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FCC denies US firm with Chinese links approval to provide telecoms services
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FCC denies US firm with Chinese links approval to provide telecoms services

The Federal Communications Commission said it was adding Digitalsystem Technology to a list of firms posing risks to US national security The US Federal Communications Commission ⁠said on Tuesday it is adding California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecoms firms and its ownership by a Chinese national. The FCC also said ‌it was denying the Los Angeles-based IT company permission to provide international telecommunications services, saying it could be exploited by Chinese threat actors. “There is significant risk that the government of China and other threat actors could exploit any vulnerabilities to the detriment of US national security and law enforcement interests,” the FCC said, citing ⁠concerns about the collection, disruption or misrouting of US communications. The company and Chinese embassy in ‌Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FCC cited concerns about Digitalsystem Technology partnerships with Hong Kong-based PCCW, China Unicom and ‌China Mobile.

China and Brazil’s cotton trade grows as bilateral trade deepens
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China and Brazil’s cotton trade grows as bilateral trade deepens

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. Brazil is the world's largest cotton exporter, claiming that top spot from the United States a couple years ago - and China is now its biggest customer. At a recent industry gathering in Santos, the people who grow, trade and ship the crop looked at ways to hold onto that lead. Paulo Cabral reports.

How Hong Kong is fighting to redefine its future with an institutional moat, wealth surge
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How Hong Kong is fighting to redefine its future with an institutional moat, wealth surge

Officials deploy multipronged strategy – from tax incentives to new gold clearing system – to recalibrate city’s global standing amid shifting capital flows, regulatory changes For decades, warnings of Hong Kong’s terminal decline have arrived in periodic waves. Despite the prominent American economist’s perceived gloom, the “Hong Kong is back” camp – led by a defiant local government – is wielding evidence to the contrary. The city claimed the IPO fundraising crown last year and ranked behind only New York and London in the latest Z/Yen Global Financial Centres Index. Behind the heated debate lies a fundamental question: in an era defined by shifting capital flows, geopolitical fragmentation and evolving regulatory frameworks, how can Hong Kong keep shining as a globally leading financial centre? “Hong Kong must adapt to a changing world order,” said Anthony Cheung, chair professor in public administration at the Education University of Hong Kong. As the city’s traditional intermediary role between China and global markets erodes, he argued, it must rely more explicitly on its institutional strengths to recalibrate its competitive position.

3 tracks are shaping the Middle East’s post-Iran war order
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3 tracks are shaping the Middle East’s post-Iran war order

The Iran battlefield might be quieter and diplomacy might have resumed, but the main contest has shifted to the architecture of the Middle East. The question is no longer whether Iran can be contained, the Strait of Hormuz can remain open or another round of escalation can be avoided. The larger issue is who will write the rules after the shock. Three tracks are taking shape. The first is led by the United States and built around the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the integration of Israel...

At UN, Cuba rallies support against ‘cruel’ and ‘ruthless’ US blockade
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At UN, Cuba rallies support against ‘cruel’ and ‘ruthless’ US blockade

Cuba’s foreign minister slammed the blockade’s ‘collective punishment’ of the population but the US envoy insisted ‘there is no blockade’ Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the “ruthless” US embargo against the communist island during a UN General Assembly debate on Tuesday that took place despite diplomatic pressure by Washington to prevent it. “The government of the United States is carrying out against Cuba a multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare that has already lasted for almost seven decades now and has become ever more cruel and more ruthless during the last seven months,” Rodriguez told the body, slamming the blockade’s “collective punishment” of the population. “Paying attention to this ruthless crime is also a responsibility of the United Nations,” he added. The damage wrought by the embargo during the period of March 2025 until February 2026 amounts to a record US$8 billion, a 7 per cent increase over the same period one year earlier, he said, noting the figures do not include the “extreme impact” of the fuel blockade the US imposed on Cuba in February. Most regional blocs, including countries in Africa and the Caribbean, expressed their support for Cuba on Tuesday and condemned the US blockade.

US strikes Iran, revokes oil waiver after attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz
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US strikes Iran, revokes oil waiver after attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz

US Central Command said it launched strikes ‘to impose heavy costs’ for attacks on commercial shipping in the strategic waterway US Central Command said American forces had begun military operations against Iran in response to attacks on commercial shipping transiting one of the world’s most strategically important waterways. “US Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” US Central Command said in a statement. Reports quoting US officials said the strikes targeted air defence systems, coastal surveillance facilities and drone positions. Iranian media reported explosions near the port area of Sirik on the country’s southern coast. The military response came hours after Washington moved to restore sanctions on Iranian oil by revoking a temporary waiver granted under an interim agreement reached following the end of hostilities last month. US officials said the attacks on shipping were incompatible with the understandings reached under that arrangement and warranted consequences.

China’s multi-front campaign to blunt and beat US chip bans
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China’s multi-front campaign to blunt and beat US chip bans

Support us Light and lasers are key to Netherlands' ASML's lithography equipment. Photo: ASML China is using several methods to circumvent United States export controls on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, including developing its own machines and stacking artificial intelligence (AI) chips to boost their performance. However, Washington suspects these may not be what Beijing has done alone. It says China may have already obtained an EUV machine from ASML through underground channels. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has questioned ASML’s senior executives over concerns that one of the Dutch company’s EUV systems may have ended up in China in breach of export restrictions, in a series of private meetings that began in April 2026, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Several US officials said they possess information indicating that ASML exported equipment associated with EUV systems, including specialized systems used to transport EUV machines, though they declined to disclose any evidence, citing sensitivity concerns. Such a scenario would represent a serious breach of the Wassenaar Arrangement, which bars ASML from shipping EUV lithography equipment to Chinese customers.

Colombia’s president-elect halts transition, accuses Petro of planning coup
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Colombia’s president-elect halts transition, accuses Petro of planning coup

President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella calls on the military to ‘protect’ the country’s democracy after outgoing leader alleges election fraud Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the incumbent leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coalition’s candidate Senator Ivan Cepeda, alleging fraud without providing evidence. The conservative, Trump-endorsed de la Espriella said in a video posted Tuesday on social media that Petro and Cepeda had launched a plan to “cling to power at all costs” through “a coup d’état” by refusing to recognise his victory. He did not provide evidence to support the allegation, and Petro did not immediately respond to it. “As president-elect, I call on Colombia’s armed forces to honour their oath to protect the Constitution and democracy and to disobey any orders from Petro to the contrary,” de la Espriella said.

What does China’s submarine missile test mean for its nuclear triad expansion?
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What does China’s submarine missile test mean for its nuclear triad expansion?

More than a technical milestone, the undersea launch sends a strategic signal to the US and Beijing’s neighbours in the Asia-Pacific, analysts say Monday’s test is also likely to reinforce calls in Washington and among US allies for greater defence investment and closer security coordination as regional tensions continue to rise, according to analysts. “This missile test appears to have been intended more for strategic signalling than for technical experimentation or operational development,” said Zhao Tong, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Although China has long been understood to possess this capability, this marks its first public demonstration.” Despite Beijing’s confirmation of the launch and its advance notification to countries including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, questions remain over which missile was tested, where it was launched from and which flight path it followed.

Hong Kong’s war-risk pool testament to collaboration, insurance leader says
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Hong Kong’s war-risk pool testament to collaboration, insurance leader says

Five local insurers built marine war-risk pool to address uncertainties over unstable conditions in the Middle East The launch of a marine war-risk pool by Hong Kong insurers is a prime example of how the city’s insurers can collaborate not just for the benefit of the local economy but for the entire nation, an industry veteran has said. At the South China Morning Post’s China Conference, themed “Intelligence at Scale: Hong Kong’s AI-Powered Future”, panel speakers considered how the insurance industry could bolster financial resilience across the Greater Bay Area. Speaking at the event, Selina Lau Pui-ling, chief executive of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, highlighted the initiative in which five local insurers came together to build a marine war-risk pool to address uncertainties over unstable conditions in the Middle East. Lau added that the insurers provided necessary coverage for vessels in mainland China and the city to continue voyages in critical areas of the region. “This is the kind of collaboration, the beauty of Hong Kong. We have collaborated, not only to help Hong Kong, but also our nation as well,” Lau said.

UK’s Nigel Farage to quit as lawmaker, seeks re-election to clear name
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UK’s Nigel Farage to quit as lawmaker, seeks re-election to clear name

He faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions. Farage faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Opposition lawmakers are seeking another investigation over donations from George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served a prison sentence for fraud in the US. The probes could have led to Farage being suspended or expelled from parliament. He will pre-empt that process by triggering an election for his Clacton seat in eastern England. “The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he said. “This will be a people-versus-the-establishment by-election.

Hong Kong IVF clinic ordered to suspend most services after embryo sample errors
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Hong Kong IVF clinic ordered to suspend most services after embryo sample errors

Regulator says police report has been filed about HEAL Fertility in Central Hong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy samples from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy samples the clinic sent for pre-implantation genetic testing belonged to the wrong parents. Council chairman Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen said a police report had been filed through the Department of Health after a genetic testing laboratory at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that samples from two women it had received did not belong to them. Only one of seven samples from the first woman was hers, while neither of two samples said to belong to the second woman was hers. Liang said the two tests were conducted in May and the clinic notified the council on June 17. The council set up a task force the following day to investigate the incident.