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Daxiao Robotics and a consortium of universities have launched ACE-Brain-0, an open-source foundation model centred on spatial intelligence and designed to operate across different robot bodies. The release aims to standardize robot cognition, accelerate innovation and expand access, while also raising safety and governance challenges for large-scale deployment.

China’s markets ended lower on March 9 despite a late rebound, with heavy trading but weak breadth. Compute‑power leasing and power‑grid equipment stocks led gains while ports, shipping and oil‑and‑gas names lagged, underscoring a narrow, policy‑driven rally amid uneven economic signals.

GAC chairman Feng Xingya told China’s Two Sessions that the group aims to return to about 2 million vehicles in 2026 by pushing deeper into rural NEV markets, accelerating battery‑swap deployment, expanding overseas via a 1,000‑outlet plan and investing in humanoid robots and flying cars. The strategy mixes rapid commercial roll‑outs with calls for national standards and policy support to clear regulatory and infrastructure bottlenecks.

Fox News apologized after airing archived footage instead of live video during coverage of President Trump wearing a cap at a Dover Air Force Base repatriation, a substitution critics said obscured an unflattering moment. The swap provoked public outrage and renewed debates about media partisanship, the power of political optics, and editorial standards ahead of a contentious election cycle.

Large anti-war demonstrations erupted on March 7 across more than 50 US cities and in London, Toronto and Johannesburg in response to US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. The protests signal growing international public opposition that could raise political costs for further military action and complicate diplomatic and strategic calculations.

Xi Jinping’s speech to PLA and PAP delegations was presented by Chinese military media as drawing enthusiastic support across the forces, emphasizing Party control, combat readiness, and continued modernization. The remarks reinforce Xi’s long-term campaign to centralize political oversight of the military and have implications for China’s regional posture and deterrence calculus.

Tencent has launched WorkBuddy, a desktop AI agent compatible with OpenClaw skills and integrable with enterprise messaging apps. Positioned as a managed, enterprise‑grade alternative to DIY OpenClaw deployments, WorkBuddy emphasises multi‑model support, multi‑agent workflows and built‑in security auditing amid rising demand and regulatory warnings over agent security.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts has elected Mujtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, as the country’s third Supreme Leader following a February 28 US–Israeli airstrike that Iranian authorities say killed the sitting leader. Mujtaba’s IRGC background and seminary training point to a likely continuity of hardline, security-first policies, but the rapid transition raises questions about legitimacy, elite cohesion and regional escalation risks.

China’s Middle East envoy met Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal in Riyadh as both sides voiced concern over a widening regional conflict. Saudi Arabia praised China’s role and urged Beijing to push for a ceasefire, while China reiterated calls for an immediate halt to hostilities and offered to play a constructive mediating role.

China’s transport minister reported that COMAC’s C919 jet has safely carried over four million passengers during the 14th Five‑Year Plan, and that the country’s automated container terminals lead globally in scale and technology. The statements underscore Beijing’s industrial push to move transport systems from pilot projects to commercial scale, with implications for aviation competition, logistics efficiency and global supply chains.

China has rolled out a 300‑yuan monthly childcare subsidy for children born after Jan. 1, 2022 — worth 10,800 yuan over three years — and has dispatched payments to roughly 33 million households. Combined central and local spending on the program has exceeded 1,000 billion yuan, and Beijing pairs the cash transfers with expanded childcare slots, leave policy adjustments and planned legislation to embed family support into the institutional framework.

A Google product manager has shown how to assemble a six‑agent AI team using OpenClaw, a single Mac Mini and a mix of models for under $400 per month. The approach emphasises specialised agents, file‑based coordination, iterative memory and simple governance, offering a low‑cost blueprint for persistent automation with important implications for productivity and risk management.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s elevation to supreme leader coincides with a profile that depicts him as the central architect of Iran’s integrated nuclear and missile programme. The portrayal suggests Tehran has institutionalised a strategy of maintaining a rapid path to a nuclear weapon while embedding that capability within hardened, precision missile forces — a shift that will reshape regional deterrence and complicate diplomatic efforts.

U.S. Central Command has confirmed two more service member deaths linked to strikes on Iranian targets, bringing the official toll to eight amid warnings of further casualties. Reports of additional wounded and evidence Iran was better prepared than expected raise strategic and political questions about the length and consequences of the campaign.

February’s data show China’s consumer prices rose sharply month‑on‑month after the Lunar New Year while producer‑price declines continued to narrow. The bounce is concentrated in services and selective industrial sectors, reflecting a seasonal consumption burst and policy‑driven improvements in supply and demand conditions.

Asian stocks tumbled sharply and global oil prices spiked after Iran’s clerical body selected Mujtaba Khamenei as supreme leader and Tehran vowed further strikes. The immediate market reaction—circuit breakers in Korea, steep falls in Japan and Hong Kong, and a near‑30% jump in WTI—reflects fears that the conflict will prolong disruption to the Strait of Hormuz and global oil supplies.

Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut roughly 90% of daily oil flows, lifting Brent and WTI above $90 and prompting forecasts that oil could top $100 within days. The disruption — amplified by attacks on energy infrastructure, insurability breakdowns and limited pipeline rerouting — risks a sustained global supply shock with sharp economic fallout, even as China and other importers draw on strategic reserves and contingency plans.

China is set to raise retail fuel prices on March 9, with forecasts showing gasoline up about ¥0.50–0.56 per litre and diesel around ¥0.57 per litre. That will make filling a standard 70-litre car tank almost ¥40 more expensive, tightening cost pressures for households and transport-intensive businesses.

Two months after launching island‑wide closed‑port operations, Hainan reports sharp gains in duty‑free coverage, new business registrations and tourism, driven by expanded zero‑tariff lists and visa liberalisation. Officials characterise the early phase as a successful pressure test but stress the harder task ahead: translating short‑term inflows into sustained, high‑quality economic upgrading while tightening enforcement against smuggling.

Shede Liquor, controlled by Fosun, is under strain: key local liaison Wang Yong has resigned amid slipping sales, swollen inventories and a market that favours ultra-premium and mass-market players. The company’s governance concentration, large capacity expansion and high dividend payouts complicate recovery, leaving Shede at a crossroads between operational rescue, retrenchment or portfolio reallocation.