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A ‘final piano song’ offers closure as residents say...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Playing one last song on a piano that cannot be retrieved from a fire-ravaged home was among the wishes of residents returning to the scene of the deadly Tai Po blaze in Hong Kong, with one man climbing stairs on a fractured leg to try and recover a water boiler linked to his childhood memories. Some of those returning to their homes on Friday had lived in Wang Cheong House, where 81 of the 168 deaths occurred, and 63 per cent of the flats were destroyed. Only five floors of the block are

Ex-manager of crypto firm Huobi acquitted of moving...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

A Hong Kong court has acquitted a former senior manager at a major Chinese cryptocurrency exchange of secretly moving about US$5 million in Tether stablecoins, worth around HK$39 million, to his own accounts six years ago. A seven-member High Court jury on Friday found Chen Boliang, who used to work at cryptocurrency firm Huobi – now known as HTX – not guilty of accessing its platform to trade in so-called dark pools under an individual account he created with an alias between February 27 and...

Shackled and shaved: El Salvador holds mass trial for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Hundreds of alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang members sat chained, shaved and mute as they were accused of murder and torture during a mass trial at El Salvador’s notorious CECOT jail on Thursday. Seated in neat columns of plastic chairs in the prison’s main hall, some 220 defendants were accused of collectively carrying out more than 29,000 murders. “We burned her genitals and buttocks” one witness said over the loudspeaker, testifying in a mass trial El Salvador’s president has compared to

‘Big shout-out’ to China’s environmental leadership...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

The United Nations very much relied on China for its environmental protection role, including its major funding for biodiversity conservation in the Global South, the organisation’s environment chief said on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Regional Ecological Summit in Kazakhstan, Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said that “China has always been an active player in multilateralism”. Andersen said that within UNEP, they “very much rely on...

Unexpected love: Japan traditional dancer finds love...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

After two decades of a loveless personal life, a 60-year-old traditional dancer in Japan discovered unexpected late-life love with a protege who is 34 years her junior. In April, the couple made an appearance on the Japanese television show Welcome, Newlyweds!, but they chose to keep their true identities private. The wife, a seasoned performer from Ibaraki in eastern Japan, has dedicated her life to traditional dance since childhood and currently teaches at Tsubaki, a local taishu engeki...

Trump extends Iran ceasefire; Hong Kong actress’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump extends Iran ceasefire, claims interception of ‘gift from China’ US President Donald Trump announced a last-minute extension of the ceasefire with Iran following a request from Pakistan’s top leadership, even as he appeared

Value, space and style pull Hongkongers to Shenzhen’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Hongkonger Dominique Li and his wife spent a two-day break earlier this month in Shenzhen to soak up the cultural vibe, a short getaway they said would not be their last.The 45-year-old engineer, who lives in Tin Shui Wai in the northwestern New Territories, was particularly drawn to a new landmark, Shenzhen Bay Culture Square in Nanshan district. He treated his visit to Shenzhen like a trip to Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district, which also takes about an hour. “The spaces here are...

Chinese EV makers bet on in-house chips to make cars...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers and supply-chain vendors, from Tesla rivals Xpeng to Nio and lidar sensor producer Hesai Group, will display their technological advances on a new front – in-car chips – at the Auto China show in Beijing as the country’s automotive industry makes rapid progress. Carmakers and vendors are designing and developing chips to power autonomous driving and in-car entertainment systems. These chips boast computing power on par with blockbuster products made by

Australia’s US$7 billion Japan warship deals signals...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

A landmark warship deal between Australia and Japan is expected to drive further defence technology cooperation between the two Asia-Pacific nations, comparable in scope to Canberra’s security arrangements with Washington. Analysts say the agreement with Tokyo will also help Canberra address navy shortfalls and reduce its overreliance on the US at a time of great volatility. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi announced on Saturday that the...

Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa granted to just 1 person so far

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

US President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least US$1 million to legally live and work in the US, has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday – appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. After it launched in December, Lutnick said that the government had sold US$1.3 billion “worth” in just several days, as Trump stood by holding up the gilded ticket and said, “essentially it’s the green card on

Brazil beckoned: China now has stock and bond...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

China has launched a bond-market-connect scheme with Brazil, Chinese media outlets reported this week, marking the first such link among emerging markets. Schemes such as this one, often dubbed “connects” between Chinese bond or stock markets and their offshore counterparts, typically allow investors to bypass special permits or capital-flow controls when trading on either side’s exchanges. China now maintains at least five offshore capital-market “connect” schemes on three continents. Hong...

US soldier charged with using inside info to win...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

A US soldier has been charged with using inside information to win US$400,000 in an online betting market on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture, federal officials announced on Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyk was part of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor’s office in New York said. Van Dyk was a senior enlisted soldier who was part of the special forces...

Trump ally Steve Daines to visit China as US turns up...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

US President Donald Trump’s close ally, Senator Steve Daines, will lead a bipartisan delegation to China next week, according to sources, even as Washington steps up pressure on Beijing over trade, technological competition, and its ties to Iran, ahead of a closely watched leaders’ summit on May 14-15. According to people familiar who requested anonymity, the five-member delegation led by Daines, a Republican from Montana, will begin its visit on May 1, with stops in Shanghai and Beijing. The...

‘China or India or some other hellhole’: Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

US President Donald Trump reposted a video and comments from a conservative pundit calling India a “hellhole”, prompting the South Asian country on Thursday to criticise the remarks as “inappropriate”. The comments come ahead of a planned visit next month to India by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who would seek to turn the page on recent tensions between the normally friendly powers. Trump late on Wednesday reposted on social media a video and a screed apparently written by someone else...

‘Undeniable reality’: why China should be wary of US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

US confrontations with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz point to future American attempts to contain China via maritime chokepoints, a Chinese policy adviser has warned, suggesting that Beijing boost its naval presence in the region. In a policy recommendation addressed to Beijing, Gu Dingguo, an East China Normal University research fellow in neighbourhood diplomacy and security, said the Iran war reflected Washington’s greater emphasis on implementing its maritime security strategy. “By...

Trump says Israel and Lebanon agree to extend...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to extend their ceasefire by three weeks after a second round of negotiations between their envoys in Washington, despite reports of violations of the truce from both sides. US President Donald Trump announced the extension on social media, saying Washington “is going to work with Lebanon in order to protect itself from Hezbollah”. “The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” he wrote, calling the meeting “very historic” and...

Trump says King Charles’ visit could ‘absolutely’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

US President Donald Trump told the BBC on Thursday that British King Charles’ coming state visit to the United States could “absolutely” help rebuild strained ties between the two countries. Charles heads to the US on Monday for a four-day trip, with transatlantic tensions over the Iran war and scandals linked to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatening to intrude on the landmark visit. Asked by the BBC whether Charles’s visit could help repair the relationship between the US and

Beached whale grips and divides Germany: ‘free Timmy!’

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

The sad saga of a humpback whale stranded a month ago on the German coast has sparked a flood of compassion but also a media frenzy, angry disputes, conspiracy theories and death threats. As Germans have followed the travails of the sea mammal, dubbed “Timmy” by a newspaper, on their live news tickers, television screens and influencers’ social media channels, some worry about what its epic struggle says about a nation’s collective psyche. Sociologist Christian Stegbauer said the whale, a

From pilots to productivity: AI finds its footing in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] AI-enabled solution providers and corporate gathered at Hong Kong Science Park on March 24 to examine real-world use cases of AI as it shifts from experimental pilots into connected, operational systems across multiple sectors. The “Connected Intelligence: AI & Robotics Across Industries” event featured candid exchanges on workforce preparation, customer engagement and the challenges of scaling AI. In the panel...

Hong Kong made a new go-to as global tech gateway

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/23

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] A new international network, Global Connect – Global Innovation Exchange (GIE), was set to facilitate scale-ups win business, raise capital and find partners as they move between Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and overseas markets. Unveiled in March by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the GIE is being pitched as a year-round platform rallying innovators, investors, corporates, chambers,...

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