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For centuries, the Yangtze River has been China’s vital lifeblood, yet its floods have claimed countless lives. To tame its waters, flood-control systems have evolved from ancient dykes to the engineering marvel of the Three Gorges Dam. But a new study has uncovered a paradox: some human interventions may have inadvertently worsened the very flood risks they were built to mitigate. “We show that f...
Palestinian Christians call themselves “living stones” and say they have lived continuously in the Holy Land for the last 2,000 years. Maybe not for much longer, believes Reverend Mitri Raheb. “If the current conditions continue, there will not be a single Palestinian Christian left by 2050,” said Raheb, founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jes...
Sensing frustration among many Russians towards the Ukraine war, Russia’s liberal Yabloko party is hoping to use parliamentary elections this September to raise its profile, casting itself as the only opposition group in favour of a ceasefire. Elections in Russia are tightly controlled – every parliamentary vote since 2003 has been won by the ruling “United Russia” party, which supports President ...
China’s high-stakes race to build next-generation artificial intelligence models is entering a critical new phase, where a less visible yet far more existential threat is coming into view: a severe shortage of high-quality training data. While the US chokehold on advanced computing chips has dominated headlines, Chinese AI experts increasingly warn that running out of quality data could prove to b...
Thailand launched its Siam Silica framework last week, a national road map that stamps the Southeast Asian country’s stake in the semiconductor race by building a domestic ecosystem and positioning it as a key hub within an integrated supply chain among Asean member states. However, analysts say that the country will have much ground to cover as it trails behind neighbours Malaysia and Singapore. ...
The leader of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has called for greater financial support to develop a proposed 300-hectare (741 acres) university town near the border with mainland China, including funding for local institutions to build campuses, arguing that expansion will help navigate future challenges. In a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning Post, CUHK president Denn...
A 111-year-old grandmother in eastern China has captured the attention of social media by attributing her remarkable longevity to simple habits, such as viewing housework as a form of daily exercise. Wang Gaiying lives in Rugao, Jiangsu province, which is renowned as one of the country’s “longevity capitals.” As of February, the area was home to 672 centenarians, according to the Jianghai Evening ...
Taiwan’s plan to dissolve the pro-Beijing Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) has sparked controversy over whether the independence-leaning authorities are using security concerns to suppress political dissent. The island’s interior ministry is seeking a Constitutional Court order to declare the CUPP unconstitutional and dissolve it, marking the first such action against a political party i...
Debate over the price of a burrito is causing indigestion for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, which fears being punished for the high cost of living in November’s midterm elections. The Mexican speciality – rice, beans, meat and other toppings wrapped in a tortilla – is beloved by many Americans as a comforting, filling and inexpensive meal. Not any more, argues Andrew Kolvet, a spokesm...
When Malaysian artist Darwisy Mustafani received a commission to paint the country’s king and queen, he did not reach for an ordinary canvas. Instead, the 25-year-old from the northeastern city of Kota Bharu transformed songket – the lustrous handwoven fabric once reserved for Malay courts and ceremonial dress – into a portrait of the sultan and his wife before a golden-domed palace. The portrait,...
Kim Ji-soo wrapped up a visit to the coastal city of Qingdao in northern China just last weekend, but she is already contemplating where she will go on her next visit. “It seemed affordable, nearby and I wanted to visit a new city,” said the 57-year-old Seoul resident, who had been to Beijing before. “I enjoyed the food and the vast space the most,” Kim said, adding that the city’s bustling energy...
The football that Diego Maradona used to score his infamous “Hand of God” goal during Argentina’s win over England in the 1986 World Cup is expected to sell for US$10 million at a US auction this month. Maradona’s goal in the quarter-final match at the Estadio Azteca saw him punch the ball past the England goalkeeper, with the South Americans ultimately winning 2-1. After the game, the Argentine s...
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, vowing to wage war on drug-running guerrillas and usher in a new era of close ties with the United States. The flamboyant former lawyer brings a lurch to the right for the Andean nation, vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega prisons” and slash the size of the state. De la Espriella and his Vice-President Jose Manuel Restrep...
US President Donald Trump is renewing his effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, keeping alive his assault on the central bank’s independence even after the US Supreme Court in June dealt him a significant setback in his bid to remove her earlier this year, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The White House told Cook in a letter this week that the president was “considering” remov...
A US federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Pentagon from designating Chinese biotechnology group WuXi AppTec as a “Chinese military company”, finding that defence officials repeatedly misread the evidence used to justify the decision. US District Chief Judge James Boasberg granted WuXi a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Defence from enforcing or otherwise giving effect to...
The US Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche, 52, as attorney general, elevating President Donald Trump’s one-time personal defence lawyer to lead the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Friday he would back Todd Blanche for attorney general, clearing a path for Trump’s nominee after weeks of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s independence from the ...
The US Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche, 52, as attorney general, elevating President Donald Trump’s one-time personal defence lawyer to lead the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Friday he would back Todd Blanche for attorney general, clearing a path for Trump’s nominee after weeks of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s independence from the ...
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Friday he would back Todd Blanche for attorney general, clearing a path for Donald Trump’s nominee after weeks of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s independence from the White House. Cassidy emerged as the probable deciding vote after Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she would oppose Blanche for the top US law enforcement job, leaving t...
The United States on Friday announced several critical minerals agreements with multiple mining companies, marking its latest push to curb China’s dominance over the production and processing of strategic materials. While attending a round table with global mining industry executives at the State Department, US President Donald Trump, without naming China, said that his administration would ensure...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on Friday for his first official visit to Serbia, one of the few European countries that have maintained friendly relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky confirmed the arrival on Friday on his official Telegram channel. The office of Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic had previously announced the visit late on Thursda...
China’s UnionPay International plans to connect Chinese payment apps to Pix, the Brazilian payment system at the centre of Washington’s trade case against Brasilia, allowing Chinese tourists to pay by scanning a code. Under the pilot, users of the UnionPay app and of Chinese bank apps linked to its platform would scan a merchant’s code and pay from the account they use at home. Chinese state media...
A US federal appeal court on Friday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to stop construction on a US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority. The Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a divided 2-1 order upheld a prelimin...
A Hong Kong-based Belgian designer is taking fashion powerhouse Prada to court, claiming at least US$5 million in damages for the alleged repudiation of a partnership agreement to redesign a series of Rolls-Royce cars for exhibitions and events worldwide. In a High Court lawsuit filed on Thursday, Jonathan Riss accused the Italian brand of breaching various written and verbal agreements to jointly...
It is financially strapped, structurally flawed, infamously bureaucratic, reputationally damaged and riven with infighting. So why would anyone want to take on the role of the next secretary general of the United Nations? “I really think there should be some sort of psychiatric test for wanting this position,” said Richard Gowan, global issues and institutions director at the International Crisis ...
Hong Kong holidaymakers in Okinawa on Friday contended with depleted supermarket shelves, potential power cuts and violent weather as Typhoon Dolphin shut the Japanese island’s main airport and disrupted every direct flight home. Social media images shared by Hong Kong-linked travel accounts showed empty bread shelves and torrential rain sweeping parts of the popular destination, although travelle...
The US economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July, government data showed, a blow to US President Donald Trump’s claims of leading an economic revival as his Republican Party gears up for crucial midterm elections.. The unemployment rate in the world’s largest economy ticked down to 4.1 per cent, according to data published on Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since taking office for...
An organised ring that helped people in the central Chinese province of Henan cheat their way to government-sponsored jobs has been exposed. An official investigation concluded that a province-wide exam held to fill the posts last month had been compromised by “large-scale, organised cheating” with suspects paying officials overseeing the exam to obtain test papers and the correct answers in advan...
Graphite has long been a workhorse of industry – used in pencils since the 1500s, in steelmaking during the 1800s, and today in battery electrodes. Research from Peking University now suggests it could even play a role in next-generation quantum computers. According to a paper published on July 23 by the peer-reviewed journal Science, the research team has cleared a major obstacle on the road to p...
With some US universities kicking off their academic year this month and Chinese students subject to increased scrutiny from Washington amid heated geopolitical rivalry, many institutions were concerned they would receive fewer applications from China, a prized source of tuition fee revenue amid cuts to state and federal education budgets. But a report issued by the Institute of International Educ...
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Cambricon Technologies reported a 108 per cent surge in first-half revenue on Friday, as the firm capitalises on a massive domestic push to replace foreign AI hardware. The chipmaker’s revenue for the first six months of the year reached 6 billion yuan (US$890 million), while profits also jumped 122.6 per cent year on year to 2.3 billion yuan, accord...
