News - South China Morning Post

Cornell University on Tuesday suspended fraternities’ parties and social events for the remaining academic year following outcry over an alleged gang rape at one of the elite college’s all-male clubs. The 2024 incident, as alleged in a graphic lawsuit filed last month, has drawn accusations that the Ivy League institution in New York state failed to properly punish the men involved. The accuser cl...

Katie Zacharia, US President Donald Trump’s newly appointed White House press secretary, faces questions about her legal credentials after telling reporters on Tuesday that she passed a bar exam “when I moved to China”, without identifying the jurisdiction. Zacharia, who has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer, made the remark after her first official White House press briefing. According to...

A planned US$844 million port in southern Peru has drawn interest from several foreign investors, including Chinese companies, a regional governor said on Monday, as the government began promoting the project abroad. “Several companies have approached us. We have investors from the US, China and India who are very interested,” Rohel Sanchez, the governor of Arequipa, told reporters after signing a...

Pope Leo was diagnosed with a common form of lung cancer after doctors removed a lower lobe of his right lung in surgery on Tuesday, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin. The 71-year-old pontiff has lung adenocarcinoma, with tissue tests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors had suspected from preparatory examinations, the bulletin said. The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli h...

A former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, capping the prosecution of a long-unsolved murder that shaped the golden age of rap music. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, found guilty of first-degree murder in August, received the penalty during ‌a hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom....

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. said it would temporarily close 10 rides at its theme parks, including the Goliath ride that was involved in a fatal accident on Monday, amid a string of incidents at its facilities. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions across our parks,” the company said in a statement. “The safety of our guests and team members is our highe...

New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia made her briefing room debut on Tuesday by taking remarkably few questions from journalists while leaving no doubt who she believes has all the answers – Donald Trump. “I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people,” she said, descr...

Trump appointee Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, has been asked to resign from her post after coming under severe criticism over allegations she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens, new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear if Guilfoyle had resigned. But Zacharia, in her first pre...

For nearly five decades, the United States’ Taiwan policy has centred on strategic ambiguity by not declaring whether it would intervene militarily in a potential Taiwan conflict. This policy – designed to deter Beijing from using force while preventing Taipei from formally declaring independence – is being challenged by realist US strategists amid a broader debate over America’s role in the world...

The Philippine military has rejected calls to restore direct communication channels with its Chinese counterpart, despite warnings from Beijing that their absence risks “miscalculation” during confrontations and could further escalate tensions in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would not communicate with its Chinese counterpart in advance of its maritim...

Taiwanese Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun plans to attend the Apec meeting in Hong Kong, where the Chinese finance chief is due to deliver the opening speech. Chuang’s ministry told Reuters on Tuesday she would attend the meeting “as is customary”. Hong Kong is hosting the Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting on October 20 and 21, while the Economic Leaders’ Summit will take place in Shenzhen next mon...

A Chinese research team has proposed four types of equipment that could rapidly switch between wartime environments, including operating deep under water for long periods, as multi-domain combat is set to develop in the coming decades. The “heterogeneous” equipment is designed to exceed conventional armoured vehicles by rapidly reconfiguring physical modules and functions within seconds for missio...

Iran is trying to hit military sites in the UK and the suspected plot to attack a US-run military airbase in September was “not unique”, the head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency said on Tuesday. Ken McCallum, who leads the UK’s domestic security service, said Tehran was seeking to intensify its attacks in Britain beyond the traditional targets of Iranians opposed to the country’s Islamic authorities....

Hong Kong authorities have renewed the free-to-air licences of the city’s television broadcasters with conditions to boost local production of English-language national education shows and programmes aimed at “telling good stories” of the city. The Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body, approved the renewal on Tuesday, extending 12-year licences to all three broadcasters. These li...

Courts in China have sentenced three key figures of a notorious Myanmar crime syndicate to death for operating large-scale cross-border telecoms fraud networks and causing the deaths of four Chinese nationals. The Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court and the Nanan City People’s Court in southeastern Fujian province handed down the rulings against syndicate head Wei Huairen, his nephew Chen Dawei a...

The former father-in-law of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung called her a “birthing machine” and tried to assault her before he allegedly plotted with his two sons to kill her three years ago, a court has heard. Choi’s partner, Chris Tam Fong-chun, recounted on Tuesday a bitter argument between the influencer and her former in-laws in what he said was a watershed moment leading to a br...

Hong Kong schools should not require students with special educational needs or severe mental illness to repeat a grade, under revised education authorities’ guidance that warns the practice could worsen their adjustment difficulties. The latest version of the Education Bureau’s School Administration Guide requires subsidised schools considering grade retention for pupils with special educational...

Huawei Technologies has shipped more than 100 million devices powered by its Kirin processors since 2023, when it returned to the smartphone market with a new generation of premium handsets. The company says testing of its next-generation Kirin 2027 chip is also progressing in line with expectations. The company disclosed the figure on Tuesday as it unveiled new details about its flagship Kirin 90...

Chinese-Pakistani fighter jets and a China-made air-defence system reportedly deployed to Saudi Arabia could be brought into action following Pakistan’s renewed pledge to defend the kingdom after deadly Houthi attacks on Riyadh. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that Islamabad would cooperate with Riyadh “in every possible way” under their defence agreements, after Houthi stri...

The US government’s plan to live-stream the execution of a former Army member convicted in a deadly 2009 mass shooting is raising questions about how effectively Southeast Asian governments can restrict graphic online content. Analysts say while authorities may have powers to restrict access to the live stream, containing clips and altered copies of the killing posted to social media could prove f...

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia kicked off their first visit to Ceuta on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with residents of the Spanish city in North Africa as they grapple with a migration crisis that has strained relations with Morocco. The royal couple will then travel to Melilla, Spain’s other North African exclave, on Wednesday. It will be the first visit by a Spanish monarch to the two citie...

Aviation investigators in Hong Kong are working to determine why a cockpit control on a Boeing cargo freighter moved forward during landing last year, causing the aircraft to veer off an airport runway and kill two security personnel. The Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA), an independent body under the Transport and Logistics Bureau, provided an update on Tuesday on the fatal incident in...

The average loss suffered by elderly victims of investment scams in Hong Kong rose by a third year on year to HK$1.08 million (US$137,600) in 2026, the city’s police chief has said, calling for greater community vigilance against syndicates preying on retirees. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming on Tuesday also warned of a recent surge in scams involving fraudsters posing as customer service...

Hong Kong actress Angela Yuen Lai-lam has detailed her experiences with sexual harassment over years in the entertainment industry, including an incident where an actor planted an unscripted kiss on her cheek during filming. The revelations by the film star – a two-time Golden Horse Award nominee, including a nod for next month’s ceremony – sparked heated discussion online and swift fallout. On Tu...

A 59-year-old man stabbed at least eight people on Tuesday at a shopping centre in the South Korean city of Incheon, police and fire officials said. One victim was in life-threatening condition and received surgery at a nearby hospital. The suspect attacked shoppers as he moved through the shopping centre before business owners and bystanders subdued him, according to local police and witnesses. T...