SCMP World·Thursday, December 18, 2025

SCMP World - Thursday, December 18, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

Russia deploys nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile to Belarus amid Ukraine talks

Belarus’ authoritarian president said on Thursday that Russia had deployed its latest nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system to the country, a move that comes as talks to end the war in Ukraine have entered a crucial phase. President Alexander Lukashenko said the Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile system, arrived in the country on Wednesday and is entering combat duty. He did not say how many missiles have been deployed or give any other details. Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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New Epstein photos show Lolita quotes written on woman’s foot and body

House Democrats released several dozen more photos on Thursday from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, showing his associations with the rich and famous, as the US Department of Justice faces a deadline to release many of its case files on the late financier by the end of the week. The photos released Thursday were among more than 95,000 that the House Oversight Committee has received after issuing a subpoena for the photos that Epstein had in his possession before he died

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Brazil’s Lula vows to veto bill slashing Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison term

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that he would veto a bill that could significantly reduce the 27-year prison sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was arrested in November for attempting a coup. The Senate passed the bill late on Wednesday, following approval by the Chamber of Deputies. “With all due respect to the National Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it,” Lula told journalists in Brasilia, noting that those who committed crimes against

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Multiple deaths reported after fiery plane crash at North Carolina airport

A business jet with six people aboard crashed on Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina used by Nascar teams and Fortune 500 companies, erupting in a large fire and killing multiple people, authorities said. Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle. There were six people on the Cessna C550 that crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, about 72km (45 miles) north of Charlotte, the Federal Aviation Administration...

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Brian Walshe, who googled how to dispose of body, gets life sentence for wife’s murder

A Boston-area man was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for the grisly murder of his wife, who disappeared nearly three years ago and whose body has never been found. Brian Walshe, 50, was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder in the killing of Ana Walshe, 39. The sentence carries no possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty in November to misleading police and illegally disposing of a body after admitting he had dismembered her body and disposed of it in a rubbish bin. He said he did.

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US government admits liability for fatal Black Hawk and American Airlines jet crash

The US Justice Department said late on Wednesday the federal government was liable in the fatal January 29 collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades. The government admitted it “owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident” and that the pilots of the Army...

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China confirms issuing of first general licences for rare earth exports

Beijing confirmed on Thursday that it has begun granting general licences with lengthier terms for exports of rare earth elements to foreign companies, though business groups said more guidance was needed on the policy’s implementation. “With the accumulation of relevant export compliance experience, some exporters have initially met the basic requirements to apply for general licences,” said He Yadong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), at a press conference. “To my knowledge,..

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Why AI chatbots are unlikely to bring about human extinction

In the past three years, we have experienced an extraordinary level of hype around artificial intelligence. AI as a concept has been around for nearly 70 years but the discussion has exploded since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022. ChatGPT uses a technology called a large language model (LLM). It is not the only AI technology, but it’s the one that has seemingly drawn all the attention. It is the model that enables ChatGPT and other chatbots to write impressive prose and even poetry, and

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French doctor Frederic Pechier jailed for life for poisoning 30 patients, 12 fatally

A French court on Thursday sentenced a doctor to life in jail for poisoning 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died, reportedly in an attempt to discredit colleagues. Frederic Pechier, 53, worked as an anaesthetist in two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon, when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 and 2017. Twelve could not be resuscitated. Pechier’s youngest victim, four-year-old Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery

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As trade deficit mounts, is EU offering China what it wants to buy?

Facing an ever-increasing trade deficit with China, Europe has limited options to balance the situation in the short term even though it still holds an edge in key sectors including pharmaceuticals, machinery and components, analysts said. China’s global trade surplus hit an all-time high of US$1.076 trillion in the first 11 months of this year, despite a decline in exports to the United States following US President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs. A lot of China’s redirected exports

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