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Iran ‘does not forget its friends’ as Malaysia ships...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/07

Tehran’s decision to let Malaysia-linked vessels through the Strait of Hormuz highlighted Iran’s growing use of access to the strategic waterway as leverage, analysts said, with only a limited number of ships now able to pass and access increasingly determined by political ties rather than treated as a neutral commercial right. For Malaysia, the move drew attention not only to Tehran’s close ties with Putrajaya but also to scrutiny surrounding sanction-sensitive oil trade and ship-to-ship...

India kicks off crucial state elections for Modi’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/07

The US and Israel’s war against Iran is casting an unusually long shadow over India’s next round of state elections, stoking fears of an energy shock and fresh uncertainty for millions of migrant workers in the Middle East. As voters prepare to cast ballots in Assam and Kerala on Thursday, and in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu later this month, concerns about higher energy costs, tighter cooking gas supplies and the fate of workers in the Gulf have given the campaign an unusual international...

How can Beijing attract top-tier Chinese AI...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

Beijing should shift its strategy and improve ways to attract and retain top Chinese AI professionals as America’s accelerating integration of artificial intelligence into military and national security systems puts such talent in a bind.As geopolitical tensions rise, many highly skilled Chinese researchers working at US tech and research institutions are confronting a painful dilemma, according to Dai Mingjie, a researcher at the Institute of Public Policy at the Guangzhou-based South China...

US Artemis II’s moon trip faces challenging toilet...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts. On the downside, their toilet is on the blink again. The three Americans and one Canadian are set to reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar far side as they zoom around. It is the first moon-bound crew in more than 53 years, picking up where Nasa’s Apollo programme left off. “The Earth is quite small,

Iran attacks Kuwait, Israel after Trump sets deadline...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and Kuwait on Sunday, a day after US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all Hell”. Kuwait and Israel said their air defences were responding to the latest attacks from Iran, part of the war that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes that triggered retaliation by Tehran. The war has spread conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy. Iran’s forces maintain a

Observatory warns of thundery showers amid Ching Ming...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Intense thundery showers are approaching Hong Kong under the influence of a trough of low pressure, even as authorities expect residents to flock to family graves for the Ching Ming Festival. The Hong Kong Observatory said at 10am on Sunday that a band of intense thundery showers over the seas south of the city was gradually edging closer to the vicinity

Renewed interest in traditional Malaysian lutes comes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

Among the stories Sarawak instrument craftsman Salomon Gau inherited from his elders is one that begins not with wood or strings but with spirits. He recalled being told how spirits first showed villagers how the earliest forms of the sape – a traditional carved wooden lute from Malaysian Borneo – should be made and played, at a time when the instrument was central to ceremonies, storytelling and social life. “The first one was the two-string version. The four-string one is already quite new,...

How China is transforming Hong Kong into a strategic hub

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan is expected to guide the city’s future development. Never before has the city attempted a comprehensive plan in the style of mainland China, signalling a major shift in how it approaches long‑term growth. The real question is not why a laissez‑faire economy must adopt a new model but how this transformation will unfold. This exercise is unprecedented on multiple fronts. First, it departs from Hong Kong’s long-standing reliance on market forces and incremental...

Closing Hong Kong schools with low enrolment will...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

The rising number of schools facing closure due to insufficient enrolment has raised concerns over the impact on students with special educational needs (SEN), with parents saying such at-risk institutions provided better care and instruction for their children than those whose survival is secure. Marcia Ng Mun-chi, co-founder and executive director of the Hong Kong Association for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), recently raised concerns following the Education Bureau’s...

China not targeting US West Coast with ultra-large...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

China’s unmanned submersibles now rank as the world’s largest, with last year’s military parade showcasing two models (HSU001 and AJX002) approaching 20 metres (66 feet) in length. Satellite imagery analysed by Western media also revealed a classified variant exceeding 40 metres at a naval installation, triggering international concern – particularly in the United States. These dimensions created a brand new class of drones known as extra-extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XXLUUVs).

Public outrage as China traveller at pet-friendly...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

A pet-friendly hotel in southwestern China has drawn fierce online criticism after recommending dog meat restaurants to a traveller staying with their dog. On March 27, a social media user surnamed Chen described a disturbing stay at a hotel in Guizhou province. Chen said they had booked a pet-friendly property for a trip with their puppy, but was taken aback when the hotel sent them an official message recommending local attractions, including the town’s dog meat speciality. The message,

Thailand’s US$7 billion fishing industry sinks as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/05

A dawn gloom hangs over the pier in Bangsaray, eastern Thailand, as buyers arrive to wait for the first fishing boats to return. But like everyone else relying on the day’s catch they have already lost money to someone else’s war. Thailand’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry has been brought to its knees by the runaway price of diesel, a result of Iran’s throttling of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US and Israel’s attacks. Half of the kingdom’s vast fishing fleet is already

Bomb allegedly left at US base by Alen Zheng was...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

The bomb placed outside a US Air Force Base visitors centre in Florida last month was built inside two 2-litre cherry Pepsi bottles, according to federal prosecutors. Alen Zheng, 20, of Land O’Lakes, is accused of planting the bomb and lighting the fuse at the base on March 10. He drove the explosive to MacDill Air Force Base in the boot of his Mercedes SUV, according to a document filed by prosecutors Friday. The bomb did not detonate. US Attorney Gregory Kehoe has said it had the “potential

What next for the struggling rural mothers in China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Before autonomous driving freed up the hands of Beijing’s middle class, thousands of workers some 1,500km (930 miles) away in China’s southwestern Guizhou province clicked away at computer screens to teach AI about navigating traffic. In the mountainous city of Tongren, where incomes are less than half those in Beijing, the work of data labelling – marking residential buildings, pavements, roadways and traffic lights – shaped the artificial intelligence guiding those vehicles. The job

China’s growing North Africa presence a structural...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

China’s investments in North Africa have intensified in 2026, building on long-standing Belt and Road Initiative frameworks while accelerating amid the US-Israeli war with Iran. With 40-50 per cent of China’s seaborne oil imports traditionally passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now blocked to most container traffic, Beijing has sought to diversify energy sources away from Gulf Arab states. For more than a decade, Beijing has pursued deeper engagement across the Middle East and

US commits nearly all of stealthy long-range missiles...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

The next steps in the US military campaign against Iran will commit nearly its entire inventory of stealthy JASSM-ER cruise missiles, drawing them from stockpiles devoted to other regions. The order to pull the US$1.5 million weapon from Pacific stockpiles was issued at the end of March, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Missiles at US facilities elsewhere, including the continental US, will be moved to US Central Command bases or Fairford in the UK, said the person,

US arrests niece and grandniece of slain Iran general...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

The Trump administration has revoked the green cards or US visas of at least four Iranian nationals connected to the current or former Iranian government, including two who have been detained by immigration authorities and are to be deported. The latest actions were taken just this week when Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined they were no longer eligible for either lawful permanent resident status, or to enter the United States. The steps follow a move late last year in which the visas

Student in controversial Hong Kong documentary hits...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

A student who featured in a controversial Hong Kong documentary has said she did not give her consent to it being shown at an Italian film festival, reiterating her objection to it being screened publicly. Ah Ling, one of six students who featured in the coming-of-age documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, said she was only notified by Ying Wa Girls’ School on Friday that the film would be screened at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, this month. The school also did not address

Russia, Ukraine strikes kill 10 as Zelensky travels...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Russia and Ukraine traded deadly strikes overnight and on Saturday morning, killing 10 people and wounding several dozen more, officials on both sides said on Saturday. The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians. “We are working to strengthen our partnership to ensure the real protection of

Trump gives Iran 48 hours to make deal, as US hunts...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face “all Hell”, as US and Iranian forces scrambled to find a downed American airman. Trump’s latest threat came after a strike near an Iranian nuclear power plant prompted evacuations, and as Tehran announced fresh attacks and the Israeli military said it had detected another missile launch from Yemen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit a commercial ship in Bahrain, as they maintained their tight...

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