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Canada has become the first non‑European participant in the EU’s large defence financing instrument, gaining access for its defence industry to European procurement supported by up to €150 billion in loans. The move deepens transatlantic industrial ties, signals a pragmatic streak in EU strategic autonomy, and raises questions about procurement, export controls and future partner participation.

The PLAN’s carrier Fujian released a New‑Year photograph of its full crew delivering a holiday greeting that doubles as a slogan of leadership. The image underscores both the symbolic role the ship plays in China’s naval modernization and the gap that remains between symbolic displays and sustained operational capability.

U.S. reports say President Trump told Netanyahu he would back Israeli airstrikes on Iranian missile sites if talks with Tehran fail, prompting U.S. military planners to discuss how to assist. The disclosures sharpen the diplomatic and operational dilemmas facing Washington, Israel and regional states whose airspace would be needed for long-range strikes.

Chinese media reported that senior U.S. military and intelligence officials are discussing ways to support a possible Israeli airstrike on Iran’s ballistic missile facilities after President Trump reportedly promised backing to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Practical obstacles — notably Gulf states’ refusals to allow use of their airspace — and the risk of Iranian retaliation make any escalation fraught with regional and global consequences.

Iran says it has a negotiation plan ready for Geneva talks with the United States but expresses skepticism about U.S. commitment, noting Washington has accepted that Iran will not be required to halt enrichment or export nuclear material. Tehran also seeks to exclude missile and broader regional issues, particularly concerns about Israel, from the nuclear agenda.

Iran’s limited friendship network stems from three intertwined contradictions: its revolutionary export and proxy strategy, the trade-off between security confrontation and economic dependence, and transactional ties with major powers rather than deep alliances. Domestic factionalism and fragile regional detente make lasting normalization unlikely, with consequences for regional stability and global policy choices.

Toshio Motoya, founder of APA Hotels and a prominent funder of Japan's right wing, has died aged 82. He was best known internationally for placing books in hotel rooms that denied the Nanjing Massacre and contested other wartime histories, a stance that sparked regional outrage and lasting reputational damage for his company.

Three US service members stationed in Japan have been arrested on suspicion of theft, including two Marines from Iwakuni suspected of a series of thefts possibly exceeding ¥10 million and a Marine in Okinawa accused of taking a patron's bag worth about ¥780,000. The incidents revive local tensions over US bases, spotlight questions of troop discipline, jurisdiction, and local accountability under the Status of Forces framework.

An Israeli airstrike on 15 February struck a vehicle in Majdal Anjar, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, killing at least four people. Israel said it targeted members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad; the attack underscores the risk that localized strikes will escalate tensions along Lebanon’s border with Israel and Syria.

At the Munich Security Conference, warm rhetoric from the U.S. masked deep policy disagreements that have hollowed out the post‑Cold War transatlantic order. European leaders, while publicly affirming ties with Washington, are openly exploring greater strategic autonomy — including talks about a shared or independent nuclear deterrent — in response to perceived U.S. unpredictability.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said he held technical discussions with Iran's foreign minister Araghchi to prepare for a second round of indirect U.S.–Iran nuclear talks in Geneva on February 17. The IAEA's engagement aims to settle verification details ahead of political negotiations that remain divided over sanctions relief and sequencing.

Humanoid robots took center stage at China’s Spring Festival Gala, drawing mass attention and investor interest. The spectacle highlights real progress in robotics but also underscores the gap between theatrical demonstrations and practical, affordable deployments for everyday life.

Haiguang’s DCU has completed Day‑0 adaptation and deep tuning for the Qwen3.5‑397B‑A17B model, offering immediate, pre‑optimised deployment for developers and enterprises. The achievement shortens deployment times and bolsters China’s domestic AI hardware–software stack, though independent performance validation and production testing remain necessary.

Robot performances at China’s 2026 Spring Festival Gala triggered a rapid consumer response: JD.com saw robot searches surge over 300% and orders rise 150% within the first two hours. The event showcased robotics to a mass audience, producing immediate sales and raising questions about supply, capability and longer‑term market sustainability.

Alibaba has open‑sourced Qwen3.5‑Plus, a 397B‑parameter multimodal model the company says matches Gemini 3 Pro’s performance while operating with only ~17B activated parameters and much lower inference costs. The model emphasises architectural efficiency, native multimodal pretraining and agent capabilities, and forms part of a flurry of Chinese model launches that shift competition from raw scale to systems and cost efficiency.

Apple’s March 4 spring event will introduce a budget iPhone 17e and a lower‑priced MacBook, both designed to expand Apple’s reach in price‑sensitive markets. Key changes include Dynamic Island on the 17e, A19 silicon and MagSafe for the lower tier, and an A18 Pro‑powered MacBook at an aggressive ~$699 price point.

ByteDance provided four technical services to the 2026 Spring Festival Gala — creative assistance from its Doubao model, embodied-intelligence work for robots, the Volcano Engine Ark compute platform for peak-load handling, and speech-recognition subtitles for Douyin live streams. Seedance2.0 was customized for several performances and video-cloud enhancements secured the gala’s 4K/50fps broadcast quality, marking a high-profile demonstration of real-time AI and media infrastructure at national scale.

China’s 2026 Spring Festival Gala prominently featured humanoid and quadruped robots alongside smart‑home and hard‑tech sponsors, signalling robotics’ entry into mainstream consumer culture. The broadcast amplified recent investment and production gains but also highlighted the sector’s next challenge: converting theatrical demonstrations into affordable, scalable, real‑world applications.

President Trump has paused several US sanctions and restrictions on Chinese tech and transport firms in a bid to salvage a planned April visit to Beijing. Beijing has signalled that only a credible US shift on Taiwan — including freezing large arms sales and stronger public commitments to the one-China framework — would secure high-level engagement.

Beijing firefighters forgo Spring Festival reunions to staff mobile posts and micro fire stations, maintaining strict rapid-response standards that have reduced true fire incidents despite rising call volume. Their mix of routine inspections, public education and decentralized preparedness keeps densely populated neighbourhoods safe during the holiday surge. The story highlights a governance model that relies on disciplined personnel and community-level resources, offering lessons for other megacities balancing celebration and urban safety.