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AdvertisementChina food securityEconomyChina EconomyWhy China’s next 5-year plan will double down on food securityBeijing has made huge strides in its self-sufficiency push – but trade tensions, climate risks and supply-chain shocks keep fears alive
Reading Time:5 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPMandy Zuoin ShanghaiPublished: 6:00am, 16 Oct 2025As China drafts its 15th five-year plan – the next entry in a line of expansive blueprints that have set the tone for the country’s development over more than seven decades – we examine how these documents inform and reflect high-level policy priorities, what to expect in the coming iteration and why food security is set to remain a cornerstone in Beijing’s push for self-reliance.
AdvertisementFor more stories in this ongoing series, click here. To view SCMP Plus Factsheets on the 15th five-year plan and more premium content, click here.For decades, one of the most common mantras from China’s leadership has been to “firmly hold the rice bowls of th..

AdvertisementAmericas and the CaribbeanWorldAmericasTrump says he’s authorised CIA to operate in VenezuelaThe US president did not reply when asked if the CIA had authority to take out Maduro, but said he thinks Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP3BloombergPublished: 5:46am, 16 Oct 2025Updated: 6:08am, 16 Oct 2025US President Donald Trump said he had authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to take covert action in Venezuela, arguing that he had to stem the flow of drugs and illegal migrants into the US.
Advertisement“I authorised it for two reasons,” Trump said at the White House, adding that Venezuelan leaders had “emptied their prisons into the United States of America” and “we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela”.
Trump was asked about the issue after The New York Times reported earlier on Wednesday that he had authorised the CIA to take action as part of efforts to ratchet up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
According ..

(Source: X) Hamas published a video on Monday showing eight blindfolded and kneeling men being executed in the streets, branding them “collaborators and outlaws.” The footage surfaced amid armed clashes between Hamas security units and Palestinian clans, on the fifth day of a US-brokered truce between Israel and the militant group.Hamas proceeded to take control of Gaza on Tuesday, even as US President Donald Trump vowed to disarm the group under a recently brokered ceasefire. The Israeli military confirmed that the remains of four more hostages held in Gaza were handed to the Red Cross, following the release of four others and the safe return of 20 surviving captives. In northern Gaza, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, Hamas’s black-masked police resumed street patrols. Hamas’s Brigades helped control crowds when freed prisoners arrived in Gaza on Monday. A new Hamas security unit, called the Deterrence Force, has been targeting armed clans and gangs, some of which are said t..

Indian truck driver Vivak Sharma's interview went viral for all wrong reasons. The US transport department has recently issued an emergency rule that only green card holders will be able to renew their commercial driver's license. An Indian truck driver's interview with ABC 7 News went viral as he recounted the difficulty he was facing. But the virality was not because of his hardship but because of what he said in Hindi. The truck driver, identified as Vivak Sharma, said only green card holders and US citizens can have their commercial trucking license renewed. Sharma has been in the United States legally for the past 10 years, seeking political asylum. His final court case is next year and he has been driving a truck for the past eight years. But now he can't. Sharma said he was worried that he would not be able to send money to India and would now have to look for other jobs. As the video went viral, social media users had many questions, starting with why, despi..

AdvertisementChina-EU relationsEconomyGlobal EconomyChina’s EV boom has the EU setting up roadblocks. Can cooperation clear the way?Decades after their first joint venture, EU carmakers fear losing their markets to China’s upstarts. Is it too late for them to work together?
Reading Time:6 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPXiaofei Xuin ParisPublished: 6:00am, 15 Oct 2025This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union, as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. The latest story in our series examining ties between the two powers focuses on intensified competition in the auto industry, a bedrock sector for Europe and an area where China has made enormous strides, particularly in electric vehicles and other hi-tech advancements.AdvertisementWhen Volkswagen engineers arrived at the facilities of Chinese carmaker First Automobile Works’ (FAW) in the early 1990s, they saw a factory stuck in ..