life. Wan, of the now-defunct Democratic Party, left Stanley Prison on Saturday morning in a seven-seater believed to have been arranged by police. He expressed gratitude to his supporters in a subsequent social media pos...
America turns 250 on Saturday – a landmark birthday that coincides with a time of deep national division and a president determined to seize the festive centre stage. The independence anniversary also comes in the middle of a brutal heatwave that has placed some 160 million Americans under major or extreme heat warnings, playing havoc with planned parades and block parties in towns and cities acro...
US President Donald Trump lashed out on Friday at what he called a fresh threat against the country’s identity, taking aim at domestic “radicals and extremists” on the eve of America’s 250th birthday. In a speech dripping with patriotism, Trump lauded American exceptionalism and praised its past leaders, speaking at Mount Rushmore with its giant carved heads of four of his legendary predecessors. ...
While most Hong Kong children find sanctuary at home, Bobo* spent her primary and secondary school years constantly on high alert, always looking for a new place to hide in her flat. “Every single day I had to figure out how to avoid that person, how to find another safe spot inside the flat,” said the young woman, who suffered repeated sexual abuse by a family member. Another girl, Mui*, said nig...
Starting in September, Wang Ming’s 12-year-old son will need to go to school in a city 120km (75 miles) from his home in Beijing. Originally from northeastern China, Wang and his wife have lived in Beijing for more than 20 years. But even though they work for a bank and insurance company, they have never been able to obtain a hukou – the household registration document that serves as proof of resi...
Starting in September, Wang Ming’s 12-year-old son will need to go to school in a city 120km (75 miles) from his home in Beijing. Originally from northeastern China, Wang and his wife have lived in Beijing for more than 20 years. But even though they work for a bank and insurance company they have never been able to obtain a hukou – the household registration document that serves as proof of resid...
A dangerous heatwave upended Fourth of July celebrations across swathes of the central and eastern United States on Friday, forcing officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere to cancel or postpone dozens of parades, concerts and fireworks displays. Among the events disrupted by the sweltering heat was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, a centrepiece of President...
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 lifted its amber rainstorm warning on Saturday afternoon, but said the city would continue to face unsettled weather, including strong winds, swells and heavy showers, until the middle of next week. The forecaster issued the warning at...
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 issued an amber rainstorm warning on Saturday afternoon after saying the city would still face unsettled weather – including strong winds, swells and heavy showers – until the middle of next week. The forecaster issued the rainstorm wa...
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 issued an amber rainstorm warning on Saturday afternoon after saying the city would still face unsettled weather – including strong winds, swells and heavy showers – until the middle of next week. The forecaster issued the rainstorm wa...
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 No 1 typhoon signal but warned the city will still be hit by strong winds, swells and heavy showers, with unsettled weather expected to continue until mid next week. The forecaster replaced the standby typhoon signal,...
As Hong Kong moves forward with its huge new Northern Metropolis development zone, analysts argue the government should take a cautious approach to land sales to help sustain the recent recovery in the residential property market. The large-scale project near the border with the Chinese mainland continues to progress, as the government set a tender deadline for midday on Friday for several plots i...
Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. The latest discovery has a “shorter” snout, a “darker coloration pattern” and a “much longer spine on its dorsal fin”, according to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica. The discovery marked the only such species “known for the Central Ame...
For 19 seasons, the Malaysian Grand Prix made Sepang International Circuit one of Asia’s premier racing venues. Sepang opened in 1999 as an emblem of a Southeast Asian nation that was on the up at the time. But the government ended its support for the Formula One (F1) race in 2017, closing a high-speed era that brought the eyes of tens of millions of people across the world to Malaysia. For home-g...
An unmistakable pattern has emerged in the US’ strategy to contain China. Washington has sought to deny China access to frontier technologies and key commodities, and to redirect related supply chains to revitalise American industries. In this context, US President Donald Trump’s intense interest in America taking over Denmark’s Greenland becomes clear. Deny the Chinese their favourite seafood, wh...
A courier in eastern China has been celebrated as a hero after bravely charging into a burning flat three times to extinguish the flames before collapsing from smoke inhalation. An Erpei, 21, from Hangzhou, had just returned to his rented flat after a late shift on June 25, when he heard a fire alarm while washing dishes. As he fled the building with his girlfriend and family, An noticed the blaze...
AI’s rapid takeover of entry-level tasks is disrupting Hong Kong’s career ladder, leaving fresh graduates with fewer opportunities to gain practical experience, according to experts. Lam Wai-kong, an employee representative on the Labour Advisory Board, said a growing emphasis on immediate productivity, coupled with a reluctance to invest in graduate training, had also led some employers to bypass...
Five years into her marriage to a finance executive, Clare* is still doing the sums on leaving behind a life unencumbered by the high price of parenthood. At 31, the Singaporean doctor instead finds herself wondering if she will feel different about their “dink” (dual income, no kids) lifestyle in another three years. “The thought of having kids also feels more like an obligation just to complete ...
A massive Russian glide bomb strike on the centre of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least four people, including a child, on Friday and injured 27, Regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov said. Other areas in Sumy region and in southeastern Ukraine, closer to the front lines, also came under Russian attack, killing a total of six people. “At the epicentre of the strike – a high-rise apart...
Researchers at TikTok parent ByteDance have discovered a new scaling law governing how fast artificial intelligence agents can improve by performing real-world tasks, a finding that could help prolong the AI boom just as traditional development methods hit a wall. In a research paper published on Thursday, ByteDance’s Seed AI team revealed that AI agents – autonomous software that executes tasks o...
Taiwan is requiring its reservists to train longer and harder, introducing drones and US-made Himars rocket systems into a revamped 14-day call-up programme as it races to offset worsening troop shortages amid a demographic decline. One of the biggest reforms of Taiwan’s reserve force in decades, the overhaul reflects growing concern that a shrinking pool of military-age recruits and mounting pres...
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are married. Swift’s publicist confirmed the marriage took place Friday evening inside Madison Square Garden at a star-packed ceremony. The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead opting for Swift’s brother to serve as her man of honour and Kelce’s brother Jason serving as his best man. The wedding between the superstar singer and American football playe...
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Madison Square Garden wedding is fast approaching, and guests in formalwear are arriving in high heat and humming buzz in Midtown Manhattan. The long-anticipated union of sports and song has brought hype to new heights at a venue usually reserved for big games and bucket-list concerts. The Friday night event is expected to be attended by the close friends and family...
China is such a giant player in the global economy that understanding how the US-China contest of the century for international primacy will evolve has become crucial. Some Westerners, especially those in the United States, feel so threatened that they have resorted to protectionism, with global fragmentation and perhaps even preparations for a third world war already in the cards. Kishore Mahbuba...
The fallout from Venezuela’s powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodriguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires on Friday. A day after Rodriguez angrily defended the competence of her government’s relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disas...
European Nato allies have mostly replaced the assets that the US has cut from its rescue plans in case of a war in Europe, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Stringer said in an interview. Stringer made the assurance ahead of the alliance’s summit in Ankara next week, at which allies will try to smooth over recent announcements by the US signalling that it is pivoting away from the contin...
