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UK’s Burnham to welcome Ukraine’s Zelensky in first foreign leader visit
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UK’s Burnham to welcome Ukraine’s Zelensky in first foreign leader visit

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will on Monday host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his first foreign leader since taking office a week ago, to underline London’s “unwavering support” for Kyiv. The pair are set to visit a British naval base and hear from both countries’ armed forces personnel involved in training Ukrainian service members for battle, Burnham’s Downing Street office a...

The one voice Hong Kong can’t ignore on ride-hailing? The public
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The one voice Hong Kong can’t ignore on ride-hailing? The public

The long-awaited earthquake in Hong Kong’s taxi and ride-hailing scene is almost upon us and the questions are how big the initial shock will be, and how many aftershocks we can expect. The important thing in the coming months will be to keep the focus on protecting the interests of the travelling public. More than a decade after Uber first set up in Hong Kong, operating in a regulatory grey area,...

Pentagon moves 4 killed US troops out of official Iran war death toll
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Pentagon moves 4 killed US troops out of official Iran war death toll

The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the US and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category. It is raising questions about properly counting the impact to US service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reope...

Pentagon’s Iran war death toll no longer lists 4 troops killed during renewed fighting
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Pentagon’s Iran war death toll no longer lists 4 troops killed during renewed fighting

The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the US and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category. It is raising questions about properly counting the impact to US service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reope...

Raul Castro absent as Cuba marks revolutionary anniversary

Raul Castro absent as Cuba marks revolutionary anniversary

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Cuba held a traditional rally on Sunday to commemorate one of the revolution’s most important anniversaries but former president Raul Castro was conspicuously absent. It was the first time in at least 30 years that 95-year-old Castro had not attended the event, and no explanation was given. President Miguel Diaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro to his compatriots at the rally, held ...

Raul Castro is absent as Cuba celebrates anniversary of key revolutionary attack

Raul Castro is absent as Cuba celebrates anniversary of key revolutionary attack

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Cuba held a traditional rally on Sunday to commemorate one of the revolution’s most important anniversaries but former president Raul Castro was conspicuously absent. It was the first time in at least 30 years that 95-year-old Castro had not attended the event, and no explanation was given. President Miguel Diaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro to his compatriots at the rally, held ...

Netanyahu claims New York mayor ‘fomenting hate’ ahead of expected UN trip

Netanyahu claims New York mayor ‘fomenting hate’ ahead of expected UN trip

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Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he i...

Netanyahu accuses NYC’s Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’, calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

Netanyahu accuses NYC’s Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’, calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

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Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he i...

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’, calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’, calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

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Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he i...

Suspect in Berlin Pride attack shot dead by police after day-long manhunt

Suspect in Berlin Pride attack shot dead by police after day-long manhunt

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The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to jo...

Chief suspect in Berlin Pride attack shot dead, police say

Chief suspect in Berlin Pride attack shot dead, police say

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The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Berlin prosecutors said the suspect had previously sought t...

2 dead in Ukraine from Russian attacks; 4 killed in Russian-held area hit by Ukraine

2 dead in Ukraine from Russian attacks; 4 killed in Russian-held area hit by Ukraine

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Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv early on Sunday, setting off fires and wounding at least three civilians, while attacks on other parts of Ukraine later killed at least two people, local officials reported. The strikes come as Ukraine’s successful drone attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign inside Russia that has been causing fuel shortages and piling press...

Pardoned by Trump, ex-president Hernandez returns to Honduras

Pardoned by Trump, ex-president Hernandez returns to Honduras

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Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez – who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking until President Donald Trump pardoned him last year – returned to his home country on Sunday. After touching down in a private plane near the capital, Tegucigalpa, he travelled to a rally in the town of Comayagua. Speaking at a farm in front of hundreds of supporters, ...

After Trump pardon, Honduras ex-president Hernandez returns home

After Trump pardon, Honduras ex-president Hernandez returns home

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Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to his country on Sunday, almost eight months after US President Donald Trump controversially pardoned his 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. Hernandez arrived on a private flight at Palmerola Airport near the capital Tegucigalpa and was greeted by his family and supporters, Agence France-Presse journalists observed. “We are very hap...

Former Honduras president Hernandez returns home after Trump pardon

Former Honduras president Hernandez returns home after Trump pardon

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Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to his country on Sunday, almost eight months after US President Donald Trump controversially pardoned his 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. Hernandez arrived on a private flight at Palmerola Airport near the capital Tegucigalpa and was greeted by his family and supporters, Agence France-Presse journalists observed. “We are very hap...

Thailand monastery added to Unesco heritage list, boosting tourism hopes

Thailand monastery added to Unesco heritage list, boosting tourism hopes

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A centuries-old monastery in southern Thailand is the country’s latest cultural landmark to be inscribed on Unesco’s World Heritage List, which will aid in the site’s conservation, the government said on Sunday. Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan in Nakhon Si Thammarat province is Thailand’s ninth World Heritage site, but its first in the nation’s southern region, the Thai foreign ministry said in a ...

China has put a Polish university on its European dual-use exports blacklist. Why?

China has put a Polish university on its European dual-use exports blacklist. Why?

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In an unprecedented move, China has placed a Polish university alongside defence contractors on an export control list targeting entities linked to the European security sector. Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (PWr) was among 14 European Union entities added to a dual-use export control list by the Chinese commerce ministry on Friday. The ministry said the additions, effective immedia...

Israeli settlers set fire to West Bank mosques after deadly clash

Israeli settlers set fire to West Bank mosques after deadly clash

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Israeli settlers attacked ⁠Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, setting fire to two mosques and scrawling graffiti on buildings, Palestinian officials said. The attacks followed an incident on Friday when four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers – one of whom acted as a security coordinator for a nearby Israeli settlement – were killed when a crowd of Israeli settlers,...

Israeli settlers set fire to West Bank mosques, graffiti and arson reported

Israeli settlers set fire to West Bank mosques, graffiti and arson reported

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Israeli settlers attacked ⁠Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, setting fire to two mosques and scrawling graffiti on buildings, Palestinian officials said. The attacks followed an incident on Friday when four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers – one of them acting as a security coordinator for a nearby Israeli settlement – were killed when a crowd of Israeli settlers...

Typhoon Noul: Shenzhen girl, 6, blown away by gale, runs back to safety

Typhoon Noul: Shenzhen girl, 6, blown away by gale, runs back to safety

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As Typhoon Noul barrelled into southern China on Sunday with winds reaching 160km/h (99mph), violent gusts ripped a cot from indoors and flipped it over several metres away, sending the child inside flying to the ground. Hongxing News, a Chinese media outlet, reported that a six-year-old girl lying in her cot in the southern city of Shenzhen was blown from inside a building onto the grass verge ou...

Chinese scientist faces probe after girl, 6, dies ‘following experimental gene therapy’

Chinese scientist faces probe after girl, 6, dies ‘following experimental gene therapy’

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A leading Chinese scientist is under investigation by his university after a six-year-old girl reportedly died following experimental gene-editing therapy. The girl, named Mei, died days after receiving a treatment designed to correct a genetic mutation affecting her neurodevelopment in March last year, according to a report published by Science following a joint investigation with Retraction Watc...

Infant formula maker insists product safe after recalls in Hong Kong and Macau

Infant formula maker insists product safe after recalls in Hong Kong and Macau

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The Dutch maker of Friso, a popular powdered infant formula brand, has stressed that tests show its product is safe, despite a recall of a product batch in Hong Kong and Macau after excessive levels of lead were found in samples. In a statement on Sunday, Royal FrieslandCampina said: “We have conducted additional third-party quality testing on the affected batch. The test results showed that the p...

Fake ICE raids and kidnapping drills: how Chinese teens prepare for US college

Fake ICE raids and kidnapping drills: how Chinese teens prepare for US college

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Beijing student Lulu Lu was just preparing for bed when she was startled by loud banging at her door. When she opened the door, a man pushed his way inside, shone a flashlight in her face and shouted: “Get down. Give me your phone.” Lu froze. Moments later, she came to her senses and did as she was told, burying her face in the mattress and raising her hands above her head. The intruder blindfolde...

America’s North Korea strategy needs a dose of reality

America’s North Korea strategy needs a dose of reality

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Each year on July 27, North Korea commemorates “Victory Day”, marking what it presents as its triumph in the Korean war. While few outside the country accept that characterisation, the date underscores a reality: the war never formally ended. The 1953 agreement was an armistice that left the peninsula in a state of suspended conflict. Responsibility for the resulting instability is widely distribu...

Low profile, high AI ambition: what leaked comments reveal about DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng

Low profile, high AI ambition: what leaked comments reveal about DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng

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In an era dominated by aggressive tech founders who chase billion-dollar valuations and maximal profits while curating loud public profiles, Liang Wenfeng stands out for his insistence on staying in the background. With only a couple of photographs of him circulating online, the founder of Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek and quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer Quant has long been ...

Low profile, high AI ambition: What leaked comments reveal about DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng

Low profile, high AI ambition: What leaked comments reveal about DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng

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In an era dominated by aggressive tech founders who chase billion-dollar valuations and maximal profits while curating loud public profiles, Liang Wenfeng stands out for his insistence on staying in the background. With only a couple of photographs of him circulating online, the founder of Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek and quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer Quant has long been ...

UK’s Burnham ‘putting Britain first’ as he rules out 2029 election

UK’s Burnham ‘putting Britain first’ as he rules out 2029 election

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Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham “will always put Britain’s interests first”, he said in an interview when asked whether he was willing to call out US President Donald Trump. Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer, who announced ‌he was stepping down last month, had a fraught relationship with Trump due to differences over the US-Israeli war on Iran, immigration, energy and tech regulation. W...

Search for survivors continues as 45 rescued after cargo ship sinks in South China Sea

Search for survivors continues as 45 rescued after cargo ship sinks in South China Sea

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Search and rescue teams continued searching for 17 missing sailors on Sunday after a Vietnamese cargo vessel sank in the South China Sea, Chinese state media reported. The Khoi Nguyen 18 had 62 crew members on board when it ran into difficulty and sank near Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands on Saturday evening. As of Sunday afternoon, 45 survivors had been rescued and the search for the othe...

Chinese tech firms’ ‘snub’ to US Congress advisers highlights Beijing’s growing AI caution

Chinese tech firms’ ‘snub’ to US Congress advisers highlights Beijing’s growing AI caution

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China’s biggest technology companies gave a US congressional delegation the cold shoulder during a recent visit. Analysts said this decision – which denied the visitors a rare insider’s view of one of the world’s fastest-moving artificial intelligence ecosystems – reflected Beijing’s increasingly selective approach to AI diplomacy. It also highlights a paradox: while the two powers continue to pur...