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US high school principal tackles and disarms gunman...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Newly released video shows a high school principal in Oklahoma tackling and disarming a former student who entered the lobby of the school and began firing a pistol. Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg during the April 7 attack but managed to wrestle the suspect onto a bench, disarm him and remain on top of him until law enforcement officers arrived, according to court records. The video, released by the school district in response to an Open Records Act request,...

US cites optimism over a deal even as Iran threatens...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

The White House on Wednesday dismissed as untrue reports that the US had sought to extend a ceasefire with Iran, while confirming that discussions over a second round of in-person negotiations were under way after marathon talks in Islamabad last week ended without a breakthrough. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that discussions were under way about a further round of talks with Tehran but “nothing is official”, adding that the negotiations would “very likely” be

Trump posts image of Jesus hugging him amid row with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

US President Donald Trump posted an ⁠apparently AI-generated image of ⁠Jesus embracing him on Wednesday, two ⁠days after he deleted a post that prompted criticism that the Republican president had compared himself to Jesus. The image, reposted to Trump’s social media account, shows the president with his eyes closed, touching temple-to-temple with a similarly posed Jesus. ‌Trump is standing behind a microphone, and behind him is an American flag. The original post had the caption: “I was never

When vitiligo is seen but not understood

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Vitiligo is often noticed before it is understood. White patches on the skin can draw attention, second glances or subtle avoidance, particularly in public settings. In Hong Kong, where awareness of the condition remains uneven, misunderstanding can influence daily life as much as the condition itself. Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which pigment-producing cells are destroyed by immune activity. As a...

Hong Kong police hunt for man behind theft of 2...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

A man snatched two Pokemon trading cards valued at about HK$28,000 (US$3,600) from a consignment shop in Hong Kong. The tenant of the shop at Sino Centre in Mong Kok reported the theft on Wednesday after reviewing security footage and discovering the man had taken the cards on April 5 before fleeing the scene. Police have classified the case as shop theft. The Mong Kok district criminal investigation team is handling the case. No arrests have been made so far. Officers are searching for a...

Israeli security cabinet to discuss possible Lebanon...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Israel’s security cabinet ⁠will convene on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ceasefire, a senior Israeli official has said, more than five weeks into a war with Hezbollah that spiralled out of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet would meet ‌at 8pm local time, the official said. Senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim al-Moussawi told Reuters that diplomatic efforts by Iran and other regional states could produce a ceasefire soon,

Pope Leo stresses message of peace and unity despite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Pope Leo has said the world needs to hear a message of peace and coexistence, after US President Donald Trump attacked him for a second time this week on social media. Speaking on Wednesday during his flight from Algeria to Cameroon for the second leg of a whirlwind 10-day ‌Africa tour, the first US pontiff urged respect for all people and said his travels so far had shown the importance of pursuing dialogue between different communities. “Although we have different beliefs, we have different...

Yellen says ‘no alternative’ to dollar, urges...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

A decoupling between China and the United States is something “that you don’t want to see”, says former US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, adding that both countries have developed deep trade and investment relationships that should be preserved and encouraged to thrive. Speaking in Hong Kong at the HSBC Global Investment Summit on Wednesday, Yellen also argued that China’s reliance on exports for growth – resulting in a trade surplus with the rest of the world – has created “serious

UK PM Starmer says ‘not going to yield’ to Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said he would not “yield” to pressure to join the Iran war after US President Donald Trump threatened to scrap a UK trade deal. “We’re not going to get dragged into this war. It is not our war,” Starmer told parliament. “I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not going to yield. It is not in our national interest to join this war,” the Labour leader added. In a phone interview with Sky News, Trump threatened to alter an agreement struck with

Trump says the Iran war is ‘close to over’. Is he...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Donald Trump’s claim that the US war with Iran is nearing an end reflects a desire to break the conflict’s deadlock to ease political pressure at home, according to analysts. Halfway into a two-week ceasefire and with a stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz, the US president was running out of time, they said, adding that a deal was still possible. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said the United States was “not done” but the six-week-old war was nearing the finish line. “I think

Chinese tanker retreats twice from US’ Hormuz...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

A fully laden Chinese tanker has twice turned back from the US blockade of traffic leaving Iranian ports, despite setting off from the United Arab Emirates. The incident highlights how Chinese commercial vessels are weighing up the risks posed by the naval blockade, with analysts saying no country’s ships are receiving “special treatment”. The Rich Starry sailed east through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman around 2am local time on Tuesday, according to data from Mingkun Technology,

China’s CATL to invest US$4.4 billion in mining arm...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), China’s electric vehicle (EV) battery king, plans to earmark 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) to establish a subsidiary to manage and expand mining assets, after the global energy shock paved the way for a quicker entry into the world’s automotive and energy storage system (ESS) markets. The investment arm, in line with CATL’s long-term growth strategy, would integrate existing mining assets, pursue high-quality mineral projects at home and abroad,

Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Powell if he...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

US President Donald Trump has said he will fire Jerome Powell if the Federal Reserve chair does not step down “in time”, adding that he will not drop the Justice Department investigation into the central bank leader. “I’ll have to fire him, OK, if he’s not leaving on time. I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business. “I want to be uncontroversial. But he will be fired,” he said in the interview taped on...

US officials claim China is ‘hoarding’ oil. What does...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Though high-level officials in Washington have accused China of undermining global energy security by “hoarding” oil during the US-Israeli war on Iran, import and inventory data suggest Beijing is facing its own supply pressures as the conflict drags on. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday labelled China an “unreliable global partner,” alleging that Beijing has prioritised stockpiling crude over easing global shortages triggered by the war, according to a Reuters report. He also...

At least 9 dead in Turkey’s second school shooting in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

A 14-year-old student shot at least nine people dead, including eight of his fellow pupils, and wounded 13 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, ‌officials said, in the country’s second school shooting in two days. Eight students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were in critical condition. “This was solely a personal attack carried out by one of...

Hong Kong police intercept Maserati, arrest 2 over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

Hong Kong police intercepted a Maserati on a busy street in Mong Kok on Wednesday and arrested two people in connection with a suspected money laundering case, the South China Morning Post has learned. A man and a woman in their twenties, their faces concealed by black hoods, were seen standing beside the luxury sports car as officers from the New Territories North regional headquarters searched the vehicle on Sai Yeung Choi Street South outside the Pakpolee Commercial Centre in the

Analysts doubt Iran war will prompt China stimulus,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

The US-Israeli war on Iran and the current Iranian and American blockades of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are likely to overshadow China’s first-quarter economic performance, analysts said, with questions looming large about how the world’s second-largest economy will handle their impact. Many observers said they expect the leadership in Beijing will adopt a wait-and-see approach, with little likelihood of an immediate stimulus to guarantee the country’s annual economic target is...

EU budget chief pitches collaboration and bonds on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

The European Union will remain open to capital from mainland China and Hong Kong even as the bloc pursues a “de-risking” strategy in certain key sectors, its budget chief has said on his first visit to the city. Piotr Serafin, the European commissioner for budget, anti-fraud and public administration, also said that the EU was keen to explore opportunities for financial collaboration with Hong Kong in areas such as green bonds, describing the city as a “bridge” to Asia. It is understood that...

Given history of ceasefires, it’s no surprise US-Iran...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

The fraying of the ceasefire in the US-Israel war against Iran reflects grim patterns of history. Truces are often doomed because they focus on stopping battle-related violence and rarely begin to address the underlying struggles that ignited hostilities. A pause without a shared common endgame often resets the battlefield as reasons harden for prolonging warfare. Viable political solutions seldom follow and take hold for peace to endure. Over the past decade, we’ve seen the perils. The Minsk...

EU unveils age-check app amid efforts to better...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/15

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that an EU-developed age-verification app was ready to go, as the bloc pushes to better protect children from online harm. Brussels has been under pressure to come up with more stringent measures to safeguard children online as several EU capitals move ahead with plans to ban social media under a certain age. To that end, five EU countries including France and Italy last year started testing an age-check app that von der Leyen said

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