Passengers on board an Air China flight became panicked after a power bank caught fire in an overhead compartment.

A bit like Hong Kong on steroids, its dizzying architecture, neon lights and ‘cyberpunk’ vibe have made it a must-see destination for Chinese and international tourists alike.

Casinos were set up to take advantage of demand for gambling, which is illegal in China and many neighbouring countries.

The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge has reduced travel time for locals from two hours to two minutes.

President Donald Trump signed the TikTok deal after a ‘good talk’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

More than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards were seized to stop the imminent threat.

As many as 400,000 people are being evacuated from parts of China over a powerful typhoon that has slammed into the Philippines and Taiwan.

Schools and businesses have shut down, most flights have been grounded, and supermarket shelves are being emptied amid Super Typhoon Ragasa, which has already recorded wind speeds of about 137 mph.

Tens of millions of residents could be impacted as Ragasa is set to pass south of the major cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, before making landfall again in the mainland Guangdong Province.

Entire megacities have been brought to a standstill as authorities issued dual red alerts for storm surges and high waves, warning that Guangdong will be hit by waves as high as 23 feet.

Guangzhou – a city of 18.6 million people – may issue its highest red alert today.

And in Shenzhen – home to another 17.5 million – officials are preparing to relocate almost half a million residents from low-lying and coastal areas.

The National Meteorological Center said Ragasa would make landfall in the coastal area between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang cities between midday and evening on Wednesday.

What is the aftermath in the Philippines and Taiwan?

In the Philippines, at least three people have died and five others are still missing after Ragasa made landfall on Monday.

More than 17,500 people have since been displaced amid flooding and landslides set off by the most powerful storm to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year.

One of the victims is a 74-year-old man, who died while being brought to a hospital.

He had been pinned in one of four vehicles that were partly buried by mud, rocks and trees that cascaded down a mountainside onto a road in the mountain town of Tuba in Benguet province, officials said.

Two other villagers died in the storm, including a resident in Calayan town.

Ragasa prompted the Philippine government on Monday to close schools and government offices in the densely populated capital region and 29 northern provinces.

Fishing boats and ferries were prohibited from venturing into very rough seas and domestic flights were cancelled.

In Taiwan, at least six people were injured and more than 7,000 residents were evacuated as the typhoon swept south of the island.

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She was jailed in 2020 for her coverage of the pandemic.

If you don’t want to watch an advert, you can pay 0.5 RMB – about 5p – to skip the ads.

That’s almost certainly not what happened, but there’s no official answer yet.

That’s almost certainly not what happened, but there’s no official answer yet.

Britain’s second largest supermarket has revealed it is in talks with Jingdong, which trades as JD.com.

He starred in drama Eternal Love, which had around 50 billion views.

There are numerous scientists ‘working on developing technologies for whole-body transplantation’, it’s been claimed.

‘I thought it was very, very impressive, but I understood the reason they were doing it.’

While Xi and Putin blabbered about immortality, Kim appeared to be smiling and enjoying the parade.

Kim Jong-un’s daughter – often seen as the frontrunner to become North Korea’s next leader – has made her international debut.

The dictator and his daughter Kim Ju-ae arrived in China’s capital of Beijing last night for the military parade in Tienanmen Square today.

Her presence is a big deal – considering that until three years ago, she had not been publicly introduced.

But the North Korean leader may be looking to present the teenager to his allies as his successor for when he eventually decides to step down.

After the special train carrying ​Kim’s entourage pulled into Beijing Railway Station,​ Ju-ae stood close to him as he was greeted by Chinese officials​, according to photos released by North Korean state media.

It is the first known international appearance by the girl, who has attended multiple weapons tests in North Korea alongside her father.

In fact, Ju-ae was first introduced into the world when she accompanied him to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But it was the former American NBA star Dennis Rodman who first slipped up about her existence after travelling to the recluse nation.

According to Rodman, during his 2013 visit to Pyongyang, Kim introduced him to his wife Ri Sol Ju and a baby girl, saying ‘that’s my daughter.’

State media have never identified her by name, but South Korean intelligence says she is Ju-ae, the daughter of Kim and his wife, who they believe married in 2009.

In recent years, North Korean state media have referred to her as the ‘the beloved child,’ or ‘the esteemed child’.

Also in state media, North Korean adults have been shown bowing deeply before her.

At recent public appearances, she has often walked ahead of both her aunt – powerful regime spokeswoman Kim Yo Jong – and mother, linking arms with her father, whispering to him, and holding hands.

South Korean analysts have said that Kim appears to be grooming her as an heir.

But others disagree, citing his relative young age – just 41 – and the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea’s power hierarchy.

Since its foundation in 1948, the country has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family: Kim’s father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung.

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Kim Jong-un’s paranoia was on full display after a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of China’s World War II military parade.

Even surrounded by allies, like the Russian president, North Korea’s leader is going to extraordinary lengths to protect himself while travelling abroad.

Footage shared on a Russian Telegram channel showed staff ‘destroying’ all traces that the dictator had attended the bilateral talks in Beijing. 

They were seen taking away the glass he drank from and vigorously wiping down his seat and every part of furniture he had touched with wet wipes.

The most colourful explanation to the weird behaviour is Kim’s persecution complex.

Whatever the exact reason, the leader has long feared high-ranking traitors and defectors, and has faced multiple assassination plots – one allegedly organised by the CIA.

Less than a year ago, in October, the South Korean National Intelligence Service told parliament that Kim’s security detail had expanded its efforts to protect him, including by using communication-jamming devices and drone detection equipment.

The spy agency did not cite a specific threat against Kim – but noted that despite threats to his safety, he has been making more frequent public appearances.

In his own country, his appearances are normally carefully managed, with any foreigners present forced to go through hours-long security checks beforehand.

The exact security operation around Kim’s trip to Beijing remains veiled, but it is expected that he is flanked by security at all times.

Joined by Putin, he travelled from a formal reception to the negotiations in the same car, the Kremlin said in a post on social media.

After a bilateral meeting between Russian and North Korean delegations, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting. 

Putin also invited Kim to visit Russia again, following on from the North Korean leader’s last visit to the country in 2023.

Speaking in front of journalists as the talks began, Putin praised the bravery and heroism of North Korean soldiers who fought alongside his own troops to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last year.

It has also sent large quantities of military equipment, including ballistic missiles and artillery, to help fuel Putin’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.

In his opening remarks, Kim said that cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has ‘significantly strengthened’ since the two countries signed a strategic partnership pact in June last year during a summit in the North Korean capital.

Although he did not specifically mention the war, Kim stressed that ‘if there is anything I can do for you and the people of Russia, if there is more that needs to be done, I will consider it as a fraternal duty, an obligation that we surely need to bear, and will be prepared to do everything possible to help.’

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New nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), giant underwater drones and laser weapons have been unveiled in China’s military parade today in a show of strength against the West.

China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un grinned as the weapons were being displayed during the commemoration of the end of World War II in Beijing.

This is the Chinese leader’s third parade on Tienanmen Square – equaling the total of his three immediate predecessors – so he has proven that he knows how to throw on a good spectacle for other authoritarians.

Much of the weaponry and equipment in the parade is being shown to the public for the first time, according to Chinese media.

One of them is the DF-5C, a new variant of the Dongfeng-5 nuclear ICBM, which is carrying as many as 12 warheads.

It is a two-stage missile that uses liquid fuel, which means its trajectory is propelled by two consecutive rocket stages, each with its own engine.

The missile is capable of striking targets across the globe, including the Western Europe and mainland America.

Hypersonic anti-ship missiles – which China has previously tested against mock-ups of US aircraft carriers – were also paraded.

Those included the Yingji-19, Yingji-17 and Yingji-20.

Multiple other cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles – some equipped with ‘all-weather combat capabilities’ – were shown off as well.

The parade featured drones that can operate underwater and in the air, as well as unmanned helicopters designed to be launched from ships.

The AJX002 underwater drone was a standout.

With a long, black tube-shaped craft, it looks like a narrow submarine with a rear propeller.

The sea-based systems included submarines, surface vessels and a mine-laying system.

Another anticipated weapon was also unveiled – the LY-1 laser, which was mounted on top of an eight-wheeler HZ-155 armoured truck.

As Metro reported yesterday, this is billed to be the ‘world’s most powerful laser defence system’.

Marching in the parade were the traditional People’s Liberation Army (PLA) units from the navy and army, but also new ones like the cyberspace unit.

The new unit is in charge of cybersecurity defense measures, according to the official Xinhua news agency, and also participated in live-fire drills.

Another debut was the information support force, created in 2024 to build network information systems to support military combat readiness.

This is the first major military parade in the People’s Republic since 2019 on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China.

Yet, for many in the West, the defining image of the grand show of military might is not the parade of nuclear missiles, stealth fighter jets, or drones.

It is the sight of Xi, Putin and Kim standing side by side, smiling and joking in an unprecedented show of solidarity against the West.

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Rehearsals for the event in Beijing showed the new weapon mounted on an eight-wheeled truck (Picture: X)

A new weapon dubbed ‘the most powerful laser air defence system in the world’ is expected to be unveiled in China tomorrow…

Big smiles, hearty laughs, warm hugs…

The atmosphere at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China feels more like a school reunion, where old classmates compare how much weight they have put on.

Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi – who represent the top three largest powers not aligned with the West – are shown joking like friends as they greet each other at the event earlier today.

It starts with Russia’s president and India’s prime minister holding hands and walking into a meeting hall filled with other world leaders. 

They head straight for China’s president Xi Jinping, enthusiastically shake hands and form a close circle.

In his remarks to open the talks, Modi then describes the partnership with Russia as ‘special and privileged.’ 

And Putin them addresses Modi as a ‘dear friend’ and hails Russia’s ties with India as special, friendly and trusting.

As intended, this anti-Western coalition – dubbed the ‘axis of upheaval’ – appears united to offer an alternative world order, challenging the US.

Keir Giles, a leading analyst on European defence and Russia at Chatham House in London, told Metro that the relationships on display are ‘a visual reminder of the way alliances have formed in the global confrontation.’

He added: ‘The coalition that stands against the liberal democracies has a mutual understanding, which is far more developed and purposeful than that of the group of Western democracies, which are still floundering on how to defend themselves.

‘To some extent, it does represent a broad consensus about how the world should be run – and it is a very different consensus to the one that prevails in Europe and in other Western democracies.’

What Giles thought was ‘most disturbing’ is the way this close relationship on display between Russia and China was ‘mimicked’ by Donald Trump during the summit in Alaska earlier in August.

He explained: ‘Trump also welcomed Putin as though he was greeting an overlord rather than dealing with a pariah state that is vastly weaker that his own.

‘The Alaska Summit is a confirmation that the US’ place in the coalition of democracies is no longer assured.

‘The way in which the US has been so eager to pursue Russia’s desired policies with regards to Ukraine and elsewhere is not a surprise, but still seems to shock to Europe and other democracies around the world.’

The SCO, set up in 2001, is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, set up in 1996.

It now also includes India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus and Uzbekistan. It is aimed at strengthening relations among member states and promoting cooperation in political affairs, economics, and trade.

Xi told the SCO leaders that the global international situation is becoming more ‘chaotic and intertwined’.

The Chinese leader also slammed the ‘bullying behaviour’ from certain countries – a veiled reference to the US.

He added: ‘The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging.

‘With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit…and better perform the functions of the organisation.’

Putin used his speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine, blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half year war.

He warned: ‘This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West.

‘The second reason for the crisis is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into Nato.’

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The country is reportedly considering asking another country to take over the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

It’s the latest in a string of bridge collapses in China.

It’s the latest in a string of bridge collapses in China.

The country is reportedly considering asking another country to take over the 2029 Asian Winter Games.