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Israel targets Iran-backed Hezbollah sites in Lebanon...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday, with smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with

Malaysian bookshop hits on novel idea to bring back...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

“You don’t even have to look for it,” nine-year-old Anaqi said of the short videos he watches online. “It just shows up automatically, and it’s super interesting.” That instinctive pull is familiar to his father, Firdaus Omar. The 39-year-old Malaysian civil servant said his two children – Anaqi and his six-year-old brother – could spend hours watching the kind of short, noisy, endlessly recommended clips now commonly dismissed online as “brain rot”. He is worried about the effect of such...

Hong Kong Hospital Authority apologises for data...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog and police are investigating a large-scale data leak involving more than 56,000 patients served by the Hospital Authority, which reported the unauthorised retrieval of a variety of information. The authority on Saturday apologised to affected victims – patients of hospitals in Kowloon East – for the breach that compromised their names, identity card numbers, genders, dates of birth, dates of hospital visits and details of surgical procedures, among other...

Probe launched after Hospital Authority data breach...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog and police are investigating a large-scale data leak involving over 56,000 patients served by the Hospital Authority, which reported the unauthorised retrieval of a variety of information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said on Saturday that it received a report from the authority on Friday, noting that patients’ names, identity card numbers, genders, dates of birth, dates of hospital visits and health information had been leaked. The

Safety fears bloom in Japan as ageing cherry trees...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Many of Tokyo’s popular and iconic Somei Yoshino cherry blossom trees were planted during Japan’s post-war advancement in the 1960s, and are now getting old and frail. Some have fallen and many others require support, triggering safety concern as the Japanese celebrate the season of their favourite flower. Two cherry blossom trees collapsed on Thursday, one at Kinuta Park in downtown Tokyo and the other at the Chidorigafuchi greenway. The one in Kinuta Park damaged a fence while the other

Amber rainstorm warning in Hong Kong, with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong is bracing for a series of thunderstorms on the weekend, with the weather forecaster issuing an amber rainstorm warning on Saturday morning. The Hong Kong Observatory announced the amber warning, the lowest of the three-tiered rainstorm warning system, at 11am. It also said rain was particularly heavy in Tai Po district and might cause serious...

KMB told to probe machines that gave free bus rides...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

The Hong Kong government has demanded that the city’s largest franchised bus operator investigate the malfunctioning of its fare rebate machines, which provided free trips to passengers on the day a revised HK$2 (26 US cents) transport subsidy scheme was implemented. The government told the South China Morning Post on Saturday that KMB would be responsible for paying the additional rebates that it accidentally provided to eligible passengers and other residents during the system malfunction

In a time of war, Chinese museums are a safe haven...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

From glimmering floral-patterned glassware to the vivid colours of intricately designed Persian carpets, artefacts from Iran have captivated visitors to a museum in northern China, where they have avoided the risks of damage in the war waged by the US and Israel. The relics, on display at the Inner Mongolia Museum in the regional capital Hohhot since December, have drawn growing attention since the start of the conflict in the Middle East and highlighted a cultural exchange that has been

Singapore’s Workers’ Party finishes investigation...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

A Workers’ Party disciplinary panel looking into secretary general Pritam Singh’s conduct has completed its investigation into whether the chief had contravened the party’s constitution, after his court conviction for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. “The panel will present its finalised report and recommendations to the Central Executive Committee in April,” Singapore’s opposition party said in a statement on Saturday. “The Notice of the Special Cadre Members’ Conference will

London mayor’s protection officers relieved of duties...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Armed police guarding London Mayor Sadiq Khan left a bag of guns outside his home which was found by a member of the public, it was reported. Scaffolder Jordan Griffiths told The Sun that his pregnant girlfriend found the bag in south London on Tuesday evening. Inside the bag was an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler & Koch carbine, a Glock pistol, taser and ammunition, the newspaper reported. “My partner saw the bag sitting in the road by the kerbside and became suspicious. She went over to it and...

‘Space plumber’ to the rescue as Artemis astronauts...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

They are sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they are just like us. The four crew members zipping through space towards the moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they are also still muddling on through life’s mundanities – all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans. Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for

Here comes the ‘Mounjaro bride’: Indian women turn to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Soon-to-be brides and grooms seeking ⁠short cuts to shed pounds before the big day have become the latest consumer target ⁠for weight-loss drugs in India. New Delhi wellness clinic Klarity Skin Clinic touts a “Mounjaro bride” package, while other clinics have woven weight-loss injections into “pre-wedding” transformation packages typically focused on skin treatments and hairstyle makeovers. In a social media video, Klarity offers “guided nutrition, Mounjaro and smart workouts” to prepare

Competition or ‘co-opetition’: how is convergence...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

There was a surprise guest speaker at Nvidia’s widely watched GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in San Jose, California, last month: Yang Zhilin, the founder of Beijing-based Moonshot AI, the developer behind the Kimi family of foundational artificial intelligence models. Amid heated rhetoric about US-China AI competition, which some have likened to an “arms race”, the participation of a Chinese AI start-up’s CEO at the flagship event of American chipmaking giant Nvidia might have struck some

South Korea and Indonesia’s KF-21 fighter jet is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

South Korea has spent a decade and billions of dollars trying to build a world-class fighter jet. Now that the finish line is drawing near, it’s nearly time to find out who will buy one. The first mass-produced KF-21 Boramae, developed jointly with Indonesia since 2015, was unveiled by Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon on March 25. Analysts say the aircraft could pave the way for South Korea, already one of the world’s top 10 arms exporters, to grab an even bigger slice of the global...

Pakistan offers 30 days of free public transport...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

State-run public transport in Pakistan’s capital and most populous province will be free for the coming month, officials said, after the government drastically raised fuel prices due to the Iran war. The announcement came after street protests and long queues of motorcycles at fuel stations triggered by a late-night decision on Thursday to impose a 42.7 per cent rise in the price of petrol to 485 rupees (US$1.70) per litre. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif back-pedalled late on Friday, saying he...

Chinese overseas need not keep to ourselves. I...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

While enjoying a foot massage in Buenos Aires’ Chinatown, I chatted with my masseuse, a Fujianese woman in her late 50s surnamed Wang. Her life, it seemed to me, mirrored that of many recent Chinese immigrants to Argentina. She eats exclusively Chinese food, her friends are fellow Chinese and she still speaks mostly Chinese. While it is not unusual for migrants anywhere to gravitate towards their own community, the tendency appears particularly strong among the Chinese. China’s presence in...

Why South Korea, France prefer diplomacy over force...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Efforts by South Korea and France to secure safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz are likely to be centred on a post-war defensive armada with other countries. Analysts also say both nations are wary of joining the Middle East conflict at this point in time and antagonising Iran. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday revealed he had agreed with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to cooperate on safety in the strategic oil supply strait. Lee made the remarks after a...

Chinese woman spits blood on train, receives...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

A sick woman in China who spat out blood on an underground train then wiped the bloodstain from the floor with her coat has received 400,000 yuan (US$58,000) in donations from internet users moved by her plight. A video of the woman taken by a passenger on a train in Chongqing, southwestern China on March 23 has gone viral on mainland social media, Jiupai News reported. Hu Xinyao, 23, has a rare vascular condition called ANCA-associated vasculitis. She was on her way to a hospital for an...

Hong Kong airport opens sensory space for passengers...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Hong Kong International Airport has opened a sensory corner to ease travel stress for passengers with invisible disabilities, ranging from autism to dementia. Major airports around the world, including Singapore Changi and London Heathrow, have introduced sensory rooms or quiet zones for neurodivergent travellers in recent years, as part of a wider effort to enhance inclusivity. Chris Au Young, the Airport Authority’s general manager of terminal and passenger experience, said the 30 square

Southeast Asia seeks soft power to outlast US$300...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/04

Later this month, Indonesian cinema-goers will finally get to see what audiences in Berlin saw in February: Jokor Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell. The horror-comedy, which had its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, has been celebrated by influential trade magazine Variety for rising above mere “escapist entertainment” to channel societal anxieties about corruption and environmental destruction. Yet it is only the latest example of Southeast Asia’s creative moment...

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