South China Morning Post

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:00:20 +0000
Singapore-headquartered GLP eyes 50% rent surge as China demand fuels logistics growth
GLP, a global operator and investor in logistics, digital infrastructure, renewable energy and finance, is deepening its commitment to China’s growth, projecting as much as a 50 per cent rise in logistics rental rates, supported by stronger domesti...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:30:08 +0000
China is weathering the Iran war oil shock better than others in Asia
As the war in Iran rages and the consequences of the shock to commodity markets become clearer, the vulnerability of Asia’s economies tops the list of concerns in the research reports of investment banks. The region’s reliance on energy imports f...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:27:27 +0000
Russian report says Ukraine peace talks paused amid Iran war
Peace talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine on ending the Ukraine war, the deadliest European conflict since World War II, are on pause amid the Iran war, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Thursday, citing Russian officials. US Preside...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:57:31 +0000
China’s youth unemployment falls for sixth consecutive month in February
China’s urban youth unemployment rate fell in February for the sixth consecutive month, though the marginal improvement provides little reprieve for jobseekers in a challenging post-holiday labour market. The jobless rate for the 16-to-24 age group...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:50:48 +0000
China presses EV makers to end price war and focus on innovation as demand cools
Chinese authorities have renewed their push for stricter oversight of the electric vehicle (EV) market, urging carmakers to move away from aggressive discounting and focus instead on technological innovation. The directive comes as domestic manufactu...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:21:04 +0000
Hongkongers on BN(O) pathway won’t face tougher English test, UK confirms
The UK government has confirmed that stricter English language requirements for immigrants announced earlier this month will not apply to Hongkongers using the British National (Overseas) visa pathway. The clarification from Minister for Migration an...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:15:08 +0000
BTS’ comeback concert, Jean-Claude Van Damme talks art: 7 Lifestyle highlights
We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Are you ready, Army? Free BTS concert to mark a K-pop comeback like no ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:07:11 +0000
Hundreds die crossing Mediterranean as 2026 already smashes records
The first two months of 2026 saw a record number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, despite fewer crossing attempts towards Europe, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At least 655 people died or went missi...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:16:20 +0000
PM Anutin takes charge in Thailand as Mideast chaos pressures economy
Anutin Charnvirakul sailed through a lower house vote on Thursday to become Thailand’s new prime minister, as the conservative establishment emerges on top after years of bitter struggle with pro-democrats. But Anutin’s vow to reset from years of...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:10:04 +0000
Funeral urns stolen for ransom in Malaysia trigger police hunt for cross-border gang
Malaysian police are on a hunt for thieves who stole 30 urns from a funeral home in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan, in a bizarre case with possible links to a cross-border criminal group holding the ashes of deceased for ransom. The Xiao En me...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:18 +0000
South Korean cafe’s US$1.35 ‘toilet without ordering’ menu flush with criticism
A social media post showing a cafe charging 2,000 won (US$1.35) for restroom use without a purchase has sparked heated debate online in South Korea. The image featured a screenshot of a self-order kiosk displaying a menu item reading “restroom use ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:13 +0000
Leading Chinese remote-sensing scientist Zhang Jinshui dies at 47
Zhang Jinshui, a pioneering scientist in remote sensing who led major research and development programmes in China and was instrumental in boosting the country’s food security with satellite technologies, has died at the age of 47. Zhang, a profess...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:10 +0000
China café offers coffee made with eggs brewed in child urine; considered nutritious delicacy
A coffee shop in China is offering a new type of Americano which includes eggs brewed in child urine, a drink believed to be of nutritional value. The shop in Dongyang city in eastern China’s Zhejiang province recently began to offer the special br...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:03 +0000
Prolonged Iran war could have ‘serious’ impact on food prices, says UN’s FAO
The United Nations has warned the conflict in the Middle East is sending shock waves from the fertiliser industry to food prices, as countries across the northern hemisphere – including China – enter their spring planting seasons. If the conflict...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:55:28 +0000
Cambodia boosts fuel imports from Singapore, Malaysia amid petrol station closures
Cambodia is importing more fuel from suppliers in Singapore and Malaysia to make up for supply shortfalls from Vietnam and China, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as the US-Israeli war on Iran squeezes fuel availability globally. About a third ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:28:22 +0000
Hong Kong businessman Jason Poon, 5 others arrested in HK$6 million fraud case
Hong Kong businessman Jason Poon Chuk-hung, his wife and four others have been arrested on suspicion of defrauding an enterprise financing scheme out of HK$6 million (US$765,500) during the Covid-19 pandemic, the South China Morning Post has learned....

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:22:21 +0000
Philippine police thwart Roblox-linked school shooting plot by 7 teens
Philippine police have foiled a school shooting and rescued seven students radicalised by “foreigners” online to stage an attack in Laguna province near Manila, amid growing calls for stronger parental safeguards against digital threats. Officers...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:00:09 +0000
Why tiny atomic clocks may hold the key to China mass-producing cheap swarm drones
Timing is everything in modern warfare, where even a nanosecond’s delay can make the difference between hitting or missing a target in a coordinated drone or missile attack. China may now have taken a major step forward in this field with the mass ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 03:30:13 +0000
AI version of late actor Val Kilmer to co-star in new movie
Actor Val Kilmer will posthumously ⁠appear in what ⁠First Line Films calls a ⁠first-ever performance enabled by generative artificial intelligence in the upcoming film As Deep as the Grave, the production company announced on Wednesday. Kilmer,...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 03:04:50 +0000
FBI ‘investigating’ top US security official who resigned over Iran war
The FBI is investigating whether Joe Kent, who resigned his position as a top counterterrorism official this week in protest of the Iran war, improperly shared classified information, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The investigatio...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 03:00:08 +0000
Japan gets tough against teachers’ sexual misconduct, voyeurism after arrests
Japan’s education ministry has launched a campaign to combat sexual misconduct by teachers and revised regulations against voyeurism, following the arrest of seven male educators for filming students without consent and sharing the footage on socia...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:40:01 +0000
China’s global tech push

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:38:12 +0000
‘Unprecedented in spread’: UK races to contain deadly meningitis outbreak
Britain will ⁠roll out meningitis vaccines to students at a university in southeast England after an “unprecedented” outbreak of the disease killed two people while the number of new cases jumped to 20. The UK Health Security Agency said all th...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:17:39 +0000
World’s ‘happiest’ places revealed as social media weighs on us
Heavy social media use contributes to a stark decline in well-being among young people, with the effects particularly worrying in teenage girls in English-speaking countries and western Europe according to the World Happiness Report 2026 published on...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:00:07 +0000
How China opened the door to creating a direct rival to US payment systems
China’s recent changes to the rules governing its global payment system could pave the way for turning it into a genuine alternative to Western networks, according to a new report. Beijing now appears to be moving towards building the Cross-border ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:30:18 +0000
Middle East banks eye Hong Kong as ‘safe haven’ amid Iran threats, InvestHK head says
Middle East banks and wealthy investors are poised to increase their investments in Hong Kong amid geopolitical tensions to diversify their risk and capture growing opportunities in Asia, according to the head of InvestHK, the government agency taske...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:30:14 +0000
Why North Korea’s Kim expects the US to come ‘cap in hand’ for Trump talks
North Korea fired a volley of ballistic missiles on Saturday, just as US officials were in Seoul exploring ways to reopen talks with the regime that launched them. But Kim Jong-un is not waiting by the phone. Instead, analysts say North Korea’s sup...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:30:09 +0000
Here’s what an executive-led government really means in Hong Kong
In my experience, most people misunderstand the concept of “separation of powers”, and so I would not be at all surprised if most people also misunderstand the term “executive-led government”. In the case of separation of powers, the confusio...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:24:23 +0000
Public hearing outlines 6 key failures behind Tai Po fire tragedy
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The first of a series of public evidential hearings into a fire that engulfed a residential complex in Hong K...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:00:13 +0000
China’s PLA reveals AI-assisted aerial refuelling tech days after US military tanker crash
The People’s Liberation Army has announced a new AI-assisted task dispatch system for China’s aerial refuelling tankers, days after a US military tanker crashed in the Middle East. According to the official PLA Daily, the Chinese air force has st...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:00:09 +0000
Chinese man lives for 8 years with chopstick stuck in throat, resisting surgery due to fear
A man in China who had a 12cm-long metal chopstick lodged in his throat for eight years recently had surgery to remove the object. The man, surnamed Wang, underwent the surgery at Dalian Municipal Central Hospital in northeastern Liaoning province in...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:30:08 +0000
Call for review over how Hong Kong manages wild boars and buffaloes
Animal rights groups have urged Hong Kong authorities to review their culling strategy for wild boars and to install animal bridges and other measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict in urban areas after incidents involving wild boars and a buffalo...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:22 +0000
Russian hypersonic jets buzz Japan’s coast in ‘thinly veiled threat’
Russia’s defence ministry has released footage of its fighter jets carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles conducting exercises over the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, with the move interpreted as a message to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead ...

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:16 +0000
Pop Mart’s Labubu headed to big screen in collaboration with Sony Pictures
Chinese toymaker Pop Mart and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced on Thursday a feature film starring Labubu, the company’s most popular character. Analysts said the film was a strategic move to extend Labubu’s intellectual property (IP) value ...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 23:34:04 +0000
Mexico invites Spain’s king to World Cup in sign of thaw
Spain’s King Felipe VI has been invited to the 2026 World Cup in Mexico by President Claudia Sheinbaum, the royal palace said on Wednesday, signalling a thaw in relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations have been strained since 2019...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 23:16:04 +0000
HKMA says interest rate outlook uncertain as it follows Fed, keeps base rate unchanged
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned the public to beware of interest rate risks after it kept its base rate unchanged, following a similar move by the US Federal Reserve, as the city’s de facto central bank said the Middle East confl...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:00:10 +0000
Why Beijing has struggled to rally Asia against Japan over Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
China and Japan’s long-standing rivalry has deep historic roots, and relations between the two have taken a significant turn for the worse in recent months. This, the second in a three-part series, looks at whether Beijing overplayed its hand on th...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:33:43 +0000
Fears grow over US drug supply’s rising dependence on Chinese ingredients
Beijing’s global pharmaceutical push is following a playbook seen in rare earths, semiconductors and electric vehicles, US lawmakers said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over the United States’ reliance on Chinese drug ingredients. “China is cor...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 20:12:55 +0000
Europe says no to Trump’s Iran demands: ‘not our war’
When US President Donald Trump ⁠asked countries to join a global effort against Iran and deploy ships to prise open the Strait of Hormuz, whose near closure has held the global economy in a vice, he was rebuffed by some of America’s closest allie...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 19:34:49 +0000
Iran can still attack US interests, government appears intact, spy chief Gabbard says
Iran’s government has been degraded since the war began on February 28, but it ⁠appears to be intact and Tehran and its proxies remain capable of attacking US and allies’ interests in the Middle East, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi ...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:52:46 +0000
US Fed defies Trump to keep interest rates unchanged amid Iran war concerns
The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, in defiance of President Donald Trump as the world’s largest economy battles stubborn inflation, weak labour demand and an “uncertain” outlook due to the war in Iran...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:12:46 +0000
US says mainland China not planning to attack Taiwan in 2027 after threat assessment
Beijing is unlikely to attack Taiwan next year, given security and economic deterrents, including its belief that an amphibious assault could fail and that the technological, supply chain and investor costs would be huge, according to a US threat ass...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 17:03:12 +0000
Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ Iran’s largest gas field as Middle East energy war explodes
US President Donald Trump said an angry Israel had “violently lashed out” and attacked Iran’s major gas field, a significant escalation in the US-Israeli war, but said Israel would not make further such attacks unless Iran retaliated. Wednesday...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:25:53 +0000
Trump allows foreign ships between domestic ports to stabilise petrol costs amid Iran war
US President Donald Trump has announced a temporary 60-day suspension of the Jones Act, the century-old law that mandates cargo moving between domestic ports be transported on vessels built, operated and staffed by American citizens or permanent resi...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:39:38 +0000
Pakistan to pause Afghan strikes for Eid at request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey
Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In a statement, Pakistan’s information minister Attaul...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:19:46 +0000
2 Hongkongers held after raids on 3 illegal fuel stations amid oil price spike
Hong Kong authorities have raided three illegal fuelling stations and arrested two men, seizing more than 1,800 litres (475.5 gallons) of petrol with an estimated market value of HK$54,000 (US$6,891) as oil prices continue to spike amid the widening ...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:00:09 +0000
Chaos over Donald Trump’s China trip likely to further test Beijing’s patience with US
Visits to China by foreign leaders are tightly choreographed and meticulously planned affairs, even by the usual standards of international diplomacy. But the chaotic nature of Donald Trump’s White House and his request to delay a planned visit to ...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:50:51 +0000
Hong Kong securities watchdog urges stock exchange to tighten listing, compliance rules
Hong Kong’s securities regulator on Wednesday recommended strengthening the stock exchange’s regulations to better protect investors following a review of 2024 compliance and enforcement cases. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) submitte...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:35:57 +0000
Zelensky urges EU to bypass Hungary’s ‘blackmail’ veto on vital US$103 billion loan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged the European Union to overcome a veto by Hungary on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) loan vital for his country. Zelensky, during a visit to Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez...

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:30:09 +0000
Why tariffs aren’t the biggest factor holding back US-Asean trade
When the Trump administration rolled out sweeping tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April 2025, the reaction across Southeast Asia was swift: markets dipped, supply chains scrambled and governments went into damage control. Governments had a choice:...

home