In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance.

President Donald Trump's administration warned on Tuesday the United States could impose fees or restrictions on European service providers in response to what it called “discriminatory” actions against US firms.

In a light-filled workshop in eastern China, a robotic arm moved a partially assembled autonomous vehicle as workers calibrated its cameras, typical of the incremental automation being adopted even across smaller factories in the world's manufacturing powerhouse.

The $120-million effort will link northern and southern Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville autonomous region with high-capacity cables, Peter Tsiamalili, PNG's acting minister for information and communications technology, said on Friday.

US consumer inflation slowed unexpectedly in November, delayed government data showed Thursday, although levels remained higher than earlier in the year before President Donald Trump's tariffs flowed through the economy.

The US president has imposed painful import tariffs on countries around the world in an attempt to boost his country's manufacturers and reduce its colossal trade deficit.

With the world’s attention turning increasingly toward South Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has launched a new master’s programme that studies a region at the centre of global conversation.

The world-first policy would ban imports into the EU of cocoa, palm oil and other commodities linked to forest destruction, requiring foreign exporters of these commodities to provide due diligence statements proving their products did not contribute to forest destruction.

Asian shares fell on Thursday as the tech sector took a beating on renewed angst about AI spending, while investors braced for a wave of central bank meetings set to underscore policy divergence worldwide.

Asian stocks tumbled while the dollar drifted near two-month lows on Tuesday as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of a slate of US data, including the jobs report, that may help gauge the trajectory for Federal Reserve policy next year.

While the move had been priced in for several weeks, investors were cheered by the fact that bank boss Jerome Powell was "less hawkish" in his post-meeting remarks.