Day: July 17, 2026

The historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote one of the most powerful openings of any book. “In the state of nature which Hobbes imagined, violence was the only law, and life was ‘nasty brutish and short’,” he wrote in The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. “Though individuals never lived in this state of nature, the Great Powers of Europe have always done so. Sovereign states have distinguished European civilisation, at any rate since the end of the fifteenth century. Each individual state in Europe acknowledged no superior and recognised no moral…

Leading Chinese scientist Sun Fanglin, whose work on how cells age and form tumours helped pave the way for the development of new cancer treatments, has died aged 58. Sun was director of the Advanced Institute of Translational Medicine at Tongji University in Shanghai and former dean of its School of Life Sciences and Technology. He had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness and died on July 10, the institute said in an obituary posted on its website. The noted biologist specialised in studying how the ageing process is…

Asian-American groups on Friday slammed US President Donald Trump’s speech delivered this week as a dangerous threat to citizens of US minority communities already facing attacks and hostility during troubled and deeply partisan times, even as China hawks praised its message and tone. Much of the voter registration data in the previously classified reports that the president cited is disputed and is not new, analysts said. The speech – coming four months before a high-stakes midterm election amid an unpopular war and record-low polling numbers – raised concern that he…

China successfully tested an intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile on July 6, firing it from a nuclear-powered submarine and joining an elite club that includes the United States, Russia, Britain and France. These five nations are also the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Analysts believe the missile was fired from China’s Type 094 Jin-class nuclear-powered submarine armed with ballistic missiles (SSBN). Submarines in this category which have proven second-strike capability are considered the peak of nuclear deterrence. Major nuclear powers that possess the strategic resolve will inevitably seek to…

Newly declassified US intelligence records show Chinese actors collected or acquired voter information covering millions of Americans and that Beijing developed capabilities that could be used to influence political opinion, but the documents do not substantiate US President Donald Trump’s claims that China stole the records of 220 million voters or manipulated the 2020 election. In a nationally televised address on Thursday, Trump accused China of carrying out a sweeping campaign to interfere in the election he lost to Joe Biden, alleging that Beijing illicitly obtained about 220 million American…