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When Xi Jinping, China’s leader, made his entrance at a symposium with a group of top entrepreneurs this past week, he seemed to be in good spirits. China has had a few good weeks. Artificial intelligence models by the startup DeepSeek sent U.S. stocks tumbling and Western commentators screaming, “Sputnik moment.” Then, an animated film based on Chinese mythology raked in nearly $2 billion. Xi signaled that he stood behind the private sector at the meeting on Monday, pushing the Hong Kong stock market to its highest point in three years. For China, it all provided a respite from two years of malaise — chronic economic problems and challenging geopolitics. Source link

Tokushima – Shikoku, with its lushly forested mountains and dramatic coastline, has long been ignored by most foreign tourists. No bullet trains connect the southern island to Japan’s larger cities, and English is a relative rarity. Recent years, however, have seen a surge in visitors who have come to embark on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage. David Moreton is among the foreign-born devotees of the historic route, with decades of research and experience under his belt. After a long career in academia, he joined a local travel agency in 2024 as manager of the tourism strategies office and planning department. Now he serves as a tour guide to temples on the pilgrimage, gives lectures in Japanese and also consults with international media on the topic. Source link

JERUSALEM/JENIN, West Bank – Israel sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years on Sunday as it ordered the military to prepare for an “extended stay” to fight Palestinian militant groups in the area’s refugee camps. The move came as a fragile ceasefire in Gaza hit new hurdles after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a stop to the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees due to be freed under the truce, in retaliation for public displays of Israeli hostages handed over in exchange in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been displaced from their homes in the West Bank over the past month as the military has moved into the crowded refugee camps of flash point cities like Jenin and Tulkarm, cracking down on Iranian-backed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Source link

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is not expected to return to the bench this season after suffering a stroke in November, ESPN reported on Saturday. Popovich, the NBA’s all-time leader in wins, has not appeared on the bench since suffering what the team later described as a mild stroke on Nov. 2. The 76-year-old NBA icon said in December that he was working toward returning to work this season. Source link

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism about negotiations in Congress to push forward his agenda on taxes and immigration, declaring that his party’s political movement will have lasting staying power in Washington. Trump reprised many measures of his first month back in the White House in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, telling the friendly audience that he’s confident the Republican Party will beat the historical odds and avoid a voter backlash in next year’s midterm elections. “I think we’re going to do fantastically well in the midterms,” Trump said. “We’re going to forge a new and lasting political majority that will drive American politics for generations to come.” Source link

These should be wonderful times at Finca El Puente, a coffee plantation carved into the mountains of southwestern Honduras. On world markets, the price of ordinary coffee has more than doubled over the past year. The specialty varieties of coffee harvested at the farm have long commanded a hefty premium, reflecting their status as the source of aromatic brews savored like fine wine from Seattle to Seoul, South Korea. On a recent afternoon, a buyer from Malaysia was visiting to taste the latest offerings. Yet the owners of the operation — Marysabel Caballero, a fourth-generation coffee farmer, and her husband, Moisés Herrera — are increasingly apprehensive. The costs of production have swelled. They must pay extra wages to attract scarce workers; fertilizer has gotten more expensive. Their crop has been ravaged by ill-timed rains and volatile temperatures. Even after the surge in prices, they are likely to earn less this year than they did in 2024. They brood over the possibility that high prices may prompt some coffee drinkers to limit their consumption, substituting cheaper products such as soda and energy drinks to satisfy their caffeine craving. Source link

U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours like he promised, but his team took a first step last week, meeting with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia. Notably absent were the Ukrainian side and its European backers. We are told that this U.S.-Russia conversation will eventually encompass not only Ukraine but also arms control, sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons, Moscow’s status in the Group of Seven, cyberattacks and other contentious issues. Still, Ukraine is clearly the main issue and unfortunately it looks like Trump’s idea of ending the war fast means doing very little for the people who were actually invaded. U.S. officials seemed to lean toward accepting many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s positions, e.g., no NATO membership for Ukraine and allowing Russia to control the 20% of Ukrainian territory it occupies. Trump even seems to blame Ukraine for the war. Source link

New Zealand said the Chinese navy conducted a live-fire exercise in international waters near the Pacific nation on Saturday, a day after it held a similar drill between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights. “Reporting from the New Zealand Defence Force that the Chinese naval Task Group has advised of a second window for live firing activity, on Saturday afternoon,” a spokesperson for Defence Minister Judith Collins said in a statement. Personnel on New Zealand Navy frigate Te Kaha observed live rounds fired from a Chinese vessel’s main gun, the statement said, adding that the task group had “advised via radio channels of its intent to conduct live firing.” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said earlier on Saturday that it was unclear where the Chinese naval vessels were headed in international waters and for what purpose. “What we are doing is monitoring and shadowing and tracking the fleet,” he said in Christchurch, adding that China was acting in accordance with international law. Saturday’s live-fire drill took place in the Tasman Sea, broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported. On Friday, airlines including Qantas, Emirates and Air New Zealand had to modify flight paths between Australia and New Zealand after China broadcast a message that its navy would hold live-fire exercises in international waters off Australia’s New South Wales state coast. Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that Beijing had failed to give satisfactory reasons for what he called inadequate notice of Friday’s live-fire drill. The late notice was “disconcerting” for commercial aviation, he said. “When we do an activity of this kind, we would typically give 12 to 24 hours notice,” Marles told broadcaster Nine Entertainment, according to a transcript. The warning by the Chinese vessels was at “very short notice,” Marles said, without saying how many hours were given. Australia’s defense force said there was no imminent risk of danger to Australian or New Zealand assets, the government said on Friday. “China did comply with international law and that’s important to not suggest that that wasn’t the case,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday in remarks televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian accused Australia of “deliberately hyping up” the drills, according to a release on Sunday. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, saying they would discuss “safe and professional military conduct.” Wang told the Australian foreign minister that bilateral ties had stabilized but he hoped Australia would continue to “properly handle any differences and disagreements,” according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Saturday. There was no mention of China’s military conduct in the statement. Friday’s exercise took place after a People’s Liberation Army Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel entered Australia’s maritime approaches last week, and traveled down Australia’s east coast this week, monitored by the navies and air forces of Australia and New Zealand. Australia this month complained about “unsafe and unprofessional” actions by a Chinese fighter jet towards an Australian maritime patrol in the South China Sea. Beijing accused the Australian aircraft of “deliberately intruding” into its airspace. China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that its claim to almost all of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by several Southeast Asia nations, was not supported by international law. Source link

Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission is considering nixing a prior consent requirement when obtaining sensitive personal information for the development of artificial intelligence. The move by the government agency is intended to make it easier for AI-related businesses to utilize personal information. The personal information protection law is reviewed every three years. “In light of the creation and development of new industries, a study is being made while balancing the protection of personal rights and interests and the utilization of personal information,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on Friday. Source link

A slew of scientific discoveries shows why we should protect not just 1,000-year-old trees but also 200-year-old whales, 400-year-old fish and 10,000-year-old sea sponges. Source link