China's tightening export controls on strategic minerals are putting the European Union's new rearmament programme at risk, prompting the European Commission to open urgent talks with Canada, Australia and Chile on alternative supply agreements.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a rare public address in Pyongyang on Monday that Japan's defence-spending increases and legal changes amount to a re-emergence as a « war state, » a characterisation Tokyo rejected as « provocative and not grounded in facts. »
Beijing has added dozens of US defence, semiconductor and aerospace firms to its export-control list and banned them from public procurement. The move is being read as a direct response to fresh US chip-equipment restrictions announced in Washington last month.
Chinese AI company Zhipu AI's market capitalisation has topped HK$1 trillion. Shares rose sharply after benchmark results for the GLM-5.2 model and announcements of enterprise licensing deals. The company joins a small handful of Chinese "AI majors" by valuation.
SK Hynix has overtaken Samsung Electronics by market capitalisation to become South Korea's most valuable listed company. The chipmaker's value has climbed sharply this year as demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has surged. The reshuffle also reweights the chip-heavy structure of the KOSPI index.
Beijing's tightening of private banking oversight is pushing wealthy Chinese clients to move capital out of Hong Kong toward Singapore and Dubai. UBS and Credit Suisse have reported successive outflows from their Hong Kong desks. The HKMA has reportedly cut its asset-management growth forecast.
TikTok parent ByteDance has hit a $900 billion valuation in secondary market trades and is expected to cross the $1 trillion threshold next quarter. The firm is choosing to remain private and has shelved its IPO plans. Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global increased their stakes in the latest round.
India's NEET medical-school entrance exam was held again under tight security following allegations of a question-paper leak. According to the BBC, millions of students sat the resit, and the regulator announced that exam procedures will be overhauled.
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt told Nikkei Asia that Washington's 'golden share' powers will not curb the company's reform plans. The CEO emphasised that the US-Japan industrial partnership is operating within a long-term investment framework.
China's state broadcaster CCTV has aired footage of hypersonic missile launches. According to SCMP, analysts read the release as a signal designed to strengthen deterrence across the first island chain.