Xi Jinping sees ‘irreversible’ shift to multipolar world

China’s president has previewed his visit to Moscow by declaring that “no single country should dictate the international order”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has set the tone for his visit this week to Moscow by touting improving relations with Russia in the ten years since he took office and vowing that the transition to a “multipolar world” liberated from US domination won’t be stopped.

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UK apologizes to Afghan collaborators – media

London has admitted a “mistake” that required its Afghan contractors to vet their relocation with Taliban officials

The UK Ministry of Defence has belatedly apologized for requiring Afghan citizens who worked with London during the US-led NATO occupation of their country to have their documents approved by the Taliban before applying for resettlement in Britain,

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North Korea simulates tactical nuclear strike

Pyongyang said its latest missile launch, overseen by Kim Jong-un, practiced a “counterattack” on a “major enemy target”

North Korea has declared that it fired a missile “tipped with a test warhead simulating nuclear payload” as part of a two-day drill over the weekend, demonstrating the country’s firepower and readiness to respond to any “reckless moves” amid joint military exercises on the peninsula by South Korean and US forces.

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US demands to sell TikTok are a political extortion scheme

Washington’s gangster-like attempts to take over the social media app reveal an inability to tolerate competition

The TikTok wars are heating up. The Biden administration has reportedly issued an ultimatum to the Chinese company Bytedance that it must sell the social media application or face a ban in the US.

TikTok has been subject to growing pressure from US politicians,

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Tony Blair defends Iraq war

The former British PM has defended his decision to invade as he was trying to “introduce democracy”

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has claimed that the US-led invasion of Iraq was more justified than Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine, despite all of his pre-war justifications since being proven false.

Speaking to Germany’s DPA and two other European news agencies,

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Fatal earthquake hits South America

The magnitude 6.7 quake killed at least 15 people and caused widespread damage

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Ecuador and Peru on Saturday, damaging roads, leveling buildings, and killing at least 15 people while over 126 suffered injuries, according to initial estimates.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso’s office confirmed 14 deaths, after the quake struck the coastal Guyas region at around noon.

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Arrest would deliver Trump 2024 election in ‘landslide’ – Musk

The former US president has predicted he will be detained on Tuesday on a charge of falsifying business records

If former US President Donald Trump is arrested next week, he will win the 2024 election in a “landslide victory,” Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday in response to a Fox News clip discussing the possibility of the former president being “handcuffed” and processed through the New York City court system. 

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Americans view Iraq War as mistake – poll

Twenty years after the invasion, public opinion about the conflict has reversed and most believe it made the US less safe

Two decades after the US invaded Iraq, the majority of Americans realize the war was a mistake, according to an Axios/Ipsos poll released this week. While two-thirds of Americans approved of the military action in 2003,

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France bans protests outside parliament

The Macron government’s unilateral and controversial decision to raise the retirement age led to massive demonstrations

French police have banned all gatherings in two protest hotspots across from the parliament in Paris, citing “serious risks of disturbances to public order” in a statement issued on Saturday.  

The “public thoroughfare in Place de la Concorde and its surroundings” and the area around Champs d’Elysees were declared off limits following two nights of intense public protest against French President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular decision to introduce neoliberal pension reforms without parliamentary approval. 

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