Global Rivalries

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held high-profile talks in Beijing on May 20, 2026, as both countries moved to deepen political and economic ties. The meeting began outside the Great Hall of the People, where the two leaders walked along a red carpet before starting formal discussions.   The summit highlighted how China and Russia are building a stronger partnership during a period of rising global tension...

David Gross has spent his career studying some of the deepest questions in physics. Now the Nobel Prize-winning physicist is warning that humanity could destroy itself before it ever fully understands the universe.   Fresh from receiving a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, Gross is using his platform to warn that nuclear war is no longer just a Cold War fear or a distant possibility. He argues the danger is grow...

Malaysia is facing growing political pressure after a rare earth supply deal linked to the United States Department of Defense triggered backlash from civil society groups and environmental activists.   The controversy centers on Australian mining company Lynas and its processing facility in Gebeng, Pahang. Under a deal reportedly worth about $96 million over four years, rare earth materials processed in Malaysia could enter American defen...

The United States government is trying to break away from Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, while still deploying one of the company's most sensitive cybersecurity models to protect US government systems.   It's quite the contradiction. Washington is moving to reduce dependence on Anthropic, but its own defense establishment is using Claude Mythos Preview, an unreleased cyber-AI system that can hu...

China has not just built a port in Peru. It has planted a strategic gateway on South America’s Pacific coast, and the United States knows exactly what that means.   The new Chancay mega-port, opened in late 2024 about 80 kilometers north of Lima, is being sold as a trade revolution. It can slash shipping times to Shanghai, handle the world’s biggest container vessels, and turn Peru into a logistics hub for the entire continent....