📰 Latest News

A partisan standoff over federal immigration enforcement has left the Department of Homeland Security without a full appropriation as Congress goes into recess, creating the first DHS shutdown. Essential staff will keep working unpaid, but prolonged funding gaps could disrupt TSA screening, FEMA response, the Coast Guard and Secret Service duties, and revive memories of last year’s debilitating federal shutdown.

Ahead of the Lunar New Year, China’s navy has circulated images and video of sailors delivering festive greetings while remaining on duty. The posts serve dual purposes: boosting domestic morale and signalling continued operational presence without aggressive rhetoric.

Photographs from Beirut show florists preparing for Valentine's Day, a small but telling sign of economic and social life continuing amid Lebanon's prolonged crises. Holiday sales provide vital income for small retailers and offer a lens on consumer confidence and supply-chain conditions in the capital.

Paramount, with Skydance, has submitted a revised hostile offer to Warner Bros. Discovery offering to pay a $2.8 billion breakup fee, backstop debt refinancing and compensate shareholders if the deal misses a December 31 close. Warner Bros. Discovery’s board is debating whether those concessions create a viable route to a superior transaction despite an existing binding agreement with Netflix, raising the prospect of a renewed bidding war and fresh regulatory scrutiny.

Exploding AI token consumption and rising hardware costs are driving a surge in rented AI compute and accelerating adoption of liquid‑cooled, high‑density servers. Policy limits on data‑centre energy efficiency and the shift from training to widespread inference are making immersion cooling and edge deployment central to scaling AI affordably and sustainably.

Heilongjiang province has published an "AI+" plan that embeds artificial intelligence in employment services, medical imaging and social assistance oversight. The initiative aims to improve service delivery and fraud prevention but raises questions about data integration, clinical validation and governance.

Tesla removed the one‑time purchase option for its Full Self‑Driving package on its U.S. website on 15 February 2026, switching to subscription only, while its China site still offers buyouts at ¥32,000 and ¥64,000. The move signals a strategic shift toward recurring software revenue, greater operational control over advanced driving features, and differing market approaches between the U.S. and China.

Elon Musk’s claim that AI may soon eliminate the need for human programmers has sharpened an already heated competition in China, where major firms have released coding‑focused models during the Spring Festival. The combined effect of domestic model improvements, falling tool prices and early commercial traction promises big productivity gains but also raises reliability, security and labour‑market challenges.

Bitcoin fell intraday to $68,988 on 15 February, slipping back below the $70,000 mark and exposing the ongoing volatility in the crypto market. The move highlights short‑term profit‑taking, sector balance‑sheet pressures and the influence of broader market sentiment on digital assets.

Beijing responded within 24 hours to Vice President Lai Ching‑te’s comments and Taiwan’s defence budget push with coordinated diplomatic rebuke and intensified PLA air‑sea patrols. The episode highlights the erosion of informal cross‑strait norms and the rising tempo of coercive signalling that raises the risk of miscalculation in the Taiwan Strait.

China’s 2026 military Spring Festival Gala used music and staged scenes to highlight a continuous ‘military DNA’ and reinforce themes of sacrifice and loyalty. Presented during the Lunar New Year by state military media, the gala functions as a cultural tool to boost troop morale and shape public perceptions of the PLA.

President Trump has shifted to a more confrontational policy on Iran, ordering a second carrier strike group to the Middle East and issuing a one‑month ultimatum. The move aims to pressure Tehran into concessions but raises substantial risks of miscalculation, regional escalation, and economic fallout.

Palestinian authorities and Hamas denounced an Israeli decision to resume West Bank land registration that would reclassify lands as 'state property', calling it de facto annexation and a violation of international law. The move could facilitate settlement expansion, deepen territorial divides, and provoke renewed international and legal responses.

The 62nd Munich Security Conference ended on 15 February with transatlantic tensions prominent throughout the event. Debates over burden‑sharing, approaches to Russia and China, and the limits of U.S. reliability highlighted growing strategic divergences between Europe and America.

Markets are exhibiting high-speed, narrative-driven volatility driven by conflicting signals from labor and inflation data and the AI debate. Next week's US Q4 GDP release and the performance of software stocks—and the divergence between gold and silver—will be pivotal in determining whether the recent sell-off ends or resumes.

A Changchun resident won ¥12.04m on a ¥6 Super Lotto ticket and collected the prize at Jilin’s provincial lottery centre, triggering ¥2.41m in tax payments. The win highlights how low-cost lottery play can produce large payouts, generate immediate tax revenue, and prompt officials to stress responsible betting during peak seasonal sales.

Anta opened its first U.S. flagship in Beverly Hills as part of a broader global push following major acquisitions including Amer Sports and Jack Wolfskin, and a proposed stake in Puma. The flagship is a strategic attempt to reposition Anta as a premium, technically credible global brand ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but it faces steep competition from entrenched incumbents and cultural hurdles in North America.

China’s outlet centres have surged in popularity, filling a gap left by underperforming urban malls and unreliable e-commerce. Attracting middle-aged men, suburban families and young consumers disenchanted with online shopping, outlets have become suburban multipurpose destinations and a fast‑growing retail channel.

Sanae Takaichi’s electoral win paves the way for ambitious fiscal stimulus, defence spending and a temporary cut to food consumption tax, moves that have boosted equities but raised alarms about Japan’s ability to finance such a course. With public debt near 230% of GDP and heavy dependence on foreign and Chinese processing capacity for strategic minerals, Tokyo faces a high-stakes test of credibility that could spill across bond, currency and commodity markets.

Henan Mining Crane Co. announced Rmb180 million in year‑end bonuses — two‑thirds of its Rmb270 million profit — and staged a public cash‑counting event that distributed Rmb60 million on site. The spectacle mixes staff incentives, PR and political signalling, but raises practical questions about tax compliance, fairness and sustainability.