Police arrested Dang Ngoc Thao, the former head of PNJ Laboratory, over alleged involvement in a diamond-smuggling network spanning India, Hong Kong and Vietnam. PNJ said the allegations concern Thao personally and that no smuggled diamonds entered its retail network. The company’s shares have fallen more than 25% since the news emerged in early July, and VinaCapital-managed funds have sold out and exited the company’s major shareholders. Analysts said PNJ needs to rebuild confidence in its corporate governance or risk deeper business and financing pressure if the investigation expands.

Kuaishou Technology shares slid more than 6% in Tuesday morning trading after Tencent Holdings disclosed it had sold 273 million Class B shares. Tencent’s stake fell to 9.37% from 15.68%, meaning it is no longer a substantial shareholder, according to a Kuaishou filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. Based on Kuaishou’s Monday close of HK$46, the sale is expected to raise about HK$12.56 billion (US$1.6 billion). Kuaishou said the transaction would not have any material adverse effect on operations, and noted it has repurchased HK$8.35 billion of shares, or 52% of its HK$16 billion buyback plan.

Australia’s Lynas has signed a partnership agreement with South Korea’s JS Link to jointly develop a neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, with annual capacity of 3,000 tonnes. Under the deal, Lynas will supply rare earth materials to JS Link’s magnet factories in South Korea and Malaysia through January 2038. Lynas will invest about US$34.8 million by subscribing for JS Link shares.

Shanghai Biren Technology plans to raise about US$892.5 million to accelerate mass production of its next-generation general-purpose GPUs, aiming to meet surging demand for AI computing from domestic customers such as cloud providers and AI data centres. The move underscores how China’s AI chipmakers are stepping up efforts to narrow the gap with Nvidia, but the fundraising is framed as routine capacity expansion rather than being tied to new orders, technical breakthroughs or policy support. It adds longer-term competitive pressure on Nvidia from local alternatives, without pointing to near-term catalysts such as fresh internal orders, shipments or regulatory changes.

Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) plans to revise its rules to let all gold ETFs that meet set criteria qualify for MPF investment, replacing the current case-by-case approval process. The new framework will include risk controls that bar ETFs from using derivatives and cap MPF exposure to any single gold ETF at 10%. The change targets the city’s 4.8 million MPF members, aiming to broaden product choices and support Hong Kong’s bid to become a regional gold trading hub. The MPF oversees HK$1.53 trillion (US$195 billion) in assets.

Shenzhen Longsys Electronics forecast 2024 first-half net profit attributable to shareholders of 9.2 billion yuan to 11 billion yuan, versus 14.8 million yuan a year earlier. The company said that implies year-on-year growth of 62,204% to 74,394%, and it expects revenue of 22 billion yuan to 25 billion yuan, up from 10.2 billion yuan. Longsys attributed the jump to stronger downstream demand and constrained growth in global memory wafer capacity, alongside renewed wafer supply agreements including long-term deals or memorandums of understanding.

Benin, Africa’s largest cotton producer, is building a 184km road to connect its northern growing areas with the GloDjigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in the south to ease transport bottlenecks. GDIZ now processes a fifth of the national cotton harvest into finished garments for global brands including US Polo Assn and The Children’s Place. The project is part of a longer-term push to end raw cotton exports by raising the share of local processing, rather than a short-term shift in global cotton supply and demand with an immediate link to international cotton futures prices.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen Region, more than 2,000 km from Ukraine’s border. He also said Ukraine has developed new long-range drones capable of operating over more than 3,000 km. Tyumen Governor Alexander Moor said Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on the refinery.

Iran said ships must obtain its permission to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and buy mandatory insurance it designates, which is free for now but could be charged later, while restricting transit to a single route along its coastline and banning alternatives. The move directly clashes with the US account that 20 ships transited overnight on a route it recommends along Oman’s coast. A 60-day interim arrangement between Washington and Tehran provided only that passage would be free during its term, leaving longer-term control unresolved. The announcements have lifted risk premia for energy shipping and intensified pressure on global crude supply-chain stability.