https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/519160/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election marks a turning point for Latin America and US-Latin American relations, said Chile’s former top envoy to China, who predicted a slowing of Washington’s regional push. “I do think the re-election of President Lula marks a major turning point in Latin America and in US-Latin American relations, while also having a broader significance for the Global South,” said Jorge Heine, who served as Chile’s ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017 and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3372318/lulas-win-brazil-deals-blow-trumps-latin-america-push-former-china-envoy https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3372318/lulas-win-brazil-deals-blow-trumps-latin-america-push-former-china-envoy Tue, 27 Oct 2026 15:00:14 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick BYD is studying whether to manufacture lithium batteries in Argentina, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on Thursday after meeting Stella Li, the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s executive vice-president. According to Quirno, the company was looking at “investment opportunities in Argentina linked to the lithium value chain, particularly in the production of batteries and energy storage systems”. He did not say how much BYD might spend or where the factory could go. The minister tied the talks... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370236/chinas-byd-considering-lithium-battery-plant-argentina-foreign-minister-says https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370236/chinas-byd-considering-lithium-battery-plant-argentina-foreign-minister-says Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:52:55 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China pledges to ‘firmly support’ Cuba as US escalates pressure on Havana China will stand by Cuba in defending its sovereignty and resisting outside interference, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said as Washington stepped up its campaign to force political change in Havana. Read... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369252/china-backs-cuba-beijings-panama-threat-new-un-chief-7-latin-america-relations-reads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369252/china-backs-cuba-beijings-panama-threat-new-un-chief-7-latin-america-relations-reads Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:00:14 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick China is poised to decide which of two Latin American women becomes the first to lead the United Nations, after three rounds of informal voting in the Security Council failed to produce a favourite. Several UN delegations that spoke to the South China Morning Post over the past three days said Beijing was weighing Rebeca Grynspan, the Costa Rican economist who heads UN Trade and Development, and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s ambassador to the UN. The same delegations said China had ruled... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3368869/china-set-decide-if-costa-rican-or-guyanese-diplomat-becomes-first-woman-un-chief https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3368869/china-set-decide-if-costa-rican-or-guyanese-diplomat-becomes-first-woman-un-chief Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:09:32 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Eighteen suspects in the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise have been transported to Florida to stand trial, US officials said Sunday. Moise, 53, was gunned down on July 7, 2021, at his private residence by a hired group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him. “Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice,” FBI... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368182/us-extradites-18-suspects-2021-killing-haitian-president https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368182/us-extradites-18-suspects-2021-killing-haitian-president Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:52:18 +0000 Han Li Han Li Amid rising tensions over artificial intelligence (AI) competition and global concerns about the technology, China appears to have an edge over the US and European Union (EU) in trust to regulate AI among mostly middle-income countries. A new Pew Research Centre report released on Thursday found that, on a median basis across 11 countries and two territories, more people trust China than the US or the EU to regulate AI effectively. China was not among the countries surveyed in the broader... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367776/china-trusted-more-us-eu-ai-regulation-pew-survey-middle-income-countries https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367776/china-trusted-more-us-eu-ai-regulation-pew-survey-middle-income-countries Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:00:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Rescuers retrieved more remains from a passenger ferry in the Philippines that was gutted by fire, bringing the death toll on Saturday to 76 with 13 missing. Forty-three people survived the fire on Wednesday night among the 132 on board. The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, and was off the village of Turda some 39km (24 miles) from its destination, the Port of Coron, when the fire was reported on Wednesday evening. The cause of the blaze has not been determined but a survivor said it may... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3367295/bodies-philippine-ferry-arrive-port-after-fire-killed-least-35 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3367295/bodies-philippine-ferry-arrive-port-after-fire-killed-least-35 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:22:43 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu Copper prices have surged to an all-time high on the London Metal Exchange (LME) amid anticipations of potential US tariffs and a tightening supply crunch, with analysts expecting prices to remain elevated in the short term. Benchmark three-month copper futures closed at US$14,510 a tonne on Monday, after rising to a record high of US$14,533 a tonne earlier in the session, surpassing the previous record set in January. The rally came with the market widely expecting the United States to expand... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3366787/copper-rally-sets-record-price-lme-us-tariff-fears-fuel-scramble-stockpiles https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3366787/copper-rally-sets-record-price-lme-us-tariff-fears-fuel-scramble-stockpiles Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:00:13 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick A Chilean court on Monday fined a Chinese man caught with cocaine inside a Santiago prison, where he is being held on charges of homicide, kidnapping and drug trafficking. It was the second such ruling in five involving a Chinese inmate in five months, with prosecutors linking the two men to the same criminal network. Officers had searched Haifeng Tang at Santiago Uno prison on August 12, a day before his move to La Laguna, the maximum-security jail at the centre of President Jose Antonio Kast’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365899/chile-fines-chinese-mafia-inmate-after-cocaine-found-maximum-security-prison https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365899/chile-fines-chinese-mafia-inmate-after-cocaine-found-maximum-security-prison Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:41:04 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The Philippines is positioning itself as Latin America’s bridge to Southeast Asia, testing whether shared history and culture can translate into hard trade figures as Asean and the Mercosur bloc look beyond their traditional partners. Manila’s Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro made the pitch during visits to Brazil and Chile from August 10 to 13. “Upon this human foundation, commercial bridges thrive: the Philippines stands as the premier strategic gateway for Latin American firms expanding... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3365014/philippines-stakes-claim-latin-americas-asean-gateway https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3365014/philippines-stakes-claim-latin-americas-asean-gateway Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Panama Canal will cut the number of ships passing through it starting next month because of drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon, the operator of the strategic waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific said on Thursday. From September 3, the number of vessels allowed through each day will fall from 36 to 34 due to low water levels in two artificial lakes that feed the canal, the Panama Canal Authority said. It will drop to 32 from September 15 on, the agency said. Central America is in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3364947/panama-canal-reduce-shipping-over-el-nino-fuelled-drought https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3364947/panama-canal-reduce-shipping-over-el-nino-fuelled-drought Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:11:08 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Three Latin American governments that moved against Chinese commercial interests over the past year were named in a White House report on Thursday, which accused Chinese exporters of routing goods through third countries to evade US tariffs. Mexico, Panama and Colombia now join Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic among more than 40 countries the report says carry elevated risk of illegal transshipment, the practice of moving goods through an intermediate country... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3363963/us-accuses-9-latin-american-countries-helping-china-avoid-trumps-tariffs https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3363963/us-accuses-9-latin-american-countries-helping-china-avoid-trumps-tariffs Thu, 13 Aug 2026 23:20:03 +0000 Huizhao Huang,Xiaofei Xu Huizhao Huang,Xiaofei Xu Chinese battery makers are “piling into” zero-carbon industrial estates as Europe prepares to cap the emissions embedded in the batteries it imports, a defensive response that could become an exportable advantage in industrial carbon management, according to a report by Gavekal Technologies. The European Union’s Battery Regulation will require electric-vehicle and industrial batteries sold in the bloc to carry a digital passport disclosing verified life cycle emissions from February 2027, with a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3363311/eu-compliance-export-edge-chinas-battery-makers-race-zero-carbon-estates https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3363311/eu-compliance-export-edge-chinas-battery-makers-race-zero-carbon-estates Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:45:05 +0000 Juan Fernando Herrera Ramos Juan Fernando Herrera Ramos For over two decades, governments across the developing world have viewed closer economic ties with China as an essential component of their economic development strategies. As the world’s second-largest economy, China offers access to an enormous consumer market, abundant capital and an increasingly sophisticated industrial ecosystem. China is now among the top three trading partners for 157 countries and regions worldwide, while bilateral trade with many developing economies has reached record... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3363007/trade-ties-alone-will-not-win-china-goodwill-developing-world https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3363007/trade-ties-alone-will-not-win-china-goodwill-developing-world Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:30:06 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado Latin American countries should resist pressure to choose between the United States and China and use their vast reserves of lithium, copper and other strategic resources to strengthen their negotiating power, according to a high-level commission co-chaired by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and former Colombian president Ivan Duque. But the commission acknowledges that the region’s room for manoeuvre is sharply constrained in security, technology and critical infrastructure, areas in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3362979/bachelet-led-panel-urges-latin-america-not-choose-sides-us-china-rivalry https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3362979/bachelet-led-panel-urges-latin-america-not-choose-sides-us-china-rivalry Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:50:12 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile’s Kast courts China day after US hits exports with forced labour tariff Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast received China’s ambassador to Santiago, Niu Qingbao, at the La Moneda Palace, in an encounter that lasted more than an hour and marked the first meeting between the two... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3362614/cuban-spy-base-allegations-new-trump-tariffs-7-latin-america-relations-reads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3362614/cuban-spy-base-allegations-new-trump-tariffs-7-latin-america-relations-reads Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:00:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela’s imprisoned former leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday welcomed “any path to dialogue”, ahead of a US-backed meeting in the coming week between representatives of the Latin American country’s interim government and opposition leaders. The leftist Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured in a US military raid in January and are being held in a New York detention centre awaiting trial on charges related to drug and firearms trafficking. They have pleaded not guilty. “We welcome any... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3362731/jailed-ex-leader-maduro-welcomes-any-path-dialogue-venezuela-ahead-us-talks https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3362731/jailed-ex-leader-maduro-welcomes-any-path-dialogue-venezuela-ahead-us-talks Sun, 02 Aug 2026 20:40:52 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast received China’s ambassador to Santiago, Niu Qingbao, at the La Moneda Palace on Friday morning, in an encounter that lasted more than an hour and marked the first meeting between the two men since the right-wing leader took office in March. According to the presidency, Kast, Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Patricio Torres used the meeting to review their bilateral agenda, the minister’s coming trip to China and the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3362612/chiles-kast-courts-china-day-after-us-hits-exports-forced-labour-tariff https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3362612/chiles-kast-courts-china-day-after-us-hits-exports-forced-labour-tariff Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:00:29 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Japan and South Korea’s prominent roles in this year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises have fuelled speculation over whether the two neighbours might set aside their historical grievances and deepen defence cooperation. Held in waters off Hawaii, this year’s Rimpac is the world’s largest maritime exercise, involving 30 nations, more than 30,000 troops and an armada of aircraft, surface ships and submarines. Running from June 24 to July 31, the exercise saw South Korean Rear... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362437/us-led-drills-edge-japan-and-south-korea-closer-defence https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362437/us-led-drills-edge-japan-and-south-korea-closer-defence Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:32 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin Rebeca Grynspan, the former vice-president of Costa Rica, emerged as an early front runner to be the next United Nations secretary general on Thursday, as the Security Council began the selection process, with a first “straw poll” held behind closed doors to evaluate support for candidates vying for the role at the embattled world body. Antonio Guterres, the current UN chief, is set to complete his second five-year term on the final day of 2026, leaving the high-profile role open for a new... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3362445/selection-next-un-chief-gets-underway-first-straw-poll https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3362445/selection-next-un-chief-gets-underway-first-straw-poll Thu, 30 Jul 2026 20:09:36 +0000 Gabriel Dominguez Gabriel Dominguez This year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises around Hawaii displayed a higher level of integration of new technology in allied operations, with deterring Beijing in mind, experts said. From Japanese land-based anti-ship missiles to US attack submarines and exploding drone boats, allied forces linked troops on shore with aircraft, surface and undersea vessels to form a single network able to find, track and attack the same maritime target. The drills, which ran from June 24... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/military/article/3362134/what-does-deeper-tech-integration-during-us-led-rimpac-mean-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/military/article/3362134/what-does-deeper-tech-integration-during-us-led-rimpac-mean-china Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:08 +0000 Edith Lin Edith Lin Hong Kong’s trade promotion body will set up a new office in Egypt within the next nine months to expand its footprint in Africa, while recalibrating resources for Nordic countries through its European bases as traditional markets face slower growth. Hong Kong Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Friday that the organisation had revamped its corporate structure to better help companies in six new industry clusters develop promotional strategies. Ma, a former commerce... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3361784/hong-kongs-tdc-open-egypt-office-it-eyes-african-nordic-markets https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3361784/hong-kongs-tdc-open-egypt-office-it-eyes-african-nordic-markets Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:26:47 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The six candidates vying to lead the United Nations stressed the importance of restoring the credibility of an organisation in crisis during a restrained debate Thursday, one week before the selection process formally starts. With the campaign struggling to generate real enthusiasm for a front-runner, the hopefuls faced nearly two hours of questions from diplomats, UN employees and civil society representatives at an event in the huge General Assembly Hall, broadcast by Bloomberg. Chile’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/article/3361688/un-leader-candidates-pitch-visions-save-world-body-crisis https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/article/3361688/un-leader-candidates-pitch-visions-save-world-body-crisis Fri, 24 Jul 2026 04:40:29 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Chile wants to widen the group of countries buying its copper and attract about US$100 billion in mining investment over the next decade, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, in the most explicit move yet by the new government in Santiago to reduce its exposure to Chinese demand. “The market is highly concentrated and we need to broaden the number of places that buy our copper,” Francisco Perez Mackenna said at a Bloomberg summit in Singapore, part of a tour through the Asia-Pacific. He said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3361514/chile-hunts-copper-buyers-beyond-china-us100-billion-mining-plan https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3361514/chile-hunts-copper-buyers-beyond-china-us100-billion-mining-plan Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:59:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US Department of Agriculture dramatically lowered its reported beef export sales for late June on Thursday, sparking fresh concerns about the quality of the agency’s data after staffing losses as part of the Trump administration’s reshaping of the federal government. USDA said exporters in late June sold a net 12,064 tonnes of US beef to foreign buyers, 90 per cent lower than the volume it originally reported ‌a week ago. Traders had largely dismissed USDA’s initial report as inaccurate.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3360037/usda-lowers-reported-beef-export-sales-90-amid-growing-doubts-over-data https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3360037/usda-lowers-reported-beef-export-sales-90-amid-growing-doubts-over-data Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:08:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hernan Gil was working his shift as a security guard in the basement of a building in Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24 when he felt the earth shake. The first tremor was short, Gil recounted in an interview from the hospital room where he was recovering after being rescued from the depths of a collapsed building. Gil became a symbol of hope for Venezuela after he survived eight days of being buried alive by the double earthquake that devastated the north of the Caribbean country, leaving... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359537/venezuela-quake-survivor-shares-ordeal-after-8-days-buried-alive https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359537/venezuela-quake-survivor-shares-ordeal-after-8-days-buried-alive Mon, 06 Jul 2026 04:59:06 +0000 Tristan Eng Tristan Eng As the fallout from the Iran war has renewed attention to the fragility of global supply chains, Singapore is emerging as a leading architect of new agreements and partnerships to maintain the flow of essential goods. In early April, Australia and Singapore announced they had substantially concluded negotiations on a legally binding protocol covering economic resilience and essential supplies, including petroleum and liquefied natural gas. Weeks later, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3359349/singapores-trade-pacts-prove-small-states-can-shape-global-rules https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3359349/singapores-trade-pacts-prove-small-states-can-shape-global-rules Sat, 04 Jul 2026 04:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. The latest discovery has a “shorter” snout, a “darker coloration pattern” and a “much longer spine on its dorsal fin”, according to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica. The discovery marked the only such species “known for the Central American coast”, Sibaja said, adding genetic analysis indicated the new species had “no reproductive... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359390/new-ghost-shark-species-may-have-been-found-costa-rica https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359390/new-ghost-shark-species-may-have-been-found-costa-rica Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:30:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. The official death toll has risen to nearly 2,600 and huge numbers of people are still missing, which meant the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed seven-storey... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359219/venezuelan-man-rescued-rubble-8-days-after-deadly-quakes-truly-miracle https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3359219/venezuelan-man-rescued-rubble-8-days-after-deadly-quakes-truly-miracle Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:19:38 +0000 Reuters Reuters When late Venezuelan ⁠leader Hugo Chavez built this coastal housing development bearing his name as part of his socialist revolution, residents found ⁠a fresh start after deadly floods had decimated the area more than a decade earlier. But after two back-to-back earthquakes flattened parts of the 1,100-unit complex last Wednesday, engineers have urged the Venezuelan government to swiftly audit similar public housing that is still standing. “I lost my whole apartment,” said Yelsa Rojas, who since... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358864/why-did-they-pancake-building-failures-soft-soil-amplify-venezuela-quake-destruction https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358864/why-did-they-pancake-building-failures-soft-soil-amplify-venezuela-quake-destruction Tue, 30 Jun 2026 06:34:02 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Venezuela has received offers of rescue teams and humanitarian aid from across the Americas, including from right-wing governments that had broken off diplomatic relations with Caracas less than two years ago, in the wake of this week’s deadly twin earthquakes. The quakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and 39 seconds apart, struck the north of the country on Wednesday evening and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez declared a nationwide state... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358407/venezuela-earthquakes-draw-aid-governments-cut-ties-caracas https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358407/venezuela-earthquakes-draw-aid-governments-cut-ties-caracas Thu, 25 Jun 2026 22:52:32 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth The United States has assured India that future artificial intelligence models will not be “cut off” days after Washington abruptly banned Anthropic’s advanced models on national security grounds, a senior Indian official told the South China Morning Post on Thursday. “There was an understanding, and something that they [US officials] certainly mentioned, that access to technology, once it is provided, will not be cut off. I think that was an assurance,” said S. Krishnan, secretary of India’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/article/3358397/us-assures-india-over-ai-kill-switch-pax-silica-expands-bid-counter-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/article/3358397/us-assures-india-over-ai-kill-switch-pax-silica-expands-bid-counter-china Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:09:44 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Brazil’s federal police detained a Spanish citizen in Sao Paulo’s international Guarulhos airport for racism on Wednesday, the latest in a series of high-profile arrests of foreign tourists on similar grounds. Brazil has some of the strictest anti-racism laws in Latin America. Insulting a person on the basis of race carries a penalty of imprisonment from two to five years and a fine. The crew of a Latam airlines flight arriving from the northeastern city of Sao Luis called police, who arrested... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358256/brazil-detains-spanish-woman-racism-latest-high-profile-arrest https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3358256/brazil-detains-spanish-woman-racism-latest-high-profile-arrest Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:35:45 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US casts Cuba as China-linked security threat while still pushing for talks One day after the United States brought criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3355387/china-cuba-us-security-threat-brazils-rare-earths-latin-america-relations-reads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3355387/china-cuba-us-security-threat-brazils-rare-earths-latin-america-relations-reads Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:00:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters India ⁠has signed ⁠a deal with Vietnam under which it will supply BrahMos missiles which it has jointly ‌developed with Russia and is in “final stages” for a similar deal with Indonesia, India’s Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on ⁠Saturday. India has a strong commitment ‌to Asean nations, Singh said, without disclosing more details ‌of the deals related to BrahMos. Singh ⁠was ⁠speaking at Asia’s premier defence forum, ‌the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. India, which has been... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3355438/india-seals-brahmos-missile-deal-vietnam-eyes-indonesia-next https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3355438/india-seals-brahmos-missile-deal-vietnam-eyes-indonesia-next Sun, 31 May 2026 02:51:47 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Zimbabwe is betting that its move into lithium processing will finally break the cycle of digging and shipping ore that has defined its mining sector for decades. This follows the export of the continent’s first consignment of lithium sulphate by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, from its US$400 million Arcadia mine near Harare last month. The milestone came after Harare unexpectedly brought forward its ban on raw mineral exports to February this year to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354484/will-zimbabwes-lithium-strategy-help-it-break-value-adding-game https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354484/will-zimbabwes-lithium-strategy-help-it-break-value-adding-game Sun, 24 May 2026 07:00:07 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Carol Yang Ralph Jennings,Carol Yang Conflict in the Middle East threatens 20 per cent of world copper production due to disrupted raw material flows and higher costs across a supply chain ranging from Africa through China to South America, a Chinese state-owned metals company’s research institute has warned. As leading hubs for hydrometallurgical copper production, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile were highly exposed to the supply shock, the China Minmetals Economic Research Institute said in a report issued on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/article/3353562/hormuz-crisis-tarnishing-copper-production-raising-costs-chinese-analysts-say https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/article/3353562/hormuz-crisis-tarnishing-copper-production-raising-costs-chinese-analysts-say Thu, 14 May 2026 12:00:19 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse There is an “almost zero” chance that the Dutch man linked to the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship contracted the disease in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, a provincial health official said on Friday. Juan Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is located, told reporters that his assessment was based on the virus’s incubation period, among other factors. The Dutch man and his wife, both of whom died of the virus, boarded the Hondius in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3352964/almost-zero-chance-dutch-man-got-hantavirus-argentinas-ushuaia-official-says https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3352964/almost-zero-chance-dutch-man-got-hantavirus-argentinas-ushuaia-official-says Fri, 08 May 2026 21:05:29 +0000 Emiliano Martínez Viademonte Emiliano Martínez Viademonte A new study from the University of Chile suggests that common artificial sweeteners may trigger biological changes that are passed down to future generations. The research focused on sucralose and stevia, two of the world’s most widely used non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS). The additives could alter gut microbiota, gene expression and metabolism in mice, with some effects persisting in their first- and second-generation offspring, even in offspring who were never directly exposed to the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3352572/do-artificial-sweeteners-cause-inheritable-biological-changes https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3352572/do-artificial-sweeteners-cause-inheritable-biological-changes Thu, 07 May 2026 01:00:12 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile exposes smuggling ring that shipped US$917m in stolen copper to China Chinese buyers were the end destination of a five-year smuggling pipeline that drained an estimated US$917 million worth of stolen copper from Chile, authorities said in April after police dismantled the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351914/beijing-backs-cuba-brazil-slams-byd-slave-labour-conditions-latin-america-relations-reads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351914/beijing-backs-cuba-brazil-slams-byd-slave-labour-conditions-latin-america-relations-reads Fri, 01 May 2026 15:00:09 +0000 Kandy Wong Kandy Wong As the US-Israel war in Iran drags into its third month, sulphuric acid – a chemical ingredient critical for fertiliser production and metal processing that has seldom grabbed global headlines – has become a keenly watched commodity. The military conflict in the Gulf and the effective blockage of the Strait of Hormuz initially triggered a squeeze on sulphuric acid, with prices on the rise after shipments in the region – which accounts for a quarter of global production – were largely stalled... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3351630/how-chinas-reported-ban-sulphuric-acid-exports-could-have-overseas-buyers-reeling https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3351630/how-chinas-reported-ban-sulphuric-acid-exports-could-have-overseas-buyers-reeling Tue, 28 Apr 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Themis Qi Themis Qi Amid geopolitical tensions, China’s Tianqi Lithium has decided to skip Africa and will stick to domestic salt lakes to secure the supply of a battery mineral, according to its president Frank Ha Chun-shing. The move comes as the oil shock stemming from Middle Eastern conflicts is driving up global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs). Lithium, which can be extracted from hard rock and salt flat brines, can be processed into lithium carbonate, a raw... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/commodities/article/3351363/chinas-tianqi-lithium-favour-domestic-salt-lakes-over-africa-amid-resource-nationalism https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/commodities/article/3351363/chinas-tianqi-lithium-favour-domestic-salt-lakes-over-africa-amid-resource-nationalism Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:30:08 +0000 Carol Yang Carol Yang China’s industrial giants are rapidly scaling up the use of AI-powered robots to operate vital infrastructure, with the country’s main grid operator unveiling a blockbuster plan to deploy thousands of bots to handle a range of roles – from inspecting remote substations to performing maintenance on ultra-high-voltage power lines. The State Grid Corporation of China has earmarked 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) for the procurement of embodied intelligence – or artificial intelligence-enabled... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3351323/china-plans-invest-billions-robot-army-run-its-power-grid https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3351323/china-plans-invest-billions-robot-army-run-its-power-grid Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:00:13 +0000 Kandy Wong Kandy Wong China’s reported decision to halt sulphuric acid exports, together with the failure of peace talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend, risks driving prices higher and disrupting global mining and fertiliser supply chains that have few readily available alternatives. Beijing had indicated it would halt shipments of sulphuric acid from May, according to reports from Acuity Commodities and Bloomberg, though no official announcement has been made. Economists said food security sat... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3349884/china-iran-war-and-chemical-suddenly-stoking-global-supply-fears https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3349884/china-iran-war-and-chemical-suddenly-stoking-global-supply-fears Mon, 13 Apr 2026 08:00:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Peru’s Keiko Fujimori looked set to face a run-off against a conservative rival after a troubled first-round presidential election on Sunday marred by logistics foul-ups, police raids and allegations of fraud. First counts and exit polls showed the 50-year-old daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori ahead in the 35-candidate race, but she was well short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright. Her nearest rival was far-right Rafael “Porky” Lopez Aliaga – who has vowed to “hunt”... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3349823/peru-extends-voting-president-and-congress-amid-delays-polling-sites https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3349823/peru-extends-voting-president-and-congress-amid-delays-polling-sites Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:56:40 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Chinese buyers were the end destination of a five-year smuggling pipeline that drained an estimated US$917 million worth of stolen copper from Chile, authorities said on Wednesday after police dismantled the network in one of the largest organised crime operations ever uncovered in the country. The group trucked stolen metal to Iquique, a port city in Chile’s far north, and shipped it to China in containers disguised as scrap cargo. Over the same period, it collected more than US$55 million in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349439/chile-exposes-smuggling-ring-shipped-us917m-stolen-copper-chinese-buyers https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349439/chile-exposes-smuggling-ring-shipped-us917m-stolen-copper-chinese-buyers Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:04:40 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. As Trump ramps up pressure on Cuba, China has ‘very limited options’ As Washington stepped up rhetoric and pressure on Cuba after the start of its campaign in Iran, Beijing found itself torn between geopolitical reality and ideological affinity. Read the full story here. 2. US threats... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3348581/us-threats-new-chile-leader-china-tariff-mexico-7-latin-america-relations-reads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3348581/us-threats-new-chile-leader-china-tariff-mexico-7-latin-america-relations-reads Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:00:10 +0000 He Huifeng He Huifeng Meltwater from snow-capped mountains is fostering an emerging trout-farming industry thousands of kilometres from the sea in western China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The region, famous for its cotton, is on track to become China’s top trout producer as it ramps up efforts to diversify its agricultural base following criticism of labour practices in the cotton sector that led to import bans overseas. In 2018, in response to rising domestic demand for Atlantic salmon and limited local... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3347727/how-salmon-raised-landlocked-xinjiang-netting-fans-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3347727/how-salmon-raised-landlocked-xinjiang-netting-fans-china Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:00:08 +0000 Emiliano Martínez Viademonte Emiliano Martínez Viademonte Chinese and Chilean scientists have reached the bottom of the Atacama Trench, where light does not penetrate, in what they called the “most ambitious” deep-sea expedition ever conducted in the eastern Pacific. The joint mission to one of the deepest ocean trenches – which runs parallel to the coasts of Peru and Chile – took place from January 19 to March 5. It comes as Chile’s expanding cooperation with China on science and technology has inflamed geopolitical tensions with the United... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3346781/china-and-chile-wrap-atacama-trench-mission-us-pressure-mounts https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3346781/china-and-chile-wrap-atacama-trench-mission-us-pressure-mounts Tue, 17 Mar 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast wasted no time. Less than a week after his inauguration, Chile’s arch-conservative president on Monday began overseeing preparations to build a border barrier - part of his flagship campaign promise to block immigrants from crossing illegally. From Chile’s northern frontier area of Chacalluta, where legions of immigrants have slipped across the Peruvian border into one of the region’s most prosperous nations, Kast vowed to implement what he calls his “Border... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3346819/channeling-trump-chiles-new-president-launches-work-border-barrier https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3346819/channeling-trump-chiles-new-president-launches-work-border-barrier Tue, 17 Mar 2026 02:32:31 +0000