HONG KONG — President Donald Trump has a new nickname in China: “The Lord of Eternal Tariffs.” Jokes and memes about the tariffs Trump has imposed on Beijing and other U.S. trading partners have been proliferating online in China, embraced by state media seeking to rally the public as well as ordinary internet users bemused by Trump’s policy decisions. “The Lord of Eternal Tariffs,” which can also be translated as “10,000 Tariff Grandpa,” appeared last week in a report by CCTV, China’s state-run broadcaster, which said Americans were “rising up in arms” against the tariffs amid fears they could harm the U.S. economy. As the world’s two largest economies appear at an impasse over tariff levels that amount to a mutual embargo — a 145% U.S. levy on Chinese goods, and a 125% Chinese levy on goods from the U.S. —Beijing has been allowing such rhetoric to promote the perception that it has the upper hand over Trump. China has taken a hard line on the trade dispute, with its Commerce Ministry saying Thursday that the U.S. should revoke all unilateral tariffs against China if it “truly wants to solve the problem.” Even as the potential impact on their populations begins to sink in, the two countries are far from reaching the kind of trade deal Trump says the tariffs are designed to extract. They can’t even agree on whether talks have started. Trump said Thursday that U.S. and Chinese officials had met that morning, without specifying who the officials were. Asked about Trump’s remarks on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry again disputed that any talks were taking place. “There have been no consultations or negotiations between China and the U.S. on tariff issues,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. “The U.S. should not mislead the public.” Commenters on China’s heavily censored social media have been quick to seize on any suggestion that Trump might blink. Earlier this week, after Trump said the U.S. was “going to be very nice” to China and that final tariffs would “not be anywhere near” 145%, one of the top trending hashtags on the Chinese social media platform Weibo was #TrumpWimpsOut. Chinese social media users have also satirized what they see as Trump’s strongman aspirations. On RedNote, a Chinese platform similar to Instagram, AI-generated images show Trump dressed like a Chinese emperor. Others have made fun of the idea of the United States reverting to a nation focused mainly on manufacturing, with one AI-generated video depicting Trump, Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio working on a production line in blue jumpsuits. Content creators on platforms not accessible in China have also joined in the online mockery. A parody account on YouTube produced a video called “The Song of MAGA,” in which Trump, Musk, Vance and Rubio march together in front of a banner that says “Serve the people,” a political slogan often used by the Chinese government. “The Lord of Eternal Tariffs” joins other Chinese nicknames for Trump that have been around since his first term, such as “King Know-It-All.” One popular transliteration of Trump’s name is “Trump Builds the Nation” — the nation being China, which some say could become more influential in the world as the Trump administration withdraws from it. Joking aside, there are indications that both China and the U.S. are looking for ways to minimize the impact of the tariffs on their economies and people. Last week, for example, the Trump administration said that smartphones and other consumer electronics, which are among the biggest Chinese exports to the U.S., would receive tariff exemptions. Asked Friday about reports that China was considering exempting some U.S. imports from the 125% tariff, Guo, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said he was “not aware” of the situation. But Beijing is openly pushing a campaign to help companies whose exports could be blocked sell them to the domestic market instead. Six Chinese online retailers, including JD.com and PDD, now have designated sections to help exporters sell their goods to Chinese consumers, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. Walmart’s China unit has rolled out a similar channel in response to Beijing’s call for the “integrated development of domestic and foreign trade,” it said Thursday. At Joy City mall in Beijing, there are new signs that say “Exports turned domestic” and “Support Chinese-made products.” The section sells a wide range of products, including clothes, shoes, suitcases, canned food and even fine porcelain. Experts say the campaign may not gain much traction given that the Chinese government has struggled for years to boost domestic consumption. It’s “naive” for Chinese exporters to make up for their losses by selling in other markets since there are many products that only Americans will buy, such as Christmas decorations, said Andy Xie, an independent economist in Shanghai. “People need to accept the reality that a lot of businesses will eventually all shut down,” he said.

President Donald Trump said in a new interview that he was joking when he promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war in the first 24 hours of his second term. Trump also said Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him about tariffs, and he addressed the Supreme Court's order that his administration work to facilitate the release of Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison. Those were just some of the areas the president touched upon in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine to mark his first 100 days in office, which has been consumed by efforts to reshape the federal government, push the limits of presidential power and bring about an economic sea change through sweeping tariffs. A transcript of the interview was published Friday. Ending the war in Ukraine Trump told Time that he was speaking "figuratively" when he promised to end the Ukraine-Russia war on the first day of his second term. "Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point," Trump said. "Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended," he added. Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he would end the war within his first 24 hours in office. But that promise never came to fruition, and he has conveyed that negotiations have been more difficult than expected. "The war has been raging for three years," he told Time. "I just got here, and you say, what’s taken so long?" The president also said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin would "rather go and take the whole thing" when it comes to Ukraine's territory, although he said Thursday that Russia has conceded that it cannot do so. In the interview with Time, which took place Tuesday, Trump said, "Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along." Speaking to reporters on Thursday, however, Trump stopped short of saying Russia would keep control of Crimea, saying only that it would be “very difficult” for Ukraine to get the peninsula back. Russia took control of Crimea during the Obama administration, which Trump has falsely claimed President Barack Obama gave to Russia. Trump also told Time that he doesn't think Ukraine will ever be able to join NATO and that its government's aspirations to join the alliance provoked Russia. "That’s, I think, what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO. If that weren’t brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started." Phone call with Xi Trump said in the interview that China's Xi called him about tariffs, though he didn't provide any details about when their conversation took place. NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment. "He's called," Trump said, "And I don't think that's a sign of weakness on his behalf." Asked what Xi said to him, Trump said, "We all want to make deals. But I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay." The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., declined Friday to comment on any call between Xi and Trump. As part of his new tariff policy, Trump has imposed duties of 145% on Chinese imports. Trump said earlier this week that the U.S. is "actively" speaking to China about the trade war, but Beijing on Thursday denied that there have been talks. “China and the U.S. have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs, let alone reached an agreement," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said. Trade deals? Trump claimed in the Time interview that he has "made 200 deals" when it comes to tariffs, but there's no evidence that any agreement has been presented so far. His goal has been to broker trade agreements with 75 countries in less than 90 days. Asked to clarify his comment that he has made 200 deals, Trump said, “100%.” The president was then asked to share with whom these deals have been made and gave a long answer about his tariff plans without naming any country. Trump said that the deals would be announced "over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way.” "I'll be finished," the president added when asked again to clarify what he meant. "Now, some countries may come back and ask for an adjustment, and I’ll consider that. We’re a department store, a giant department store, the biggest department store in history. Everybody wants to come in and take from us. They’re going to come in and they’re going to pay a price for taking our treasure, for taking our jobs, for doing all of these things. But what I’m doing with the tariffs is people are coming in, and they’re building at levels you’ve never seen before." Abrego Garcia case Trump suggested in the interview that he hasn't been involved in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whom his administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador, despite the Supreme Court's order that the administration must help "facilitate" his return to the U.S. "I leave that to my lawyers," Trump said when asked if he was helping with Abrego Garcia's release. "I give them no instructions. They feel that the order said something very much different from what you’re saying. But I leave that to my lawyers. If they want — and that would be the attorney general of the United States and the people that represent the country. I don’t make that decision." Trump said he hasn't asked El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. "I haven’t been asked to ask him by my attorneys. Nobody asked me to ask him that question, except you," Trump said to Time. The White House has said that Abrego Garcia will "never" come back to the U.S., and officials have maintained that he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and family have denied. Asked if he's violating his oath by not obeying a Supreme Court order, Trump said, "I’m not defying the Supreme Court. I never defy the Supreme Court. I wouldn’t do that. I’m a big believer in the Supreme Court, and have a lot of respect for the Justices." Third term as president In the Time interview, Trump again discussed the idea of serving a third term as president, which he cannot do under the Constitution. Trump claimed he hasn't "looked at even the possibility" when questioned about his past comments that he might seek another term. But when asked about methods he's previously referred to that could make it possible, he said, “I’d rather not discuss that now, but as you know, there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don’t believe in loopholes. I don’t believe in using loopholes.” The Trump Organization, meanwhile, has begun selling red hats embroidered with "Trump 2028" in white block letters.

HONG KONG — China on Thursday directly contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims that Beijing and Washington are actively discussing resolutions to a trade war that threatens to upend the global economy. While Trump said Wednesday that the world’s two largest economies are “actively” talking, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson responded that “China and the U.S. have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs, let alone reached an agreement.” The spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, made the comments at a briefing in Beijing, saying that reports of ongoing talks were false. He added that while China is open to negotiations, “if it’s a fight, we will fight to the end.” At 145%, Trump’s tariffs are higher on China than any other country. As he ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods in recent weeks, citing unfair trade practices, Beijing has responded in kind, bringing its total tariff on U.S. goods to 125% — levels that amount to a mutual trade embargo. The prospect has raised fears of a global recession, sending markets whipsawing as trade tensions have done the same. Relations briefly appeared to improve Wednesday after the Trump administration signaled that it was discussing reducing tariffs with China. Still, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave conflicting accounts of the state of negotiations Wednesday, with Bessent saying “both sides are waiting to speak to the other,” without providing further detail. The secretary reiterated remarks he made the previous day, predicting near-term de-escalation. “I don’t think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way,” he told reporters Wednesday in Washington.Trump, meanwhile, said that “everybody wants to be a part of what we’re doing” and that the U.S. and China had direct contact on trade “every day.” A senior administration official told NBC News on Wednesday that the U.S. is speaking with China on tariffs but at a low level that has not involved Cabinet officials. The mixed messaging came a day after Trump made comments that were interpreted as a potential softening toward Beijing. Rather than playing hardball with China, the U.S. is “going to be very nice” and the final tariffs “will not be anywhere near” the current 145%, the president told reporters Tuesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied Trump was softening his tone, telling Fox News that “there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China.” Those comments poured cold water on U.S. stocks, which pared earlier gains Wednesday and slipped in premarket trading Thursday. Asian markets ended Thursday mixed, while European indexes fell in early trading. The suggestion that tariffs could soon come down “reflects the pain that these tariffs have imposed and are likely to impose on U.S. businesses and U.S. customers, if continued,” said Lee Branstetter, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Talking about tariff reductions before winning any concessions from China or even starting serious talks looks like a climbdown, Branstetter said. “That, to me, is consistent with the view that the president did not really think through the consequences of his tariff decisions,” he added. “They have now become much more evident to him.” Growing impact The impasse between the U.S. and China is causing growing anxiety as the implications become clearer. This week, the International Monetary Fund slashed growth forecasts for the U.S., China and most other countries, citing the effect of U.S. tariffs. The White House is also increasingly concerned about possible shortages on U.S. retail shelves as orders begin for the holiday season at the end of the year. A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, a Germain container shipping group, said Thursday that its customers had canceled 30% of shipments to the United States from China over concerns about their trade dispute. After a similar battle over tariffs in Trump's first term, China — which has long been preparing for a second trade war with the U.S. president — has not rushed to offer concessions or set up meetings with U.S. trade officials. “We don’t care about what he wants,” said Wu Xinbo, a government adviser serving in China’s Foreign Ministry and a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. The U.S. and China may exchange some information at the working level, but that’s not negotiation, he said. “Trump just wants to send some reassuring signals to the domestic market, suggesting that ‘The Chinese are talking to us, don’t worry.’ But that’s not the case,” Wu said. In the meantime, China faces its own pressures, including a slowdown in its export-driven economy that would only be made worse by tariffs. If domestic demand doesn’t pick up to compensate for the drop in exports, China may need to negotiate, said Gary Ng, senior economist for Natixis in Hong Kong. It’s “quite hard” to convince the rising Chinese middle class to once again accept a decline in their living standards, Ng said. Other factors, such as the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping doesn’t have to answer to voters, may buy China some time. “I think the Chinese have taken the measure of Donald Trump,” Branstetter said. “They’ve determined that he really can’t afford the economic and political cost that high tariffs, even on China alone, would generate, that he would fold pretty quickly if pushed. And that seems to be exactly what’s happening.”

SRINAGAR, India — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday to pursue, track and punish terrorists and their backers in a strong reaction to a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir, where police have identified two of the gunmen as Pakistani. At a speech in India’s eastern state of Bihar, Modi folded his hands in prayer in remembrance for the 26 men who were shot and killed in a meadow in the Pahalgam region of Indian Kashmir, exhorting thousands gathered at the venue to do the same. “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth,” Modi said, referring to the attackers, without referring to their identities or naming Pakistan. His comments are, however, bound to further inflame ties between the nuclear-armed rivals after India downgraded ties with Pakistan late on Wednesday, suspending a six-decade-old water treaty and closing the only land border crossing between the neighbors. Both countries later canceled visas for their nationals to each other’s countries Thursday. Indian authorities said all visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be revoked with effect from Sunday, adding that all Pakistanis currently in India must leave before their visas expire based on the revised timeline. The country also announced other measures, including cutting the number of diplomatic staff and closing the only functional land border crossing between the countries. In return, Pakistan closed its airspace for all Indian owned or Indian operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India including to and from any third country. Pakistan’s Power Minister Awais Lekhari called the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty “an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move.” Police in Indian Kashmir published notices on Thursday naming three suspected militants “involved in” the attack, and announced rewards for information leading to their arrest. Two of the three suspected militants are Pakistani nationals, the notices said. They did not say how the men were identified. India and Pakistan control separate parts of Kashmir and both claim it in full. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Wednesday a cabinet committee on security was briefed on the cross-border linkages of the attack, the worst on civilians in the country in nearly two decades. Misri, the top diplomat in India’s foreign ministry, did not offer any proof of the linkages or provide any more details. New Delhi will also pull out its defense advisers in Pakistan and reduce staff size at its mission in Islamabad to 30 from 55, Misri said. India has summoned the top diplomat at the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi, local media reported, to give notice that all defense advisers in the Pakistani mission were persona non grata and given a week to leave, one of the measures Misri announced. Modi has also called for an all-party meeting with opposition parties to brief them on the government’s response to the attack. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave on Thursday, shouting slogans and pushing against police barricades. In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was scheduled to hold a meeting of the National Security Committee to discuss Pakistan’s response, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X. The Indus treaty, mediated by the World Bank and signed in 1960, regulated the sharing of waters of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan. It has withstood two wars between the neighbors since then and severe strains in ties at other times. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were weak even before the latest measures were announced, as Pakistan had expelled India’s envoy and not posted its own ambassador in New Delhi after India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir in 2019. Tuesday’s attack is seen as a setback to what Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have projected as a major achievement in revoking the special status Jammu and Kashmir state enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the long-troubled Muslim-majority region. India has often accused Islamic Pakistan of involvement in an insurgency in Kashmir, but Islamabad says it only offers diplomatic and moral support to a demand for self-determination. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir since the uprising began in 1989, but it has tapered off in recent years and tourism has surged in the scenic region.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to leave the Chinese territory to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City. Zen, a 93-year-old retired bishop, left Hong Kong on Wednesday night after applying at a court to get back his passport, his secretary told The Associated Press in a text message on Thursday. Authorities confiscated his passport after his controversial arrest under a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2022. Zen is among the critics in recent years who have said the Vatican’s agreement with Chinese authorities on the appointment of bishops betrays pro-Vatican Chinese Catholics. He has also criticized Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the official charged with negotiations with Beijing, as a “man of little faith.” Parolin is considered one of the main contenders to be the next pope, given his prominence in the Catholic hierarchy. On Tuesday, media reports said Zen had issued a critique of the Vatican, questioning why pre-conclave meetings started as early as Tuesday. The AP could not independently verify the reports, but Zen reposted the reporters’ posts about his statement on his X account. Given his age, Zen will not be among the cardinals voting in the conclave for a new pope. His secretary said Zen would return to Hong Kong after the late pope’s funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday. But she was unsure about his exact return date. It was not the first time Zen had to go through the city’s court to leave Hong Kong. In 2023, he went through similar procedures to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He met Pope Francis in a private audience during that trip, but suffered health issues and was hospitalized for a time after his return to the city. Last November, he was seen attending the national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He could walk on his own at that time. Zen was first arrested in 2022 on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under the security law. His arrest sent shockwaves through the Catholic community at that time. While Zen has not yet faced national security-related charges, he and five others were fined in 2022 after being found guilty of failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested in widespread 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A hearing on his appeal against the conviction is scheduled for December. Separately, Hong Kong cardinal Stephen Chow will travel to the Vatican for the conclave, the city’s Catholic Social Communications Office said Thursday. In 2023, a Beijing bishop who was installed by China’s state-controlled Catholic church as an archbishop visited Hong Kong at the invitation of Chow. It was the first-ever official visit by a Beijing bishop to the city. Experts at that time said Chow’s invitation was a symbolic gesture that could strengthen the fragile ties between China and the Vatican. Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties following the Chinese Communist Party’s rise to power and the expulsion of foreign priests. Since the break in ties, Catholics in China have been divided between those who belong to an official, state-sanctioned church and those in an underground church loyal to the pope. The Vatican recognizes members of both as Catholics but claims the exclusive right to choose bishops.

China has launched three astronauts into space to replace the crew on the Chinese Tiangong space station, marking a further step in the country’s ambitions for a crewed mission to the moon and exploration of Mars. The Shenzhou 20 spaceship took off as planned atop China’s workhorse Long March 2F rocket at 5:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT). It will reach the Tiangong about 6.5 hours later. The rocket lifted off from the launch center in Jiuquan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. The spaceship will remain in space before returning the current crew. The Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space station has made China a major contender in space, especially since it was entirely Chinese-built after the country was excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. China’s space program is controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party. The addition of mechanical arms to the three-module station has also raised concerns from some that China could use them to disable satellites or other space vehicles during a crisis Since first launching a man into space in 2003 — becoming only the third country to do so — China’s space program has advanced at a steady pace. The space agency has also landed an explorer on Mars and a rover on the less-explored far side of the moon, and aims to put a person on the moon before 2030. The Shenzhou, or “Celestial Vessel,” 20 mission will be commanded by Chen Dong, who is making his third flight. He will be accompanied by fighter pilot Chen Zhongrui and engineer Wang Jie, both making their maiden voyages, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Unlike previous crews, Shenzhou 20 is entirely male. They will replace three astronauts currently on the Chinese space station. Like those before them, they will stay on board for roughly six months. The spaceship is due to be launched into space atop China’s workhorse Long March 2F rocket at 5:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT) and reach the Tiangong about 6.5 hours later. The three-person crew was sent in October last year and they have been in space for 175 days. They are due to return on April 29 after a brief overlap with their replacements. The Tiangong, fully assembled in October 2022, can accommodate up to six people at a time. While in space, the astronauts will conduct experiments in medical science and new technologies and perform space walks to carry out maintenance and install new equipment, the Manned Space Agency said.

SRINAGAR, India — Gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists on Tuesday at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said in what appeared to be a major shift in a regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared. Police said it was a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule. “This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media. Two senior police officers said at least four gunmen, whom they described as militants, fired at dozens of tourists from close range. The officers said at least three dozen people were wounded, many of them reported to be in serious condition. Most of the killed tourists were Indian, the officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy. Officials collected at least 24 bodies in Baisaran meadow, 3 miles from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam. Two others died while being taken for medical treatment. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police and soldiers were searching for the attackers. “We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” India’s home minister, Amit Shah, wrote on social media. He arrived in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and convened a meeting with top security officials. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cutting short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returning to New Delhi early Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance politician and Kashmir’s top religious cleric, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists,” writing on social media that “such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth.” The gunfire coincided with the visit to India of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who called it a “devastating terrorist attack.” He added on social media: “Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.” U.S. President Donald Trump on social media noted “deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The United States stands strong with India against terrorism.” Other global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemned the attack. “The United States stands with India,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir but both claim the territory in its entirety. Kashmir has seen a spate of targeted killings of Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms. Tensions have been simmering as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations. But despite tourists flocking to Kashmir in huge numbers for its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, they have not been targeted. The region has drawn millions of visitors who enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers. New Delhi has vigorously pushed tourism and claimed it as a sign of normalcy returning. The meadow in Pahalgam is a popular destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day. Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, while condemning the attack, said Modi’s government should take accountability instead of making “hollow claims on the situation being normal” in the region. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. In March 2000, at least 35 civilians were shot and killed in a southern village in Kashmir while then-U.S. President Bill Clinton was visiting India. It was the region’s deadliest attack in the past couple of decades. Violence has ebbed in recent times in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion. Fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to remote areas of Jammu region, including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.

BEIJING — In the global race to produce robots that are smarter and faster, China’s humanoids have come a long way. Robots from cutting-edge Chinese companies can dance and spin or do roundhouse kicks, as they have demonstrated in videos that are all over China’s internet. Yet when humanoids and robots were invited to join real flesh-and-blood runners for a half-marathon in Beijing this past weekend, the race garnered attention but also laid bare the challenges still facing the industry as China seeks to dominate technologies of the future. Some of the robots barely got started. One, designed with a woman’s body and face, collapsed moments after getting started, sending a group of engineers rushing to its side with laptops. Another that was mounted to a platform with propellers crashed into a barrier. A robot the size of a young child succumbed to a glitch and simply lay down on the starting line. Hailed as a “historic moment” by the Chinese government, the race came amid an intensifying tech rivalry between the U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest powers in artificial intelligence. While China remains a distant second, it leads the world in AI publications and patents and is closing the gap in terms of the quality of AI models. U.S. investors were spooked early this year when the Chinese start-up DeepSeek released a ChatGPT-like model developed at a fraction of the cost. Much as it has with electric vehicles, the Chinese government has been promoting humanoid robots as a potential engine of economic growth, even as the Trump administration tightens U.S. export controls on AI chips on which Chinese developers rely. Several Chinese state-backed industry groups have declared that U.S.-made chips are “no longer safe or reliable.” The robot-human race was another step forward in China’s goal of becoming the world leader in humanoid robots by 2027. “That more than 20 robot companies participated shows that robot tech in China is pushing forward quickly,” said Guo Yijie, team lead for the winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, which was developed by the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics. As the starting siren echoed through the air, the first batch of robots jogged ahead, their metal legs thumping loudly against the track. The tallest robot was 5 feet, 10 inches, while the shortest, nicknamed “Little Giant,” measured less than 2½ feet and drew cheers from the crowd as it swaggered past and waved enthusiastically. Some robots ran smoothly like humans while others had stiffer, more mechanical movements. Each also had a unique style: Some had lifelike skin and hair, others wore clothes, and a few ran in sneakers. Companies developing humanoid robots in China, the U.S. and elsewhere hope they might eventually be able to do jobs ranging from manufacturing to caregiving. “Our vision is for humanoid robots to integrate into various industries and households, serving humanity in meaningful ways,” said Wei Jiaxing, brand and public relations lead at the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics. “They can enhance productivity, improve efficiency and help address labor shortages.” When it came to running, however, the robots were no match for the human contestants, who had time to stop and snap selfies with them along the 13-mile course in Yizhuang, a tech hub district in southeast Beijing. Midway through the race, some robots became too “tired” to continue on their own, and their human operators had to guide them with leashes. The robots were allowed to swap batteries or even be replaced by another machine altogether.

A series of earthquakes shook Europe’s largest city, Istanbul, on Wednesday, sending people running from buildings and Turkish authorities warning residents to stay outdoors. The largest quake, which had a magnitude of 6.2, struck the Marmara Sea 13 miles off the coast at 12:49 p.m. local time (5:49 a.m. ET), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That was followed by at least three aftershocks between magnitudes 4 and 5, the USGS said, all clustered near the economic maritime artery of the Bosporus Strait. The USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” map said it shook cities as far away as the Romanian capital, Bucharest, and the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, 300 miles away.But so far, Turkish officials have found no “damage or adverse conditions on our highways, airports, trains or subways,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said on X. Turkey’s disaster management agency, the AFAD, has “now started field scans,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Security camera video distributed by Reuters showed the moment the earthquake struck. People were sitting in a café in Istanbul, which has a population of 16 million, before getting up to leave once the shaking started.Some shops reportedly closed after the initial quake and its aftershocks. Turkey is a particularly active earthquake zone, sitting at the junction of three tectonic plates: the Eurasian, Arabian and African. About 60,000 people died in February 2023 when Turkey and neighboring Syria were hit by a 7.8-magnitude quake and more than 500 aftershocks over the next 24 hours.

Iran will have to stop enriching uranium under any deal with the United States and could only import what is needed for a civilian nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ahead of talks between Tehran and Washington on Saturday. However, Iran has already made clear that its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable. When asked about Rubio’s comments, a senior Iranian official, close to Iran’s negotiating team, again said on Wednesday “zero enrichment is unacceptable.” The U.S. is seeking to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and President Donald Trump has imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions and threatened to use military force if Iran does not end its nuclear program. Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon and says its nuclear program is peaceful. U.S. and Iranian officials will meet in Oman on Saturday for a third round of talks on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. “There’s a pathway to a civil, peaceful nuclear program if they want one,” Rubio told the “Honestly with Bari Weiss” podcast on Tuesday. “But if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a ‘weapons program,’ ... but is enriching. And so I think that’s problematic,” he said. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff last week said Iran does not need to enrich past 3.67% — a remark that raised questions as to whether Washington still wanted Tehran to dismantle its enrichment program. Witkoff then said a day later that Iran must “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment.” Rubio said on Tuesday that Witkoff was initially talking about “the level of enriched material that they would be allowed to import from outside, like multiple countries around the world do for their peaceful civil nuclear programs.” “If Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one, and that is they import enriched material,” he said. The U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has said that Iran is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level. Western countries say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level for civilian uses and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs.