scmp

The cutting-edge collaborative combat aircraft on display at the Paris Air Show represent Washington’s ‘biggest bet’ on autonomous craft

Jackson Lingane, communications manager at Anduril Industries – a major supplier of unmanned platforms to the US Air Force – said that once commissioned, its YFQ-44 known as Fury, was likely to be deployed in flashpoints that included the Taiwan Strait.

“[The US Air Force] has been very transparent, it is focused on Indo-Pacific fights,” he said. “One of the reasons Anduril Industries is here at the Paris Air Show is we think the science and shape applied in Fury also has a lot of application for European allies.”

The YFQ-44 is included in the Increment 1 package of weapons for the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet and its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drones that are in development as part of the US Air Force’s next-generation air dominance (NGAD) programme.

At the General Atomics booth, another full-scale model was on display – of its YFQ-42A drone that is also part of the NGAD’s Increment 1 programme.

The positive tone set by Narendra Modi and Mark Carney in Canada is set to lead to closer two-way economic and other ties, analysts say

Analysts said the diplomatic move, which could bring about an easing of travel and visa restrictions and pave the way for deeper engagement in other areas, reflected a shared desire by Modi and Carney to move past the acrimony of the past two years.

Modi described his talks with Carney as “excellent”, saying in a post on social media platform X that both leaders “look forward to working closely to add momentum to the India–Canada friendship”. He identified trade, energy, space and critical minerals as areas of potential cooperation.

A statement from Carney’s office said the two leaders had agreed on the need to strengthen relations based on mutual respect, the rule of law and recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The positive tone arising from the meeting between Modi and Carney was a far cry from the nadir in the two countries’ relationship in 2023 over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and the leader of a Sikh separatist movement in India. An accusation by former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau that Indian agents were allegedly involved in the killing prompted a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats from both sides.

President Xi Jinping’s commemoration of a Communist Party elder points to how Beijing is redirecting its broader ideological narrative

The references to communist conviction so prominent in the 2015 address delivered for Chen’s 110th birthday were relatively sparse in Xi’s remarks from earlier this month. Instead, there was polished language relating to development planning and political resilience.

In 2015, Xi’s speech commemorating Chen Yun’s 110th birthday emphasised unwavering faith in Marxism and communism.Xi also spoke of Chen as a disciplined party member. The between-the-lines message was clear: ideology was to be re-centred as the Communist Party’s main source of legitimacy during Xi’s first term.

This year, Xi portrayed Chen as a model of disciplined governance, praising his ability to grasp key points, set aside time to consider strategic issues and simultaneously balance state-led and market approaches to economic planning.

Xi highlighted Chen’s 15-character maxim – “not following superiors and not following books but instead following facts while exchanging, comparing and repeating” – offering it as a guide for cadres navigating today’s volatile world. The symbolism is clear: Chen was not just a revolutionary elder but a technocrat who embraced policy logic in uncertain times.

Wielding its biggest bargaining chip in trade dealings with Washington, Beijing applied pressure by imposing export controls on some critical minerals

The volume of China’s export shipments of magnets to the US, a chokepoint in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies, plunged in volume by 93.3 per cent in May, year on year, according to the latest customs data.

China exported around 46.4 tonnes of magnets to the US last month. It was also a sharp month-on-month decline of 81 per cent from 246.3 tonnes shipped in April.

The total export of magnets, which dominate China’s critical minerals shipments, fell by nearly 74.3 per cent, year on year, in volume last month, and declined more than 76.1 per cent in value, according to data released on Friday.

The drastic decline in exports – following export controls imposed by Beijing to counter Washington’s sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods – has piled pressure on US manufacturers in the defence, energy and automotive sectors.

Meanwhile, exports to Germany, Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse, dropped last month by 70 per cent in volume, year on year, while shipments to Japan fell by 84.1 per cent.

Addressing the highly watched export controls of critical minerals, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson, He Yadong, said on Thursday that the country has been accelerating the review of rare earth-related export licence applications in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and has approved a number of them.

“China is willing to enhance communication and dialogue with relevant countries on export controls and actively promote the facilitation of compliant trade,” He added.

Dr Doreen Benary claims she suffered a severe allergic reaction during an in-flight meal despite having disclosed her shellfish allergy to cabin crew

Singapore Airlines is facing a lawsuit in the United States after a New York paediatrician claimed she suffered a severe allergic reaction mid-flight when she was served shrimp despite having warned cabin crew of her shellfish allergy.

The incident forced the aircraft to divert to Paris for emergency medical care.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Dr Doreen Benary alleged that her explicit allergy disclosure was overlooked during meal service on Singapore Airlines flight SQ026 from Frankfurt to New York on October 8.

Benary, 41, was flying business class and had informed the crew of her allergy to shrimp after boarding, according to the court filing. Nonetheless, she was allegedly served a dish containing the allergen and became ill shortly after eating it.

“Nearly immediately after ingesting a portion of said meal, Plaintiff detected the presence of shrimp and began to feel ill,” the complaint states. When she questioned the crew, a flight attendant “admitted that she had made an error and apologised”.

The flight was subsequently diverted to Paris, where Benary was taken by ambulance and treated at two different medical facilities.

Filed under the Montreal Convention – the international treaty that governs liability in international air travel – the lawsuit accuses Singapore Airlines of negligence, arguing the incident meets the legal threshold of an “accident”, defined as an “unexpected or unusual event or occurrence external to the passenger”.

From a new mainland China-Hong Kong payment scheme to Beijing’s influence in Central Asia, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage

China’s central bank is launching a new connect programme with Hong Kong to facilitate cross-border payments – Beijing’s latest move to open up its financial sector and also leverage the southern financial centre to better connect with the rest of the world.

Decades of overinvestment and state subsidies in China, weak domestic consumption, an addiction to manufacturing, crashing corporate profits, zombie companies that the state does not let die and a superpower trade war have, the EU believes, created a perfect storm.

Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed again in the South China Sea, with Beijing saying its coastguard used a water cannon to expel a Philippine government vessel near Scarborough Shoal on Friday. China Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun said on Friday afternoon that Philippine vessel 3006 had “ignored repeated warnings and insistently intruded” into Chinese waters near the strategic shoal.

Owner, 40, arrested after customs receives 166 complaints about the firm allegedly wrongly accepting payments

Customs officers have arrested the owner of a Hong Kong wedding decoration company that closed suddenly, leaving more than 100 engaged couples in dismay, with the firm revealed to have racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts.

Acting assistant superintendent Ho Wai-sum of customs’ unfair trade practice investigation division said officers arrested the 40-year-old male owner of a wedding decoration company based in San Po Kong on Friday after receiving 166 complaints about the firm allegedly wrongly accepting payments.

“We suspect that when the owner received prepaid sums, there were no reasonable reasons to believe the company could provide the services promised,” he said.

Last month, the suspected closure of Ps Wedding and Event Decoration, which had an office in San Po Kong, sparked 31 complaints to the Consumer Council involving more than HK$337,000 (US$43,200) in losses.

Ho revealed that the 166 complaints made to customs involved HK$1.9 million in total, with each contract for between HK$3,000 and HK$40,000.

The acting superintendent said preliminary investigations showed that the company, which had been operating for 13 years, owed money for rent and salaries before its abrupt closure.

TikTok said it was ‘grateful’ for Trump’s deadline extension to September 17, which would allow it to keep serving its 170 million US users

TikTok, the popular short video app owned by China’s ByteDance, thanked US President Donald Trump, while stating it was still working with Vice-President J.D. Vance who was tasked with brokering a deal under a sell-or-ban law.

While TikTok’s fate remains in limbo after Trump offered another 90-day postponement on the deadline for a deal, it will not be business as usual and a US sale could result in a bifurcated platform given the deal’s complexity due to China’s export rules, according to analysts.

TikTok said on Thursday that it was “grateful” for Trump’s deadline extension, now set at September 17, which would allow it to keep serving its 170 million American users. It also said that it “continues to work with Vice-President Vance’s Office”, which has been tasked with overseeing the deal process.

There has been no update from Vance since March, when he said his team was “trying to close this thing by early April”. However, negotiations collapsed amid escalating US-China trade tensions. On April 5, Trump extended the deadline to June 19. He first delayed it on January 20 when he took office.

Despite the negotiations for a trade truce, TikTok has not been named in the discussions. Beijing has remained silent on the matter, other than China’s foreign affairs ministry issuing repeated statements saying that the TikTok case would be handled “according to China’s laws and regulations”.

A month out from their leaders’ summit, few are expecting any meaningful improvement in ties between Beijing and Brussels

For months, EU leaders fuelled the speculation by voicing openness to deeper trade ties with Beijing, in a dramatic rhetorical shift from the previous three years of hostilities.

But the debate appears to have been settled this week with a resounding “no”.

Behind-the-scenes impatience with China’s failure to put any meat on the bones of a much-vaunted charm offensive has spilled into the public realm. Brussels, staggered by Beijing’s failure to move even an inch on its trade gripes, has had enough.

Suspect, 30, will appear in court and is alleged to have stolen 14 pre-owned Hermes bags, a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and two mobile phones

A man has been charged in Hong Kong for allegedly robbing nearly HK$3 million (US$382,170) worth of pre-owned valuables including Hermes handbags from a shop before fleeing to Thailand and being sent back to the city.

Police said that the suspect, 30, would appear at West Kowloon Court on Saturday morning. He is alleged to have stolen 14 pre-owned Hermes bags, a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and two mobile phones from a shop at Supreme House on Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui on Wednesday.

Police said the suspect bought a white Hermes handbag for HK$33,000 on Wednesday and then allegedly rendered a 49-year-old female employee unconscious before tying her up and making off with the goods.

The suspect, from mainland China, fled to Thailand the same day, flying from Hong Kong airport to Bangkok. He was apprehended by Thai police when his flight landed and was sent back to Hong Kong on Thursday night.

Police arrested the suspect at Hong Kong airport. He has been charged with robbery.

Most of the stolen items were recovered.