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After a historic drought that paralyzed vessel transits through the Panama Canal, the Panama Canal Authority is moving ahead with major investments in new infrastructure to mitigate future droughts and the risk of low water levels that in recent years plagued the key global trade gateway.The Panama Canal depends on fresh water for its operations and is rainfall dependent.”We use about two and a half times the amount of water a city of the size of New York uses for the canal operation,” Ricaurte Vásquez, Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, told CNBC.In a good year of rain, that means…

Beijing has warned against “unilateral actions” targeting Chinese interests, as the US intensifies pressure on Western allies to impose steep tariffs on China and India for allegedly “enabling” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by continuing to buy Russian oil.US President Donald Trump issued a letter to Nato members on Saturday, urging them to stop buying Russian oil and jointly impose major sanctions on Russia to help end its war in Ukraine.Trump also proposed that Nato collectively impose 50 per cent to 100 per cent tariffs on China, which he claims holds significant influence over Russia.“I am ready to do major sanctions…

China on Saturday announced an anti-dumping probe into imported American analogue integrated circuit (IC) chips and also initiated an anti-discrimination investigation over Washington’s handling of Chinese semiconductors.The decisions come just one day ahead of a scheduled meeting between Chinese and US trade delegations in Madrid, Spain.The Ministry of Commerce said in a notice posted on its website that the anti-dumping investigation was initiated upon request from the Jiangsu provincial semiconductor association, which represents domestic industries affected by the imports.In a separate statement, it said: “The preliminary evidence submitted by the applicant shows that the import volume of the US products…

Shock, disbelief and sympathy.Those were just some of the reactions Chinese social media users expressed in the aftermath of two murders in a politically polarised United States.The most recent of the two was the high-profile shooting of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk on September 10. Kirk was a familiar figure to many younger Chinese, with his videos shared on Chinese social media accounts in recent years.The second incident was the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska last month, a death that received little attention at the time but was propelled into the public spotlight this week by the American…

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish and allied aircraft were deployed in a “preventive” operation in Poland’s airspace Saturday because of a threat of drone strikes in neighboring areas of Ukraine, and the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed, authorities said.The alert lasted around two hours. It came after multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland on Wednesday, prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about the expansion of Russia’s more than three-year war in Ukraine. The Polish military’s operational command posted on X on Saturday afternoon that ground-based air defense…

China’s State Council has vowed to remove hidden barriers holding back private investment and also address the concerns of private entrepreneurs, as the world’s second largest economy intensifies efforts to meet its annual growth target and stabilise the job market.The council – China’s cabinet – held an executive meeting on Friday chaired by Premier Li Qiang. The meeting emphasised the goal of creating a fair and competitive market environment, where private enterprises could invest “confidently and profitably”, state news agency Xinhua reported.“Private investment is key to stabilising employment and the economy,” the meeting resolved, according to Xinhua.“[We must] take practical…

A new Chinese documentary is giving the public an ultra high definition look at life in space – and capturing the imagination of fans, including award-winning science fiction writer Liu Cixin.Shenzhou 13 is the first production to be shot in space on a format known as 8K and was filmed by the crew on China’s space station. 02:20Shenzhou 13 astronauts return to Earth after 6 months on China’s longest space mission yet Shenzhou 13 astronauts return to Earth after 6 months on China’s longest space mission yet It was released nationwide on September 5, with Liu, the Hugo Award-winning author…

LONDON (AP) — More than 100,000 demonstrators packed London streets Saturday for a march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.The “Unite the Kingdom” rally got underway as much smaller numbers of counterprotesters, organized by the Stand Up To Racism group, gathered under the banner of the “March Against Fascism.”More than 1,000 police officers were on duty to patrol the dueling demonstrations, and there was a buffer zone to keep the two from engaging with each other near the halls of government. The marches were largely peaceful, but at one point, police said they were attacked by some members of “Unite…

The architects of the US-backed IMEC, envisaged as a bridge linking India to Europe via the Gulf and Israel, have found themselves mired in deepening discord.Instead of capitalising on the corridor’s transformative economic potential, analysts say its stakeholders are increasingly at one another’s throats, jeopardising what was once hailed by Washington as a landmark in multilateral cooperation.Central to the IMEC vision was the United Arab Emirates, whose relationship with Israel has rapidly broken down in recent months amid the prolonged bloodshed – and famine – in Gaza.Smoke rises from an Israeli military strike on the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Photo:…

In an attempt to jointly address two major policy priorities for China – fostering a “birth-friendly society” and bolstering its scientific talent pool – Shanghai has introduced a subsidy programme to support female researchers returning to work after childbirth.The Keyan Return Plan was launched last week by the Shanghai Women’s Association for Science and Technology to address career challenges faced by women in science – particularly those that arise while balancing the demands of motherhood with those of research roles – according to Jiefang Daily, a media outlet affiliated with the local government.Shanghai’s branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences…