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News - South China Morning Post

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Israel strikes Iran after taking missile fire,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Israel said it struck military targets in western and central Iran on Monday, even after US President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks. Hours earlier, Trump said new strikes by Israel and Iran would not affect his administration’s peace talks with Tehran, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “doesn’t call the shots”. Trump has leaned on Israel to stop its attacks in Lebanon to allow room for a deal to end

More than 1 million people flood Madrid streets to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Pope Leo honoured Spain’s centuries-old tradition of religious devotion on Sunday as a “school of faith” for today, as he presided over a Mass before more than a million people that highlighted one of the most iconic expressions of Spanish popular piety: a procession over flower-petal carpets. The crowd cheered and shouted “This is the youth of the pope!” as Leo arrived for the Mass at a central Madrid plaza. He looped around the plaza and surrounding streets in his Popemobile before a crowd...

2 drivers hurt as Audi flies across central divider...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

A driver escaped serious injury in Hong Kong after a car vaulted over the central divider on Tuen Mun Road and slammed into his seven-seater vehicle. Police said the seven-seater was travelling in the fast lane towards Yuen Long near the Gold Coast in Tuen Mun when the driver of an Audi SUV on the opposite carriageway suddenly lost control at about 9.20pm on Sunday. The Audi flew across the central divider, knocked down a lamp post and landed near the seven-seater in a scene reminiscent of a...

US to send third-country deportees to Central African...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Central African Republic has agreed to take in migrants from other countries deported by the United States, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, the latest example of the Trump administration striking deals with African states to accelerate removals. Washington has sent so-called third-country deportees to African countries including Democratic Republic ‌of Congo, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea, under opaque deals that Senate Democrats say have cost tens of millions of...

Scammers posing as police cheat 42 mainland students...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

More than 40 mainland students studying in Hong Kong fell victim to scammers impersonating Chinese law enforcement officers in the first quarter of this year, police said on Sunday, with the biggest case involving over HK$8 million (US$1.02 million). Among the 42 cases, one victim was tricked into staging her own “abduction” after being lured to Thailand, despite having attended anti-scam courses at her university. Hong Kong police said students from across the border accounted for a quarter

Misdiagnosis isn’t misconduct, lawyer for accused...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

The lawyer for a Hong Kong doctor accused of professional misconduct after a boy in his care was left permanently disabled more than 16 years ago has told the medical watchdog that misdiagnosis or incompetence does not equate to misconduct. But the prosecution representing the Medical Council secretariat said on Sunday that misconduct referred to whether a doctor underperformed and the circumstances should be defined by inquiry panel members. Dr Sit Sou-chi is accused of failing to conduct...

China urged to fast-track carrier fleet upgrades as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

China should speed up aircraft carrier group upgrades and boost their combat capabilities to counter Japan’s growing defence strength amid mounting tensions, military experts have said. This comes as Tokyo ramps up its defence posture with long-range anti-ship missiles and deployments on Japanese islands near Taiwan, putting Beijing on high alert. A recent simulated attack also highlighted the potential threat. As tensions escalated in December over the Japanese prime minister’s comments on...

Will ‘Trump-class’ battleship be a sitting duck for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

A US congressional committee has cast doubt on Donald Trump’s “Golden Fleet” programme, warning it could overwhelm already strained nuclear-powered shipbuilding capacity and calling for a detailed review of its centrepiece battleship. One lawmaker also warned of the vulnerability of battleships in modern maritime warfare, citing the capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army’s Dongfeng missile series, which includes the DF-21D ballistic missile – widely dubbed a “carrier killer”. The...

DR Congo’s health workers fight Ebola with little pay...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Dr Richard Lokudu, the medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, has received barely any compensation for his work on the front line of one of Congo’s deadliest Ebola virus outbreaks. Lokudu and several of his colleagues work all day at the hospital treating an influx of patients. Notifications of suspected cases come even late at night. “I have not received my allowance [and] what happened to others could happen to me as well,” Lokudu said. “Despite all the infection

Can Mark Carney’s US-China juggling act keep Canada’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

When China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Canada late last month to consolidate a new economic partnership, Prime Minister Mark Carney was in New York pitching for more than US$1 trillion in investment. “The timing was almost certainly deliberate,” said Alejandro Reyes, a professor of politics and a senior fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong. “It signals to Washington that engagement with Beijing does not come at the expense of the...

On Taiwan, the Trump-Xi summit offered more than optics

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

The international media consensus following the Beijing summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump was predictable: grand on optics, short on substance. Dismissing it on those grounds misses the deeper story of how the summit marked a turning point in how Washington and Beijing manage their rivalry, particularly over Taiwan. To understand where this relationship is going, a brief historical detour is in order. In April 2001, then US president George W. Bush...

Pakistan’s mediators in Iran as US downs drones,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Pakistan’s interior minister was in Tehran on Sunday in a fresh bid to restart negotiations between Iran and the US, as the American military said it shot down two more Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz that threatened international maritime traffic. The latest action came as the Washington presses for Iran to make a deal to end the war in the Middle East, which has strained the global economy and threatened a hunger crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. The heaviest...

Police arrest man after Tesla rams parked vehicle in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Hong Kong police have arrested a driver who crashed his car into a parked vehicle in Tai Kok Tsui and tested positive for ketamine, marking at least the fourth suspected drug-driving case in less than a week. The accident occurred at around noon on Sunday on Hoi Fai Road outside the Olympian City 3 shopping centre where the 30-year-old’s Tesla car struck the rear of a stationary vehicle before veering onto the pavement. The male driver of the parked car, also a Tesla, suffered neck injuries

North Korea says its nuclear programme is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

North Korea said on Sunday that its nuclear weapons programme was “irreversible”, challenging the US push for denuclearisation a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit. After President Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi last month, the United States said the two leaders shared the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula, although the Chinese statement did not mention the issue. But Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, described the comments as “false...

Which company could become the Chinese Pfizer? Here...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

A handful of Chinese biotechnology companies are expected to bring medications to consumers in Europe and the US under their own brand names within the next 10 to 15 years, according to policy and industry analysts. Amid China’s early-stage drug outlicensing boom, discussions have arisen among investor and analyst circles as to when – and which – Chinese biotechnology companies will start selling their own drugs internationally. Outlicensing agreements typically refer to a company granting...

Smoking is down but why are more Hong Kong women...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

In the second of a six-part Health Matters wellness series on cancer in Hong Kong, Elizabeth Cheung examines the rise of lung cancer among women, the risk factors beyond smoking and growing calls for earlier detection. Rates of new lung cancer cases among Hong Kong women have risen by 20 per cent in the past two decades despite their smoking less than men, a South China Morning Post review has found, prompting calls for citywide screenings to catch the disease earlier. Experts said genetic...

Keir Starmer will be ‘part of’ any Labour leadership...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will stand if a leadership contest is triggered, a senior minister said on Sunday, after media reported Starmer had contacted key backers insisting he would run in any race. This came after popular Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, who is standing in a key by-election this month, said last week he would participate in any leadership race, although none has yet been triggered. Starmer “has been absolutely clear – were there to be a contest – you need 81...

Hong Kong to open first convenience store operated by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Hong Kong will soon open its first convenience store operated by a humanoid robot as part of the city’s push to integrate AI into everyday life and deepen residents’ understanding of the technology, the finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also revealed on Sunday that a high-level government committee dedicated to AI development in Hong Kong had been formed and would hold its first meeting this month. The 24-hour convenience store was located on the waterfront in Hung

Will Xi’s North Korea visit show Kim that China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

President Xi Jinping is heading to North Korea on Monday with the aim of proving that China remains the best prospect for reviving his host country’s economy. The visit, Xi’s first in seven years, will focus on reinforcing ties with Pyongyang at a time when the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula appears increasingly out of reach, according to analysts. The carefully timed sequence of diplomatic meetings also reflects Beijing’s growing confidence on the world stage and its ability to

Armenia sets course for the West as Pashinyan heads...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/07

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party led the opposition Monday in early results from parliamentary elections that could cement his Westward tilt, after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference. Armenia and Russia are technically allies, but Moscow has compared the former Soviet republic’s ambitions to join the European Union to the path it claims triggered its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Early results showed the ruling Civil Contract party leading Russian-Armenian...

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