15 h. ago Elon Musk’s 2025 recap: how the world’s richest person became its most chaotic

How the tech CEO and ‘Dogefather’ made a mess of the year – from an apparent Nazi salute during his White House tenure to Tesla sales slumps and Starship explosionsThe year of 2025 was dizzying for Elon Musk. The tech titan began the year holding court with Donald Trump in Washington DC. As the months ticked by, one public appearance after another baffled the US and the world. Musk appeared to give a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, staunchly championed a 19-year-old staffer nicknamed “Big Balls,” denied reports of being a drug addict while advising the president, and showed up at a White House press conference with a black eye – all in the first half of the year alone.“Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in an expansive interview earlier this month. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china.” Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago Taiwan stays on high alert after China concludes largest military drills encircling island

Beijing defends live-fire exercises as necessary, while allies warn of rising risks in the Taiwan Strait

Events

35 h. ago China fires rockets towards WW3 hotspot island Taiwan after massive military drills fuelling invasion fears

CHINA has ramped up fears of a global showdown after firing nearly 30 live-fire rockets close to Taiwan during its biggest ever military drill around the island. Beijing unleashed the provocative show of force as warships, bomber aircraft and new amphibious assault vessels moved in on Taiwan for a second day of exercises rehearsing a...

Events

39 h. ago Chilling map sparks WW3 fears as China launch military drills cutting Taiwan off

Beijing is conducting two days of drills using live ammunition, jets and warships to practise the blockade of two key ports, though to be a response to Taiwan's $11 billion arms deal with the US

Events

61 h. ago Why China continues to hold military drills around Taiwan amid high tension

Currently, only 11 of the 193 United Nations member states maintain full diplomatic relations with Taiwan

Events

66 h. ago China issues warning to Trump as it launches huge war games around Taiwan including rehearsal for blockading the island's ports

Beijing's foreign ministry struck a defiant tone as the drills got underway, declaring: 'Any act of provocation on the Taiwan issue will surely be met with a firm counterattack from the Chinese side'.

Events

5 d. ago Japan’s cabinet approves record defence budget amid escalating China tensions

Japanese strike-back capabilities and coastal defences to be boosted while Beijing accuses Tokyo of fuelling a ‘space arms race’Japan’s cabinet has approved a record high defence budget as tensions with China continue to spiral, with Beijing this week accusing Tokyo of “fuelling a space arms race”.The draft defence budget for the next fiscal year – approved on Friday – is more than ¥9tn ($58bn) and 9.4% bigger than the previous budget, which will end in April. The increase comes in the fourth year of Japan’s five-year program to double its annual arms spending to 2% of GDP. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Putin to install nuclear power plant on moon by 2036 after 'real life Star Wars'

The Kremlin is planning on installing a nuclear power plant on the moon in 2036 to power its space programme and research with China, as the fight for space dominance continues

Events

1 week ago The bleakest winter: Ukrainians face exhaustion and uncertainty as Trump demands concessions

People torn between craving for peace as conditions worsen and desire to hold strong against Russian military and diplomatic tacticsThe ammunition boxes stacked on the stage opened up to reveal figurines of angels and an infant Jesus lying in his manger. Six actors sang plaintive carols, accompanied by readings of the brooding poetry of Kharkiv writer Serhiy Zhadan. The audience sat, transfixed by the almost unbearable intensity of the spectacle.The nativity play, performed on a recent evening at Kharkiv’s puppet theatre, was a reminder that conflict has seeped into the fabric of almost everything in Ukrainian life over the past four years. “We can’t just put on comedies and escape from reality,” said Oksana Dmitrieva, the nativity play’s 48-year-old director. “The stage is a mirror, and we have to live through our emotions again, but this time from outside ourselves, together with others,” she said. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US is the best place for drug companies to invest, says boss of London

Emma Walmsley’s praise for US pharmaceutical market piles pressure on UK governmentBusiness live – live updatesThe chief executive of GSK has declared that the US is the best place for pharmaceutical companies to invest.Emma Walmsley said the US led the world in launches of drugs and vaccines and, alongside China, was the best market for business development. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago US is the best place for drugs companies to invest, says boss of London

Emma Walmsley’s praise for US pharmaceutical market piles pressure on UK governmentBusiness live – live updatesThe chief executive of GSK declared yesterday that the USis the best place for pharmaceutical companies to invest.Emma Walmsley said the US led the world in launches of drugs and vaccines and, alongside China, was the best market for business development. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago It’s still not OK boomer: younger Americans are flailing – and mad as hell | J Oliver Conroy

For young Americans, not being able to buy a house is more than a sob story. It’s the symbol of a broken social contract and a generational betrayalAlmost every couple that I know in their 20s, 30s or even 40s has had the same argument with their parents before getting married.The parents say to open a wedding registry. The couple responds that they do not want one. They don’t expect gifts from wedding guests (their “presence is enough”), and they have been cohabiting for years and already have plates, bedsheets and a blender. In fact, since they live in a small rented apartment, they barely have room for the plates that they do have – let alone a set of china. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘No mistrust’ between Europe and US over Ukraine, Macron says

French president’s remarks come a day after a report claimed he had warned Washington could betray KyivEmmanuel Macron has said there is “no mistrust” between Europe and the US, a day after a report claimed the French president had warned privately there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine.“Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it again and again, we need to work together,” Macron told reporters during a visit to China. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How three Uyghur brothers fled China – to spend 12 years in an Indian prison

Arrested in 2013 on India’s Himalayan border after fleeing Beijing’s ‘genocide’ against Muslims in Xinjiang, the siblings have been imprisoned indefinitely ever since thenOn the evening of 12 June 2013, according to court documents, three “Chinese intruders” were arrested by the Indian army in Sultan Chusku, a remote and uninhabited desert area in the mountainous northern region of Ladakh.The three Thursun brothers – Adil, 23, Abdul Khaliq, 22 and Salamu, 20 – had found themselves in an area of unmarked and disputed borders after a 13-day journey by bus and foot over the rugged Himalayan terrain through China’s Xinjiang province, which borders Ladakh. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago ‘The Chinese will not pause’: Volvo and Polestar bosses urge EU to stick to 2035 petrol car ban

Exclusive: Swedish carmakers push to retain target as Germany lobbies to help its own industry by softening cutoff dateAs the battle lines harden amid Germany’s intensifying pressure on the European Commission to scrap the 2035 ban on production of new petrol and diesel cars, two Swedish car companies, Volvo and Polestar, are leading the campaign to persuade Brussels to stick to the date.They argue such a move is a desperate attempt to paper over the cracks in the German car industry, adding that it will not just prolong take up of electric vehicles but inadvertently hand the advantage to China. Continue reading...

Politics