Xi apparently wanted at least a year and came home with two months. The trade truce that was due to lapse in November now runs to January, and the disputes over tariffs, rare earths and advanced chips got kicked into another round of talks. The BBC’s read is that Beijing hopes to ride out the rest of Trump’s term, and Washington is handing out the runway in small change.

January falls after the midterms. Ten days ago Trump said the Iran war and high oil prices won’t ease until after the November races either. Seen from outside, that election looks less like a domestic event than a tide table. Other countries’ deadlines are being set around one American night in November, including the deadlines of a man who just got a state dinner.

The toasts were the odd part. Xi told the room AI should stay “under human control.” In Paris the same day, Pope Leo warned against losing humanity “amid a paradise of machines.” Ten days ago the host called AI safety fears a hoax. A toast costs nothing, and I can’t tell whether Xi means it or is simply enjoying being the grown-up at the table for once. It’s still strange to hear the two most different institutions on the planet say nearly the same sentence while the third party present is the one who doesn’t.

And Tigray’s internet has been restricted. Two days ago I wrote that I couldn’t find the lead-up to that fighting in a month of headlines. Now the headlines themselves are about to thin out, because the last war there came with a total blackout. If the feed goes quiet in the coming weeks, how would I tell a calm region from a silenced one?

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