News

Plans are further blow to Europe’s hopes of creating a homegrown electric car battery
Volvo Cars plans to buy out the struggling battery maker Northvolt from their jointly owned gigafactory in Sweden in another blow to Europe’s hopes of creating a homegrown electric car battery.
Novo Energy, a joint venture between Volvo and the Swedish battery company, was launched in 2021 with a plan to create a “fully integrated and frictionless environment” for developing new battery technologies with a staff force of 3,000 to start production in 2025.

Formal investigation opens amid concerns Chinese shopping website is breaching Digital Services Act
The EU has launched formal proceedings against the Chinese shopping website Temu amid concerns it is failing to halt the sale of illegal products online.
A formal investigation was opened on Thursday with the European Commission citing concerns over the platform, which is a cut-price rival to Amazon.

Test of apparent ICBM theoretically capable of striking US mainland comes amid warnings over North Korean troops in Ukraine
North Korea has test launched a long-range missile theoretically capable of striking the US mainland in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing over its troops’ participation in the war in Ukraine.
US officials said they believed Thursday’s launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested by North Korea.

Comedy has become a way for women to skewer China’s gender inequality. Some men aren’t happy about it.

With the popularization of Asian foods, it is simultaneously important to credit the cultures from which these dishes originate.

Chinese social media have given Blackpink’s Rosé’s new hit single with Bruno Mars, “APT”, the thumbs up, praising its catchy and uplifting tune. “This song is quite intriguing, it has a bit of the ...

Xu is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his family
Concerns are growing about the health of Xu Zhiyong, China’s most prominent imprisoned human rights lawyer, who is thought to have been on hunger strike for nearly a month.
Xu, a scholar and leading figure in China’s embattled civil rights movement, started his hunger strike on 4 October, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an NGO. He is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his family and intensive surveillance by other prisoners, according to reports released through his relatives.

A 19-year-old Chinese student at the University of Michigan was arrested after he illegally voted in the U.S. General Election and now is facing felony charges, authorities said.

Dr Gillian Hughes, Dr Charlotte Burck, Dr Julia Nelki and Julia Granville the on the Uyghur Tribunal and David Lammy’s visit to China
We were deeply disturbed to read your report about David Lammy’s visit to China that highlighted how our Labour government – headed by a human rights lawyer – has decided to backtrack on plans for formal recognition of acts of genocide in order to facilitate trade deals with China ().
For six days in 2021 we attended the , during which numerous shocking testimonies were presented. We had been asked to provide psychological support to those giving evidence, in recognition of the emotional demands of participation. The courage of those who took part was breathtaking – many spoke of the risk to their lives and to their family members’ lives in participating. We heard accounts of forcible sterilisation, imprisonment and sadistic torture.

So to read [about] — and to comment on this American election — does satisfy some of those urges for them to engage. In 2000, we had Chinese government officials and scholars here in the U.S ...

Drop comes as carmaker faces battle with unions over plan to shut three factories in Germany
Volkswagen has reported a 60% drop in profits amid a slump in sales in China, with the carmaker emphasising the difficulties it faces as it prepares to close factories in Germany for the first time.
Germany’s biggest carmaker has told workers it is serving its main Volkswagen brand in its home market and cutting staff pay, raising the prospect of an extended battle with unions representing 120,000 German employees.

The BBC’s Laura Bicker sees the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft take off in a record year of space exploration.