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Once a neglected figure in ancient China’s folklore, literature and artefacts, the panda has become a national treasure and a defining symbol of the modern nation. How did this black-and-white creature, long overlooked, come to occupy such an iconic place in a country’s cultural imagination? Palaeontologists have discovered panda fossils across China, some dating back eight to nine million years. ...
Across Southeast Asia, governments are seeking Russian oil and gas to ease fuel shortages triggered by the continuing chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a crisis that has sent energy prices higher and forced import-dependent countries to look beyond their usual suppliers. But analysts say the scramble for Russian fuel also raises a bigger question for the region: whether Moscow can turn a short-te...
China’s population is projected to fall by about 60 million over the next decade, threatening economic activity in wealthier coastal provinces and putting growing pressure on the public pension system, according to recent analyst reports. Research firm Rhodium Group estimated that the world’s second-most populous country, after India, could lose the equivalent of nearly France’s entire population ...
The United States has “no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles”, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Monday, as US President Donald Trump’s US$185 billion Golden Dome missile shield faces continued scepticism. “The Golden Dome will strengthen deterrence by denying adversaries the ability to achieve their objectives through coercion or aggression,” Marc Berkowitz, the assis...
The United States has “no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles”, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Monday, as President Donald Trump’s US$185 billion Golden Dome missile shield faces continued scepticism. “The Golden Dome will strengthen deterrence by denying adversaries the ability to achieve their objectives through coercion or aggression,” Marc Berkowitz, the assistan...
Hong Kong authorities will cordon off parts of the shoreline of Sharp Island in Sai Kung to protect corals, with 1,000 visitors expected in the area each day during the coming Labour Day “golden week” holiday. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department also said on Monday that 11 officers would patrol the island daily during the holiday, while five marine staff – two snorkellers and th...
Hong Kong authorities will cordon off parts of the shoreline of Sharp Island in Sai Kung to protect corals, with 1,000 visitors expected in the area each day during the coming Labour Day “golden week” holiday. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department also said on Monday that 11 officers would patrol the island daily during the holiday, while five marine staff – two snorkellers and th...
DeepSeek has slashed prices on its artificial intelligence models, including its latest V4 which now costs 97 per cent less than OpenAI products, potentially triggering a price war in the highly competitive AI market. DeepSeek said on Sunday that it would reduce prices for “input cache hits” – where previously processed context was reused – for application programming interface (API) users to one-...
Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty began a meeting on Monday at the United Nations in New York as fears of a renewed arms race escalate, with atomic powers again at loggerheads over safeguards. In 2022, during the last review of the treaty considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was “one misunderstanding, one ...
Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty began a meeting on Monday at the United Nations in New York as fears of a renewed arms race escalate, with atomic powers again at loggerheads over safeguards. In 2022, during the last review of the treaty considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was “one misunderstanding, one ...
Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty began a meeting on Monday at the United Nations in New York as fears of a renewed arms race escalate, with atomic powers again at loggerheads over safeguards. In 2022, during the last review of the treaty considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was “one misunderstanding, one ...
“Balikatan 2026” is meant to reassure allies and deter adversaries. But the military exercise hosted by the Philippines also reveals a harsher truth: the Indo-Pacific is drifting into a security logic in which deterrence no longer contains risk but multiplies it. Every move taken in the name of stability now invites a countermove. Every display of resolve is answered by another. The result is not ...
The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the US president and could face life in prison if convicted. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House...
The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the US president. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, could face a life sentence if convicted. Allen appeared in Washington federal court two days after authorities said they foiled an attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annua...
A New York man on Monday pleaded guilty to taking part in the 2002 murder of pioneering hip-hop star Jam Master Jay of famed group Run-DMC as part of a dispute over a drug deal, according to federal prosecutors. Appearing in court in Brooklyn, Jay Bryant, 52, admitted to playing a role in the fatal shooting of Jason Mizell, better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, and faces up to 20 year...
Nearly 25 years after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was killed, a man admitted in court on Monday to a role in the shooting that stymied investigators for decades. Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell. “I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant to...
Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in the United States on Monday for a four-day trip, welcomed by self-proclaimed royal fan Donald Trump even as the US president has differed with the British government over the Iran war. The state visit, by far the most high-profile and consequential of Charles’ reign, marks the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from British ...
Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in the United States on Monday afternoon for a four-day trip, a tour which has taken on even greater prominence after the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting and amid acrimony between the close allies. The state visit, by far the most high-profile and consequential of Charles’ reign, marks the 250th anniversary of the US declaration of inde...
Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah but cautioned that the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, calling the group a “community” and not merely a militant organisation. Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government an...
Lebanon’s social affairs minister backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah but cautioned that the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, calling the group a “community” and not merely a militant organisation. Haneen Sayed told a discussion on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and ...
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel should immediately be fired by ABC and parent company Walt Disney, joining his wife Melania Trump in calling out the late-night talk show host for a monologue he delivered prior to a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend. Kimmel said last Thursday, in a parody segment on the upcoming White House corresp...
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC, joining his wife Melania Trump in calling out the late-night talk show host for a monologue he delivered before a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend. Kimmel, in a parody of the White House Correspondents Dinner that was broadcast last week be...
Rescuers were racing to reach survivors on Tuesday morning outside Indonesia’s capital Jakarta after two trains collided overnight, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens. Anna Purba, a spokeswoman for the state-owned KAI rail company, told local television that 14 people had been killed in the crash and 84 were injured. She said rescuers were working to get to two people still trapped, al...
Rescuers were racing to reach survivors on Tuesday morning outside Indonesia’s capital Jakarta after two trains collided overnight, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens. Anna Purba, a spokeswoman for the state-owned KAI rail company, told local television in the early morning hours that seven people had been killed in the crash and 81 were injured. She said rescuers were working to ge...
Two trains collided outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta late on Monday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, and prompting a mammoth rescue effort. First responders were still actively working at the scene in the early hours of Tuesday, with one official telling Agence France-Presse that four people remain trapped in the wreckage. One survivor told Agence France-Presse of the horrific...
Two trains collided outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta late on Monday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, and prompting a mammoth rescue effort. First responders were still actively working at the scene in the early hours of Tuesday, with one official telling Agence France-Presse that four people remain trapped in the wreckage. One survivor told Agence France-Presse of the horrific...
Two trains collided outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta late on Monday, killing at least four people, injuring dozens and prompting a mass evacuation effort, officials said. There were chaotic scenes at the Bekasi Timur station some 25km (15 miles) from Jakarta, with rescuers shouting for oxygen tanks as ambulances stood by in a snaking queue, lights flashing. An Agence France-Presse reporter a...
Pope Leo and new Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally met for the first time on Monday, in a symbolic encounter at the Vatican in which the leaders of the long-separated Catholic Church and Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed together. Mullally, the first woman to serve as spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, was welcomed by Leo, the first US leader of the world’s 1.4...
Following high-level mediation efforts in Islamabad over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Monday. The diplomatic surge comes as US President Donald Trump convened his senior national security team to evaluate a fresh Iranian peace proposal, delivered via Pakistan, aimed at ending the months-long M...
Following high-level mediation efforts in Islamabad over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Monday. The diplomatic surge comes as US President Donald Trump was set to convene his senior national security team to evaluate a fresh Iranian peace proposal, delivered via Pakistan, aimed at ending the mon...
