Day: December 26, 2025

China bolsters e-cigarette regulations to smoke out non-compliance

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China has unveiled plans to tighten controls over e-cigarette production and investment to address concerns over fierce intra-industry competition and excess capacity, the latest step in the country’s broader effort to enhance its regulatory power over tobacco, a sector which enjoys a functional monopoly. The draft policy, released by the national tobacco regulator on Thursday, follows a State Council opinion issued earlier this month which placed e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches under stiffer oversight. As the e-cigarette industry grapples with challenges – including the slow exit of outdated capacity, structural imbalances…

Japan’s cabinet approves record defence budget amid escalating China tensions

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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. The budget plan focuses on fortifying strike-back capability and coastal…

Chinese surgeons become first to graft patient’s ear onto her foot after accident

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Chinese surgeons have performed the world’s first operation to graft a patient’s torn-off ear onto her foot before putting it back in place. The woman’s ear was torn off in a workplace accident in April that also ripped away a large part of her scalp, medical news platform Med-J reported on Monday. Qiu Shenqiang, deputy director of the microsurgery unit at Shandong Provincial Hospital in Jinan, said the woman’s injuries had been caused by heavy machinery and left her with life-threatening injuries. Advertisement The scalp, neck and facial skin had…