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May 18, 2026

The Pennine hills are full of holes – here’s how they’re helping fight climate change

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Johnston, Honorary Research Associate in Peatland Hydrology, University of Manchester

Excavators cut shallow areas in the peatlands as part of a project to develop more wetlands. Adam Johnston, CC BY-SA

Thousands of holes are appearing in the Pennine hills, as part of efforts to improve carbon storage by restoring damaged peatland.

Peat itself is carbon rich and so as it grows it will help to capture the CO₂ that is produced by industrial fossil fuel use that is warming the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, damaged or drained peatlands turn into a carbon source, releasing greenhouses gases themselves. About 15% of the world’s peatlands have been drained, making these kind of restoration projects essential.

But now a new project is attempting to bring these wetlands back to life. On Holcombe Moor in the West Pennines, 3,000 bunds were created in 2021, with a further 700 in 2024 as part of Natural England’s Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme. Improvements are already starting to be seen.

What’s the history here?

The hills of the West Pennines are no stranger to holes, with a long history of lead and coal mining stretching back to the Roman period.

Coal fired the mills nearby during the industrial revolution in cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. Smoke drifted back to the hills, carrying the heavy metal impurities of lead and arsenic from coal burning.

The industrial legacy remains visible in the elevated concentrations of heavy metals near the soil surface, which made it difficult for most plants to survive. Areas were stripped of all vegetation, leaving expanses of exposed soil. In the most affected places, these erosional gullies cut deep into the surface, turning places like Kinder Scout into a moonscape.

What was exposed and eroded so quickly had taken over 8,000 years to form. Much of the Pennines are covered in blanket peatland, a type of bog made through the slow accumulation of partially decayed plant matter (the type of soil we call peat).

The conditions for peat to form require a delicate balance, with the water table maintained high enough to limit the decomposition of plant matter, while still allowing plants to grow. Not just any plant can tolerate these harsh growing conditions. One species is truly specialised to bog life and forms the main building block of peat itself – Sphagnum.

A close up of Sphagnum moss. — The Sphagnum moss being used in the peatlands project.
Adam Johnston, CC BY-SA

Finding a super moss

Sphagnum moss is the key ecosystem engineer in peatlands, holding up to 20 times its weight in water to maintain the saturated conditions needed for its growth.

When in a healthy state, new Sphagnum grows up through the older moss, raising the water table with it to leave the older moss submerged, partially decayed, which forms the peat itself. Bogs grow only millimetres per year, but over millennia this can build several metres of peat.

The organic nature of peat means it is carbon rich, so much so that UK peatlands store over 3 billion tonnes of carbon, around ten times more than all UK woodland carbon stocks.

Restored wetlands could also help protect the area from wildfires at the UK starts to see more extreme temperatures.

A close up of a bund pool with a measuring stick in it. — Measuring a bund pool.
Adam Johnston., CC BY-SA

Human pressure and pollution

With human pressures, including past industrial pollution, bog growth has been disrupted. Sphagnum has disappeared from these peatlands.

Now, peatland restoration efforts are under way. From the early 2000s organisations including Moors for the Future Partnership have spent decades blocking gullies to raise water tables, reseeding bare peat and planting Sphagnum moss, transforming the worst affected peatlands from dark moonscapes to vibrant green moss-scapes.

Though blocking erosional gullies with stone or timber dams has proven successful in deeply eroded peat, restoring flatter moorland plateaux presents a different set of challenges. Namely, how to restore the wet conditions required to encourage more Sphagnum moss to grow. However, this hasn’t stopped restoration organisations from trying a novel restoration method which might work to restore flatter peatlands.

Five years on from the start of the project, the original bunds are covered with grasses and many pools are now brimming with Sphagnum moss, looking more like natural bog pools.

Scallop bunds are crescent-shaped pools, created by digging shallow scrapes in the peat surface using special low impact excavators. The aim is to capture surface water which would otherwise run quickly off the hill after rainfall. The water stored in bund pools helps to maintain wetter conditions at the bog surface for Sphagnum moss to re-establish and grow on moorland plateaus.

The National Trust, in partnership with the University of Manchester, is undertaking long-term research to understand the potential for bunds as a peatland restoration method.

The 2025 drought followed one of the driest springs in England for over 100 years.

It provided the first test of extreme weather in this peat bund experiment. Preliminary monitoring during the 2025 drought suggests bunded areas remained wetter for longer than unrestored peat, helping to maintain wetter conditions near the peat surface for longer – the conditions required to support Sphagnum growth.

The excavator machines up on the hills today don’t signal a return to the industrial past, but an attempt to restore the damage it left behind.

Adam Johnston has received funding from charities delivering peatland restoration

– ref. The Pennine hills are full of holes – here’s how they’re helping fight climate change – https://theconversation.com/the-pennine-hills-are-full-of-holes-heres-how-theyre-helping-fight-climate-change-282925

May 18, 2026

Raghu Rai: the trailblazing photographer who documented the vast diversity of a changing India

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Parvati Nair, Professor of Hispanic, Cultural and Migration Studies, Queen Mary University of London

In April, as India’s governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran elections in parts of the country, a visionary Indian passed away. He went quietly, much as he had lived, and left behind a vast photographic archive of the world’s most populous nation.

Raghu Rai (1942-2026) was India’s foremost photographer. Born prior to independence in what is now Pakistan, he and his family were one of the many millions forced to relocate during Partition.

For more than 60 years, Rai created a continuous visual record of India post-independence. He photographed major national figures, important moments in the country’s complex development, and the wide diversity – geographic, religious, cultural, social and ethnic – that shapes what it means to be Indian.

In subtle but persistent ways, his images challenged the country’s current dominant narratives. His work raised doubts about rigid nationalist rhetoric, government policies, and some of the questionable myths that underpin the ideology and politics of Hindu nationalism.

Photographs of a changing nation

Rai rose to international fame when he became the first Indian to join the renowned photographic agency Magnum. Well before then, though, his images were in the global daily press. As such, his photography is intrinsically woven into how India came to be thought of at home and abroad.

Rai shot both in colour and black-and-white, his aesthetic turning ordinary moments into fragments of awe, insight and grace. His lens captured the breadth of India – from Kashmir to Kerala, and from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea.

He photographed major establishment figures and the many unpredictable moments of everyday life, including quiet, personal scenes of reflection. His subjects ranged from leaders such as Indira Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa to the landscapes and ordinary people of rural and urban India.

Thematically, Rai’s images spanned city life, spiritual journeys, landscapes and many other aspects of Indian society. They were often shot from a wide-angled lens that framed social scenes. His images of classical Indian musicians offer proof of how photographs can hold the flow and rhythm of music through nuanced attention to tonality, mood and evocation.

But perhaps most haunting is his photograph of a dead infant buried in rubble. It was captured in the aftermath of the world’s worst industrial tragedy, the Bhopal disaster of 1984.

Over 500,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate. The child’s open, sightless eyes force the viewer to look this horror in the face.

In Rai’s wide-ranging photographs, the nation appears in transformation. His work helped Indians to see themselves as part of this larger national movement, connected through shared relationships and interactions. In his images, you can see the colours, contrasts, tensions and energy of Indian life, captured in brief moments that seem to flow into one another.

To consider the panorama of his work is to see India not as divided or hierarchical, but as a complex, interconnected mix of people and cultures.

A spiritual exploration

Rai’s death marks the end of an era of photojournalism forged in pre-digital times. Much changed in his lifetime, but his dedication to photography was, as he put it, a spiritual exploration. His work reflects this search for revelation across the length and breadth of India.

This idea of “quest” should be heeded. Its relevance is more urgent today than ever, as India’s Hindu nationalist government finds yet more ways to extend its grip on this vast and diverse nation – promoting the view that to be truly Indian, one must adhere to its ideology.

Rai’s images go beyond what is shown in the frame, opening up possibilities that aren’t fully defined or explained. His work traces the evolution of India over more than half a century, and proposes endless facets of the country in ways that build connections across geographies, perspectives and people.

Parvati Nair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Raghu Rai: the trailblazing photographer who documented the vast diversity of a changing India – https://theconversation.com/raghu-rai-the-trailblazing-photographer-who-documented-the-vast-diversity-of-a-changing-india-282934

May 18, 2026

Why European households throw away so much food – and how to curb the waste mountain

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science, University of Southampton

Europe is wasting huge amounts of food while millions of people globally experience hunger. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have squeezed supply chains. The cost of living crisis has pushed many families to the edge.

Without strengthening environmental sustainability, supply chain resilience and household affordability, food security risks will increase significantly. Yet households still throw away huge amounts of edible food. This is not just waste. It is lost calories, lost money and a growing climate problem.

My team’s new analysis of European households find they discard more than 70kg of food per person each year. An estimated 69 million tonnes of food was wasted in Europe and the UK in 2025 according to our calculations, based on average food waste for the EU and the UK, and the current combined population. But it’s a global problem: around the world in 2022 – the latest year we have data for – households, retail and food service wasted 1.052 billion tonnes.

The European Commission reports that a four‑person household would save €400 (£346) per year on food that is ultimately wasted. But the problem is not simply about money. The main drivers of food waste are lack of knowledge and understanding, as well as health-related concerns about supposedly out-of-date food, plus an increase in eating for convenience.

Here’s why Europeans waste food and what we should do about it.

Shopping: why we buy more than we eat

Promotions and panic buy triggers push people to buy more than they need. Multi-buy deals, three-for-two and buy-one-get-one-free offers nudge shoppers to take more than they need. Time pressure and shopping while hungry make this worse. Our analysis shows planning matters: people who check their fridge and shop with a list waste less.

Retail design plays a key role. Large pack sizes and limited small portion options mean single households buy food they cannot finish. Near-expiry discounts can help, but only if shoppers have a plan to use or freeze the food. Retail nudges must be paired with household tools, not left to chance.

hand scraping food waste from chopping board into bin — When people understand the difference between quality and safety, they throw away less.
Pormezz/Shutterstock

Once food is home, everyday management determines whether it is eaten or discarded. Confusion over date labels is a major driver of avoidable waste. Many people treat “best before” as a safety cutoff. They throw food away to avoid the risk of illness. This fear outweighs guilt about wasting food. Simple clarity on labels would cut discards fast.

Storage skills matter too. Freezing, batch cooking and first in, first out routines (using oldest stock first, with newest stock used last) dramatically reduce spoilage. Frozen food is wasted far less than fresh. Teaching basic storage and quick preservation techniques is a high‑return, low‑cost fix.

Food planning can be hard: modern life is busy – people eat on the go and many rely on convenience meals. That convenience culture increases waste. Social norms push buying too much food. Hosting, hospitality and the desire to offer choice leads households to cook more than they need. In some cultures, abundance equals care – and that creates more uneaten food being left on plates.

Income alone does not explain the pattern. We found no simple link between national GDP (the standard measure of the size of an economy and of economic growth) and household food waste. Wealthier countries can waste less, but the relationship is inconsistent and shaped by local habits, tourism and measurement methods. The real drivers are behavioural and contextual.

Next steps

Our study points to three clear ways to strengthen policy and build resilience of food supply chains by cutting waste.

First, fix the signals. Standardise date labels and run a public information campaign. When people understand the difference between quality and safety, they throw away less.

Second, change retail practices. Encourage smaller pack sizes, resealable formats and messaging on promotions to encourage items are frozen for a future date. Incentivise supermarkets to sell imperfect produce and to price near expiry items clearly to encourage people to buy them.

Third, support households directly. Fund community cooking classes, fridge management campaigns and simple digital tools that track what’s in the home. Invest in kerbside food collections and food digestion treatment so unavoidable waste is diverted from landfill.

No single policy will solve household food waste. Interventions must combine retail reform, clear regulation and consumer support. They must be tailored to local cultures and household types and designed to strengthen the maintenance of food security.

We can cut household food waste quickly by encouraging clear labels, smarter shopping and better storage. Small changes at home add up to big savings for the planet and for family budgets.

The next step is simple: design policies that work for people where they live, shop and cook. That not only cuts down on food waste – we will also save money, emissions and dignity (by enabling people to access and use food without shame or judgement and without the need for charitable food banks).

This all increases our food security. The solutions are practical, cheap and ready to scale. There is no time to waste.

Ian Williams receives funding from UK Research Councils, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Impact Acceleration Account.

– ref. Why European households throw away so much food – and how to curb the waste mountain – https://theconversation.com/why-european-households-throw-away-so-much-food-and-how-to-curb-the-waste-mountain-282198

May 18, 2026

80 % des engrais utilisés en Afrique sont importés : comment les systèmes alimentaires peuvent s’adapter au choc iranien

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Jaron Porciello, Visiting Fellow in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University

Le conflit dans le golfe Persique perturbe l’approvisionnement en engrais, et les systèmes alimentaires africains risquent d’en pâtir.

Les systèmes agroalimentaires (les activités qui relient les personnes, les investissements et les décisions impliqués dans la production et la distribution de denrées alimentaires et de produits agricoles) dépendent d’un flux constant d’intrants tels que les engrais, ainsi que des marchés, des infrastructures et des décisions politiques et commerciales.

Ces systèmes alimentaires peuvent absorber les chocs et trouver de nouveaux moyens de maintenir l’approvisionnement même sous pression. Mais ils sont également fragiles. Une perturbation dans une partie du système a des répercussions sur les autres, comme le montre clairement le conflit en Iran qui a éclaté fin février 2026.

Voici comment la guerre contre l’Iran affecte les agriculteurs et les systèmes alimentaires d’Afrique subsaharienne : les pays du Golfe (dont l’Iran) sont le plus grand exportateur au monde d’ingrédients pour engrais. À lui seul, l’Iran est le quatrième plus grand exportateur mondial d’urée, un ingrédient clé des engrais – et l’un des moins chers

Le Nigeria, le Ghana, le Togo, le Kenya, la Tanzanie et l’Afrique du Nord achètent tous de l’urée depuis l’Iran.

Le Qatar est un autre producteur et exportateur clé d’urée. Mais il a cessé de produire de l’urée début mars 2026. En effet, il a besoin de gaz pour la fabriquer – et ses usines de gaz ont été touchées par des missiles iraniens.

Le trafic maritime dans le détroit d’Ormuz, étroit passage situé près de l’Iran, a baissé de 95 % depuis le début de la guerre. Cela signifie que les engrais qui continuent d’être produits dans les pays du Golfe ne peuvent plus quitter la région.

C’est une mauvaise nouvelle pour l’Afrique subsaharienne, qui importe environ 80 % des engrais qu’elle utilise. Ces importations proviennent de notamment de la Russie,, d’Europe, de l’Ukraine, de l’Inde, de la Chine et des États du Golfe. Le Malawi, par exemple, importe 52 % de ses engrais du Golfe. Le Maroc, le Nigeria et l’Afrique du Sud importent également des ingrédients des pays du Golfe et les utilisent pour fabriquer des engrais qu’ils exportent.

Les prix des engrais ont déjà augmenté. Et, contrairement au pétrole, il n’existe pas de réserve stratégique coordonnée au niveau international pour les engrais. Lorsque l’approvisionnement est perturbé, il le reste.

Je suis chercheure et praticienne et j’étudie comment les données et les politiques peuvent être mises à contribution pour prendre de meilleures décisions dans les systèmes alimentaires et l’agriculture. Récemment, j’ai fait partie d’une équipe qui a étudié les moyens de mettre fin à la faim et à toutes les formes de malnutrition en modifiant le système agroalimentaire afin que les aliments nutritifs soient plus disponibles, abordables et accessibles aux communautés pauvres, souvent rurales.

Nous nous intéressons tout particulièrement aux types d’interventions susceptibles d’attirer des investissements tant du secteur privé que du secteur public.

Nos recherches ont montré que la nourriture en Afrique est souvent disponible, mais qu’elle n’est pas abordable, sûre ou suffisamment variée pour constituer une alimentation saine. Par exemple, au cours des 50 dernières années, les politiques gouvernementales ont favorisé les subventions, les incitations tarifaires et les programmes d’achat visant la culture de denrées de base (maïs, blé, riz). Mais à elles seules, ces cultures ne sont pas très riches en nutriments. Se focaliser principalement sur elles équivaut à marginaliser les aliments plus riches en nutriments.

Nos recherches ont mis en évidence plusieurs moyens permettant aux systèmes agroalimentaires africains de fournir des aliments plus nutritifs à l’avenir. Cela est possible même lorsque l’approvisionnement en engrais est limité. Nous en présentons quelques-uns ci-dessous.

De la pandémie à la guerre en passant par Ormuz : les chocs liés aux engrais en Afrique

Les perturbations dans l’approvisionnement en engrais et les dommages causés aux systèmes agroalimentaires en Afrique ne sont pas un phénomène nouveau.

Entre 2020 et 2024, les chaînes d’approvisionnement en engrais ont été mises à rude épreuve par la COVID-19, puis par la guerre en Ukraine. Les agriculteurs africains ont amorti ces chocs en réduisant la quantité d’engrais utilisée pour leurs cultures. Mais cela a entraîné une baisse des rendements, une diminution des revenus et un resserrement des budgets des ménages.

Il est important de rappeler que l’approvisionnement en engrais est étroitement lié à des décennies de politiques de subvention, d’investissements publics et de débats sur le type d’agriculture que les gouvernements africains devraient promouvoir. Ces approvisionnements sont très contestés et politisés, façonnés autant par l’histoire et le pouvoir que par les données agronomiques et les choix économiques des ménages.

La menace actuelle de pénurie n’est qu’une partie du tableau.

Dix moyens pour les pays africains de s’en sortir en utilisant moins d’engrais

Les systèmes alimentaires africains qui survivront à la crise des engrais liée à la guerre en Iran seront ceux qui mettront en place des programmes axés sur la nutrition et continueront d’investir dans des innovations réduisant la dépendance aux engrais.

Notre rapport identifie dix interventions à fort impact qui améliorent la nutrition et les résultats alimentaires. Plusieurs d’entre elles sont particulièrement pertinentes à l’heure actuelle :

Les agriculteurs devraient commencer à cultiver des fruits, des légumes et des légumineuses, et pratiquer l’agroforesterie. Cela améliore la santé des sols et permet de produire des aliments riches en nutriments.
Les potagers familiaux peuvent améliorer l’alimentation et la sécurité alimentaire des ménages, à condition que les personnes bénéficient d’une formation et d’une éducation nutritionnelle.
L’aquaculture (poisson) et l’élevage durables, y compris la volaille, stimulent la production et la consommation de protéines.
Les cultures biofortifiées, telles que les haricots riches en fer cultivés au Rwanda et les patates douces à chair orange au Mozambique, intègrent directement les nutriments dans la culture pendant la production. Comme elles contiennent plus de nutriments, elles ne gaspillent pas autant d’engrais.
Les infrastructures de stockage et de distribution réduisent la détérioration des aliments. Elles améliorent également la qualité des aliments.
Les aliments peuvent être enrichis (en y ajoutant des vitamines et minéraux essentiels) lors de leur transformation. Cela améliore la valeur nutritionnelle sans nécessiter de changements dans les méthodes de culture.
Des pratiques de manipulation des denrées alimentaires et de gestion agricole doivent être mises en place pour garantir la sécurité sanitaire des récoltes.
L’éducation nutritionnelle contribue à faire de meilleurs choix alimentaires au quotidien afin que, lorsque la nourriture est disponible, elle permette d’adopter une alimentation plus variée et plus nutritive.
Les programmes de protection sociale, tels que les transferts monétaires et les bons alimentaires, aident les familles lorsque les prix augmentent.
La fourniture de repas scolaires spécialement conçus pour être nutritifs offre un retour sur investissement élevé.

La marche à suivre

Nos recherches soulignent que ces interventions ne peuvent fonctionner que sous la forme d’un ensemble ou d’un paquet de mesures de soutien. La question du genre est également importante. Nos recherches ont montré que les femmes ne parviennent pas toujours à manger des aliments riches en nutriments, même lorsqu’il y en a davantage à la maison.

Ces interventions représentent ce qui fonctionne aujourd’hui. Mais les gouvernements et les chercheurs devraient également voir plus loin. Par exemple, des scientifiques du Centre for Research on Programmable Plant Systems, (dont des chercheurs de l’université Cornell) mettent au point des plantes spécialisées appelées « plantes indicatrices ». Une plante dite “indicatrice” est généralement placée stratégiquement dans un champ de cultures pour servir de système d’alerte précoce.

Ils ont par exemple mis au point un plant de tomate qui vire au rouge vif lorsque la présence d’azote dans le sol tombe à des niveaux critiques. Ce plant fournit aux agriculteurs des informations précises et en temps réel sur les besoins de leurs champs.

Des outils comme ceux-ci pourraient transformer la relation que les agriculteurs entretiennent avec les engrais. Ils permettent, en effet, de réduire le gaspillage, de diminuer les coûts et d’intégrer une forme « d’intelligence fertilisante » au sein même du système agricole.

Jaron Porciello bénéficie d’un financement du BMZ allemand et de la Fondation Gates.

– ref. 80 % des engrais utilisés en Afrique sont importés : comment les systèmes alimentaires peuvent s’adapter au choc iranien – https://theconversation.com/80-des-engrais-utilises-en-afrique-sont-importes-comment-les-systemes-alimentaires-peuvent-sadapter-au-choc-iranien-282621

May 18, 2026

What you need to know about the Ebola outbreak that has the WHO concerned

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern.

So far, 336 people have been infected in the central African and East African countries of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 88 people have died.

Ebola is caused by a group of viruses called Orthoebolaviruses. The strain of the virus responsible for the outbreak, Bundibugyo, is rare. There is no vaccine to protect the public from its spread, making it particularly dangerous.

The WHO declares a public health emergency of international concern when there is a serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected outbreak that requires an international response to reduce its spread.

It has previously declared public health emergencies during outbreaks of mpox, COVID, Ebola, Zika, polio and swine flu.

When did this outbreak start?

The virus was first detected on May 5 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and was confirmed as the Bundibugyo strain on May 15.

The disease had spread to Uganda, with two cases detected in the nation’s capital, Kampala.

A recent suspected case in the DRC’s most populous city, Kinshasa, did not test positive but it seems likely that the outbreak could arrive in this city.

The WHO has warned the true scale of the outbreak is likely larger than current figures suggest.

How does it spread?

African fruit bats appear to be the natural hosts of the virus. Monkeys, apes and antelope can catch the infection from bats.

The first human case was identified in the DRC in 1976. This is the 17th outbreak. The worst outbreak was the 2014–16 West Africa epidemic, which was caused by the Zaire strain and killed more than 11,000 people.

The virus spreads from human to human through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as blood, faeces or vomit, including after they’ve died.

Health-care workers and caregivers face the highest risk of infection.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of Ebola disease can be sudden and include a fever, fatigue, malaise, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain rash, and symptoms of impaired kidney and liver functions, leading to organ failure. In some cases, there is bleeding and haemorrhaging.

Overall, around 50% of people who contract Ebola die from it. The mortality rate of previous outbreaks ranges from 25–90%, depending on the strain and access to health care.

The current strain has a lower death rate of around 40%. However it’s considered more dangerous as there is no vaccine.

Why isn’t there a vaccine?

There are two approved vaccines for Ebola.

One, Ervebo, was released in 2015 and was provided to 345,000 people during the 2018–2020 outbreaks in the DRC. This works by using a protein from the Ebola virus to train our immune system to recognise and respond to the virus, without using a live strain.

The other vaccine, Zabdeno, has undergone clinical trials. It is mainly provided to primary contacts and health-care workers. This is because it requires two doses, several weeks apart, making it less suited to an emergency response.

Vaccines for the current Bundibugyo strain are sill in the research stage, having undergone pre-clinical trials in animal models.

How is it treated and managed?

There are no specific treatments for the Bundibugyo strain. Treatment focuses on managing the symptoms such as maintaining blood pressure, reducing vomiting and diarrhoea, maintaining hydration, and managing fever and pain.

Public health responses are overseen by the WHO’s Ebola surveillance strategy. The response combines community communication, rapid diagnosis, isolation, contact tracing and safe burials to stop transmission.

Contact tracing involves identifying everyone who had direct physical contact with a symptomatic case, monitoring them daily for 21 days, and isolating and testing anyone who develops symptoms.

Testing uses real-time PCR and rapid antigen tests (RATs) to detect viral particles in a similar way to COVID.

However, local conflict, poverty and difficult terrain combine to make field management challenging.

Should we be concerned?

The epicentre of the outbreak, Ituri province, is a conflict-affected, high-traffic mining region. Workers regularly move across health zones and borders, increasing the risk of spread.

At least four health-care workers have died, suggesting gaps in infection prevention at health-care facilities.

There is no current need for border closures but authorities have recommended the DRC and Uganda enhance contact tracing and scale-up laboratory testing.

Australia’s direct risk remains low, and the WHO has advised against travel restrictions. Australian border authorities require those returning from Ebola-affected regions to report this.

As this is a rapidly evolving situation, it’s important to remain up-to-date with current restrictions and quarantine guidelines.

Thomas Jeffries does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What you need to know about the Ebola outbreak that has the WHO concerned – https://theconversation.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-ebola-outbreak-that-has-the-who-concerned-283133

May 18, 2026

Ebola survivors struggle to return to normal lives: what I found out in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Kevin J.A. Thomas, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Rice University

During the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to 2016, Musu, a resident of Monrovia, Liberia contracted the Ebola virus along with her husband, five sons and daughter.

A few weeks later, six members of her family died. Musu and her youngest son survived. Since then, their lives have not been the same. Her husband was the family’s sole breadwinner. Now a widow and a single parent, Musu struggles to make ends meet. As she put it, “There is no one here to help besides God. No boyfriend. No father. I am the father, the mother, the uncle, and the brother. At the place we are renting, we can’t even find food to eat.”

Musu is one of the many survivors who recovered from the world’s largest Ebola epidemic. The epidemic started as a localised disease outbreak in the village of Meliandou in Guinea but spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Over the course of three years, the disease infected 28,600 people. Approximately 11,000 of them died while 17,000 survived.

On 9 June 2016, the World Health Organization announced the official end of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.

Compared to the widespread media coverage of the epidemic when it started, news reports on its aftermath have been limited. As a result, very few people know that Ebola survivors have struggled to continue with their lives since the end of the epidemic.

These survivors include widows like Musu, orphans who are now homeless, and thousands of people who are now blind or have permanent vision problems.

I am a social demographer who studies health and population trends. My recent book Life After Epidemics: Ebola Survivors and the Social Dimensions of Recovery documents many of these experiences. Based on interviews with 250 Ebola survivors in Liberia and Sierra Leone, I set about trying to understand why many survivors live in worse conditions than before the epidemic, and what’s preventing them from returning to their normal lives.

Understanding these issues is a first step towards developing solutions to the problems currently faced by Ebola survivors. Learning about their experiences can prevent these problems from occurring among survivors of future epidemics.

Medical versus social responses to epidemics

The process of determining what went wrong begins by understanding the contrast between two types of responses to epidemics.

The first is the medical response, which emphasises the use of clinical medicine to save lives and care for infected patients.

The second is the social response, which addresses issues such as the provision of sustainable livelihoods, supporting orphans, and integrating survivors into their communities.

Policy makers placed a greater priority on short-term medical responses to the consequences of the Ebola epidemic than on long-term social responses.

The main objective of my research is to examine how Ebola survivors have been affected by that emphasis. I used information from interviews and other sources to assess how their health, sources of livelihood, and family lives have changed since the end of the epidemic.

The research provides evidence on the ways in which the limited investment in social responses continues to negatively affect the lives of survivors.

For example, there are no programmes that provide them with comprehensive access to healthcare, even though many of them are either blind, suffer from musculoskeletal conditions, have neurological conditions, or live with other long-term side effects of the virus.

It also describes the experiences of farmers in poor health, who can no longer till their land, and hunters who can no longer see. They are among the many survivors who were previously self-employed but have lost their sources of livelihood.

With the limited investment in social responses, the stigma of Ebola continues to thrive in local communities. As a result, the social interactions of Ebola survivors are often plagued by the fears of people who believe they are still infected. These fears caused business owners to lose clients and contributed to the end of marriages.

Many survivors no longer receive invitations to attend social events such as weddings and child naming ceremonies. In some cases, their children have also lost playmates after neighbours banned their children from playing with the children of Ebola survivors.

Humanitarian organisations played a major role in containing the spread of the disease during the epidemic. Some of their policies had unintended consequences, however, that have added to the problems of patients who survived. For example, the practice of burning the belongings of infected patients to prevent further transmission of the virus has increased economic hardship among many survivors.

The burning process led to financial losses among survivors who kept their savings under their mattresses, lost farming tools, and had to pay for equipment borrowed from neighbours that was also destroyed.

Some of the messages employed in public health campaigns used to contain the spread of the virus during the epidemic have also had unintended consequences. These campaigns warned the public to avoid touching infected people as a way of stopping transmission of the disease, because there was no cure for Ebola. Since the end of the epidemic, many people in local communities have continued to avoid touching survivors. They question how survivors can claim to be Ebola-free when the public was told that the disease had no cure.

Why Ebola survivors feel abandoned

Hearing the stories of the survivors made it clear that many of them felt abandoned. The visits from community leaders have stopped. The specialised care they received from hospitals has been discontinued. Many of the promises of political leaders who claimed they would provide resources to support their recovery remain unfulfilled. Some of the resources provided by donors were lost to fraud.

Meanwhile, Ebola survivors continue to be affected by the irreversible losses they experienced a decade ago. These experiences and the lack of attention to their social circumstances still define their lives.

Policy makers will need to give equal attention to medical and social issues when responding to future epidemics. This will require sustained investments to improve the lives of survivors long after we celebrate the end of epidemics.

Kevin J.A. Thomas received funding from the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program while conducting the study described in this article.

– ref. Ebola survivors struggle to return to normal lives: what I found out in Sierra Leone and Liberia – https://theconversation.com/ebola-survivors-struggle-to-return-to-normal-lives-what-i-found-out-in-sierra-leone-and-liberia-281678

May 18, 2026

Australian teens impacted by the social media ban are getting less news: new research

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Michael Dezuanni, Professor, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology

In the months leading up to the implementation of Australia’s social media ban in December 2025, there was much discussion about the possible negative consequences.

Among these were concerns that teenagers would consume less news. As most young adults use social media for news and many rely on it, this was a real risk.

So months on, has this come to pass? In our newly-published research, we found the more young people are impacted by the ban, the more likely they are to report they are getting less news and having less opportunity to discuss news and the issues that matter to them.

Our research

In February we surveyed 1,027 young people aged 10 to 17, just two months after the legislation took effect.

As part of a longitudinal survey that has examined young Australians’ news engagement since 2017, we asked young people questions about the ban’s impact on their social media use and their news engagement.

First, we investigated if the ban had affected young people’s social media use by asking them if their engagement with each banned platform had changed at all, and if so, whether the change was a complete stop or if they just used it less.

We found 61% of under-16s who had previously been using banned platforms reported little or no change in their social media use. For the majority of young people surveyed, the ban was ineffectual.

In fact, only one in four (26%) reported their social media use had been affected.

Next, we asked young people if the ban had affected their engagement with news.

For those whose social media use was significantly disrupted, the result was stark: 51% reported getting less news as a direct result of the ban.

This finding is a significant concern because it suggests that as the ban becomes more “successful”, with a greater number of young people being removed from platforms, their news engagement will fall in parallel.

The impact on civic involvement

A 2025 report from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, based on testing of year 6 and year 10 students, finds school students’ civics knowledge is the lowest it has been since testing began 20 years ago. This is despite most young people believing it’s important to take action in the community on issues that matter to them.

Our findings show that when young people are impacted by the social media ban they lose access to news about issues they care about. They are also talking less about news and finding fewer opportunities to share their views or take other forms of action.

Our previous research shows news engagement makes young people feel knowledgeable and more capable of responding to issues.

A large body of research also shows news interest and engagement is closely associated with civic engagement. The more engaged people are with news, the more likely they are to become involved in community and social issues.

Social news or no news

It’s unlikely that being cut off from news on social media will lead young people back to traditional news sources.

Most young Australians say they don’t feel represented or heard by traditional news organisations. They also feel the news mainstream outlets create isn’t accessible to young people and doesn’t focus on the issues that matter most to them.

In our survey, 75% said news organisations have no idea what their lives are actually like, and 71% said they find it difficult to find news relevant to people their age.

Our earlier research also shows Australian news organisations rarely include young people in news stories. When they are included, they are seen but not heard.

For instance, young people are shown in news stories in photographs and video footage ten times more than their voices are heard or they are quoted in stories.

In addition, another study of news has shown that when young people are included in breaking news events, they are often stereotyped as being lazy, dangerous and entitled.

These findings demonstrate some of the reasons young people have likely turned to social media for news in recent years.

So what should we do?

It’s likely that over time, more young people will be cut off from social media as loopholes in the ban are ironed out. This emphasises the need to find ways to encourage young people to engage with other news sources in productive and meaningful ways.

A key concern is trust. We need to educate young people about the importance of news to democratic process, providing them with insights into how high quality journalism is produced and supporting them to make informed decisions about who and what to trust online.

This can happen as part of media literacy education but this requires investments in high quality curriculum resources and teacher training.

In Australia, we are in the fortunate position that we already recognise the need for media literacy in the Australian curriculum. High quality news literacy resources are being produced by the ABC through programs such as BTN (Behind The News), and other organisations such as Squiz Kids.

At the same time, to develop trust, mainstream news organisations need to do a much better job of representing young people in fair and inclusive ways so they feel seen and heard.

Finally, it’s important to recognise that amid all of these changes to young people’s technology access, our research shows family is the first and most trusted source of news for young people. We need to help parents understand the important role they play in helping their kids navigate the news.

Michael Dezuanni receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ABC Education. He is the current Chair of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance.

Tanya Notley currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ABC Education. She is a board member of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance.

Simon Chambers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Australian teens impacted by the social media ban are getting less news: new research – https://theconversation.com/australian-teens-impacted-by-the-social-media-ban-are-getting-less-news-new-research-281988

May 18, 2026

Eurovision 2026: a win for Bulgaria, fourth for Australia, and continued controversy for broadcasters

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Jess Carniel, Associate Professor in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland

In a surprising turn of events, Bulgaria have taken home the crystal microphone trophy for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with Dara’s infectious dance hit Bangaranga.

It is Bulgaria’s first-ever win and all the more poignant given this year marked the country’s return to the contest after a three-year hiatus as its public broadcaster, BNT, has grappled with financial contraints.

Hosting Eurovision in 2027, while expensive, is expected to provide a welcome tourism economic boost.

Bulgaria’s win is the first time since 2017 the jury and public sentiments have been aligned. One tense moment during the voting saw Israel rise to first place thanks to the public vote, resulting in audible booing in the arena. However, Dara soared to the top of the board with 312 public votes to add to their 204 jury votes.

Bulgaria’s total of 516 points put it 173 points ahead of runner-up Israel, in the largest gap between first and second place in the contest’s history.

The bookmakers’ odds tipped Finland to win with Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkonnen’s duet of vocals and live violin, Liekinheitin. The fan favourites instead landed in sixth place.

Live instruments are not usually permitted on the Eurovision stage unless a case can be made that they are integral to the song’s artistry: it was argued successfully the violin was Lampenius’ “voice”.

Romania’s Choke Me by Alexandra Căpitănescu was another surprise favourite. Although she only gained 64 jury points, she came second in the popular vote (262 points) and third overall. It is the best outcome for a female-led rock act in the contest’s history.

In the lead-up to the contest, the song attracted some controversy, alleged to be “glamourising sexual strangulation”. In response, Căpitănescu stated, “The lyrics are about taking back control over anxiety and emotions that are choking you.”

Total eclipse of the heart

Australia’s entry was hyped by many as a potential winner. Even notorious Australia sceptic Graham Norton named Delta Goodrem’s Eclipse the one to beat.

Goodrem dazzled with Australia’s most ambitious staging since Kate Miller-Heidke’s 2019 performance. Dressed in a gown adorned with 7,000 Swarovski crystals, Australia’s golden girl was literally placed on a pedestal that ascended from a golden piano as she reached her vocal crescendo.

Australia placed second in the jury votes and ninth in the public votes to land fourth place. It is Australia’s second-best result, after Dami Im’s astounding second place in 2016.

Goodrem’s participation was partly funded by an Australian federal grant for international cultural diplomacy. Other recipients in the recent round include BlakDance Australia’s tour of the United Kingdom and Creative Australia’s support for Khaled Sabsabi’s Venice Biennale exhibit.

Goodrem’s funding underscores Eurovision’s usefulness for Australia’s cultural diplomacy and projection of “soft power”.

The inaugural edition of Eurovision Asia will be held in Thailand in November. Australia is not participating – the rules prohibit participating in both contests.

It remains to be seen whether Australia will stay in the original Eurovision or whether it will transition to Eurovision Asia in pursuit of regional diplomatic interests.

Broadcasters boycott

This year, Eurovision celebrated its 70th anniversary. But rather than uniting Europe (and Australia) through music, the absence of five regular participants indicated disunity.

Public broadcasters for Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands withdrew from competition in protest of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the European Broadcasting Union’s failure to have an open discussion and vote on Israel’s continued participation. While the contest claims to be non-political, critics point to the exclusion of Russia in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine as a precedent.

Their absence is a blow to the European Broadcasting Union, financially and symbolically. Spain is usually one of the so-called “Big Five” – the five largest financial contributors to Eurovision. The Netherlands is also a large financial contributor but, more importantly, had been in the contest since the beginning in 1956.

The Dutch public broadcaster stated “participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation”. They cited humanity, press freedom and political interference as key reasons for their withdrawal.

Broadcasters have also expressed concerns that Israel had attempted to manipulate public voting in other countries over the past two years. Slovenia led the call for a detailed report on the 2024 and 2025 voting results, but member broadcasters received only a summary of its findings.

Eurovision’s Executive Supervisor Martin Green stated the contest organisers were confident the 2025 contest yielded a “valid and robust result”.

Despite this claim, before the 2026 contest broadcasters voted on a rule change seeking to mitigate third-party campaigning and interference in the voting process. As reported by the New York Times, the disparity between the statements of the executives and the resulting vote from the broadcasters raised much scepticism.

A reckoning in 2027?

Just before the 2026 grand final, Belgium’s Flemish broadcaster VRT released a statement they would be unlikely to participate in 2027 without “a clear framework for participation, an open debate, and a direct vote among [union] members”.

The European Broadcasting Union must take broadcasters’ concerns more seriously or risk losing more participants and reputational damage. Its members are seeing a gap between their values as public broadcasters and those expressed by the EBU through its actions and decisions.

Without change, this global phenomenon may also risk not seeing its next milestone anniversary.

Jess Carniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Eurovision 2026: a win for Bulgaria, fourth for Australia, and continued controversy for broadcasters – https://theconversation.com/eurovision-2026-a-win-for-bulgaria-fourth-for-australia-and-continued-controversy-for-broadcasters-282252

May 18, 2026

Meta’s new tools allow parents to better supervise their kids’ social media accounts. Will they work?

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University

Tech giant Meta recently announced a set of new features to give parents greater oversight of how their children use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Horizon.

This follows the company’s announcement earlier this month that it is expanding age assurance checks to filter 13-to-17-year-old users into teen accounts in the United States and other countries, following Australia’s rollout in 2025. Meta is also implementing new age checks and easier reporting of underage users to support account removals.

These changes come as Meta faces increasing pressure internationally to do more to keep kids safe on its platforms.

So what exactly are the changes? And will they likely work to reduce online harm?

Enlisting AI to search for clues

Meta’s new age checks will use “visual clues” about a user’s age, such as height and bone structure, alongside analysis of social media posts and interactions, to estimate a person’s age.

Using new techniques powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the company will scan photos, videos and content on users’ profiles – including bios, captions, and comments – to estimate their age. By looking for clues such as mentions of birthday parties or school grades, Meta plans to deactivate accounts for those believed to be under 13.

However, given the known limitations of age assurance technologies, and the compliance concerns raised with Australia’s social media ban, many underage children remain active on social media platforms. What is unclear about these new “clues” is whether and how teens may be able to circumvent these new controls by ensuring their platform content gives the appearance of older, adult material.

Meta’s new process for reporting underage accounts is likely intended to address this concern.

Easier reporting of underage accounts will augment content scanning, providing another avenue to identify underage accounts. This will also use AI, alongside human reviewers. Meta says this will ensure reports are “addressed with more speed and reliability”.

Meta explains that users who are reported to be underage, inaccurately, will be able to undergo age checks to retain their accounts.

A consolidated ‘Family Centre’

Meta’s new “Family Centre” will consolidate parental supervision tools for Facebook, Instagram, Horizon, and Messenger in one place.

Through the “Family Centre”, Meta will start sending parents notifications when their teens add new topics and interests across platforms – such as photography, sports, or beauty.

Meta says this will enable parents to “stay informed” and have “meaningful conversations” with their children about the general topics they follow.

However, under Australia’s social media restrictions, children under 16 are not allowed to hold social media accounts.

This means, in Australia, topic access will only be available to parents of teens aged 16 and 17 on Instagram and Facebook. But this access will not be automatic. Parents will need to send an invitation to their teens, asking to supervise their accounts, which teens must accept.

This means children can refuse to provide access and not provide topic visibility to their parents.

This is an important limitation. It means children can retain privacy for their account content if they choose. Under article 16 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to privacy and the right to get information from the internet and other sources.

For those who accept a parent’s invitation, Meta’s changes may introduce some privacy risks. But limiting access to general topics does preserve some privacy, as specific conversations and materials cannot be accessed.

Parents will need to be proactive

This new parental supervision feature will only be successful if parents and teens choose to use it. Parents will need to be proactive, to request access and (if approved by the teen) review the topics. Parents will also need to start conversations with their children to determine the nature of the content within those general topics.

For example, a 2025 study showed a link between frequent social media use and negative body image. It highlighted the need for “support from parents […] to mitigate these effects”.

But a general topic such as “beauty” cannot distinguish between helpful makeup tips and content promoting unrealistic beauty ideals. Similarly, a general topic such as “sports” cannot discern potentially harmful gender stereotypes affecting young athletes.

Understanding the potential risks and harms of social media content requires parents to actively view – and discuss – that content with their teens.

In 2024, Meta’s then global affairs chief Nick Clegg explained that “even when we build these controls, parents don’t use them”.

A 2023 evidence review showed that while parents with higher levels of digital literacy are more likely to use safety controls, the results of doing so are mixed. While some studies show beneficial outcomes when safety controls are used (for example, reducing risks such as cyberbullying), others show no positive outcomes, or even adverse effects (for example, increasing family conflict).

Given Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has put several social media companies on notice for compliance concerns with Australia’s social media ban, it may come as no surprise Meta is introducing these changes.

Yet, their success relies significantly on parents’ abilities – and children’s willingness – to engage with these controls. Given the technical limitations of age assurance technologies, and teens’ determination to remain on social media platforms, these are likely not foolproof solutions.

Lisa M. Given receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the eSafety Commissioner. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and a Fellow of the Association for Information Science and Technology.

– ref. Meta’s new tools allow parents to better supervise their kids’ social media accounts. Will they work? – https://theconversation.com/metas-new-tools-allow-parents-to-better-supervise-their-kids-social-media-accounts-will-they-work-283073

May 17, 2026

From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi-Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and Chinese tradition

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Xianda Huang, Ph.D. Student in Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles

China’s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 14, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Diplomacy often masquerades as theater. And nearly nine years after his first state visit to China, Donald Trump returned to Beijing with an extended cast of characters.

Alongside the U.S. president on his May 2026 visit was a senior delegation of politicians including his secretary of defense, and a phalanx of business leaders and technology executives. It was a traveling display of American political and corporate power.

Not that the hosting Chinese were short of symbolic gestures themselves. Trump’s first China visit in 2017 had already shown how far Beijing was willing to go to turn diplomacy into theater. On that occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan personally accompanied Donald and Melania Trump through the Forbidden City, Beijing’s former imperial palace, drinking tea inside the palace walls and taking in a Peking opera at the Belvedere of Pleasant Sounds, a Qing imperial theater built for court entertainment.

So what was being conveyed this time around? As a cultural historian of modern China, I took a peek beyond the official statements and trade headlines of the Xi-Trump summit and into the images, gestures and cultural symbolism on display.

Two men in suits look away from the cabinet. — China’s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 14, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski/ AFP via Getty Images

The weight of heaven

The formal choreography began at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where the two leaders exchanged views on the Iran conflict, the war in Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, among other items.

But the more interesting story of the visit, to me, was told outside the meeting room.

After their two-hour bilateral meeting, Trump and Xi paid a cultural visit to the Temple of Heaven in Southern Beijing. Built in the early 15th century, the temple is China’s most complete surviving imperial religious complex. For nearly five centuries, emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties came here to worship Heaven and pray for good harvests.

Its most recognizable structure, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, rises in three tiers of blue-glazed tiles above a marble platform, its circular form and crimson columns translating cosmology into architecture. UNESCO inscribed the site as a World Heritage Site in 1998, recognizing it as “a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design.”

When Trump and Xi posed for photographs, they were standing in a place long associated with cosmic order and the welfare of the people. To bring a foreign leader there is to invite a particular reading of the relationship: not simply as a bargain between states, but as a relationship that Beijing hopes to associate with order, abundance and peace.

There was also a more practical layer to this symbolism. The Temple of Heaven links political authority to agricultural abundance. Emperors came here to pray not for abstract harmony but for grain. That made it a pointed setting for a visit in which American agricultural exports — soybeans, grains and beef among them — were expected to matter.

For Trump, any Chinese commitment to buy more U.S. farm goods would have clear domestic political value. For Xi, the setting allowed a hard bargaining issue — farm purchases — to be translated into an older symbolic language of harvest that spoke to both domestic and international audiences.

Before Trump, Kissinger

Trump was not the first American statesman to be brought to the Temple of Heaven.

In July 1971, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, arrived in Beijing on his famous secret mission — the back-channel visit that helped re-open the door between two countries that had little direct contact for more than two decades. Between tense negotiations with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, Kissinger made time to visit the temple.

There, standing amid the old cypress groves, he was said to have been deeply moved by the timeless atmosphere of the hall and its surroundings.

A man uses chopsticks to transfer food to another man's dish — Henry Kissinger accepts food from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 1973.
Bettman/Getty Images

The motif of old trees and deep time returned on May 15, when Xi gave Trump a rare walk through Zhongnanhai, the walled compound that now houses the core of China’s party-state leadership. Reuters reported that a hot mic captured Xi drawing Trump’s attention to the age of the trees around them — some centuries old, some said to be more than a thousand years old. When Trump asked whether Xi had taken other presidents on similar walks, Xi replied that he had only rarely.

Together, the Kissinger anecdote and the Zhongnanhai walk reveal a recurring logic in Chinese-American diplomacy: America’s fast-moving economy is invited to look at China’s sense of tradition. Xi has used this tactic with other leaders, too. When French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in 2023, he attended a guqin performance invoking the classical idea of the zhiyin — the rare listener who truly understands one’s music.

Basketball and roast duck

Trump’s visit was not staged only through imperial grandeur, however. It also moved into a more familiar register: food, sports and popular culture.

The state dinner on May 14 was another study in careful hospitality. Chefs designed the menu to honor both Chinese culinary prestige and Americans’ — and Trump’s — known preferences: Peking roast duck, crispy beef ribs, pan-fried pork bun, tiramisu and fruit and ice cream.

The table setting for U.S. President Donald Trump at a state banquet with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Trump thanked Xi for a “magnificent welcome like none other,” then replied in a language more recognizably his own. He spoke not only of power politics but of people-to-people ties: Chinese workers who helped build America’s railroads, Chinese enthusiasm for basketball and blue jeans and the sheer presence of Chinese restaurants across the U.S.

The examples were characteristically Trumpian — simple, vivid and easy to grasp. But they pointed to something important. U.S.–China relations have never been made only by presidents, diplomats and official communiques. They have also been shaped by athletes, musicians, restaurant owners, students and tourists.

The basketball reference was especially resonant. Sports have long offered a softer language for U.S.–China relations. In April 2026, just weeks before Trump’s visit, China and the U.S. marked the 55th anniversary of ping-pong diplomacy — the famous 1971 exchange in which a “little ball” helped move the “big ball” of world politics.

Basketball now plays a similar role. For many Chinese fans, the NBA is a deeply familiar world of players, teams and memories that represents the spirit of America: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Yao Ming. That reservoir of affection has survived even periods of political tension. Trump, in invoking it, was drawing on something real.

A second act in the US?

The main lesson of all this symbolism is that, in U.S.–China relations, atmosphere has never been secondary.

Diplomatic theater cannot settle disputes over technology or Taiwan, or determine the future of the global order. But it can shape the mood in which rivalries are managed, and the stories that leaders tell their public about what the relationship means.

And on that front, the summit worked on several levels. To the Chinese audience, it presented their leaders as confident and capable of managing a tense relationship with the U.S. on China’s own cultural terms.

Two men in suits wave and clap hands in front of children. — U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026, in Beijing, China.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

For Trump and the American delegation, it offered a lesson in Chinese traditions and culture that promotes deeper understanding across political divides. And for both societies, the references for food, sports and popular culture created a more neutral ground on which connection could still be imagined.

From the 1970s opening to Trump’s 2017 visit to the Forbidden City, and from the Temple of Heaven photo-op to the walk among old trees at Zhongnanhai in 2026, cultural staging remains central to how China presents itself to America — and how America is invited to imagine China. It was announced on May 15 that Xi will pay a state visit to the U.S. in September at the invitation of Trump. If that happens, the theater of diplomacy will move to American soil, and the question will be how Washington chooses to stage China in return.

Xianda Huang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi-Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and Chinese tradition – https://theconversation.com/from-beef-ribs-to-a-heavenly-walk-xi-trump-summit-symbolism-underscored-american-power-and-chinese-tradition-282945