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1. US agency goes back to the future to take on China’s Belt and Road Initiative

   The US agency set up to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative is blending national security with development finance to try to secure a critical minerals supply chain, according to analysts and officials. Created in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first administration, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) puts its money into private-led projects rather than those...

2. Japan PM vows ‘breakthrough’ with North Korea in abduction issue

   Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday expressed her determination to achieve a “breakthrough” in resolving the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, vowing to weigh all options, including summit talks. At a rally in Tokyo calling for the return of Japanese abductees, Takaichi urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to take a “courageous step” together for the...

3. 5 villagers trapped in flooded Laos cave freed after 10-day ordeal

   Five villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos have been freed, ending a 10-day underground ordeal that relied on expert cave rescuers racing against time to guide the group through flooded passages before fresh rains further complicated the mission. Hugs, cheers and tears met four of the group who emerged thin and muddied on Saturday afternoon to be quickly wrapped in foil blankets to...

4. Scheme allowing Hong Kong drivers to enter Guangdong province extended to 2031

   The popular scheme allowing Hong Kong vehicles to travel north to Guangdong province has been extended by five years, mainland Chinese authorities have announced, as the initial three-year period is set to expire. Under the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme, eligible private car owners in Hong Kong can drive into Guangdong via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge without a mainland...

5. China launches AI framework to improve ‘black box’ transparency and raise standards

   China has pledged to improve the accuracy, reliability and transparency of AI through a new national evaluation framework, as policymakers move to establish common standards for assessing the fast-evolving technology. New guidelines released by the central government said Beijing would create a common yardstick for AI, allowing models, computing power and data quality to be measured and compared...

6. Chinese archaeologist who discovered 5,000-year-old city pleads guilty to corruption

   Liu Bin, a Chinese archaeologist credited with discovering a vast 5,000-year-old prehistoric city that rewrote the history of Chinese civilisation, has pleaded guilty to taking bribes and embezzlement. The celebrated academic, who discovered the Liangzhu ruins – a Unesco World Heritage site in eastern China’s Zhejiang province – and long oversaw its excavation and heritage nomination, accepted...

7. Dead humpback whale Timmy brought ashore on Danish island for postmortem

   The body of a dead humpback whale known as “Timmy” has been brought ashore on the Danish island of Anholt, where experts hope a postmortem examination will shed light on how it died. A live streaming by the News5 broadcaster showed a vehicle slowly dragging the bloated carcass out of the shallow water by a rope onto the beach on Saturday morning, leaving behind a deep furrow in the sand. The...

8. 17 nations launch pact to protect vital undersea cables amid US, China absence

   Seventeen countries have agreed to collaborate on defence strategies for critical marine infrastructure such as undersea cables, an effort that analysts warn may be undermined by the absence of superpower involvement. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, defence ministers and representatives from these countries attended the launch of the Guiding Principles for Underwater...

9. Writing’s on the wall for the bond market – for those who can read it

   There is a good deal more to the rapid rise in bond yields around the world, not least in Asia, than meets the eye. It suggests a recognition by financial markets that governments are spending beyond their means, tax revenues and borrowing power. The implication is that either taxes need to rise or public spending needs to fall, or alternatively that financial markets, stock markets in...

10. US senator warns of Indo-Pacific risks as Hegseth stresses ‘quiet’ tactics

    America’s latest defence strategy worryingly downgraded the importance of the Indo-Pacific, a US senator warned on Saturday, even as the Pentagon chief delivered a speech reassuring allies of commitment at a defence forum in Singapore. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a staunch critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran, told a media round table at the Shangri-La Dialogue that she was concerned the Trump...