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🇨🇳 Chummy with China Chinese President Xi Jinping and the first lady of China, Peng Liyuan, walk with President Trump and first lady Melania Trump yesterday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Americans' feelings toward China have warmed over the past five years, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week: The share of U.S. adults with a warm view of China has jumped from 11% in 2021 to 19% today. The slice with a cold view has fallen from 68% to 54%. Data: Pew Research Center. Chart: Avery Lotz/Axios 🥊 Below that lukewarm feel, tensions over trade, Taiwan, China's ties with Iran and a high-stakes AI race threaten to freeze over a precarious economic thaw between Beijing and Washington. 🐼 Return of panda diplomacy: Xi said China will send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta, calling them an "envoy of friendship." Keep reading.

💸 AI capital vacuum Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images A new analysis shows the AI buildout's staggering scale: $10.3 trillion in estimated AI infrastructure investment through 2032, Axios Macro co-author Courtenay Brown writes. 🤯 That amounts to 3.6% of GDP a year, dwarfing the investment booms that built America's railroads, highways, electric grid and telecom networks. Why it matters: The AI boom has become far too big and costly for even the largest tech companies to finance alone, triggering trillions in demand for outside capital, according to new research being presented today at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Financing the buildout will mean tapping bond markets, banks and private credit on a massive scale, adding to the flood of debt competing for investors' money at a time when borrowing costs are already surging. 💰 The more capital the buildout absorbs, the greater the potential pressure on borrowing costs elsewhere in the economy. In effect, any entity that needs capital, from the U.S. government to an Axios reader seeking a home mortgage, is in competition with hyperscalers. Go deeper ...

You have to be odd to be number one. - Dr. Seuss James

Report shows steady improvement in Long Island Sound water quality Billions of dollars spent on wastewater treatment and other infrastructure upgrades in Connecticut and New York have resulted in apparent improvements in Long Island Sound’s water quality, according to a report from the ecological nonprofit Save the Sound. Read More.

California Supreme Court orders Riverside County sheriff to return 650,000 seized ballots A Republican California sheriff must return more than a half-million ballots he seized for an investigation into unfounded voting improprieties in a special election last year, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Read More.

Cities often squabble over homelessness. A new law forces one community to try something different The Legislature is forcing the city and county of Sacramento to try something unusual in their fight against homelessness, and both critics and supporters of the controversial plan say it could have broad implications for the rest of the state. Read More.

Trump's state dinner for Xi to feature sea bass and a long list of tech titans A tech-heavy guest list, the fashion choices of those on it, who sits where, their body language throughout the night and what’s on the menu: these are the softer — often and glitzier — details of diplomacy. Read More. 🏛️ Scoop: Tech summit next week Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Kevin Dietsch and Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images President Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and tech CEOs will hold an AI meeting next Tuesday, Axios' Maria Curi scooped. The meeting comes as pressure mounts on Washington to regulate the frontier AI companies.

Delegates walk out as Netanyahu addresses UN, and other Mideast developments Israel's increasingly isolated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, defending his decision to attack Iran as an easy one. Read More. An isolated Netanyahu takes UN stage as he seeks reelection at home Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the year declaring that he stood “shoulder to shoulder” with U.S. President Donald Trump as the two countries launched a war against Iran. But this week, as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, there are no plans for the two men to be in the same room, or even in the same city. Read More. Small bites from the UN: Defiance, fiery language and a cold building Competing speeches from Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas commanded attention at the United Nations on Thursday, even though the Palestinian leader wasn't there in person: The United States denied him a visa. Read More.

🍗 1 for the road: KFC's new concept Photo: Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi/Axios Patio seating, a booth for special celebrations, lobby hosts and expanded menu options are part of a new concept that KFC is testing in McKinney, Texas, Axios Dallas' Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi reports. A host greets visitors as they enter. Customers can order at a kiosk or with an employee. Dine-in orders are brought to the table. Photo: Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi/Axios 🐓 There's also a display case with KFC merch, including socks, sweatshirts, phone cases and water bottles. KFC U.S. president Catherine Tan-Gillespie tells Axios: "We basically imagined, 'If the Colonel was building this restaurant today, what would it look like?'" Dig in ... KFC opens a Texas restaurant to test ideas for reclaiming its fried chicken crown KFC has been taking a licking from fried chicken rivals like Raising Cane's, but the global fast-food chain has a plan to return to the top of the U.S. pecking order. Read More.

🐼 China is sending two pandas to Zoo Atlanta after Beijing reclaimed four of them in 2024 amid diplomatic tensions, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced during his state visit today. Go deeper.

🛰️ Google and SpaceX are set to launch an experimental satellite to test the idea of AI data centers in space, the N.Y. Times reports. Gift link.

🎤 Macklemore announces "Free Palestine" tour Screenshot: @macklemore/X Rapper Macklemore announced a "Free Palestine" tour today, with stops in Dublin, Paris and London. That's after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's "Loop Tour" after making pro-Palestinian comments during a performance. 🤳 Macklemore wrote on X: "What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage. When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention." "So we're going on tour. All proceeds will benefit organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement." What's next: Artists and U.S. dates are TBD, the rapper said on Instagram. Go deeper.

Meet Meta's AI handheld Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reveals the Muse Charm at Meta Connect in Menlo Park, Calif., yesterday. Photo: Minh Connors/Bloomberg via Getty Images Meta's new Muse Charm is a keychain-sized AI handheld device to bring the viral Muse assistant to the masses, Axios' Ina Fried reports. The Tamagotchi-like gadget has a screen and a digital avatar representing Muse. Meta says the Muse Charm will be available by December. 🎤 CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during yesterday's Meta Connect keynote: "We've packed a lot of technology in this little guy." "So if you're not wearing [smart] glasses, this is going to be by far the fastest way to talk to your Muse and to show them what's going on around you." 🤖 Meta also announced new Muse capabilities, including live video chat, real-time voice conversations with custom voice options and an email address for each person's agent. Zuckerberg said: "I expect that Muse is going to grow into the personal superintelligence that billions of people around the world are going to use to accomplish their goals and improve their lives." The big picture: Other AI companies, including OpenAI, are also working on hardware based around their digital agents. 🤔 Reality check: Muse is also available through a smartphone app. It's unclear what advantages a dedicated gadget might offer. Go deeper ... Meta's next VR headset.

Excellent article!!

To me the issue is that the GC voted on it 3 times in 3 sessions and it was no. If the Union can do what ever it wants, what was the point of voting on it? And this is clearly a "what ever they wanted". The Union statement is so broad it could cover LGBT, even Trans people. There were no boundaries. It appears to me, that some people don't understand the limits of the Union. Maybe that is how they justify the disobedience. Thank you for your insight Gregory.

What is SSPX?

The General Conference appears to have something similar to SSPX going on - only in this case it's the liberal branch of the SDA Church that is seeking to normalize its agenda.

Stendahl was definitely an interesting man who could argue theology. Many in the Lutheran Church are still trying to sort out how he was able to argue that there were no theological or pastoral reasons standing in the way of practicing homosexuals (either in or outside of committed relationships) being ordained as clergy as the ordinations stood before God in faith be they married heterosexual couples or single practicing homosexuals that churned through same-sex partners. Back in the day this was a big deal and picked up by secular media. Here is one account of Dr. Stendahl's really putting his back into ordination for LGBT folks. Reading that article from the early 90's it's amazing to see how things worked themselves out. It's also amazing to see how the seeds of one particular theological slant can germinate and grow in fertile soil. Church Defied as Three Gays Are Ordained - Los Angeles Times

Gentlekpeopole, You can rant and rave all that you want to. Butl, You do nto ulnderstand that actual issue. Ordilnaltion of women in the North American Division is due to thae fact that in the NAD, lthe legal aulthority to ordain any person rests, it is clailmed, withl the Union Conference and not wiltlh any other SDA organization, including the General Conference.

Stendahl described the introspective conscience as one which asks, "On what basis may I find salvation?" He believed that this inquiry was not present in the Eastern churches. It started in the West with Augustine, according to Stendahl. Luther had an introspective conscience. Paul did not. He possessed a "robust conscience." He had lived with a clear conscience toward God all his life. He did regret persecuting the church of God, prior to his "call." While Luther's conversion approximated that of a down and out sinner, Paul's call was like unto that of an OT prophet. Stendahl described the introspective conscience as unique to the West; however, the 7 penitential Psalms, defined by medieval monk Cassiodorus as Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 130, and 143, describe the sufferings of man troubled by an introspective conscience. Psalm 25 might be included in this number, although it is traditionally not. Thomas Schreiner takes serious issue with Stendahl on a number of points: Thomas Schreiner’s Critique of N.T. Wright’s View of Justification – Debating Justification with N.T. Wright and NPP. Part 7 – Krisis & Praxis Dr. Stendahl disagrees with Luther in several areas. Both agreed, however, that Genesis 15:6 is central to the gospel. Stendahl saw in Genesis 15:6 proof that both Jews and Gentiles could comprise a single church comprised of those justified by faith. Luther saw in the same passage the foundation of his justification gospel: “Hence our doctrine that we are justified before God solely through His accounting mercy has its foundation in this passage ”：“Abraham believed in the Lord and He counted it to him for righteousness."

Is this the same "Krister" Stendahl who championed the idea of soul sleep & LGBT clergy ordination?

What is so puzzling to me, is that the GC has tolerated this in NAD. In the other 11 divisions this would have been dealt with swiftly.