UK bans support for Iran’s IRGC and a linked group over antisemitic attacks in Britain

Britain banned support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a linked group on Monday following a series of antisemitic attacks, using new powers designed to stop the use of state-sponsored proxies.

The government and intelligence agencies have become increasingly ‌concerned about foreign powers paying organised crime groups or low-level criminals for surveillance, sabotage or other activities on their behalf.

The ban follows attacks on Jewish-linked sites in London, including the torching of four Jewish community ambulances.

“These new powers will


UK’s Burnham set to be PM after securing more Labour MPs’ support

Andy Burnham took another significant step on Monday towards becoming Britain’s next prime minister, netting additional Labour MPs’ nominations to give him an unassailable lead in the ruling party’s leadership contest.

The veteran politician, who has served as Greater Manchester mayor for nearly a decade, is the only Labour member of parliament to publicly declare themselves a candidate to replace outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer announced he was quitting last month, bowing to months of internal pressure to resign after a series of scandals, missteps and policy


Will Manila and Hanoi’s maritime deal challenge Beijing in the South China Sea?

A new cooperation agreement chips away at China’s bilateral negotiation tactic, but experts say its value is mostly symbolic

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Illustration: Henry Wong

A decade after Beijing rejected the ruling by The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration on its South China Sea claims, rival nations continue to manoeuvre for control. In the second of our series on the anniversary, Alyssa Chen explores how deepening maritime cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam could affect China


Why China is seriously cultivating AI entertainment

Monitor screens at a microdrama film studio in Shanghai, China, on October 10, 2025. Photo: AFP

Hugh Harsono writes regularly for multiple publications about cyberspace, economics, foreign affairs and technology.

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

US National Science Foundation to ban projects with flagged Chinese institutions

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 military and technological development.

The public notice, posted on the NSF website last week,


UK to change law in bid to deport grooming gang ringleader

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 stripped of his British citizenship following his


US tariff probe unlikely to derail fall Xi-Trump meeting: analysts

Experts say both sides remain focused on trade negotiations and new tariff-free mechanisms despite fresh investigations

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and US President Donald Trump agreed in May to establish the boards of trade and investment to facilitate tariff-free trade in selected non-sensitive sectors. Photo: Reuters

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


Trump officials turn over withheld evidence in Renee Good, Alex Pretti ICE killings

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 lawsuit.

The material includes videos from agents’ body cameras, other digital


Lindsey Graham’s death removes one of Washington’s most influential China hawks

Trump’s close foreign policy adviser leaves behind a vacancy in the Senate and uncertainty over Republican China policy

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Lindsey Graham (right) forged a close political alliance with Donald Trump after strongly opposing him during the 2016 Republican presidential primary. Photo: AP

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.

Attention is now turning to whom South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appoints to fill

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2 arrested over Fontainebleau forest fire near Paris, interior minister says

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 said.