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News - South China Morning Post

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Time to act on stalled proposal toughening child...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

Hong Kong authorities have been urged to toughen penalties for child abuse as a proposal to review protection laws for minors, which were last updated in 1995, has remained stalled for seven years. A check by the South China Morning Post found that over more than 20 years, only one of 13 serious child abuse cases involving ill-treatment or neglect of a child or young person resulted in a jail term close to the maximum of 10 years. Lawmakers earlier this month called for increasing the 10-year...

Does Iran’s wartime resilience offer any lessons for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

Iran’s ability to sustain missile and drone strikes despite heavy US-Israeli attacks has sharpened a debate in Taiwan: if the island’s air defences were degraded in the early stages of a conflict with mainland China, could it still keep fighting? The answer from officials, lawmakers and analysts was cautious but clear. They said the island could be resilient – but only if it shifted away from a missile-heavy defensive mindset towards a more integrated, cost-effective and survivable

Doubts about Trump strain Southeast Asia’s US-China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

For years, Southeast Asian countries have preferred to avoid taking sides between China and the United States. This year’s State of Southeast Asia survey shows that this approach still holds, but a more contested geostrategic environment is making it harder to sustain. The region continues to feel uneasy about China’s entrenched influence, is increasingly troubled by US leadership under President Donald Trump and is more conscious of Asean’s institutional constraints. The weakening of

Pope Leo slams ‘delusion of omnipotence’ stoking...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fuelling the US-Israel war on Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace. Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica on the same day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held. History’s first US-born pope did not mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the...

Maduro’s capture sparked outrage, confusion – and a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

Two months after the United States’ capture and forcible extradition of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro – and as the South American country attempts to settle into a state of relative normalcy in the aftermath of the military incursion – a cohort of Chinese migrants are relocating there in search of business opportunities. Not all are new arrivals. Mey Hou, a long-term Venezuela resident in her 40s who fled the country during Maduro’s tenure, said many people from her hometown in...

‘We have no trust in the other side’: Iran points...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

The United States and Iran did not reach a deal because Washington failed to win the other side’s trust, Tehran’s lead negotiator said on Sunday. In his first comments since the marathon round of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad broke up, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on social media: “We have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side. “The opposing side ultimately failed to gain

Why securing Hong Kong’s economic future is a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

Hong Kong is navigating a period of significant economic transition. The city is seeing a surge in family offices. It is an offshore renminbi hub and has one of the world’s most meaningful capital markets. However, it needs systemic change to attract and retain top talent, bring the Hong Kong diaspora back home and lure high-spending tourists. While our capital infrastructure is strong, our cultural infrastructure demands urgent attention. As outlined in China’s 15th five-year plan, the

Hong Kong’s ministerial team spent HK$46.6 million on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

Hong Kong’s 21 ministerial-level officials spent more than HK$46.6 million (US$5.9 million) on trips over the past three financial years, with finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po accounting for nearly a quarter of the total. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah was the most frequent traveller, making 50 trips in the past three years at a cost of HK$7.21 million to taxpayers, official records released to legislators showed. Chan made 35 visits during the three

China family creates AI clone to comfort elderly mum...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

After a man in China was killed in a road accident last year, his family hired an artificial intelligence (AI) technology team to create a digital version of him to comfort his elderly mother. The AI creation is able to chat with his octogenarian mother online and help her live with the reality of her only child’s death. The incident was exposed by the AI team leader Zhang Zewei, who is based in eastern Jiangsu province, according to the media outlet Litchi News. The family, who live in

Singapore’s robotaxi drive revs up with help from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/12

In a quiet street in northern Singapore, a car plies the road like any other – except it is a left-hand drive from China and the person in the driver’s seat has been trained to keep his hands off the wheel and his foot off the pedals unless an emergency arises. Eventually, there will be no need for a safety officer or any human behind the wheel at all – mirroring the autonomous vehicles (AVs) already operating in cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For now,

Over the moon: Artemis II astronauts make emotional...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Still marvelling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home on Saturday from hundreds who took part in Nasa’s lunar comeback that set a record for deep space travel. The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre and Mission Control, flying in from San Diego where they splashed down just offshore the evening before. After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, the astronauts took the hangar stage, surrounded by...

Sex assault claims against California governor...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

The Manhattan ⁠district attorney’s office confirmed ⁠on Saturday that it ⁠is investigating sexual assault allegations against US congressman Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and a leading candidate for governor of the state. The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday reported ‌that a woman who previously worked in Swalwell’s district office accused him of two nonconsensual sexual encounters, one while she was employed by him in 2019 and another in 2024 after she had left his staff. She told

French police find naked boy, 9, locked in father’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

A nine-year-old boy has been rescued after living locked in his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024, according to the local prosecutor. The child has been hospitalised, and his father detained. Police were alerted by a neighbour to the “sounds of a child” coming from a van on Monday in the village of Hagenbach, near the borders with Switzerland and Germany, according to a statement on Saturday from prosecutor Nicolas Heitz. After forcing the van open, officers found the child...

Medical intern suspended after complaint over patient...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Hong Kong’s public hospital operator has suspended a medical intern and launched an investigation following a complaint that patient information had been exposed on social media, just days after another doctor was dismissed in a separate but similar privacy controversy that triggered citywide concern. The Hospital Authority said on Saturday that the case involved an intern at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, who had since been temporarily taken off clinical duties. “As a provider of...

Chinese crystal ‘paves way’ for GPS-free thorium...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Scientists in Xinjiang have created the world’s first crystal that can produce the ultraviolet light needed for future thorium nuclear clocks, which could one day guide submarines and deep-space probes without GPS.The fluorinated borate compound could push laser light to a record 145.2 nanometres (nm) – a wavelength short enough to meet a key requirement for these ultra-precise, portable clocks being developed in the United States, China and elsewhere, the team reported in Advanced Materials

Russia and Ukraine begin 32-hour ceasefire for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Saturday, with Kyiv warning it would respond “immediately” if Russia violated it. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the ceasefire on Thursday to coincide with Orthodox Easter, more than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first made the proposal. Both sides have agreed to observe it. The ceasefire is due to last for 32 hours, from 4.00pm on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the...

Israeli spy firm Black Cube involved in Cyprus...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

A private spy firm founded by former members ⁠of Israeli intelligence ⁠has confirmed its involvement in ⁠a sting operation targeting state officials and private interests in Cyprus, saying it wanted to expose corruption. A senior aide to President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides resigned in January after a video posted online showed ‌him discussing investment projects in Cyprus. It also featured a businessman who suggested he had direct access to Christodoulides, and a former minister

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs wraps up...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has concluded his second visit to the Greater Bay Area in three weeks, a trip that analysts view as a push from the central government to speed up the city’s integration with national development. Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was in Guangdong province earlier this week, visiting Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou. State-run media said his four-day “research tour” focused on supporting Hong Kong...

‘A big deal’: the military drills showing Tokyo’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Japan’s participation in annual US-Philippine military exercises is a “big deal”, because it shows how Tokyo is taking a bigger role in regional groupings that could face off with China, according to analysts. More than 7,000 soldiers from the United States and Philippine armies are taking part in this year’s Salaknib drill, a joint annual exercise that started on the north of Luzon island on Monday. The exercise aims to “enhance combat readiness and interoperability between the two armies,...

Gucci shoes worth HK$11,000 stolen from shopping...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/11

Hong Kong police are investigating after a pair of Gucci shoes worth HK$11,000 (US$1,404) were stolen from a restroom at Times Square in Causeway Bay, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said on Saturday that the victim, 48, had bought the shoes from the Gucci store on the second floor of the shopping centre before heading to the restroom on the third floor. She left the shoes behind, and when she returned, she found the shoebox, but the footwear was missing, the source...

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