Facebook parent Meta to unwind US$2 billion Manus AI deal after Beijing block

Meta acquired Chinese-founded AI platform Manus for a reported US$2 billion in December. Photo: Getty Images

Vincent Chow in Washington

Facebook owner Meta Platforms is set to fully unwind its acquisition of Chinese-founded artificial intelligence platform Manus, more than three months after Beijing blocked the deal on national security grounds, capping off another high-profile decoupling between the US and China in the critical area of AI.

On Tuesday, Manus wrote in a note to users that it would delete data by “certain users” generated on or after December 29,


Israel and Venezuela renew consular ties after 17 years of no diplomacy

Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries.

The move comes after Israel sent an aid and disaster response delegation to Venezuela in June following devastating twin earthquakes that left thousands dead.

It also follows the United States’ toppling of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro in a January military raid, with interim President Delcy Rodriguez now running the country under strong pressure from US President Donald Trump.

“Following talks held in recent weeks and days between


Man charged with bomb threat against US consulate in Canada

Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the US consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the US consulate in Toronto this year.

Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a car linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday morning. The vehicle contained a propane tank and containers believed to hold flammable liquids, police said

Police said Assakereh, 54, was scheduled to appear in provincial court

A police officer near the US consulate in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Monday following a bomb threat. Photo: The Canadian Press via AP

2.4 million Afghan girls banned from schools 5 years after Taliban takeover, UN says

Around 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the United Nations said on Tuesday, urging an end to such “discrimination”.

The Taliban administration, recognised solely by Russia, has imposed a series of restrictions on women that the United Nations has characterised as “gender apartheid”.

Girls cannot study beyond primary school, a policy the Taliban authorities justify based on their interpretation of Islamic law.

The number of girls denied access to


Rights groups sue the Trump administration over ICC sanctions

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to challenge its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors are undermining the ability to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes.

The complaint – filed in the Southern District of New York – says that US President Donald Trump’s executive order last year targeting The Hague-based criminal court and the US sanctions issued against a United Nations human rights expert and three Palestinian rights groups represent a “blatantly illegal

The ICC’s former chief prosecutor Karim Khan. Photo: Pool via Reuters

US export controls achieving no strategic gain but hurting American firms, survey finds

US’ export-control licensing regime costs billions in lost exports, with items ‘already available in China’ from variety of other suppliers

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The US-China Business Council survey found that “poorly calibrated US export controls weaken American companies in China”, conceding market share to foreign competitors. Photo: Shutterstock, orange background added with Shutterstock AI

The Trump administration’s export-control licensing regime is achieving little strategic benefit while costing the United States billions of dollars in lost exports and undermining American companies’ global market share, according

Daughter of ‘Chinese Schindler’ protests use of father’s WWII legacy to sell homes

When Manli Ho saw her father’s name being used to advertise US$40,000 houses in his hometown in China, she was outraged.

“He Saved 18,000 Jewish Lives in WWII. His Hometown Has Homes for $40,000,” one headline on the now-removed English-language webpage read.

Manli Ho, 75, is the daughter of Ho Feng-shan, the Chinese diplomat widely known in the West as the “Chinese

The YiyangFangchan website promotes Yiyang as the hometown of Chinese diplomat Ho Feng-shan, known as the “Chinese Schindler”. Image: YiyangFangchan

Hong Kong urges parents not to delay childhood vaccinations as US limits jabs

Hong Kong authorities have defended the city’s childhood vaccination programme after the United States scaled back its immunisation recommendations , stressing that public health policies should not be “arbitrarily altered”.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Tuesday that all public health policies and medical recommendations had to be based on scientific evidence.

“Vaccination schedules should not be altered arbitrarily without reliable scientific data or medical research supporting such changes, in order to avoid posing significant and irreversible public health risks to children,” it said.

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Baptist University reviews IT security after ransomware group claims breach

Baptist University says it is closely reviewing the security of its systems and personal data. Photo: Nora Tam
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Russia frees ailing ex-US marine after Putin’s ‘goodwill’ pardon

Former US marine Robert Gilman attending a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia in April. Gilman was released by Russia on humanitarian grounds on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
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