Le Journal

In a historic blow to its space programme, China suffered two rocket launch failures in a single day for the first time over the weekend. While Saturday’s failed launches gained immediate attention on social media, with some describing the day as “Black Saturday”, space observers said the setbacks were part of the growing pains the country’s rapidly developing aerospace industry would inevitably experience. They also drew parallels with similar problems Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX had experienced,...

The first impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr was filed on Monday, a move observers said may be aimed as much at pre-empting stronger challenges as at holding the president to account. Filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus, the complaint accuses Marcos of constitutional violations, corruption and betrayal of public trust, citing alleged failures to veto unconstitutional budget provisions and address anomalous flood-control projects. However, several political figures...

China has proposed to host the secretariat of a new treaty governing the high seas, in what observers say is the latest effort by Beijing to proactively play a bigger role in shaping international rules of order. Days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull the US from 66 international organisations, including United Nations commissions and major bodies set up to tackle climate change, China has bid for Xiamen in Fujian province – a coastal hub that sits on the Taiwan...

The shortages and associated price increase in the global memory chip sector could potentially intensify, as the US government threatened to impose hefty new tariffs on some major foreign manufacturers. Speaking at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for Micron Technology’s US$100 billion factory in New York, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned that memory chipmakers – without naming any company – had two options: “They can pay 100 per cent tariff, or they can build in America.” He pointed...