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Iran war shows China’s urgent need to plug maritime...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

The havoc unleashed on global shipping by the US-Israel war on Iran has underlined China’s urgent need to fix its lack of a robust maritime insurance industry, a shipping expert has said. “In the maritime shipping sector, China’s industrial chain for ‘hardware’ is very well-established and mature,” said Chen Jihong, director of the Shenzhen International Maritime Research Institute. “However, when it comes to ‘software’, we are still constrained by others, and it will be difficult to change

Israel launches strikes on Iran with no sign of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz, though there have been no signs of Iran backing down. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually...

WTO meeting in Cameroon signals the rise of a ‘world...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

In these turbulent times, focusing on the World Trade Organization’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, is a bit like trying to focus on a picnic sitting alongside a bar brawl, or listening to a lesson in pruning bonsai while a lumberjack takes a chainsaw to a giant redwood. But try we must. Even if the deliverables are meagre and may take years to materialise, the symbolism of Yaounde points to a possible future very different from today’s chaotic hegemonic unilateralism

Thundery showers in Hong Kong expected in several hours

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

Hongkongers can expect thundery showers in the next few hours, the local weather forecaster has said. The Observatory issued the advisory notice at 3pm on Friday, urging the public to be aware of the weather change. “Areas of thundery showers now to the west of the [Pearl River Delta] are edging closer, and are expected to affect the territory in the next couple of hours,” it said. The weather would be mainly cloudy with a few showers in the afternoon and at night, with isolated thunderstorms

Kenya secures trade deal with China but rising debt,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

Kenya secured trade and infrastructure financing deals during Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng’s visit this week, but analysts cautioned that deepening ties were complicated by rising debt and Nairobi’s balancing act between global powers. The “early harvest” Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries grants Kenyan products – including tea, coffee and avocados – duty-free and quota-free access to the Chinese market starting in May. After talks with Han on Tuesday, Kenyan

Charge dropped against ex-Apple Daily executive who...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

A Hong Kong court has dropped a charge against the former financial chief of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s flagship media company after he testified for the prosecution against his ex-employer in a fraud trial. The ruling came after the Court of Appeal last week quashed Lai’s fraud conviction for operating a consultancy office from the premises of his now-defunct tabloid newspaper, Apple Daily, finding that the prosecution had failed to prove that the media mogul had made a “false representation” or

Tong Ren Tang unit pulls Hong Kong IPO in first...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/27

Beijing Tong Ren Tang Healthcare Investment, a provider of healthcare services based on traditional Chinese medicine, postponed its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) on Friday amid tepid investor demand for its shares. The delay is the first of its kind during the current IPO boom. New share offerings in the city raised about US$11.64 billion as of March 18 this year, up 385 per cent from about US$2.4 billion a year earlier, according to LSEG Data & Analytics. Tong Ren Tang was one of

Iran war: Why a Trump climbdown won’t save Asia’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

For the second year in a row, Asia’s vulnerability to global shocks is a source of concern. Almost exactly a year since US President Donald Trump launched his assault on the global trading system, the external dependencies of leading Asian economies have once again dimmed the outlook for the region.Early last year, analysts were worried about Asia’s heavy reliance on exports to the United States. Morgan Stanley pointed out that seven of the 10 countries running the largest trade surpluses

Couple sentenced to 1 year in prison for having sex...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

A man and woman caught engaging in a sexual act at the Batu Gantung Chinese Cemetery in Penang, Malaysia, have each been jailed for a year. M. Jegathesan, 58, and Halila Abu Bakar, 37, pleaded guilty to committing the offence when the charges were read to them at the Magistrates’ Court in George Town at about 8.30am on Thursday. Magistrate Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi sentenced both of them to 12 months’ imprisonment under Section 377D of the Penal Code for gross indecency in a public place. In...

As India and US seek to reset defence ties, Iran war...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

A visit by a top American official to India this week has raised expectations that bilateral defence ties are getting “back on track” amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. But analysts warn that both sides are unlikely to reach full agreement on New Delhi’s energy and security concerns, while the US-Israeli war against Iran could unsettle the relationship. Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby said India would play a central role in...

‘Demand shock’: China cannot escape the impact of a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

While China appears better prepared than other countries to deal with the shocks brought by the US-Israel war on Iran, its economy would still come under pressure in the short term if its regional partners suffer, an executive with a global consultancy has said. “China might be more resilient, but China is not resilient to a demand shock,” said Denis Depoux, a global managing director at consultancy Roland Berger. “For example, if the economy is slowing down in Southeast Asia, if people stop...

US comedian Seth Herzog apologises over ‘offensive’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

A joke made on a major US talk show has triggered backlash just as BTS prepares for a high-profile American television return – prompting a swift apology from a comedian caught at the centre of the controversy. Seth Herzog, a resident comedian on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, came under fire after making an improvised remark during a Wednesday taping. While warming up the audience, Herzog asked, “Anyone here from the North?” – a line reportedly intended as a general question about...

As Trump pushes for talks, US troop moves signal...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

Even as Donald Trump pushes for talks to end the war against Iran, the US has ordered thousands of troops to the region, fuelling fears that the American president is gearing up for exactly the sort of risky ground invasion that he once campaigned against. Iran has publicly rejected Trump’s diplomatic outreach and threatened massive retaliation if the US does put boots on the ground in a bid to break Tehran’s will. For a president who faulted his predecessors’ so-called forever wars, the...

Air-con technician critically injured after fall from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

A Hong Kong air-conditioner technician was critically injured after falling from a ladder in Tsuen Wan on Thursday morning. Police said they received a report at 9.18am that the man, who is in his sixties, had fallen while working at a building at 88 Yeung Uk Road. The man was unconscious as he was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, the force said. “As of 11.45am, the worker was admitted to the intensive care unit,” a police spokesman said. Fay Siu Sin-man, chief executive of

As Iran war rages, China links peace to economic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, has told the Boao Forum for Asia – a high-level gathering of governments and business leaders – that power politics should be rejected in favour of economic development and conflicts should be resolved through negotiations. “The people of Asia, having endured the scourge of war and chaos, deeply understand the value of peace and stability,” said Zhao, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee,

Iran war deflects attention from Ukraine as Russia...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

The Iran war has deflected global attention from Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour Ukraine as Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II enters its fifth year and an emboldened Kremlin undertakes a spring offensive. The past week showed that neither side was easing up. Russia on Tuesday fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at Ukraine in one of the war’s biggest bombardments. The following day Ukraine launched almost 400 drones in the largest reported overnight attack on

China woman lives in nursing home, pays US$30 rent by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

A young Chinese woman lives in a nursing home and pays just 200 yuan (US$30) in rent a month in exchange for offering companionship to the elderly. The life choice of 25-year-old Zhang Jin reveals a new pattern for young people to live under less pressure while helping out with the country’s problem of an increasingly ageing population. Over two years ago, Zhang, a new graduate from eastern China’s Jiangxi province, moved to Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province when she found a job

UN designates African slave trade as ‘gravest crime...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday designated the transatlantic African slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”, despite opposition by the United States and some European countries. In a move advocates hailed as a step towards healing and possible reparations, the resolution was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour, three against and 52 abstentions. The US, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure, while Britain and EU member states abstained. Ghana’s President John...

US airport wait times longest in history after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

The Transportation Security Administration warned that US airport security was under severe strain as a weeks-long Department of Homeland Security funding shutdown drives staffing shortages, long wait times and mounting disruptions across the United States. “This has led to the highest wait times in TSA history, with some wait times greater than 4½ hours,” Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers on Wednesday, adding the agency has already lost more than 480 transportation

6 injured in explosion at Hong Kong recycling yard

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/26

Six people have been injured, some with serious burns, in an explosion at a recycling yard in northern Hong Kong, with more than 100 people on a school trip nearby evacuated. A police spokesman said that as of 1pm on Thursday, three people with injuries had been sent to Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin and another three to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po. Those sent to the Tai Po hospital included a 44-year-old woman, believed to be the operator of the yard, who suffered

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