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A girl from a disadvantaged rural family in central China topped this year’s gaokao, attracting numerous live-streamers eager to finance her education, which she declined. The home of 18-year-old secondary school graduate Han Yaping in a Henan province village was recently bustling with live-streamers. This attention came after Han achieved an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in the gaokao, Chin...
A Chinese military magazine has highlighted a spate of non-combat losses across the US Navy, claiming they have eroded the fleet’s capabilities and exposed “systemic pressure and shortcomings”. The report in Naval & Merchant Ships pointed to fires, electrical failures and propulsion issues on America’s most advanced warships in recent months. They include the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, t...
At least six universities in Hong Kong have moved into office buildings or shopping centres over the past three years as classroom space has tightened amid rising non-local enrolment, according to the latest data. Among them is the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which spent HK$345.4 million (US$44 million) in 2025 to acquire a 31,410 sq ft campus in Admiralty for its busin...
South Korea may have lost Canada’s multibillion-dollar submarine order, but analysts say its close-run contest with Germany has handed Seoul a different prize: proof that it can challenge one of the world’s traditional undersea warfare powers on a stage watched closely by defence buyers. Canada chose Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) as the preferred bidder for a programme worth about U...
All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health programme. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 276-metre cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Slide”, i...
All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health programme. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 276-metre (50ft) cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Sl...
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and wounded several more, as Moscow sustained its attacks ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at a Nato summit. A first large blast in Kyiv was heard even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded, followed by a barrage of four more. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said warehouses were on...
A series of explosions rocked Kyiv early on Wednesday as Russia keeps up its barrage of attacks on the Ukrainian capital while Nato leaders meet for a summit in Turkey. A first large blast was heard even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded, followed by four more, Agence France-Presse journalists in the city said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said warehouses were on fire in one district becau...
The US Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday it is adding California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecoms firms and its ownership by a Chinese national. The FCC also said it was denying the Los Angeles-based IT company permission to provide international telecommunications services, saying it coul...
For decades, warnings of Hong Kong’s terminal decline have arrived in periodic waves. When Stephen Roach, the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, ignited a firestorm with his February 2024 assertion that “Hong Kong is over”, he pointed to a toxic cocktail of domestic and external pressures. Roach, who doubled down on his “wake-up call” a year ago, argued that the city’s economic glory was bein...
The Iran battlefield might be quieter and diplomacy might have resumed, but the main contest has shifted to the architecture of the Middle East. The question is no longer whether Iran can be contained, the Strait of Hormuz can remain open or another round of escalation can be avoided. The larger issue is who will write the rules after the shock. Three tracks are taking shape. The first is led by t...
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the “ruthless” US embargo against the communist island during a UN General Assembly debate on Tuesday that took place despite diplomatic pressure by Washington to prevent it. “The government of the United States is carrying out against Cuba a multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare that has already lasted for almost seven decades now and has bec...
The United States launched fresh strikes against Iran and revoked a temporary licence allowing Iranian oil sales on Tuesday, after three commercial vessels were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, in a sharp escalation that threatened to unravel last month’s fragile ceasefire. US Central Command said American forces had begun military operations against Iran in response to attacks on commercial ship...
The US military launched a series of strikes against Iranian targets early on Wednesday after three merchant ships were struck in the waters off Oman. In a statement posted to social media, US Central Command said American forces launched the strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway”. “Iran’s demonstrat...
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday revoked a licence that temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran, calling Tehran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz “wholly unacceptable”. “Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” a US official told Agence France-Presse, after attacks on tankers in the key waterway. The waiver announced in Ju...
Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the incumbent leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coalit...
Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the outgoing leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said on Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coal...
At least five women have accused the archbishop of Rabat of sexual assault, according to an Agence France-Presse investigation, prompting the Spanish-born cleric to announce he was “stepping back” on Tuesday while the Vatican holds an inquiry. Agence France-Presse interviewed a retired woman involved in the Church and reviewed the written testimony of another woman who said Cristobal Lopez Romero ...
US President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Nato member states’ refusal to aid Washington’s military operation in the Middle East, while noting that his country would consider selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after years of deadlock. In his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, the US president, who arrived in Ankara to attend this year’s Nato summit, sa...
The US state of Utah has revoked the licence of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, saying the school has “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients”. The state’s action, which took effect on Monday, cites multiple non-compliance issues against Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville. The school has 15 days to request a he...
The state of Utah has revoked the licence of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, saying the school has “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients”. The state’s action, which took effect on Monday, cites multiple non-compliance issues against Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville. The school has 15 days to request a heari...
Nato member states unveiled a series of defence initiatives on Tuesday aimed at strengthening weapons development, production and supply chains in response to security challenges posed by Russia and China. Speaking at the Nato Summit Defence Industry Forum (NSDIF) on the first day of this year’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte announced several new projects involving me...
A lawsuit claims the Trump administration is unlawfully giving confidential personal information to Iran about Iranians who applied for asylum to avoid “grave danger” in their native country. The US is sharing private data with the Iranian government about asylum applicants including pro-democracy protesters as well as members of religious minorities and the LGBTQ community, according to the compl...
Hong Kong customers seeking refunds under a proposed seven-day cooling-off period for prepaid beauty and fitness contracts will be required to pay an administrative fee to curb potential abuse of the mechanism, the government has said. Authorities last week launched a two-month public consultation on three major policy proposals aimed at strengthening consumer protection amid persistent complaints...
China’s rare launch of a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the deep Pacific sent a strategic signal to the United States and regional neighbours, particularly Japan, amid concerns about Beijing’s military expansion. Monday’s test is also likely to reinforce calls in Washington and among US allies for greater defence investment and closer security coordination as regional tens...
The launch of a marine war-risk pool by Hong Kong insurers is a prime example of how the city’s insurers can collaborate not just for the benefit of the local economy but for the entire nation, an industry veteran has said. At the South China Morning Post’s China Conference, themed “Intelligence at Scale: Hong Kong’s AI-Powered Future”, panel speakers considered how the insurance industry could bo...
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he will quit as a lawmaker and seek re-election to clear his name over financial allegations. Farage said on Tuesday he will resign from his seat in Parliament, triggering a special election in which he will run. He said in a broadcast statement: “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money.” Farage is f...
Hong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy specimens from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy s...
Hong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy samples from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy sam...
Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat on Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic ...
