12 h. ago PLA holds urban warfare drill as Taipei looks to boost ‘asymmetric capabilities’

The People’s Liberation Army has carried out an urban warfare drill, according to state media, in what appears to be a response to Taipei’s bid to fund improved “asymmetric capabilities”. In a report on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of troops carrying out an operation to seize a built-up area in a war-torn city. The drill – involving reconnaissance, clearing and occupation – was part of a live-fire exercise conducted by a PLA Ground Force brigade that aimed to “test multiple...

Events

15 h. ago Australia on high alert as PLA naval fleet in Philippine Sea sails south

China’s deployment of a naval fleet, led by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship in the Philippine Sea this week, has triggered a rapid response from Australia. Canberra deployed a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft to track the flotilla, reviving security concerns raised after an unprecedented circumnavigation of the Australian continent by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fleet nine months ago. US satellite images, first reported by Australian media on Wednesday, confirmed the presence of the Chinese...

Events

15 h. ago Australia on high alert as PLA Navy fleet in Philippine Sea sails south

China’s deployment this week of a naval fleet led by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship in the Philippine Sea has triggered a rapid response from Australia. Canberra deployed a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft to track the flotilla, reviving security concerns raised after an unprecedented circumnavigation of the Australian continent by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fleet nine months ago. US satellite images, first reported by Australian media on Wednesday, confirmed the presence of the Chinese...

Events

37 h. ago UK Novichok report blames Putin for ‘reckless’ poisoning of ex

Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018, in an “astonishingly reckless” act that led to the death of an innocent woman, a UK public inquiry concluded on Thursday. Skripal was found along with his daughter Yulia slumped unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after Novichok was applied to the front door handle of his nearby home. About four months later,...

Politics

46 h. ago Kenya inquiry denounces ‘disturbing sexual misconduct’ at UK army base

A Kenyan parliamentary inquiry has denounced a “disturbing trend of sexual misconduct” at a British Army base in the east African country “marked by rape, assault, and abandonment of children fathered by soldiers”. Since Kenya’s independence in 1963, the former colonial power has maintained the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) on the outskirts of Nanyuki, about 200km (130 miles) north of the capital Nairobi. The inquiry by the Kenyan parliament’s Defence Committee said there was little...

Politics

53 h. ago Why peeling back layers of strategic ambiguity will only hurt Japan

Putting aside the ongoing war of words between Beijing and Tokyo surrounding Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s statements on Taiwan last month, there is a simple question that needs answering. Can Japan’s Self-Defence Forces really afford to fight the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) without American military support? Takaichi’s answer appears to be that Japan’s military must do so. The legislation approved by Japan’s Diet in September 2015 allowed the country to exercise its right of...

Politics

62 h. ago Collapsed UK China spy case due to ‘shambolic’ failures, not conspiracy: inquiry

A high-profile case against two British men accused of spying for China collapsed because of “systemic failures” and not a government conspiracy, a UK parliamentary inquiry concluded on Wednesday. The handling of the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry was at times “shambolic” and reforms are needed to prevent “similar issues” happening again, the cross-party committee of MPs and members of the House of Lords said in its report. Ex-parliamentary researcher Cash and China-based...

Events

66 h. ago Experts at odds over independent inquiry into deadly Hong Kong blaze

An independent review committee tasked with probing the deadly fire in Hong Kong that has so far claimed 156 lives has no legal power to compel and protect witnesses, but may yield faster results of comparable quality to a statutory commission, experts say. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday ordered a judge-led independent investigation into the blaze rather than a commission of inquiry used by his predecessors for the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision and, before the 1997 handover, the...

Events

3 d. ago Africa’s $23bn mine threatens Australia's dominance as China eyes new power base

Africa’s $23bn mine threatens Australia's dominance as China eyes new power base  Business Insider Africa

Events

3 d. ago Hong Kong court postpones inquest verdict on 2012 Lamma Island ferry crash

The Coroner’s Court has postponed a long-awaited verdict for an inquest into one of Hong Kong’s deadliest maritime disasters, in which 39 residents died after a collision between two ferries in 2012. The court was slated to make a ruling on Thursday on the underlying causes of the crash, which took place off Lamma Island, that had not been identified by a previous government-appointed inquiry in 2013. A judiciary spokesman confirmed the hearing had been postponed but declined to elaborate. The...

Events

4 d. ago US wipes South Africa’s G20 website clean for 2026 Trump summit

US President Donald Trump on Monday launched the US presidency of the Group of 20 by wiping clean the website of outgoing host South Africa, which he is not inviting to next year’s summit. The G20 website now simply has a picture of Trump in black and white that says “Miami 2026” and “The Best Is Yet to Come”, the title of the song popularised by Frank Sinatra. Trump refused all US attendance at last month’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, denouncing the post-apartheid government’s treatment of the...

Politics

5 d. ago China’s National Security: The People’s Liberation Army’s Shrinking Role in Protecting the Nation’s Core Interests

China’s National Security: The People’s Liberation Army’s Shrinking Role in Protecting the Nation’s Core Interests  China Leadership Monitor

Events

5 d. ago Global alliance at UN denounces Chinas expanding tyranny and human rights atrocities

Global alliance at UN denounces Chinas expanding tyranny and human rights atrocities  Tribune India

Politics

5 d. ago China boy, 14, acts like ancient scholar, turns bedroom into museum of artefacts

A 14-year-old Chinese boy who turned his bedroom into a small history museum and spoke like an ancient scholar has attracted an army of followers online. The secondary school student from central China’s Henan province, Xie Zhaoyutong, loves ancient Chinese history and literature and has filled his bedroom with his antique collections. A recent video of Xie passionately introducing his collections went viral online. It attracted 837,000 likes and 40,000 comments. Xie collects pottery, china,...

Politics

6 d. ago In ‘Schrodinger’s Pakistan’, the young feel sidelined by the state

In Pakistan, a nation where power often seems to serve itself above all else, the latest constitutional overhaul has been received with a weary sense of resignation. Pushed through parliament on November 13 with barely a murmur of opposition, the 27th amendment to the country’s 1973 constitution made two major changes: splitting the Supreme Court into separate appellate and constitutional benches, and upgrading the army chief of staff to overall commander of Pakistan’s armed forces. Viewed in...

Politics

6 d. ago China’s Xi vows to ‘resolutely crack down’ on online misconduct

China’s Xi vows to ‘resolutely crack down’ on online misconduct  Arab News PK

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Kill North Koreans’: posters urging South Koreans to join Ukraine war slammed

An advertisement offering lucrative pay and citizenship to South Koreans willing to join Ukraine’s army has been rejected by Kyiv as a “Russian hoax”, even as Seoul confirmed for the first time the death of a citizen who fought against Moscow in the long-running war. The conflict-stricken nation’s response came after photographs of posters plastered on a lamp post in Seongnam, South Korea’s Gyeonggi province, circulated online, detailing supposed enlistment benefits including high wages and...

Events

7 d. ago Kenya turns to China for $1.5 billion highway following U.S. funding setback

Kenya turns to China for $1.5 billion highway following U.S. funding setback  Business Insider Africa

Economics

7 d. ago A new test for consent: reforming Hong Kong’s approach to sexual crimes

Hong Kong has seen a number of amendments to its criminal law in recent years aimed at strengthening the response to sexual crimes. Notable examples are the new offences in the Crimes Ordinance regarding voyeurism, upskirting and the publication of intimate images without consent. There has also been discussion, including in this column, regarding how the law can adapt to the new phenomenon of pornography generated by artificial intelligence and deepfakes. It is essential that the law,...

Events

8 d. ago Israeli soldiers appear to kill Palestinians in West Bank after they surrender

Israeli soldiers on Thursday appeared to kill a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they had surrendered to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood”. The Israeli military said it was investigating. The killings, captured in a pair of videos shown on two Arab television stations, came as Israel pressed ahead with its latest offensive in the West Bank, where the army has stepped up its activities over the past two years. Israel says it...

Events