China

China has opted out of the "Blueprint for Action" agreement aimed at preventing artificial intelligence (AI) from controlling nuclear weapons, an initiative adopted at the Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit in Seoul on Tuesday.

Over the years, NASA has sent a large number of animals into spacelike dogs, frogs, spiders, bunnies, and many others for scientific research. But this time, the Chinese space agency—not NASA—plans to launch "Monkeys" into orbit for academic study.

Following US tariffs on China, Google faces an antitrust probe in China. This escalation in trade tensions between the two nations could significantly impact global commerce and economic stability.

Fast-spreading Omicron poses a new problem, with two cases in Anyang, a recently locked-down city in Henan province, linked to a growing illness cluster in Tianjin, 400 kilometres (250 miles) distant.

Parent company Alphabet Inc has reportedly invited bids from manufacturers to make between 500,000 and 1 million Pixel smartphones. This move comes following disruptions in China from COVID-19 lockdown and the country’s rising tensions with the United States.

Japan, which hosted the virus-affected Tokyo Olympics this year, is in a difficult situation as tensions rise between the United States and China are significant trading partners.

Several videos have been shared on social media with claims that hospitals in China are being overwhelmed due to rising infection cases. In a long Twitter thread, Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist warned of “thermonuclear bad” situation in China as infections grows rapidly across the country.

Despite the warning from China, Morrison has stated that Canberra will participate in the diplomatic boycott of the 2020 Winter Olympics.

Amid a massive surge in COVID cases, China's National Health Commission has now decided not to publish daily COVID data. Hospitals and morgues in China are fully packed as COVID cases are sweeping across the country with experts forecasting million to 2 million COVID deaths next year.The report said that China recorded 37 million COVID infections on Tuesday alone. However, the figure contradicted the official number of 3,049 new infections reported that day.

G20 meeting: China will skip the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar, saying that it is "firmly opposed” to holding such meetings in the "disputed territory".India has countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory.