China

(260217) -- GABORONE, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Children use chopsticks in a game in Gaborone, Botswana, Feb. 17, 2026. An event was held on Tuesday at a primary school in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival, immersing local students in the richness of Chinese traditions and culture. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

(Photo credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)The PGA Tour returns to one of its most iconic venues at Riviera Country Club, while the LPGA Tour tees off its 'Asia Swing' and the DP World Tour hits Kenya.PGA TOURTHIS WEEK: The Genesis Invitational, Pacific Palisades, Calif., Feb. 19-22Course: The Riviera Country Club (Par 71, 7,383 Yards)Purse: $20M (Winner: […]

(Photo credit: Reuters/Piroschka Van De Wouw)MILAN -- An inspired Italy delighted the home crowd with a stunning victory in the Winter Olympics men's team pursuit final, while Canada's Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann delivered another seamless performance to beat the Netherlands in the women's event and retain their title on […]

BEIJING, China - The first morning light of the Year of the Horse crept over the rooftops of Beijing, painting the paper lanterns in hues of molten gold. In a hutong nestled near the Drum Tower,

(260217) -- MILAN, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu, Li Wenhao and Ning Zhongyan of China celebrate after the speed skating men's team pursuit final B between China and the Netherlands at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

(260217) -- TESERO, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Zihe of China competes during the cross-country event of Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

(260217) -- MELBOURNE, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Students make paper lanterns in celebrations of the Chinese New Year at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Xu Haijing)

The owners’ committee of a Hong Kong private housing estate has said it is “very concerned” after a large section of the ceiling collapsed into an indoor swimming pool, while the MTR Corporation, which manages the property, said a “detailed investigation” was under way to identify the cause. In a notice issued to residents of Lake Silver in Ma On […]

(260217) -- MILAN, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman, Ethan Cepuran of the United States compete during the speed skating men's team pursuit semifinal between China and the United States at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

By Kaushal Verma New Delhi [India], February 17 (ANI): India's vast healthcare data and Singapore's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are opening new avenues for collaboration that could accelerate innovation and make healthcare technologies more affordable and globally competitive, Karen Priyadarshini, Vice President and Head of Healthcare […]

(Photo credit: Michael Madrid-Imagn Images)CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy -- Mikaela Shiffrin has dominated slalom all season and Wednesday's final race of the Alpine ski schedule will be the U.S. great's last chance of a medal at the Milan Cortina Games.On paper, the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history is the overwhelming favorite for gold.Shiffrin […]

(260217) -- MOSCOW, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People take part in a class on painting Peking Opera facial masks as a part of celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 17, 2026. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)

(260217) -- BEIJING, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People buy Tanghulu, a traditional Chinese snack consisting of sugar-coated haws or fruits, at a temple fair in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 17, 2026. Temple fairs opened here celebrating the Spring Festival and presenting visitors with traditional dances, lion dances and delicious food. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

(260217) -- DUSHANBE, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Children display traditional Chinese clothes at the Confucius Institute at Tajik National University during a Chinese New Year cultural event in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Feb. 16, 2026. (Confucius Institute at Tajik National University/Handout via Xinhua)

(260217) -- CHONGQING, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People watch a dragon dance parade held on the streets to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Tongliang District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

(260217) -- FUZHOU, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People visit Sanfangqixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) area on the first day of the Chinese New Year in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

CHANGCHUN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Monkey King had eaten too many rice crackers."This thing is too dry," he muttered from beneath the papier-mache mountain that pinned him to the stage. "Take it away."The line was improvised, half complaint, half joke, delivered in a thick northeastern accent as visitors above him kept lowering bags of Want Want Shelly […]

Beijing [China], February 17 (ANI): As China advances its sinicisation campaign in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the government has moved aggressively to expand the reach of its Tibetan-language broadcasting, even as access for outside media continues to narrow.The growth of state messaging is occurring alongside an increasingly restrictive environment for […]

(260217) -- CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Fei Xueqing (L) and Li Zhichao (C) of China celebrates after the curling men's round robin session 9 match between China and the United States at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

(260217) -- THE HAGUE, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- An artist performs Wu Opera in The Hague, the Netherlands, Feb. 14, 2026. TO GO WITH "Feature: Chinese Lunar New Year event in The Hague promotes cultural exchange" (Photo by Sun Jingjing/Xinhua)

(260217) -- MANILA, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A woman chooses decorations of Chinese Lunar New Year at a store in Chinatown, in Manila, the Philippines, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

(260217) -- SYDNEY, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Audiences walk past a board of "Scare Out" at a cinema in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 17, 2026. Chinese spy thriller "Scare Out" was released in Australia Tuesday. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Welcome to the Year of the Horse! Horse, a symbol of vitality, courage and prosperity in many Asian and Pacific cultures, is highlighted in various ways in diverse Chinese New Year celebrations across the region.

(260217) -- PREDAZZO, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Yamamoto Ryota of Japan competes during the ski jumping competition round of the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Predazzo, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)

Tens of thousands of Hongkongers and tourists lined the streets in Tsim Sha Tsui on Tuesday evening for the city’s annual Lunar New Year float parade, with the crowd left in awe as they saw dancers, dragons and other delights. The two-hour Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade began at 8pm on Tuesday with an East-meets-West street party […]

(260217) -- CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Huai Mingming of China comptes during the bobsleigh women's monobob heat 3 at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

For many countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, China's soft power appeal is not ideological but fundamentally practical. It is assessed through the lens of development priorities and economic necessity rather than political alignment.by Maya MajueranAs global uncertainties deepen, influence is shifting away from ideological appeal toward the […]

Hong Kong has welcomed at least four new babies as it enters the Year of the Horse, including a girl whose father is a talent visa holder from mainland China and a boy who is the fifth child of a local couple. Four babies were born at midnight on Tuesday: a girl and a boy at Union Hospital in Tai Wai; a boy at Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei; and a girl at […]

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Year of the Horse's Spring Festival Gala, the world's most-watched television event, has delivered a powerful statement: China's technological spotlight has decisively shifted to robotics.The 2026 gala's Monday night live broadcast augmented its traditional repertoire of song, dance and comedy skits with a high-stakes […]

(260217) -- BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A visitor in traditional Chinese costume attends a Spring Festival celebration in the Chinatown in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, Feb. 16, 2026. The event kicked off on Monday, featuring dragon and lion dances, traditional Chinese dance performances, as well as cultural experience activities such as […]

(260217) -- YANGON, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People visit a temple on the first day of the Chinese New Year in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) --Chinese freeskier Gu Ailing won her second silver medal at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in the women's big air on Monday.Gu, who had not contested a major women's big air event since winning gold at the Beijing Games, finished with 179.00 points, just 1.75 behind the winner, Megan Oldham of Canada.Dutch short track speed […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely to replace feng shui masters despite a growing trend of people turning to chatbots for fortune-telling, Hong Kong soothsayers have said, warning against blindly trusting such software as it may produce “dangerous” predictions. Feng shui masters told the South China Morning Post that such chatbots, trained on […]

Sao Paulo [Brazil], February 17 (ANI): In a landmark moment for Brazilian winter sport, alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen secured the country's first-ever Winter Olympics medal and a gold after winning the giant slalom at the Milan-Cortina Games on Saturday, as cited by Brasil 247.The giant slalom features two timed runs down a snow course marked by […]

by Yi Ling and Hou WenkunWUHAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At 10 a.m. sharp, two 1.3-meter-tall humanoid robots in a storefront in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, sprang to life, twisting and turning in perfect sync to a rhythmic beat. The conclusion of their dance coincided with the country's first-ever 7S humanoid robot store officially […]

(260217) -- NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- The Empire State Building is lit up in red to celebrate the Chinese New Year in New York City, the United States, Feb. 16, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Fengguo)

"The China-Russia visa-free policy has boosted tourism and people-to-people exchanges, driving forward bilateral relations," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- "I was surprised lately how many restaurant waiters and staff at scenic spots asked me to help them pronounce Chinese words," said Dmitry […]

(260217) -- DOHA, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- This photo taken on Feb. 16, 2026 shows the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel illuminated in celebration of the Chinese New Year in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Nikku/Xinhua)

by Xinhua writers Zhang Yisheng, Dario AgnoteMANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Across the Philippine archipelago, vibrant Chinese New Year celebrations have ushered in what many hope will be a lucky and prosperous Year of the Horse.In the days leading up to the festival, Manila's historic Binondo district, known as the world's oldest Chinatown, has transformed […]

Local residents and tourists flocked to the wishing tree in Tai Po on the first day of the Lunar New Year to pray for good health, happiness and prosperity for Hong Kong. Despite intermittent showers and temperatures of around 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit) marking the first day of the Lunar New Year, the conditions did little to dampen visitors’ […]

(260217) -- BANGKOK, Feb. 17, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Artists stage a performance at Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 14, 2026. A series of events celebrating Chinese New Year are held here from Feb. 14 to 18, bringing a strong festive vibe to visitors. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong)

Hong Kong will welcome the Year of the Horse with a 23-minute Lunar New Year fireworks display on Wednesday, showcasing vibrant elements inspired by the energy and spirit of horses. Themed “Prosperity Gallops Across Hong Kong”, the fireworks show is solely sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, at a cost of HK$19 million (US$2.4 million). The South […]

Crowds filled Hong Kong’s airport and a major cross-border rail terminal on the first day of Lunar New Year, with many visitors saying they chose to spend the holiday in the city to enjoy its festive spirit, food and mild weather. According to the latest Immigration Department data, more than 1.7 million Hongkongers made outbound trips from February 13 to […]

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 17 (ANI): The share markets in the country opened on a cautious note on Tuesday amid fresh tensions escalating between the United States and Iran, as the two nations began indirect nuclear talks in Geneva.Rising geopolitical uncertainty and its impact on global markets weighed on investor sentiment, leading to declines […]

Hong Kong airport’s second terminal will fully open on May 27, authorities have announced, with the redeveloped facility set to serve as the base for 15 airlines. The terminal, which will mostly handle regional flights, is part of the airport’s HK$141.5 billion (US$18.1 billion) expansion project launched in 2016 that also included a third runway. Its […]