The controversy surrounding the now-infamous “Macron slap” has erupted once again, after explosive new claims from French journalist Florian Tardif shed dramatic light on what may have unfolded behind the closed doors of the French presidential aircraft during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Vietnam in May 2025. Months after the Élysée Palace attempted to contain […] Read more
For more than ten weeks, the waters of the Strait of Hormuz have turned into a living nightmare for nearly 20,000 sailors stranded aboard around 2,000 ships, caught in the middle of the escalating U.S.-Israeli war against Iran that erupted on February 28. What was once one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes has […] Read more
The Israeli military has launched an investigation into the conduct of a soldier who was photographed smoking and placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in occupied southern Lebanon. The incident reportedly took place in the Christian village of Debel, where a separate controversy emerged last month after another […] Read more
A humanoid robot equipped with an embodied large-scale AI model has been deployed in a convenience store in Beijing’s Haidian District, marking a new step in the integration of robotics into everyday retail services. The robot is designed to handle a range of customer-facing tasks, including greeting shoppers, responding to product inquiries, providing promotional information, […] Read more
The incoming foreign minister’s trip continues a tradition started by his forebears thirty years ago. According to China’s foreign ministry, new foreign minister Qin Gang will visit five African nations over the course of a week to begin his tenure. From January 9 to January 16, Qin, who most recently served as ambassador to the […] Read more
Facebook on Thursday announced that it will refer its decision to indefinitely suspend the account of former President Donald Trump to its newly instituted Oversight Board. The independent body, which has been described as Facebook’s “Supreme Court,” will review the decision to suspend Trump and make a binding decision on whether the account will be reinstated. Until a […] Read more
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to arrive on Wednesday night in Thailand, a country central to Beijing’s strategy for Asia at a time the kingdom is facing a double hit from a pandemic-flattened economy and political turmoil. In the big superpower square-off between the US and China, Thailand plays an oversized role. Bordering […] Read more
President Donald Trump announced early Friday he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus, plunging the United States into further upheaval and uncertainty just over a month away from Election Day. The White House physician said the president and first lady were “both well” at the moment. In a tweet shortly before 1 a.m. ET, Trump […] Read more
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned President Donald Trump at a White House dinner last October that Chinese tech firms posed a direct threat to the U.S. business, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal that cites people claiming to be familiar with the matter. He is said to have argued that clamping down on these […] Read more
A top Chinese commission in charge of the country’s financial industry, led by Vice-Premier Liu He, has held five meetings in the past 40 days, reflecting a shift in focus to domestic issues ahead of the potential signing of a trade truce with the United States. The China Financial Stability and Development Committee convened for […] Read more
