US military weighs sustained Iran strikes, casting shadow over diplomacy The US military is preparing for the possibility ⁠of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, according to two US officials, in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries. The disclosure by the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the planning, raises the stakes for the diplomacy under way between the United States and Iran. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared...

South China Morning Post

‘For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking’: US eyes expanded Iran strikes

The plan raises regional conflict fears and comes ahead of next week’s talks between the two sides in Geneva.

How a ‘military vacuum’ in West and Central Africa opened new markets for China As France’s influence fades and with Russian weapons in limited supply, a “military vacuum” has been created in West and Central Africa that China is uniquely positioned to fill, according to analysts. In a January report in the official journal China Military to Civilian, arms supplier China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation said Beijing was leveraging its reputation for “cost-effective technology and flexible financing” in Africa. This follows a wave of military coups across...

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How a ‘military vacuum’ in West and Central Africa opened new markets for China

Beijing has increased engagement with countries in the Sahel following the French military exit, and with Russian weapons in short supply.

Why it’s troubling that Hong Kong board-member pay ranges from US$850 to US$1.67 million The highest-paid independent non-executive director (INED) of a Hong Kong-listed company in 2024 made US$1.67 million, nearly 2,000 times what the lowest-paid INED received, drawing attention to a potential disconnect between pay and the responsibilities of the role. The lowest-paid INED received 6,000 yuan (US$867.94) in 2024, according to a survey by the Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association (HKINEDA), which was based on the 2024 annual reports of more than 2,600 listed...

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Why a 2,000-fold pay gap for Hong Kong board members may be a troubling sign

Far wider disparity than other markets may indicate talent issues on the low end, lack of independence on the high end, lawmaker says.

Barack Obama blasts ‘clown show’ after Trump’s racist monkey video Former US president Barack Obama criticised a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding on Saturday for the first time to a post on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and his wife Michelle as monkeys. The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and take it...

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Obama blasts ‘clown show’ after Trump’s racist monkey video

The ex-president said most Americans ‘find this behaviour deeply troubling’ and it will hurt the Republicans in the midterm election.

Trump’s Valentine’s Day cards feature Maduro, Greenland and boasting US President Donald Trump on Saturday celebrated Valentine’s Day by sharing a series of cards that praised his accomplishments while predictably slamming Democrats and even poking fun at his own secretary of state. The cards, posted by the White House on social media, kick off with a picture of a handcuffed and blindfolded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro following his capture from his country in January. It is made to look a classic Valentine’s Day card, with the phrase: “You captured my...

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‘You captured my heart’: Trump’s Valentine’s cards feature Maduro, jab at Rubio

The messages praised the president’s achievements, derided Democrats and made fun of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

How recent graduates entering the job market can outperform AI Artificial intelligence (AI) is eroding the very capabilities young professionals need to remain valuable in a machine-automated era. That is the real challenge facing graduates entering the workforce. It is not simply a case of AI destroying jobs – though it is – but that it is undermining our cognitive and interpersonal skills. The numbers are starting to confirm what we suspected. Hong Kong graduates in 2025 found 55 per cent fewer job opportunities than the year before. Over 12 per cent of...

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Opinion | How recent graduates entering the job market can outperform AI

As automation erodes cognitive and interpersonal skills, those who embrace the struggle of enhancing offline reasoning will thrive.

Hong Kong High Court grants couple parenting rights in mainland surrogacy case A Hong Kong court has granted a local married couple a parental order for two boys born following a verbal surrogacy agreement in mainland China, ruling the applicants were merely ignorant that the arrangement was illegal. But a lawyer said the ruling was unlikely to set a precedent as the circumstances of surrogacy cases varied. Commercial surrogacy arrangements are illegal in both Hong Kong and on the mainland. The High Court granted parenting rights to the couple on Tuesday. According to...

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Hong Kong court grants couple parenting rights in mainland Chinese surrogacy case

Couple turned to court after failing to secure identification cards, but ruling not expected to set precedent, lawyer says.

US-Iran talks to be held in Geneva next week, hosted by Oman Switzerland said on Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme. “Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran,” a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman said. On February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s...

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US-Iran talks to be held in Geneva next week, hosted by Oman

The son of Iran’s last shah called for US action, as Trump sends a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

Rubio to European allies: our destiny will be intertwined with yours At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that “our destiny will be intertwined with yours”. “We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive. Because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours,” he said. Rubio is the highest-ranking US speaker at the annual security conference, breaking years of tradition in...

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China and US must talk – we owe it to the world, Rubio tells Munich conference

US secretary of state reaffirms American commitment to the transatlantic alliance, saying ‘Europe must survive’.

Flower sales in Hong Kong bloom as Valentine’s Day shoppers splash out on gifts Some lovebirds in Hong Kong are expressing their affection this Valentine’s Day by spending hundreds of dollars on bouquets and gifts, while several vendors have recorded growth in sales of about 20 per cent. At the bustling Flower Market in Mong Kok, many men were among the crowds picking rose bouquets, while others browsed for flowers to celebrate the coming Lunar New Year. The high number of shoppers on Tung Choi Street even prompted police to put in place crowd control measures. Stalls were...

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Flower sales in Hong Kong bloom as Valentine’s Day shoppers splash out on gifts

Some vendors at Mong Kok Flower Market say sales up 20 per cent as shoppers pack area.

Indian author Arundhati Roy quits Berlinale after ‘stay out of politics’ Gaza comments Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy has said she is withdrawing from the Berlin Film Festival over jury president Wim Wenders’ comments that cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza. Roy said in a statement on Friday that she was “shocked and disgusted” by responses from Wenders and other jury members to a question about the Palestinian territory at a press conference the day before. Roy, whose novel The God of Small Things won the 1997 Booker Prize, had been announced as...

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Indian author Arundhati Roy pulls out of Berlinale over jury’s Gaza comments

‘History will judge’ those in the film industry who do not speak out against the Gaza war, the Booker Prize winner says.

‘Unforgivable’: police chief slams lawyer, doctors linked to crash-for-cash scams Hong Kong’s police chief has slammed the alleged involvement of a lawyer and doctors in a spate of so-called crash-for-cash scams as “unforgivable and unacceptable”. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that the force would speed up its investigation into such cases, and expected a fresh wave of arrests as part of efforts to get to the bottom of the scams. He said police previously arrested a couple and two doctors for their alleged roles in more than 20 “crash-for-cash”...

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‘Unforgivable’: police chief slams lawyer, doctors linked to crash-for-cash scams

‘Knowledgeable professionals should not do such immoral and unethical things,’ Commissioner of Police Joe Chow says.

Savvy Hongkongers book 9-day Lunar New Year break for festive trips across Asia Hongkongers began departing the city in droves on Saturday, with many opting to take a nine-day Lunar New Year break to destinations across the rest of Asia. Travellers, including families with children and elderly relatives, gathered at check-in counters in the morning as the city marked Valentine’s Day and prepared to ring in the Year of the Horse. Long queues of hundreds of travellers could be seen at the counters for HK Express, the budget arm of Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific...

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Savvy Hongkongers book 9-day Lunar New Year break for festive trips across Asia

Immigration Department earlier forecast number of trips by residents and visitors alike would reach 11.38 million between February 14 and 23.

Top Japanese school faces backlash over Palestinian poetry in entrance exam During an entrance exam for a top middle school in Japan in January, students were asked to read two poems depicting life in Palestine and write responses to key passages. Controversy soon followed on Japanese social media over the use of the material related to war and displacement. Some criticised the test section as politically one-sided for lacking Israeli views, while others praised the school for choosing a subject that, despite its complexities, has galvanised the world after much...

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Why elite Japanese school asked 12-year-olds to read Palestinian poems for exam

Poets Mosab Abu Toha and Zeina Azzam welcomed the inclusion of their works in the exam, but were concerned about the ensuing controversy.

Partial US government shutdown throws Congress into turmoil again The US Government experienced its second shutdown in four months on Saturday, as funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) halted, underscoring Washington’s growing partisanship and dysfunction. But in an ironic twist, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, at the centre of the Congressional showdown, will continue to operate despite being part of DHS, given its independent source of funding. In an unprecedented move, US President Donald Trump’s administration has allocated at...

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Partial US government shutdown throws Congress into turmoil again

Second shutdown in four months after funding halted for Department of Homeland Security, as Republicans and Democrats fail to reach a deal.

Malaysian police smash sex ring charging US$900 a session in posh KL area The posh, three-storey house in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur was occupied by foreign prostitutes who provide their services for fees of up to 3,500 ringgit (US$900). The “romps”, which were either a 45-minute or 90-minute session, were offered by a syndicate that supplied women from countries such as China and Japan. The syndicate had been operating from the detached house in the upscale residential area of Desa Pahlawan for about six months. However, their illicit activities came to an...

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Malaysia smashes high-end sex syndicate charging US$900 a session

The suspected ringleader and salesmen are Chinese nationals while a Singaporean and Malaysian have been asked to assist in investigations.

Can German stealth cargo gliders boost Japan’s remote island defence and logistics? A German defence company has successfully tested an uncrewed cargo glider designed to support frontline military units, a technology that Tokyo is also exploring as it looks to bolster its capabilities in islands to the far southwest of the Japanese archipelago. Munich-based Hensoldt said on February 5 that it had marked a milestone in the development of its High-Altitude Drop Infiltrating System, or HADIS, after releasing a scale version of the uncrewed vehicle from a transport aircraft during...

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Japan explores German silent cargo gliders to resupply remote islands

The HADIS system can deliver cargo of up to 500kg over a range of 120km and safeguard transport aircraft during resupply operations.

3 dead as US launches new strike on suspected drug boat in Caribbean The US military said on Friday it killed three alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the Caribbean. The attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to 133 people in at least 38 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. “Three narcoterrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed,” US Southern Command said in a statement on social media. A video linked to the post...

South China Morning Post

3 dead in latest US strike on suspected drug vessel in Caribbean

The attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on ‘narcoterrorists’ in the Caribbean and Pacific to 133.

Western media criticism of the Jimmy Lai case verdict needs a fact check There is this old British chestnut that says justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. Justice has been amply served in the 20-year sentence handed down to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, but it has not been seen to be done in many quarters, especially in the West. There is the reality of justice and the appearance of it, and the two don’t always or even usually coincide. There are two main reasons behind the widespread Western criticism of Lai’s case. One is that...

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As I see it | Western media criticism of the Jimmy Lai case verdict needs a fact check

While some critiques of the former media boss’ sentencing come down to different standards of governance and journalism, others are steeped in hy...

How India’s US$40 billion order for French Rafales will help local fighter jet makers India’s approval for a 3.6 trillion rupee (US$40 billion) purchase of defence equipment on Thursday – including 114 Rafale French fighter jets – will significantly boost the capabilities of the country’s armed forces amid heightened tensions with Pakistan, analysts say. The decision comes at a time when the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) fighter squadron strength has shrunk to 29, well below the 42 considered essential in the event of a simultaneous war with Pakistan and China. French President...

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India pushes for domestic weapons manufacture with French jet purchase

Around 80 per cent of the fleet will be assembled in India, with parts being progressively made in the country.