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Male pageant contestant’s viral swimsuit walk sparks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

A viral appearance in the swimsuit round by a male beauty pageant contestant in the Philippines has sparked a wider debate about male beauty standards and whether pageantry is ready to make room for people who do not fit its traditional ideals. RJ Perkins, 21, drew widespread attention after a video showed him strutting across an outdoor stage during the swimwear segment of Mister Pampanga, held in the province of Pampanga, north of Manila. Unlike the chiselled bodies typically associated

Industrial costs up 50% in Hong Kong since start of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Operating costs for Hong Kong’s industrial and commercial sectors have jumped by 50 per cent since the start of the United States-Israel war with Iran, according to an oil industry representative, who has said distributors will pass on subsidies to customers. A taxi union leader on Thursday also called on the government to extend its subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) beyond two months if oil prices rose further. The government’s subsidy of HK$3 (38 US cents) per litre of diesel to

Why China’s jet fuel deal with Australia underscores...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

China has agreed to cooperate with Australian businesses on jet fuel shipments, while reaffirming that both countries uphold multilateralism in a meeting between the countries’ top diplomats on Wednesday.Following talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Beijing was “facilitating engagement with Australian businesses on jet fuel” and called the move an important “first step” in alleviating supply crunches. “Inputs China supplies to Australia,...

Is Sri Lanka’s investor call for ‘world’s emptiest...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Sri Lanka’s loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport will need a complete overhaul if it wants to attract investors, analysts warn, after a 30-year lease agreement with an Indo-Russian joint venture failed commercially. The nation’s second international airport, built with Chinese loan, is located near a wildlife sanctuary on the island’s southern coast. It has no regular flights. Since opening in 2013, the small airport has failed to generate enough revenue to cover even its...

Tibetan herder goes from internet darling to tourism...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Five years after Tibetan herder Tenzing Tsondu was hailed as “China’s most handsome man” for a seven-second video clip, he is now a romance film actor who dreams about more experiences in the wider world. Known by his Mandarin name Ding Zhen, he gained overnight fame across the nation, after a travel photographer’s seven-second clip showing his pure smile went viral in November 2020. The account he newly registered on a social media platform garnered two million followers in one day. Many

How China can avoid a repeat of Japan’s ‘lost...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Bai Chongen is a prominent Chinese economist and government adviser. He is the dean of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management and serves concurrently as vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. From 2015 to 2018, he was a member of the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy committee. This interview took place during the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and advisory body – which Bai was attending as a member of the...

Mali turmoil tests Russia’s image as a security...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

A series ⁠of reversals suffered by Mali’s Moscow-backed military government has dented Russia’s image as ⁠a self-styled security guarantor in Africa and threatens its strategic and economic interests on the continent. The military junta, which turned to Russia for support after expelling French and UN troops following coups in 2020 and 2021, was rocked at the weekend by an offensive by West Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group. Mali’s Russia-trained defence...

Tourists overrun Australia’s most Instagrammed...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Viral posts of an Australian street dubbed the country’s “most beautiful” have enticed coachloads of visitors to a picturesque seaside town – and locals have had enough of it. Just a two-hour drive south of Sydney, Gerringong is much like many other photogenic hamlets along Australia’s east coast, with multimillion-dollar properties set against stunning views of the azure blue sea. But recent posts on Instagram, TikTok and as far afield as China’s RedNote showing the town’s Tasman Drive have...

Why Japan is sharing its guarded Mogami warship...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Common security interests in the region have led to Japan’s unprecedented sharing of its Mogami-class warships with India, according to analysts. The move dovetails with New Delhi’s drive to localise industrial and defence production. Enhanced naval capabilities will also allow India to become a “security provider” in the Indian Ocean. Japan offered India its Mogami design plans and the option to build the frigates in Indian shipyards using Japanese materials, according to recent reports from...

Crisis surge or lasting shift? China’s solar exports...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Chinese solar exports surged in March, doubling to a record high as demand accelerated across dozens of markets, according to a new report. The spike comes as global energy systems react to renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the dual blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US. The Persian Gulf shipping corridor, a critical chokepoint for global oil and gas flows, has become a focal pressure point amid escalating tensions that began on February 28 with US-Israel...

Stealth vaping continues despite new Hong Kong ban, 2...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Some Hong Kong residents are still vaping in hidden corners despite a new ban on the public use of alternative tobacco products, the South China Morning Post has observed, with at least two penalised by authorities. “We will issue penalty tickets without warning, and step up publicity in high-traffic areas such as business districts,” Head of Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office Dr Manny Lam Man-chung said, stressing that the new measure would not undermine tourism. A morning patrol in

Tai Po fire probe: URA’s lack of price checks opened...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee investigating the deadly blaze at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court residential estate is holding its 21st day of evidential hearings on Thursday, with three witnesses from the Urban Renewal Authority set to give evidence. The first witness, URA case manager Matthew Chan Yat-ho, has said the authority was aware of the practice of

Malaysia seeks return of elephants as Japan climate,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

The three Malaysian elephants sent to Osaka in Japan from Zoo Taiping and Night Safari should be brought home, according to Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup. Arthur made the call amid concerns that Japan’s climate is unsuitable for the elephants and that one of them, Kelat, has suffered an injury. Last Friday, a group of protesters gathered outside the ministry, urging the government to bring the elephants back. They cited welfare concerns

Elderly man drowns during morning swim at Hong Kong’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

An elderly man drowned while swimming at Lung Mei Beach in Hong Kong’s Tai Po on Thursday morning. Police said they received a report at 7.25am of a swimmer struggling to stay afloat. Officers rescued the 73-year-old man about 100 metres from shore. He was taken to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po, where he was pronounced dead. Police retrieved a backpack believed to belong to the man from a locker at the beach. Lifeguard services at the public beach operate from 9am to 6pm...

Hong Kong tour groups to mainland China surge by up...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Tour groups from Hong Kong to mainland China are expected to rise by up to 40 per cent year on year over the Labour Day weekend, with travel agents citing improved safety and hygiene as key factors attracting visitors. The agents also said that slight increases in fuel surcharges for flights to Asian destinations were not the main driver of shifting outbound travel patterns among Hong Kong residents; instead, they pointed to the novelty and wide range of mainland options. Steve Huen

Gruesome details alleged in D4vd case: chainsaws, a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

R&B singer D4vd used chainsaws he bought from Amazon to cut up the body of the teenage girl he murdered and left to rot in the trunk of his Tesla, prosecution documents claimed on Wednesday. The internet breakout star killed Celeste Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to reveal their long-standing and illegal sexual relationship, which began when she was just 13, charging papers allege. He then hacked up her corpse, using a plastic paddling pool to contain the blood, and stuffed it into

Oxford AI star Song Yuhang returns to China, but why...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

A young scientist who was a leader in Britain’s AI chip field has returned to China, joining Nanjing University earlier this year as an associate professor at its School of Artificial Intelligence. Song Yuhang, whose published papers on artificial intelligence (AI) have been widely cited and reported, obtained his PhD from the University of Oxford in 2022, and is also a recipient of the coveted JP Morgan AI Research Award. According to Song, he and his fellow Oxford PhD candidate Walter

Ant International serves 150m merchants, 2b...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Ant International, the overseas spin-off of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, has connected more than 150 million merchants with over 2 billion consumer accounts around the world, as it positions its payments network as core infrastructure for the emerging AI commerce economy. The figures, disclosed at the company’s MoMents 2026 forum in Kuala Lumpur, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, underscore the scale Ant is seeking to leverage amid the rising adoption of artificial intelligence

Should the law treat autonomous AI ‘agents’ as legal...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

Almost everyone has heard of OpenClaw, the late-2025 agentic AI release which takes artificial intelligence technology one step further. Rather than leaving the user to turn answers given in a dialogue box into real life action, the latest AI iteration promises to take the final leap of executing tasks autonomously. Users have raved about the productivity gains, likening the tool to employing a tireless secretary. Equally, there are horror stories of raised “lobsters” – the nickname for

Video game-loving China monk defends hobby, says...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/30

A senior monk in China has attracted widespread social media attention for enthusiastically playing electronic games.Venerable Huayan, from Mingjiao Temple in Hefei in central Anhui province, has been a Buddhist monk for 20 years. He began to play e-games when he was a primary school pupil in the early 2000s, Counter-Strike (CS) is his favourite, according to the news portal Sina.com. Huayan once achieved the Legendary Eagle Master position, a very high ranking in CS. He said the most...

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