Even for the rollercoaster world of AI, last week was particularly volatile as investors scrambled to keep up with developments that threatened the dominance of the largest western chipmakers. It began with a double whammy. On Monday, the Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT floated on the Shanghai stock market, soaring by 466% in value to 3.3tn yuan (£365bn). That same day, it was reported that China had developed its own tools to carry out deep-ultraviolet lithography, a technique essential to the computer chip supply chain over which the Dutch company ASML…
Tag: UK news
Chinese super-embassy in London to go ahead after high court challenge dismissed
Construction of a controversial new Chinese embassy was given the green light on Friday after the high court dismissed a challenge from neighbours. The Royal Mint Court residents’ association (RMCRA), which brought the case against the government, immediately announced plans to appeal against the decision, in a move that could cause further delays to the project. The debate over planning permission for the new embassy has been a sore point of British-Chinese relations in recent years. The RMCRA represents people and businesses who live and operate from properties in Royal…
The future of AI hinges on openness and cooperation. China and Britain can gain much by working together | Zheng Zeguang
Artificial intelligence is widely regarded as one of the defining technologies of our time. Like the steam engine, the harnessing of electricity and the internet before it, it has the potential to transform how we work, live and interact. But every technological revolution brings challenges as well as opportunities. As AI systems become more capable, people are asking legitimate questions. How can AI remain safe, accountable and under human control? How should its development be governed? How can its benefits be shared more widely? These questions were at the heart…
The Guardian view on noise pollution: keep it down | Editorial
The roar of late-night traffic is not just annoying for those trying to sleep. It can also have profound effects on their health. A pioneering new study, published this month, has found a clear link between road noise and Parkinson’s disease. The research, which followed more than 3 million Danish participants, found a modest but consistent effect: for every 11.5dB rise in noise level, the risk of the degenerative disorder rose by 3% over the 18-year study. The study adds to the growing body of evidence that auditory nuisance is…
Britain promised to protect Hongkongers from China. Why does it now seem ready to sacrifice them? | Nathan Law
As authoritarian countries such as Russia, China and Iran are more active in engaging in long-arm strategies to silence their critics in the UK, transnational repression is garnering more attention. It is right that the Metropolitan police and other British law enforcement agencies have specific units and mechanisms to counter it. But it takes more than just confronting this long-distance repression to make political dissidents of these authoritarian countries feel safe in the UK, and the UK government is not living up to expectations. The threat is real. Members of…
From the strait of Hormuz to the North Sea, a global maritime war rages around us – and more than the price of oil is at stake | Simon Tisdall
The US military campaign to protect merchant shipping from Iranian attacks by asserting direct maritime control in the strait of Hormuz is not an idea unique to Donald Trump’s administration. Almost exactly 200 years ago, in the period 1825-27, a powerful US naval squadron led by Commodore John Rodgers was sent to the Mediterranean to defend American ships from the depredations of Greek corsairs and pirates. For all the new-minted republic’s brave talk of liberty, the US squadron did not assist Greece’s ongoing “regime change” struggle for independence from the…
AliExpress fined record €550m by EU for failing to stop sale of illegal and fake goods
The Chinese online retail platform AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£470m) by the EU over its failure to stop illegal goods including harmful clothing, cosmetics and kitchen gadgets being sold through its site. The European Commission fine is the biggest imposed by the bloc under the Digital Services Act (DSA), legislation that came into force in 2024 to protect consumers from illegal goods, deceptive or addictive marketing techniques. Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys,…
China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with nationalisation of British Steel
China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced. The Department for Business and Trade said the move was essential to maintain steel production at the company’s site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, to protect the company’s future and UK supply chains.…
Britain and other countries with lower emissions must not pass the climate buck | Letters
Thank you for Ajit Niranjan’s article (‘But we’re just 1% of emissions’: do smaller countries’ climate efforts matter?, 30 June). This helpfully examines arguments frequently used to undermine the UK’s and other nations’ plans for emission reduction. In my opinion this article misses an important counter-argument: carbon emissions per capita. This shows that, for example, the UK emits 4.5 tonnes of carbon per person per year, China 8.7 tonnes, United States 14.2 tonnes, India 2.2 tonnes and Vietnam 3.7 tonnes. Many smaller European nations have similar or greater emissions per…
Weather tracker: Heatwave breaks June temperature records across Europe
Last week’s heatwave across western Europe shattered national June records and set new all-time highs. The UK recorded a provisional high of 37.7C at Lingwood in Norfolk on Friday 27 June, smashing the previous June record of 35.6C, set in 1976. Such a margin is exceptionally rare: temperature records are typically broken by 0.1C or 0.2C, not a remarkable 2.1C. A boy cools off in a Berlin fountain. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Germany reached 41.7C in Coschen on 28 of June, breaking its all-time record for a third consecutive day. The…