Comment on China's Xi promotes building initiative amid debt worries

For the last decade, with the support of our partners at Rolex, TIME has made a study of emerging leadership in all its many forms—not just statesmanship and intellectual achievement, but also cultural prominence and athletic triumph. The latest class of Next Generation Leaders, spanning eight countries and six continents, is no exception to that tradition of variety. And yet amid such rich diversity, this cohort finds commonality in the way their leadership is expressed.

Last year, an internet shutdown in the state of Manipur, India, lasted a staggering 212 days when the state government issued 44 consecutive orders to switch off access across all broadband and mobile networks. The shutdown affected a population of 3.2 million, and made it more difficult to document rampant atrocities committed against minorities during bloody violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribes, which included murder, rape, arson, and other gender-based violence, says Access Now, a digital rights watchdog that publishes an annual report on internet shutdowns around the world.

THE HAGUE — Anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders and three other party leaders agreed on a coalition deal early Thursday that veers the Netherlands toward the hard right, capping a half year of tumultuous negotiations that still left it unclear who will become prime minister. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The “Hope, courage and pride” agreement introduces strict measures on asylum seekers, scraps family reunification for refugees and seeks to reduce the number of international students studying in the country. “Deport people without a valid residence permit as much as possible, even forcibly,” the 26-page document says. Wilders cried victory on what he called “a historic day,” claiming he had made sure the three other coalition parties, including the one of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, had accepted the core of his program. “The strictest asylum policy ever,” Wilders exulted.

(LONDON) — Two men accused of cutting down the majestic Sycamore Gap tree concealed their faces from cameras as they arrived at court Wednesday but inside the courtroom they couldn’t hide from the cost of the damage they allegedly caused. A prosecutor said the value of the roughly 150-year-old beloved tree that was toppled onto Hadrian’s Wall in northern England last year exceeded 620,000 pounds ($785,000). [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “This is a case that will be instantly recognizable to you, indeed anyone hearing the charges read out,” prosecutor Rebecca Brown said in Newcastle Magistrates’ Court.

(DALLAS) — Scientists once thought of dinosaurs as sluggish, cold-blooded creatures. Then research suggested that some could control their body temperature, but when and how that shift came about remained a mystery. Now, a new study estimates that the first warm-blooded dinosaurs may have roamed the Earth about 180 million years ago, about halfway through the creatures’ time on the planet. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Warm-blooded creatures — including birds, who are descended from dinosaurs, and humans — keep their body temperature constant whether the world around them runs cold or hot.

(SAO PAULO) — While flooding that has devastated Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state has yet to subside, another scourge has spread across the region: disinformation on social media that has hampered desperate efforts to get aid to hundreds of thousands in need. Among fake postings that have stirred outrage: That official agencies aren’t conducting rescues in Brazil’s southernmost state.