All events

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...

economic · economic

Annual rate of inflation rose to 2.2% in June, up from 1.7% in May, according to Nationwide

economic · economic

Price growth remains above central bank’s target for fourth straight month

natural disaster · natural disaster

Socialist government faces pressure as death count from twin earthquakes climbs

economic · economic

The president’s obsession with tariffs reflects a misreading of the past 250 years

geopolitical

Aid workers estimate as many as 300,000 people are fleeing advances by the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group, which has taken two strategic towns on the approaches to Goma over the past several days.

geopolitical

The president, calling the heavily bombed enclave “a demolition site,” proposed relocating Palestinians temporarily or long-term, a move rejected by Arab countries since the war began.

economic

The country is focused on exports, but China is slowing imports and U.S. tariff threats are growing. Politicians are offering few alternatives.

natural disaster

The dictator, eager to shut out the influence of Hollywood and K-pop, has been exalting a “shock brigade” of 300,000 teens and 20-somethings drafted into flood reconstruction.

economic · economic

European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said he’s keeping an open mind on what action is needed at the next two interest-rate meetings, with uncertainly remaining over the situation in the Middle East and its effect on inflation.

economic · economic

Gold was steady, with traders assessing peace talks between the US and Iran and weighing a fresh slew of US economic data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates.

economic · economic

The European Central Bank’s next policy decisions will come down to either hiking interest rates further or holding them steady, Governing Council member Martin Kocher said.

natural disaster · natural disaster

Oil steadied after the biggest quarterly drop since the pandemic as traders monitored peace talks between the US and Iran and the return of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

economic · economic

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago discusses the outlook for inflation and monetary policy. He talks with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal. (Source: Bloomberg)

economic · economic

Traders in the fed funds market are ramping up bets that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates as soon as July, a previously unthinkable move that risks being derailed by a series of economic data.

economic · economic

APS Holding is preparing to step up purchases of distressed debt as it sees higher interest rates and real estate stress starting to dent bank balance sheets.

economic · economic

Pakistan’s inflation eased last month, though it remained in double digits, keeping policymakers on guard against persistent price pressures.