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French prosecutors open judicial investigation into...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Paris’ public prosecutor has opened ⁠a judicial ⁠investigation into Elon ⁠Musk’s X social media platform, a new step in an investigation over alleged abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. The latest legal development puts investigating judges in charge of the probe and follows tech billionaire Musk’s failure to appear at an April 20 summons for questioning. The public prosecutor is requesting that judges place ⁠X.AI Holdings Corp, X Corp and xAI,

Colorado rally firebomber gets life in prison after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

The man who threw petrol bombs at ⁠a pro-Israel rally last year in Colorado, setting several people aflame including a woman who later died from her burns, was sentenced on Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison but said he wished to be executed. Mohamed Soliman, 46, an Egyptian national, pleaded guilty to 101 charges brought by state prosecutors, including first-degree murder, then apologised in court and decried his own crimes as contrary to “the teachings of Islam” in a statement...

US targets Cuba nickel operation in move with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

The Trump administration has expanded its pressure campaign against Cuba into the critical minerals sector, sanctioning a nickel joint venture tied to Canadian miner Sherritt International in a move that could reverberate through China-linked battery supply chains. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Thursday against Moa Nickel SA, a joint venture between Sherritt and Cuba’s state-owned General Nickel Company, as part of a broader effort targeting Havana’s

Greenland PM hits out at reported bid to buy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Thursday slammed as “indecent” reported attempts by an American to pay locals US$200,000 each to sign a petition calling for Greenland to join the United States. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the US needs to annex the Danish autonomous territory to ensure national security. “A foreign individual is offering money for a signature to incorporate Greenland into another country. That is not just deeply worrying. It is indecent,”...

Man arrested ‘with weapon’ near former prince...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

UK police said on Thursday they had arrested a man wielding a weapon who “was behaving in an intimidating manner” close to the home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in eastern England. Norfolk police confirmed they had been called to an incident late on Wednesday near the Sandringham Estate “and the man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and possession of an offensive weapon”. UK media reported that a man wearing a balaclava had allegedly threatened the former prince when he was...

China’s use of propaganda may outwit US if Taiwan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Beijing’s study of the wars in Iran and Ukraine could sharpen its ability to wage information warfare against Americans during a Taiwan Strait conflict, exposing vulnerabilities in US preparedness, experts said on Wednesday. S. Clinton Hinote, a retired US Lieutenant General, said he was “impressed” with the propaganda coming out of Iran since the outbreak of the war in February, warning that Beijing would deploy similar tactics if conflict erupts over Taiwan. “That’s coming,” he told a...

Norwegian police arrest Chinese citizen on spying...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Authorities in Norway arrested a Chinese citizen on espionage allegations on Thursday in connection with a purported effort to set up a receiver to collect sensitive satellite data, the country’s domestic intelligence service said. Norwegian security officials also searched two premises in connection with the arrest, including one on an island in northern Norway that is home to Andoya Spaceport, which is part of Europe’s efforts to expand its presence in space. The other search took place in...

UK court convicts 2 men linked to Hong Kong trade...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

A British court has convicted two men linked to a Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) of spying on activists from the city on behalf of Chinese authorities, in a case that Beijing’s embassy in the UK dismissed as a “political move”. Following the verdict, the Hong Kong government said the allegations were “absolutely” unrelated to the administration, while maintaining that the London office was conducting its duties in accordance with UK legislation. Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London...

WHO says cruise ship hantavirus outbreak ‘not the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

The World Health Organization insisted on Thursday that a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic did not mark the beginning of a Covid-like crisis.“This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic,” WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters, insisting: “This is not Covid.” The WHO also said it expected the outbreak on the MV Hondius, currently sailing from Cabo Verde (formerly known as Cape...

China urged to forge ‘spear’ for cognitive warfare...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Beijing should adopt a more assertive approach to global cognitive warfare, Chinese scholars said, calling for more action amid a great power rivalry. The appeal was made by Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, and Ding Zhuang, an associate research fellow at the institute, who said in a paper last week that China should improve its cognitive warfare system with strengthened “cognitive sovereignty”. “It is necessary to move beyond the

Hong Kong school ordered to submit report after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Hong Kong education authorities have ordered a primary school to submit a report after a national flag was found hanging upside down on campus. The Education Bureau said on Thursday that it had followed up on the incident at F.S.F.T.F. Fong Shu Chuen Primary School in Fanling. Online images earlier showed that the national flag was hanging upside down on top of a building at the school. “The Education Bureau immediately contacted the school upon learning of the incident. The school promptly...

China pours US$6.1b into Brazil, making it Beijing’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

China made Brazil its top global investment destination last year, pouring US$6.1 billion into the country across a record 52 projects. The figures come from the China-Brazil Business Council (CBBC), which released its annual report on Thursday. The 45 per cent jump in value from the previous year far outpaced the 4.8 per cent rise in total foreign investment into Brazil. It also dwarfed China’s worldwide outbound flows, which grew just 1.3 per cent. Brazil absorbed 10.9 per cent of all

Hong Kong seeks more details from WHO on hantavirus...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Hong Kong health authorities are seeking more information from the World Health Organization (WHO) on an outbreak of a deadly hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission reported on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, while ramping up efforts to prevent the rare disease from reaching the city’s shores. The Department of Health’s Centre for Health Protection revealed on Thursday that it had contacted the WHO about the hantavirus cluster found on the MV Hondius after the vessel...

Gold futures set for Hong Kong comeback as mainland...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is pressing ahead with the relaunch of gold futures as mainland China’s appetite for the metal continues to grow. The city would continue to introduce new gold products and facilities to capture the growing opportunities of the gold market, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday at the LME Asia Metals Seminar 2026 in Hong Kong. The HKEX planned to relaunch gold futures in coming months and seek market feedback to refine the products,...

Tech billionaire Chen Tianqiao’s MiroMind halts China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Chinese technology billionaire Chen Tianqiao’s artificial intelligence start-up MiroMind is suspending its services in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, in the latest sign that some of the country’s most globally ambitious firms are increasingly retreating from the domestic market as geopolitical tensions reshape the industry following the Manus saga. In an email sent to select users on Wednesday, the company said that its MiroThinker services would stop operating in regions including...

China’s Tongji University punishes top cancer...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

A top Chinese university has taken disciplinary action against its leading cancer researcher after finding academic misconduct in a 2025 Nature study. The study, which claimed that starving cancer cells of valine – a building block of proteins found in food – could trigger DNA damage and slow tumour growth, contained problematic data in 14 of its 15 figures, Shanghai-based Tongji University said in an official statement on Wednesday. The team, led by Wang Ping, dean of the School of Life...

Iran war threatens next harvest, UN official says....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

Conflict in the Middle East is threatening the coming planting season, a UN official has warned, as countries already reeling from fertiliser shortages and surging costs face shocks to food security. The Strait of Hormuz, a major global chokepoint for fertilisers and other agricultural inputs as well as oil, has been under blockade since the start of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Despite rising concerns over the impact of the conflict on global food production, China –

Private firms can help stop Western sanctions from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

The Chinese military must increase the private sector’s role in research to prevent Western sanctions from “strangling” the country’s efforts at defence innovation, a top official of the People’s Liberation Army has urged. Major General Zhang Zhan, political commissar of the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), said China’s hi-tech industries were facing a “grim and complex” situation as the United States and its allies intensified their campaign to curb access to...

Rubio meets Pope Leo at Vatican to defuse tensions...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left the Vatican on Thursday after seeing Pope Leo in what was expected to have been a fraught meeting following President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the Catholic leader over the Iran war. Rubio spent 2-1/2 hours at the Vatican before driving away in a convoy under tight security. He met initially Leo before ‌sitting down with senior Vatican officials, including top diplomat Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin. “The meeting underscored the strong...

Why Beijing wants provinces to find their own...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/07

As Beijing increasingly sees the country as a chessboard, the central government is no longer simply asking every province to grow faster; it wants them to grow differently. Reporting on the end of the 14th five-year plan and preparation for the 15th five-year plan frames provinces and cities as specialised implementation units, reflecting a territorial division of labour. The central government wants provinces to find their rightful place in national development and act in accordance with

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