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China’s missile test reveals fragile state of world nuclear governance

On July 6, a Chinese strategic nuclear submarine fired a missile carrying a training dummy warhead into a designated area of the Pacific. Beijing described the launch as routine, said relevant countries had been notified and insisted that it targeted no state. The regional reaction was immediate, with Australia, Japan, the United States and Pacific nations raising concerns around insufficient notification and the politics of nuclear-free zones. Those reactions matter because they show how far...

July 14, 2026

Business

Chinese wife sparks outrage after beating mother-in-law for dating instead of babysitting

Elderly woman, who suffered fractured ribs, explains that one of the grandkids was being naughty and she had wanted to visit her boyfriend. A woman in eastern China fractured four of her mother-in-law’s ribs after accusing the older woman of neglecting her grandchildren to pursue a romantic relationship. The family feud in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, was recently reported by Zhejiang Television and has fuelled a heated online debate over childcare and filial obligations. After Jiao and his elder brother lost their father, the two remained in their hometown, while their mother, surnamed Shen, moved to Jiaxing with their elder sister. Jiao and his wife, who have two children and work in different cities, later placed the youngsters in Shen’s care. The ages of the two children are not disclosed in the report. The dispute erupted after their son told his mother through the family’s home surveillance system that he felt unwell but his grandmother had refused to take his temperature. Alarmed, the mother took a high-speed train and arrived in Shen’s home in about an hour.

July 14, 2026

Business

US strikes Iran again as UAE tankers come under attack in Hormuz

Iran’s Guards target US facilities in the region and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates travelling through the strait US Central Command said it began strikes at Trump’s direction just after the US president told the “Hugh Hewitt Show” that Iran would be hit “very hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there’s not a damn thing they can do about it”. He later told reporters at the White House that the US was attacking Iranian capabilities in the strait. The UAE Ministry of Defence later said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, while transiting the southern lane of the strait ‌in Omani territorial waters, wounding one crew member and injuring eight others. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker had been hit by an unknown projectile while travelling 40 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s Qalhat and that all crew were safe. Reuters could not immediately verify whether the UKMTO report referred to the same incident as the one reported by the UAE Ministry of Defence. Iran has not commented on the latest attacks.

July 14, 2026

Business

Chinese medical device makers push into Europe as anti-corruption squeeze bites at home

Chinese medical device companies eye Europe for relief from hospital probes at home while navigating protectionism overseas Government-backed hospital purchases of medical devices in China fell about 12 per cent year on year in the first five months of 2026, partly weighed down by “a new anti-corruption probe into hospitals”, dragging on the revenue of major Chinese medical device makers in the first half, said Linda Shu, head of China healthcare research at HSBC, in a report on July 10. Among the latest Chinese companies joining the European push was heart medical device maker Jenscare Scientific, headquartered in Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang province, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on July 8. Its LuX-Valve Plus, the second device of its kind worldwide to win approval, has received CE certification under the European Union’s updated Medical Device Regulation, clearing it for sale across the region. The device replaces a damaged tricuspid valve, one of four valves in the human heart, through a vein rather than open-chest surgery. The firm called the approval a “milestone” in its international strategy.

July 14, 2026

Business

AI homework tools cut exam scores by 20%, study of 26,000 Chinese students finds

Researchers in Sweden and Hong Kong say students may experience a deceptive sense of fluency – AI makes tasks feel effortless Generative AI is rapidly transforming classrooms as much as workplaces, with students increasingly turning to chatbots to draft essays and solve problem sets. But is the technology a personalised tutor or a slow-acting cognitive poison? Research by scholars from Stockholm University and the University of Hong Kong, who tracked the academic performance of more than 26,000 middle school and high school students across a county in central China over 30 months, offers a quantified answer. From September 2022 to June 2025, the team tracked homework grades, completion times, monthly test scores and entrance-exam results. By comparing AI users with non-users, they found a clear gap: AI boosted short-term efficiency but harmed long-term learning. Qwen is developed by the cloud computing arm of Alibaba, which also owns the South China Morning Post. AI use boosted homework scores by 18 per cent and cut homework time from 64 to 45 minutes – a clear productivity leap.

July 14, 2026

Business

China’s premier chairs symposium on economic situation

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, convenes a symposium featuring experts and entrepreneurs to seek their opinions on the current economic situation and economic work in the next stage, Beijing, capital of China, July 13, 2026. /Xinhua Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday convened a symposium featuring experts and entrepreneurs to seek their opinions on the current economic situation and economic work in the next stage. Participants said China's economy had remained generally stable in the first half of 2026, with new growth drivers expanding at a faster pace and the momentum for high-quality development continuing to build despite external uncertainties. After hearing their remarks, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China's economy is transitioning across the board toward high-quality development, with increasingly solid foundations for its long-term sound development.

July 14, 2026

Business

Is Japan a ‘spy paradise’ fuelling Russia’s war machine?

A New York Times article claims Maksim Vladimirovich Filchenkov, a top Russian official, is leading the covert operation in Japan The New York Times reported on Sunday that Moscow’s agents were taking advantage of Tokyo’s failure to enact a law specifically designed to combat espionage and the large number of companies manufacturing components critical to the Kremlin’s war machine. The coveted parts include microchips, transmitters and the cutting-edge machinery required to make advanced weapons systems. The report identified Maksim Vladimirovich Filchenkov, ostensibly an employee of Russian airline Aeroflot, as leading the operation in Japan. James Brown, a professor of international relations specialising in Russian affairs at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, told This Week in Asia that what stood out in the report was how the alleged spy was unmasked, suggesting it could have been a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency. “There have been no direct flights to Russia for the last four years, so what was he doing here?” said Brown, author of the 2025 book Cracking the Crab: Russian espionage against Japan, from Peter the Great to Richard Sorge.

July 14, 2026

Business

Dollar risks rising but Plaza Accord-style coordination not feasible now: ex-IMF adviser

Economic historian Barry Eichengreen says if current policy paths persist, modern rifts could bring about a confidence crisis in the US currency With central banks prioritising domestic objectives, Plaza Accord-style exchange-rate coordination is now out of reach despite growing concerns over the dollar-centred monetary system, complicating the smooth transition to a more multipolar international monetary system, according to a prominent economic historian. Barry Eichengreen, a former senior policy adviser at the International Monetary Fund, said that if erratic US policies and weakening institutional guard rails were to persist for another decade, the probability of an abrupt crisis of confidence in the US dollar would exceed 50 per cent. Eichengreen, now a professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley, said he favoured a more multipolar international monetary system that “better matches the multipolar nature” of the current global economy. Still, he argued that such a transition would be far more difficult to coordinate than in the past. Eichengreen’s 1996 book, Globalizing Capital, is widely considered the definitive history of the international monetary system.

July 14, 2026

Business

Russian missiles strike Kyiv, triggering fires across the Ukrainian capital

The city’s mayor early on Tuesday said air defence systems were in operation, adding: ‘The enemy is attacking Kyiv with ballistic missiles’ Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with missiles ‌early on Tuesday, triggering fires in widely separated districts of the city, senior officials said. The air alert in the city was lifted after about 50 minutes. No casualties ⁠were reported. Tymur Tkachenko, head ⁠of the capital’s military administration, said ‌two storage areas were hit and set ‌on fire in the Holosiivskyi ⁠district ⁠just outside the city centre. Fires broke out in the Holosiivsky district, in the south of Kyiv, he said. Klitschko said drone debris had ‌hit the ‌ground in an open ‌area in an eastern ⁠suburb and cars had been ⁠set ablaze. Air-raid sirens began to sound in the capital before half a dozen explosions were heard.

July 13, 2026

Business

China’s Ethnic Unity Law extends legal reach to Taiwan, diaspora

Support us Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te in Taipei on February 3, 2026. Photo: Taiwan Presidential Office Taiwan’s government and overseas ethnic groups have raised concerns after China implemented the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress this month, warning it forces Taiwanese people to accept Beijing’s political framework and threatens minority communities well beyond China’s borders. Passed by the National People’s Congress on March 12, the law took effect on July 1. It includes several sweeping provisions: On July 2, Cho Jung-tai, premier of Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, warned that Beijing has built an expanding network of laws with extraterritorial reach, including the Anti-Secession Law, the Counter-Espionage Law, and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, aimed at forcing Taiwanese people to accept Beijing’s political framework. Cho said the Ethnic Unity Law extends that network farther. He announced the Executive Yuan would set up a cross-agency platform to counter transnational repression while expanding cooperation with allied democracies. “When law becomes a tool of authoritarian rule, democracy must become the front line of freedom,” he said.

July 13, 2026

Business

UK bans support for Iran’s IRGC and a linked group over antisemitic attacks in Britain

The ban, announced by the PM, follows attacks on Jewish-linked sites in London, including the torching of 4 Jewish community ambulances Britain banned support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a linked group on Monday following a series of antisemitic attacks, using new powers designed to stop the use of state-sponsored proxies. The government and intelligence agencies have become increasingly ‌concerned about foreign powers paying organised crime groups or low-level criminals for surveillance, sabotage or other activities on their behalf. The ban follows attacks on Jewish-linked sites in London, including the torching of four Jewish community ambulances. “These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain,” Prime Minister ⁠Keir Starmer said in a statement. Britain said it had identified activity linked to the IRGC involving ‌threats to life and intimidation on British soil, and that the group used proxy actors to advance Iranian state objectives overseas.

July 13, 2026

Business

UK’s Burnham set to be PM after securing more Labour MPs’ support

With 349 nominations, it would be impossible for any other candidate to get the 81 endorsements needed to challenge the ex-Manchester mayor Andy Burnham took another significant step on Monday towards becoming Britain’s next prime minister, netting additional Labour MPs’ nominations to give him an unassailable lead in the ruling party’s leadership contest. The veteran politician, who has served as Greater Manchester mayor for nearly a decade, is the only Labour member of parliament to publicly declare themselves a candidate to replace outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer announced he was quitting last month, bowing to months of internal pressure to resign after a series of scandals, missteps and policy U-turns. Burnham, 56, is now all but certain to become Labour’s next leader later this week and the country’s new prime minister next week, after the party confirmed the latest votes in what has become a coronation. After receiving the votes of 322 of 403 Labour MPs on the first day of nominations on Thursday, he had gained an extra 27 nominations by Monday afternoon, according to Labour’s public tally.

July 13, 2026