US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday urged China to join Washington’s latest efforts to economically pressure and isolate Iran after negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the six-month conflict collapsed. “Keep in mind, the Chinese get 50 per cent of their energy from the Gulf. So, it would do them a big service to get with the programme,” Bessent told CNBC when asked whether the new economic sanctions would include China. Bessent also said that “many conversations are...

Christian metal band Demon Hunter is suing Netflix, alleging trademark infringement associated with the streamer’s hit film KPop Demon Hunters. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by Hyde Lane, the corporate entity for Demon Hunter, against Netflix, Netflix Studios and AEG Presents, the live entertainment division of AEG, with claims that the defendants have “created a substantial likelihood of confusion” among consumers. The metalcore band – which was formed in 2000 out of Seattle by brothers Ryan...

A Belgian university on Thursday suspended a US academic who spearheaded accusations of plagiarism against Jason Arday, the black ex-Cambridge professor found dead last week after resigning over the scandal. Researcher Nathan Cofnas – a self-defined “race realist” who was himself sacked from his Cambridge post two years ago – posted on social media: “I was just suspended by Ghent University. “They will almost certainly fire me.” Without naming Cofnas, the University of Ghent said in a statement...

A hospital in east China has used reprogrammed stem cells to treat severe heart failure, with 90 per cent of patients showing significant recovery in heart function after the novel therapy. On Wednesday, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, affiliated with Nanjing University, released the long-term follow-up results of a phase 2 clinical study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine. While dead heart muscle cannot regrow, this stem cell technology can help ageing or damaged hearts grow new...

Beijing has urged Washington to scrap planned tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imported drones, warning the measures unfairly target Chinese products and threaten global supply chains. The tariffs are not set to take effect until September 3, but Chinese drone shipments to the United States are already under pressure, with exports of some models plunging in July, the latest customs data showed. On Thursday, He Yadong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said Beijing firmly opposed...

An aeroplane pilot died on Wednesday after a violent collision with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter near a runway at a small airport, but both state troopers aboard the helicopter survived, authorities said. The plane was coming down on the runway and veered into the helicopter that was near the ground, Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, the state’s acting police commissioner, said during a news conference. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board...

A 33-year-old woman who operated a pet training facility in northern Hong Kong has been found dead after being mauled by a dog, police have said. Confirming an earlier South China Morning Post report, investigators said closed-circuit television footage showed the woman working alone at the facility at Ping Yeung Tsuen in Ta Kwu Ling when she was attacked by one of the dogs there on Thursday afternoon. Assistant district commander Matthew Chan Kai-chak of the Border police district said the...