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Why Philippines Vice-President Sara Duterte is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio announced on Wednesday that she will run for president in 2028, formally declaring a bid long widely expected as her political camp confronts mounting legal and institutional pressure. “I offer my life, my strength and my future in the service of our nation,” she said in announcing her candidacy. “I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines.” The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte used her brief speech to accuse

Zelensky says Trump’s peace demands focused only on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said US President Donald Trump was exerting ⁠undue pressure on him in ⁠trying to secure a resolution to ⁠the nearly four-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow. Zelensky, in an interview with US website Axios published on Tuesday, also said any plan requiring Ukraine to give up territory that Russia had not captured in the eastern Donbas region would be rejected by Ukrainians ‌if put to a referendum. Axios quoted Zelensky as saying it was “not fair”

‘Stay vigilant even in peace,’ Hong Kong rural leader...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Hong Kong must stay vigilant in times of peace and embrace innovation, according to a prophecy drawn by the city’s top rural leader during an annual Lunar New Year ritual. Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, chairman of powerful rural body the Heung Yee Kuk, drew a “neutral” stick for Hong Kong at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin on the second day of the Year of the Horse on Wednesday and offered his interpretation of the prophecy. The No 22 fortune stick read: “Do not get close to a woodcarver husband; judge...

Chinese and Indian tourists to boost Europe’s travel...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Chinese and Indian tourists are set to make up for a potential slowdown in growth from US travellers to Europe this year, according to a survey published on ‌Wednesday by the European Travel Commission, with international arrivals to the continent set to rise by 6.2 per cent. This is the first sign of a slowdown in the post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong US dollar and economic resilience in North America. An earlier study from industry group the European Travel...

Japan’s Takaichi steps back from Liancourt Rocks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will not send a cabinet minister to an annual ceremony calling for the return of the Liancourt Rocks – known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea – stepping back from an earlier pledge and signalling a softer touch towards Seoul. Analysts say the decision not to dispatch a senior minister to the event reflects a pragmatic effort to steady Japan-South Korea ties, even if it leaves some of her most conservative supporters “very...

Universities in Japan and China are becoming tools of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi entered office with an unusually strong political mandate following her decisive election victory on February 8. Among her early signals was a renewed emphasis on science, including a call for a substantial expansion of investment in basic research. For a country grappling with demographic decline, fiscal pressure and intensifying technological competition, the message was clear: knowledge and talent are once again central to national strategy. The

Hong Kong workers ready to sacrifice Lunar New Year...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Hong Kong plumber Anson Hui Po-lung is ready to work through his Lunar New Year break to make ends meet, after struggling since the citywide removal of scaffolding nets began in early December in response to the deadly blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court. Twenty public housing projects and 230 private buildings undergoing major maintenance had to suspend facade work after the removal of the nets, threatening the livelihoods of about 700 workers for more than two months. As of mid-February, only

US offers more details on claim China conducted...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

A senior state department official said that the US would resume nuclear tests to match “opaque” Chinese activity, flagging new details about a 2020 test the US recently accused China of secretly conducting, as US President Donald Trump seeks a new trilateral nuclear control deal with China and Russia. “As the president has said, the United States will return to testing on an ‘equal basis’,” Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw said

South Korea’s Yoon awaits verdict as insurrection...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/18

Two recent convictions tied to Yoon Suk-yeol’s short-lived 2024 martial law decree have effectively sealed his fate, some legal observers say, as judges prepare to rule on the insurrection charge against the former South Korean president. On Thursday, a three-judge panel at the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25 is set to deliver its verdict and sentence on the 65-year-old, weighing the prosecution’s request for the death penalty and any mitigating factors. The ruling will

Trump critic Colbert says CBS blocked interview with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, a critic of the Trump administration, says he was barred from airing an interview with a Democrat seeking a US Senate seat in Texas by network lawyers concerned the appearance would violate federal fairness rules. Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night, Colbert said the lawyers informed his team that state congressman James Talarico could not appear on the broadcast and his name shouldn’t be mentioned. “He was supposed to be here,

11 killed in US strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

The US military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration’s months-long campaign against alleged traffickers. The series of strikes conducted Monday brought the death toll to at least 145 people since the administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels since early September. Like most of the military’s statements on the

Bipartisan push grows for Quad summit before Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers and national security experts in Washington is calling on the administration of US President Donald Trump to convene a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders’ summit ahead of Trump’s expected meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April. The push aims to project a unified front among Indo-Pacific democracies and prevent potential misunderstandings during high-stakes negotiations with Beijing. The Quad, an informal grouping that also includes Japan and...

Chinese military urged to overhaul English teaching...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

The People’s Liberation Army has been urged to overhaul English language teaching at its military schools and recruit professionals to improve soldiers’ communication skills on the international stage. Three senior lecturers from the PLA Air Force Early Warning Academy made the call in an article published in the February edition of official Military-to-Civilian in China magazine, which is administered by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. Li

Police arrest man running towards US Capitol with a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

US Capitol Police in Washington arrested an 18-year-old man on Tuesday after he ran from his vehicle toward the west side of the Capitol Building armed with a shotgun. Capital Police Chief Michael Sullivan said the unidentified man parked a Mercedes SUV near the Capitol, got out and ran “several hundred yards (metres)” toward the building before officers intercepted him and ordered him to the ground. Speaking at a press conference following the arrest, Sullivan said the gunman was wearing a...

Trump unveils first Japan investments under trade...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

Japan plans to invest US$36 billion in US oil, gas and critical mineral projects, the first tranche of its US$550 billion commitment under the trade agreement it struck with President Donald Trump. “Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched!” Trump posted on Tuesday on social media. “The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS.” The most significant investment is a natural gas facility in Ohio that is expected to generate

Forging robust China-South America ties takes more...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

A few weeks ago, while travelling in Buenos Aires, I learned a new word: chino. I already knew its literal meaning – even a poor linguist like me could manage that – but in Argentina the word has taken on a second life. A chino is the neighbourhood mini-market run by Chinese migrants, most of whom are from Fujian or Guangdong province. Known for staying open late, these shops have become a fixture of urban life. One afternoon, as an Argentine friend showed me around his neighbourhood in

Canada launches huge defence plan to curb reliance on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday launched a multibillion-dollar plan to strengthen the Canadian military and rely less on the United States. Carney’s announcement of Canada’s first defence industrial strategy built on themes he has emphasised throughout his 11-month tenure as President Donald Trump rips through traditional US alliances. The prime minister says Canada has not done nearly enough to defend itself in an increasingly dangerous world and counting on US protection is no longer...

Peru’s President Jose Jeri ousted after ‘Chifagate’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

Peru’s Congress voted on Tuesday to remove President Jose Jeri from office following a series of undisclosed late-night meetings at a Chinese restaurant with a Chinese state contractor, setting off a political scandal dubbed “Chifagate”, a reference to the country’s Chinese-Peruvian fusion cuisine. Lawmakers voted 75-24, with three abstentions, to censure Jeri over the unregistered encounters with businessman Zhihua Yang, whose companies have supplied the state and who owns the restaurant and

Brazil races to China beef cap as 55% tariff risks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

Brazil is on course to exhaust its annual beef export quota to China by September, industry researchers said on Tuesday, as the government warns that uncontrolled shipments could trigger a collapse in domestic prices and jobs in the cattle sector. If the pace of exports recorded in January is maintained, Brazil will fill its 2026 quota of 1.106 million tonnes well before year end, according to the Centre for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics at the University of Sao Paulo, known as

Top Trump Homeland Security spokeswoman leaving amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/17

US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin will leave the administration, an agency spokesperson said, a move that comes as public support for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has dwindled. McLaughlin became a prominent booster of ‌the Republican president’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and headed the press operation at DHS, which has come under scrutiny for issuing inaccurate or incomplete statements following violent encounters involving...

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