https://www.scmp.com/rss/326017/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters Four migrants died while in custody of US immigration authorities over the first 10 days of ‍2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under US President Donald Trump. The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from January 3-9, according to US Immigration and ⁠Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Trump administration was aiming to ramp up deportations and has increased the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339823/least-4-migrants-have-died-us-immigration-custody-start-2026?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339823/least-4-migrants-have-died-us-immigration-custody-start-2026?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 04:49:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Honduras electoral authorities rejected on Monday an order by the outgoing president to recount November’s election won by Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura. Asfura, a conservative businessman, was declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election on December 24, weeks after a tight race marred by delays and allegations of fraud. Outgoing Honduras President Xiomara Castro, who finishes her term January 27, called for a meeting with Trump last week saying his public backing of Asfura... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339746/honduras-rejects-illegal-recount-order-vote-won-trump-backed-nasry-asfura?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339746/honduras-rejects-illegal-recount-order-vote-won-trump-backed-nasry-asfura?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:39:19 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Donald Trump doesn’t even bother to hide his true intentions. The propaganda, by active commission and omission, has been left to the mainstream American news media operating on autopilot. The ‍United States is ⁠going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil ‍industry, the president told Fox News after authorising the American military to launch a coup d’etat and kidnap its head of state, President Nicolas Maduro. “We have the greatest oil companies in the ‌world, the biggest, the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3338698/united-states-returns-gunboat-diplomacy-21st-century-style?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3338698/united-states-returns-gunboat-diplomacy-21st-century-style?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:38:58 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation early on Saturday morning, ‌culminating in a months-long pressure campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration that drew condemnation from some international leaders. Hours later on Saturday evening, Maduro was in a New York jail after American special forces flew him out of his country. A US government plane carrying Maduro landed at a military base shortly after nightfall, and he was transported by helicopter... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338646/was-us-capture-venezuelas-president-maduro-legal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338646/was-us-capture-venezuelas-president-maduro-legal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 01:22:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won Honduras’ presidential election, electoral authorities said on Wednesday, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation’s fragile electoral system. The election is continuing Latin America’s swing to the right, coming just a week after Chile chose the far-right politician Jose Antonio Kast as its next president. Asfura, of the conservative National Party, received 40.27 per cent of the vote in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3337671/trump-backed-nasry-asfura-declared-winner-honduras-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3337671/trump-backed-nasry-asfura-declared-winner-honduras-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 21:56:36 +0000 Reuters Reuters Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday denounced what she called an “electoral coup” unfolding amid a chaotic vote count from the November 30 presidential election, as hundreds of protesters gathered in the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa to demand clarity over the situation. The election has been marked by technical failures, unsubstantiated fraud claims and a shadow cast by US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw funding for the Central American nation if his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335835/honduras-turmoil-grows-president-alleges-electoral-coup-amid-chaotic-vote-count?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335835/honduras-turmoil-grows-president-alleges-electoral-coup-amid-chaotic-vote-count?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 03:03:20 +0000 Reuters Reuters Honduran centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla on Thursday alleged fraud in the country’s highly contested presidential vote after his Trump-backed rival Nasry Asfura pulled narrowly past him overnight. Nasralla, in a post on X, said the screen displaying the vote data went blank at 3.24am and alleged “an algorithm changed the data”, giving the higher tally to Asfura after Nasralla had been leading the vote count since Tuesday. The results are being updated on the electoral body’s website. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335258/honduran-centrist-nasralla-alleges-vote-fraud-trump-backed-asfura-edges-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335258/honduran-centrist-nasralla-alleges-vote-fraud-trump-backed-asfura-edges-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:55:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Honduran TV presenter Salvador Nasralla widened a narrow lead on Wednesday over Trump-backed rival Nasry Asfura as the counting of votes cast in a weekend presidential election dragged into a third day. With nearly 80 per cent of the count from Sunday’s voting completed, Nasralla was leading fellow right-winger Asfura with 40.23 per cent to 39.68 per cent, according to the CNE election council. The result was still too early to call. The CNE has come under fire from US President Donald Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335112/honduras-tv-host-widens-lead-over-trump-backed-rival-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3335112/honduras-tv-host-widens-lead-over-trump-backed-rival-president?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:49:03 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump, who has cast himself as a relentless foe of illegal drugs, has pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, freeing him from a 45-year sentence for conspiring to import tonnes of cocaine into the United States. Trump’s extraordinary move risked weakening US credibility in Latin America, could embolden corrupt actors, and is likely to draw criticism that he is undercutting decades of US efforts to fight transnational drug networks. Trump told reporters at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334949/ex-honduran-president-freed-us-prison-after-trump-pardon-amid-tight-election-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334949/ex-honduran-president-freed-us-prison-after-trump-pardon-amid-tight-election-race?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:32:20 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A businessman who has US President Donald Trump’s backing for the presidency of Honduras was locked in a “technical tie” with a right-wing TV host after a preliminary vote count, the Central American country’s electoral body said on Monday. Nasry Asfura, 67, led 72-year-old rival Salvador Nasralla by just 515 votes, making it a “technical tie”, National Electoral Council (CNE) head Ana Paola Hall said on X after a partial digital tally of Sunday’s down-to-the-wire ballot. She called for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334823/right-wing-rivals-honduras-presidency-technical-tie?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334823/right-wing-rivals-honduras-presidency-technical-tie?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 22:30:26 +0000 Lawrence Chung Lawrence Chung Taiwan has played down concerns that St Vincent and the Grenadines might switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing, insisting ties with its Caribbean ally remain stable despite a change of government in Kingstown. The reassurance follows last week’s victory by the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), with its leader Godwin Friday succeeding long-time Taipei supporter Ralph Gonsalves as prime minister. Friday did not publicly commit during the campaign to changing recognition from Taipei to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3334803/will-election-st-vincent-and-grenadines-cost-taiwan-another-caribbean-ally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3334803/will-election-st-vincent-and-grenadines-cost-taiwan-another-caribbean-ally?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:38:27 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The day before Honduras elects a new president, the main topics of conversation shifted from domestic matters to US President Donald Trump and the former Honduran president he said he will pardon. Trump cannonballed into the deep end of Honduran politics this week, first endorsing presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura from the conservative National Party and then announcing the pardon of ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez – of the same party – sentenced to 45 years in a US prison for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334677/trump-interference-honduran-election-stokes-division-voters-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334677/trump-interference-honduran-election-stokes-division-voters-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Nov 2025 11:49:27 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. The president explained his decision on social media by posting that “according to many people that I greatly respect”, Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly”. In March of last year, Hernandez was convicted in an American court of conspiring to import cocaine into the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334592/trump-says-hell-pardon-ex-honduras-president-serving-us-prison-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334592/trump-says-hell-pardon-ex-honduras-president-serving-us-prison-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 22:26:12 +0000 Chinese state media has accused US President Donald Trump of falsely attributing ocean pollution to China by sharing misleading images on social media, reflecting dim prospects for an improvement in ties between the two countries. The Paper, a digital newspaper run by state-owned Shanghai United Media Group, said on the weekend that three photos posted by Trump online were either digitally altered or outdated – and none were taken in China. The report, headlined “Fact Check: Trump Blames China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3308104/chinese-media-calls-out-trump-over-ocean-pollution-accusations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3308104/chinese-media-calls-out-trump-over-ocean-pollution-accusations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Apr 2025 13:00:07 +0000 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have in recent days deported a Cuban-born mother of a one-year-old girl, separating them indefinitely, and in another case a two-year-old girl who is an American citizen along with her Honduran-born mother, their lawyers say. Both cases raise questions about who is being deported, and why, and come amid a battle in federal courts over whether US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone too far and too quickly at the expense of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3308064/ice-deports-2-year-old-us-citizen-and-mother-1-year-old-infant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3308064/ice-deports-2-year-old-us-citizen-and-mother-1-year-old-infant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Apr 2025 18:42:43 +0000 A plane crashed just off the Caribbean coast of Honduras on Monday night minutes after taking off from Roatan Island, killing 13 people, authorities said, while five survived the crash. The body of the last missing victim was recovered on Tuesday. The wreckage of the small British-made Jetstream aircraft, operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa and carrying 18 passengers, was found about 1km (0.6 miles) off the island’s coast, according to the country’s transport minister. Transport Minister Octavio... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3302893/least-12-die-honduras-plane-crashes-water-after-take?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3302893/least-12-die-honduras-plane-crashes-water-after-take?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:03:05 +0000 A group of families and children hailing from Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, Russia and more countries climbed down the stairs of a plane in Costa Rica’s capital Thursday, the first flight of deportees from other nations Costa Rica agreed to hold in detention facilities for the Trump administration while it organised the return back to their countries. The flight of 135 deportees, half of them minors, added Costa Rica to a growing list of Latin American nations to serve as a stopover for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3299568/costa-rica-and-honduras-join-panama-stopovers-deportees-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3299568/costa-rica-and-honduras-join-panama-stopovers-deportees-us?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Feb 2025 04:56:05 +0000 More than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans – ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites and Unitarian Universalists – filed a federal court lawsuit on Tuesday challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Washington, contends that the new policy is spreading fear of raids, thus lowering attendance at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3298431/christian-and-jewish-groups-sue-trump-over-immigration-raids-worship-arrests-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3298431/christian-and-jewish-groups-sue-trump-over-immigration-raids-worship-arrests-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:55:51 +0000 The United States and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war after the White House said the South American nation had agreed to accept military aircraft carrying deported migrants. US President Donald Trump had threatened tariffs and sanctions on Colombia to punish it for earlier refusing to accept military flights carrying deportees as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. But in a statement late on Sunday, the White House said Colombia had agreed to accept the migrants after... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3296368/trump-us-will-impose-sanctions-against-colombia-over-repatriation-flights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3296368/trump-us-will-impose-sanctions-against-colombia-over-repatriation-flights?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2025 19:20:38 +0000 A court in New York on Wednesday sentenced former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez to 45 years in prison after he was convicted of trafficking hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the United States. Anti-Hernandez protesters gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse ahead of sentencing brandishing placards decrying the former head of state’s crimes with one declaring “Narco government – makes the people emigrate”. “The role of Mr Hernandez was to use his political power as president of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3268185/us-jails-ex-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-45-years-drugs-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3268185/us-jails-ex-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-45-years-drugs-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:52:39 +0000 The president of Honduras has announced the creation of a new 20,000-capacity “megaprison”, part of the government’s larger crackdown on gang violence and efforts to overhaul its long-troubled prison system. President Xiomara Castro unveiled a series of emergency measures in a nationally televised address early Saturday, including plans to strengthen the military’s role in fighting organised crime, prosecute drug traffickers as terrorists and build new facilities to ease overcrowding as... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3266780/honduras-build-20000-capacity-megaprison-crackdown-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3266780/honduras-build-20000-capacity-megaprison-crackdown-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Jun 2024 22:03:39 +0000 The US government awarded the state of Maryland US$60 million in federal emergency relief on Thursday in response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an extraordinarily fast disbursement after such a disaster. The bridge came tumbling down early on Tuesday after a massive cargo freighter that had lost power ploughed into the structure in Baltimore Harbour. Two bodies have been recovered and four other missing people are presumed dead. Maryland Governor Wes Moore had... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3257159/us-awards-us60-million-emergency-relief-maryland-after-bridge-collapse-source-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3257159/us-awards-us60-million-emergency-relief-maryland-after-bridge-collapse-source-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Mar 2024 22:13:56 +0000 The construction workers who went missing in the Baltimore bridge collapse all hailed from Mexico or Central America before they settled in the Maryland area. Police managed to close bridge traffic seconds before a cargo ship slammed into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s supports early on Tuesday, causing the span to fall into the frigid Patapsco River. There was no time for a maintenance crew filling potholes on the span to get to safety. At least eight people fell into the water and two... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3256996/central-american-and-mexican-families-mourn-missing-workers-baltimore-bridge-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3256996/central-american-and-mexican-families-mourn-missing-workers-baltimore-bridge-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2024 19:32:56 +0000 Former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernandez was found guilty on Friday of drug trafficking conspiracy by a US jury, cementing the one-time US ally’s fall from grace. Jurors in federal court in Manhattan needed about two days to reach a verdict, following a two-week trial. Hernandez, 55, faces possible life in prison. US District Judge Kevin Castel will determine his sentence at a later date. Renato Stabile, a lawyer for Hernandez, said his client plans to appeal the verdict. Hernandez led... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3254768/ex-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-convicted-us-drug-trafficking-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3254768/ex-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-convicted-us-drug-trafficking-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Mar 2024 20:51:09 +0000 Beijing’s top Taiwan affairs official has called for more efforts to support pro-unification forces and deepen cultural ties a month after the presidential election was won by an independence-leaning candidate. Wang Huning, who heads the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, told the Taiwan Affairs Work Conference that this year its task was to “advance the process of reunification” and “maintain peace and stability” across the Taiwan Strait, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday. 2... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253057/mainland-chinas-top-taiwan-official-pledges-support-pro-unification-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253057/mainland-chinas-top-taiwan-official-pledges-support-pro-unification-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Feb 2024 14:51:13 +0000 St John’s Bay, on the Honduran island of Roatán, is a start-up city that is attracting tech innovators, crypto mavericks and longevity gurus hoping to push the limits of human advancement. The city was created by Próspera, a US-registered firm backed by investment heavyweights such as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel that aims to operate a network of such cities with minimal regulatory barriers to innovation. Próspera is Spanish for “prosperous”. Many of the 100 residents currently living in St... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3247034/biohacker-bryan-johnsons-visited-treatment-how-20-version-dubai-seeded-us-based-prospera-honduras?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3247034/biohacker-bryan-johnsons-visited-treatment-how-20-version-dubai-seeded-us-based-prospera-honduras?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:45:18 +0000 Reuters Reuters The Honduran government on Friday told Chinese officials it is seeking investors to help fund construction of a proposed US$20 billion rail line connecting the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts, part of a binational trade and investment push. Honduras also discussed infrastructure projects relating to dams and energy generation, Honduran economic development minister Fredis Cerrato told reporters. “We presented [Chinese officials] with the projects that Honduras is interested in getting... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3227000/honduras-seeking-chinese-investors-us20-billion-transoceanic-rail-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3227000/honduras-seeking-chinese-investors-us20-billion-transoceanic-rail-line?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jul 2023 22:58:30 +0000 Lawrence Chung Lawrence Chung Taiwan is keeping a wary eye on the upcoming presidential run-off in Guatemala, after losing Honduras – another long-time Central American ally – to Beijing some three months ago. Guatemala is among a handful of countries that still maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei, in a relationship going back decades. But a victory for the pro-Beijing hopeful might well change that. Presidential elections were held in Guatemala on June 25. However, none of the 22 candidates managed to cross the 50 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3226816/taiwan-keeps-close-watch-guatemala-presidential-run-after-losing-honduras-beijing-march?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3226816/taiwan-keeps-close-watch-guatemala-presidential-run-after-losing-honduras-beijing-march?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:00:19 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick On October 23, 1962, US secretary of state Dean Rusk convened the Council of the Organization of American States for an emergency meeting in Washington. Following an agreement between Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, he told the members, two American aircraft discovered the construction of nuclear missile facilities in Cuba. Rusk tried to convince the Latin American partners that a crisis of this kind threatened the whole region and that all OAS members should... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3226144/why-reports-chinese-spy-base-cuba-are-met-shrugs-latin-america-where-us-influence-waning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3226144/why-reports-chinese-spy-base-cuba-are-met-shrugs-latin-america-where-us-influence-waning?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jun 2023 16:01:08 +0000 Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced on Sunday security measures including raids, checkpoints and curfews in the north of the country to quell a wave of drug trafficking-linked violence following the massacre of 11 people in a pool hall by gunmen. Armed men burst into the pool hall in the city of Choloma in Cortes province late on Saturday night and began shooting people at point blank range, police said. Ten men and one woman were killed. The massacre followed the killing of three... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3225344/honduran-president-announces-security-measures-after-massacre-11-pool-hall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3225344/honduran-president-announces-security-measures-after-massacre-11-pool-hall?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jun 2023 20:23:41 +0000 A grisly riot at a women’s prison in Honduras Tuesday left at least 41 women dead, most burned to death, in violence the country’s president blamed on “mara” street gangs that often wield broad power inside penitentiaries. Twenty-six of the victims were burned to death and the remainder shot or stabbed at the prison in Tamara, about 50km (30 miles) northwest of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, said Yuri Mora, the spokesman for Honduras’ national police investigation agency. At least seven... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3224811/41-dead-gang-violence-honduras-womens-prison?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3224811/41-dead-gang-violence-honduras-womens-prison?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jun 2023 21:28:20 +0000 Beijing’s promises of free-trade deals and infrastructure cooperation are likely to be a bigger lure for Taipei’s remaining diplomatic allies in Latin America than those in the Pacific, according to analysts. The assessment follows Honduran President Xiomara Castro’s red carpet treatment in Beijing last week, her first trip to the mainland China since her country switched diplomatic ties from Taipei in March. During their meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the “historic decisiveness”... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3224453/why-beijings-trade-deals-tempt-taipeis-allies-latin-america-not-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3224453/why-beijings-trade-deals-tempt-taipeis-allies-latin-america-not-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jun 2023 12:00:19 +0000 Business Insider Business Insider Worldwide, scientists have found that there’s around a 20cm, or 7.8 inch, difference between the average height of a child in the tallest and shortest countries, according to the BBC. When it comes to adults, in countries like the Netherlands – ranked as the tallest on Earth – the average person towers as high as 175.62cm (5 feet 7.96 inches). But at the other end of the scale, the average height is considerably lower. Below is a ranking of average height data compiled using a 2020 medical... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3223878/asia-has-14-worlds-top-25-shortest-countries-can-you-guess-whos-no-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3223878/asia-has-14-worlds-top-25-shortest-countries-can-you-guess-whos-no-1?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jun 2023 04:32:07 +0000 Hayley Wong Hayley Wong China is determined to support Honduras’ economic growth, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Honduran counterpart Xiomara Castro in their first meeting since the Central American country switched its allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing. China rolled out the red carpet for Castro on Monday in Beijing, with Xi receiving her personally at the Great Hall of the People. Xi praised the “historic decisiveness” and “strong political will” that Castro showed as she fulfilled her election campaign... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3223841/xi-jinping-says-beijing-will-support-honduras-economy-while-stressing-one-china-principle-foundation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3223841/xi-jinping-says-beijing-will-support-honduras-economy-while-stressing-one-china-principle-foundation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jun 2023 14:30:15 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik The foreign ministers of China and Honduras were on hand for the opening of the Central American nation’s embassy in Beijing on Sunday, cementing a diplomatic switch away from Taipei in March. The opening follows the launch of the Chinese embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa on Monday and comes midway through a trip to China by Honduran President Xiomara Castro. She landed in Shanghai on Friday and headed to Beijing on Saturday night where she will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3223708/honduras-opens-beijing-embassy-after-switch-taipei?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3223708/honduras-opens-beijing-embassy-after-switch-taipei?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jun 2023 09:30:09 +0000 Honduran President Xiomara Castro has arrived in Shanghai on her first trip to mainland China since the Central American nation established diplomatic ties with Beijing in March. Castro was met at the airport on Friday by Hua Yuan, Shanghai’s deputy mayor, and assistant foreign minister Hua Chunying, and welcomed by the Old Jazz Band performing a Honduran song at the Peace Hotel, where she is staying. Castro is expected to spend two days in the financial hub before heading to Beijing where she... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3223587/honduran-leader-xiomara-castro-starts-first-china-trip-after-establishing-diplomatic-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3223587/honduran-leader-xiomara-castro-starts-first-china-trip-after-establishing-diplomatic-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jun 2023 14:00:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Honduran President Xiomara Castro is set to travel this week to China, her foreign minister said on Monday, which will be the leftist leader’s first visit to the Asian giant after establishing formal diplomatic relations with it in March. Castro’s trip marks the latest step in the two nations’ new relationship, after her government ditched ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing. Foreign Minister Enrique Reina told reporters at an event inaugurating China’s embassy in Tegucigalpa that Castro will... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3223050/honduras-president-xiomara-castro-headed-china-first-trip-after-ties-established?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3223050/honduras-president-xiomara-castro-headed-china-first-trip-after-ties-established?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jun 2023 18:38:04 +0000 China, eager to build up a foreign trade network while its ties with the United States languish, has been stepping up efforts to bolster its economic relations in Latin America this year. Due to geographic proximity and long-standing political alliances, Latin America has traditionally looked to the US market as its top source of business. But deals in the region improve China’s ability to break down trade barriers, call for joint development and advance international use of the yuan. Argentina... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3221178/5-trade-moves-china-has-made-2023-latin-america-traditional-backyard-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3221178/5-trade-moves-china-has-made-2023-latin-america-traditional-backyard-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 May 2023 11:00:24 +0000 A 17-year-old boy from Honduras died this week in US immigration custody, American and Honduran officials said Friday, underscoring concerns about a strained immigration system as the Biden administration manages the end of asylum restrictions known as Title 42. The teenager was identified as Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, according to a tweet from Honduran foreign relations minister Enrique Reina. Maradiaga was detained at a facility in Safety Harbour, Florida, Reina said. He entered the US... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3220426/honduran-teen-dies-us-immigration-custody?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3220426/honduran-teen-dies-us-immigration-custody?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 May 2023 23:32:51 +0000 A man in Texas shot his next-door neighbours, killing an eight-year-old child and four others inside the house, with a rifle after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in his garden because they were trying to sleep, police said on Saturday. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters at the scene that police were still searching for 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza following the overnight shooting in the town of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72km) north of Houston. He said the search... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3218881/man-kills-5-texas-including-child-after-next-door-neighbours-complained-about-gunfire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3218881/man-kills-5-texas-including-child-after-next-door-neighbours-complained-about-gunfire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Apr 2023 16:32:32 +0000 There may be a more prized goal yet in Beijing’s quest to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, such as getting the Vatican to switch diplomatic relations to mainland China. There may have been more strategic ones in the recent past, such as Panama, given that Chinese shipping is the second largest user of its canal linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. But the announcement of formal ties with Honduras significantly extends Beijing’s influence in the US backyard of Central America, following the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215897/taiwan-feels-pain-one-china-principle-claims-another-ally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215897/taiwan-feels-pain-one-china-principle-claims-another-ally?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Apr 2023 21:44:48 +0000 Two Taiwanese leaders were heading in opposite directions this week in moves that will have a bearing on local politics, cross-strait ties and US-China relations. As incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen visited Central America with crucial stopovers in the United States, former President Ma Ying-jeou made a landmark journey to mainland China. Tsai and Ma come from the two dominant parties in Taiwanese politics, which represent diverging views on how to chart the self-ruled island’s future. Their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3215569/taiwanese-leaders-duelling-trips-offer-lessons-age-great-power-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3215569/taiwanese-leaders-duelling-trips-offer-lessons-age-great-power-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Apr 2023 02:00:18 +0000 The Central American nation of Honduras dropped a diplomatic bombshell recently, when its president, Xiomara Castro, announced that she had instructed the country’s foreign ministry to establish formal diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Honduras is one of only 14 countries in the world that recognises Taiwan, and under Beijing’s one-China principle, Honduras must sever its ties with Taiwan to establish official relations with China. In an interview, the Honduran foreign... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3214412/taiwans-warning-not-drink-mainland-chinas-poison-quench-your-thirst-story-phrase-recently-directed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3214412/taiwans-warning-not-drink-mainland-chinas-poison-quench-your-thirst-story-phrase-recently-directed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Mar 2023 08:45:17 +0000 Reuters Reuters A high-ranking envoy of President Joe Biden will travel to Panama and Honduras this month, the US Department of State said on Thursday, days after Taiwan ally Honduras said it would establish formal diplomatic ties with China. Chris Dodd, the US special presidential adviser for the Americas, will visit the two Central American countries from March 17 to March 21, the department said in a statement. In recent years, the United States has focused on migration and security challenges stemming from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3213824/senior-us-envoy-travel-panama-and-honduras-coming-days?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3213824/senior-us-envoy-travel-panama-and-honduras-coming-days?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Mar 2023 23:57:11 +0000 Lawrence Chung Lawrence Chung Honduras may eventually ditch Taiwan to establish official ties with Beijing in the latest diplomatic tussle between the self-ruled island and the Chinese mainland. Honduran President Xiomara Castro, who had promised to switch ties to Beijing during her election campaign in 2021 before later backtracking, has instructed the country’s foreign minister to begin the process of establishing formal relations with Beijing. The move was “a sign of my determination to comply with the government plan and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3213554/honduras-looks-formal-ties-mainland-china-move-set-further-isolate-taiwan-and-diminish-its-allies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3213554/honduras-looks-formal-ties-mainland-china-move-set-further-isolate-taiwan-and-diminish-its-allies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2023 03:29:17 +0000 Vietnam’s vast hoard of coffee beans is shrinking, a phenomenon that’s set to push rising global prices even higher. Stockpiles will halve by the end of September from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a survey of traders. Output from Vietnam, the world’s largest robusta supplier and second-largest coffee producer, is also expected to drop in 2022-23. The dwindling reserves and poor harvest outlook come at a time when global coffee consumption is recovering from a virus-induced... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3189983/vietnams-looming-coffee-shortage-threatens-send-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3189983/vietnams-looming-coffee-shortage-threatens-send-global?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Aug 2022 05:05:38 +0000 United States President Joe Biden did not adopt China’s cooperative approach towards other governments when he hosted leaders of his country’s southern neighbours at the recent Summit of the Americas. Global solutions on issues such as climate change require nations working together to achieve a common goal. The same approach is necessary on a regional level for development, cross-boundary infrastructure and security. Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and bilateral agreements have successfully... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3181851/divisive-us-approach-fails-cooperation-wins-china-friends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3181851/divisive-us-approach-fails-cooperation-wins-china-friends?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jun 2022 18:51:27 +0000 Two former mayors – a leftist and an independent outsider – will fight it out for the Colombian presidency on June 19 after coming out tops in a first voting round Sunday. Gustavo Petro, 62, is hoping to become Colombia’s first-ever left-wing – and first ex-guerilla – president, having received more than 40 per cent of votes to 28 per cent for surprise second-place candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, 77. Ivan Duque – who beat Petro to the presidency in 2018 – leaves office with record disapproval... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3179647/colombias-presidential-race-heads-june-run-after-none?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3179647/colombias-presidential-race-heads-june-run-after-none?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 May 2022 23:34:37 +0000 The United States extradited former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez on Thursday on charges of participating in a cocaine-importation conspiracy and related firearms offences, the Justice Department said. The indictment marked a stunning fall from grace for the former Washington ally who led the Central American nation from 2014 to January 2022. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Hernandez received millions of dollars from drug trafficking organisations, including from the former... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3175124/honduras-ex-president-hernandez-extradited-us-drugs-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3175124/honduras-ex-president-hernandez-extradited-us-drugs-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Apr 2022 02:17:02 +0000 Handcuffed and shackled, former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez arrived at his first extradition hearing on Wednesday, where he was met by dozens of boisterous fans as well as emboldened critics who assailed what they called his narco-dictatorship. Hernandez governed the Central American nation for eight years until last month and now faces a US extradition request issued Tuesday that seeks to force him to face drug trafficking charges in US courts. “You are not alone! There is a great... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3167338/handcuffs-former-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3167338/handcuffs-former-honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Feb 2022 23:06:23 +0000