China has warned western militaries to stay out of waters and airspace near its borders if they want to avoid dangerous run-ins with the People’s Liberation Army, putting on display the growing risks of unintended conflict as geopolitical competition grows. The blunt message from General Li Shangfu, China’s new defence minister, followed a near collision
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US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday criticised China for conducting risky aerial intercepts over the South China Sea and warned that Washington would not be deterred by dangerous behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. China was conducting “an alarming number of risky intercepts of US and allied aircraft flying lawfully in international airspace”, Austin said
CIA director Bill Burns travelled to China last month, a clandestine visit by one of President Joe Biden’s most trusted officials that signals how concerned the White House had become about deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington. Five people familiar with the situation said Burns, a former top diplomat who is frequently entrusted with delicate
UK house prices have fallen further as rising mortgage rates deterred home buyers and prompted owners to repay property loans at a near record rate. Figures from the Nationwide Building Society released on Thursday showed prices of the average property in May were 3.4 per cent lower than a year earlier, with the annual fall
The world’s largest natural soda ash producer plans to float in London, a boost to a stock market that has struggled to attract new listings and prevent companies from leaving. WE Soda, the UK-based group that produces the glassmaking ingredient and is controlled by Turkish media mogul Turgay Ciner, is targeting a $7.5bn valuation, enough
Nvidia has become the first chipmaker to hit a $1tn valuation, leading a surge of enthusiasm across Wall Street for companies seen to benefit from the latest developments in artificial intelligence. Its shares rose more than 4 per cent to hit $406.1 in early trading in New York on Tuesday, after its chief executive Jensen
In April, total card expenditure per household was down 1.2% year on year, as measured by Bank of Americaaggregated credit and debit cards. Thisfollows the trend seen inconsumer prices. The credit card data captured by Bank of America markedthe first decline in card spending since February 2021. Why It Matters: A reduction in household credit
Hadoken! — Street Fighter 6 is great fun for both casual and dedicated players Capcom breathes new life into its classic fighting game franchise. Aurich Lawson – May 30, 2023 7:01 am UTC EnlargeAurich Lawson reader comments 3 with Street Fighter 6Developer: Capcom Release Date: June 2, 2023 MSRP $60: Windows*, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,
In April, total card expenditure per household was down 1.2% year on year, as measured by Bank of Americaaggregated credit and debit cards. Thisfollows the trend seen inconsumer prices. The credit card data captured by Bank of America markedthe first decline in card spending since February 2021. Why It Matters: A reduction in household credit
the human factor — Is cybersecurity an unsolvable problem? Ars chats with law philosopher Scott Shapiro about his new book, Fancy Bear Goes Phishing. Jennifer Ouellette – May 27, 2023 1:12 pm UTC EnlargeFarrar, Straus and Giroux reader comments 151 with In November 1988, a graduate student at Cornell University named Robert Morris, Jr. inadvertently
In April, total card expenditure per household was down 1.2% year on year, as measured by Bank of Americaaggregated credit and debit cards. Thisfollows the trend seen inconsumer prices. The credit card data captured by Bank of America markedthe first decline in card spending since February 2021. Why It Matters: A reduction in household credit
Burned — The lessons of a wildfire that destroyed a town and burned for 15 months Until it hit, the local firefighters couldn’t conceive of something that ferocious. Diana Gitig – May 27, 2023 11:00 am UTC Enlarge / The aftermath of the Fort McMurray fire.Katie Daubs reader comments 193 with Editor’s note: we have
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election in July after his Socialist party suffered a resounding defeat in local and regional elections on Sunday. Sánchez made the surprise announcement on Monday morning as the conservative People’s party was still celebrating its huge electoral gains across the country. The PP will need
US president Joe Biden has struck a deal with Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House speaker, that would avert a debt default looming in early June and bring relief to the global economy and financial markets. Biden and McCarthy reached the in-principle agreement on Saturday following days of tense, round-the-clock negotiations between the White House and
Jeremy Hunt has backed further interest rate rises to bring prices under control as figures showed only Argentina and South Sudan experienced bigger increases in underlying inflation last month. The UK chancellor signalled his support for Bank of England rate increases after a week when core inflation, which excludes energy and food, hit its highest
Credit Suisse has been ordered by a Singaporean judge to pay $926mn to former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a final blow to the bank before UBS is expected to complete its takeover as soon as next week. Ivanishvili, who is Georgia’s richest man, had already won a case against the Swiss bank in Bermuda
Net immigration to the UK rose to a record high of 606,000 in 2022, driven by rising numbers of people from outside the EU, including from Ukraine and Hong Kong. The figures fell short of estimates of about 700,000 but remain far above the Conservative government’s 2010 pledge to reduce net immigration to the “tens
UK inflation dropped to 8.7 per cent in April, a smaller fall than the Bank of England expected, raising pressure on the central bank to keep increasing interest rates. The figure will come as a blow to ministers and the central bank because the fall in consumer price inflation from 10.1 per cent in March
The UK will escape a recession this year, the IMF said on Tuesday, adding that the country’s economy had been “buoyed by resilient demand in the context of declining energy prices”. But the fund cautioned that Britain risked being stuck with persistent inflation unless interest rates stayed high for longer. “Economic activity has slowed significantly
Meta has been hit with a €1.2bn fine by the EU and ordered to suspend transfers of user data to the US, in the largest penalty to be imposed against a Big Tech company in the bloc over privacy violations. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which oversees the General Data Protection Regulation, on Monday handed down