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Asian American New Yorkers turned pandemic-era violence, organizing, and redistricting into lasting political power, reshaping city politics and coalition dynamics.

Zhang Youxia had been seen as a close ally of China's leader, Xi Jinping.

As Japan and China feud, an animal long used in Chinese diplomacy has been summoned back home.

Experts suggest Xi Jinping is asserting his authority by sidelining an officer who has significantly betrayed his trust
Standing inches from Xi Jinping at a military ceremony in late December, China’s highest-ranking general, Zhang Youxia, may have had little inkling about the fate that was to befall him just a few weeks later when he was put under investigation.
The 75-year-old’s physical proximity to China’s leader, who stands to his right, reflects the position he holds in China’s hierarchy. As vice-chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the ruling body of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), he is the second-most powerful person in China’s military, after Xi, the commander-in-chief.

A combat veteran, Zhang Youxia was once seen as the most trusted man in Xi Jinping’s military. Now he has been accused of disloyalty to Mr. Xi.

The twin cubs' departure will leave Japan without any pandas for the first time since 1972.

Zhang Youxia, long seen as Xi Jinping’s closest military ally, reportedly accused of leaking nuclear secrets to US
China’s military leadership is in turmoil after its most senior general – a close ally of Xi Jinping – was placed under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”.
Zhang Youxia is the joint vice-chairperson of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the ruling body of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Second only to Xi in the military command structure, Zhang has long been seen as the Chinese president’s closest military ally.

PM says recent agreement just cuts tariffs on a few sectors, as Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Canadian imports
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, said on Sunday his country had no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China, responding to Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if the US’s northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing.
Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cut tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with them.

Donald Trump’s leverage over Visa and Mastercard highlights a blind spot in Europe’s ‘independence’ strategy. Emulating India’s response might help
When the centre-left French politician posted a warning last Wednesday that Donald Trump could cut off Europe from international payment systems, the clip went . To many, her message made sense. After all, if Mr Trump was to test allies’ boundaries over Greenland, it is not far-fetched to imagine Visa and Mastercard becoming used against a recalcitrant Europe.
The US can turn off payment systems it controls. Russia learned this first-hand after sanctions were rightly applied for its invasion of Ukraine. As up to 60% of Russian retail transactions depended on Visa and Mastercard for authorisation, the ban left many ordinary people stranded without to funds and to buy goods. Under Mr Trump, America’s is to “help Europe correct its current trajectory”. Given such talk, Ms Lalucq, who chairs the European parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee, is not wrong in for an “Airbus of European payments” to protect the EU.

The ouster of Gen. Zhang Youxia, who was second only to Xi Jinping in the military hierarchy, marks “the total annihilation of the high command,” one analyst said.

In the search for stability, some western nations are turning to a country that many in Washington see as an existential threat
If geopolitics relies at least in part on bonhomie between global leaders, China made an unexpected play for Ireland’s good graces when the taoiseach visited Beijing this month. Meeting Ireland’s leader, Micheál Martin, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China’s president, Xi Jinping, said a favourite book of his as a teenager was The Gadfly, by the Irish author Ethel Voynich, a novel set in the revolutionary fervour of Italy in the 1840s.
“It was unusual that we ended up discussing The Gadfly and its impact on both of us but there you are,” Martin reporters in Beijing.

President Trump said he would impose tariffs if Canada made “a deal with China,” though there is no sign that those countries are discussing a broad trade agreement.