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More than 100,000 people in Japan are now aged 100 or older
The number of centenarians in Japan has passed 100,000 for the first time, with health ministry figures showing 107,677 people aged 100 or older, the highest total of any country. Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno welcomed the milestone as evidence of longer, healthier lives thanks to medical and technological progress, but cautioned that it adds to…
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China’s spy chief warns AI could bring an end to Communist party rule
China’s Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, has issued a stark warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious threat to national security and could ultimately endanger Communist Party rule. In an article for state-run magazine China Cyberspace, he accused “hostile forces” of using generative AI to spread political rumours and wage “cognitive warfare” against China,…
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‘We were bored of traditional fantasy cliches’: inside Playground Games’ 10-year effort to revive Fable
Playground Games, the Leamington Spa studio behind the Forza Horizon series, is reviving the beloved British RPG franchise Fable after a decade in limbo, following Microsoft’s 2016 closure of original creator Lionhead Studios. The project matters because Fable was a cherished blend of quintessentially British comedy and fantasy, celebrated for its droll writing and world-altering…
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Greens leader Zack Polanski releases campaign video in Urdu to target Pakistani voters as he takes on Labour for Keir Starmer’s former Commons seat
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has released a campaign video entirely in Urdu ahead of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October, prompting criticism from Conservative figures who argue politicians should campaign only in English. The by-election, triggered by Sir Keir Starmer standing down from his former Commons seat, is seen as a…
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A surveillance network facility that was ‘barely an island’ before China’s transformation: CATHERINE BARNWELL reveals the artificial islands being bolstered
Catherine Barnwell examines how China has transformed a once-tiny outcrop, described as “barely an island” before development began, into a fortified surveillance and military facility as part of its broader build-up in contested waters. The artificial island forms part of a wider network China has constructed to extend its reach and monitoring capabilities across the…
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The latest AI doomsayer is China’s intelligence boss
China’s Minister for State Security, Chen Yixin, has publicly warned that artificial intelligence poses risks to the Communist Party’s grip on national security and social governance, in an article for China Cyberspace Magazine. He frames AI as the central arena of great-power competition, citing fears that foreign AI tools could be weaponised to exploit software…
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Mehreen Faruqi reveals she learned a hard life lesson about corruption after leaving Pakistan for Australia
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has spoken about emigrating from Pakistan to Australia in 1992 to escape rising corruption, only to find that her adopted country had its own problems with political integrity. Speaking on ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb, she recalled that within her first year in the New South Wales Parliament, 11…
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China tightens travel restrictions for citizens
China has introduced sweeping new rules restricting overseas and outbound travel for its citizens, a move critics say hands Beijing even greater control over the population. Under the regulations, people deemed to have “harmed” national security or interests while abroad can be barred from leaving China for up to three years, with the rules also…
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Suspended UK physio opens Indian clinic after drink-drive conviction
A physiotherapist who was convicted of drink-driving while more than three times the legal alcohol limit has been suspended from practising in the UK, but has since launched a new clinic in India, where he says such offences are not taken as seriously. Bijoy Bridewin Thomas, 45, told a misconduct panel he “did not think…