3 h. ago US indie film beats out Gaza war docudrama for Venice top prize

A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, while a harrowing docudrama about the Gaza war took second. Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, drew mostly positive reviews for its humorous portrayal of awkwardness and guilt. The Broken Flowers director, who wrote the script for three family get-togethers in upstate New York, Dublin and Paris,...

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12 h. ago China Welcomes Russia’s Sanctioned Shadow Fleet LNG Tankers, Reuters Reports

China Welcomes Russia’s Sanctioned Shadow Fleet LNG Tankers, Reuters Reports  UNITED24 Media

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15 h. ago How a lone protester defied Xi’s ‘fascist’ China – after fleeing to Britain

How a lone protester defied Xi’s ‘fascist’ China – after fleeing to Britain  yahoo.com

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16 h. ago Shanghai spirit for new world order needs to be matched by the West

This time, it was not America’s Franklin D. Roosevelt, Britain’s Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin meeting in the Crimean city of Yalta to carve up a defeated Germany and reshape the post-war European order. Instead, it was China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin to consider the implications of a new and non-US-dominated global order. It was a historic occasion...

Politics

42 h. ago Ukraine’s drone pilots are ‘killing for points’ as war becomes gamified

Rubik, a Ukrainian military drone pilot, had tracked the every move of one particular Russian soldier for weeks, with the promise of earning at least six points for killing him. In a war increasingly dominated by drones, Ukraine’s military has launched a new score-based purchasing system for units to replenish their stocks, and Rubik - his military nickname - was looking to help his brigade cash in. On the “Brave1” platform launched by Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry, new drones for...

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53 h. ago Trump tells Europe to put economic pressure on China over Ukraine

US President Donald Trump urged European countries on Thursday to put economic pressure on China because of its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said. Speaking by video conference with European leaders gathered in Paris, Trump also said “Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war”, a senior White House official said on condition of anonymity. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also took part in the meeting, said earlier that Trump was “very...

Politics

53 h. ago Trump calls out Europe for 'funding' Putin's war and failing to 'pressure' China

Trump calls out Europe for 'funding' Putin's war and failing to 'pressure' China  Fox News

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4 d. ago How Xi, With Putin's Help, Could Use A Massive Military Parade To Rewrite World War II

How Xi, With Putin's Help, Could Use A Massive Military Parade To Rewrite World War II  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

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1 week ago Japan Announces Plan to Counter China's Armed Coast Guard Fleet

Japan Announces Plan to Counter China's Armed Coast Guard Fleet  Newsweek

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1 week ago Opinion | Why Beijing is letting parts of China’s property sector fail

Opinion | Why Beijing is letting parts of China’s property sector fail  South China Morning Post

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1 week ago Pony.ai eyes ‘sizeable fleet’ in Hong Kong, unfazed by Tesla robotaxi competition

Chinese autonomous driving technology firm Pony.ai expects to deploy a fleet of robotaxis in Hong Kong after completing regulatory hurdles, while downplaying potential competition from Tesla. “We have already set a footprint in Guangzhou and we are eyeing Hong Kong,” chief financial officer Leo Wang said at a media event in the city on Tuesday. He said Pony.ai needed to work with local authorities and partners to explore the best way forward. On working with the city’s Transport Department, Wang...

Politics

1 week ago UK’s Farage unveils plan to deport asylum seekers, warns of ‘civil disorder’

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s anti-migration Reform UK party, announced a plan on Tuesday to repeal human rights laws to allow for mass deportations of asylum seekers, action he said was needed to prevent “major civil disorder”. Farage said his party, which is leading in national opinion polls, would remove Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act and nullify other international treaties that have been used to block the forced deportation of...

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1 week ago ‘Not asking for pity’: Ukrainian war veterans find healing in the water

During a pool training session months ago, Ukrainian war veteran Oleh Tserkovnyi was struck by an idea: what if a group of veterans swam across the strait of Bosphorus, between Turkey’s European and Asian shores? And if they did it on August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day? The symbolism of the day would draw attention to the toll and devastation inflicted by Russia’s full-out war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year. When the 34-year-old pitched the idea to fellow veterans in their One for Another...

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1 week ago Why US allies are resisting China’s charm offensive on trade

Geopolitical tremors from Washington’s trade wars against its closest allies – the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia – might have convinced Beijing of an impending realignment. China has seized the moment with a charm offensive, urging pragmatic cooperation amid tariff spats. Beijing rightly condemns Washington for shredding the very World Trade Organization rules and post-war liberal order it crafted, calling for collective action against US coercion. Yet despite the...

Politics

1 week ago China’s trade charm offensive falls on deaf ears among US security allies

Geopolitical tremors from Washington’s trade wars against its closest allies – the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia – might have convinced Beijing of an impending realignment. China has seized the moment with a charm offensive, urging pragmatic cooperation amid tariff spats. Beijing rightly condemns Washington for shredding the very World Trade Organization rules and post-war liberal order it crafted, calling for collective action against US coercion. Yet despite the...

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2 w. ago Top EU envoy in Hong Kong says alleged Russian transshipments a ‘major concern’

Hong Kong’s alleged transshipment of Western-sanctioned dual-use goods for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine remains a “major concern” for the European Union, the bloc’s top envoy in the city has said. At an event on Friday to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, Harvey Rouse, the head of the EU office in Hong Kong, said he had continued to raise the issue with city authorities and hoped there could be “progress together”. “It remains a major concern that Russia keeps receiving dual-use goods for its...

Politics

2 w. ago Europe’s scorching heatwave sees demand for Chinese air conditioners sizzle

From Paris to Athens, and Lisbon to Berlin, Europeans are enduring a prolonged and punishing summer heatwave amid global warming. And rising right alongside the blazing temperatures are China’s exports of air conditioners (ACs) to the continent, with a nearly 60 per cent jump by volume in July, compared with the same time last year, according to Chinese customs data. The Spanish capital of Madrid kicked off the week under a yellow alert – the third-highest heat warning on a four-tier scale –...

Society

2 w. ago Will China be Ukraine’s security guarantor? Unlikely, despite Russia’s wishes

Resource constraints and precedent mean China is unlikely to become one of Ukraine’s security guarantors – despite Russia’s suggestion that it could, according to analysts. With rising expectations for a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, security guarantees for Kyiv have taken centre stage in discussions about a peace deal with Moscow to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. During a press conference on...

Events

2 w. ago For Europe and Russia, the outcome of Ukraine’s war is becoming clearer

The Alaska summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was a test balloon for Trump to find out, as he said, what Putin had in mind. The subsequent meeting in the White House between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders was another test balloon – for Europe – to find out what Trump had in mind. Both were useful yet not really productive. To start with, Putin has emerged as a clear winner. The red-carpet welcome on American soil with...

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2 w. ago Exclusive: The US Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.

Exclusive: The US Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.  Reuters

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