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Lunar new year has ushered in a rare zodiac symbol with a reputation for energy and independence
As the lunar new year begins, the focus has turned to the Chinese zodiac and the arrival of the year of the fire horse – a rare pairing in the 60-year lunar cycle.
Drawing on Chinese metaphysics, the fire horse blends the horse’s reputation for energy and independence with the intensity of the fire element, giving it a distinct place in the zodiac tradition.

With Trump blocking Venezuelan oil imports and old power plants breaking down, the island – with Chinese help – is turning to solar and wind to bolster its fragile energy system
Intense heat hangs over the sugarcane fields near ’s eastern coast. In the village of Herradura, a blond-maned horse rests under a palm tree after spending all Saturday in the fields with its owner, Roberto, who cultivates maize and beans.
Roberto was among those worst affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit eastern Cuba – the country’s poorest region – late last year. The storm affected , damaging or and 100,000 hectares of crops.

China’s defeat by the British in the 19th century Opium Wars led to a view of China “as a poor country,” Ray said. Racist myths that Chinese people and their cuisine were strange and dirty persisted ...

U.S. media coverage of Winter Olympians Chloe Kim and Eileen Gu treated their nationality decisions as measures of allegiance rather than parallel career choices, according to a University of Michigan ...

China’s defeat by the British in the 19th century Opium Wars led to a view of China “as a poor country,” Ray said. Racist myths that Chinese people and their cuisine were strange and dirty persisted ...

Chinese master director Zhang’s latest is more style over substance as spies hunt a mole providing the West with intelligence
Back in the 1980s and 90s, Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern) was acclaimed as one of the most talented directors to emerge from film-makers whose work broke with the socialist realist style of their predecessors. While still working within the establishment industry, the fifth generation – including Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang – were considered to varying degrees if not quite dissident, at least somewhat heterodox and anti-authoritarian. Either way, having started out as a cinematographer, Zhang quickly became an arthouse darling abroad, feted for his lush visual style, his command of highly kinetic action sequences (as seen in wuxia extravaganzas like Hero and House of Flying Daggers) and eye for spotting and showcasing great female actors, such as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.
Today, in a very different political and national landscape, Zhang doesn’t have the same heroic, darling-of-the-west aura anymore. He’s become an establishment figure and chief engineer of state-sponsored spectacles like the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and Winter Olympics. If, , you can’t entirely separate politics from art, then Zhang’s latest, Scare Out, looks like pro-state propaganda, given it is about spies trying to flush out a mole among their ranks who is smuggling super-secret tech to nefarious western rivals.

Donald Trump says deals ‘end our foolish dependence on foreign sources’, while Japanese PM hails enhanced economic security
Japan has drawn up plans for investments in US oil, gas and critical mineral projects worth about $36bn under the first wave of a deal with Donald Trump.
The US president and Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, announced a trio of projects including a power plant in Portsmouth, Ohio, billed by the Trump administration as the largest natural gas-fired generating facility in US history.

China seems to be winning more hearts and minds abroad. Has it gotten better at soft power?

Eye-catching martial arts performance at China gala had viewers and experts wondering what else humanoids can do
Dancing humanoid took centre stage on Monday during the annual China Media Group’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched official television broadcast. They lunged and backflipped (landing on their knees), they spun around and jumped. Not one fell over.
The display was impressive, but prompted some to wonder: if robots can now dance and perform martial arts, what else can they do?

China Media Group's 2026 Spring Festival Gala drew widespread attention with a performance of humanoid robots that appeared to do martial arts alongside young performers. However, as the videos spread, viewers expressed both admiration and unease over the accelerating development of the machines. Experts have mixed views.

CEO said services have restarted after termination of grants led to criticism that US was ceding ground to China
Radio Free Asia has resumed broadcasts to people in China, its chief executive said on Tuesday, after Trump administration cuts last year largely forced the US-funded outlet to cease operations.
For years, RFA and its sister outlets, including Voice of America (VOA), had been financed with funding approved by the US Congress and overseen by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

From the heart of Beijing to far-flung Manila, Panama, Moscow and New York, communities around the globe ring in the lunar new year