guido santevecchi

Milan’s average house-price-to-income ratio is about 12.5 according to FT analysis — higher than in London. Read about Milan's great 20th century apartments – and how the city's European facelift and tourism boom resulted in the current housing crisis: ft.trib.al/UGHFgd1

We need to talk about Lightning (闪电), the winner of the Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon that took place today. Lightning, made by Chinese tech brand Honor, became the world’s first humanoid robot to run a half-marathon distance faster than any human ever has, completing it in 50 minutes and 26 seconds (the human record: 56:42). But I don’t actually find that human comparison so interesting. What’s more relevant is the comparison to last year’s humanoid winner: Tiangong Ultra then finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Just 12 months later, Lightning’s win shows how rapidly these developments are moving, cutting the running time by nearly two hours. The humanoid-robot marathon is a state-media spectacle. It’s a perfect embodiment and showcase moment of China’s ambitions and accomplishments in robotics, embodied AI & autonomous navigation, making it clear that humanoid robots are not just a priority frontier technology, but one that's advancing at marathon speed.

NEW: Several hours ago, China’s Eastern Theater Command announced it had dispatched naval and air forces to conduct “joint readiness patrols” in the East China Sea. This is likely a response to yesterday’s Taiwan Strait transit by the JS Ikazuchi. A possible exercise poster was released by the PLA's Military Bugle Weibo account, though no further details about the exercises have been provided. Updates will follow as more information becomes available.

Trump Says China’s Xi Promised No Arms Sales To Iran go.forbes.com/E2etIE

“China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also - And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran…” - President Donald J. Trump

The No. 51 Choe Hyon destroyer appeared on the IMO's global shipping database this month, listed as "active" with the DPRK Government Naval Force as owner. It's only the second time Pyongyang has registered military vessels with the watchdog.

The most honest thing ever said about the American War was said by a Vietnamese colonel to an American colonel after the war ended. The American colonel, Harry Summers, told his Vietnamese counterpart: "You know, you never defeated us on the battlefield." The Vietnamese colonel, Nguyễn Đôn Tự, thought about it and replied: "That may be so. But it is also irrelevant." That exchange contains the entire war. The Americans won battles. They won firefights. They had superior firepower in almost every conventional engagement. By their own metrics, body counts, kill ratios, territory controlled, they were often "winning." And they lost the war. Because wars are not won by body counts. Wars are not won by kill ratios. Wars are not won by the number of bombs dropped or the cost of the weapons deployed or the technological sophistication of the killing machinery. Wars, especially wars of occupation, wars of colonial imposition, wars fought against people defending their own land, are won by will. And on the question of will, there was never a contest. The Vietnamese people had been resisting foreign occupation for two thousand years before America arrived. Fighting was not a policy position. It was a cultural inheritance. A collective understanding of who they were and what they would do when someone came to tell them how to live. America arrived with the most powerful military in human history and a firm belief that sufficient firepower could substitute for legitimacy. It cannot. It never could. It never will. Irrelevant. That one word, from a Vietnamese colonel to his American counterpart, is the entire lesson.

BREAKING: IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says there is a “rapid increase” in operations at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, warning of a “very serious increase” in Pyongyang’s capability to produce nuclear weapons, now estimated at a few dozen warheads.

Korean Peninsula Update, April 14, 2026: North Korea invited PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Pyongyang for the first time since 2019 to discuss ways to deepen PRC-North Korea relations. The timing of this meeting and previous statements made by Kim Jong Un may suggest that North Korea wants the PRC to help facilitate future US-North Korea dialogue when Donald Trump meets with Xi Jinping. Other Key Takeaways: North Korea may deploy cluster munition warheads on its ballistic missiles to make them more difficult to intercept. This may indicate that North Korea is learning lessons from Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.

Back in 2022, Vladimir Putin thought he'd take Kyiv in a matter of days. Four years later, Ukraine is now a world leader in military innovation. Not a such a master strategist after all.

🇹🇼 Ceux qui invoquent l’Histoire oublient souvent un détail : ➡️ le droit moderne repose sur le consentement, pas sur la nostalgie impériale.

Aviators of the American Volunteer Group, more popularly known as the 'Flying Tigers', seen with blood chits and Chinese headgear, 1942.

❗️The Italian Iveco LMV Combat Armored Vehicle with additional armor saved Ukrainian soldiers from a direct hit by a Russian FPV drone.

张欣（潘石屹夫人）接受采访时坦言，中国所有有点权力的人都在贪腐，普通中国人都渴望民主。 这就是为什么要润出来的原因，起码能说自己想说的话。

Xu Jiayin, founder of China Evergrande Group, once China’s largest and the world’s most heavily indebted property developer, has pleaded guilty in Shenzhen. Allegations including organizing female dancers for entertainment and bribery have circulated widely for many years.

Donald J. #Trump prende di mira #PapaLeone XIV. E cosi tradisce un disagio profondo. Quando il potere politico si accanisce contro una voce morale, è perché non riesce a contenerla. Trump non discute Leone: lo implora di rientrare in un linguaggio che possa dominare. Ma il Papa parla un’altra lingua, che non si lascia ridurre alla grammatica della forza, della sicurezza, dell’interesse nazionale. In questo senso, l’attacco è una dichiarazione di impotenza. Non potendo assimilare quella voce, il potere tenta di delegittimarla. Ma così facendo ne riconosce implicitamente il peso. Se Leone fosse irrilevante, non meriterebbe una parola. Invece viene chiamato in causa, nominato, combattuto: segno che la sua parola incide. È qui che emerge la forza morale della Chiesa. Non come contro-potere, ma come spazio in cui il potere viene giudicato da un criterio che non controlla. Leone non risponde sul terreno della polemica, e proprio per questo resta fuori dalla presa. È libero. E quella libertà, disarmata e disarmante , è forse ciò che più inquieta. E, nello stesso tempo, ciò che più conta.

China offers incentives to Taiwan following opposition leader's visit reut.rs/4vwO9wv reut.rs/4vwO9wv

President Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulation on Commemoration of the 55th Anniversary of China-U.S. “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” and Launch of China-U.S. Youth Sports Exchange Events. President Xi pointed out that fifty-five years ago, Chinese and American elder statesmen, with exceptional political wisdom and strategic foresight, reopened the door for friendly exchanges between our two peoples, and created the remarkable story of “a small ball moving the globe”. Today, young Chinese and Americans meet together to renew this bond and launch a series of sports exchange events that will contribute meaningfully to the cause of China-U.S. friendship. He expressed the hope that all sectors of Chinese and American societies, especially the younger generation, will draw wisdom and strength from history, enhance mutual understanding and affinity through exchange and cooperation, and make progress hand-in-hand by learning from each other. It was also hoped that the two peoples will not only develop a stronger bond, but also make new contributions to the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

It was not a given that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi would meet Kim Jong Un on his current visit to Pyongyang-- he didn't on his Sept 2019 visit, for example. So, this is something: