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AdvertisementScienceChinaScienceWu Yiquan: the Chinese AI researcher scoring big on the basketball courtBrains and brawn: university assistant professor turns heads with his slam dunks
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPHolly ChikPublished: 6:00am, 29 Jul 2025Amid China’s tech revolution, a new kind of multidisciplinary star is emerging – one who dominates both coding and sport.AdvertisementWu Yiquan, an artificial intelligence (AI) scientist pioneering legal large language models by day, is also making headlines as a rising provincial basketball sensation.Wu, an assistant professor at the Zhejiang University law school, specialises in developing and training legal large language models for applications in education and research.The 1.8m-tall (5 feet 9 inches) star caught media attention after he scored 22 as the defender for the West Lake team in a Zhejiang Provincial City Basketball League qualifier match on July 17.
In an interview with Henan-based news site Daxiang News on..

AdvertisementClimate changeOpinionWorld OpinionKalinga SeneviratneOpinion | World Court’s ruling opens the door wider for climate justiceThe court’s decision could result in legal action against countries that fail to honour their climate commitments
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPKalinga SeneviratnePublished: 5:30am, 29 Jul 2025In a unanimous decision, a 15-member bench of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in the Netherlands ruled on July 23 that government failures to protect vulnerable populations and ecosystems from climate change could amount to breaches of international law. The court’s non-binding ruling, which says that countries must comply with climate treaties, has been hailed as a great victory for youth activism from small island nations facing the brunt of the climate crisis.AdvertisementThe triumph at the ICJ is the culmination of a unique university project started by a group of law students at the University of the South Pacific’s law s..

Sean Feuch (Picture: Instagram) US singer Sean Feucht’s permit to hold a concert at the York Redoubt National Historic Site in Halifax was cancelled this week by Parks Canada. Officials cited safety concerns following public backlash against his anti-2SLGBTQ+, anti-women’s rights, and anti-diversity remarks on social media. Feucht, a religious performer with links to the MAGA movement, was scheduled to perform on Wednesday. His permits for other events in Charlottetown (P.E.I.), Moncton (New Brunswick), and some parts of Quebec were also revoked soon after.MAGA movement rising star and Christian rocker Sean Feucht’s Halifax show faces backlash Feucht later performed at a private venue in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, hosted by pastors Christine and Neil Barr. They said they faced hundreds of hate messages and some protests but went ahead with the show.”A lot of very hateful emails, texts to say that we were allowing a fascist on our property and that we should know better and the Christia..

Representational image Prince Harry has agreed to share his official diary with the royal family to avoid clashes in public appearances and ease ongoing tensions. The move comes after his recent trip to Angola made headlines for revisiting princess Diana’s iconic anti-landmine walk, on the same day Queen Camilla's 78th birthday portrait was released. Harry’s photos reportedly overshadowed the coverage of the Queen’s milestone, which did not go down well with the palace. According to The Mail, Harry is now open to “deconflicting” his schedule with other senior royals, including Prince William’s team at Kensington palace. Their PR teams have reportedly kept in touch since private talks began earlier this year. In fact, aides from both camps were seen meeting at a London members club earlier this month.Harry's olive branch
Harry is also quietly pushing for a more personal reconnection with his father. According to royal expert Hilary Fordwich, King Charles remains “cautious and ..

AdvertisementUS-China relationsEconomyChina EconomyExclusive | Yuen Yuen Ang on how China can turn ‘polycrisis’ into ‘polytunity’The Johns Hopkins professor of political economy says Beijing’s ‘directed improvisation’ remains essential at a time when innovation is king
Reading Time:14 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAlice LiPublished: 6:00am, 28 Jul 2025Updated: 6:32am, 28 Jul 2025Yuen Yuen Ang is the Alfred Chandler Chair Professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University. She is an influential scholar, writing extensively on China’s political and economic trajectory, its international relations and its adaptive development in a fragmented, unpredictable world. Originally from Singapore, her award-winning work includes the books How China Escaped the Poverty Trap and China’s Gilded Age.
AdvertisementThis interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.As a professor based in the United States, do you think there is a general de..