China’s artificial intelligence ambitions tend to be depicted in the news as predominantly related to defence, large language models and semiconductors. But one emerging use case for AI revolves around a market projected to grow to US$441 billion by 2035: China’s entertainment market. Just last week, Chinese regulators announced policies encouraging cinemas to reinvent themselves with AI-powered experiences. Simultaneously, Chinese content creators have embraced AI to hasten content ideation,...

The United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) is set to ban collaborations with Chinese research institutions designated as restricted entities, as well as their employees, under a new policy that moves away from seeking to balance security risks with the benefits of international collaboration. The policy reflects a broader congressional push by House Republicans to curb academic partnerships between China and the US, amid lawmakers’ concerns that such ties could contribute to Beijing’s...

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood announced plans on Monday to change UK law to allow a convicted paedophile who led a so-called grooming gang to be deported following his release from prison. Shabir Ahmed was jailed in 2012 for 22 years for multiple child sexual offences including rape when he was the ringleader of a gang of similarly predatory men targeting girls in Rochdale, northern England. He left prison on licence earlier this month under the country’s early release programme. He was...

The ongoing US tariff investigations against China and Washington’s other trading partners are unlikely to significantly impair bilateral ties or the planned meeting in September between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, analysts said on Monday. “China is just one of a group of countries. So it’s less insulting to China,” said Wei Liang, a professor at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey. The Trump administration has launched two major Section...

US President Donald Trump’s administration has turned over to ⁠Minneapolis prosecutors evidence it had withheld on immigration agents’ killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and wounding of a Venezuelan man during deportation sweeps in January, local officials said on Monday. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the city’s lead prosecutor, said the federal government handed over the “voluminous” evidence in the three shootings after six months of discussions, jurisdictional disputes ‌and a...

The death of US Senator Lindsey Graham has removed one of Washington’s most influential advocates of a hardline approach towards China at a moment when Republicans are debating how aggressively the United States should confront Beijing and project military power overseas. On Monday, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the vacant Senate seat. McMaster said he spoke with Nordone by phone on Sunday and she agreed to serve. Attention is...

France’s interior minister on Monday said two people had been arrested in connection to a fire in the Fontainebleau forest near Paris. The arrests were among a total of 59 made across the country for “deliberate or accidental arson”, Laurent Nunez said on France2 television, as the country battles wildfires and swelters through its latest heatwave. “There were about 10 fire ignition points within a perimeter of 1,000 metres, which suggests that it could have been deliberately set,” Nunez...