Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Tanker involved in incident with military forces in Gulf of Oman, UKMTO says
A tanker was involved in an incident with military forces in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.
UKMTO said authorities were aware of the incident and investigations were underway. A map accompanying the advisory placed it south of Gwadar, Pakistan.
No details were immediately available about the tanker, the military forces involved or the nature of the incident.
UKMTO ADVISORY 109-26
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) August 11, 2026
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AstraZeneca partners with CSPC to build Chinese biologics manufacturing plant
News of the joint venture comes months after AstraZeneca vowed to spend $15 billion in China by the end of the decade.
AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceutical have formed a joint venture to build a biologics manufacturing plant in China. The new deal adds to multiple deals already struck between the two companies and is part of AstraZeneca’s broader, long-running interest in China.
In January, the drugmaker committed to spending $15 billion in the country by the end of the decade.
Under the terms of the new collaboration, CSPC and AstraZeneca will contribute capital at an equity ratio of 51% and 49%, respectively, to finance construction of the site in Shijiazhuang, China. The city, which is 165 miles southwest of Beijing, is home to CSPC’s headquarters.
CSPC and AstraZeneca will jointly manage the site’s construction and day-to-day operations, leveraging their respective expertise. AstraZeneca is bringing its global quality system and supply management experience to the project, while CSPC highlighted its experience in building “highly automated, intelligent and lean manufacturing facilities.”
The partners will focus initially on manufacturing and supplying mutually agreed, undisclosed biologic drug substances for global markets. CSPC and AstraZeneca plan to explore adding more products to the facility’s scope of operations as the business develops, production capacity scales up and commercial demand grows.
Working with AstraZeneca will support the creation of high-quality manufacturing capabilities that meet the demands of the international market, CSPC said. The Chinese drugmaker framed the partnership as a way to enhance its ability to serve global markets and lay the foundations for launching more products overseas.
The partnership adds another element to AstraZeneca’s multifaceted relationship with CSPC. In 2024, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker paid CSPC $100 million upfront for rights to a preclinical lipid-lowering drug candidate.
Since then, AstraZeneca has returned to CSPC repeatedly to build out its R&D pipeline. Having paid CSPC $110 million to form an AI drug development pact in 2025, AstraZeneca has upped the pace in 2026 by paying $1.2 billion upfront for a GLP-1/GIP prospect and handing over $30 million to start collaborating on kidney diseases.
Beyond R&D, AstraZeneca is turning to China to up its manufacturing presence. In addition to funding to the new CSPC-partnered facility, part of AstraZeneca’s promised $15 billion investment in China will go toward developing its existing production plants in China, including those in Wuxi, Taizhou and Beijing.
AstraZeneca also bolstered its manufacturing presence in Beijing last year through an alliance with BioKangtai to set up its first vaccine manufacturing facility in the country. Months later, AstraZeneca outlined plans to invest an additional $136 million in a plant in Qingdao that makes inhaled medicines.
Moreover, AstraZeneca in March shared details of a cell therapy manufacturing center it is building in Shanghai. The facility is intended to establish AstraZeneca as the first Western drugmaker with end-to-end cell therapy capabilities in China.
Syrian court sentences Assad to death in absence
A Syrian court convicted former President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death. Assad came to power in 2000 but fled Syria to settle in Russia in December 2024, when his regime collapsed in a rebel uprising.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan also convicted Assad of premeditated murder, torture and arbitrary detention. His brother Maher al-Assad and cousin Najib Atif were also sentenced to death.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Syrian-court-sentences-Assad-to-death-in-absence/66895183
Trump: Jihadists to run US if we lose midterms
United States President Donald Trump said that if the Democrats win the mid-term election in November, the country will be run by "jihadists."
"They will immediately open the borders, they'll allow men into women's sports ... All of these things will come back, and they'll come roaring back. Plus, you'll have a jihadist-run country," Trump told Wayne Allyn Root in an interview after being asked about what would happen in Democrats win. "Look at what's happening in Michigan, look at what's happening at so many places," he added, referring to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed who recently won the nomination for the US Senate in Michigan primary.
The US president reiterated that the most important thing that would help the Republicans win the midterms is "good politics" and the US Senate passing the SAVE America Act.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Trump:-Jihadists-to-run-US-if-we-lose-midterms/66894977
Tusk: Poland to host top Apache service hub
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Europe's largest service center for AH-64E Apache helicopters will be built in Poland following the signing of executive agreements.
"Executive agreements signed - Europe's largest Apache AH-64E helicopter service center to be built in Poland! Modern weaponry, Polish technologies. This is how security is built!" Tusk wrote on X.
The agreements were signed by Boeing, Military Aviation Works No. 1, and the Military Central Design and Technology Bureau. The center will be able to service at least 96 helicopters, matching the number of Apaches Poland agreed to purchase from the United States in 2024 for around $10 billion.