A novel virus sweeping across China has inflicted its first casualty, suggesting the brand new bug could potentially rival its microbial cousin – SARS – in lethality. Health officials are now scrambling to combat the outbreak. The bug’s first fatality was reported in the city of Wuhan early on Saturday, by Chinese state media, which offered few details beyond the death itself. Unknown to science... 

China might soon shift the world naval balance and unseat the US as the modern master of the seas. The process appears to already be under way, and there is little that Washington can do about stopping it. Visibly shaken by what it has seen on a photo showing just one of China’s military shipyards near Shanghai, the business magazine Forbes recently told its readers an alarming story about the... 

Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death in a high treason case. The retired general was tried in absentia after leaving the country several years ago to undergo medical treatment. The special court in Islamabad backed capital punishment in a split 2-1 vote. Musharraf, who held the power in Pakistan for a decade, was accused of subverting the Pakistani constitution... 

Chinese tech giant Huawei has managed to narrow the market share gap with its South Korean rival, Samsung, inching closer to becoming the world’s largest smartphone-maker, despite its hurdles with the US. Samsung is poised to secure the leadership in the smartphone market this year, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics data cited by Yonhap. The South Korean firm is projected to ship... 

Authorities in China have begun using artificial intelligence to target groups of residents for arrest and detention. According to a report by the Daily Wire, a new trove of highly classified leaked documents from the Chinese communist government reveals how Beijing relies on algorithms to operate their concentration camps where they reportedly have millions of Muslims and other minorities detained: The... 

China’s scientific community has entered the conversation about the wave of fresh-faced, androgynous Chinese male stars known as “xiao xian rou,” or little fresh meat. Their conclusion after digging into this phenomenon? Blame the CIA. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which is the premier research institution for the social sciences under the Chinese State Council, released a report claiming... 

The Indian Army has warned its officers to stay away from Facebook and WhatsApp, arguing the popular US-based social media platforms are vulnerable to hacks and a “crucial source” for hostile intelligence-gathering. An army advisory strongly encourages soldiers, especially those holding “sensitive posts,” to avoid WhatsApp for any official communications and to consider deactivating their... 

Pollution in the Indian capital of New Delhi reached its highest level so far this year on Sunday, with the city declaring a public health emergency. The air quality index in the world’s most polluted city has registered a score of more than 900 – far beyond the score of 500, which qualifies as “severe-plus”. In comparison, the air quality level in London on Sunday topped out... 

Beijing has announced plans to develop 6G technology in the hope of cementing its supremacy in wireless connection amid a US-led crusade against Chinese companies over 5G networks. China’s Science and Technology Ministry has set up two teams to develop a 6G network. The first group links several government agencies, while the second one unites more than 30 experts from various universities, research... 

“We cannot live with this militant Communist superstate that takes the position that China is the world’s only sovereign state,” said Chang.” Scholar Gordon Chang warns that the United States must ultimately “disengage from China” on all fronts if it is to maintain its status as a global superpower or risk China’s massive potential to change the geopolitical structure of the world. Chang,... 

Hardline Islamist cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman has presented Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan with a two-day ultimatum, demanding his resignation and threatening continued demonstrations against the Khan government. Addressing a crowd of anti-government protesters in Islamabad on Friday – many from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Party – Rehman stated “the Gorbachev of Pakistan must go,” calling... 

Passengers leaped to their death, trying to escape the raging fire, which devoured several train cars in eastern Pakistan, killing at least 73 people. The packed train was traveling from Karachi to the city of Rawalpindi in eastern Punjab province when a gas cylinder blew up inside. The cylinder was booked by a group of passengers who were using it to boil eggs on a gas stove when the blast happened.... 

Countries who side with India in its standoff with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region face being at the receiving end of the Islamic Republic’s missiles, according to the country’s minister for Kashmir affairs. Speaking at a function on Monday, Minister Ali Amin Gandapur warned that Pakistan was willing to go to war over the contested territory. “If the tension with India escalates on... 

Chinese citizens have increased their consumption of dog meat due to the skyrocketing price of pork, SCMP reports. “Why not choose dog meat if you want some meat?” recommended a waiter in Wan’an county located within Jiangxi province. The price of pork in China has soared recently after a widespread outbreak of African swine fever resulted in the slaughter of millions of pigs – causing around... 

Scientists in Japan have discovered a new type of virus which could redefine our understanding of viruses and how they propagate and spread, all while sifting through pig feces. Unlike most other organisms which fall under the definition of ‘life,’ viruses have no cells: they are merely a particle of genetic material (RNA or DNA) within a protein shield that is capable of infecting a cell before...