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Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong has said that Beijing "firmly opposes" Washington's steep tariffs on Delhi and called for greater co-operation between India and China, BBC reported.

Xu likened the US to a "bully", saying that it had long benefitted from free trade but was now using tariffs as a "bargaining chip" to demand "exorbitant prices" from other nations.

"US has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on India and even threatened for more. China firmly opposes it. Silence only emboldens the bully," Xu said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 25% penalty on India in addition to 25% tariffs for buying oil and weapons from Russia. The new rate will come into effect on 27 August, according to BBC.

ChatGPT parent OpenAI will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers, Reuters reported.

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has been established as a legal entity in India and has begun hiring a local team, the company said in a statement shared with Reuters on Friday.

India is a critical market for ChatGPT, where it launched its cheapest yet monthly plan at $4.60 just this week, targeting the nearly one billion internet users in the world's most populous nation, according to Reuters.

A Bangkok court has acquitted controversial billionaire and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accused of insulting the monarchy, BBC reported.

The lese majeste charge relates to an interview Thaksin gave to a South Korean newspaper ten years ago. He would have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Thailand's lese majeste law forbids anyone from defaming or threatening the royal family. But critics say lawmakers often use it to target activists and political opponents.

The verdict comes as Thaksin's daughter, suspended PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, faces a court case that may see her removed from office. The cases have been seen as a big blow to the Shinawatras, who have dominated Thai politics for decades, according to BBC.

The U.S. Supreme Court let President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday proceed with sweeping cuts to National Institutes of Health grants for research related to racial minorities or LGBT people, part of his crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and transgender identity, Reuters reported.

The justices, in a 5-4 decision, granted the Justice Department's request to lift Boston-based U.S. District Judge William Young's decision in June that the grant terminations violated federal law, while a legal challenge brought by researchers and 16 U.S. states plays out in a lower court.

In a brief order, the majority suggested the challenge to the terminations should have been brought in a different judicial body, the Washington-based Court of Federal Claims, which specializes in money damages claims against the U.S. government. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberal justices dissenting from the decision, according to Reuters.