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France and Spain race to curb wildfires before new heatwave arrives
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France and Spain race to curb wildfires before new heatwave arrives

Firefighters sought on Monday to take advantage of more favourable weather to subdue massive wildfires threatening the French city and tourist region of Bordeaux and a number of sites in neighbouring Spain. They were racing against the clock as another heatwave is expected to hit both countries later this week in what has been a blisteringly hot and dry summer across western Europe. Authorities ha...

US congressional group plans annual visits to China after trade trip
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US congressional group plans annual visits to China after trade trip

A congressional advisory panel focused on China has returned from a trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, with commissioners pledging to make the visits an annual event to strengthen engagement and inform their work on US-China relations. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), an independent advisory body established in 2000, provides annual reports and recommendations to l...

US congressional party vows annual visits to China after trade trip
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US congressional party vows annual visits to China after trade trip

A congressional advisory panel focused on China has returned from a trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, with commissioners pledging to make the visits an annual event to strengthen engagement and inform their work on US-China relations. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), an independent advisory body established in 2000, provides annual reports and recommendations to l...

US congressional party vows annual visits to China after positive trade trip
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US congressional party vows annual visits to China after positive trade trip

A congressional advisory panel focused on China has returned from a trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, with commissioners pledging to make the visits an annual event to strengthen engagement and inform their work on US-China relations. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), an independent advisory body established in 2000, provides annual reports and recommendations to l...

Tate brothers to remain in US jail as they fight extradition to UK

Tate brothers to remain in US jail as they fight extradition to UK

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Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in prison for at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said on Monday. US Magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for August 13 to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released duri...

Tate brothers to stay in US jail for 2 more weeks amid UK extradition fight

Tate brothers to stay in US jail for 2 more weeks amid UK extradition fight

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Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in prison for at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said on Monday. US Magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for August 13 to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released duri...

Tate brothers will remain in US jail for 2 more weeks as they fight extradition to the UK

Tate brothers will remain in US jail for 2 more weeks as they fight extradition to the UK

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Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in prison for at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said on Monday. US Magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for August 13 to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released duri...

Armed police officers to be deployed for UK’s biggest Pride festival

Armed police officers to be deployed for UK’s biggest Pride festival

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Armed officers will be deployed for the UK’s largest Pride festival, police said following the attack on Berlin’s Pride event. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting condemned the “absolutely horrific” van and stabbing attack in the German capital that left one person dead and injured at least 29 others. The suspect – named as Abdul B and said to have links to Islamic State – was shot dead by police on S...

Shot fired at Toronto’s US consulate in second incident in 4 months

Shot fired at Toronto’s US consulate in second incident in 4 months

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At least one shot was fired early on Monday at the US consulate in Toronto, Canadian police said, the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months. No injuries were reported. An officer guarding the consulate “heard the sound of a gunshot in the vicinity here where he was stationed” at about 4.45am, the city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo told reporters, adding that the consula...

Shot fired at US consulate in Toronto for second time in 4 months

Shot fired at US consulate in Toronto for second time in 4 months

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At least one shot was fired early on Monday at the US consulate in Toronto, Canadian police said, the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months. No injuries were reported. An officer guarding the consulate “heard the sound of a gunshot in the vicinity here where he was stationed” at about 4.45am, the city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo told reporters, adding that the consula...

Shots fired near US consulate in Toronto in second shooting near the compound in 4 months

Shots fired near US consulate in Toronto in second shooting near the compound in 4 months

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Shots were fired early on Monday at the US consulate in Toronto, Canadian police said, the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months. No injuries were reported. An officer guarding the consulate “heard the sound of a gunshot in the vicinity here where he was stationed” at about 4.45am, the city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo told reporters, adding that the consulate’s facade...

Brazil turns to China trade deal after Trump’s tariffs, as years of resistance end

Brazil turns to China trade deal after Trump’s tariffs, as years of resistance end

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed on Sunday night to accelerate negotiations for a trade agreement between China and Mercosur, a striking reversal for Brasilia, which for years led resistance to such a deal in the South American bloc. The two leaders spoke by telephone for more than an hour, according to a statement from the Brazilian presidency,...

New US-Canada bridge opens as trade tensions test ties

New US-Canada bridge opens as trade tensions test ties

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A major new bridge linking Canada and the US at Detroit opened on Monday to trucks, cars and other vehicles, the climax of a years-long project that lately had been bruised a bit by international politics. Descendants of Gordie Howe, the hockey legend whose name is on the bridge, were among the first to cross over the Detroit River, which separates the Motor City from Windsor, Ontario. US Senator ...

US-Canada bridge opens in Detroit even as trade disputes test the neighbours’ ties

US-Canada bridge opens in Detroit even as trade disputes test the neighbours’ ties

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A major new bridge linking Canada and the United States at Detroit, Michigan opened on Monday to lorries, cars and other vehicles, the climax of a years-long project that lately had been bruised a bit by international politics. Descendants of Gordie Howe, the hockey legend whose name is on the bridge, were among the first to cross over the Detroit River, which separates Detroit from Windsor, Ontar...

Trump foe Comey urges judge to toss ‘86 47’ seashell post case

Trump foe Comey urges judge to toss ‘86 47’ seashell post case

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Former FBI director James Comey urged a judge on Monday to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against President Donald Trump but protected political speech. Comey’s lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47” constitut...

James Comey says seashells post was a political speech, not a threat against Trump

James Comey says seashells post was a political speech, not a threat against Trump

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Former FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) director James Comey urged a judge on Monday to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against US President Donald Trump but protected political speech. Comey’s lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numer...

Bill Oddie, wildlife champion and Goodies star, dies at 85

Bill Oddie, wildlife champion and Goodies star, dies at 85

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UK television personality Bill Oddie, best known for his role in the television comedy series The Goodies and presenter of nature shows, has died aged 85, his agent said on Monday. “Bill was a multitalented celebrity – wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist,” Oddie’s agent, David Foster, said in a statement. “Yet it was never fame that he valued...

Bill Oddie, wildlife presenter and star of British comedy series The Goodies, dies at 85

Bill Oddie, wildlife presenter and star of British comedy series The Goodies, dies at 85

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UK television personality Bill Oddie, best known for his role in the television comedy series The Goodies and presenter of nature programmes, has died aged 85, his agent said on Monday. “Bill was a multitalented celebrity – wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist,” Oddie’s agent David Foster said in a statement. “Yet it was never fame that he val...

UK’s Burnham meets Zelensky, pledges ‘Stone Cloak’ tech for Ukraine’s drones

UK’s Burnham meets Zelensky, pledges ‘Stone Cloak’ tech for Ukraine’s drones

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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a UK naval base on Monday, pledging new “Stone Cloak” jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine’s drones on the battlefield. The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham’s first bilateral with a foreign leader and comes ahead of...

Zelensky arrives in UK for talks with Burnham ahead of Trump meeting

Zelensky arrives in UK for talks with Burnham ahead of Trump meeting

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the UK on Monday for talks with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with Britain set to offer Kyiv fresh help to breach Russian air defences. “The key priorities are air defence, maritime security, and joint defence production,” Zelensky said in a social media post on his arrival. “Over the years of the full-scale war, we have built the strongest rela...

UK’s new PM Burnham welcomes Zelensky as first foreign visitor

UK’s new PM Burnham welcomes Zelensky as first foreign visitor

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Britain’s ⁠new prime minister, Andy Burnham, welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his first international visitor on Monday, in a move that underscores London’s steadfast support for Ukraine, Burnham’s office said. The two leaders met at a naval base, where they were due to hear how UK-led training programmes are helping strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces and deliver results on the ba...

UK funeral director faces jail over bodies left ‘on racks’

UK funeral director faces jail over bodies left ‘on racks’

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A British funeral director faced prison on Monday over a scandal that saw bodies left “stored on racks” and uncremated while relatives were handed other people’s ashes, sparking calls for better regulation of the industry. An ex-employee described Robert Bush’s funeral parlour as a “horror scene”, prosecutor Chris Paxton said at the start of a five-day sentencing hearing. Police who searched his p...

Trump, tariffs and ties with China at stake in Brazilian presidential race

Trump, tariffs and ties with China at stake in Brazilian presidential race

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With less than three months to go until Brazil’s presidential election, China is closely watching a high-stakes political duel between a Beijing-friendly incumbent and his pro-Washington challenger. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who maintains close ties with Beijing, is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term. His rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro – son of former president Jair Bolson...

From Moonshot to Enflame: how Tencent is betting big on China’s AI champions

From Moonshot to Enflame: how Tencent is betting big on China’s AI champions

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Tencent Holdings is quietly reallocating its venture capital bets away from legacy internet assets to double down on China’s highest-profile artificial intelligence champions. While the tech giant’s sprawling portfolio spans mobile gaming, e-commerce and consumer goods globally, its AI strategy has rapidly accelerated. Earlier this month, Tencent trimmed its long-held stake in Kuaishou Technology ...

Philippines’ Marcos uses national address to promise relief, but funding questions loom

Philippines’ Marcos uses national address to promise relief, but funding questions loom

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr used his 2026 State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday to promise relief from taxes, electricity charges and high rice prices, while pledging to pursue corruption cases linked to a flood-control scandal that has battered his administration. But while analysts said the one-and-a-half-hour speech addressed issues Filipinos had expected Marcos to confront...

China’s localised data centre push drives AI ambitions amid overbuilding concerns

China’s localised data centre push drives AI ambitions amid overbuilding concerns

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Despite their strikingly different approaches to developing and deploying artificial intelligence, one aspect is common across China and the United States: data and computing centres are proliferating in both countries, especially in remote locations. While the US is seeing residents and localities fight back against plans for data centres in their backyards, regional officials in China are embrac...

Why use rare earths in rubber production? Chinese scientists are engineering tougher tyres

Why use rare earths in rubber production? Chinese scientists are engineering tougher tyres

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Chinese researchers have completed trials of a new rare earth-based synthetic rubber production facility, industrialising a major raw material for manufacturing electric vehicle and heavy-duty vehicle tyres. High-quality synthetic rubber, most of which uses metal as a catalyst during production, is vital to the transport industry, manufacturing and national defence. The unit, built by Xinjiang-bas...

Hong Kong banks in early stages of preparing for quantum computing threats, HKMA says

Hong Kong banks in early stages of preparing for quantum computing threats, HKMA says

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Hong Kong’s banking sector is still in the early stages of preparing for cybersecurity risks posed by quantum computing, the city’s de facto central bank said on Monday as it unveiled a new benchmark to track the industry’s readiness. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched its first Quantum Preparedness Index (QPI), which gave the sector a score of 2.3 out of 10, indicating that most ban...

Hong Kong’s wild boar population halves under capture-and-kill strategy

Hong Kong’s wild boar population halves under capture-and-kill strategy

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The number of wild boars in Hong Kong has declined by more than half in the four years since authorities adopted a capture-and-kill policy, with HK$105.6 million (US$13.46 million) spent over the same period. A Legislative Council study published on Monday found that the number of boars culled since 2021 rose elevenfold to 723 last year under the new policy. Over the same period, the number of inj...