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Chinese President Xi Jinping will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1. The high-profile meeting, the largest in the bloc’s history, is seen as a show of Global South solidarity amid tensions with Washington, according to Firstpost.

For Modi, it will be his first visit to China in over seven years, signaling a cautious thaw after the 2020 border clashes. Analysts expect India and China to explore steps such as troop withdrawals, easing trade restrictions, and wider cooperation.

While the SCO has struggled to deliver concrete results, the summit’s real impact lies in optics projecting an alternative vision of global order and renewed momentum in India-China dialogue, Firstpost reported.

The European Union on Tuesday defended its right to regulate economic activities, including measures affecting major technology companies, after US President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs and export restrictions against countries targeting American tech giants, according to Xinhua.

EU spokesperson Paula Pinho said such regulations are a sovereign right of the bloc and its member states, stressing they are grounded in democratic values. She clarified that the issue was not part of the EU’s recent framework agreement with Washington.

Tech spokesman Thomas Regnier added that the EU’s digital rules, including taxes and market regulations, apply broadly and are not aimed specifically at US firms, Xinhua reported.

Vietnam’s two largest cities, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, are witnessing a sharp rise in dengue fever cases. Ho Chi Minh City recorded more than 2,500 new infections between August 11 and 17, a 38 percent jump compared to the previous month’s average, according to local media. The city has reported over 26,000 cases so far this year—an increase of 220 percent from the same period in 2024—with 15 related deaths, Xinhua reported.

In Hanoi, 145 new cases were confirmed last week, with 59 wards affected and six outbreak clusters active. Health authorities have launched mosquito control campaigns, urged residents to eliminate breeding grounds, and are closely monitoring the potential spread of chikungunya, though no cases have been detected.

More than 1,000 supporters of Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe protested his arrest in Colombo on Tuesday ahead of a crucial hearing to decide whether to grant bail to the senior opposition politician accused of misusing public funds during his presidency, Associated Press reported.

Wickremesinghe, who was president from 2022 to 2024, was arrested last Friday over accusations of using public funds to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the United States in 2023. The court ordered him to be detained until Tuesday’s hearing. 

Wickremesinghe’s arrest has caused uproar with opposition lawmakers and politicians claiming it is a political witch hunt that undermines the country’s democracy.

On Tuesday, supporters and opposition activists gathered on the main streets leading to the Magistrates’ Court in protest, according to Associated Press.