Flagship

NATO weighs defense spending hike

NATO needs to “shift to a wartime mindset,” the head of the alliance said. Members should allocate much more than 2% of their GDP to defense spending, Secretary General Mark Rutte argued: “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us.” The comments followed reports that European NATO countries are weighing hiking their defense spending benchmark to 3% of GDP in 2025. US President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of member countries who haven’t met the target, coupled with war on European soil, has created new urgency in the continent’s capitals to take defense more seriously, with Rutte pushing a return to Cold War-era budgets: “The threats to our freedom and security are just as big.”

Beijing signals spending boost

China signaled plans to raise borrowing and spending next year in an effort to boost its fatigued economy. Beijing used an annual economic conference to indicate a policy shift toward consumption, in its latest effort to assure an anxious public that it is working to reverse years of weak demand — though the statements lacked concrete details. Some prominent Chinese commentators projected optimism, arguing that debate around the government’s economic decision-making is itself a positive sign, because it shows the public is “actively thinking about solutions rather than choosing to become numb,” a leading Chinese business journalist wrote on WeChat. “As long as people remain sufficiently pessimistic, I will stay optimistic.”

Telecoms hack sparks calls to up security

US lawmakers called on Washington to do more to protect against Chinese hacking efforts after eight US telecoms firms were compromised. The hacker group, alleged to have ties to Beijing, accessed call data and security agencies’ wiretap requests in an operation that spanned as long as two years, officials said. Donald Trump’s pick to run the Federal Communications Commission said the breach “made me want to basically smash my phone.” The hackers are still inside the networks, and the government “does not know when it will be able to root them out,” The Economist wrote, adding that the breach follows years of government investment. China denied involvement.

CEOs cozy up to Trump

Executives previously targeted by US President-elect Donald Trump are working to heal the rift before he returns to the White House. Meta, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg Trump has threatened to jail for life, donated $1 million to his inaugural fund. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who protested Trump’s first-term immigration policies and whose company is subject to antitrust charges, was reportedly meeting the president-elect this week. Meanwhile Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange after being named Time’s Person of the Year for the second time. Corporate America is enthusiastic for Trump 2.0 and his Wall Street-friendly cabinet picks, an outlook that “sidesteps some of [his] nonconformist economic ideas” like tariff hikes, The New York Times wrote.

Syria turmoil opens repatriation debate

Many Syrian refugees in Europe are reluctant to return to the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Within hours of the Syrian regime’s overthrow, several European countries suspended Syrians’ asylum claims, while Austria signaled it would organize deportations and right-leaning German politicians proposed paying refugees to leave. Some Syrians living abroad did rush to return, but many have put down roots in Europe over the last decade and question whether Syria is stable. “Refugees have long been treated as political cards,” a UK-based filmmaker from Syria said, and the swift support for repatriation “feels like yet another example of that.”

Turkey mediates Somaliland talks

Somalia and Ethiopia will work to resolve their dispute over the breakaway Somaliland region, negotiations that could have global ramifications. The Turkey-mediated talks follow a controversial deal that would give Ethiopia access to a port in Somaliland — a self-governing region within Somalia — in exchange for Addis Ababa recognizing the breakaway republic’s sovereignty. Somaliland has a good chance of also being recognized by Donald Trump’s incoming administration, Semafor Africa reported, with the port, which is located close to a critical strait near the Red Sea, an important part of that calculus. Recognizing Somaliland, analysts say, could help Washington bolster its strategic and military interests in the region and counter China’s growing influence.

Indian prodigy, 18, wins chess title

The new chess world champion is the youngest in the game’s history. Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, defeated China’s Ding Liren in the final round of a best-of-14 competition. The win caps a remarkable rise by Gukesh, who became a grandmaster at 12 and is the first Indian to win since 2007. The teen was a “locked vault of emotions” during the championship, The Indian Express wrote, spending the weekslong competition in Singapore “unlike most people from his generation… with bare minimum social media and internet usage.” Gukesh’s singular focus belies the fraught backdrop to this year’s competition: Russian players were banned, while high-profile Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen said he was too bored to compete.

Mexico law targets vapes

Mexico’s lawmakers voted to ban vapes and e-cigarettes, citing public health concerns. The move adds the North American country to a growing list of jurisdictions that have sought to restrict the devices: Australia has made it illegal to sell vapes anywhere but in pharmacies, while countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia have banned them outright. Some researchers are concerned limiting vapes could backfire: A high-profile review found that vaping helps cigarette smokers quit, while a UK government analysis found vapes were far less harmful than cigarettes.

Tigers return to China-Russia border

Tigers have been successfully reintroduced to Russia’s Pri-Amur region after more than 50 years of almost complete absence. Until recently, Russia’s tiger population was limited to the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, on the country’s Pacific coast. In 2012, conservationists started to release tigers that had been found as orphaned cubs into Pri-Amur, which is on the border with China. It has proven remarkably successful: The tigers show excellent hunting skills, and at least 12 cubs were born in the wild. One big cat conservationist said the approach “[expands] the toolbox” for conservation and “paves the way for more reintroduction attempts — not only of tigers, but of other big cats as well.”

Data center design solves for water use

Microsoft’s latest data center design requires no extra water for cooling. The growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing has led to a massive increase in the demand for data centers. While many headlines have focused on the servers’ energy use, they are also extremely water-intensive: A single 15-megawatt center “is estimated to use about 80-130 million gallons of water each year,” enough for three hospitals. Microsoft’s new design recycles its cooling water in a closed loop, meaning that after it is filled during construction, it should require no new input.

Dec. 13:

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Rome.
• The Crown of Thorns returns to the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
• Taylor Swift celebrates her 35th birthday.

A Japanese artist who carves miniature scenes into fallen leaves has garnered an international online fanbase. From an icicle-covered cat taking a shower to a bear serving a pizza fresh from the oven, many of Lito’s whimsical, Studio Ghibli-esque designs feature animals doing playful things, while others are inspired by artworks like The Great Wave Off Kanagawa — Lito’s home town. The artist began the practice of leaf-cutting following his ADHD diagnosis, The Associated Press reported. A single leaf can take eight hours to finish, and the meticulous works suit Lito’s desire for long periods of sustained concentration. “If I can make people happy by doing what I am doing, I want to do more,” he said.

Republicans are nudging Donald Trump to take a more active role in Syria, even as Trump has indicated he has no intention of doing so, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant and Burgess Everett reported. ​​More hawkish voices, like Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, could “run the risk of clashing with the foreign policy of the new right.”