World | South China Morning Post

SpaceX capsule arrives at International Space Station

A privately-owned unmanned US space capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, bringing to the space outpost food, scientific materials and other crucial equipment.

Algeria hostage mastermind Mokhtar Belmokhtar 'killed in Mali'

The death of one of the world’s most wanted jihadists would be a major blow to al-Qaeda in the region and to Islamist rebels already forced to flee towns they had seized in northern Mali by an...

Assad says 'bullying' Britain wants to arm terrorists in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused the British government of wanting to arm “terrorists” in his country, in a rare interview with a UK newspaper.

Nato apologises for accidental killing of two Afghan boys

Two children, aged seven and eight, were shot dead on Thursday as they tended cattle in southern Uruzgan province, in an incident which could inflame tensions over the conduct of foreign soldiers...

Rescue efforts end for Florida man presumed dead in sinkhole

Rescue workers have ended their efforts to recover the body of a man who disappeared into a sinkhole that swallowed his bedroom while he slept in a suburban Florida home and the house will be...

US Senator Mitch McConnell slams liberal group for criticising Asian wife

McConnell forcefully defended Chao, who was born in Taiwan and who moved to the US as an 8-year-old with her family aboard a freight ship.

America's high-stakes gamble on spending cuts

A decade of budget deficits run up in war and economic crisis has saddled the government with a US$16 trillion debt. Now the government is about to start cutting spending in some programmes,...

Kenyan elections on Monday stir fears of ethnic violence

Down in the valley there's a clue why. Sunshine gleams off the metal roofs of housing built for families displaced by ethnic violence that followed Kenya's general election five years ago. More...

Ben Bernanke says raising US interest rates early risks economic growth

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke signalled he would keep the Fed's target interest rate low to support the economy, even as some colleagues warned the policy risks triggering financial market...

Disney investors threaten to revolt over chief executives pay

A revolution is brewing in the tree-lined streets of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, as shareholders prepare to fight the creeping power and rising rewards of the chairman and chief executive, Bob...

U.S. POLITICS

Barack Obama wants 'balanced approach' instead of sequester

US President Barack Obama yesterday urged Congress to replace automatic across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester with what he called "a balanced approach" combining "smart" cuts with...

Judge slashes Samsung damages to Apple by US$450 million

US District Judge Lucy Koh affirmed the remainder of the award, amounting to US$598.9 million, in the patent infringement case, while denying Apple's request for a bigger penalty.

Swiss 'Rip-off Initiative' to hit corporate pay packages

Foreign executives who moved their company headquarters to Switzerland to get better tax deals for their firms may find themselves paying the price for it this weekend.