Alibaba unveils its largest AI model yet, DeepSeek's latest model is ultra-low cost

China’s largest chipmaker CXMT plans second plant in Beijing, is in talks on funding, sources say

The move comes as CXMT seeks to boost production amid a global chip shortage.

F1 race in Malaysia: Country eyes a rise in tourists, increased business for small traders

The Grand Prix will also provide a boost to the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign.

Three lions die of heatstroke at Tokyo zoo

Autopsies revealed that all three suffered from dehydration and multiple organ failure.

BN, PN to begin talks soon on electoral pact for Melaka polls, following Negeri Sembilan victory

Analysts tell CNA that an early election will be in the interest of the two coalitions, following their recent success in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan polls.

South Korea’s military counter-intelligence command reform takes shape but concerns remain

Aim is to improve oversight and prevent abuse of power but critics say coordination may be tough.

Malaysia’s jazz queen Sheila Majid awarded Datuk Seri title

She was among 52 recipients of Pahang state honours and medals during the investiture ceremony.

China evacuates residents as heavy rains hit northwest, southwest

BEIJING, Aug 3 - China warned of risks from heavy downpours across multiple parts of the country on Monday, with storms concentrated in the northwestern Shaanxi and southwestern Sichuan provinces where residents have been evacuated from high-risk areas.

China evacuates residents as heavy downpours hit country’s north-west and south-west

Coastal areas in eastern China can expect the effects of Typhoon Dolphin later this week.

Court acquits former India wrestling chief of sexual harassment

The court found “inconsistencies” in witness statements, his lawyer said.

Survivors recall blasts before deadly Indonesian ferry fire

There were 236 people on board the vessel when it left Indonesia’s Surabaya for Makassar.

2 victims of Kumamoto mall explosion told by employer to return to store after evacuation

A total of seven people, including two Habita employees, were killed in the blast.

Kumamoto quake survivors offered hotel shelter as temperature in prefecture reach record 40 deg C

Officials are scrambling to improve living conditions for those displaced as punishing heat continues across the prefecture.

Two workers killed in blast after re-entering quake-hit Japan mall on boss' order

The two women's employer has apologised for sending them back to Aeon Mall to secure cash.

‘How can the United States possibly compete with China?’

Yes, China certainly seems daunting. Go there and take a look at massive modern factories operating 24/7, millions of industrial and domestic service robots, along with what look like never-ending shiny skyscrapers in Shenzhen, Shanghai and other cities. The sheer scale of it

Record heatwave spreads across Korean peninsula, prompting emergency response

The first-ever severe heatwave warning was issued for parts of Seoul on Monday, with South Korea's weather agency warning the heatwave was likely to persist.

Search continues for 28 still missing after ferry catches fire in Indonesia’s Madura island

Five people were confirmed dead and 238 have been rescued.

Aung San Suu Kyi appears healthy in first confirmed outside contact for 2.5 years

Photos newly released by Myanmar's military government show Suu Kyi meeting with an ICRC official.

Leaked exams, dashed dreams: Why India’s ‘cockroach’ youth turned on Modi

Complaints include widening economic inequality, high youth unemployment and an erosion of free speech rights.

Leaked exams, dashed dreams: Why India's ‘cockroach’ youth turned on Modi

SITAMARHI, India/NEW DELHI, Aug 3 - Ashok Kumar knows that Narendra Modi changed his life for the better.

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official, government says

The Myanmar government also released photographs of Aung San Suu Kyi, however, the location and date of the images have not been independently verified.

Not only Russian but also Ukrainian shipping getting hit

There are lots of reports of Ukrainian attacks on Russian shipping, but not so many about Russian attacks on Ukrainian ships. Over the last few months the Russians have been waging their own campaign to try and destroy shipping in and out of Ukrainian ports, which is vital to

Feeling lonely in Seoul? Try a convenience store for the mind

The project is open to any Seoul resident experiencing loneliness, including foreign residents.

China warns of crop risks as heat sweeps agricultural regions

Scorching heat is also set to take hold in Xinjiang, where almost all of the country’s cotton is grown.

Foreign tourists’ spending in South Korea surges with medical travel boom

Foreign tourist spending is spreading beyond traditional destinations, data suggested.

'Your legacy will live forever': Nepal mourns climber Nirmal Purja

Tributes are pouring out across Nepal after an avalanche killed some of the country's best mountaineers.

Fourteen dead, thousands displaced as rains, floods strike southern India

KOCHI, India, Aug 3 - Heavy rains and floods battered parts of southern India over the weekend, killing at least 11 and displacing thousands in the state of Kerala, and setting off a landslide that killed at least three in neighbouring Karnataka, authorities and news reports

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official

She met Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the ICRC to Myanmar, in Naypyitaw, a spokeswoman said.

Myanmar says detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Red Cross official

She met with Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the ICRC to Myanmar, in Naypyitaw, a spokeswoman said.

Commentary: With PH’s Negeri Sembilan defeat, PM Anwar is running out of states and time

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition losing in the latest state polls is not an isolated incident. It is the third and most devastating strike in a series that has transformed the political map of Malaysia, writes CNA’s Leslie Lopez.

Malaysia’s Sarawak grapples with rising crocodile encounters

Crocodile attacks have caused 22 deaths between 2023 and 2025, and five fatalities so far in 2026.

Malaysia's Sarawak grapples with rising crocodile encounters

SARAWAK, Malaysia, August 3 - Villagers in one indigenous community in Malaysia's Sarawak state once lived by an unspoken rule: leave the crocodile be, and it will leave you alone in turn.

Millions of Thais banish the booze for Buddhist Lent

Hundreds pledged abstinence from alcohol in a campaign blending public health with spirituality.

Australia confirms first mass-mortality event from H5 bird flu in native seabirds

The virus has killed hundreds of millions of birds and mammals in recent years.

Diamond buyers are freaking out in Vietnam after gem scandal

The authorities are still investigating how widely the smuggled stones have spread through the market.

Two people hospitalised after building collapse in Sydney

Footage showed the collapsed wall of a large building in Ultimo, near the city’s CBD.

The hidden dangers behind India’s viral ‘snowy’ tourist spot

A 350-acre white expanse of marble waste in Kishangarh, western India, has become an unlikely tourist destination.

Taiwan minister says close ties with US Pacific Command boost defence readiness

The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier.

Trial begins of former Australian radio host Alan Jones over alleged sexual assaults

SYDNEY, Aug 3 - Former Australian radio host Alan Jones arrived at a Sydney court on Monday as his high-profile trial opened on charges that he indecently assaulted and sexually touched six men.

US and Japan take action to prop up yen in rare joint move

Both countries have said that they will not hesitate to conduct joint interventions in the future.

Young South Koreans look for jobs in Japan as they struggle to find work at home

South Korea’s youth unemployment rate stood at 7 per cent in June.

Will Israel build a stealth fighter jet?

A senior Israeli official, likely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently briefed the ​Israeli press​ delegation that traveled to Washington​ with him for his White House visit regarding plans ​for Israel to build a domestic stealth fighter plane and an accompanying

Malaysian boy on trial for allegedly murdering girl in school

The high-profile case has shocked Malaysia and sparked debate about the effect of social media on children.

Russia making kids in occupied Ukraine frontline cannon fodder

When we were asked to investigate Russia’s indoctrination and militarization of children living in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow since 2014, we had a general idea of the Kremlin’s occupation policies. Two of us grew up in what was then Soviet-occupied Latvia and

'What was my fault?': How India's exam paper leak ended young lives

Two families reveal the human toll of India's medical entrance examination paper leak.

They call Greenland home - how Southeast Asians are building new lives in the Arctic

Greenland's labour shortages have created an unlikely migration corridor from Southeast Asia. In part two of this series, CNA looks at how Filipinos and Thais have become the island's largest communities.