North Korea is set to push ahead with its “satellite” launch plans, as South Korea’s president prepares to leave Seoul for Europe where he will meet with his European counterparts to discuss a variety of issues, including security. South Korea’s military authorities said on Monday they have detected new activities from North Korea, which appears to be a preliminary sign for its satellite launch. The authorities did not disclose specific details, but asserted that Seoul would respond to any new developments that could pose a threat to regional security. In…
Day: November 19, 2023
Under the skin: Chinese scientists create wireless charger that can stay safely in human body
Meanwhile, power supply units connected to transdermal chargers can cause inflammation, and ones powered by non-rechargeable batteries may need to be surgically replaced, which can cause complications, according to the paper. To address this gap, the researchers proposed a wireless implantable power system with “simultaneously high energy storage performance and favoured tissue interfacing properties”, as its soft and flexible design allows it to adapt to the shape of tissue and organs. The power supply and storage device created by a team of Chinese scientists is biodegradable and wireless. Photo: Lanzhou…
India’s back-office boom sparks ‘war’ for IT service workers
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Indian business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. International companies are rushing to set up their own back offices in India as they seek to develop technology in house, sparking a “huge war for talent” with traditional IT service providers such as Infosys and TCS, said industry experts. Companies offering data, cloud and analytics support have made India a software services export powerhouse. But multinationals are opening a growing number of their own back offices, called…
Philippines President in Hawaii, Boosts US-Philippines Ties, Recalls Family History
HONOLULU — Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is meeting with senior U.S. military leaders and members of Hawaii’s large Filipino community this weekend in a visit steeped in geopolitical and personal significance for the leader, but also drawing small protests from a younger generation of Filipinos who point to the actions of his dictator father who died in exile in Hawaii. Marcos, who stopped in Hawaii on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, connected Saturday evening with members of Hawaii’s large Filipino-American community before…
Labor rejects claim it ‘prioritised photo ops’ over Australian divers in Chinese navy incident
The government has said it appropriately registered a complaint with Beijing about an incident between Australian and Chinese navy ships last week. The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, had accused Anthony Albanese of “prioritising photo ops” with Xi Jinping rather than taking up the issue. Senior Labor figures are remaining tight-lipped over whether Albanese raised the altercation with Xi during their meeting at the Apec summit, after divers from the HMAS Toowoomba sustained injuries said to be from sonar pulses emitted by a Chinese warship in international waters off Japan.…
Boats carrying 525 Rohingya land in Indonesia’s Aceh region
Up to 525 Rohingya were allowed to disembark in western Indonesia’s Aceh province when their three boats landed there on Sunday after weeks at sea, the latest in a wave of new Rohingya arrivals since Nov. 13, according to officials. Sunday’s landings in Aceh included about 250 people who were on a boat that had reached the province’s coast last Thursday but was pushed back to sea by villagers at two locations before it was finally allowed to come ashore after an urgent appeal by UNHCR, the U.N.’s refugee agency.…
‘Life-or-death question’: US must grasp Taiwan’s importance to China, former envoy Cui Tiankai says
Cui said Beijing would continue to seek reunification by peaceful means, and as long as the one-China principle was respected, “everything else is negotiable”. But he warned of “limits” to how far the country could be provoked on this issue. During their summit on Wednesday, Xi demanded directly of Biden that Washington stop its arms sales to Taiwan, describing it as “the most dangerous” flashpoint in US-China tensions. In public, Biden would only say the US’ one-China policy remained unchanged. 03:12 Xi Jinping, Joe Biden hold talks on sidelines of…
China launches new data agency as ambitions in AI and digital economy soar
According to a government reform plan issued in March by the State Council, China’s cabinet, the NDA will take over many responsibilities from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s top watchdog in charge of web regulation. China reveals plans for data enforcement super agency Specifically, the NDA has been tasked with driving China’s digital development by creating blueprints, introducing unified standards for data sharing, and supporting the digitalisation of public services. It will also act as a coordinator among government departments, such as the NDRC, the Ministry of…
Biden-Xi meeting can’t paper over cracks in US-China relationship
“We’re going to continue to preserve and pursue high-level diplomacy with [China] in both directions to keep the lines of communication open,” US President Joe Biden said following his much-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco. In turn, Xi underscored Beijing’s commitment to “stable, healthy and sustainable” ties with Washington. Undoubtedly, this was the most anticipated and consequential bilateral summit of the year. Throughout much of the year, the two superpowers tussled over a series of issues…
Australia beats India in Cricket World Cup final
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Australia has defeated India to win the men’s Cricket World Cup, spoiling the party for the world’s biggest cricketing nation which was playing sole host to the tournament for the first time. Led by captain Pat Cummins, the visitors comfortably beat India by six wickets in a result that brought heartbreak to the home nation, which had hoped to retake the trophy after 12 years. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister,…