https://www.scmp.com/rss/24025/feed Barack Hussein Obama II, born August 4, 1961, was the 44th President of the United States and the first black US president. He served as president between January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017. Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate in October 2009. He was succeeded by Republican Donald John Trump, who assumed office in January 2017. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters The US Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to rule in favour of President ⁠Donald Trump’s administration in its defence of the government’s authority to turn away asylum seekers when officials deem US-Mexico border crossings too overburdened to handle additional claims. The justices heard arguments in a legal dispute involving a policy called “metering” that the Republican president’s administration may seek to revive after it was dropped by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden in 2021.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347771/supreme-court-justices-lean-towards-trump-asylum-processing-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347771/supreme-court-justices-lean-towards-trump-asylum-processing-case?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:24:28 +0000 Xinlu Liang Xinlu Liang A White House photo of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appearing to break into a dance at an official function ignited a wave of mockery across Chinese social media on the weekend, with commenters framing her as Washington’s biggest cheerleader. The photograph, the first in an official White House gallery from her summit with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, captures Takaichi in a moment of unbridled exuberance during a welcome reception. Making her first trip to Washington since... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347471/trumps-biggest-cheerleader-why-japans-takaichi-making-waves-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347471/trumps-biggest-cheerleader-why-japans-takaichi-making-waves-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 09:00:09 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Shigeaki Mori, the Japanese atomic bomb survivor whose hug with then US president Barack Obama at a 2016 remembrance event in Hiroshima went viral globally, has died at the age of 88, just days after warning that the world seems on the brink of another nuclear catastrophe. Tributes have been coming in since Mori died in Hiroshima on Saturday, with many pointing out that as well as being a survivor of the world’s first atomic weapon, he was also a keen amateur historian who attracted attention in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:12:20 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai China and Japan’s long-standing rivalry has deep historic roots, and relations between the two have taken a significant turn for the worse in recent months. This article, the first in a three-part series, looks at how both countries are trying to turn soft power to their advantage in the battle to shape international opinion. Read the second part here. The rise of China’s soft power has been fuelled by global successes in fields ranging from gaming and films to consumer brands and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346910/why-japan-thinks-chinas-growing-cultural-clout-something-it-needs-counter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346910/why-japan-thinks-chinas-growing-cultural-clout-something-it-needs-counter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 22:00:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Twice on Monday, US President Donald Trump said he had wrangled a confession of sorts from an Oval Office predecessor who he said had expressed regret in a private conversation about not attacking Iran the way Trump has been doing for more than two weeks. But there’s just a little problem: representatives for the four living former presidents – three Democrats and one Republican – said none had been in touch with Trump recently. Trump declined to name the former president when reporters asked... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346927/trump-claims-mystery-ex-president-backed-his-war-iran-no-one-owning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346927/trump-claims-mystery-ex-president-backed-his-war-iran-no-one-owning?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:15:45 +0000 Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao China’s top diplomat has cast his country as “an irreplaceable mainstay” amid global upheaval, rejecting any suggestion of a US-China G2 duopoly for global co-leadership as a replay of disastrous great-power rivalries. Instead, against the backdrop of the escalating Iran conflict and Washington’s renewed trade wars, Wang Yi renewed Beijing’s call for a post-hegemonic order anchored in the United Nations, advocating an “equal and orderly multipolar world” that transcended bloc confrontation and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345895/whats-wrong-g2-wang-yi-lays-out-chinas-case-against-great-power-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345895/whats-wrong-g2-wang-yi-lays-out-chinas-case-against-great-power-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:59:15 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa In the latest episode of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, the Calvin Klein publicist is invited by JFK Jr. to join a family dinner in Massachusetts, leading to an uncomfortable encounter for Bessette (played by Sarah Pidgeon) when she is grilled by Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, for wearing a fashionable scarf to dinner and quizzed about current events. Despite Ethel’s initial cold treatment of Bessette, the Kennedy family matriarch later warmed... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3345241/who-was-ethel-kennedy-and-was-she-really-mean-carolyn-bessette?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3345241/who-was-ethel-kennedy-and-was-she-really-mean-carolyn-bessette?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:00:16 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The US-Israeli attack on Tehran on Saturday marks a turning point for President Donald Trump, who is wagering that a war – the kind he once vowed not to start – will strengthen his second-term agenda. In a break from his campaign promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, Trump decided to attack – despite what Arab mediators described as significant progress in nuclear talks to Tehran, and in the face of polling showing most Americans oppose fresh military action. It came less than two months... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344999/trump-gambles-his-iran-attack-will-save-flailing-maga-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344999/trump-gambles-his-iran-attack-will-save-flailing-maga-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 18:46:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The son of US film director Rob Reiner pleaded not guilty to the fatal stabbing of both of his parents when he appeared in a Los Angeles court on Monday. Nick Reiner faces two counts of first-degree murder over the double killing that sent shock waves through Hollywood days before Christmas. The 32-year-old was arrested on December 14 after the bodies of his filmmaker father and his mother, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered at their home in the upmarket Brentwood neighbourhood... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344383/son-us-film-director-rob-reiner-pleads-not-guilty-parents-murder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344383/son-us-film-director-rob-reiner-pleads-not-guilty-parents-murder?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:36:53 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was directing the Pentagon and other government agencies to identify and release files related to extraterrestrials and UFOs because of “tremendous interest”. Trump made the announcement in a social media post hours after he accused former president Barack Obama of disclosing “classified information” when Obama recently suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I don’t know if they’re... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344066/trump-says-hes-ordering-release-us-files-ufos-and-aliens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344066/trump-says-hes-ordering-release-us-files-ufos-and-aliens?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 03:12:48 +0000 Reuters,Agence France-Presse Reuters,Agence France-Presse Charismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent Baptist minister raised in the segregated South ⁠who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jnr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at 84, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said. Jackson, an inspirational orator and long-time Chicagoan,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343832/us-civil-rights-leader-jesse-jackson-dies-84-leaving-legacy-political-firsts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343832/us-civil-rights-leader-jesse-jackson-dies-84-leaving-legacy-political-firsts?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 10:53:54 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Former US president Barack Obama said in a podcast interview on the weekend that aliens are real, but they aren’t at Nevada’s Area 51. During an appearance on YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen’s show, Obama said he hadn’t seen extraterrestrials but that they existed. “They’re not being kept in Area 51, there’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States,” Obama said during a rapid-fire round of questions at the end of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343697/are-aliens-real-obama-says-yes-rules-out-long-running-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343697/are-aliens-real-obama-says-yes-rules-out-long-running-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 05:09:10 +0000 dpa dpa Larry the cat is marking 15 years as the UK’s chief mouse catcher at the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, having served six prime ministers there. During his tenure, the 19-year-old tabby, officially known as the chief mouser to the Cabinet Office, has captured the hearts of the British public because of his frequent appearances outside the prime minister’s front door in central London. Larry was adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in February 2011, and was originally... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343642/uks-larry-cat-19-marks-15-years-6-pms-chief-mouser?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343642/uks-larry-cat-19-marks-15-years-6-pms-chief-mouser?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:29:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343605/barack-obama-blasts-clown-show-after-trumps-racist-monkey-video?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343605/barack-obama-blasts-clown-show-after-trumps-racist-monkey-video?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 02:50:08 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg In early 2013, Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, was stressed about her US visa status. Later that year, she married an American citizen and her worries were gone. A Green Card followed, and in 2018, citizenship. Then Shuliak divorced her spouse: a woman named Jennifer who had been in a relationship with Kimbal Musk – Elon Musk’s brother – after Epstein connected them. “now that she’s an american you should throw her a big ole party,” one of Epstein’s go-to immigration lawyers... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343600/epsteins-girlfriend-married-woman-showing-how-he-gamed-immigration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343600/epsteins-girlfriend-married-woman-showing-how-he-gamed-immigration?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:30:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump on Thursday revoked a landmark scientific finding underpinning US regulations to curb planet-warming pollution, marking his biggest rollback of climate policy to date. The repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding” was paired with the immediate elimination of greenhouse gas standards on automobiles. But it also places a host of other climate rules in jeopardy, including carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and methane leaks for oil... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343398/trump-flouts-science-revoke-landmark-us-climate-finding-calling-it-giant-scam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343398/trump-flouts-science-revoke-landmark-us-climate-finding-calling-it-giant-scam?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 02:34:47 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump’s administration has removed a large rainbow ⁠Pride flag that flew over the ⁠Stonewall National Monument, which marks the birthplace of ⁠the modern gay rights movement in New York. The National Park Service, the federal agency overseeing US national monuments, said that it managed the flagpole at the monument and that the flag had been removed to ensure a “long-standing policy” was applied consistently across its sites. But some elected officials in ‌New York said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343121/trump-admin-removes-rainbow-flag-stonewall-birthplace-us-gay-rights-movement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343121/trump-admin-removes-rainbow-flag-stonewall-birthplace-us-gay-rights-movement?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 23:39:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump condemned but did not apologise for a video on his social media account depicting Democratic former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, a post that triggered swift, bipartisan criticism for dehumanising people of African descent. The White House first defended the racist post on Friday, then deleted it 12 hours after it appeared. The minute-long video shared on Trump’s Truth Social network late on Thursday amplified false claims that his 2020... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342695/trump-stokes-fury-disgusting-monkey-video-obama-wife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342695/trump-stokes-fury-disgusting-monkey-video-obama-wife?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:19:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A year after Vietnam elevated its relations with Washington to the highest diplomatic level, an internal document shows its military was taking steps to prepare for a possible American “war of aggression” and considered the United States a “belligerent” power, according to a report released on Tuesday. More than just exposing Hanoi’s duality in approach towards the US, the document confirms a deep-seated fear of external forces fomenting an uprising against the communist leadership in a “colour... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342318/vietnam-prepared-possible-war-against-belligerent-us-secret-paper-shows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342318/vietnam-prepared-possible-war-against-belligerent-us-secret-paper-shows?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:49:38 +0000 Brian Rhoads,Neil Denslow Brian Rhoads,Neil Denslow The last treaty limiting nuclear weapons deployments by the US and Russia expires on Thursday, ending more than 50 years of restraints on the world’s two biggest nuclear powers. Russia has offered a one-year extension to New Start, which was originally signed in 2010 by then-presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. No “substantive reaction” has been received from the US, Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said in a recent interview with the Kommersant... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/article/3342231/china-grows-nuclear-arsenal-last-us-russia-limits-expire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/article/3342231/china-grows-nuclear-arsenal-last-us-russia-limits-expire?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:01:31 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Come Thursday, barring a last-minute change, the final treaty in the world that restricted nuclear weapon deployment will be over. New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is set to expire, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers. The expiration comes as President Donald Trump, vowing “America first”, smashes through international agreements that limit the United States, although in the case of New START,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341983/end-era-us-russia-prepare-exit-final-nuclear-arms-treaty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341983/end-era-us-russia-prepare-exit-final-nuclear-arms-treaty?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:43:35 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump sent his top border enforcer to Minneapolis on Monday and struck a conciliatory note in a bid to tamp down nationwide outrage over the second killing of a US citizen protesting militarised immigration raids this month. The White House was scrambling as video of the latest shooting went viral, prompting street protests, criticism from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and, increasingly, from within Trump’s Republican Party. Trump said Tom Homan, his point... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341325/white-house-softens-tone-crackdown-after-minneapolis-killings-fury?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341325/white-house-softens-tone-crackdown-after-minneapolis-killings-fury?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 02:52:40 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton issued pointed calls on Sunday for America to stand up and defend their values after the second killing of a citizen in Minneapolis by immigration agents that Donald Trump blamed on Democratic “chaos”. The Trump administration has faced intensifying pressure over its mass immigration crackdown, particularly after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Saturday while scuffling with him on an icy roadway. That... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341185/minneapolis-killing-wake-call-us-values-are-under-assault-says-obama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341185/minneapolis-killing-wake-call-us-values-are-under-assault-says-obama?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:59:22 +0000 Jill Lander Jill Lander January 2026 marks the Ox month, from January 5 to February 3. The element of the month is Yin Earth. The Earth Ox, yi chou, represents the 12th and final month of the Chinese calendar. Now is the time to reflect on the shared experiences of the past year to prepare for the year ahead – the third of the current 20-year feng shui cycle, which began in 2024. Be prepared for a period of major change ahead, acknowledge strengths and weaknesses, and learn from the past. At the beginning of any new... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3338883/horoscopes-whats-your-luck-january-2026-earth-ox-month-we-head-fire-horse-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3338883/horoscopes-whats-your-luck-january-2026-earth-ox-month-we-head-fire-horse-year?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 08:00:16 +0000 Josephine Ma Josephine Ma George Yeo is a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He started his career in the military before entering politics in 1988. During his 23 years with the Singaporean government, Yeo held ministerial portfolios ranging from arts to health, trade and – for seven years – foreign affairs. After he left politics, Yeo was vice-chairman of Kerry Group in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2021 and chairman and executive director of its logistics arm from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337074/george-yeo-superpower-headaches-and-why-us-dollar-could-crack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337074/george-yeo-superpower-headaches-and-why-us-dollar-could-crack?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Dec 2025 22:00:17 +0000 Ishani Sarkar Ishani Sarkar If you’ve ever wondered what multi Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Taylor Swift enjoys listening to when she’s not working on her own tunes, the answer is in her newly released Disney+ docuseries, Taylor Swift: The End of an Era. Avid fans noticed that the star was listening to an audiobook in the series and figured out from an excerpt that it was Liz Moore’s New York Times bestselling novel, The God of the Woods. Swift is in good company. In 2024, the title was recommended by former US... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/entertainment-news/article/3336905/what-was-book-taylor-swift-listened-end-era-all-you-need-know-about-god-woods?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/entertainment-news/article/3336905/what-was-book-taylor-swift-listened-end-era-all-you-need-know-about-god-woods?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 10:00:29 +0000 Josephine Ma Josephine Ma George Yeo was Singapore’s foreign minister for seven years, ending in 2011, after earlier holding ministerial portfolios related to technology, health and trade. Before entering politics, he served in the city state’s military. He is now a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He was also vice-chairman of Kerry Group in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2021 and chairman and executive director of its logistics arm from 2012 to 2019. SCMP Plus... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3336863/yeo-how-trump-wants-avoid-taiwan-upending-china-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3336863/yeo-how-trump-wants-avoid-taiwan-upending-china-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 04:28:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters The White House has installed new plaques beneath photos of former leaders on US President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House that sharply criticise his Democratic predecessors. The plaques were a striking addition because both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally viewed the historic building as a symbol of national unity. Trump, however, has not shied from using the White House as a stage for his more combative style of politics and for rewriting history. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336854/trump-rewrites-white-house-history-plaques-mocking-predecessors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336854/trump-rewrites-white-house-history-plaques-mocking-predecessors?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 03:50:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse With a stroke of his favourite black pen, Donald Trump has signed what should become his 221st executive order – a figure that exceeds the number in his entire first term, as he forges ahead with one of the biggest displays of US presidential power in modern history. Issued in a number unprecedented since World War II, the orders cover everything from new customs barriers to promoting artificial intelligence, fighting “woke” culture and the architectural style of federal buildings, according to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336683/trump-has-signed-more-executive-orders-year-his-entire-first-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336683/trump-has-signed-more-executive-orders-year-his-entire-first-term?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:30:43 +0000 Bochen Han Bochen Han A bipartisan commission focused on the rule of law and human rights in China is recommending that the US Congress scale up immersion programmes for Mandarin and other languages spoken on the mainland in American high schools and universities. The recommendation, made as part of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s (CECC) annual report, comes as Washington has scaled back funding for cultural exchange programmes since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second administration. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3335974/us-commission-wants-more-mandarin-language-courses-congress-looks-curb-beijing-sway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3335974/us-commission-wants-more-mandarin-language-courses-congress-looks-curb-beijing-sway?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:46:52 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan I’M A FIRST-GENERATION Chinese-American. My parents left Shanghai in 1948 to go to grad school at Cornell. When I was born (in 1949), my grandfather gave me a Chinese name that my mother (a biochemist) said sounded like Billy. She didn’t like its meaning because it was too flowery, so she gave me a Chinese name that basically means “good money”, which is not very romantic. But to respect my grandfather’s wishes, she gave me the American name Billie, which is unusual even in America. I GREW UP... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3335700/architect-billie-tsien-identity-fear-and-doing-duolingo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3335700/architect-billie-tsien-identity-fear-and-doing-duolingo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:18:12 +0000 Associated Press,Reuters Associated Press,Reuters A federal appeal court on Monday determined that Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump, was unlawfully appointed as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey and disqualified her from supervising cases, in a rebuke to the Trump administration. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals was the latest blow to Trump and his Justice Department as they seek to install loyalists to oversee key US Attorney’s offices... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334811/trumps-ex-lawyer-alina-habba-ousted-new-jersey-prosecutor-appeal-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334811/trumps-ex-lawyer-alina-habba-ousted-new-jersey-prosecutor-appeal-court?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 14:53:42 +0000 Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was nullifying all documents signed by autopen during the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden. “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Trump said on social media. He added that he was “hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334590/trump-says-all-orders-signed-biden-autopen-are-terminated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334590/trump-says-all-orders-signed-biden-autopen-are-terminated?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 20:44:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was enlisting the help of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus to spruce up the courses at Joint Base Andrews – adding a site long known as the “president’s golf course” to his long list of construction projects. The president took an aerial tour of the Courses at Andrews aboard Marine One and promised, “We’re going to do some work” there, as well as to other parts of the base. “We’re doing some fix-up of the base, which it needs. We’re gonna try and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333822/trump-unveils-presidents-golf-course-revamp-joint-base-andrews?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333822/trump-unveils-presidents-golf-course-revamp-joint-base-andrews?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2025 22:14:31 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Former president Mauricio Macri warned on Friday that Argentina could weaken its export base if it distances itself from China, sharpening his public split with President Javier Milei. Macri argued that China remains central to Argentina’s sales of soy, beef and other raw materials, goods the US already produces in abundance. “China is more complementary than the United States for Argentina. I do not think it is good to interrupt that process,” he said. A long-time Milei ally, Macri was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3333767/ex-argentine-leader-warns-milei-cutting-china-ties-could-backfire-us-push-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3333767/ex-argentine-leader-warns-milei-cutting-china-ties-could-backfire-us-push-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Nov 2025 21:37:52 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funnelling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former US president Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Michel, 52, declined to address the court before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him. In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333611/fugees-pras-michel-jailed-14-years-over-illegal-donations-obamas-2012-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333611/fugees-pras-michel-jailed-14-years-over-illegal-donations-obamas-2012-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Nov 2025 23:45:02 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers said on Monday he will step back from all public commitments, days after President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, where he is a professor, told the university’s student newspaper that the move was to allow him “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me”. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333200/ex-us-treasury-chief-larry-summers-stepping-back-public-roles-after-epstein-emails?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333200/ex-us-treasury-chief-larry-summers-stepping-back-public-roles-after-epstein-emails?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 04:35:54 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press On any day during her eight years as first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama said she could go from giving a speech to meeting with a counterpart from another country to digging in her vegetable garden with groups of schoolchildren. And her clothes had to be ready for that. There was too much else to do, including raising daughters Sasha and Malia, and she said she did not have time to obsess over what she was wearing. “I was concerned about, ‘Can I hug somebody in it? Will it get... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3332755/what-michelle-obama-said-about-her-iconic-fashion-picks-chronicled-look?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3332755/what-michelle-obama-said-about-her-iconic-fashion-picks-chronicled-look?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 22:00:16 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa In her latest book, The Look, released last week, Michelle Obama delves into her lifelong relationship with fashion. “During our family’s time in the White House, the way I looked was constantly being dissected – what I wore, how my hair was styled. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to reclaim more of that story, to share it in my own way,” Obama, 61, wrote in an Instagram post in June. She added, “The Look is about more than fashion. It’s about confidence. It’s about identity. It’s about the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3331921/meet-michelle-obamas-long-time-stylist-meredith-koop-who-wrote-foreword-look?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3331921/meet-michelle-obamas-long-time-stylist-meredith-koop-who-wrote-foreword-look?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 22:00:46 +0000 Reuters Reuters Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as the powerful speaker of the US House of Representatives, said on Thursday that she would not run for re-election to Congress in 2026, ending the four-decade career of a Democratic figure often vilified by the right. The 85-year-old congresswoman, first elected in 1987, made her announcement two days after voters in California overwhelmingly approved “Proposition 50”, a state redistricting effort aimed at flipping five House seats to Democrats in next... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331832/nancy-pelosi-first-female-speaker-us-house-announces-retirement-wont-seek-re-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331832/nancy-pelosi-first-female-speaker-us-house-announces-retirement-wont-seek-re-election?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:43:05 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg California voters have approved a ballot measure intended to shift as many as five congressional seats to Democrats from Republicans, handing Governor Gavin Newsom a major political victory in his fight against President Donald Trump. The victory for Proposition 50 was called by the Associated Press within a minute of polls closing. Newsom championed the controversial ballot measure as a way to neutralise a Trump-backed initiative in Texas in which the state redrew congressional districts to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331585/california-votes-redraw-congressional-map-triumph-newsom-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331585/california-votes-redraw-congressional-map-triumph-newsom-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Nov 2025 05:05:03 +0000 Reuters Reuters Voters in New Jersey and Virginia will choose their next governors on Tuesday in a pair of races that will serve as an early gauge of the American electorate’s mood after US President Donald Trump’s norm-shattering nine months in office. In New York’s mayoral race, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, faces 67-year-old Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running as a more centrist independent after losing to Mamdani in the primary, four years after resigning as New York... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331548/trumps-shadow-looms-us-voters-pick-new-york-mayor-state-governors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331548/trumps-shadow-looms-us-voters-pick-new-york-mayor-state-governors?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 23:52:25 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Aggressive US immigration raids which have sparked protests and allegations of rights violations have not gone far enough, US President Donald Trump said in a CBS interview released on Sunday. Trump was interviewed on Friday by CBS’ 60 Minutes show, his first meeting with the broadcaster since it agreed to a US$16 million settlement with him. The Republican president had sued the Paramount-owned organisation over a 2024 pre-election interview with his Democratic opponent, former vice-president... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331262/trump-says-us-immigration-raids-havent-gone-far-enough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331262/trump-says-us-immigration-raids-havent-gone-far-enough?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 23:49:39 +0000 Fan Hou Fan Hou Xi Jinping held his 17th meeting with a US president since becoming China’s leader in 2013, when he met Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. He previously held talks with presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as with Trump during the US leader’s first term. https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3330877/xis-key-encounters-us-presidents-and-putin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3330877/xis-key-encounters-us-presidents-and-putin?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:19:32 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Japanese sushi legend Jiro Ono won three Michelin stars for more than a decade, the world’s oldest head chef to do so. He has served the world’s dignitaries, and his art of sushi was featured in an award-winning film. After all these achievements and at the age of 100, he is not ready to fully retire. “I plan to keep going for about five more years,” Ono said last month as he marked Japan’s “Respect for the Aged Day” with a gift and a certificate ahead of his birthday. What’s the secret of his... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330413/100-michelin-starred-japanese-sushi-legend-still-roll-aims-live-114?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330413/100-michelin-starred-japanese-sushi-legend-still-roll-aims-live-114?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 03:09:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed off criticism over the demolition of part of the White House to build a new ballroom, saying the sound of the construction work was “music to my ears”. Democrats including former first lady Hillary Clinton accused the Republican of failing to respect the presidential mansion after excavators tore off the facade of the building’s East Wing, in the first major change to the historic property in decades. “We’re building a world-class ballroom,” Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3329874/ballroom-blitz-trump-defies-critics-he-tears-down-part-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3329874/ballroom-blitz-trump-defies-critics-he-tears-down-part-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 03:22:58 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have urged US President Donald Trump to visit their cities during his coming trip to Japan, in a symbolic appeal for him to witness the consequences of nuclear war first hand. While observers view such a visit as improbable given the political risks, the mayors’ appeal highlights growing concern over the erosion of the nuclear taboo, a concern echoed in the letter’s warning about rising global tensions and the dwindling number of hibakusha, or atomic bomb... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328879/japans-atom-bombed-cities-want-trump-see-what-unfolded-under-mushroom-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328879/japans-atom-bombed-cities-want-trump-see-what-unfolded-under-mushroom-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 03:00:14 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in 1967 in Caloocan, just north of Manila, in the Philippines. I have three siblings. I’m the eldest. My father had a much bigger clan, 10 siblings. Imagine the reunions we have on my father’s side! My family went into different kinds of businesses: textiles, poultry, restaurants. At one time we were an egg distributor, so we gathered them from nearby provinces wholesale and retailed them in the city. Whenever my dad had a new venture, I’d be there observing and sometimes I’d be the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3328771/noel-de-guzman-painting-fire-and-silent-power-smile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3328771/noel-de-guzman-painting-fire-and-silent-power-smile?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump was passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday despite jockeying from his fellow Republicans, various world leaders and - most vocally - himself. Opposition activist Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela was awarded the prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honouring her “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. Trump, who has... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328551/trumps-quest-nobel-peace-prize-falls-short-least-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328551/trumps-quest-nobel-peace-prize-falls-short-least-time?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 09:43:29 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press James Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in a criminal case that has highlighted the Justice Department’s efforts to target adversaries of US President Donald Trump, with lawyers for the former FBI director saying they plan to argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and should be dismissed. The arraignment lasted less than half an hour, but it was nonetheless loaded with historical significance given that the case has amplified concerns that the Justice Department is being... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328279/former-fbi-chief-comey-pleads-not-guilty-high-stakes-trump-era-legal-battle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328279/former-fbi-chief-comey-pleads-not-guilty-high-stakes-trump-era-legal-battle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:45:03 +0000