World
China’s NPC raises questions about the economy, defence, new technologies
China’s week-long meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which gathered some 3,000 delegates from the political, business and cultural elite in Beijing, has closed without the customary press conference by the country’s premier.
The annual meeting of the country’s parliament began on March 4 at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, with delegates tasked with approving new laws and political appointments as well as assessing a litany of reports from departments across the government.
Since 1993, proceedings have wrapped with a press conference by the country’s premier but it was announced last week that Li Qiang would not be speaking to journalists.
If he had, he might have been able to give some insight into the legislation NPC delegates approved, including a shift towards “future industries” and a focus on national security.
Here are five key takeaways from this year’s formalities.
Open to AI
Facial recognition scanners at the entrance to the NPC offered delegates an idea of what a “future industries”-focused economy might look like.
Inside, Premier Li Qiang’s Government Work Report detailed how new technologies – from electric vehicles to commercial space flights – could help China’s economy escape the weight of a faltering property market.
“The two sessions clearly conveyed China’s intention to focus on the development of new technology in order to achieve self-sufficiency,” Angela Zhang, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera.
“China is driven by a sense of urgency to catch up with the United States,” said Zhang, who is also the author of High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy.
To meet potential economic growth through new technologies, Zhang told Al Jazeera she believes “the Chinese government will adopt a relatively lenient approach towards regulating new technologies like AI”.
Future Industries
While facial recognition cameras indicate that China could join Israel and the US in the lucrative market of surveillance technology, Bert Hofman, a professor at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, sees a range of ways in which new technologies could help China escape recent economic woes.
While China is “on track” to meet its climate targets by 2060, Hofman says it could potentially see economic benefits from “front-loading” its green transition sooner as has also been argued by Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.
For example, Hofman told Al Jazeera that the government could give “subsidies to households to buy more of the outputs of China’s surging EV [electric vehicle] manufacturing”.
Defence and security
The government did not announce a specific target for spending on its green transition at the NPC.
By contrast, it did announce that defence spending would rise by 7.2 percent in 2024, the same level of increase as in 2023.
A spokesperson explaining the increase said: “China has maintained a comparatively low military expenditure and the nation always sticks to a peaceful development road”.
But references to peace were notably absent from sections of the premier’s work report in its references to Taiwan. Last year’s report called for “advanc[ing] the process of China’s peaceful reunification”, while this year, Li said China would “be firm in advancing the cause of China’s reunification”.
According to Hofman, the increase in China’s military spending announced at the NPC may not result in an increase in real terms.
He told Al Jazeera he is more concerned about the focus on “future industries and the industrial policy that will go into developing them in China” after the focus on this area at this year’s NPC.
Still, China’s military spending has attracted much attention given that other countries are already spending more on defence.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), other countries, including the US, Japan, Australia and South Korea, have increased military spending “driven by a perception of a growing threat from China”.
Beijing’s defence budget has more than doubled since 2015 but, according to William D Hartung of the Quincy Institute, the US continues to outspend China on its military by a substantial margin.
Hartung cites data from SIPRI which he says go beyond China’s official military expenditures to include the “full range of China’s military-related activities”. Even taking this into account, according to the latest SIPRI estimate, US military spending at $877bn was about three times higher than Chinese military spending at $292bn in 2022.
Difficult economic questions
Speaking to delegates, some ministers were relatively frank about the challenges China is facing, especially in the area of economic growth.
Housing Minister Ni Hong was quoted as describing the task of fixing China’s property market as “very difficult”.
The collapse of property developer Evergrande was potentially a touchy subject at the meeting with one journalist reportedly having been questioned about her ties to the company after going through a facial recognition scanner.
China’s target of 5 percent growth for 2024 was seen by some as “ambitious”, although Hofman sees it as relatively realistic if China is able to escape a potential “deflationary spiral”.
He says Beijing has been wary of stimulus tied to the flailing housing market but that there are other ways it could help get more money into people’s hands to help stimulate the economy, such as a recent “very minimal” increase in rural pensions of about 20 Chinese yuan ($2.78) per month.
Delegates at the NPC go through previously agreed documents “almost line by line” meaning there are few, if any, new announcements during official proceedings, said Hofman.
The Financial Times reported that officials from some of China’s indebted state provinces met state bankers on the sidelines of the Congress.
Looking outwards
Without the customary press conference, China removed one of the few avenues open to foreign media trying to understand where China sees itself in the world.
However, while Li did not address the media, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a press conference last week on the sidelines of the NPC.
The room was full and Wang fielded questions from reporters from publications in countries including Egypt, Russia and the US.
Wang said there had been “some improvement in China-US relations” since Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in San Francisco last year, after a deterioration of ties as a result of differences over issues from trade to Taiwan and an alleged Chinese spy balloon.
Asked about China’s relationship with Russia in light of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, he described Beijing and Moscow’s closer relationship as a “strategic choice”, noting that bilateral trade had reached a record $240bn in 2023.
“New opportunities” lay ahead, he added, portraying the two countries’ ties as a “new paradigm” in the relations between big powers.
“Major countries should not seek conflict and the Cold War should not be allowed to come back,” Wang said.
Wang Yi also took questions on Israel’s war on Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire and telling journalists that China would support Palestine’s “full” membership of the United Nations.
World
Meta appeals landmark jury verdict that found it to blame for social media addiction for young users
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has appealed the verdict of a landmark social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles, challenging the jury’s determination that the company designed its platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being.
Lawyers representing Meta filed a notice of appeal Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawyers will provide their arguments related to the appeal in subsequent court filings.
The case centered on a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child and that it worsened her mental health struggles. The jury found that negligence by both Meta and Google-owned YouTube, which was also a defendant in the case, was a substantial factor in causing harm to the young woman, identified in court only by her initials, KGM, and her first name, Kaley.
The jury awarded her $3 million in damages and recommended an additional $3 million in punitive damages. Her lead attorney, Mark Lanier, said in a statement Friday that the legal team is expecting the appellate court to “continue the careful application of the law to this case, affirming the verdict of the trial court.”
A notice of appeal starts what can be a lengthy process. A Meta spokesperson provided a statement Friday that they also gave when the jury returned the verdict in March, saying that teen mental health is “profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.”
José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said in a statement Friday that YouTube plans to appeal and that “these are standard motions for this case to move forward.”
Meta and Google had each filed post-trial motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict — a routinely filed motion by defense lawyers asking a judge to toss out the jury’s verdict — and for a new trial. The trial judge, Carolyn B. Kuhl, denied those motions in early June.
Tech companies like Meta and YouTube are shielded from legal responsibility for content posted by third parties, based on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. To get around those protections, the plaintiffs focused on the design features of the platforms like “infinite scroll,” or the endless nature of feeds on the platforms, and autoplay functions.
Questions about encroaching into content-related territory were the subject of many objections from the defendants throughout the five-week trial.
The verdict in this case came during a time of legal woes for Meta. A jury in New Mexico returned a verdict finding that Meta’s platforms harm children’s mental health and safety just one day before the California jury reached its decision. The New Mexico jury, siding with state prosecutors who brought the case, landed on a penalty of $375 million. Meta has said the company disagrees with the verdict and will also appeal in that case.
“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement at the time of the verdicts and again on Friday.
Kaley’s case was a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, and the verdict could influence the outcome of thousands of similar lawsuits accusing social media companies of deliberately causing harm. TikTok and Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. were also initially named as defendants in the case, but each settled for undisclosed sums before the trial began.
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Israel’s leaders are publicly signaling that their country is prepared to strike Iran for a third time, while a U.S. official tells Fox News Digital that Washington remains closely coordinated with Jerusalem.
“The IDF is on high alert and prepared to resume the campaign, regain air superiority, and carry out an independent Israeli strike against Iran to eliminate threats — even for a third time,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Minister Israel Katz said Thursday at a graduation ceremony for the Israeli Air Force’s newest pilots.
“If we have to return, we will return with even greater force,” Katz added.
ISRAEL DEFENSE CHIEF WARNS STRIKES ON IRAN COULD RESUME SOON, SIGNALS CAMPAIGN NOT OVER
U.S. Central Command shared this footage in a July 8, 2026, press release about strikes against Iran. (CENTCOM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned Thursday that Israel’s campaign against Iran was not finished and said Tehran would not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, regardless of any agreement reached with Washington.
“The war has not yet ended,” Netanyahu said at the air force ceremony. “Alongside the old challenges, new challenges are emerging. Axes are falling, and axes are rising. We are paying attention to this. We are prepared for every scenario.”
Two Israeli sources told CNN Friday that the Trump administration does not currently want Israel to participate in the latest U.S. strikes against Iran.
“Netanyahu would really want to join the U.S. strikes, but the U.S. doesn’t want Israel involved at the moment,” one of the sources told CNN.
A U.S. official denied the report, telling Fox News Digital, “This is fake news. The United States has a strong relationship with Israel, which contributed to the resounding success of Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury. We remain in close coordination with our Israeli partners.”
Israel first launched a major campaign against Iran in June 2025, with the United States later joining the fighting by striking the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. On Feb. 28, the two allies launched a new, coordinated military campaign against Iran.
While Israeli leaders are openly presenting the military as ready for another campaign, some Israeli officials and analysts say there is little appetite for renewed fighting unless it produces a clear strategic result.
The public warnings may overstate Israel’s desire to reenter the fighting, said Israeli analyst and journalist for Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth, Nadav Eyal.
“On the record, Israel is signaling that it is prepared and even eager to strike Iran. But off the record, sources are saying that it is anything but that,” Eyal told Fox News Digital. “The reason is clear: Any Israeli strike in Iran will lead to Iranian ballistic missile attacks against Israel.”
US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, from left, US President Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. Trump insisted Egypt and Jordan will take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, dismissing the countries’ refusal to accept people from the war-shattered territory. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)
Eyal said the domestic political consequences could make Netanyahu reluctant to begin another round of fighting, particularly as Israel approaches another election.
“If these strikes are meant to provide meaningful, strategic change, it is something the prime minister can sell to the public,” Eyal said. “But if the intention is only to use Israel as leverage, why should Israelis again experience a couple of weeks or more of sitting in safe rooms and losing their summer vacations, children’s day camps and summer camps? That could play out badly for the prime minister politically.”
“The truth is that Israel was not really enthusiastic about another strike,” he added. “That doesn’t mean it is not going to happen. If President Trump demands that Netanyahu join, it is very hard to see the Israelis saying no. But right now, I don’t see any passion for it.”
The diplomatic outreach continued even as Trump declared that the ceasefire with Iran was over.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
A source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News that Qatari negotiators have traveled to Iran, in coordination with the United States, to meet with Iranian officials in an effort to de-escalate the situation and create the conditions for negotiations to resume.
On Thursday, Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office, which said the two agreed to continue coordinating across several regional fronts. Trump briefed Netanyahu on American operations in the Gulf, the statement said.
NETANYAHU REJECTS REPORTS OF A RIFT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAYS THE TWO REMAIN ALIGNED ON IRAN
A satellite image shows damage at the control tower in the port of Chabahar, Iran, July 9, 2026, after the U.S. military said July 8, 2026, it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping. ( 2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via Reuters)
The military warnings came as the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Israel had provided the United States with intelligence about what is described as a fresh Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
The developments follow renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where U.S. naval officials said the maritime threat remained “severe.” U.S. Naval Forces Central Command reminded commercial vessels Friday that an expanded southern route through the strait remained open and that no controlling authority could require ships to pay a fee for passage.
A U.S. official told Fox News on background that Iran’s attacks against commercial vessels were “acts of terrorism” and constituted failed performance under the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
“The United States is still committed to finding a resolution, and technical talks continue,” the official said. “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”
Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer who now heads the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said Israel had never regarded the memorandum as an adequate guarantee.
“From Israel’s perspective, the MOU was never a good deal,” Kuperwasser told Fox News Digital, speaking of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
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CENTCOM shared footage of strikes against airplanes amid Iran war (U.S. Central Command on X)
“Israel should be on high alert, ready to face an Iranian attack and prepared to strike back if necessary,” he added.
For now, Israel’s leaders appear to be leaving Iran — and Washington — with little doubt that they are prepared to act. Whether the United States allows Israel to join the renewed campaign, however, could determine whether the latest confrontation remains limited or develops into another full-scale regional war.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Published on •Updated
Belgium’s three regions announced on Friday that they would introduce a road tax next year that foreign drivers transiting the country would also have to pay.
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The country does not currently charge drivers to use its highways and the issue of introducing some form of payment has been debated for years.
“Everyone who uses our roads must contribute fairly to their maintenance,” said the transport minister for the southern Wallonia region, François Desquesnes.
Starting on 1 May 2027 drivers will need to register their vehicle and pay the road tax, with day passes available for drivers driving across the country.
An annual pass for a zero-emission car will cost €90 and up to €125 for higher polluting vehicles.
Road cameras that catch cars that haven’t paid for a pass will incur a fine of €70.
In Belgium, the individual regions are responsible for maintaining roads and motorways.
Currently, drivers can use almost all highways toll-free but the possibility of an introducing a charge has been under discussion for several years.
The revenue would be used for the operation and maintenance of the road network.
The proposed toll still needs final approval from the regions and European authorities.
According to the chairman of the liberal-conservative MR party, the government intends to offset the new toll by lowering other taxes for Belgians.
Additional sources • AFP
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