Top News
Poland, NATO pilots shoot down Russian drones in Polish airspace
Poland and NATO pilots shot down at least four of 19 Russian drones in Polish airspace that occurred during a wider Russian attack on Ukraine, the first time NATO has fired weapons since the start of the Ukraine war more than three years ago. At one point during the operations, Warsaw International and three other airports were closed for several hours. It isn't clear if the drones were a mission gone wrong or intended. Polish President Donald Tusk said the drones came from Russian ally Belarus and were an "act of aggression." Moscow called the Polish claims "groundless." Nobody was apparently hurt in the strikes. Western military Analysts questioned whether Russia was testing NATO defenses.
During the same day of Russian assaults, a Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern Ukraine, killing 24 pensioners lined up to collect their monthly checks. Nineteen people were injured.
Qatar reserves right to retaliate for Israel's attack in Doha, Israel shows no remorse
Qatar said it reserves the right to retaliate for the Israel strike on its capital Doha, aimed at killing Hamas leaders gathered there to consider the latest Qatari-brokered peace deal involving release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Six people were killed in the bombing attack but none were members of the Hamas negotiating team. Israel, despite global outrage at the attack, said if Hamas leaders weren't killed, they will be in the next attempt. The Trump administration, which counts Qatar as an ally in the region, said it was alerted to the strike too late to stop it and rebuked Israel. The UN Security Council has scheduled a meeting to discuss the attack, which some analysts say leaves peace efforts in tatters.
New French premier faces baptism by fire
Mass protests, called under the banner "Let's Block Everything." hit the streets of France as newly named Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu began his first day in office, faced with massive government debt and strident opposition to budget cuts from a fractured parliament. In the early hours of the protests, largely aimed at President Emmanual Macron, 75 people were arrested amid a heavy police presence, particularly in Paris.
Trump says EU must join in any tariffs on nations buying Russian energy
US President Donald Trump revived earlier threats of imposing up to 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas as a means of trying to force Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, but he now says the EU would have to impose similar levies to effectively turn up heat on the Kremlin. China and India are the two biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas. Trump, who claims those purchases help finance the war, has already slapped a special 25 percent tariff on India related to its oil purchases. China has thus far been spared any punitive tariff.
Top Business
Oracle shares skyrocket on AI, Ellison nears Musk as world's richest man
Shares in US technology titan Oracle surged 36 percent to close at a record US$328.33 in New York on Wednesday after the company revealed it has signed four multibillion-dollar AI contracts and predicted its cloud business will grow 77 percent to US$18 billion in its current fiscal year. The skyrocketing market cap of the company catapulted Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison to close in on Tesla's Elon Musk as the world's richest man.
Tesla loses share of China electric-car market for sixth month
Tesla is continuing to lose ground in China's electric car market amid rising competition from cheaper vehicles from domestic vehicle makers like BYD and Xiaomi. The US company delivered 57,152 Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to customers in August, down almost 10 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Tesla's sixth month of slumping sales, despite some discounts and interest-free loans on offer, gave the company a 4.4 percent share of the 1.3 million electric vehicles sold on the mainland last month.
China cracks down on auto misinformation
China has launched a three-month campaign to tackle online misconduct in the auto industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. The initiative, backed by six government departments, targets illegal profiteering, exaggerated or false advertising, and malicious attacks against carmakers. Authorities said the move is meant to curb fabricated reviews, manipulated sales data, and smear campaigns fueled by "black PR" and AI-powered content farms. Platforms and carmakers will be required to conduct internal checks, while violators, including marketing agencies and fake accounts, face closure, fines, and public exposure. The action reflects Beijing's growing concern over chaotic online competition in the fast-expanding electric vehicle sector.
Business confidence of US firms in China mixed
US companies doing business in China have mixed confidence toward their business prospects in the next five years, with concerns about US-China trade tensions and fierce domestic competition weighing on their outlook, according to a newly released survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Some 41 percent of corporate respondents expressed optimism, while 37 percent said they were pessimistic or slightly pessimistic. The poll surveyed 254 member companies, including 86 per cent that have been in China for at least a decade, the South China Morning Post reported.
Economy & Markets
China consumer prices drop, factory-gate prices narrow decline
China's consumer prices in August fell 0.4 percent from a year earlier, unchanged from July. However, a year-on-year drop of 2.9 percent in producer prices eased from a 3.6 percent decline in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. Analyst said the slowing of factory-gate inflation follows government efforts to rein in various industry price wars. Food price in August fell 4.3 percent from the same period last year. Core inflation, which excluded volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.9 percent in August.
New futures products debut in Shanghai
A set of financial derivatives for printing paper-related products started trading on Wednesday at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, in a bid to facilitate the growth of China's cultural and printing industry. Futures of offset printing paper, together with options of fuel oil, petroleum asphalt and pulp were listed at 9am.
Futures of offset printing paper generated a transaction value of 3.70 billion yuan on Wednesday. Open interest stood at 2,900 contracts, resulting in a trading-to-open interest ratio of 7.42.
China veers to Brazil from US in soybean trade
US soybean farmers have lost billions of dollars in normal sales to China midway through the prime harvest season as Brazilian suppliers rush to fill a gap caused by US-China trade tensions. Chinese importers have booked about 95 percent of soybeans needed this year from Brazil and other Latin American countries, Reuters reported. China purchased US$13 billion of US soybeans in 2024. American farmers, usually a staunch bloc of Republican voters, have complained to Washington that President Donald Trump's trade war is severely impacting livelihoods.
Corporate
Alibaba unveils new Amap service to benefit tourists
Alibaba's navigation arm Amap launched Amap Street Stars, an AI-powered ranking system that synthesizes navigation patterns and authentic user reviews to rate local restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions. Amap will offer 1 billion yuan (US$140 million) in subsidies to support the program. It's a new round of competition in local services in China among firms like Alibaba and Meituan.
Meanwhile, Alibaba held a 36 percent of China's artificial intelligence cloud-services market in the first half, surpassing the combined shares of its closest rivals, ByteDance's Volcano Engine and Huawei Cloud, research firm Omdia said.
Cambricon receives green light for share placement
Chinese chip producer Cambricon has received approval from China's securities regulator to raise billion yuan (US$562 million) through a private placement of shares within the next 12 months. The sale proceeds would be used for software and a chip platform for AI large language models and for capital replenishment. Cambricon is a flagship share among Chinese listed AI shares, whose prise surpassed that of liquor maker Kweichow Moutai shortly.
Chi Forest debuts in the UK, lands on Tesco shelves
Chinese beverage giant Chi Forest has officially launched its products at 400 Tesco stores across the UK. This marks a significant milestone in the brand's global expansion, which now includes over 40 countries and regions.
UK shoppers can now find popular sparkling water flavors like white peach and lychee in the nation's largest supermarket chain. The move into the UK follows Chi Forest's successful entry into markets like Australia, Canada, the US and South Korea.
Xpeng opens first European research and development facility
China's Xpeng Motors opened its first European research center in Munich, taking the electric-car maker closer to the European market where it hopes to expand. Xpeng has nine global research and development hubs, including two in California.
ITB to take over idled Italian plant to make Chinese electric minicars
Italy's ITB Auto is poised to invest 100 million euros (US$117 million) to take over an idled auto-parts factory owned by Lear Corp in northern Italy to manufacture Chinese electric minicars. The Italian industry ministry said the plant, which has been hurt by the collapse of automobile production in Italy, will produce 20,000 minicars a year, Reuters reported. ITB expects to start production early in 2026.
Two Chinese medical device suppliers go bankrupt
Changzhou-based Dzhang Medical Device Co. and Kangyu Medical Device Co. have declared bankruptcy and cannot fulfill their supply contracts with Tianjin Medical Procurement Center under a government-led bulk-buying program, Caixin reported.