Secular News

While many people in today’s China watch the state media CCTV’s gala show on the Lunar New Year Eve, about 1,000 years ago children took part in a special and playful routine to celebrate a festival called “selling ignorance”. Known in Chinese as mai meng dong or mai chi dai, the practice began during the North Song dynasty (960-1127), a period of advancing culture and economy. It involved groups of mischievous children running through streets after eating the New Year Eve dinner and shouting...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing cabinet approved measures making it easier for settlers to seize Palestinian land

Min Hee-jin has said she "can no longer bear to watch" the group get "torn apart".

Rookie Kon Knueppel becomes the fastest player to reach 200 three-pointers in NBA history as the Charlotte Hornets defeat the Chicago Bulls 131-99.

California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, published his memoir Tuesday in a step experts said was necessary before rolling out any future campaign.

South Korea unveiled an ambitious package of tourism measures on Wednesday, including looser visa rules, expanded regional airport routes and a crackdown on price gouging, as part of a government effort to attract 30 million inbound visitors. The plan, which includes granting visa-free entry to Indonesian travellers and expanding automated entry processing to nationals from European Union member states, was announced at the 11th National Tourism Strategy Meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Kim...

Trump used his speech to attack old foes and claim new successes

Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.

Por KIM TONG-HYUNG SEÚL, Corea del Sur (AP) — Los ejércitos de Estados Unidos y Corea del Sur anunciaron el miércoles que en marzo realizarán sus maniobras anuales de primavera para reforzar sus capacidades de defensa combinadas en un contexto de creciente estancamiento diplomático con Corea del Norte, que cuenta con armas nucleares. Los ejercicios […]

Police say it responded to an ‘alleged security incident’ but nothing suspicious was located in the search

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. EU bans Chinese organisations from critical tech programmes, including AI, chips Researchers in China have been excluded from the European Union’s most advanced collaborative technology programmes. However, specialists in the sectors affected say the impact of the ban may be limited because some areas of...

Xiaomi is doubling down on its five-year plan for core technologies including chips, artificial intelligence and operating systems, aiming to position itself as a deep-tech player amid China’s self-reliance push, while peers such as Li Auto and Xpeng accelerate moves into humanoid robotics. Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of the Beijing-based smartphone and electric vehicle giant, on Tuesday said private technology firms must deepen investment in core technologies and speed up the...