Day: December 29, 2025

Washington is securing bilateral health deals with countries across Africa to ensure direct access to critical pathogen data and specimens following the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Analysts say the US’ strategic retreat from multilateral organisations has created a vacuum that China is likely to exploit to deepen its influence within global health bodies and position itself as the main partner for the developing world. Under the “America First Global Health Strategy”, more than a dozen African countries – including Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda…

A customs scheme covering the entirety of Hainan, China’s southern island province, appears to have triggered a surge in consumption since its inception last week, with the province’s tourism hub Sanya recording more than 500 million yuan (US$71.25 million) in duty-free sales over five days. Analysts cautioned, however, that the greater significance of the policy lies less in short-term spending boosts than in whether Hainan can diversify its economy beyond its previous reliance on real estate and establish higher-value growth drivers to rival established consumption hubs Singapore and Hong Kong.…

“Biotechnology is a high-risk field like a ‘molecular casino’,” said founder Alex Zhavoronkov. “Even with artificial intelligence, you can lose 90 per cent of the time.” The 11-year-old company was training and testing an AI-powered drug-discovery tool, Pharma.AI, to “enable faster, cheaper and more successful drug discovery with higher novelty and confidence”, he said. Zhavoronkov likened it to an “Einstein” capable of mastering fields from mathematics and physics to chemistry, biology and writing, pushing drug discovery to “new frontiers”. Advertisement He expected Insilico to begin opening some of its AI…

The open source approach championed by some Chinese tech companies is preventing monopoly platforms from taking hold in artificial intelligence (AI). The massive investment in AI is justified in the case of repeat monopoly winners from previous waves of tech development, such as Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Google and Meta. However, as China views proprietary systems and platforms as potential chokepoints, it is leveraging its market to develop open source substitutes. Users in the wider world are likely to prefer open source platforms that they can control. Open source platforms will…

The PLA Eastern Theatre Command said troops would conduct exercises simulating attacks on maritime targets and carry out anti-air and anti-submarine operations to the north and south of the island. PLA kicks off military exercises around Taiwan PLA kicks off military exercises around Taiwan The command on Monday said the drills – dubbed Justice Mission 2025 – were a warning to the “independence forces” and against external interference. Advertisement They come amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait after Washington approved a record US$11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Beijing…

US President Donald Trump on Monday described Beijing’s large-scale military exercises around Taiwan as routine activities that have occurred “for 20-25 years”, expressing no concern over the escalation and instead citing his personal rapport with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it,” Trump said in remarks to reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. When pressed on whether the manoeuvres were a sign of impending conflict, Trump…