Taiwan approves $7.6bn drone budget as China threat grows

Lawmakers in Taiwan have approved a $7.6Bn budget for locally made drones as the island seeks to strengthen its defences against a potential Chinese attack.

The government wants Taiwan to be able to produce enough drones on its own to repel a potential attack from China.

However, opposition lawmakers ignored pleas from Taiwanese President Lai Ching-Te to support a special budget for drones in a key vote on Thursday, backing their own alternative scheme instead.

Lai's cabinet wanted to spend up to 210 billion new Taiwan dollars through 2031 with a Standalone budget, emphasizing surveillance and attack drones, with the procurement led by the Ministry of National Defense.

Instead, the Legislature--led by the main opposition Kuomintang--passed a proposal to allocate NT $40 billion a year to drone development over six years as part of the general annual budget.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs will oversee the initiative. Still, in a significant reversal, the KMT changed its proposal and put the Defense Ministry in charge of military procurement.

The opposition voted through its own proposals, which amount to t $240 billion over six years, drawn from the annual budget, with annual spending set at t $40 billion in principle, though it can be increased if needed.

Reference Sources

1. bangkokpost - Taiwan approves $7.6bn drone budget as China threat grows
2. nikkei - Taiwan opposition blocks Lai's special drone budget, passes alternative
3. usnews - Taiwan Parliament Approves Military Drone Spending, but Rejects Special Budget
4. nikkei - Taiwan drone strategy caught in legislature's budget battles
5. hongkongfp - Taiwan lawmakers approve $7.6 bn drone budget as China threat grows

Magnitude-5 Quake Hits Tibet After Himalayan Flood Kills Hundreds 

Massive landslides and flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border have caused widespread destruction, killing hundreds of people and leaving more than 1,000 missing. Search-and-rescue operations are continuing following Wednesday’s disaster, with Chinese state media reporting significant casualties and Nepalese officials describing a “huge scale loss.” The danger has not passed: rising water has created a barrier lake along the border, raising fears that a breach could trigger another destructive flood.

Initial reports suggested that an earthquake had triggered a landslide and subsequent flooding. However, the U.S. Geological Survey said the seismic signal associated with the disaster was actually generated by a massive “glacial collapse,” in which part of a glacier disintegrated and crashed into the valley below. The impact was powerful enough to register as a magnitude-5.2 seismic event, while debris from the collapse caused catastrophic impacts downstream. Scientists are investigating whether the collapse or an associated landslide blocked a river, allowing water to build up behind a natural dam before bursting in a massive flood.

Separate earthquakes have since struck Tibet, although their epicentres were far from the flood-hit area. A magnitude-5.0 earthquake struck northern Tibet late Thursday at a depth of 10 km, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences, with its epicentre hundreds of miles north of the devastated Nepal-China border region. China’s earthquake authorities also reported a magnitude-4.7 quake in Nagqu, Tibet, on Wednesday. There is currently no indication that either earthquake caused Wednesday’s catastrophic flooding.

China has meanwhile activated a Level-IV emergency flood response in Tibet because of the risk that the barrier lake could breach. The Ministry of Water Resources has ordered local authorities to closely monitor the lake and rainfall and dispatched an expert team to Gyirong County, according to Xinhua. Scientists are also examining satellite imagery, glacial lakes, river blockages and rainfall data to reconstruct the disaster. Researchers say warming temperatures, accelerating glacier melt and thawing permafrost could increasingly destabilize Himalayan slopes, although the precise role of climate change in this event remains under investigation.

Reference Sources

1. BBC - What we know about deadly Nepal-Tibet floods
2. usnews - Magnitude 5 Earthquake Hits Tibet, Hundreds of Miles North of Himalayan Flood

Nvidia revenue more than doubles as it eyes 70% sales growth next year

Nvidia, the world's most valuable chip designer, reported that its quarterly sales had more than doubled to $96.2Bn, an increase of 16% compared to the same period last year, helping drive profits 126 per cent higher to $59.7Bn. Data centre revenue reached $89Bn, while the group guided for approximately $108Bn of revenue in the current quarter. Shares rose 8.74% in trading to close at $227.98 on Thursday, heading towards the $235 highs last seen in May.

The upbeat outlook rippled through global semiconductor markets, sending Ai-Linked stocks higher in Europe and China and offering fresh ammunition to bulls.

Reference Sources

1. cnbc - Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Nvidia, HP, Salesforce, Dollar General, Everpure & more
2. dailymail - Nvidia revenue more than doubles as it eyes 70% sales growth next year
3. cnbc - Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nvidia, Okta, Hormel, Veeva, HP, Celsius, Best Buy & more
4. thestarmy - Nvidia stock jumps after early dip following results; AI fever is unabated
5. thestarmy - Nvidia rises after signaling longer AI spending runway

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.  

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