China’s economy grew 5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, putting Beijing on track to meet its annual growth target even as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to cloud the global economic outlook.

The closely watched gross domestic product growth figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, beat the 4.86 per cent forecast by economists polled by financial data provider Wind.

It marked an acceleration from the 4.5 per cent recorded in the last three.…

A fire at one of Australia’s two operating oil refineries could hit petrol production more than diesel and aviation fuel, authorities said on Thursday, as emergency crews worked overnight to extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters were battling flames as tall as 60 metres (200 feet) at Viva ‌Energy’s motor petrol production unit at its Geelong refinery in Victoria state, which processes crude into high-octane petrol. No injuries have been reported from the fire, which emergency crews were alerted to.…

With fuel prices in the Philippines among the world’s hardest hit by the Iran war, consumer groups are urging the government to take bolder action, including tighter control over pump prices.

Economists say the more realistic options are tax relief, targeted subsidies and transport support rather than direct price controls.

Sharon Garin, secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Energy, said on a radio programme on Sunday that the country might no longer see diesel at 60 pesos (US$1) per litre…

I heard an audible gasp in the audience, just as a gynaecologist on the movie screen tries to shove a speculum – a hollow cylinder used to open up a woman’s cervix – into the lower body of the protagonist.

The film’s main character, a 25-year-old woman named Xu Ke, grimaces in pain. “Relax,” the gynaecologist says, but her tone and hand movements are anything but relaxing. After a sudden shove, Xu feels the pain, wriggles off the examination table and falls to the floor.

The scene from the drama…

The BBC said on Wednesday that the British broadcasting corporation is set to cut up to 2,000 jobs amid a challenging media landscape.

The BBC’s interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies said in a statement to staff that “while we still have to work through the detail, we anticipate the overall number of jobs will fall by 1,800-2,000”.

The BBC reported the cuts on Wednesday afternoon, saying they amount to “almost one in 10” jobs, since it has about 21,500 employees.

The acting director...

Chinese jobseekers are now turning to dating apps to search for work, while some recruitment platforms have become places to connect for dates instead.

The youth unemployment rate in China among the 16 to 24 age group, excluding students, has remained above 16 per cent since last July. Many young people express their frustration over the increasing challenges of finding a job. Some report applying for hundreds of positions daily but receiving only a few responses.

In this landscape, some...

China has issued its first map pinpointing seabed chemical elements in the country’s eastern waters as Japan also races to tap undersea rare earth resources and deep-sea minerals.

The Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources published the results of marine geological surveys over the past two decades for the seas, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday.

The result was an atlas charting the location, concentration and distribution patterns of dozens of elements in seabed sediments, including...

Travelling from Hong Kong’s commercial heart to the site of the San Tin Technopole, a planned innovation hub under the Northern Metropolis megaproject, is an exercise in endurance.

The roughly two-hour trek from Causeway Bay requires taking trains on two lines, navigating two transit interchanges and catching a ride on a public minibus.

Upon arrival, visitors are not greeted by gleaming skyscrapers or shopping centres, but by a quiet patchwork of fish ponds, villages, scattered squatter homes...

Japan’s public has once again signalled strong support for a woman ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne, but Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female leader, is pushing in a different direction.

A Mainichi newspaper poll published on Wednesday found that 61 per cent of respondents believed the law should be changed to allow a woman to become emperor, against just 9 per cent who said the throne should remain reserved for a man.

The emperor is defined in the 1947 constitution as.…

Rising tensions in the Middle East cast a fresh shadow over the opening of China’s largest trade fair, at a time when the impact of geopolitical shocks is being reflected in the nation’s trade figures.

In conversations across sprawling exhibition halls after the Canton Fair opened its doors on Wednesday in China’s manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, domestic exporters and foreign buyers sounded each other out, trying to gauge how far those shocks might ripple through global trade.

The threat of US..…

Futu Securities is the latest non-food and beverage retailer to sell coffee and other drinks in one of its outlets in Hong Kong as the online stock brokerage adapts to its clients’ lifestyle, according to a spokesman.

Futu Café was officially launched on Thursday at the Futu Store on Lee Garden Road, Causeway Bay, close to its flagship store on Russell Street. Cups of espresso, Americano and iced blue coconut water, among other drinks, are available between 7.30am and 7.30pm.

The launch of the..…

US military leaders painted a picture of Chinese military threats, spanning Taiwan and space, as they briefed Congress on the military readiness for the financial year 2027 on Wednesday.

The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) “invasion rehearsals and live-fire exercises near Taiwan and around the region” had illustrated “the need for combat-ready naval forces in the Indo-Pacific”, according to James Kilby, vice chief of Naval Operations.

“[The US Navy therefore] remains committed to partnering and…

A US jury on Wednesday found that entertainment giant Live Nation wielded monopoly power at its Ticketmaster business, violating federal and state antitrust laws, according to California’s attorney general.

A verdict that could have profound repercussions in the concert world came after four days of deliberations, and remedies could include breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

The jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for anticompetitive conduct that harmed the music industry and..…

A stretch of awkward diplomacy is unfolding in the Indo-Pacific.

After India’s 2025 term as the Quad’s rotating chair ended without a leaders’ summit, New Delhi is planning to host a foreign ministers’ meeting that could be framed as a leaders-level discussion, even if the top leaders do not attend, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The move is seen as a way to ease India’s ruffled feathers on several counts.

“It’s akin to putting lipstick on a pig,” said Sourabh Gupta of the...

China’s largest artificial intelligence computing cluster for scientific research entered operation on Tuesday, doubling its number of domestically made AI accelerator chips in just two months, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The AI acceleration cards were produced by Chinese supercomputer developer Sugon, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and are running in the core node of the national supercomputing network in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

The number of chips in the.…

Washington’s senior envoys to the United Nations took a victory lap in Senate testimony on Wednesday over the US-inspired cuts and efficiency drive at the multilateral agency, even as they slammed its inability to end the conflict in Ukraine, stem the Iran war started by the US and Israel or curb China’s growing clout.

Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the UN, touted the US$570 million in UN budget cuts, 3,000 fewer jobs and the US decision to pull out of several UN agencies, even as he defended US..…

A Ukrainian unit said on Wednesday that it has carried out more than 100 attacks on the front using ground robots, after President Volodymyr Zelensky recently hailed the capture of a Russian position thanks to this new method.

“In total, there have already been over 100 such operations,” said a source within the NC-13 company, which specialises in the use of these combat machines and is part of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade.

“These operations include the elimination of enemy personnel, the...

The White House on Wednesday dismissed as untrue reports that the US had sought to extend a ceasefire with Iran, while confirming that discussions over a second round of in-person negotiations were under way after marathon talks in Islamabad last week ended without a breakthrough.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that discussions were under way about a further round of talks with Tehran but “nothing is official”, adding that the negotiations would “very likely” be held…

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Vitiligo is often noticed before it is understood. White patches on the skin can draw attention, second glances or subtle avoidance, particularly in public settings. In Hong Kong, where awareness of the condition remains uneven, misunderstanding can influence daily life as much as the condition itself.

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which pigment-producing cells are destroyed by immune activity. As a...

A man snatched two Pokemon trading cards valued at about HK$28,000 (US$3,600) from a consignment shop in Hong Kong.

The tenant of the shop at Sino Centre in Mong Kok reported the theft on Wednesday after reviewing security footage and discovering the man had taken the cards on April 5 before fleeing the scene.

Police have classified the case as shop theft. The Mong Kok district criminal investigation team is handling the case. No arrests have been made so far.

Officers are searching for a...

Israel’s security cabinet ⁠will convene on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ceasefire, a senior Israeli official has said, more than five weeks into a war with Hezbollah that spiralled out of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet would meet ‌at 8pm local time, the official said.

Senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim al-Moussawi told Reuters that diplomatic efforts by Iran and other regional states could produce a ceasefire soon, saying…

A decoupling between China and the United States is something “that you don’t want to see”, says former US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, adding that both countries have developed deep trade and investment relationships that should be preserved and encouraged to thrive.

Speaking in Hong Kong at the HSBC Global Investment Summit on Wednesday, Yellen also argued that China’s reliance on exports for growth – resulting in a trade surplus with the rest of the world – has created “serious conflicts”…

A fully laden Chinese tanker has twice turned back from the US blockade of traffic leaving Iranian ports, despite setting off from the United Arab Emirates.

The incident highlights how Chinese commercial vessels are weighing up the risks posed by the naval blockade, with analysts saying no country’s ships are receiving “special treatment”.

The Rich Starry sailed east through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman around 2am local time on Tuesday, according to data from Mingkun Technology, a.…

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), China’s electric vehicle (EV) battery king, plans to earmark 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) to establish a subsidiary to manage and expand mining assets, after the global energy shock paved the way for a quicker entry into the world’s automotive and energy storage system (ESS) markets.

The investment arm, in line with CATL’s long-term growth strategy, would integrate existing mining assets, pursue high-quality mineral projects at home and abroad, and…

Though high-level officials in Washington have accused China of undermining global energy security by “hoarding” oil during the US-Israeli war on Iran, import and inventory data suggest Beijing is facing its own supply pressures as the conflict drags on.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday labelled China an “unreliable global partner,” alleging that Beijing has prioritised stockpiling crude over easing global shortages triggered by the war, according to a Reuters report.

He also...

North Korea has made “very serious” advances in its abilities to turn out nuclear weapons, with the probable addition of a new uranium enrichment facility, as it steps up activity at a key complex, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said.

Enriching uranium can provide an alternative, and experts say, a more effective, path to acquiring weapons-grade material in addition to ‌reprocessing spent plutonium extracted from a nuclear reactor.

Speaking in Seoul on Wednesday, the head of the International...

Hong Kong police intercepted a Maserati on a busy street in Mong Kok on Wednesday and arrested two people in connection with a suspected money laundering case, the South China Morning Post has learned.

A man and a woman in their twenties, their faces concealed by black hoods, were seen standing beside the luxury sports car as officers from the New Territories North regional headquarters searched the vehicle on Sai Yeung Choi Street South outside the Pakpolee Commercial Centre in the afternoon,..…

The US-Israeli war on Iran and the current Iranian and American blockades of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are likely to overshadow China’s first-quarter economic performance, analysts said, with questions looming large about how the world’s second-largest economy will handle their impact.

Many observers said they expect the leadership in Beijing will adopt a wait-and-see approach, with little likelihood of an immediate stimulus to guarantee the country’s annual economic target is...

The European Union will remain open to capital from mainland China and Hong Kong even as the bloc pursues a “de-risking” strategy in certain key sectors, its budget chief has said on his first visit to the city.

Piotr Serafin, the European commissioner for budget, anti-fraud and public administration, also said that the EU was keen to explore opportunities for financial collaboration with Hong Kong in areas such as green bonds, describing the city as a “bridge” to Asia.

It is understood that...

The fraying of the ceasefire in the US-Israel war against Iran reflects grim patterns of history. Truces are often doomed because they focus on stopping battle-related violence and rarely begin to address the underlying struggles that ignited hostilities. A pause without a shared common endgame often resets the battlefield as reasons harden for prolonging warfare. Viable political solutions seldom follow and take hold for peace to endure.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen the perils. The Minsk...

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that an EU-developed age-verification app was ready to go, as the bloc pushes to better protect children from online harm.

Brussels has been under pressure to come up with more stringent measures to safeguard children online as several EU capitals move ahead with plans to ban social media under a certain age.

To that end, five EU countries including France and Italy last year started testing an age-check app that von der Leyen said on..…

Iran’s small vessels may be able to challenge US blockade operations, Chinese analysts suggest, despite the heavy losses suffered by the Iranian navy during the opening weeks of the US-Israeli offensive.

The United States launched a naval blockade on Monday targeting Iranian maritime trade, after peace talks in Pakistan failed over the weekend.

US Central Command (Centcom) issued a formal notice on Sunday announcing that its forces would block “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian..…

A Hong Kong fire services official has defended a decision to decline mainland Chinese firefighters’ help in combating the city’s deadliest inferno in decades, citing concerns that they might have been unable to immediately adapt to the new environment and effectively communicate with their local counterparts.

On the 12th day of a public evidential hearing on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Sunny Wong Sze-lut also justified the firefighting strategies during the blaze that raged for around.…

Balikatan, the flagship annual military exercise between Manila and Washington, begins in the Philippines this month without a single neighbouring Southeast Asian member taking part, despite the drills’ growing scale and multinational reach.

Analysts say that hesitation helps explain Balikatan’s place in the region: for some Asean members, it is a reassuring sign of US commitment, but joining it risks looking like a strategic choice in the sharpening rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

“To..…

Famine. Massacres. And now badly needed food and other supplies are under strain. Sudan on Wednesday enters a fourth year of war that is being called an “abandoned crisis” as a new conflict in the Middle East throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

Sudan has been described as the world’s largest humanitarian challenge, notably in terms of displacement and hunger. There is no end in sight to the fighting between the military and the paramilitary...

In Malaysia, artificial intelligence is already causing harm to content creators through deepfake nudes, cloned voices, scam advertisements and stolen likenesses, experts have warned.

They shared the view at the Freedom Film Network’s second International Conference on Film & Society in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, where creators, researchers and advocates from across Southeast Asia gathered under the theme “Cultivating Artistic Freedom in a Volatile World”.

Melissa Lim Shi Hui, a lawyer and legal…

Hong Kong’s sole legal betting operator had earmarked HK$1 billion (US$127.7 million) and hired 180 people to develop a basketball wagering system, but will now take a financial hit after the government announced this week it was halting plans for its roll-out, a source has said.

The source close to the Hong Kong Jockey Club told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that it had already invested HK$400 million for preparatory work, including setting up a dedicated basketball betting system,.…

China and Vietnam should stand together against unilateralism and protectionism and jointly counter global challenges, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam’s top leader on Wednesday, as energy concerns continued to spill over from the Iran conflict.

“Both sides should uphold the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes, jointly oppose unilateralism and protectionism, safeguard the global free trade system and keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded,”…

Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to enhance the city’s governance in public security and safety, and carry out systemic reform following the deadly Tai Po fire, describing it as a key task in safeguarding national security.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s remarks came after Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, said people with “ulterior motives” had exploited the city’s deadliest blaze in decades to stir up social unrest and called for vigilance against national...

Silicon photonic computing chips – long overlooked in the artificial intelligence hardware stack – are emerging as a new focal point in mainland China’s semiconductor push, as domestic companies move towards public listings amid intensifying US-China competition and surging demand for next-generation computing infrastructure.

Shanghai-based Lightelligence, the first company globally to achieve large-scale deployment of hybrid optical-electronic computing, passed its Hong Kong listing hearing on.…

President Prabowo Subianto’s heavy overseas travel schedule is drawing scrutiny at home as Indonesians are asked to curb fuel use and officials have had to cut back on foreign trips.

The attention reflects a growing debate over the value and timing of the president’s diplomacy as higher global oil prices put fresh pressure on Indonesia’s fuel subsidy bill – even as Prabowo defended some of his recent travel as being aimed at securing energy supplies and economic opportunities for his...