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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would support the release of any footage of the multiple strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat from September 2, while backing the “decision to knock out the boats.” The Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in particular have been under scrutiny in recent days after The Washington Post reported that the US military carried out a subsequent strike on a boat in the Caribbean despite there apparently being survivors. CBS News has not independently confirmed the existence of survivors, but the White House has confirmed the boat was struck more than once on September 2. “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’ll certainly release, no problem,” the president said of any strike footage. A reporter asked the president in the Oval Office if Hegseth, Adm. Frank Bradley or others should be punished if survivors were indeed clinging to the boat. The administration has suggested that Bradley, the commander of the..

An F-16 fighter jet assigned to the US Air Force Thunderbirds, the service’s elite aerial demonstration team, went down Wednesday morning in a Southern California desert. The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Officials said the jet went down around 10:45 a.m. during a training flight in controlled airspace. Video posted to X by DisasterAlert shows the pilot making what appears to be a lucky escape, drifting slowly toward the ground beneath a parachute.Later military officials said the pilot ejected just before impact and survived.The pilot was listed in stable condition and is receiving medical treatment, Staff Sgt. Jovante Johnson, an Air Force spokesperson, confirmed in an email Wednesday, New York Times reported. A rocket-like blast in a barren desert backdrop. A wide plume of dark smoke was visible after the plane went down near Trona Airport in San Bernardino County. The jet was part of the US Air Force Thunderbirds, the military’s official aerial demonstration team, a..

AdvertisementIndonesiaThis Week in AsiaLifestyle & CultureJoy of rare Indonesian flower find wilts over Oxford’s failure to name local researchersAfter an uproar over the perceived snub, the university named the Indonesian researchers involved in Rafflesia’s rediscovery on social media
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPResty Woro YuniarPublished: 10:00am, 4 Dec 2025A recent rediscovery of the extremely rare Rafflesia hasseltii, a giant parasitic red flower, in a forest in Indonesia’s West Sumatra has sparked backlash following an initial social media post by Oxford University that left out local researchers involved in the search and credited only its scientist.The uproar has exposed the perceived lack of equal recognition for Western researchers and their Global South counterparts when they collaborate, and the lingering legacy of colonialism in academia, observers say.
The encounter on November 17 with the white-speckled blossom with its giant petals was made possible throu..

AdvertisementChina’s Communist PartyChinaPoliticsChina urged to boost hi-tech innovation to drive development at home and abroadSpeakers at a conference pointed to the country’s advances in a number of fields, with one saying it could help support the Global South
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPPhoebe Zhangin ShenzhenPublished: 10:00am, 4 Dec 2025China should focus on technological innovation to drive domestic and global development, a forum this week has heard.China would push for high-quality development and opening up to the outside world, Li Shulei, head of the Communist Party’s publicity department, told the 2025 Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou on Monday.
The event, which ran between Sunday and Tuesday, was attended by around 800 people and technological innovation was a central theme.
AdvertisementChina also strove to help developing countries and worked with all parties to address challenges in global development, Chen Xiaodong, director of the China Int..