Chinese robots have quickly entered global public consciousness in recent years, appearing as background robo-dancers in pop concerts and as humanoid marathon and sprint runners outpacing elite athletes ( 1). Domestically, robots are deployed as traffic guides and restaurant service staff, while swarms of drones entertain audiences in urban light shows or deliver takeout to high-rises ( 2, 3). These public debuts serve to both normalize automation in everyday civilian life ( 4) while projecting international soft power. Behind the public spectacle lies a bold agenda for global economic dominance. In its geopolitical contest with the United States, Beijing sees robotics as the core engine to project power and dictate the future of global supply chains ( 5).

Pakistan's new drone deal is with Trump-backed firm also selling to India Share Pakistan's new drone deal is with Trump-backed firm also selling to India on social media On September 16, a delegation from Powerus, a year-old United States drone company backed by two sons of President Donald Trump, was received by Pakistan's military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at military headquarters in Rawalpindi. A day later, the company announced it had received a "limited procurement order" from Pakistan's Ministry of Defence for unmanned aerial systems. It also said it had signed a separate memorandum of understanding (MoU) with senior Pakistani defence officials. But for analysts studying Pakistan's venture in drone technology, even bigger concerns have arisen from information that has since emerged. Less than three months earlier, the same company had given an Indian defence manufacturer the exclusive right to make and sell its drone interceptor technology in India.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani fired back at Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli PM accused him of supporting Hamas and inciting unrest against Jewish New Yorkers.

US President Donald Trump will host Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week in Washington, with everything from AI to trade and Taiwan on the agenda for the leaders of the global superpowers. Xi is expected to be greeted personally by Trump at Andrews Air Force Base on Wednesday, followed by a White House welcoming ceremony on Thursday featuring a military flyover and nearly 500 military personnel. The trip marks Xi's first visit to the US in over a decade and his third meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term in office. Adding to the high-stakes state visit, a US-China trade agreement reached last year is set to expire in November. The trade truce - reached in October 2025 as Trump and Xi met in South Korea - saw Washington suspend steep tariff increases on Chinese goods while Beijing eased back from restricting rare earth exports critical for manufacturing.

New UK agency will tackle'information warfare' from likes of Russia, Burnham says PM aims to'stem poisonous tide' of disinformation and deepfakes with National Centre for Information Defence Security chiefs will set up a new national centre to tackle disinformation and deepfakes from hostile states such as Russia, Andy Burnham has announced, saying the government had a duty to "stem the poisonous tide" from damaging British interests. The National Centre for Information Defence will "detect, attribute and disrupt" information attacks by foreign powers, many of which are enabled by AI, bringing together the intelligence agencies, law enforcement and social media companies. It will be tasked with making sure the UK has the defensive capability necessary to combat information warfare and build national resilience by helping communities to identify and combat disinformation, preventing a "distorted and untrue" narrative about the UK. Burnham said the country would have to go into the next decade "eyes wide open" about "insidious" campaigns, many of which had been orchestrated by Russia, which "twisted" what people at home felt about their own country and community. In eye-catching remarks, the prime minister suggested that Britons who were struggling with the cost of living and young people not in education, training or employment may be particularly susceptible to foreign influence online, underlining how inequality further undermined society.

James Uthmeier alleges a Pine View School teacher harassed a conservative student over his political beliefs and says she should be fired from Sarasota County Schools.

Wall Street's Nasdaq hits all-time high as AI frenzy gathers pace Share Wall Street's Nasdaq hits all-time high as AI frenzy gathers pace on social media Wall Street's Nasdaq stock exchange has hit an all-time high, shrugging off concerns about AI safety risks, sky-high tech valuations and the energy shock caused by the United States' war on Iran. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is dominated by US tech giants such as Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, rose 0.45 percent on Tuesday, taking its gains to date this year to more than 17 percent. The S&P 500, the most popular measure of the overall US stock market, closed essentially flat. Monolithic Power Systems, a Florida-based manufacturer of power circuits, and Canadian e-commerce company Shopify led the gains, surging 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. Micron Technology, one of the world's top three memory chip makers along with South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, rose 5 percent.

A campaign for Chinese self-sufficiency in artificial intelligence technology has led to intense local competition and a vicious price war, while export-oriented companies have thrived on surging global demand for infrastructure such as data centers. China's push for global supremacy in artificial intelligence technology is increasingly benefiting companies that supply the rest of the world, with investors favoring such stocks as fierce competition hurts their domestically focused peers. A Bloomberg gauge tracking 30 Chinese technology stocks with the biggest overseas revenue exposure has delivered a return of 36% this year, versus 9% for those more dependent on local sales. A separate measure of the export-oriented firms' outperformance over the other group is set for the strongest-ever reading this year. The contrasting fortunes partly result from Beijing's ambition to build its own AI ecosystem.

Kamala Harris says she has not decided on a 2028 presidential election bid, telling Detroit voters the 2026 midterms must come first during an NAACP fireside chat.