- Reuters
UK actors and writers call out 'systemic racism' over Abbott treatment
Prominent Black Britons have criticised the opposition Labour Party's treatment of Britain's first Black woman lawmaker after a row over whether she could stand as a candidate overshadowed the election campaign. Diane Abbott, Britain's longest serving Black member of parliament who was first elected in 1987, had been suspended by the party for over a year after she said Jewish, Irish and Traveller people did not face racism all their lives. Abbott, who apologised for the remarks, was reinstated to the party this week but media reports have said she will be barred from running in her northeast London district in Britain's parliamentary election on July 4.
- South China Morning Post
China-US relations: defence ministers Dong and Austin hold 'positive, practical and constructive' meeting, says Beijing
The Chinese and US defence ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the first in-person meeting between ministers since 2022. Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's defence ministry, said the bilateral meeting between Dong Jun and Lloyd Austin was "positive, practical and constructive" communication at the strategic level. He said that during the meeting, the two exchanged views, including on relations between the two militar
- South China Morning Post
Electric vehicles: China's GAC Aion shifts up a gear in Hong Kong with ambitious sales target, new models in pipeline
Chinese state-owned carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) said it plans to intensify its push into Hong Kong's electric vehicle market by setting itself an ambitious target of 4,000 sales in the city by the end of this year. GAC Aion, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of GAC, the Chinese partner of Toyota and Honda, aims to meet this target by introducing more new-energy car models to the city's drivers later in the year, according to Coleman Cheung, general manager of Harmony Motor Aion in Hon
