Day: May 6, 2026

Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s grand entry to Beijing on May 14, his cavalcade is already on the move in the Chinese capital. Two black SUVs with tinted windows and US government plates were spotted on a Beijing highway, according to images that circulated on Wednesday, signalling the start of an intense security build-up for the year’s most significant diplomatic event – the China-US summit. The centrepiece of the presidential motorcade is a custom-built vehicle that is widely regarded as a moving fortress. Photo: AP Chinese social media is…

A new study from the University of Chile suggests that common artificial sweeteners may trigger biological changes that are passed down to future generations. The research focused on sucralose and stevia, two of the world’s most widely used non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS). The additives could alter gut microbiota, gene expression and metabolism in mice, with some effects persisting in their first- and second-generation offspring, even in offspring who were never directly exposed to the sweeteners, according to the team behind the study. Advertisement Francisca Concha, the lead researcher and an assistant…

A trial of a US citizen of Chinese descent accused of creating a covert police station in Manhattan opened on Wednesday, considering evidence of what the US government says is part of Beijing’s bid to expand its influence well beyond Chinese shores. Lu Jianwang, 64, faces three charges in the US Eastern District Court of New York: acting as an unauthorised agent of China; conspiracy to act as a foreign agent; and obstruction of justice. He is accused of using the fourth floor of a building in Manhattan’s Chinatown to…

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the first part of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we look at the Arctic as an arena for competition. The Arctic is heating up, both physically and in terms of geopolitics. As Arctic warming accelerates and sea ice declines to record or near-record lows, the region is becoming more accessible…

“In an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone,” declared Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month, signalling a major shift in Tokyo’s defence posture. “Under the new system, we will strategically promote equipment transfers while making even more rigorous and cautious judgments on whether transfers are permissible,” she added, confirming long-running speculation that Tokyo would relax decades-old restrictions on exports of high-end military equipment. Thanks to its post-war pacifist constitution, Japan previously limited military equipment exports to non-lethal categories, namely…

The scheduled summit next week between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will almost certainly include proclamations about cooperation, friendship and respect between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies, but beneath the surface, major trade conflict is building, said trade experts on Wednesday. In the past, a weaker China was forced to grit its teeth and grudgingly accept US tariffs, export restrictions and other restrictions, but Beijing has quietly and methodically amassed increasingly effective tools it believes will counter what it sees as Washington’s heavy-handed…

US forces struck an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, even as Washington and Tehran appeared to move closer to a tentative agreement to end their two-month war, with US President Donald Trump warning that renewed bombing could begin if Iran rejects the proposed deal. The strike highlighted the fragility of a ceasefire that has largely held since April 8, as both sides combined military pressure with diplomatic efforts to reopen critical energy shipping routes through the Gulf. Advertisement Trump said Iranian officials were eager to…