PODCAST

News - South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

All Episodes

Senate vote leaves Cuba’s uncertain future at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

With Congress again failing to curb US President Donald Trump’s authority over Cuba, the centre of gravity in US policy towards the island is shifting decisively back to the White House – and to a narrower, more consequential question: what comes next? Tuesday’s 51-47 Senate vote to block a Democratic-led war powers resolution on Cuba does not change policy on its own. It was widely expected, reflecting a long-standing pattern in which Congress has struggled to assert its war powers authority...

US Congress votes to end record government shutdown

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The US Congress on Thursday approved funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending a record-breaking partial government shutdown that has disrupted critical agencies for more than two months. The House approved the measure, already passed by the Senate, sending it to US President Donald Trump, who quickly signed it. It will fund key DHS agencies through the end of the financial year on September 30. It does not include new money for immigration and border enforcement,...

US telecoms agency votes to expand tech crackdown on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The Federal Communications ⁠Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to advance a proposal to bar all Chinese labs from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use in the United States. The agency says about 75 per cent of ‌all US electronics are tested in China and plans to adopt a streamlined approval process for devices tested in US labs or labs from countries not posing national security risks. In a separate 3-0 vote, the commission advanced a proposal to...

Man charged with trying to kill Trump agrees to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at a black-tie press gala in Washington agreed on Thursday to remain in custody while his case moves forward. The suspect, Cole Allen, 31, would ‌not immediately contest prosecutors’ arguments that he was a danger to the community and should remain in jail, his lawyer, Tezira Abe, said during a court hearing. Allen allegedly stormed a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on...

First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela departed a bit early on Thursday on its way to the capital of the South American country, seven years after the US Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes months after the US capture of then-president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning night-time raid on his residence in Caracas in early January. It also

Is China’s Manus block a warning for other AI firms...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Beijing’s decision to block Meta Platforms’ proposed acquisition of artificial intelligence firm Manus should not be seen as a restriction on foreign investment, Chinese state media said, urging companies in the sector to “go global when ready” and “pursue partnerships where appropriate”. “What stands out from Meta’s Manus deal is that the AI industry is transcending simple commercial logic,” Yuyuan Tantian, the influential social media account run by state broadcaster CCTV, said on Wednesday

Uganda kindergarten murderer sentenced to death

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

A Ugandan-American man was sentenced to death on Thursday over the murders of four young children he stabbed to death at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital. Christopher Okello Onyum was arrested on April 2 as he tried to flee the day care centre in Kampala where he murdered the children aged 15 months to two-and-a-half years. Prosecutors said Onyum, who holds Ugandan and US citizenship, confessed to the crime, believing the “human sacrifice” would help him become rich, though he eventually...

Chinese firms face pressure on AI investments as US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Artificial intelligence investments by US tech giants continue to soar, dwarfing those of Chinese AI firms, but China’s rising appetite for AI applications will compel its tech companies to increase their AI spending this year, according to analysts. The largest US tech companies are on track for more than US$700 billion in AI capital expenditures this year, driven in part by rising memory costs and continuously growing demand for AI applications. Google and Microsoft on Thursday both said

France probes teenage suspect in massive ID data breach

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an ⁠investigation into ⁠a 15-year-old, suspected of having ⁠hacked the country’s ID agency and trying to sell the data of millions of French people on the dark web this month, it said on Thursday. The teenager, whose identity ‌was not revealed, was detained on April 25 and held in police custody for questioning after he was suspected of hiding behind the nickname “breach3d”, a hacker who had put on sale on hacker forums between 12 million and 18

China voices ‘serious concern’ over US trade curbs in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng held a video meeting on Thursday with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. During the call, the Chinese and US sides “engaged in candid, in-depth, and constructive discussions” on “further properly addressing economic and trade issues of mutual concern and expanding practical cooperation”, a brief report stated. China expressed “serious concern” on the call over the “economic...

Why is China warning the UN of a Japanese ‘nuclear...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The row between China and Japan has ratcheted up a notch, with Beijing issuing a strongly worded position paper warning that Tokyo would soon be able to produce nuclear weapons. In the document released on Thursday, China called on the United Nations to make Japan’s potential pursuit of nuclear arms an “important agenda item” at an ongoing convention at the organisation’s New York headquarters. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and will assume the monthly rotating

US economy grows 2% in January–March; Iran war clouds...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The US economy accelerated at the start of 2026, expanding at a modest 2 per cent pace from January through March after recovering from last fall’s 43-day federal government shutdown. But the outlook is clouded by the Iran war. The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that gross domestic product – the nation’s output of goods and services – rebounded from a lacklustre 0.5 per cent expansion the last three months of 2025. The federal government’s spending and investment grew at a 9.3 per

Tai Po fire: tendering system can’t stop firms...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

An official tendering system designed to curb anti-competitive conduct is powerless to combat engineering firms colluding to manipulate Hong Kong’s lucrative building maintenance market, a public inquiry into the city’s deadliest fire in decades has heard. Testifying on the 21st day of an independent committee’s hearing, three Urban Renewal Authority (URA) officials said on Thursday that the statutory body had neither the capacity nor the resources to combat bid-rigging linked to estates’...

Gaming platform Roblox to require facial scans for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Roblox, a gaming platform popular with kids, announced Thursday that children under 16 in Indonesia will be required to undergo facial scans to verify their age to comply with new restrictions on minors’ use of social media and digital platforms in the country. Nicky Jackson Colaco, Roblox’s vice-president and global head of public policy, announced the changes in a press conference in Jakarta, describing them among the strictest that the company has implemented anywhere in the world. She

China’s Tiangong space station to double in size as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

China has confirmed plans to expand its space station, potentially more than doubling in size to meet growing scientific demand and expand international cooperation. The Tiangong and the International Space Station (ISS) are the only space stations operating in low Earth orbit. The ISS, led by Nasa and built with contributions from 15 countries, is the biggest structure in space and has been a laboratory for more than 3,000 experiments. Nasa plans to retire the ISS in early 2031, using a...

Xi-Trump summit unlikely to revive Chinese investment...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Chinese investment in the US is unlikely to recover meaningfully from its mid-2010s collapse even if President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump reach a bilateral deal when they meet in Beijing next month, according to a report released on Thursday. Rhodium Group, an American research firm that tracks China’s cross-border investment, said Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States had “fallen significantly from its 2016 peak, and remained at low levels for the past

Hong Kong homebuyers flock to new launches as flats...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Hong Kong homebuyers snapped up most of the new flats released on Thursday, with developers beginning to ramp up new construction amid sustained housing demand. All 120 units at the One Victoria Cove I in Hung Hom, jointly developed by Henderson Land Development, Hysan Development and Empire Group, were sold by 5.20pm, according to agents. Meanwhile, New World Development (NWD) and MTR Corp’s Pavilia Farm III above Tai Wai MTR station found buyers for 19 of the 45 units as of 6.50pm. Most

A world adrift looks to China for institutional...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The international order is under mounting strain. In recent years, unilateralism, protectionism and the selective application of international law have eroded confidence in the rules-based frameworks that once underpinned global cooperation. The return of Donald Trump to the centre of American politics, along with the policy instincts the US president represents, has only reinforced concerns that the United States may continue to privilege narrow domestic calculations over international...

Pakistan’s IMF-backed recovery under pressure as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Pakistan’s bid to mediate between the US and Iran has put Islamabad near the centre of efforts to defuse the Middle East conflict, but with no lasting peace yet in sight, its fragile economy is becoming increasingly exposed to the fallout from the war. While soaring oil prices and disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz have led to turmoil in global energy markets, analysts said Pakistan has especially limited room to absorb the blow because of its thin foreign exchange reserves,

China’s US experts are falling short in the ‘great...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Chinese scholars must sharpen their focus on the internal conflicts reshaping the United States if they are to help Beijing navigate its rivalry with Washington, according to a prominent academic. These crises include shifts in political culture, heightened racial tensions, the unsustainability of the country’s economic and fiscal model and the widespread influence of protectionism and populism, according to Ni Feng, a researcher and former director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’...

23,390 results