Penulis: Agus S

WHEN DEEPSEEK, a hotshot Chinese firm, released its cheap large language model late last year it overturned long-standing assumptions about what it will take to build the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI). This will matter to whoever comes out on top in the epic global battle forAIsupremacy. Developers are now reconsidering how much hardware, energy and data are needed. Yet another, less discussed, input in machine intelligence is in flux too: the workforce.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Humans in the loop”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

IF TOUGHNESS ALONEdecided great-power contests, China could afford to feel cocky about itsconfrontation with America. Though Chinese exporters have been winded by PresidentDonald Trump’s tariffs, they have yet to suffer a knockout blow. Communist Party bosses have worked to build an economy that can take American-inflicted pain, whether that involves ordering China’s technology sector to become more “self-reliant” and less dependent on foreign inputs, or expanding its dealings with Russia and other countries that oppose Western trade and financial sanctions. The same economy stands ready to impose pain on foreign rivals, for instance by curbing exports of rare-earth minerals, the supply of which China dominates.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Xi Jinping’s Trump-sized puzzle”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

MICHAEL PHELAN, a famous billiards player and supplier, lamented in 1858 that the growing popularity of the game had made the ivory needed for the balls scarce and costly. “If any inventive genius would discover a substitute”, he wrote, “he would make a handsome fortune for himself, and earn our sincerest gratitude.” Five years later, Phelan’s company offered a reward of $10,000 (about $250,000 today) for anyone who could do just that. The result, after some tinkering, was celluloid—the world’s first major synthetic plastic.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Plastics are greener than they seem ”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

THE DEATHofPope Francison April 21st came amid a tumult in international affairs, one in which the late pontiff had been expected to play an influential role. Two days after he suffered a fatal stroke, Francis’s simple coffin was transferred from his modest quarters in the Vatican to the ornate interior of St Peter’s Basilica. His funeral on April 26th was due to be attended by a constellation of world leaders, including President Donald Trump.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The coming struggle”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

“President Trumplooked up from the Resolute desk and said: Kill them,” recounted Sebastian Gorka, America’s new counter-terrorism chief, of Donald Trump’s orders just ten days after his inauguration, when presented with intelligence of Islamic State (IS) jihadists in a cave complex in Somalia. “He got out his iconic Sharpie pen and ticked the ‘go’ box on the operational orders.”

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Trump’s red-hot war on terror”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

THIS SPRING, the Lithuanian hamlet of Lavoriskes is tranquil. No traffic disturbs the country road that leads from the village to a nearby border checkpoint with Belarus, a client state of Russia. The loudest noise is birdsong.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Putin-proofing Europe’s borders”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

SIX YEARSago the British Army’s 3rd Division, the country’s flagship fighting force, visited North Carolina for an exercise. It won battles thanks to strikes deep behind enemy lines. But those strikes used munitions that the British Army did not have and was barred, by treaty, from owning. Instead, aUSArmy corps, firing dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICMs)—commonly known ascluster munitions—“saved the day time and again”, recalled John Mead, then a brigadier. “They were, and are, a game-changer.”

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Cluster-struck”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

WHEN PRESIDENTDonald Trump signed an executive order on April 24th authorising seabed mining for critical minerals, he meant to free American companies from international constraints and license their roving hands to search for precious stones on the bottom of the deepest oceans—Earth’s last mining frontier. The order was a bombshell. Though America has never ratified theUNConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the regulation of seabed mining sits, it had long accepted its provisions as customary international law. And the International Seabed Authority (ISA), created underUNCLOS, currently forbids mining.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The last frontier”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

EACH DAYPresident Donald Trumpchanges the termsof his trade war with the world. One constant, though, is his confidence that America can win a pain-infliction contest withChina. The president’s self-assurance reflects a cherished belief: that previous leaders through a mixture of naivety and greed allowed China to steal American jobs and industries. To hear Mr Trump tell it, as soon as tariffs on Chinese goods bite, trade flows will start to rebalance. Trump aides play down the sky-high tariffs that China has imposed on American goods in retaliation. Leaders in Beijing will blink, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, recently predicted: “I believe it’s up to China to de-escalate because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them.”

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “America’s economic-pain war with China”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief