The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping, the country's most powerful leader in decades, awarded himself another term as leader of the ruling Communist Party.

China plans to boost coal production through 2025 to avoid a repeat of last year’s power shortages, an official said Monday, adding to setbacks in efforts to cut climate-changing carbon emissions from the biggest global source.

Official plans call for boosting coal production capacity by 300 million tons this year, according to news reports. That is equal to 7% of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tons, which was an increase of 5.7% over 2020.

A Canadian entrepreneur was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, August 11, 2021, in a spy case linked to Beijing's effort to push his country to release an executive of tech giant Huawei, prompting an unusual joint show of support for Canada by the United States, Japan and 23 other governments.

Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet official energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark.