The United States’ first firing of its Philippines-based Typhon missile launcher last week marked the “worst provocation” in years in the South China Sea and Beijing should ramp up air defence and stealth strike drones in response, according to Chinese military observers. Beijing has opposed the Typhon deployment since the Lockheed Martin system arrived at its Luzon base in the Philippines two years ago, claiming it has destabilised regional security. The ground-based vertical launch system can...

Russia unleashed the largest aerial attack on Ukraine over a two-day period since the war began, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities across the country with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched more than 1,560 drones since the start of Wednesday. Overnight on ‌Thursday, Moscow fired more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine, he said. Air defence units shot down 41 missiles and 652 drones...

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone at the start of their two-day presidential summit in Beijing, even as the Chinese leader highlighted risks surrounding Taiwan. Pre-summit trade talks “produced generally balanced and positive outcomes”, Xi told the US president at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday, according to Xinhua. “This is good news for the people of the two countries and the world.” Trump repeatedly called Xi a “great leader” in opening comments at the...

Samsung Electronics’ biggest labour union is threatening to strike at the height of the global AI chip boom, turning a fight over bonuses into a test of how the industry’s windfall profits should be shared and sparking fears of an economic slowdown in South Korea. The union has warned it will stage an 18-day walkout from May 21 to June 7, raising concerns about production disruptions, customer defections and wider fallout across the global technology supply chain. The dispute comes as demand for...

A stray Falcon 9 rocket part is on course to slam into the moon in August. The expected impact poses no immediate danger, experts say, but warn that it highlights a critical lack of rules for managing debris as lunar activity by the US, China and private companies ramps up. Measuring 13.8 metres (45 feet) long and 3.7 metres wide, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage has been drifting through Earth-moon space since it launched a US commercial lander and a Japanese lander in January last...

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, known for his unyielding stance, has maintained that he was undaunted by public sentiment throughout his decades-long career, even if his pursuit of Malaysia’s welfare earned him the label of “dictator”. From his ascent to the country’s top political post to his tumultuous relationship with protege turned critic and now Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir recounted his political odyssey in a Malaysian documentary chronicling his professional life and...

A Hong Kong court has ordered the freezing of properties and assets worth more than HK$9 billion (US$1.15 billion) held by detained Chinese-born Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi and his associated companies and individuals, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source told the SCMP on Thursday that the High Court had ordered a restriction on such properties earlier this month following an application from the Department of Justice involving Chen, who is accused of running a sprawling online...