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Washington and Beijing are weighing the launch of official discussions about artificial intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.The White House and the Chinese government are considering putting AI on the agenda for a summit next week in Beijing between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Journal said.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the American side for the proposed AI discussions, while Beijing has not yet designated its counterpart, the report added.Reuters could not immediately verify the report.Trump said earlier this week he will remind Xi that the US is leading in artificial intelligence as the two sides navigate tensions over trade and technology. Related Story Source link
A cross-party delegation of British lawmakers will visit China this month for the first time since 2019, two sources familiar with the preparations said, in a sign of warming ties since a visit in January by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.The five-day trip by 12 Labour and Conservative MPs in mid-May is organised by the Great Britain-China Centre, an NGO funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to promote ties with China.Reuters could not determine the full list of participating MPs or details of their itinerary. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as preparations for the visit are still underway.The Centre and the Foreign Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.In contrast, British lawmakers have made nine visits since 2022 to Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China claims as its own territory, although Taiwan rejects the claim.In 2021, China imposed sanctions on nine Britons, including Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, accusing them of spreading ‘lies and disinformation’ about alleged human rights abuses in its western region of Xinjiang.Beijing then lifted sanctions on six serving lawmakers in January after Starmer met President Xi Jinping on his China trip, which both sides hailed as a ‘reset’ in ties.Until then, relations had soured by tension during the coronavirus pandemic over human rights and spying accusations.However, China has retained its Xinjiang-related sanctions on two British academics and lawyers, as well as four organisations based in Britain.The British MPs' visit follows one in March by nine European lawmakers, the first in eight years after China lifted sanctions on certain MEPs in 2025.The resumption in parliamentary exchanges marks a tentative reopening of diplomatic dialogue after years of frosty ties between China and Europe.However, issues around alleged Chinese spying and the controversial mega-embassy China plans to build in London continue to swirl.This week, a London court held two men guilty of spying on behalf of Hong Kong and China, targeting prominent pro-democracy dissidents now based in Britain.The men, both dual Chinese and British nationals, denied the accusations, while the Chinese embassy in London has accused Britain of fabricating the charges against them. Source link
UK leader Keir Starmer said yesterday he took responsibility for “very tough” local election results that saw the hard-right make big gains, but vowed to carry on as prime minister.”I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos,” Starmer said, after his ruling Labour party lost hundreds of councillors in England.Labour was also braced for humiliating results in voting for devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales due to be announced later.”The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it,” Starmer said.”We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.”And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility,” he added.The ballot was the biggest electoral test for Starmer since Labour ousted the Conservatives following 14 years in power in a landslide election victory in 2024.The grim predictions made by opinion polls were borne out in results.Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party had gained 478 seats while Labour had lost 322 across 57 of the 136 English councils to announce results by mid-Friday.Reform had taken control of three councils — the counties of Suffolk and Essex in eastern England and the central town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.Farage said the local election results had demonstrated a “truly historic shift in British politics”, adding that Reform was now “the most national of all the parties. We are here to stay”.Big losses for Labour could amplify calls for Starmer, 63, to resign or face a long-rumoured party leadership challenge. Starmer is now one of the most unpopular prime ministers ever, according to polls.He insisted however that “days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised”.— Missteps-Pollster John Curtice, of Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde, said the results illustrated a new fragmentation of British politics with Labour being hit from its right by Reform and its left by the Greens.Those backing Reform were “broadly people with a relatively socially conservative outlook” who had “lost confidence in the traditional mainstream parties” and were sympathetic to the party’s views on issues such as immigration and Brexit, he said.The ballot decided around 5,000 local council seats, out of 16,000, across England, while in Wales and Scotland voters elected new devolved parliaments.Reform and the left-wing Greens, led by self-described eco-populist Zack Polanski, benefited from widespread disillusionment with Starmer’s government and policy missteps.He has also failed to fulfil his main election promise of spurring economic growth. Impatient Britons are still suffering a cost-of-living crisis, including from high energy prices.London finance worker Ian Tanner said he disliked Starmer’s “dreadful policies” but was fearful any replacement might be “even more left-wing”.”It’s a case of you’ve got to be careful what you wish for,” he said.Another finance worker, Dayo Foster, 60, said she believed Labour was doing “all the right things” and that Starmer just needed more time. “I don’t want him to resign, no, I think we need a bit of stability”.— Leadership rumours —Surveys suggest Labour will lose control of the devolved Welsh government for the first time since Wales got its own parliament 27 years ago.Reform or the pro-independence Plaid Cymru are expected to become the biggest party.Labour also fears a drubbing in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party (SNP) is expected to extend its 19-year control of the parliament in Edinburgh.In London, the Greens picked up disaffected left-wingers with a pro-Gaza message.Kemi Badenoch’s right-wing Conservatives was also bracing for the loss of traditional strongholds.Early results in the capital included a mayoral win for the Greens in the east London borough of Hackney.Hailing the election of Zoe Garbett in one of the party’s target areas, Polanski said “two party politics is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried”.Britain’s media has been full of rumours that ex-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner or Health Secretary Wes Streeting could try to oust Starmer after the results.Neither is universally popular within Labour, however, and would need the backing of 20% of the party’s MPs to launch a contest. Related Story Source link
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior announced on Saturday the arrest of 41 individuals belonging to an organization linked to Iran.In a statement by the Bahrain News Agency, the Ministry stated that security services uncovered the organization based on the findings of investigations and security reports, and what was established by previous investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution in cases of espionage with foreign entities and sympathy with blatant Iranian aggression.The statement added that 41 members of the organization’s main body had been arrested.The Ministry noted that legal procedures are being completed against the individuals concerned, while search and investigation operations continue to take the necessary measures against anyone proven to be involved in the activities of this organization and to have committed acts in violation of the law. Source link
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party named a chief minister of West Bengal state yesterday, cementing its thumping win in key elections in the bastion long held by its adversary.Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed a landmark 207 out of 294 seats in the legislative assembly in Monday’s results, marking its first electoral victory in the largely Bengali-speaking state of more than 100 mn.The results should put Modi on a stronger footing while he battles a series of economic and foreign policy challenges, including high unemployment rates and a pending US trade deal, ahead of a general election in 2029.The BJP named Suvendu Adhikari as chief minister of West Bengal, the party’s leader and Indian interior minister Amit Shah said yesterday.”It was decided unanimously,” Shah told reporters after a meeting of BJP’s elected members in the eastern state.Adhikari will be sworn in today, the BJP’s West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said.Votes were counted under tight security in West Bengal – one of five states and territories across India that held elections in April and May and where results were also announced on Monday.The BJP’s campaign in West Bengal was marked by protests over the purge of millions of names from voter rolls, billed as removing ineligible voters but which critics said was skewed against marginalised and minority communities.Violence that erupted after the election results killed at least five people, including Adhikari’s close aide who was shot dead near his home in Kolkata as supporters of the rival parties clashed.The BJP had waged an aggressive campaign to dislodge the powerful regional party of firebrand leader and three-time chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who held power in West Bengal since 2011.Analysts say the ruling party’s victory West Bengal is one of its most significant since Modi was elected prime minister in 2014, expanding its dominance beyond the Hindi-speaking heartland of north and central India.The BJP also returned to power in the northeastern state of Assam for a third time in a row, and in the small coastal territory of Puducherry, where it was a part of the ruling coalition.But in the southern state of Kerala, the opposition Congress party-led coalition triumphed and Indian film superstar C Joseph Vijay’s two-year-old Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu.At 108 seats, TVK fell short of a majority in the 234-member state legislature.Local media reported yesterday that the former film star had secured the support of two communist parties and the opposition Congress party to cross the majority mark.Popularly known as Vijay, the 51-year-old is now almost sure to lead the state. Source link
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) today adopted an emergency plan aimed at mitigating the impact of the war in the Middle East on their populations and economies, while acknowledging that implementing complex measures such as establishing a regional fuel reserve to ensure stable supplies would be difficult.During the opening of the annual ASEAN leaders' summit in Cebu, President of the Phillippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the highly volatile situation in the Middle East would affect the Asian region, making it necessary to remain flexible in confronting uncertainty that threatens livelihoods, living standards, and lives.He noted that ASEAN's emergency plan calls for measures including ratifying an agreement paving the way for coordinated fuel-sharing during emergencies, planning for a regional electricity grid and a shared fuel reserve, diversifying crude oil sources in the region, encouraging the use of electric vehicles, and studying the potential use of new technologies, including nuclear energy for civilian purposes.Marcos stressed that emergency measures would be implemented immediately, but said that establishing a regional fuel reserve and a unified power grid would be complicated and could take a long time. He questioned whether the fuel reserve would be located in one place or distributed across ASEAN countries.He also pointed out that the idea of creating a regional electricity network allowing countries to exchange power had been discussed for years, but had so far only been implemented on a relatively limited scale, while emphasizing that leaders had not abandoned the project.The 11 ASEAN member states rely heavily on oil imports from the Middle East, with more than 55% of the region’s crude oil imports coming from the area. This leaves them vulnerable to supply disruptions, especially as the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz severely affects energy security in Southeast Asia. Source link
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called today for restraint to avoid further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, expressing concern over the exchange of fire between Iran and the United States in the strait.During a press conference, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United NationsStephane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General considers this a critical moment for de-escalation and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint to prevent further escalation.Dujarric added that Guterres called on all sides to refrain from any action that could reignite tensions or undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts. The United States and Iran exchanged limited fire yesterday, Friday, in the Strait of Hormuz before a fragile calm returned between the two sides. Source link
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz affirmed that Germany has a fundamental interest in achieving peace in the Middle East, particularly in light of the economic repercussions of the crisis. In a statement outlining Germany’s position on the Middle East crisis, Merz said that the Strait of Hormuz remained a vital maritime route for oil and liquefied natural gas exports, and that its closure by Iran represents one of the central points of conflict and a major obstacle to reaching a diplomatic solution. He stressed that the blockade of the strait was already harming the German economy and that Berlin was making efforts to restore freedom of navigation as quickly as possible. Merz added that, if the appropriate conditions are met, Germany would be prepared to participate militarily in ensuring the long-term security of maritime routes. He noted that a German naval vessel has already headed to the eastern Mediterranean for pre-positioning in preparation for any potential mission to secure navigation. He also said that any German participation in an operation to secure the Strait of Hormuz would require three conditions: the end of the war, a legal basis and authorization from the German parliament, and the existence of a comprehensive and sustainable political and military framework. He warned of the dangers posed by Iran targeting Germany’s regional partners and of Iran obtaining any nuclear weapons. Merz emphasized that Iran’s military nuclear program must be permanently and definitively halted, arguing that Tehran’s negotiating strategy is aimed at buying time and holding the world hostage through the disruption of maritime navigation. Source link
The United States Department of the Treasury announced the imposition of sanctions on 10 individuals and companies, some based in China and Hong Kong, accusing them of helping the Iranian military obtain weapons and raw materials used in the production of Shahed drone drones.In a statement, the Treasury Department said it remains prepared to take economic measures against Iran’s military-industrial base to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its production capabilities. It added that it is also ready to act against any foreign company that supports illegal Iranian trade, including airlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions assisting Tehran’s efforts, including those linked to private Chinese oil refineries. Source link
Sheikh Saud bin Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday was the guest of honour as Lusail Club hosted a special ceremony to celebrate the team’s historic promotion to the Qatar Stars League (QSL) for next season.The event brought together the club’s management, technical and administrative staff, players, supporters, fans, and a host of prominent sports figures and officials, all of whom gathered to congratulate the club and share in the joy of this landmark achievement.“Promotion to the Qatar Stars League represents an important step forward in implementing the club’s 2026–2030 strategy, which is focused on building a professional and sustainable sports institution built on talent development and long-term growth,” said Lusail Club president Nawaf Mohammed al-Mudahka.Al-Mudahka said the next phase will focus on strengthening the first team’s readiness and raising its competitive level ahead of the new Stars League campaign.“The club remains committed to continuing the development of youth programs and talent pathways aimed at producing players capable of supporting both the first team and the national teams,” al-Mudahka said.In conclusion, the club president expressed his appreciation to all club members, supporters, and partner organisations for their continued backing, emphasizing that promotion is only the beginning of a new chapter dedicated to establishing Lusail Club among the elite of Qatari football and achieving its future ambitions.Lusail secured the promotion after defeating Al Markhiya 2-0 on April 25 at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium in Round 13 of Second Division League. Lusail were crowned 2025-2026 season Second Division champions with one round remaining, having collected 29 points. The result of their final match in the league will officially confirm their triumph. Lusail’s goals were scored by Amin Alireza and Amir Roustaei in the 19th and 48th minute respectively.Speaking on the occasion, club’s Portuguese coach Emanuel Alfante expressed ‘immense happiness’ over the team’s promotion.“We are immensely happy to secure qualification to the Qatar Stars League. This achievement represents a historic milestone in Lusail Club’s journey and marks the club’s first-ever promotion since its establishment,” said Alfante.Alfante said the success was the result of continuous hard work and collective efforts from everyone at the club. He praised the players’ discipline, commitment, and fighting spirit throughout the season, while also highlighting the important role played by the technical and administrative staff, as well as the unwavering support of the club’s management.“The team maintained confidence in its ability to secure promotion despite the intense competition and numerous challenges throughout the campaign. The players’ strong mentality and determination proved decisive in the season’s most important matches,” said Alfante.Alfante further stressed that competing in the top flight will require even greater preparation and commitment. He confirmed that work will continue to ensure performances worthy of Lusail Club’s ambitions, while efforts will also be made to strengthen the squad in line with the demands of the upcoming season. Related Story Source link