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Ma Ying-jeou’s tour is first since end of civil war and comes amid intensifying efforts by China to subsume Taiwan
Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou will visit China this month in the first visit by a current or former leader since the defeated Nationalist Chinese government fled to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949.
The high-profile visit has been presented by Ma and his party, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), as a chance to boost friendly cross-strait exchanges at a time of extreme disconnection, which has been driven by and exacerbated by the pandemic. However, it is also likely to between the KMT and ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP) over relations with China.

Vladimir Putin will provide Xi Jinping with 'clarifications' on Russia's point of view on the Ukraine conflict during the Chinese leader's state visit to Russia, the Kremlin has said. 
During a call with reporters, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the two presidents would discuss themes in the peace plan for Ukraine proposed by China.
This is China’s president first visit to Russia for four years and will last three days.

Dakila begins their debut album with a call-to-arms for the young Filipinos, Latinos, Black kids they rubbed shoulders with as teenagers living in the Mission. “We are all brothers and sisters / Let’s ...

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, arrived in Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin, days after the international criminal court charged the Russian president with war crimes in Ukraine.
Xi and Putin declared they had a 'no-limits friendship' before the February 2022 attack on Ukraine, but Beijing has tried to portray itself as neutral in the conflict
This is China’s president first visit to Russia for four years and will last three days

Service in Jiangxi uses data on single residents to build platform amid drive to boost marriage rate
For single people, dating fatigue is a universal phenomenon. Hours of swiping left can lead to despair at the potential matches in your area. One city in Jiangxi, a province in eastern China, reckons that it has come up with a solution for the lovelorn or love-weary: a state-sponsored matchmaking service.
Guixi, a city of about 640,000 people, has launched an app that uses data on single residents to build a matchmaking platform. The app is known as “Palm Guixi” and includes a platform for organising blind dates, according to China Youth Daily, a state-run newspaper.

Washington’s power is suddenly threatened by a newly confident China and disquiet among leaders in the global south
It’s a useful coincidence that the 20th anniversary of George W Bush and Tony Blair’s illegal attack on Iraq falls only a matter of weeks after the anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s illegal attack on Ukraine. Neither war was authorised by the UN. Both are marked by massive destruction and huge loss of life.
The Bush/Blair invasion and occupation of Iraq, and its chaotic consequences, have taken the lives of more than a million Iraqi civilians, . US forces committed innumerable war crimes, not least the torture of captured soldiers. At the detention centre near Baghdad, US officers humiliated Iraqi prisoners in violation of the Geneva conventions. The invasion provoked widespread resistance, but US counter-insurgency tactics involved raids on villages that led to .

Nanaia Mahuta says she will raise concerns over Ukraine and human rights issues as well as ways the two countries can cooperate
New Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, will leave for China on Tuesday in the first visit to Beijing by a New Zealand minister since 2019.
Mahuta, who will meet her counterpart Qin Gang, said she would raise New Zealand’s concerns about key security challenges at the meeting, such as the “illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine”, and advocate for outcomes reflecting New Zealand’s values on human rights issues.

Former marine pilot fighting extradition to US on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering says case is a ‘test of Australian sovereignty’
Australian pilot Daniel Duggan believes he could not get a fair trial in America, where he faces up to 60 years in prison on charges relating to training Chinese pilots.
But Australia’s role in his arrest is also being interrogated: his legal team say they are investigating whether the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) assisted the US by “luring” Duggan back to Australia from China, so that he could be arrested and extradited.

China is calling Xi Jinping’s visit a “trip for peace,” but he is unlikely to risk straining the country’s ties with Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin.

Russian president lauds Xi ahead of meeting, while Beijing calls for a ‘rational way’ out of the crisis

Vladimir Putin has praised “good old friend” Xi Jinping in a newspaper article published in China on the eve of a state visit by the Chinese president that will reaffirm the leaders’ strong ties and provide Moscow with an opportunity to emphasise that it has not been isolated by the global community.
The two leaders, who are believed to share a strong personal relationship, will meet one-on-one on Monday, followed by an informal lunch, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

Asian stock markets fell Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of ...