All events

social demographic · sports

Hong Myung-bo has resigned after South Korea failed to advance to the World Cup knockout stages.

military · geopolitical

The BBC's Katy Watson explains why troops are training in remote Australia - a country not at war, thousands of kilometres from today's major conflicts.

natural disaster · natural disaster

In areas devastated by the twin earthquakes, people are using crowbars, pickaxes and their bare hands to try to reach survivors.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Thousands of people from other African countries have left South Africa ahead of Tuesday's deadline set by anti-migrant groups.

natural disaster · natural disaster

Over 100 firefighters are working to extinguish a fire near Thessaloniki which has claimed a life.

military · geopolitical

Pakistan's military says it shot down four rudimentary drones and will respond to any further provocation.

military · geopolitical

Israel's 'kill first' strategy is now aimed at Turkey. Will the region respond? he US administration has signed two mutually contradictory deals to end its war on Iran . The power Israel lost to dictate the terms of peace on Iran , it has sought to regain in Lebanon . It was helped, enormously, by the Lebanese government, which signed away both sovereignty over its land and its duty to seek legal redress for the war crimes Israel has committed . Under the deal that US President Donald Trump signed with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Washington accepted an explicit link between Iran and Lebanon by agreeing to an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”. That commitment, if implemented, makes the second deal signed in Washington on Friday between representatives of the Lebanese, Israeli and US governments obsolete. This “framework” gives Israeli forces, occupying large swathes of southern Lebanon, indefinite leave to remain. Read more: Israel's 'kill first' strategy is now aimed at Turkey. Will the region respond?

military · geopolitical

US lawmakers push bill to halt $3.3bn in military aid to Israel Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib says she will support a bill seeking to block about $3.3bn in US military aid to Israel, before a vote expected later this week. “We should not spend another cent arming a military that is committing genocide in Palestine, ethnically cleansing Lebanon, and committing war crimes in Iran,” she wrote on X. “A majority of Americans and a supermajority of Democrats support ending military aid to Israel. It’s time their representatives listened.” Tlaib joins several other Democratic lawmakers who have said they will vote for the measure, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Greg Casar and Ilhan Omar. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie introduced the bill. The Kentucky lawmaker, who opposes US military interventions abroad, has also spoken against the war on Iran. Massie has drawn the anger of US President Donald Trump and lost his Republican House primary in May to a Trump-backed challenger. That contest became the most expensive US House primary race in history.

military · geopolitical

Trump administration yet to accept Iran school strike findings The Trump administration has not accepted direct responsibility for a strike on a school in Iran, The Associated Press reports. AP, citing a US official familiar with the matter, said Washington has also not formally accepted the findings of a Pentagon investigation into the bombing. The official said the US military has evidence showing that the school site was hit.

economic · economic

Modi urges diplomacy in call with Iran’s Pezeshkian Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the latest developments in West Asia and the proposed path towards de-escalation. Modi said that, during Tuesday’s call, he stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz for India and the wider world, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. In a statement, the prime minister’s office said Modi welcomed the understanding reached and reaffirmed India’s position that all disputes must be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy. Modi also underlined the need to continue efforts to secure lasting peace and stability in the region, while protecting navigation and trade. Pezeshkian had earlier invited Modi to attend the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which is scheduled to take place next week.

social demographic · culture

Thailand says 10 stranded vessels leave Strait of Hormuz Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says 10 of 11 Thai-flagged vessels, or ships chartered by Thai operators, have safely left the Strait of Hormuz after being stranded there since late February. The ministry said one vessel, the Hatthaya Naree, remains in the area while it waits to load cargo. It added that the ship is expected to depart as soon as possible once loading is complete.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Airlines told to avoid Iraq and Lebanon airspace The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has warned airlines against using flight routes over Iraq and Lebanon, citing uncertainty over the US-Iran ceasefire and the risk of rapid escalation. EASA urged commercial airlines to remain cautious when flying across the Middle East. The agency said it had extended its conflict-zone advisory for the region until July 8, after previously keeping the warning in place until 1 July.

geopolitical · geopolitical

A woman was injured in an overnight Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia. She is receiving medical treatment.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Ukraine repelled a large-scale Russian attack overnight, downing 130 drones and a Kh-59 missile. Information on damage and casualties is still being confirmed.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Russian drone strikes on Kharkiv Oblast on 30 June and 1 July left eight people injured, with houses and cars damaged.

military · geopolitical

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainian weapons have struck an oil refinery in Russia's Ufa for the second time, referring to the strikes as "long-range sanctions". The refinery lies 1,300 km from the front line. He also said a Russian military-industrial complex facility in Penza Oblast has been hit.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Two people were injured in a Russian missile strike on a business in Poltava Oblast on 1 July, the regional authorities said.

military · geopolitical

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba has urged the International Maritime Organization to recognise Russian vessels supporting Moscow's war effort as legitimate military targets.

economic · economic

UK Trade Secretary Peter Kyle is seeking to boost UK services exports to China as he hosts a delegation from the country on Tuesday. Peter Kyle and China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will jointly host the 15th UK–China Joint Economic and Trade Commission at Mansion House in London. They will launch a “trade booster” initiative designed to support UK businesses expanding their exports into China during the visit. Brompton Bikes and HSBC are among the British businesses attending, while firms...

social demographic · culture

As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong and mainland China are expected to begin sharing cross-border data within the year, when more companies will start operating in the Hetao innovation hub, the tech minister has revealed. In a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning Post, Secretary for...

geopolitical · geopolitical

Islamabad has warned that any attempt by India to deprive Pakistan of its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty would amount to the “weaponisation of water” and could have serious consequences for regional peace and security. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other government officials made the remarks at an international seminar on the 1960 World Bank – brokered treaty, which governs the sharing of water from the Indus River system between the nuclear-armed neighbours. The treaty has come...

military · geopolitical

A restored portrait has given a 93-year-old woman in central China an emotional reunion with the young husband she lost to war decades ago. Zhao Cuifen, from Liuyang in Hunan province, reportedly married Zhang Zhixin in the 1950s. Soon afterwards, Zhang enlisted in the army. In July 1953, as Korean war armistice talks were deadlocked, Kuomintang forces launched a major assault on Dongshan Island off southeastern China. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops training in nearby cities were rushed...

social demographic · education

Even before the world’s top mathematicians gather in Philadelphia in late July for the International Congress of Mathematicians, a high-stakes battle is unfolding over where the global event will next take place. Spearheaded by 1982 Fields Medallist and Tsinghua University professor Shing-Tung Yau, Hong Kong’s bid to host the 2030 congress faces competition from Glasgow and Tokyo. An inspection delegation from the International Mathematical Union (IMU) – the congress’s governing body – completed...

natural disaster · natural disaster

The US military has established a robust footprint of US forces in and around Venezuela to support relief operations, with more than 900 personnel inside the country and another roughly 800 in Caribbean hubs Puerto Rico and Curacao, according to the top US general for Latin America. General Francis Donovan, the commander of US Southern Command, said US forces had participated in search-and-rescue operations, helped get the airport up and running and mobilised air and naval assets to ‌allow for...

natural disaster · natural disaster

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster will issue the No 1 typhoon signal on Thursday, potentially marking the city’s first storm of the year, as a tropical depression approaches. The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm was expected to enter within 800km (497 miles) of the city later on Wednesday, before moving towards the vicinity of Hainan Island and Beibu Wan,...

military · geopolitical

It was the deadliest reported strike in the US-Israeli war against Iran, and most of the victims were children. Yet over four months since a US missile struck an Iranian primary school, there is no final accounting of what happened. The Trump administration has not directly accepted the blame, though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site had been struck, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Associated Press. Drawing from interviews with US officials,...

geopolitical · geopolitical

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli air strikes, have been hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony. His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre...

social demographic · education

Hong Kong lawmaker William Wong Kam-fai has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving, careless driving and failing to stop and report after an accident, after allegedly crashing into two vehicles. A police source said on Wednesday that the 66-year-old, an associate dean at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Faculty of Engineering, allegedly lost control of his vehicle at about 10.46pm on Monday at a staff residence on the university campus, crashing into a parked car and pushing it...

social demographic · culture

Hongkongers took full advantage of perks and discounts offered at restaurants, shops, transport and museums to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty on Wednesday. Long queues formed at local cha chaan tengs, cinemas, shopping centres and outside attractions in the West Kowloon Cultural District, as well as for free ferry and tram rides. At the arts hub, all free tickets were snapped up for Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+ museum, with visitor numbers at those...

social demographic · education

A university student in northwestern China who used a shoulder pole to carry over 70 marathon competition medals to his graduation ceremony has captivated mainland social media. Jin Yanwei, 24, graduated from Xian Traffic Engineering Institute in Shaanxi province this summer. The school held its graduation ceremony on June 23. After receiving his graduation certificate from two school leaders, Jin stepped off the stage, picked up a shoulder pole that was hung with dozens of medals, and carried...