Thailand and Cambodia fought in their most deadly border clashes in more than a decade on Thursday, with Thai officials reporting 13 civilians and a Thai soldier were killed in rocket and artillery attacks. Clashes broke out on Thursday morning after weeks of simmering tensions over a long-running border dispute between the south-east-Asian neighbours. Both countries accused each other of opening fire first. At least 13 Thai civilians and one soldier were killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces, according to Thai authorities, while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians…
Tag: World news
Chinese hackers targeted Microsoft SharePoint servers, tech firm says
Microsoft says Chinese “threat actors”, including state-sponsored hackers, have exploited security vulnerabilities in its SharePoint document-sharing software servers and are targeting the data of businesses that use it. The US technology company said it had observed three groups – the Chinese state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, and Storm-2603, which is believed to be China-based – using “newly disclosed security vulnerabilities” to target internet-facing servers hosting the platform. The announcement came amid reports in the Financial Times that Amazon was shutting down its artificial intelligence lab in Shanghai, while the…
Chinese officials warn women comedians that men are no laughing matter
Chinese provincial officials have warned comedians against stirring up discord between the genders, instructing them to criticise constructively rather than “for the sake of being funny”. The warning came from authorities in eastern Zhejiang province on WeChat over the weekend after a comedian referred to her allegedly abusive marriage in a performance that went viral on Chinese social media. Women’s rights are sensitive territory in China – over the last decade, authorities have cracked down on almost every form of independent feminist activism. Zhejiang’s publicity department chastised some comedy shows…
China blocks US federal employee from leaving
The Chinese government has blocked a US federal employee from leaving China, the US state department has confirmed. The federal employee works for the US Patent and Trademark Office, and was visiting China in a personal capacity, according to the state department. “We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said. Chinese authorities confirmed that another American, Wells Fargo banker, Chenyue Mao, had also been blocked from leaving. Both individuals have been subjected to an…
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”. The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory. Li Qiang made the comments on Saturday, at a ceremony in the region to mark the start of the build, leading Chinese markets to rise on the expectation of the long-planned megaproject, first announced in 2020 as part of China’s 14th five-year plan. The dam has drawn criticism from India and Bangladesh, through which the river…
EU commissioner shocked by dangers of some goods sold by Shein and Temu
The EU justice commissioner has expressed shock at the toxicity and dangers of some goods being sold by Shein and Temu, amid a crackdown on the popular Chinese retail platforms. With 12m low-value parcels each day coming into the EU from online retailers outside the bloc, Michael McGrath has vowed to crack down on the sale of goods that blatantly break the law. He is waiting for the imminent results of an EU-wide secret shopper operation to further test evidence already gathered that Chinese retailers are bypassing EU laws. Among…
Risk of undersea cable attacks backed by Russia and China likely to rise, report warns
The risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report. Submarine cables account for 99% of the world’s intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months. Analysis by Recorded Future, a US cybersecurity company, singled out nine incidents in the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Taiwan in 2024 and 2025 as a harbinger for…
‘Preparation is our only option’: sirens wail as Taiwan simulates China attack in city streets
Usually people in Taipei walk quite slowly. Notoriously so. But at 1.27pm on Thursday some were almost sprinting through the busy shopping district of Ximen. They knew they had three minutes to get where they needed to be without being stuck in the nearest underground bunker for the half an hour. At 1.30pm exactly, deafening sirens wailed across the city, and a text hit every mobile phone warning that “the enemy has launched a missile attack toward northern Taiwan”. Cars and buses pulled over in Ximen, and everyone was ushered…
Restaurant in China criticised for putting baby lion cuddles on menu
A restaurant in northern China has been criticised by animal welfare groups for offering an unusual item on the menu: lion cub cuddles. According to a screenshot of a menu circulating on social media, Wanhui – a restaurant in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province – has a four-course set afternoon menu costing 1,192 yuan ($166/£124) that includes playtime with the in-house animals. The restaurant’s profile on Dazhong Dianping, a popular restaurant listings app, shows pictures of the lion cubs alongside other animals, such as deer and alligators. The menu…
Oxford University Press to stop publishing China-sponsored science journal
Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection. A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year. FSR is a journal that comes from China’s Academy of Forensic Science, an agency that sits under the Ministry of Justice. The academy describes FSR as “the only English quarterly journal…