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News - South China Morning Post

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Why China’s strategy to stay out of Iran war is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Beijing’s long-standing geopolitical playbook – stay in your lane, avoid military entanglement, prepare exhaustively and issue bland “win-win” statements about the UN charter and calls to talk not fight – could see China emerge favourably from the Iran war, said economists, analysts and former US officials, as the conflict enters its fourth week with little end in sight and the US barrelling ahead. “People always say that China doesn’t understand the Mideast,” said Jeremy Chan, senior analyst...

French court finds Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in prison by a Paris criminal court for the rape of three women. The verdict marks the latest fall from grace for the former Oxford University professor, who faces a string of rape allegations in Switzerland and France and has already been convicted in the former. A charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, Ramadan has always maintained his innocence. While he had been on trial in Paris since March 2 for...

Asian-Americans say they are still seen as foreign,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Like many Asian-Americans, US-born Tiffany Chin has faced her share of slights, including being treated as “other” or “foreign” and judged at times by her race rather than her accomplishments. Growing up outside Chicago, she recalls that in primary school her musical talents were attributed to her “Chinese genes”, and she was told, “you’re probably so good at maths because you’re Asian”. And as an adult on a family trip to Florida, people gave her nasty looks when she went jogging, wondering...

US offers up to US$3 million bounty for information...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

The United States on Wednesday offered ⁠a reward of up to US$3 million and possible relocation in exchange for information on the financial activities of Haiti’s Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif criminal groups. Washington has designated both groups, which bring together hundreds of gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince, agricultural Artibonite ‌region and central Haiti, as terrorist organisations. The US announcement marks a shift in tactics as previous bounties have been focused on individual gang...

Savannah Guthrie in NBC News interview appeals for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

A tearful Savannah Guthrie, in her first interview since her 84-year-old mother was apparently abducted from her Arizona home, said that “someone needs to do the right thing” and come forward with information to help the investigation. “We are in agony,” she told NBC News colleague Hoda Kotb in a portion of the interview broadcast on Wednesday on the Today show. She said she wakes up in the middle of each night thinking of what her mother went through. NBC said on Wednesday that a full

New records in Trump documents case raise concerns...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Newly released records in the ⁠now-dismissed classified documents case against US President Donald Trump raise fresh concerns over national security risks and potential private business motivations, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said. The records, handed over by the US Department of Justice as part of the Republican-led panel’s investigation into former US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump, show FBI investigators said in a 2023 memo that the classified...

Iran rejects US ceasefire plan, issues own demands as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including an assault that sparked a huge fire at Kuwait International Airport. Iran’s defiance came as Israel launched air strikes on Tehran and as the United States deployed paratroopers and more Marines to the region. Iranian state television’s English-language broadcaster quoted an anonymous official as saying Iran rejected America’s ceasefire

Xi-Trump summit: White House locks in new dates in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

After weeks of speculation and behind-the-scenes intrigue over the delayed summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the White House announced on Wednesday new dates for the long-anticipated, high-stakes meeting. “I’m pleased to announce that President Trump’s … long-awaited meeting with President Xi in China will now take place in Beijing on May 14 and 15,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. In a social media post, Trump described Xi as “the highly

Jury finds Meta and Google liable for US$3 million...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for US$3 million in damages on Wednesday in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit.The ‌outcome could influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies brought by parents, attorneys general and school districts. At least half of American teenagers use YouTube or Instagram daily, according to the Pew Research Centre. The Los Angeles case involves a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to the apps at a young

Woman pleads not guilty to attempted murder of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

A woman from Florida pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the attempted murder of singer Rihanna. Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, of Orlando, also pleaded not guilty through her lawyer to more than a dozen other felony counts in Los Angeles Superior Court. Prosecutors allege the singer, her hip-hop star partner A$AP Rocky and their three young children were among the people assaulted at their home in the Beverly Hills area on March 8 when Ortiz, 35, pulled up to the property and sprayed bullets from an...

Lost remains of French musketeer d’Artagnan may have...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

The skeleton of famed French musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan may have been found in front of a church altar in the Dutch city of Maastricht, church officials and an archaeologist said on Wednesday. Workers ‌discovered a grave containing human remains beneath tiles after part of the floor of St Peter and Paul Church subsided in February, triggering a race to identify the skeleton through DNA testing. “This has truly become a top-level investigation, in which we want to be...

Ex-nurse enthroned as first female Archbishop of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

A former nurse made history on Wednesday when she was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to lead the centuries-old mother church of the world’s 85 million-strong Anglican community. Sarah Mullally, 63, formally steps into the role after an abuse scandal led to the departure of her predecessor. The former midwife was formally installed in the historic ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England in front of around 2,000 people including heir to the throne Prince...

Hong Kong holds onto Art Basel crown for 5 more years...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Hong Kong has held onto its crown as the exclusive regional home of Art Basel for the next five years, the culture minister has announced, after a deal was struck to secure the partnership as the city looks to enhance its status as an international art-trading hub. Some galleries at a preview for the local edition of the world-renowned annual art fair told the South China Morning Post that global uncertainties had prompted collectors to take a greater interest in buying works from established...

Airbus wins Chinese airline’s 101-plane order in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

China Eastern Airlines said on Wednesday it placed a multibillion-dollar order for 101 Airbus A320neo aircraft, marking another success for the French company after it raked in big orders from Chinese airlines in December and amid uncertainties related to a widely speculated potential deal between its rival Boeing and Beijing. While the list price of the deal would be US$15.8 billion, China Eastern said Airbus had granted it “a significant price discount” which was “more favourable than the...

Should China be worried about Japan’s maritime force...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Japan’s structural reform of its maritime force reflects a shift towards quasi-carrier operations and preparations for a potential conflict with Beijing, according to Chinese analysts. The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) on Monday revamped its organisational structure to accelerate decision-making and improve ship operations, according to Kyodo News. The agency described the move as part of Japan’s efforts to strengthen defence amid China’s growing assertiveness. As part of the...

BBC appoints ex-Google chief Matt Brittin as director...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

The BBC named a former Google executive with no television or journalism experience as its next director general on Wednesday. The long-expected appointment of Matt Brittin to the high-profile role comes as the under-fire British broadcaster faces drastic shifts in the media landscape and a US$10 billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump. Brittin, 57, said he was honoured to be appointed at a “moment of real risk, yet also real opportunity”. “Now, more than ever, we need a thriving...

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park uses AI to track, enrich lives...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has started using AI to better track the behaviour of its giant panda twins and golden monkeys, allowing for more personalised care and improved habitat design, with plans to extend the technology to dolphin research. The theme park’s chairman, Paulo Pong Kin-yee, also reported a surge in overseas visitors over the winter period, fuelled by a 60 per cent jump in long-haul arrivals, notably from the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. On Wednesday, the park...

Trump names CEOs of Meta, Nvidia to 13-member science...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

US President Donald Trump appointed Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to a council that will weigh ‌in on AI policy and other issues, the White House said on Wednesday. Google co-founder Sergey Brin and AMD CEO Lisa Su are also part of the initial batch of 13 members from the industry named to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Trump ⁠has made securing US leadership in artificial...

Semicon China: AI, advanced packaging set to drive...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

Agentic artificial intelligence and advanced packaging technology will be key growth drivers for China’s chip industry in coming years, as the country is expected to increase its share of chipmaking capacity to nearly half of the world’s total by 2028. According to data revealed at Semicon China, the world’s largest chip industry trade show, China’s share of wafer fabrication capacity for mainstream processes was expected to reach 42 per cent of global capacity by 2028. That would mark a

China still on track to supplant US as world’s No 1...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/25

China is still on course to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy in the next decade, as the global balance of power pivots towards Asia and America pursues a string of “self-defeating” policies, a prominent academic has said. While the Chinese economy is undergoing a structural transition, the current challenges facing the US are more severe, according to Li Cheng, the founding director of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World. The US is...

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