Day: August 22, 2026

Chinese scientists have created an AI-guided platform to engineer custom plant immune receptors to rapidly combat emerging diseases that threaten plants, including commercial crops vulnerable to devastating outbreaks. Their programmable synthetic immune receptors can be introduced into plants to help them detect proteins made by specific bacteria, viruses and fungi, triggering an immune response to neutralise the threat, according to the team. By leveraging protein design guided by artificial intelligence (AI), custom receptors could be engineered within weeks rather than years, fast-tracking the breeding of disease-resistant crops and enabling a…

India’s maritime rescue agency lost communication on Saturday with a Panama-flagged cargo vessel that sank off the coast of eastern ‌India, the Indian coastguard said. The vessel had 24 crew on board, including 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to Commandant Amit Uniyal, a spokesman for the coastguard. The coastguard sent two vessels for the search-and-rescue mission ‌from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known as Port Blair, Uniyal said. The coastguard has ‌rescued two people from life rafts. The search-and-rescue ⁠mission ⁠is under way for the seafarers…

On paper, Western countries are rushing to sign defence pacts in the South Pacific, ensuring their influence in a region long neglected as a geopolitical backwater. But on the water, the island nations are playing a very different game. Instead of taking sides, local leaders are leveraging the geopolitical tug of war between China and the West, winning security guarantees from the latter while Beijing builds infrastructure and deepens its economic footprint. In June, Vanuatu – an archipelago nation around 1,750 km (1,090 miles) east of Australia – signed a…

China may have “little to lose” from talks between the United States and North Korea which, analysts say, may lead to Washington watering down its security commitments. Citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump said Pyongyang had been “unthreatening and respectful”, adding that Seoul had said “No thanks!” when asked to join the US in the “denuclearisation” of Iran. Following Trump’s order, the South Korean defence ministry announced that the joint exercise would end on Friday, six days earlier than initially planned, while also cancelling…

A fleet of Chinese J-16 fighters has arrived in Egypt ahead of a joint exercise that will be the aircraft’s first-ever deployment to Africa. The planes and aviators taking part in the Eagles of Civilisation 2026 exercise arrived at an Egyptian airbase on Friday morning after a 6,000km (3,700-mile) journey that took nine hours and required the planes to refuel in mid-air, according to the People’s Liberation Army. It added that the service personnel involved in the exercise had started preparations for the joint exercise. The PLA has previously said…

While the US and some European governments view China’s vast production of electric vehicles and green-energy tech as overcapacity, African companies see it as an opportunity to secure EV technology and develop the industry. China is the global leader of the EV industry – it makes nearly 75 per cent of the world’s electric vehicles and dominates the supply chain. Its high production has driven down the cost of EVs, batteries and components, which has improved access to technologies that were once beyond the reach of many African markets. Chinese…

A mainland Chinese research ship has sailed close to a key Taiwanese naval base, marking its second appearance near the island in recent months. The Tong Ji, a 2,000-tonne scientific research vessel operated by Tongji University in Shanghai, was spotted 28 nautical miles (52km) southwest of Liuchiu, an island also known as Lamay, on Friday morning, according to the Taiwanese authorities. The island sits off the southwest coast of Taiwan, close to the city of Kaohsiung and Zuoying, the island’s largest naval base and home to its naval academy. In…

For materials scientist and chemist Liu Jiawei, moving to Hong Kong supported her pivot into launching her own research group. After a decade immersed in Singapore’s research ecosystem, Liu sought a transition that would keep her closer to family in mainland China while maintaining an international, high-standard research environment. Now establishing her laboratory at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), two years after her move, Liu said Hong Kong’s academic landscape operated on an independent principal investigator model, where researchers enjoyed substantial autonomy in steering their own labs and research…