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Trump targets ‘complete deal’ with China when he...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

US President Donald Trump said he may discuss a decline in Chinese purchases of Russian oil with Xi Jinping following US sanctions on two major oil companies and expressed disappointment with Vladimir Putin over his conduct of the war in Ukraine. Trump, speaking to reporters en route to Asia to meet world leaders, including Xi, said he hopes his talks on Thursday with the Chinese president would yield “a complete deal”. An increasingly acrimonious stand-off between the US and China over

Losing its sparkle? How Chinese artificial gems are...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Creating a new diamond used to be a process spanning millions or even billions of years. Now, it takes about a week. Inside specialised factories, hulking 50-tonne machines simulate the crushing pressure and extreme temperatures inside the Earth’s crust, transforming seed crystals into flawless, glittering stones in just a few days. Zhongjing Diamond, a company based in China’s central province of Hubei, has nearly 300 of the machines humming around the clock, which together mint some 600,000...

Trump raising Canada tariffs by 10% after Reagan ad...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was increasing tariffs on Canada by an additional 10 per cent “above what they’re paying now”, over what he said was a misleading advertisement. “Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” Trump posted on social media, describing the ad as a “misrepresentation of facts”. The ad, commissioned by Doug Ford, Ontario’s outspoken Conservative premier,...

Amid a wave of foreclosures, China’s homeowners could...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Few outside China might know that e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com host the country’s largest online platforms for distressed property sales. On any given day, their auction websites offer a front-row view of China’s housing downturn where properties are foreclosed and liquidated under court orders, often at market-shaking discounts. A month ago, 66 flat units in a Shanghai project owned by indebted developer Sunac were put up for auction after being seized by courts. Buyers were found

US won’t change Taiwan policy for China deal, Rubio...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will not abandon long-standing US support for Taiwan in negotiations with China to reach a trade agreement. “If what people are worried about is we’re going to get some trade deal where we’re going to get favourable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan – no one is contemplating that,” Rubio told reporters on his plane Saturday en route from Israel to join President Donald Trump in Doha on their way to a...

Kamala Harris leaves door open for 2028 White House...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Kamala Harris is not ruling out another run for the White House. In an interview with the BBC posted on Saturday, Harris said she expects a woman will be US president in the coming years, and it could “possibly” be her. “I am not done,” she said. The former US vice-president said she had not decided whether to mount a 2028 presidential campaign. But she dismissed the suggestion that she would face long odds. “I have lived my entire career a life of service and it’s in my bones. And there are...

Israel says it conducted ‘targeted strike’ on Islamic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Israeli forces carried out a “targeted strike” on an individual in central Gaza who was planning to attack Israeli troops, Israel’s military said on Saturday. A US-backed ceasefire is in force between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas more than two years after the war in the Gaza Strip began, but each side has accused the other of violations. Israel said it had targeted a member of Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian militant group did not immediately comment on the

Catherine Connolly wins Ireland’s presidential...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Left-wing independent Catherine Connolly on Saturday won the race to be Ireland’s new president, comfortably beating her centrist opponent in a contest marred by record numbers of spoiled ballots. Connolly, 68, secured more than 63 per cent of the votes, well ahead of Heather Humphreys of the Fine Gael party on 29.5 per cent, according to the official count. But the seemingly comprehensive victory was marred by the number of spoiled votes and criticism over the lack of right-wing candidates,...

Could China ‘militarise’ cryptocurrencies to beat...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Digital currency is emerging as a powerful, disruptive tool in global geopolitics, fundamentally reshaping the financial battlefield in times of conflict, according to a commentary in a key Communist Party publication. Nations are increasingly leveraging digital assets to bypass international sanctions, mobilise vital resources and maintain economic stability during regional conflicts, according to the author of an article published on Monday in Study Times, the official newspaper of the

Unexploded ordnance in Gaza wounds children despite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

The Shorbasi family was sitting in their severely damaged house in Gaza City, enjoying the relative calm of the ceasefire. Then they heard an explosion and rushed outside to find their 6-year-old twins bleeding on the ground. The boy, Yahya, and his sister, Nabila, had discovered a round object while playing. One touch, and it went off. “It was like a toy,” their grandfather, Tawfiq Shorbasi, said of the unexploded ordnance, after the children were rushed to Shifa hospital on Friday. “It was...

Chinese President Xi Jinping puts personal stamp on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Chinese President Xi Jinping put his personal stamp on the national master plan for the next five years, with state media describing the plan’s framework as Xi’s brainchild – an indication of the document’s political weight. In a lengthy article on Saturday detailing some of the build-up to the Communist Party’s fourth plenum this week, state news agency Xinhua and party mouthpiece People’s Daily said Xi “personally headed” the team that drafted the outline for the next five-year plan. “[He]...

Malaysia’s tigers in crisis due to poachers, habitat...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

For two years, Malaysian conservationists tracked a tiger named “Bulan” as she raised four cubs. Then a fatal traffic accident made her another statistic in the country’s dwindling population. Malaysia’s national animal is in trouble. Poaching, food loss and diminishing habitat have slashed the population from 3,000 in the 1950s to less than 150 roaming free today, according to official estimates. The government said last month it was ramping up efforts to combat wildlife crime, introducing...

Buckle up on the road: Hong Kong to enforce seat belt...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Footage of a police undercover crackdown on minibus commuters in Hong Kong has gone viral on social media, and the force will issue summonses to 31 passengers for failing to wear their seat belts. The Post breaks down the mandatory seat belt requirements for passengers on public and private transport. 1. What happened during undercover police operation on minibus passengers? According to police, the enforcement action took place on Friday and involved undercover officers from the force’s

China unveils ‘ghost’ drone for stealth underwater...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Chinese scientists have created a ghostlike jellyfish robot that can carry out covert underwater missions. Described as an “underwater phantom”, the bionic jellyfish robot was developed by Tao Kai from Northwestern Polytechnical University’s school of mechanical and electrical engineering in Xian, Shaanxi province. According to the university, the robot is nearly indistinguishable from real jellyfish when submerged, enabling intelligent detection and real-time monitoring in aquatic...

UK police search London for asylum seeker after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

British police said on Saturday they were scouring hours of closed-circuit TV recordings to find an asylum seeker sentenced for sexual assault who was mistakenly released from prison. Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was “last seen in the London area”, Essex Police said on Saturday, adding that officers from three separate forces were working together in the investigation. Kebatu came to national attention after his case triggered a wave of anti-migrant protests in London

Beijing takes aim at ‘Taiwan independence’ in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Beijing will leave no room for any form of “Taiwan independence” separatist activities, one of Beijing’s most senior leaders said on Saturday, marking the 80th anniversary of the island’s return from Japanese rule. “We should work together to advance the cause of national reunification and must leave no room for any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities,” Wang Huning, Beijing’s No 4 official and top political adviser, said at an event to commemorate “Taiwan Restoration

Giant Labubu, Elmo, Grimace and Doraemon floating in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

Fans of the popular characters Labubu, Elmo, Grimace and Doraemon flocked to see giant inflatables of the four in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on the first day of a week-long show on Saturday, although some visitors said they had little interest in paying for entry to a viewing deck or in buying souvenirs. Residents and tourists visited the Central harbourfront to take pictures of the inflatable sculptures of the popular intellectual property (IP) characters. A market selling merchandise

Philippine steel firm denies link to alleged...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said it was ordered by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to take custody of 23 cargo containers allegedly containing radioactive zinc dust and rejected by Indonesia, adding it had no connection with the shipments. The Philippine steel company said it was tagged as the source of the radioactive materials by PNRI, and ordered to entomb the containers in its Calaca scrap recycling plant in Batangas province, according to a statement on Saturday. “The

Regina Ip, Hong Kong’s colourful ‘Iron Lady’, says...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/25

In a departure from her usual straight-talking style, Hong Kong’s “Iron Lady” Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee kept the public hanging for more than a week before finally announcing on Saturday that she will not run in December’s Legislative Council election, ending a 17-year tenure in the legislature. The 75-year-old founder of the New People’s Party also said it was time to pass the baton, having completed her “historic mission”, and that she would focus on nurturing new talent in the future. Openly...

Takaichi clears path to be Japan’s first female PM...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/10/19

Japan’s ruling party and main opposition are set to form a coalition to enable Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female premier, local media reported on Sunday.Takaichi became leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, but her bid to become premier was derailed by the collapse of her ruling coalition. Since then, the LDP has been working to cobble together a different alliance, putting her chances back on track. Takaichi and her counterpart Hirofumi

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