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The U.S. Defense Department and Raytheon signed multi-year framework agreements to boost annual production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, AMRAAMs, SM-6s and SM-3 interceptors, responding to heavy munitions use in recent crises and growing allied demand. While the increases are significant, analysts warn that even the expanded outputs leave high-end missile stockpiles relatively vulnerable and that rebuilding a resilient industrial base will be a long effort.

The People’s Bank of China will cut the foreign‑exchange risk reserve on forward sales to 0% from 20% starting 2 March 2026, a measure intended to lower hedging costs for firms, release bank liquidity, and shift toward more market-driven exchange‑rate management. The move comes as the renminbi has strengthened sharply and signals Beijing’s preference for normalised, market-based tools while retaining broader stability mandates.

China has released a national standard system for humanoid robots and embodied intelligence that covers the full supply chain and lifecycle, aiming to accelerate commercialization and regulate safety and ethics. The move arrives as domestic firms show technical progress and growing orders, but the field’s core AI 'brain' remains a bottleneck that will determine whether humanoids reach mass production.

OpenClaw, an open‑source agent platform created by Peter Steinberger, has gone viral by turning chat messages into executable commands across multiple model APIs, accelerating demand for inexpensive, high‑throughput models and simple local hardware like the Mac Mini. The surge highlights opportunities for Chinese model providers such as Minimax and Kimi, while raising acute security, deployment and governance challenges.

A diner in Beijing alleges they found suspected parasite eggs on tuna served at Sushiro, a Japanese conveyor-belt sushi chain; the Mentougou District Market Supervision Bureau has preserved samples and opened an investigation. The result of laboratory testing and the chain's public response will determine regulatory penalties and reputational damage amid heightened consumer scrutiny of raw seafood safety.

A BYD Yuan Plus (ATTO 3) in Jerusalem survived a nearby missile explosion with no battery fire and only non‑fatal passenger injuries, highlighting BYD’s battery safety claims and raising questions about selling EVs in conflict zones. The incident boosts BYD’s reputation in Israel even as it spotlights insurance, supply‑chain and geopolitical risks faced by consumer tech firms operating abroad.

BYD unveiled a second‑generation blade battery and a megawatt‑class flash‑charging system that it says can charge vehicles from 10% to 97% in nine minutes, with only modest added time in extreme cold. The technology, paired with an ambitious charging network plan, could eliminate charging time as a key barrier to EV adoption — provided real‑world durability, safety and grid constraints are addressed.

China has released the country's first national standard体系 for humanoid and embodied-intelligence robots to address interoperability, safety and data concerns as shipments and demand accelerate. The framework prioritises data, safety and interface standards with a fast-track process and aims to unlock industrial-scale deployment while reducing supplier lock-in and duplicated R&D.

BYD announced a second‑generation Blade battery and a megawatt‑class "flash‑charge" system that it says can charge from 10% to 70% in five minutes and to 97% in nine minutes, with only a small penalty at minus 30°C. The company pairs the technical claims with a plan to build 20,000 flash‑charge stations across China this year and offers one year of free flash charging to owners of vehicles with the new battery.

China’s 2026 government work report sets a pragmatic growth target of 4.5–5%, pairs higher fiscal spending and large bond issuances with targeted social measures, and doubles down on industrial policy for semiconductors, aerospace and future technologies. The emphasis is on structural stability, controlled fiscal expansion and selective opening rather than an aggressive growth push.

Xibei has closed about 120 stores and faces losses surpassing 500 million yuan after a trust crisis over its use of pre‑prepared ingredients was amplified by a viral post from internet personality Luo Yonghao. The shutdowns reflect deep structural pressures in China’s casual‑dining sector — high rents, falling per‑meal spending and fragile brand trust — rather than a single cause.

Lin Junyang, the technical head of Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen project and the company’s youngest P10 technical leader, announced his departure on March 4. Lin led Qwen’s rise as a prominent open-source LLM family, but Alibaba has not named a successor, leaving short-term uncertainty about leadership and the project’s future direction.

A sixth day of fighting has seen Iran claim strikes on Israeli military and civilian infrastructure using a new high‑speed attack drone, while the US reports thousands of strikes on Iranian targets and warns of munitions depletion. Washington says it will not send ground troops for now, but both sides are signalling readiness for a protracted confrontation that risks broader regional escalation and economic disruption.

IDC has reduced its 2026 smartphone shipment forecast to about 1.1 billion units, warning that a memory chip shortage and steep price rises could drive a record 13% market contraction. The shortage is forcing OEMs to cut low‑end models and push consumers toward higher‑priced devices, a structural shift that IDC expects will persist until at least mid‑2027.

At Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference, bankers and tech chiefs argued that AI will not eradicate enterprise software but will reorder it. Deterministic, security‑focused and architecture‑centric businesses are best positioned to win, while presentation‑layer vendors face severe pressure; infrastructure investment may plateau as efficiency and specialised hardware take precedence.

Iran’s IRGC announced it struck a U.S. destroyer with Kader‑380 and other missiles during a refuelling operation roughly 600 km from Iran’s coast, claiming fires aboard both the warship and a tanker. Independent verification is lacking; regardless, the claim marks a sharp escalation with implications for naval operations, regional stability and global shipping.

China’s central bank data for January show broad money (M2) up 9% and an increase of 8.09 trillion yuan in RMB deposits, while total social financing expanded by 7.22 trillion yuan. Government bond issuance and short‑term bank credit powered the monthly financing increase, against a backdrop of plentiful interbank liquidity and low short‑term rates.

Lin Junyang, the technical lead of Alibaba’s Qwen large-language-model project, announced his resignation shortly after the open-source release of Qwen3.5. Several core contributors have also posted farewells, raising concerns about the project’s continuity and the wider tension between open-source commitments and commercial priorities at Alibaba.

Fujian Huashi Foods, operator of the Wallace fast‑food chain, has applied to terminate its NEEQ listing after years of rapid expansion left it with ballooning debt, declining margins and a spate of food‑safety complaints. The delisting may buy the company regulatory and compliance flexibility, but it also reduces transparency as the chain confronts the difficult task of shifting from scale‑at‑all‑costs to a quality‑focused model.

BYD unveiled a second‑generation blade battery and megawatt chargers it says can charge cars from near‑empty to 97% in nine minutes, demonstrated in both ambient and extreme cold. The company plans a rapid nationwide rollout of 20,000 "flash‑charging" stations by end‑2026, combining pack design, high‑power chargers and a retrofitting strategy, but scaling will confront grid, cost and standardisation challenges.

China’s government set a 2026 growth target of 4.5–5% and plans to issue 1.3 trillion yuan in long‑term special bonds while keeping policy moderately loose and injecting 800 billion yuan of short‑term liquidity. The moves come as oil prices spiked on Middle East tensions, pushing global markets lower and underscoring the intersection of Beijing’s domestic stabilisation strategy with external geopolitical risks.

Lin Junyang, the young technical lead for Alibaba’s Qwen large‑model programme, announced on X that he is stepping down shortly after Alibaba open‑sourced four small Qwen3.5 models. The move coincides with Alibaba unifying its AI branding under Qwen and draws international attention as the company pivots toward wider developer adoption and productisation.

Iran’s IRGC has deployed the Hadid‑110, a rocket‑assisted high‑speed suicide drone that Tehran says is optimized to penetrate modern air defences. The weapon’s combination of stealth shaping, turbojet propulsion and mobility is aimed at targeting radars and command nodes, complicating defensive timelines for U.S. and allied forces in the region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Heggses warned the campaign against Iran could last several weeks to more than two months, with Washington setting the pace. U.S. and Israeli strikes have reportedly hit some 2,000 Iranian targets while Iran has responded with hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones, creating a high-tempo confrontation with regional and economic risks.

Alibaba has approved the resignation of Lin Junyang, a central technical figure behind the open‑source Qwen models, and placed foundation‑model oversight with senior management. The move reassures stakeholders on policy but raises developer fears that Qwen’s open, high‑velocity culture could change, illustrating the friction between engineering ideals and corporate priorities in AI.

A notice released on March 5 shows U.S. Central Command has asked the Pentagon to send extra intelligence personnel to Tampa and is shipping more air‑defence and counter‑drone systems to the Middle East, preparing for operations against Iran to last at least 100 days, potentially until September. The moves reflect an unexpected expansion in scale and logistical strain, driven in part by the challenge of countering low‑cost Iranian drones with expensive interceptors.

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius declared that the Bundeswehr will not participate in any US‑ or Israeli‑led military campaign against Iran, stressing de‑escalation and the absence of a credible withdrawal plan. The statement highlights growing transatlantic divergence and limits on European combat support, while leaving room for non‑combat diplomatic and humanitarian roles.

Alibaba has denied that its large-model AI team collectively resigned, stressing team stability, normal service operation, and that it has not imposed commercial KPIs. The clarification followed the resignation of a senior figure and reflects broader tensions in China’s AI talent market between research freedom and pressure to monetise.

At the opening of the 14th National People’s Congress, Chinese leaders and ministers billed 2025 as a year of record R&D and rapid AI and robotics deployment, with state-owned enterprises ploughing trillions of yuan into strategic emerging industries. Officials framed these gains as evidence that Beijing will continue to rely on state-directed investment and technology-driven industrial policy to steer China's economy in 2026.

A 60-year-old recording of soldier Lei Feng released on the Learn-from-Lei-Feng day has reanimated a state-sanctioned model of selfless service. The audio’s plainness, paired with recent acts of heroism by young Chinese like Jin Chenglong, has renewed official appeals for lifelong civic devotion amid social and economic strains.

Three U.S. F-15E fighters were downed over Kuwait following a U.S. strike on Iran, with Washington blaming a suspected Kuwaiti friendly-fire incident while Tehran claims its air defences scored a hit. The event highlights failures in integrated identification systems, the complicating role of electronic warfare, and strained coalition coordination during high-tempo operations.

OpenAI’s GPT‑5.4 is a professional‑grade model focused on financial workflows, able to generate and operate on spreadsheets, documents and presentations via plugins and desktop automation. The release accelerates competition in enterprise AI while raising accuracy, auditability and regulatory questions for the financial sector.

Chinese state media commentary accuses a US nuclear submarine of torpedoing an Iranian frigate and failing to render assistance, framing the act as a violation of maritime tradition and rules of engagement. The piece warns that such behaviour by a dominant naval power risks normalising lawlessness at sea and could invite asymmetric retaliation and wider instability.

China's 2026 government work report lowers the GDP target to 4.5–5% and shifts fiscal priorities toward consumption, social protection and strategic technologies. Beijing plans targeted bond-financed measures to boost demand while concentrating public funds on AI, semiconductors and other future industries as part of a broader push for resilience and technological self-reliance.

On Lei Feng Memorial Day, state commentary highlighted Xi Jinping’s repeated urging since the 18th Party Congress to make the “Lei Feng spirit” an everyday practice. The revival of this moral campaign aims to promote volunteerism and social cohesion, serving the Party’s broader goals of stability and ideological influence while raising questions about symbolic action versus structural reform.

A Chinese military commentator warns that Iran’s threat to strike Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility, if faced with regime‑change efforts by the US and Israel, risks triggering a triple crisis: nuclear contamination, mass displacement and a disruption of fertiliser supplies that could undermine food security across the region. The analysis highlights the limits of Iran’s military precision, the high humanitarian cost of escalation, and the constrained leverage of neighbouring states and the international community to prevent spillover.

Sri Lanka has agreed to assist the Iranian replenishment ship Bushehr, evacuating 208 personnel and moving the vessel to Trincomalee after a sister ship, the Dena, was sunk nearby in an incident Iran attributes to the United States. Colombo frames its action as humanitarian and consistent with maritime law, but the episode highlights growing naval tensions and diplomatic pressure in the Indian Ocean.

British officials say London has not ruled out joining strikes on Iranian ballistic-missile launchers, while US heavy bombers are reported to be headed to Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford. The development revives legal and diplomatic controversy over use of the Chagos base and increases the risk of wider escalation with Tehran.

Two entrepreneurs from modest backgrounds built MingMing Busy into China's largest snack retail chain by combining ultra‑low prices, direct sourcing and rapid expansion into lower‑tier markets. The group's HK IPO valued it at about HK$86.2bn, rewarding scale but leaving open questions about single‑store profitability, brand trust and the sustainability of its low‑margin model.

IDC has cut its 2026 smartphone shipment forecast to about 1.1 billion units, forecasting a roughly 13% decline driven by a memory/storage chip shortage. The disruption favours large OEMs and major memory manufacturers, risks higher prices and delayed product launches, and could lengthen replacement cycles for consumers.

Songyan Power, founded by Tsinghua dropout Jiang Zheyuan, rose from a rented villa prototype to national prominence after viral demos and a spring‑festival appearance, securing over RMB2bn in funding. The company’s pivot from MPC to deep reinforcement learning and a sub‑RMB10,000 consumer robot have driven momentum, but serious technical, supply‑chain and cash‑management risks remain.

OpenAI's GPT‑5.4 and GPT‑5.4 Pro introduce a one‑million‑token context window and a "Thinking" mode that preserves long‑running context and allows mid‑response intervention. The update targets complex, tool‑driven workflows and promises stronger capabilities for coding, research, and enterprise automation, while raising operational costs and safety challenges.

A U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian warship Iris Dena in international waters of the Indian Ocean after the vessel had taken part in India's Milan 2026 exercises. The attack, which killed dozens and rescued some survivors, has intensified debate over the legality of U.S. actions, provoked anger in Tehran and domestic criticism in New Delhi for its silence, and signals a dangerous widening of the conflict beyond the Middle East.

After returning from his first official visit to China, Chancellor Merz warned that Germany’s productivity is inadequate and current work practices impede economic prosperity. His comments reflect concerns about competitiveness amid China’s rapid industrial mobilisation and signal potential pressure for economic and labour-market reforms in Berlin.

OpenAI’s GPT‑5.4 introduces native computer control and deep spreadsheet integration, turning language models into practical ‘digital employees’ capable of executing multi‑step tasks. The model expands context capacity to one million tokens, adds token‑saving tool search, and targets enterprise workflows, particularly in finance, though it comes with higher API pricing and fresh governance questions.

China’s 2026 policy package keeps overall fiscal appetite steady but prioritises three strategic directions: lifting prices modestly, accelerating technology and industrial self‑reliance, and imposing a roughly 3.8% carbon‑intensity reduction. The government set a lower but pragmatic GDP target of 4.5%–5%, signalling a conscious pivot from quantity to quality of growth.

China’s 2026 Government Work Report introduced six new policy formulations, most notably the formal adoption of a “smart economy,” while setting a growth target of 4.5–5%. The document pairs industrial priorities — large-scale compute, AI terminals and satellite internet — with expanded social measures on housing, parental leave and encouragement for commercial health insurance to fill gaps in the public system.

Beijing has opened a municipal Data and AI Security Testing Centre to provide testing, risk assessment and standards work for AI systems, based in MenTouGou’s Jingxi Zhigu industrial cluster. The centre aims to professionalise AI assurance, supporting the capital’s digital-economy goals while raising compliance requirements for developers and shaping regional standards.

China’s 2026 Government Work Report sets a GDP target range of 4.5–5.0 percent and signals a strategic shift from quantity to quality of growth. The plan pairs greater central fiscal leverage with targeted credit tools, expanded social spending and a push to cultivate a new generation of strategic industries.

China’s central bank will inject ¥10 trillion via a six‑month buyout reverse repo on 13 February to ensure ample banking liquidity. The move provides durable, medium‑term funding and signals a continued, measured easing stance aimed at supporting financing conditions and stabilising the economy.