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Entertainment

6 celebrities currently doing time behind bars

From R&B legends and a Real Housewife to a former sitcom star – these famous folks sensationally went from riches to rags overnight … and are still paying for their crimes.

Danny Masterson, Elizabeth Holmes and R. Kelly are all serving time in prison. Photos: AP, AFP, TNS

Entertainment

Who is Anchorman actor Will Ferrell’s art-loving wife, Viveca Paulin?

A former actress, Swedish-born Paulin originally connected with Ferrell in an acting programme in the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2000 that the pair tied the knot.

Will Ferrell’s wife, Viveca Paulin, is an art aficionado and his “partner in crime”. Photo: @BadassSpartacus/X

Diplomacy

Syria’s foreign minister wants to ‘strengthen relations’ with China

At UN meeting, Asaad al-Shaibani said Syria willing to build ‘strategic partnership’ with China, a key backer of ousted ruler Assad.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. Photo: AFP

Entertainment

From Sondheim to Les Misérables, shows galore from super-producer

Impresario Cameron Mackintosh talks about creating Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends and reinventing several of his classic shows for a new age.

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Jeremy Secomb (centre) in a new production of Cameron Mackintosh’s Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. Photo: AP

Comment

Editorial | Strategy of China’s Politburo sends right message to US in trade war

By rejecting bullying without closing door to negotiations, Beijing remains resolute on growth target and determination to protect economy.

President Xi Jinping (seen on Monday talking to business leaders) chaired a meeting of China’s Politburo, the inner power core of the Communist Party, to discuss the state of the economy. Photo: Johannes Neudecker/dpa
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Middle East

Israel’s security chief to step down on June 15, defusing battle with Netanyahu

Netanyahu moved to fire Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar last month over ‘crisis of confidence’ surrounding Hamas’ attacks, sparking uproar in Israel.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, centre, said on Monday he will step down as head of Israel’s domestic security service. Photo: EPA-EFE

Europe

Danish king’s Greenland trip pushed back a day amid Trump interest

Monday trip postponed after closure of Greenland’s airport due to bad weather. Trump has expressed interest in taking over the Arctic island.

Denmark’s King Frederik (right) and Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark on Monday. King Frederik’s trip to Greenland was postponed on Monday due to bad weather. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix via AP

Europe

Massive blackout causes chaos in Spain and Portugal

‘We still do not have conclusive information about the reasons for this outage … It’s better not to speculate,’ said Spain’s PM Sanchez.

People wait at a bus stop during a power cut which hit large parts of Spain, in Barcelona, Spain on Monday. Photo: Reuters

United States & Canada

US Treasury chief not worried about shops running out of items ‘at present’

Referring to Trump trade tariffs, particularly a 145 per cent levy on goods from China, Scott Bessent said: ‘I think we’ll see replacements’.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outside the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Society

Hong Kong sculpture with yellow raincoats won’t return outside Cultural Centre

Art commentator says decision will not look good to overseas audience amid city’s push to be hub for cultural exchange.

Lining Up, a row of 10 cast bronze sculptures of everyday people by the late Taiwanese artist Ju Ming, had stood outside the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui for years. Photo: Sam Tsang
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China

Trump’s immigration crackdown chills speech of foreign students, scholars in US

Critics say ‘America is shooting itself in the foot’ as many of the country’s brightest minds rethink their long-term investment.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Football

Ronaldo on track for Asian Champions League title as Saudi clubs dominate finals

Three clubs from the oil-rich kingdom, who spent almost US$1 billion in 2023, are in the final four, along with a Japanese team.

Cristiano Ronaldo (right) was among the scorers as his Al-Nassr team beat last season’s runners-up Yokohama F.Marinos 4-1 on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Society

Pope Francis cared deeply for ‘church in China’, Hong Kong mourners hear

About 1,000 people flocked to Hong Kong’s main Catholic cathedral for late pope’s requiem mass, including former leaders and current officials.

A requiem mass for Pope Francis was held at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception on Monday. Photo: Sun Yeung

Big Tech

Tencent, Alibaba buy Nvidia GPUs from ByteDance stockpile, report says

ByteDance’s rivals are acquiring some of its US$13.7 billion worth of Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are now barred from export to China.

Nvidia’s graphics processing units have become a hot commodity in China as US restrictions on the technology increase. Photo: Nvidia

United States & Canada

On election day, Trump wants Canada to become ‘cherished’ 51st state

Final polls indicate a tight race between Poilievre and Carney, who has warned the US under Trump ‘wants to break us’.

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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney walks at Ottawa International Airport in Ontario on Monday. Photo: Reuters
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China Economy

China’s food, energy supplies secure without US imports, official says

Beijing says it has self-sufficiency in staple crops and energy, and enough alternative import sources to offset even a total loss of US goods.

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The US has long been one of China’s top suppliers of soybeans, but China has been diversifying its supply base in recent years. Photo: Xinhua

China

China rejects Trump talk claims, Chinese marriages drop: SCMP daily highlights

From Beijing dismissing Trump’s claims of trade war talks to rising military spending in East Asia, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage.

US President Donald Trump claims that he received a phone call from Chinese President Xi Jinping over his trade war, but China has denied that the call took place. Photo: AP

Politics

Singapore election: race, foreign meddling hot topics with seats too close to call

Singapore’s election sees cost of living and foreign interference take centre stage as PM warns against weakened government amid tight races.

Singapore’s Merlion statue. Singapore’s election sees cost of living and foreign interference take centre stage. Photo: Shutterstock

Politics

Hutchison ports deal: China’s foreign ministry tells parties to ‘act prudently’

Spokesman weighs in on reports that Panama Canal ports may be separated from controversial US$23 billion deal.

China’s market regulator has said it will launch an antitrust probe into CK Hutchison Holdings’ deal. Photo: Sam Tsang

Tech

Chinese quantum computing firm tackles breast cancer screenings, drug design

Hefei-based Origin Quantum has demonstrated its computer’s ability to process medical imaging data ‘exponentially faster’ than classical machines.

Scientists work on the Origin Wukong superconducting quantum computer. Photo: Origin Quantum
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Science

China’s high-power microwave gun fires 10,000 shots in test, proving vacuum tech

Successful trials of gun that emits beams capable of attacking drones, missiles and more signal breakthrough in directed-energy weaponry.

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Researchers at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology built the technology and conducted the trials that have been documented in a peer-reviewed study. Photo: SCMP

Asia

Video | ‘We won’t survive’: Thai rice farmers brace for impact of US tariffs

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have compounded existing worries for farmers in the world’s second-largest rice-exporting nation.

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Thai rice farmers are bracing for the impact of US tariffs on their industry.

Global Economy

US farmers’ loss is Brazil’s gain as China diversifies soybean imports

With tariffs on US soybeans, most of China’s summer imports will come from Brazil, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s April outlook report.

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A worker handles soybeans in Campos Lindos, Brazil, during a February soy harvest. More of China’s soybean imports are coming from Brazil amid a tariff war with the United States. Photo: Reuters

World Opinion

Opinion | We need to talk about Trump’s war on the US Constitution

The US system of checks and balances hinges on an unspoken premise: that those who operate it at least respect the rule of law.

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US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on April 23. As Trump governs through unprecedented executive orders, the constitutional system of checks and balances shows signs of strain. Photo: AFP

Russia & Central Asia

Putin orders 72-hour Ukraine ceasefire in May to mark WWII victory

Kremlin said all combat operations will be suspended from May 8-10. Ukraine’s President Zelensky branded truce an ‘attempt at manipulation’.

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Ukrainian servicemen fire a howitzer towards Russian positions in the eastern Donetsk region on April 23. Photo: AFP
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China Business

Seres, Huawei’s carmaking partner, plans Hong Kong listing to fund expansion

Chongqing-based Seres joins state-owned Chery Automobile and EV battery maker CATL in seeking to raise funds in Hong Kong.

Employees work on the assembly line at Chinese carmaker Seres’ factory in Chongqing. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Tech Trends

DeepSeek speculation swirls online over Chinese AI start-up’s R2 model

The latest speculation includes R2’s imminent launch and the new benchmarks that it set in terms of cost-efficiency and performance.

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DeepSeek’s R2 artificial intelligence model was said to have been trained on a server cluster of Huawei Technologies’ Ascend 910B chips, according to Chinese social-media posts. Photo: Shutterstock

Politics

Taiwan tests civil defence readiness as foreign observers look on

Envoys from Japan, Canada and Netherlands monitor unscripted training for disinformation attacks and psychological warfare.

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Civil defence self-training groups from across Taiwan took part in a two-day joint training exercise that reflected a growing bottom-up effort to raise public consciousness about the importance of civilian disaster preparedness. Photo: CNA

Politics

Why flags on Sandy Cay symbolise latest flashpoint in South China Sea dispute

Experts interpret Manila’s counter flag-raising as an effort to resist Beijing’s creeping jurisdiction.

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In this photo provided by the National Task Force West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), Philippine inter-agency members which included Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine National Police - Maritime Group, hold the Philippine flag as they visit Sandy Cay 2 in the South China Sea on April 27. Photo: AP

Racing

Colourful King ‘getting better’ as Atzeni aims for a big night at Happy Valley

The Sardinian is aiming to edge closer to his half-century after another stellar season.

Colourful King and Andrea Atzeni sprint clear at Happy Valley. Photos: Kenneth Chan