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South Korean restaurants struggle to survive as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

Kim Bong-hwan, who runs a barbecue restaurant in Myeong-dong in central Seoul, is feeling the brunt of rising costs, with wholesale beef prices climbing from about 28,000 won (US$18) per kilogram to more than 40,000 won in recent weeks. “Everything’s going up – beef, pork, eggs, vegetables and even disposable materials like plastic bags and containers,” he said. “Prices have risen 20 to 30 per cent in just a few weeks.” Kim, who has operated the restaurant for more than 15 years, said raising...

How Israel dodged Hormuz energy crisis while others...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has thrown the global economic system into turmoil, yet Israel, which launched attacks on Tehran alongside the United States, has emerged as a rare exception. Since Israel and its US ally started the Middle East war on February 28, economies from Asia to Europe and the US have come under pressure from surging oil and natural gas prices that have driven up fuel and electricity costs. Israel, however, has remained largely insulated from the shock.

China gains ground in DR Congo’s mining sector as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

Two significant decisions within eight days made by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo reflect the current state of its mining industry, where Chinese companies have emerged as preferred partners. On March 19, DR Congo’s Mining Registry announced the cancellation of mining permits held by Australia’s AVZ Minerals for non-payment of surface rights fees. It was the second cancellation in three years suffered by the company in DR Congo after its Manono lithium concession was

Japan solo dining chain surges in popularity in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

A new solo dining trend among Chinese people is boosting the success of Japanese diner brands such as Sushiro. The conveyor belt sushi chain opened its first mainland shop in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province in 2021. Its popularity boomed when the brand opened its first shop in Beijing in 2024. It was reported that there was a queue of up to 1,500 tables. When Sushiro entered Shanghai in December 2025, there were already 700 groups of people waiting before its first opening....

Malaysian minister warns of ‘very, very serious’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

The Malaysian government has entered “crisis mode” in response to the ongoing global energy supply disruption, its transport minister has warned. “This is not a laughing or joking matter. It is a very, very serious matter,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Tuesday, as quoted by the New Straits Times newspaper. “For the past month, energy costs have risen by more than 100 per cent.” According to news website Free Malaysia Today, Loke said: “Even though at this moment our lights are

Fidel Castro’s grandson backs capitalism and Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

Amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and Cuban leaders, Sandro Castro, the controversial grandson of Fidel Castro, told a major US television news network that most Cubans on the island want to embrace capitalism and that the country’s hand-picked president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has done a poor job. His statements to CNN’s Havana correspondent, Patrick Oppmann, echoed earlier calls by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a change of leadership in Havana, and seem to suggest that...

Pakistan eyes Gulf investment, defence deals in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/01

Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say. If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing defence deals with Gulf monarchies and attracting investment from them to strengthen its weak economy. This will help finance Pakistan’s military expansion for its envisioned new...

Ant smuggling in China, new airport rules in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. Why are smugglers swarming East Africa for ants to send to China and Europe? 2. How a Tang dynasty tablet became a test for China-Japan restitution 3. Hong Kong passengers caught off guard by new airport limit of 2 power banks 4. Jiang Xueqin, the viral ‘prophet’ predicting the world’s fate

EU’s flagship Africa project under fire over ties to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

To European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the ribbon of rail snaking from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia across Angola to the Atlantic port of Lobito is “more than just infrastructure”. The Lobito Corridor rail upgrade is a flagship project of the EU’s €300 billion (US$346 billion) infrastructure drive, Global Gateway, launched to great fanfare in 2021 as a rival to Beijing’s own Belt and Road Initiative. It is also pivotal to the EU’s efforts to wean itself off...

DeepSeek 12-hour outage leaves millions cut off,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek suffered a prolonged outage overnight that extended into early Monday morning, disrupting service for hundreds of millions of users, according to a company notice and user feedback. The Hangzhou-based AI lab’s namesake chatbot website and app were offline from Sunday evening, with the company continuing to investigate while issuing fixes from between 1am and 9am on Monday, according to service maintenance records the company published

Indonesian killed in Lebanon while on UN peacekeeping...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

The UN peacekeeping ⁠mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said ⁠a peacekeeper was killed when a ⁠projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Another peacekeeper was critically injured, it said in a statement early on Monday. Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Monday the deceased peacekeeper was one of ‌its citizens and that three others were injured by indirect artillery fire in the vicinity of the Indonesian UNIFIL contingent’s

Heavy AI users report mental burnout from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Heavy users of artificial intelligence have reported being overwhelmed by trying to keep up with and on top of the technology designed to make their lives easier. Too many lines of code to analyse, armies of AI assistants to wrangle and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters. Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon “AI brain fry”, a state of mental exhaustion stemming “from the excessive use or supervision of artificial...

Tai Po blaze hearing resumes after fire alarm goes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The hearings by an independent committee investigating the catastrophic Tai Po blaze that killed 168 people in Hong Kong have entered their fifth day, with the company responsible for the fire safety systems at Wang Fuk Court estate set to testify. Another seven residents have been slated to testify on Monday at the City Gallery building in Central,

Beijing sanctions Japanese lawmaker for ‘colluding...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Beijing has imposed sanctions on Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya for allegedly “colluding with the Taiwan independence forces”. “Japanese House of Representatives member Keiji Furuya, despite strong opposition from China, has repeatedly made provocative visits to Taiwan and colluded with ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, seriously violating the one-China principle,” China’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Monday. During his visit to Taipei on March 17, Furuya, a lawmaker...

Taiwan’s Kuomintang leader to visit mainland China to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), will lead a delegation to mainland China next month at the invitation of Beijing, her first visit since assuming the position in November. Song Tao, head of Beijing’s Taiwan Work Office, said on Monday that the Communist Party Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, would welcome her visit to Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Beijing from April 7 to 12, to “promote the...

Chinese company to use AI-powered chromosome testing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Biotech firm Hangzhou Diagens Biotechnology is banking on AI-powered chromosome testing to drive profit growth following its Hong Kong listing, as China’s falling fertility rate spurs demand for assisted reproduction. “In China, many young people do not want to marry or have children, and by the time they decide to start a family, they need medical help to do so,” Diagens’ founder and executive director, Song Ning, said. “We are meeting an increasing number of couples every year who struggle

Navigating autism in Hong Kong

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Where can Japan store its nuclear waste? Island plan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Recent reports of Japan exploring the feasibility of using the remote Pacific island of Minamitorishima as a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste have raised concern at home and abroad. An official request to carry out a survey assessing the island’s suitability for the facility was presented to the mayor of Ogasawara village, which nominally administers the island some 1,900km (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo, earlier this month. Similar requests have been made of two towns

Hong Kong’s autism support services are fragmented....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

In the first of a series on challenges facing Hong Kong’s growing autistic population, Fiona Sun examines how the city can mobilise stronger support from the private sector to turn systemic hurdles into opportunities. Hong Kong parent Raymond Lam Yiu-wah says caring for his five-year-old autistic son has been a constant source of stress, as the boy requires his full attention. The 42-year-old auditor said his son, diagnosed with autism at the age of two, had yet to speak in full sentences and...

UN Security Council’s inaction is tearing the world...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/30

Every violation of international law invites the next. From Afghanistan to Iran, and across Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza and Venezuela, the line between what is permitted and what is prohibited has been steadily blurred by the complicit inaction of the United Nations Security Council. Wielding the veto as both a shield and a weapon, its permanent members act without grounding in the UN Charter. They play with the fate of millions, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Until recently,...

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