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In a televised interview, Donald Trump said appointing Jerome Powell as Fed chair during his first term was a mistake and has nominated former governor Kevin Warsh as Powell’s successor. The nomination and a parallel DOJ inquiry into the Fed have escalated political pressure on central‑bank independence and raised questions about policy direction, market stability and the Senate confirmation fight ahead.

A reported delay in new radars has left a batch of F‑35As delivered without their primary fire‑control sensors, limiting their beyond‑visual‑range capabilities and highlighting U.S. supply‑chain fragility. Parallel claims that China is ramping J‑20 production toward 1,000 aircraft underscore a narrative of shifting industrial balance, though the larger Chinese figures warrant cautious scrutiny.

Iran has adopted a deliberate two‑track approach: signalling willingness to negotiate on the nuclear file while visibly reinforcing military readiness and red lines. Analysts advise focusing on incremental, verifiable nuclear concessions, reciprocal confidence‑building measures and broader international mediation to avoid a dangerous breakdown in talks.

China’s three main stock exchanges have eased refinancing rules to help R&D‑intensive and unprofitable science‑and‑technology firms raise capital more quickly, extended a ‘light‑asset, high‑R&D’ standard to main boards, and streamlined procedures while tightening oversight to prevent misuse. The package is calibrated to sustain long‑term innovation funding while guarding against speculative or control‑seeking abuses.

China’s Defence Ministry reiterated on 10 February that Beijing remains Africa’s most trustworthy security partner, framing military cooperation as a legacy of anti‑colonial solidarity and a pillar of contemporary partnership. The pledge signals deeper institutionalised defence ties — training, exercises, peacekeeping and counter‑terrorism — and underscores Beijing’s aim to be a prominent security provider in Africa alongside its economic engagement.

China publicly rejected Japanese politician Sanae Takaichi’s expressed openness to dialogue, saying words mean nothing if Tokyo pursues confrontational policies, especially on Taiwan. Beijing demanded a retraction of Takaichi’s Taiwan-related remarks and strict adherence to established political agreements as preconditions for credible talks.

China’s Foreign Ministry declared Hong Kong’s rule of law ‘unshakable’ and rejected foreign commentary on the city’s affairs, framing such criticism as improper interference. The statement underscores Beijing’s determination to treat Hong Kong policy as a sovereign matter and signals potential diplomatic friction with Western governments and continued uncertainty for businesses and rights advocates.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the EU should not appease President Trump over disputes including Greenland and technology regulation. He argues that past compromises have failed and that Europe must prepare for prolonged tensions with Washington, including possible retaliation over digital rules.

Rapid AI deployment is straining power‑equipment and critical materials markets, widening a global supply gap that benefits capable Chinese suppliers. The crunch has knock‑on effects for grid policy, commodity prices (notably indium), cybersecurity demand and the commercialisation of AI content.

China’s foreign ministry reproached comments from Kaohsiung officials for simultaneously professing a desire for dialogue while taking actions Beijing deems confrontational. The rebuke signals Beijing’s low tolerance for perceived mixed messaging from Taiwanese local authorities and underscores how municipal interactions have become arenas of broader cross‑strait contestation.

Chinese state media published video of South Theater Command J-10 fighters conducting cross–day‑and‑night red‑blue air‑combat drills, highlighting system‑level confrontation and electronic warfare. The footage signals Beijing’s emphasis on realistic, night‑capable training and on integrating aircraft into broader sensor and strike networks, while edited imagery leaves important capability questions unanswered.

Israeli forces carried out a cross‑border raid into southern Lebanon on 9 February, detaining a Lebanese man described by the IDF as an ally of Hamas. The incident, and reported accompanying strikes that killed civilians, heighten tensions along the Israel‑Lebanon frontier and threaten the fragile ceasefire in place since late November.

Alibaba’s Qianwen vaulted to 58.48 million daily users on day one of its Spring Festival cash giveaway, narrowing the gap with ByteDance’s Doubao and eclipseing Tencent’s Yuanbao. The spike underscores how massive subsidies can reconfigure app rankings quickly, but low retention figures suggest the gains may be fleeting unless platform AI capabilities and habit formation improve.

Hengrui Medicine and Kailera Therapeutics reported positive top‑line results from a 166‑participant Phase II trial of ripubopetide, an oral GLP‑1/GIP dual agonist, showing up to 12.1% mean weight loss at 26 weeks and manageable vomiting rates. Hengrui will pursue Phase III studies in China while Kailera plans a global Phase II in 2026, though larger, longer trials are needed to confirm efficacy and safety.

Game Science released a six‑minute real‑time Lunar New Year video for Black Myth: Zhong Kui that eschews gameplay in favour of a high‑fidelity kitchen vignette. The short serves as both a technical showcase and a deliberate IP‑building exercise, leveraging the commercial success and reusable technology of Black Myth: Wukong to sustain attention while development continues.

Lei Jun says Xiaomi’s car plant uses roughly 600–700 robots to achieve fully automated assembly and inspection, and runs on photovoltaic panels installed across its roof. The statements mark Xiaomi’s push to vertically integrate high-tech manufacturing and position itself as a serious contender in the electric vehicle sector, though practical limits and risks remain.

Amazon is reportedly planning a content marketplace to let publishers license text to AI developers, a move that could streamline data procurement for large language models and provide new revenue for publishers. The plan raises questions about market power, licensing terms, and the control and provenance of training data.

ByteDance has launched Seedream 5.0 Preview, enabling 2K and 4K image generation within its Jianying and Xiaoyunque apps and opening grey testing on the Jimeng AI platform. The move integrates higher‑resolution generative capabilities into mass‑market creative tools, accelerating adoption while raising moderation and provenance concerns.

LanHai Huateng has made a strategic investment in GaChuang Future, a startup targeting core materials for fourth‑generation semiconductors such as gallium nitride. The move signals continued investor interest in bolstering China’s upstream chip supply chain, though technical and scale‑up challenges persist.

Game Science released a near seven‑minute in‑engine video for Black Myth: Zhong Kui as a Lunar New Year greeting; the clip contains no gameplay and ends on a mysterious tableau. CEO Feng Ji separately warned that advanced video‑generation models such as Seedance2.0 make it easy to fabricate realistic footage and urged the public to be sceptical of unverified videos, particularly those showing identifiable people.