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Though it did not come as a surprise, the US’ formal ban on the sale of new drones produced by China marks a “milestone” in the two countries’ strategic competition and technological decoupling, analysts said, with their rivalry continuing across numerous fields despite the temporary trade truce agreed between their leaders in October.Washington’s telecommunications regulator said on Monday that it is adding all foreign producers of drones and critical components – including those made by Shenzhen-based DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer – to a list of entities determined to pose “unacceptable risks” to national security.Addition to the Federal Communications…

My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, Dec. 23 1. The S & P 500 is little changed this morning after a strong start to the holiday-shortened trading week. U.S. GDP data, delayed due to the government shutdown, showed that the country’s economy grew much more than expected in the third quarter. The New York Stock Exchange will close early tomorrow on Christmas Eve, and will be closed entirely Thursday on Christmas Day. 2. The fight over Warner Bros. Discovery rages on, but I regard the Larry Ellison-backed Paramount Skydance bid as illusory. Netflix’s financing is much firmer. Paramount ought…

Gold prices rose in European trading on Tuesday, extending gains for a third consecutive day and continuing to smash record levels, as they moved sharply closer to trading above $4,500 per ounce for the first time in history. The rally was driven by strong investment demand for the precious metal and supported by a decline in the US dollar in foreign exchange markets.   These developments come as expectations grow that the Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates twice next year. To reprice those expectations, investors are awaiting later today the release of US economic growth data for the…

Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), already the envy of the global automotive industry, have raced to the top of the luxury segment after a new model co-developed by Huawei Technologies outsold Porsche’s Panamera and BMW’s 7 Series in the world’s largest car market.Maextro S800, a luxury sedan priced from 708,000 yuan (US$100,555) to 1 million yuan, recorded 2,145 deliveries in mainland China last month, more than the combined sales of the Panamera and the 7 Series, according to data provider ECC Intelligence.Jointly developed by telecommunications equipment maker Huawei and state-owned JAC Group, the S800 is now the mainland’s top-selling car in…

The Chinese authorities are investigating reports that cultural treasures from a leading state-run museum were secretly sold on the market by museum staff in an alleged scam that has been described as making the Louvre thieves look “dumb”.The scandal first came to light when a 16th-century painting that had been donated by the family of an art collector appeared for auction earlier this year.A former director of the museum has since come under scrutiny after a former underling claimed that he had masterminded the large-scale theft and smuggling of national treasures.The scale of the alleged crimes prompted one social media…

Beijing-based Zhipu AI, known internationally as Z.ai, on Monday evening claimed that its new GLM-4.7 model features improved coding abilities, narrowing the gap with larger US firms Google DeepMind and Anthropic in innovative coding agents.Zhipu AI touted the high scores achieved by GLM-4.7 on various coding benchmarks that surpassed those of OpenAI’s GPT-5, which was released in August. GLM-4.7’s scores were just behind those of Google DeepMind’s Gemini Pro 3 and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5.On SWE-Bench, a benchmark that evaluates models on real-world software engineering issues, Anthropic broke the 70 per cent mark in May via its older Claude Opus…

China has pledged to empower local governments with city-specific measures to clear housing gluts and optimise supply next year, ramping up efforts to stabilise a real estate market that remains a persistent drag on the world’s second-largest economy.“Municipal governments should fully utilise their autonomy in regulating the property market, adjusting and optimising policies as appropriate,” said Ni Hong, the minister of housing and urban-rural development, at a two-day work conference that ended on Tuesday.While risk prevention remains the priority, the meeting served to emphasise that real estate “still has considerable development potential”, given the rising rate of urbanisation and people’s…

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi on Tuesday rejected calls by a group of US lawmakers to add it to a Pentagon list of companies alleged to have links with China’s military, describing the move as baseless and reiterating its focus on the consumer market.The smartphone-to-vehicle giant said it was “not a Chinese military company nor affiliated with any Chinese military entities” and that it “has always been and continues to be a consumer product company”.“[Xiaomi] provides products and services for civilian and commercial use only,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “There is no basis for the inclusion of…

From front-page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today’s top photos chosen by Associated Press photo editors. Seuk’s Army volunteer Katelynn Aldarondo cuddles with a dog brought from an overwhelmed Southern animal shelter to be flown to a foster and rescue group farther north, as they lie on the pavement between connecting flights at Culpeper Regional Airport in Brandy Station, Va., Nov. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) Seuk’s Army volunteer Katelynn Aldarondo cuddles with a dog brought from an overwhelmed Southern animal shelter to be flown to a foster and rescue group farther north, as…

A giant flower’s rediscovery in a West Sumatran forest of Indonesia has spurred a growing campaign among researchers to change the colonial-era name of one of the world’s most famous plants.Last month’s find of an extremely rare Rafflesia hasseltii – one of the giant, foul-smelling blooms often dubbed “corpse flowers” – has energised researchers and activists seeking to strip the genus of its association with Thomas Stamford Raffles, a figure widely credited with founding colonial Singapore but criticised by scholars and campaigners for violence and coercion during Britain’s rule in parts of Southeast Asia.Recognised as among the world’s largest flowers,…