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News - South China Morning Post

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Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

Cambodia has failed to dismantle much of its online scam industry despite a year-long crackdown that authorities said would eliminate it, according to an Amnesty International report that challenges official claims of success.The London-based rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier, and found evidence of state intervention at only 24 sites during the government’s campaign. That contrasts with official statements that...

Tibet quartz discovery boosts China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

China has discovered a new source of high-purity quartz in its western Tibet autonomous region, potentially reducing its reliance on imports of the critical material to make solar panels and semiconductors. High-purity quartz is a gold standard manufacturing material for numerous hi-tech items, including some whose global market is dominated by China. China has relied on imports to obtain the important material, with most coming from the United States, because of a lack of domestic sources

Japan museum under fire for ‘rewriting history’ with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

A museum in Japan is facing accusations of “rewriting history” for replacing the Nanking massacre with the word “incident”, drawing criticism and reviving anger over the country’s wartime aggression. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, which previously resisted revisionist attempts, appeared to have capitulated to a civic group’s pressure campaign, following Thursday’s release of proposed exhibit changes by its operations council. Other amendments announced by the museum, opened in 1996, include...

Hong Kong seeks to define scope of national security...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

The Hong Kong government has sought to clarify what constitutes national security cases in a new round of proposed subsidiary legislation. Security and justice authorities submitted the proposed amendments under the city’s national security laws to the Legislative Council on Monday. The proposal introduces a classification mechanism for “other offences endangering national security”, under which any case accompanied by a certificate from the chief executive confirming it involved national...

Teachers behaving badly should prompt reflection in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

Educators have received quite a bit of unwanted attention lately. First came a Hong Kong school principal losing his temper during a study trip in Singapore over parking a coach bus. The man was caught on camera hurling abusive language at security guards in the presence of a busload of students. That lapse of judgment was met with a stern response. The principal eventually tendered his resignation and apologised, admitting his error and trying to use it as his last lesson to his students.

Israel strikes Iran, defying Trump after ‘I call the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

As Monday morning broke over a Middle East bracing for renewed conflict, a fragile regional ceasefire appeared to have collapsed after an exchange of direct strikes between Iran and Israel. The latest developments came as US President Donald Trump said Israel would have no choice but to accept a potential deal, following an interview walkout when pressed on his campaign pledge of “no new wars”. Some experts said Trump’s credibility was being called into question as Israel defied his warnings...

China cleaner inspired by university students gets...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

A university cleaner in southwestern China has secured a place in a master’s programme after a year of self-study while raising two children. Li Jia, 33, from Chengdu in Sichuan province, works full-time as a cleaner at Chengdu University of Technology. She and her husband once ran a restaurant near the campus, but it closed after struggling to stay afloat, according to local reports. Li later took a sanitation job at the university, valuing its stability, proximity to home and fixed hours,...

Hong Kong tycoon bets China will overtake US economy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

Hong Kong property tycoon Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has predicted that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy in the next decade or so, propelled by rapid technological advances while Washington is weighed down by massive defence expenditure and national debt. Yet the 90-year-old founder and chairman of Hopewell Holdings, who rarely speaks to the press, said Hong Kong should look past geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington to build closer ties with the United

1 killed, ‘many buildings’ damaged after magnitude...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least one person, collapsing buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region. Authorities in the Philippines and Indonesia urged residents in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground immediately, after the offshore quake hit at a depth of 35km (22 miles) about 24km west of Mindanao’s Sarangani province, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It struck at 7.37am. Aftershocks up to 6.1 magnitude...

Japan prepares to drop its pacifist mask as the right...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/08

Japan appears to be edging ever closer to a referendum on its pacifist constitution, after a realignment of parliamentary forces delivered the supermajority needed to put the change to a public vote. For nearly eight decades, Article 9 of the 1947 constitution – drafted under Allied occupation and long treated as untouchable – has prevented Tokyo from formally maintaining a military with “war potential”. That article has outlasted every previous attempt to change it. But Japanese

Christian Eriksen ‘conscious’ after another on-field...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Christian Eriksen was conscious and undergoing further tests in hospital after collapsing on the field again while playing for Denmark’s national team on Sunday in a scary scene that had echoes of his cardiac arrest at the European Championship five years ago. Television footage showed the 34-year-old midfielder clutching his chest with both hands in an off-the-ball action in the 65th minute of Denmark’s international friendly against Ukraine at Nature Energy Park in Odense, Denmark. In the

Hong Kong police warn World Cup fans against using...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Hong Kong police have warned football fans that using overseas betting websites could breach local gambling laws even if the platforms claim to be legally registered abroad, as authorities prepare for a predicted surge in wagering over the Fifa World Cup that begins on June 11. Police issued the warning after Fifa named its first prediction market partner for the World Cup. The force stressed that anyone in Hong Kong who placed bets with a local or overseas bookmaker outside authorised

UK, France, Germany back direct Ukraine-Russia talks:...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the backing of the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a joint statement issued following defence talks in London on Sunday. Zelensky met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 10 Downing Street for talks as Russia’s war has stretched into its fifth year. The leaders “supported the proposal for a...

China adds warheads as nuclear powers ‘walk away’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

China expanded its nuclear warhead stockpile over the past year and might have increased the number deployed with operational forces, a Swedish think tank report said, warning that major powers were “walking away” from disarmament commitments. According to the report released on Monday as part of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest yearbook, China added 20 warheads to its nuclear stockpile as of January 2026, bringing the total to 620, up from 600 a year...

Nobel laureate James Heckman on the value of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

James Heckman is the Henry Schultz distinguished service professor of economics and public policy and director of the Centre for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. Heckman has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic questions related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination and the formation of skills and regulation in labour markets. He has also done extensive research in China’s labour market and early...

As Asia’s strategic landscape evolves, what is the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

When foreign ministers of countries that are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) gathered in New Delhi last week, the agenda looked familiar: supply chain resilience, telecommunications security and maritime domain awareness. The talking points have evolved, the initiatives have multiplied and the meetings have become routine. Asia is entering a new strategic era. However, its geopolitical debate remains stuck in the previous one. Across the region, governments are investing in...

‘Fake dirty press’: Trump storms out of tense NBC...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

US President Donald Trump lasted through scrutinising questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC – but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud. “You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired...

Brazil’s Embraer sees eventual China breakthrough for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Brazilian planemaker Embraer ⁠expects to eventually bring its ⁠E2 jets into China, seeing a role for the aircraft among the country’s domestically developed models, a senior executive told Reuters on Sunday. “We have a dedicated team in Beijing, they’re day-to-day working in China,” Embraer Commercial Aviation ‌CEO Arjan Meijer said on the sidelines of a global gathering of top airline executives in Rio de Janeiro. “We believe the E2 family is the ideal complement to the indigenous products

Gunman opens fire in central Israel, killing 1 and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

A Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship went on a shooting rampage in several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing a reservist and wounding five other people, according to Israeli police and the military. The attacker was killed by police. The attack came at a time of heightened tensions following a spate of Israeli settler attacks, and the deadly shooting of a Palestinian baby over the weekend, in the nearby West Bank. Police identified the attacker as a resident of the Arab town of...

US considers buying Chagos Islands from Mauritius,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

The ⁠White House is considering ⁠a plan to buy the Chagos ⁠Islands from Mauritius, the Telegraph reported on Sunday. US officials have drawn up a proposal to bypass the UK and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the report said. The plan is among several options being ‌drafted by the White House, in a paper aimed at providing alternatives to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ceding sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, the report said. “President Trump

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