Day: July 8, 2026

A zoo in Guangxi Zhang autonomous region has lost more than 100 animals in the flooding that is affecting southern China, with the zookeeper calling for help from the public on social media. According to an official notice on Wednesday, two zebras, 30 peacocks, two ostriches, nine deer and multiple parrots were among the animals lost when some of the cages at the Guigang Zoo were damaged. “To ensure public safety and that of those animals, we implore the public to provide tips to assist in finding them,” the zoo…

China made its largest daily purchase of soybeans from the United States since November on Wednesday, the latest sign of improving trade ties as Beijing moves towards fulfilling commitments announced after US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The US Department of Agriculture said private exporters reported sales of 472,000 tonnes of soybeans for delivery to China, the greatest daily export sale to the country since November. “China has a long way to go to reach their commitments, but this is a positive signal that they have…

Washington criticised China on Wednesday for providing only a few hours’ notice ahead of its launch of a submarine-fired ballistic missile into the Pacific, saying Beijing’s actions fell short of standards followed by other major nuclear powers. The US State Department said China failed to provide sufficient information ahead of Sunday’s test, which it said took place amid Beijing’s “rapid and opaque nuclear weapons build-up”. “We monitored China’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test on July 6, which landed in the southern Pacific Ocean,” a State Department spokesperson told the South China…

The US share of Brazilian exports fell to its lowest level since 1997 in the first half of 2026, while China widened its lead as the country’s top trading partner, according to the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil, whose report landed as Washington held public hearings on a proposed new round of tariffs against Brazilian goods. American buyers took 9.4 per cent of Brazilian exports between January and June, down from 12.1 per cent a year earlier and the smallest share in the chamber’s records. China’s share rose to…

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Dannie Peng looks at what is at stake amid the countries’ historic low in scientific collaboration. In late May, Zhang Ning, founder of TopEdit, a Maryland-based company that provides editing services for academic publications, learned of a troubling development. The US Congress was discussing a proposal…

China’s labour practices came under scrutiny on Wednesday during a US government hearing on a proposal to impose tariffs on goods linked to forced labour, with participants divided over whether higher tariffs would effectively improve workers’ rights. The Office of the United States Trade Representative is holding a three-day public hearing from July 7 to 9 as part of its Section 301 investigation into the use of forced labour in international supply chains. The investigation and the hearings are key steps to lead to tariffs ranging from 10 to 12.5…

The US-Israeli military campaign against Iran was more than another Middle Eastern conflict. It became a defining stress test for the expanded Brics (Brics+), the grouping that is frequently portrayed as the flagship political platform of the Global South and a cornerstone of an emerging multipolar order. The war showed that the grouping – which has grown beyond its founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is neither a military alliance nor an ideological bloc. Rather, it is a flexible coalition of states whose shared dissatisfaction with…

US President Donald Trump has promised new arms sales in Europe, including advanced air defence systems to Nato allies and Ukraine, as the transatlantic alliance ramps up its military partnership, signalling a potential thaw after Trump repeatedly railed against the coalition. In a press conference on the last day of the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Trump said that as European nations rebuild their militaries, American equipment will be the “largest beneficiary”, claiming US$3 billion of new defence investment between European and US defence contractors. This included a…

US artificial intelligence company Anthropic said users in China being advised to uninstall its flagship Claude Code product were not supposed to be using it in the first place, responding after Beijing warned of security “backdoor” risks. The company’s statement comes after a cybersecurity platform managed by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Wednesday that Anthropic’s agentic coding tool poses “a serious threat” to Chinese users, in the latest escalation of the US-China AI race. According to a post on the WeChat account of China’s National…