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Man dies in Hong Kong after collapsing on board yacht due to suspected heatstroke

AdvertisementAccidents and personal safetyHong KongHealth & EnvironmentMan dies in Hong Kong after collapsing on board yacht due to suspected heatstrokePolice say 54-year-old was on board yacht near Bluff Island’s Ung Kong Wan
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPHarvey KongPublished: 11:17pm, 26 Jul 2025A man has died in Hong Kong after collapsing on board a yacht due to suspected heatstroke, the Post has learned.
AdvertisementPolice said the vessel was near Bluff Island’s Ung Kong Wan when the 54-year-old collapsed, with his wife reporting the incident shortly after 5pm.
Heatstroke was suspected to have been the cause, according to a source.
“Officers arrived at the scene after receiving the report, with the man being airlifted by helicopter to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for treatment while he was unconscious,” the force said.
“He was later certified dead, with his cause of death to be determined by an autopsy.”
AdvertisementThe Observatory issued a “very hot weat..

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Dogs punched, slammed: Pet groomer assaulted pets; arrested after viral video sparks outrage

Representational image A pet groomer in North Carolina has been arrested after disturbing videos surfaced showing her punching and slamming dogs during grooming sessions. Kirsten Rhea Taylor, 28, was taken into custody on Thursday in Mooresville and charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty, reported New York Post. Authorities identified her as the employee seen in videos recorded at Classy Critters, a local pet grooming business. The footage was captured by a co-worker and posted to Facebook, sparking public outrage and prompting an immediate investigation by Iredell County Animal Services. The videos reportedly show Taylor hitting dogs multiple times and roughly handling them, including slamming one frightened dog against a wall. At least four client-owned dogs were seen being treated aggressively, police said. Due to the serious nature of the allegations, the case was handed over to the sheriff’s office, which later issued arrest warrants. The owner of Classy Critters confir..

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‘Never’: Trump denies being told his name was in Epstein files; downplays case as ‘not a big thing’

Donald Trump (AP file photo) US president Donald Trump on Friday said he was never informed that his name appeared in files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. Speaking to reporters in Scotland, Trump denied a report by The Wall Street Journal which claimed that the attorney general had briefed him in May. “No, I was never, never briefed, no,” he said.BREAKING: Trump Blasts Reporters To Their Faces For 'Making A Very Big Thing' About Epstein FilesWhen asked about Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent interview, Trump avoided details. “I have nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a really smart man. I don’t know anything about the conversation,” he said. On the subject of a possible pardon for Maxwell, Trump dismissed it. “A lot of people have been asking about pardon. This is not the time to be talking about pardon,” he said. Trump reiterated what he told reporters before flying to Scotland. “You’re making a very big thing about something that’s not a big thi..

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House ethics panel tells AOC to make more payments over her Met Gala ‘Tax the Rich’ outfit

The House Ethics Committee has told Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, to make more payments over her Met Gala “Tax the Rich” outfit.
While the Met Gala is always an eye-catching affair, in September 2021, Ocasio-Cortez stunned onlookers with a Brother Vellies custom white mermaid gown that had the words “Tax the Rich” written in red on the back.
At the time, the congresswoman explained on Instagram she wanted to bring attention to the idea of raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans by doing so “in front of the very people who lobby against it,” per the Daily News. The event cost $35,000 per person at that time, The New York Times reported.
For years, the ethics panel has been investigating Ocasio-Cortez’s attendance at the 2021 Met Gala, and now it says she must make additional payments worth nearly $3,000 in relation to the event.
open image in galleryThe House Ethics Committee has told Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, to ma..

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Disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos reports to prison to begin seven-year sentence

Disgraced former GOP Representative George Santos, whose wild public scandals ranged from pretending to be a Broadway producer to embezzling campaign donor funds, reported to prison Friday to begin his seven-year sentence for fraud.
Santos, 37, is now in custody at a federal prison in Fairton, New Jersey after pleading guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos represented parts of Queens and Long Island, serving for barely 12 months in 2023 before he was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Santos shared a goodbye post on X Thursday night, thanking his allies and critics alike.
“Well, darlings
The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed,” he wrote. “From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it’s been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried
most days.”
“To my supporters: You made this wild political cabaret worth it,” he added. “To my critics: Thanks for the free press. I m..

World

‘I witnessed war crimes’ in Gaza, former worker at GHF aid site tells BBC

'I witnessed war crimes' in Gaza, former worker at GHF aid site tells BBCA retired US special forces officer has revealed to the BBC why he resigned from his work with US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centres.
“I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians,” Anthony Aguilar told the BBC.
He added that in his entire career he has never witnessed such a level of “brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population”.
21 minutes agoMiddle EastIsrael-Gaza warIsraelGazaShareSave

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Chinese eyeing US degrees turn more discerning – is opportunity worth the risk?

AdvertisementUS-China relationsEconomyChina EconomyChinese eyeing US degrees turn more discerning – is the opportunity still worth the risk?US has ‘pre-eminent global research universities, for now,’ professor says as data shows Chinese still want American degrees but are pickier
Reading Time:5 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPRalph Jenningsin San FranciscoPublished: 6:00am, 26 Jul 2025Updated: 6:15am, 26 Jul 2025Jason Lin of Xiamen surprised his mother this year by applying to 10 undergraduate schools in the United States and receiving a US$15,000 annual scholarship from Brandeis University near Boston. There, he intends to earn a master’s degree in economics over the next five years.
AdvertisementBut to his mother, it’s like he’s venturing into the wild, compounding the anxiety parents often feel when their adult children leave the nest.
She’s afraid of “instability” in the US. And Lin, 19, has concerns that even a traffic ticket could get him deported. But he weighed the pros and cons, ..

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How the EU has marginalised itself on the global stage

AdvertisementChina-EU relationsOpinionWorld OpinionLanxin XiangOpinion | How the EU has marginalised itself on the global stageTrump’s “America first” stance should have forced the EU to address its own strategic vulnerabilities and pursue a more multipolar world strategy
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPLanxin XiangPublished: 5:30am, 26 Jul 2025The summit between the European Union and China has turned out to be a non-event, the worst so far. The reason for this is not too difficult to understand.AdvertisementAfter US President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the EU has found itself falling between two stools, torn between Washington and Beijing. Europeans were surprised when Trump won the US presidential election in 2016 but viewed it as a one-off aberration. Without the challenge posed by Trump, though, EU leaders might not see the need to make any fundamental changes.European leaders have made three miscalculations. First, they cannot grasp the sea change broug..

World

Almost a third of people in Gaza not eating for days, UN food programme warns

Almost a third of people in Gaza not eating for days, UN food programme warns3 hours agoShareSaveMaia DaviesBBC NewsShareSaveReutersInternational concern has risen this week with warnings that starvation has gripped GazaAlmost one in three people in Gaza are going days without eating, the UN's food aid programme has warned.
“Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.
Warnings of starvation in Gaza have intensified this week. Nine more people died of malnutrition on Friday, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry – bringing the total such deaths since the war began to 122.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no restriction on aid getting into the territory and blames Hamas for any malnutrition.
An Israeli security official said on Friday that airdrops of aid into Gaza could be allowed in the coming days – something aid agencies have..

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Starlink outage: Internet down in US and abroad; Musk says ‘sorry, won’t happen again’

Representational photo (Getty Images) Starlink faced a major service outage on Thursday, affecting users across the United States and several other countries. Thousands of users reported sudden internet disruptions and, in many cases, complete blackouts. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington, DC were among the worst hit. Users in Canada, the UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines also faced similar problems. Outage tracker DownDetector showed a spike from 3,400 reports at 3:09 p.m. ET to nearly 58,000 by 3:24 p.m. The number began dropping after 4 p.m., but issues continued, according to Newsweek. Starlink confirmed the disruption on its website, saying the team was investigating. In a post on X, the company said, “We are actively implementing a solution
we appreciate your patience.”Elon Musk also responded, saying, “Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” The outag..