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Assistant who gave Matthew Perry fatal ketamine dose...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

The personal assistant who ⁠injected Friends star Matthew Perry ⁠with a fatal dose of the hallucinogenic ⁠drug ketamine was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison on Wednesday, bringing to a close the prosecution of five people who admitted to playing roles in the actor’s death. Judge Sherilyn Garnett delivered the sentence for Kenneth Iwamasa, the person who ‌found Perry floating face down and lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023. Federal prosecutors said Iwamasa...

China says it drove away Dutch warship near disputed...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

China’s military said on Wednesday that it had used measures including electronic interference to drive away a Dutch warship near the disputed Paracel Islands, and in a rare move accused the Dutch navy of triggering “miscalculation”. The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, said in a post on its official WeChat account on Wednesday evening that the Dutch frigate De Ruyter had “illegally intruded into China’s Xisha Islands” and that its...

China and Cuba hold agriculture talks as Beijing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

China and Cuba held talks on expanding agricultural cooperation in Beijing on Tuesday, the latest in a series of moves by Beijing to shore up support for the Caribbean island as Washington intensifies a campaign of sanctions, criminal indictments and military posturing against Havana. Chinese Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Zhang Zhili met Cuban Deputy Agriculture Minister Telce Gonzalez to review joint projects and explore new areas of collaboration in the sector. The Cuban...

Cambodia jails 6 Chinese men for South Korean...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

A Cambodian court sentenced six Chinese men, reportedly from a scam-linked crime ring, to life in prison on Wednesday for the murder of a South Korean student last year. The torture and killing of the college student in Cambodia sparked a public outcry in South Korea, which dispatched a task force to the Southeast Asian nation in an effort to jointly tackle transnational cyberscam networks. The multibillion-dollar scam industry ballooned in Cambodia in recent years, with thousands of foreign...

Celebrity ‘Trump’ buffalo spared sacrifice, sent to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo. Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, on Thursday. The 700kg (1,500-pound) bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the...

US ex-president Biden sues DOJ over release of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Former Democratic US president Joe Biden sued ⁠the US Department of Justice on Tuesday, seeking to bar the release of audio recordings and transcripts of private conversations with his biographer in 2016 and 2017. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, comes ahead of the department’s planned June 15 ‌release of the materials to the US House Judiciary Committee and the conservative Heritage Foundation. The foundation sought them after they were used as part of then-special

3 scientists win Hong Kong’s Shaw Prize for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Three life scientists from mainland China and France have won Hong Kong’s Shaw Prize for developing a therapy that has turned a rare form of leukaemia from deadly to widely curable. Professor Emerita Anne Dejean, Professor Hugues de The and Professor Chen Zhu have won in equal shares the life sciences and medicine prize of the Shaw Prize, which has been dubbed the “Nobel Prize of the East”. The three academics were recognised for their discovery of the molecular and cellular bases of acute...

Uganda closes border with DR Congo as cases of rare...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Ugandan authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of the border with Congo “with immediate effect” as suspected cases surge near 1,000 in its neighbour of a rare type of Ebola and as others emerge at home. The measure, which goes against World Health Organization guidance, underscored growing fears of contagion in this East African country that, like Congo, has experience responding to Ebola outbreaks but is faced with a type this time, Bundibugyo, with no approved medicines or vaccines. A...

Stamp of approval sought on HK$4.6 billion lifeline...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Hong Kong authorities are seeking to inject HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) into the government-owned postal service provider to sustain its operations for the next three years, following eight years of losses and declining mail volume. A document submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau showed a bruising fiscal trajectory for the Post Office Trading Fund (POTF) of Hongkong Post since 2017-18. Self-financing since 1995, Hongkong Post

Peking University unveils 3D design tool to power...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Researchers at Peking University have claimed a breakthrough in microchip design software, purportedly offering critical support to Huawei Technologies as the tech giant attempts to build cutting-edge semiconductors despite US-led trade restrictions. The innovation, unveiled on Tuesday, comes in the form of a prototype tool for electronic design automation (EDA), according to an announcement by the university’s School of Integrated Circuits. EDA is the highly specialised software that

Chinese scientists use supercomputer to cut new drug...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

China has unveiled an artificial intelligence platform for drug discovery that can screen a vast library of chemical compounds, cutting the initial drug screening phase from months or years down to tens of seconds. Developers said they expected the system to provide a novel method for identifying lead molecules to treat tumours, neurodegenerative conditions, rare diseases and emerging infectious diseases, as well as possibly speeding up drug research during public health crises. Called

Blade concealed between Citybus double-decker seats...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Hong Kong police are investigating after a blade was discovered between two seats on a Citybus double-decker, the second such case reported in recent days. A male passenger alerted the driver of the route 37A bus, which travels from Pok Fu Lam’s Chi Fu Fa Yuen to Central, at about 5.20pm on Wednesday that the box cutter had been found on the upper deck. Police officers boarded the bus when it stopped outside Pacific Place in Admiralty and seized the item. The box cutter measured about 13cm

China unveils auto industry blueprint to set EV, AI...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

China is seeking to expand its influence over the future of the global auto industry through a sweeping regulatory blueprint covering core technologies ranging from vehicle chips, AI and batteries to autonomous driving and low-carbon development. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday released its 2026 work plan on automotive standardisation, outlining measures to tighten technical requirements as part of efforts to reinforce China’s dominance in electric vehicles

Why there’s no point in signing a fourth China-US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Despite recent signs that US-China ties are stabilising, veteran China watcher Li Cheng argues that the two superpowers should not rush to sign a new joint communique, suggesting this would add little value as Washington is not upholding its previous commitments. The recent summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump produced a “dramatic change” in the countries’ relationship, Li said in an interview published by Chinese news website Guancha.cn. “From viewing each...

China’s drug regulator clears wave of home-grown...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Home-grown innovative drugs make up most of the medicines China’s drug regulator has approved for sale so far this year, underscoring the country’s biotech boom. Of the 19 innovative drugs cleared by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), 15 came from domestic companies, according to the regulator’s website as of May 21. These include sonrotoclax, developed by global biopharmaceutical firm BeOne, for treating certain adult blood cancers. The regulator overhauled its approval...

Philippine ex-president Duterte’s ICC trial to start...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will face a crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court from November 30, the presiding judge said on Wednesday. Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018 during his so-called “war on drugs”. The 81-year-old will be the first Asian former head of state to face trial at the ICC, which prosecutes individuals for the world’s worst...

What to watch at Shangri-La Dialogue after Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

The results of the Xi-Trump summit and their implications for regional security will take centre stage this week during Asia’s largest defence forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, according to analysts. Zhu Feng, dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech at the forum would serve as an important gauge of how much the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump had helped stabilise...

China’s weaving of a web of ties makes it a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

Beijing hosted the presidents of the United States and Russia within days of each other recently. China’s rising diplomatic standing is no accident. It is grounded in a tradition of relational diplomacy stretching back centuries and reflected in the growing recognition across capitals that Beijing is a reliable partner. The clearest articulation of China’s foreign policy ethos comes from academic Qin Yaqing, a former president of China Foreign Affairs University, which has trained more than

Hong Kong private tutor jailed for 4½ years over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

A convicted paedophile has been jailed for 4½ years for committing obscene acts against a seven-year-old boy while working as a private tutor in Hong Kong more than two years ago. Ng Tin-yu, 24, was sentenced on Wednesday for repeatedly molesting the boy at the latter’s home in Kowloon City until a camera in the child’s bedroom captured one of the incidents, leading to the defendant’s arrest. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to nine counts of committing an act of gross indecency towards a...

AI deepfakes expose legal vacuum in India’s celebrity...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/27

A wave of AI-generated deepfakes and fake endorsements has pushed Indian celebrities, from cricket stars to Bollywood actors, towards the courts seeking stronger protection for their name, image, voice and likeness. Lawyers say the litigation has exposed a widening gap in Indian law, with courts increasingly recognising personality rights even though the country lacks a dedicated statute to enforce them. The campaign gained momentum last December, when Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar...

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