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From rural girl to tycoon: China woman, 55, marries...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

A 55-year-old Chinese medical aesthetics tycoon has shocked the internet by marrying her 25-year-old husband, reportedly with a 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) dowry. Yu Wenhong, 55, was born into a financially modest family in Dalian, Liaoning province, in northeastern China. After her father died, she began working in the beauty industry at the age of 18 to support her mother and younger brother. She started as an eyebrow tattooing technician and later went on to establish her own beauty...

Indonesia begins social media ban for children under 16

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Indonesia on Saturday began implementing a new government regulation approved earlier this month that bans children younger than 16 from access to digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction. With the move, Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. It follows measures that Australia took last year in a world-first

Hong Kong government defends changes to national...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Hong Kong authorities have defended legal changes that have made it illegal to withhold smartphone passwords from police in national security investigations, after the United States sent a new alert to its citizens travelling to the city. The government on Friday also expressed “strong dissatisfaction with misleading information and sweepingly generalised descriptions” by foreign organisations and media regarding the amendments to the Beijing-imposed national security law earlier this week,

As Vietnam leads on AI rules, Southeast Asia risks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Southeast Asian countries are racing to assert control over their data flows, driven by a potent mix of nationalist sentiment and security anxieties. But analysts warn that while certain measures may deliver domestic economic benefits, the broader push risks undermining innovation, deterring foreign investment and even cutting the region off from the global digital economy. On March 1, Vietnam became the first Southeast Asian nation to have in force a comprehensive law on artificial...

Hong Kong prison department’s IT system hacked, 6,800...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

A computer system containing Hong Kong prison employees’ personal data has been hacked, compromising the information of 6,800 current and former staffers. The Correctional Services Department said on Friday evening that a hacker had gained illegal access to one of its IT systems on Tuesday. “After a preliminary investigation, the Correctional Services Department believes the incident involved unauthorised access to the internal Knowledge Management System by a hacker, through which the hacker...

Can ‘reliable friend’ China fill the gap as US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

China pledged to continue its support for South Africa on the same day that it emerged that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had been disinvited from this year’s Group of Seven (G7) summit in France following US threats to boycott the event. On Thursday, Pretoria said that Ramaphosa’s invitation – issued personally by French President Emmanuel Macron at last year’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg – had been withdrawn because the organisers did not want a no-show from the United...

Why SD cards and hard drives are the new ‘digital...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

After Hong Kong photographer Jacky Lau Kin-sang upgraded his camera systems a few months ago, he was shocked to find that the professional-grade high-capacity SD cards for the set-up cost up to HK$3,000 (US$383) per unit, three times more than expected. But the real shocker for the 42-year-old was that the price of the hard disks he had been purchasing for years to back up his clients’ images also skyrocketed from HK$1,880 to HK$3,880 for a 16TB model. “It means you essentially have to spend...

Bank of America to pay US$72.5 million to settle...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Bank of America has agreed to pay US$72.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the bank facilitated a sex-trafficking ring orchestrated by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents showed on Friday. Bank of America said separately that while it continued to deny supporting Epstein’s crimes, “this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs”. The suit, filed by an unidentified woman on behalf of herself and other alleged victims,...

Nepal’s ex-PM K.P. Sharma Oli arrested over alleged...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Nepal’s former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday morning over their alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters in September, police said. The detentions come a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cabinet were sworn in after the first election since the 2025 uprising that toppled 74-year-old Oli’s government. “They were arrested this morning and the process will move forward according to the law,” said Kathmandu...

First Hong Kong Sevens rugby tourney held in 1976 –...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

This article was first published on March 29, 1976. By Jack Beattie World ‘sevens’ for HK? A seven-a-side rugby union world cup competition – and possibly staged in Hongkong! That’s the exciting prospect that emerged after yesterday’s first International “Sevens” Championships held at the Hongkong Football Club. Last night Rothmans and Cathay Pacific, the joint-sponsors of this unique event, which had 12 countries competing, were playing it a bit coy – but both agreed that a similar promotion...

US special envoy Witkoff predicts Iran talks as war...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Friday he believed Iran would hold talks with Washington “this week” as the US-Israeli war against Tehran entered its second month. The war began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched air strikes across Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sending shock waves across the globe. A month later the conflict showed no sign of ending, with US-Israeli strikes hitting two Iranian nuclear facilities

How China’s EV makers think they can outrun...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

The era of price wars in China’s electric vehicle (EV) market is giving way to a new contest: who can deliver better technology at the same price. On a cloudy evening in March, Shenzhen-based BYD put forward its answer with the unveiling of a battery capable of charging from 10 to 70 per cent in just five minutes – and to 97 per cent in nine minutes. The company said it would apply the technology to models priced as low as 155,000 yuan (US$22,500) while building 20,000 charging stations this...

Death of South Korean ‘torture expert’ reopens...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

The death of one of South Korea’s most notorious police officers, known for his torture methods on prisoners, has revived painful memories of human rights abuses during the country’s era of military-backed authoritarian rule. Lee Geun-an, dubbed the “torture expert”, succumbed to multiple organ failure on Thursday at the age of 88. He had faced lifetime criticism for never expressing remorse and referring to himself as a “patriot”, once comparing his interrogation methods to “art”. Survivors

How to win friends and influence people in ancient China

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

The way Stephen Selby tells it, Guiguzi (鬼谷子) sounds like the ancient Chinese version of Dale Carnegie’s enduring self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Given its contents and message, it should have been a text for the ages. After all, whether ancient, modern, postmodern, Eastern or Western, many of us still need to kiss up to wayward bosses and stroke their egos if we want to advance our careers – not to mention ancient despots who could chop off your head for saying the...

Myanmar travellers take to the trains as fuel prices...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

Myanmar’s ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Middle East war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars. On a journey from the country’s largest city Yangon to the capital Naypyidaw, Agence France-Presse journalists sat in air-conditioned carriages full of travellers napping and sharing tea, fried rice and instant noodles. First class adult train tickets cost 19,000 kyats (US$9), while the cheapest bus

Malaysian politicians slam Philippine senator: ‘Sabah...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

“Sabah is not a commodity” to solve issues faced by other countries, a politician from the Malaysian state said on Friday. Azrul Ibrahim of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah Youth said Sabah is part of a sovereign nation and its position within the federation cannot be questioned by any party. “Attempts to link Sabah to current oil and gas issues as an excuse to revive outdated claims are unwarranted and are meant to divert the internal crisis suffered by certain parties,” he said in a statement on...

MTR Corp’s use of CRRC technology can act as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

The deployment of mainland China-made rail equipment and technologies by Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation can provide a “showcase” for their applications overseas, a top representative of manufacturing giant CRRC has said. Jin Guozhong, chief engineer of the CRRC Qishuyan Institute, the Chinese state-owned manufacturer’s research and development centre in Changzhou, said on Friday there was a synergy between the two rail firms that went beyond equipment deployment. The semi-privatised MTR Corp had...

China puts Ma Xingrui protege Guo Yonghang under...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

A former top official of Guangdong province, widely seen as a “right-hand man” of former provincial governor Ma Xingrui, is under investigation for corruption. The investigation into Guo Yonghang, Communist Party secretary for Guangzhou from June 2023 until December, deepens the uncertainties about the fate of Ma, who was abruptly removed as Xinjiang’s party secretary in July and has since vanished from public life. Guo was named vice-chairman of the Guangdong provincial committee of the

Chinese man rescued from ‘zip tie escape challenge’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

A Chinese man who became trapped while taking part in a viral “zip tie escape challenge” at home called for help and was rescued by a passing delivery man. The case involving the man from Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province was recently reported by the local fire department to raise public awareness. A delivery man passing by the man’s rented home heard him calling for help and notified the police. Firefighters arrived, prised open the gate and discovered the man tied up tightly

Iran war energy shock revives Asean’s power grid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/28

For a few weeks after the bombs started falling on Iran, Southeast Asian governments told their people not to worry. Emergency funds would cushion the blow. Subsidies would hold. Prices would stabilise. A month on, with oil well above US$100 a barrel, long queues for fuel forming at petrol stations across the region and Thailand restarting coal plants it had mothballed years ago, the reassurances have worn thin. Against this backdrop, an old question has resurfaced with fresh urgency: why does

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