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News - South China Morning Post

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US woman charged with murder after taking abortion...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

A 31-year-old Georgia woman has been charged with murder after she took abortion medication and gave birth to a premature infant who died within hours, according to court documents and arrest records. Alexia Moore was arrested, charged and jailed by local police earlier this month ‌in coastal Camden County, Georgia, near the Florida border over the episode on December 30. Nearly all abortions in Georgia are illegal after six weeks of pregnancy. Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs

Japanese executives absent from China’s key annual...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

As diplomatic friction between China and Japan drags on, no Japanese business executives will attend a key forum in Beijing of multinational companies this coming week, according to an internal list seen by the South China Morning Post. Nearly 80 top executives from major foreign corporations, with those from the US making up the largest group, will attend the China Development Forum (CDF) from Sunday to Monday, according to the list. Meanwhile, some foreign CEOs – including a few from the...

In Iran war debut, South Korea’s cut-price Patriot...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

South Korea built the Cheongung-II to stop North Korean missiles. Now the system is stopping Iranian ones – and in doing so, has turned Seoul into one of the most sought-after defence suppliers on the planet. The medium-range surface-to-air missile system, also known as the KM-SAM Block II, has scored a reported interception rate of 96 per cent against Iranian missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates. It was a combat debut that rivalled, and in some cases exceeded, the performance of the US...

Police officers fire 5 shots at charging armed...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Three Hong Kong police officers fired a total of five shots at a knife-wielding man suspected to have mental problems after he charged at them in the early hours of Saturday morning, hitting him twice. The assailant, a 43-year-old construction worker, was struck in the right chest and thigh, the force said. He was unconscious when sent to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, where he underwent surgery. He was in a critical condition as of 10am, according to authorities. Senior...

Should Hong Kong’s stock exchange make all IPO...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) last week proposed its biggest set of listing reforms since 2018 for Asia’s third-largest stock exchange. Delivered in a consultation paper, the reforms aim to further improve the competitiveness of the exchange that topped the world rankings for initial public offerings (IPOs) last year. The bourse operator will collect views on the proposals, which include broadening a special listing regime for innovative companies and opening the door for listings

How ‘painful bag’ becomes popular subculture, fashion...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Chinese youth are enthusiastically adopting Japan’s “ita bag” fashion accessory style to showcase their admiration for beloved anime and real-life idols, elevating the culture with their imaginative designs. On China’s popular lifestyle-sharing platform, RedNote, the hashtag #tongbao, which means “painful bag” (the Chinese translation of ita bag), boasts 2.3 billion views. Originating in Japan around the 2010s, the “ita bag” refers to bags adorned with plushies, badges, or small cards...

US approves sale of Iranian oil at sea in move to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington’s latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war. The authorisation allows for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 20, and will last through April 19, the Treasury said in a statement. The move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday was under...

‘Ghost oil’ stations earn ‘HK$10,000 a day’ in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Operators of illicit fuel stations can earn as much as HK$10,000 (US$1,280) a day by smuggling untaxed petrol into Hong Kong using vehicles equipped with enlarged tanks and selling it to car club members via coded messages, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said there had been more cases involving illicit fuel or “ghost oil” in the city since late February, when petrol prices began to soar following US-Israel strikes on Iran. The source said law enforcement raids usually...

Ageing Southeast Asia fights fears of death to brave...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Death is the family business for Viroj Suriyasenee, a second-generation Thai funeral director. His bespoke coffins range from plain wooden boxes to ornate creations trimmed in gold with plush red velvet interiors, priced anywhere from US$30 to US$30,000 – each one representing a story of loss, grief and a life concluded. They also speak to the sheer scale of Asia’s ever-growing, multibillion-dollar death economy. All the coffins Viroj makes are destined for the cremation furnace, yet the...

Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders, US jury finds

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

A federal jury in California found on Friday that tech titan Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders in an effort to drive down the company’s share price as he was poised to buy it in a US$44 billion deal. The verdict in a class action securities lawsuit means the world’s richest person could be ordered to pay out as much as US$2.6 billion, according to damages calculated by jurors. Giuseppe Pampena filed the suit against Musk on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May of 2022

US claims China manipulating its position at UN to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

The House Select Committee on China released a report on Friday asserting that China is manipulating its position at the United Nations to “undermine America’s interests and advance its international ambitions”. The 34-page report makes the case that China uses budget contributions, appointments to key UN executive positions and strategically deployed troops to expand its reach. The committee did not detail how these activities differed from how most countries operate at the UN, or the

US judge rules restrictive Pentagon press access...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

A US federal judge on Friday ruled as unconstitutional a Pentagon press access policy that withdrew accreditations from a host of prominent media organisations.Elements of the policy are “unlawful because they violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution”, a judge in Washington said in response to a lawsuit brought by The New York Times. US media and a host of international news outlets including Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Fox News declined to sign...

Iran war: Trump says he’s considering ‘winding down’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

US President Donald Trump said Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran three weeks into the war, but warned the Strait of Hormuz would need to be policed by other countries. Trump’s comments were his strongest signal yet of an end to the conflict, but came despite the fact that the key oil passage effectively remains closed, and as thousands more Marines are headed to the Middle East. “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding...

What are the real reasons behind the change of date...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

The official line is straightforward: US President Donald Trump asked for a delay to his long-anticipated summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and it has been pushed back by “a month or so”. According to the White House, moving the meeting allows Trump to remain in the US and manage the escalating war with Iran, including urgent efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But beneath the surface, a more complex story emerges: months of growing frustrations, mismatched expectations,...

As China struggles to boost demand, no...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

During a press conference of the annual “two sessions”, National People’s Congress spokesperson Lou Qinjian referenced the grass-roots football league Suchao or Su Super League, which drew millions of spectators in Chinese stadiums last year. At a time when boosting domestic demand tops Beijing’s economic agenda, discussing an amateur sports tournament at the national podium goes beyond mere cultural commentary. It hints at something broader about how policymakers are approaching the

Trump administration moves to unify AI rules, bolster...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

The administration of US President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI) policy framework aimed at curbing state-level restrictions on innovation, as it urged Congress to address AI risks and reinforce the US edge in an intensifying technology race with China. Congress should pre-empt state AI laws that “impose undue burdens”, to ensure a national standard instead of “fifty discordant ones”, Trump said in a new legislative recommendation named the National AI...

Netanyahu compares Jesus and Genghis Khan in Iran war...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected accusations on Friday that he had intended to offend Christians when he said the previous day that Jesus had “no advantage” over Genghis Khan. “More fake news about my attitude towards Christians, who are protected and flourish in Israel. Let me be clear: I did not denigrate Jesus Christ at my news conference,” Netanyahu wrote in English on social media. “To the contrary, I cited the great American historian Will Durant. A fervent admirer of...

UK allows US to use its bases to strike Iran missile...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

The UK ⁠government gave authorisation on Friday ⁠for the US to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. British ministers met on Friday ‌to discuss the war with Iran and Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement. “They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the

From Fulbright scholar to Xiangsheng comic: how Jesse...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

In 2012, American Jesse Appell stepped off a plane in China on a Fulbright scholarship to study an unusual subject: the art of Chinese comedy. Over the next few years, Appell, then in his 20s, found himself telling jokes in clubs across China, studying traditional comedy under a master, and even appearing on television. The country’s comedy scene and cultural footprint expanded in ways he could not have predicted – and Appell was along for the ride. “There were so many opportunities to be a

IRA bomb victims drop civil court claim against Gerry...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Three victims of IRA bombings in England on Friday dropped their civil claim for damages against former Irish republican leader Gerry Adams, whom they had sought to hold personally responsible for orchestrating the blasts. The trio – who were injured in IRA bomb blasts in the 1970s and 1990s – had also sought to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Adams was a senior member of the Irish Republican Army. But on the very last day of the two-week trial, their lawyer Anne Studd told the High Court

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