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Two Chinese nationals charged in US drug cartel...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Two Chinese nationals were indicted on charges of conspiracy to launder money for drug cartels, the US Justice Department announced on Friday. Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu allegedly hid the source of illegally obtained funds on behalf of various cross-border criminal groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). The two remain at large, the Justice Department said. According to material about the case filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Zhen, Wu

US spy chief Tulsi Gabbard quits in latest Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she was resigning ⁠from her job as US President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him. Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said. A source familiar with the matter said ‌that Gabbard had been

Putin accuses Ukraine of deadly attack on student...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his military to prepare options to retaliate against Ukraine for what he described as a drone attack on a student dorm that killed six people and wounded dozens, with 15 still unaccounted for. Putin said the attack had struck the dorm in Starobilsk in Luhansk, a Russian-controlled region in eastern Ukraine. He said Kyiv’s military must have ‌known what it was targeting. Ukraine’s military denied the Russian accusations and said it had struck

PM Carney says Alberta ‘essential’ to Canada, as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that Alberta was “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer towards a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. On May 4, they delivered their petition to provincial officials, insisting they had collected more than enough names to force a vote under

Chinese fast-fashion juggernaut Shein to buy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Everlane, the retailer that bucked the fast-fashion industry by promising affordable ethically sourced and sustainable clothing, is being acquired by the king of fast-fashion, China’s Shein.A letter to Everlane employees from CEO Alfred Chang confirming the deal was obtained by Associated Press on Friday. Everlane did not disclose a purchase price. Shein declined to comment. Everlane was founded in 2011 by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer with a mission to produce eco-friendly and

China AI firms Zhipu, MiniMax to join Hong Kong’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Chinese AI firms MiniMax Group and Knowledge Atlas Technology – better known as Zhipu AI – will join the Hang Seng Tech Index next month. Their inclusion follows investor criticism that the city’s primary technology gauge has underperformed by missing out on the global artificial intelligence boom. Concurrently, Shanghai-based courier J&T Global Express, lightweight metal giant Aluminum Corp of China and Beijing-founded global drug firm BeOne Medicines will join the benchmark Hang Seng Index....

China removes hukou hurdle for migrant workers in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

China has moved to ease residency restrictions that prevent migrant workers from accessing social insurance where they work, in a sweeping effort to expand coverage and strengthen labour protections nationwide. The new measures were announced on Friday by the State Council, China’s cabinet. The move is part of China’s broader push to create a unified national market by removing barriers to the free flow of capital and talent. Under the new policy, workers can enrol in social insurance

France’s youngest PM Attal to run for president

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

France’s former prime minister Gabriel Attal said on Friday he would run for president next year when Emmanuel Macron steps down, becoming the second prominent centrist to challenge the far-right. “I can’t take this kind of French politics anymore, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decline,” said the 37-year-old, who was France’s youngest prime minister when he served in 2024. He announced his bid under a blazing sun in the southern village of Mur-de-Barrez – the kind of rural area where...

How China and the US can coexist peacefully while...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

The original think tank paper was published in Chinese. SCMP Plus members can read an English translation here. A Chinese state think tank has offered a detailed road map to steer China and the US towards peaceful coexistence, as the competition between the two powers has entered a new strategic stalemate. In a paper published on May 13 – the same day US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes visit – the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (Cicir)...

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to visit US and Canada...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s coming trip to New York and Canada is expected to lay the groundwork for President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US and warmer ties with Ottawa. China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Wang would chair a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on May 26, followed by a visit to Canada from May 28 to 30. The New York leg of Wang’s trip follows less than two weeks after the Beijing summit between Xi and US President Donald Trump. There,...

WHO raises risk assessment as DR Congo’s Ebola...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was revising upwards to “very high” its assessment of the risk within Congo, which had previously been deemed as high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels, he told reporters. The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been...

Revamped Terminal 2 to uplift Hong Kong’s aviation...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

The expanded second passenger terminal at Hong Kong International Airport will be crucial to the city’s role as a global aviation hub, with its departure concourse set to open at the end of next year, the managing authority has said. The Airport Authority said on Friday that Terminal 2 would open on May 27 and travellers would check in, clear immigration and undergo security checks before proceeding to Terminal 1 for departure. The dedicated departure concourse and boarding gates were slated

HK Electric customers set for steeper bills in June...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

HK Electric customers are set to pay more for their energy bills next month after the Hong Kong company announced a 20.4 per cent rise in its fuel charge as the ongoing war in the Middle East contributed to volatile oil prices. The energy provider, which mainly serves Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island, also warned on Friday that the charge was expected to continue rising “in the coming months”. HK Electric announced it would adjust its fuel clause charge for June to 31.3 HK cents per unit of...

Why Trump’s China visit could set a new tone for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

On the face of it, US President Donald Trump’s China visit can be characterised by five Bs: beef, beans, Boeings, a board of investment and a board of trade. No wonder Trump rated his visit a “12 on a scale of one to 10”. Just the 200 Boeing aircraft China has agreed to buy is worth the presidential visit. China has achieved no less. Compared with beef, beans and Boeings, the boards of investment and trade that both sides agreed to set up are perhaps more significant. With this institutional...

France to invest €1.5 billion in quantum computing,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

French ⁠President Emmanuel Macron said on ⁠Friday that the government will invest an additional €1 billion (US$1.16 billion) in its quantum strategy and €550 million to support the microelectronics sector, as global powers race to be first to leverage ‌emerging technology. “I’ll say it out loud. We have the means to be the winners of this race,” Macron said while announcing the funding. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled plans to take US$2 billion in equity

Could all of China’s aircraft carriers soon operate...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

All three of China’s aircraft carriers could soon be able to operate the country’s J-35 stealth fighter, which Chinese experts say would “significantly” bolster the PLA Navy’s combat abilities. Currently, only China’s most advanced carrier, the Fujian, can host the J-35 as it has an electromagnetic catapult to assist the fifth-generation fighter into the air. The Liaoning and Shandong carriers launch J-15 fighters from an upwardly curved “ski-jump” deck. However, there are signs that the two...

‘I am sorry’: Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Standard Chartered global CEO Bill Winters on Friday said he was “sorry” for comments describing “lower-value” workers, made while announcing job-cut plans earlier this week. Winters apologised in a LinkedIn post as he tried to cool debate among upset employees after he announced on Tuesday a 15 per cent cut of back-office staff at the lender by 2030. Winters said that AI adoption would replace some “lower-value human capital”. The CEO first made a LinkedIn post explaining his comments from...

Myanmar’s Wei family put on trial in latest phase of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

An alleged Myanmar crime boss and members of his syndicate were put on trial this week in the latest stage of Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on cross-border scam networks. Wei Huairen, also known as Wai San, faces charges including fraud, murder, extortion and organising illegal border crossings, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday. Prosecutors allege that from 2019 onwards, the syndicate used the Wei family’s military and political influence in Myanmar’s Kokang region to operate...

Despite blocking Meta’s Manus deal, China says ‘door...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

China’s top economic planner denied pressuring domestic tech companies to turn down foreign investment amid rising concerns sparked by its recent blocking of Facebook owner Meta Platforms’ proposed buyout of Chinese-founded AI start-up Manus. “We have never required Chinese tech firms not to accept foreign investment,” Li Chao, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a press conference on Friday. “We support Chinese firms to integrate into the global...

K-pop stars BTS to hold 3 concerts at Hong Kong’s Kai...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

K-pop boy band BTS will perform at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium for three days in March next year as part of their comeback tour, with tickets to sell for up to HK$3,299 (US$420) each. The dates for the boy band’s performances in the city were announced by event organiser Live Nation HK on Friday. The shows are part of the group’s “Arirang” world tour, which marks their return to the global stage after all seven members recently completed mandatory military service in South Korea. The band is

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