Malaysia is looking to China’s rice-prawn farms as a model to extract more from its shrinking paddy land as a slide in rice self-sufficiency has left it increasingly reliant on imports from its Southeast Asian neighbours.
The experiment is also part of an attempt to confront other issues such as ageing farmers and more erratic weather, which have dented Malaysia’s rice output.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday that Malaysia needed to raise its rice...
Philippine fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp said on Tuesday it was planning to spin off and list its international operations on the Hong Kong stock exchange, abandoning earlier plans of a US listing.
Jollibee Foods said it was progressing in separating its international business, Jollibee Foods Corporation International, ahead of its planned spin-off and listing.
The fast food restaurant operator now plans for a Hong Kong listing citing its existing presence in the city and brand...
Award-winning Swedish chip expert Henry Homayoun Radamson has died in Shanghai at the age of 63.
Radamson, who moved to China in 2016, was working as the chief scientist at the Guangdong Greater Bay Area Institute of Integrated Circuit and System.
The institute said on Tuesday that he died from a “sudden illness” on August 12.
In 2023, Radamson was awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award, which recognises those who have made outstanding contributions to China’s development.
He was…
The Chinese-founded artificial intelligence start-up Manus announced on Tuesday that it had formally resumed independent operations, more than four months after Beijing blocked its US$2 billion acquisition by Meta Platforms.
The company’s founding team would continue to lead Manus as an “independent agent lab”, the firm said in a blog post on its website, as it sought to move on from a months-long saga that has sent ripples through the Chinese and global technology sectors.
The announcement…
China has made the first amendment in 16 years to its national defence mobilisation law to include a fresh focus on new technologies – a move experts said would cover AI and drones.
Analysts said the inclusion would make it possible to rapidly convert emerging infrastructure, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems, into defence capabilities.
The revised law, passed by the top legislature on Friday, says that “the state promotes the application of advanced technologies in...
A mahjong parlour owner in central China paid compensation of 19,000 yuan (US$2,800) following a failed first aid attempt on an elderly customer but received a refund after government intervention.
On August 17, a man in his 60s, surnamed Luo, visited the mahjong parlour in Hunan province and passed out while resting in a chair.
The shop’s owner, Xiao Aihua, sensed something was wrong with Luo and approached to administer first aid.
Believing that Luo had suffered from heatstroke, she dragged...
The near-zero interest rates that characterized the decade after the global financil crisis were a sign of economic dysfunction. Higher rates reflect a stronger demand for capital and robust economic growth.
Rollback of ‘roadless rule’ expected to benefit companies US Forest Service chief, Tom Schultz, previously lobbied forDonald Trump this month announced plans to rescind a landmark rule that has protected old-growth forests in the US for 25 years. If finalized, the rollback is expected to benefit the companies that Tom Schultz, chief of the US Forest Service, represented in his previous roles as a timber industry lobbyist and executive, according to research by consumer advocacy non-profit…
Zelenskyy says dozens more injured as strikes leave thousands without electricity in Odesa regionOver in Brussels, the European Commission is just starting its first midday briefing of the autumn.It opens with an announcement that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will receive Nato’s Mark Rutte tomorrow. This comes amid growing scrutiny of Russia’s activities on the eastern flank. Continue reading...
The EU's top economy used to rely on cheap Russian gas but large deliveries stopped after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, dealing a heavy blow to German industry.
PM will tell Commons he wants to unlock ‘positivity’ after a summer of policy announcements and improved poll ratingsYesterday, Kemi Badenoch announced a reshuffle, replacing Mel Stride with Andrew Griffith as shadow chancellor and Priti Patel with Tom Tugendhat as shadow foreign secretary.Last night, the Tories released a full list of shadow cabinet members. Alex Burghart was described as shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and shadow Northern Ireland secretary, the job he was doing…
Speaker Mike Johnson to launch a floor vote designed to prevent any federal shutdown before the November midtermsHouse Republicans are investigating several US labor unions based on claims from far-right nonprofits alleging union dues are being used for illegal political funding.Republicans on the House’s education and workforce committee opened the investigation this summer after multiple reports from the conservative thinktanks targeted unions and their spending, claiming that unions are…
Ever dreamed of owning your own slice of Venice? This €5.5 million private island comes with lagoon views, boat moorings and has easy access to neighbouring islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.
The company known for stick vacuums and hair dryers is coming for your teeth. The $499 Dyson CameraJet uses a tiny camera to aim streams of rinsing fluid into the gaps between your teeth.
Fertilizer is crucial for the global food supply, but making it uses a lot of energy and produces a lot of emissions. Some companies hope microbes can help. A growing body of research shows that seeding the soil around a crop’s roots with beneficial microbes can help feed the plant, providing crucial nitrogen to help…
From China Miéville to Brandon Sanderson via a tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, there are some really huge names with new sci-fi novels out this month - as well as a new Doctor Who tale, says Alison Flood
No matter where you’re from, there are things you can do to cope better with extreme temperatures. But it takes work to stop our bodies’ adaptations from slipping backwards over winter, and there are limits to how far we can go
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said water was the “lifeblood” of the region and must never be weaponised, as he addressed a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan.
Speaking at the SCO Council of Heads of States (CHS) meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, the premier said the region cannot “realise its full potential without lasting peace”.
Without naming India directly, he highlighted the issue of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and demanded that it be…
LAKKI MARWAT: Two terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district, police said.
Qudratullah Khan, the spokesperson for the district police officer in Lakki Marwat, said in a statement that the operation was jointly conducted by police and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel after receiving “credible information about the presence of Fitna-al-Khawarij terrorists in the mountainous area within the limits of the Lakki City…
Iran will immediately reciprocate if the United States returns to its commitments under an interim deal signed in June, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday.
He made his comments at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek after the first exchange of direct attacks in the US-Iran conflict since late July, with the US striking Larak Island and Iran then launching attacks on two US air bases in Jordan.
“I am stating clearly that if the US returns to its commitments under the…
RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain lashed Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Tuesday morning, inundating low-lying areas, raising the water level in Leh Nullah and prompting the district administration in the garrison city to announce a holiday for educational institutions.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said that the water level in Leh Nullah had risen to 29 feet at Kattarian and 23.5 feet at Gawalmandi.
Evacuation began along Kattarian and Gawalmandi as 200mm of rain was recorded in the catchment…
A terrifying flood tore through the Nepal-China Tibet border region last week, killing more than 1,000 people.
A glacier collapse unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems, burying buildings and triggering a frantic search for survivors.
Nearly 4,500 people remain missing, and Nepali rescue teams are digging, drilling and blasting through debris in a race against time in treacherous conditions to free scores of hydropower workers believed…
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the maintainability of an appeal filed by Awaam Pakistan against its delisting over allegedly failing to hold intra-party elections.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the appeal filed by party chief and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who appeared in person.
The electoral watchdog had delisted the party on August 7. It had taken up the…
A whistleblower says the U.S. Postal Service is rushing out an online system for President Trump's push to restrict mail voting that could "derail" the midterm election if courts allow it to proceed.
Utah District Judge Tony Graf Jr. will hear arguments over evidence introduced in July, to decide if there's enough probable cause for a trial in the shooting of the conservative activist last year.
The U.S. is playing host to finance ministers from around the world this week. Russia's top economic official made a stir on Monday when he showed up in person at the meeting in North Carolina.
NPR's Leila Fadel asks former Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer about U.S. efforts to cultivate global support to economically isolate and pressure Iran.
[IPS] NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 1 2026 (IPS) - Open a can of something fizzy and the reason the sugar doesn't separate immediately is gum arabic, tapped by hand from acacia trees across the Sahel. Spray on perfume and the reason the scent is still there at dinner is frankincense, a resin cut from Boswellia trees on the dry escarpments of the Horn of Africa. The fat that gives a chocolate bar its snap may well be shea, gathered and pressed by women in the parkland belt of West Africa. The cashmere…
[ENA] The final week of August was marked by intensifying geopolitical competition, continuing wars, humanitarian emergencies, economic uncertainty and devastating natural disasters. From the Middle East and Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America, governments confronted a series of crises that demonstrated the increasingly interconnected nature of global security, economics, public health and climate change.
[African Arguments] A network of Christian evangelical organizations has spent nearly two decades and tens of millions of dollars fueling a storm of anti-LGBTI+ legislation across Africa. That same network now drafts and bankrolls a parallel wave of anti-LGBTI legislation including anti-trans bills sweeping through American statehouses. Meanwhile, new and expanding U.S. immigration laws increasingly restrict access to refuge for endangered migrants and regularly return those who found safety…
[The Conversation Africa] The focus on agricultural development at the Southern African Development Community's 46th summit in August 2026 reflected a clear understanding that the sector can still play a key role in the region's economic development. Agriculture accounts for around 10% of the GDP of many of the regional community's members.
[The Conversation Africa] John Iliffe, the distinguished scholar renowned for his life's work in African history, died on 20 August 2026 at the age of 87.