Putin hails ties with China as Kim Jong-un arrives in Beijing on eve of parade

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Russian president says relations at ‘unprecedentedly high level’ as dozens of leaders gather for Victory Day events

Vladimir Putin has hailed Russia’s “unprecedentedly” high level of ties with China, as dozens of leaders including the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing on the eve of a massive military parade intended to showcase a Chinese-led global order.

Putin called China’s leader, Xi Jinping, a “dear friend” after the two held talks at the Great Hall of the People and then at Xi’s personal residence. “Our close communication reflects the strategic nature of Russia-China relations, which are at an unprecedentedly high level,” Putin told Xi, according to a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel. “We were always together then, and we remain together now.”

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Outcry as Swedish ‘cultural canon’ snubs Abba and anything since 1975

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Critics argue ‘shared map’ of Swedish culture is ‘very exclusionary’ and a ‘nationalist education project’

The Gustav Vasa 1541 bible, Pippi Longstocking, Ikea, the right to roam, paternity leave, Sámi joiks, the Nobel prize and works by Ingmar Bergman and August Strindberg all made it into Sweden’s long-awaited, much-criticised proposal for a “cultural canon”.

However, notable omissions from the list of 100 works and references that have formed Sweden’s culture and history – intended, its creators said in Uppsala on Tuesday, to establish a “shared map and compass” for Swedish citizens and new arrivals to Sweden – included Abba and anything from after 1975, a period that has seen Sweden transform into an international, multicultural society.

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Margaret Atwood releases short story critiquing book bans in Canada

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Author quipped she wrote ‘suitable’ piece after Alberta school ban included her novel The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret Atwood has released a new short story critiquing elected officials for a wide-ranging book ban in the Canadian province of Alberta. The controversial decision to remove books purportedly containing “explicit sexual content” has seen numerous works of literature swept up in the dragnet, including Atwood’s dystopian work The Handmaid’s Tale.

In a social media post, Atwood wrote that since her famed work was no longer permissible in Alberta schools, she had written a “suitable” short work for teens, adding the work was necessary because the province’s minister of education thought students were “stupid babies”.

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Modi’s warm meeting with Xi shows impact of Trump’s ‘tariff tantrum’

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China seizes on opportunity for geopolitical realignment after India was hit with one of US’s harshest trade penalties

They stood together like old friends, heads thrown back in jovial laughter, clutching one another’s hands affectionately. Except this was no ordinary gathering of three men, but a meeting of three of the most powerful non-western leaders: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi.

The overt displays of intimacy were widely regarded by observers as a telling message of defiance aimed at their western counterparts, in particular Donald Trump, who just a few days earlier had slapped India with 50% import tariffs, among the harshest of the US president’s trade penalties.

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Xi Jinping’s anti-American party – The Economist

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  1. Xi Jinping’s anti-American party  The Economist
  2. India Was the Economic Alternative to China. Trump Ended That.  The New York Times
  3. Trump's rebuke, Xi's handshake, Putin's oil: India's foreign policy test  BBC
  4. Opinion | Trump’s white-knuckling with India could backfire  The Washington Post
  5. Opinion: Opinion | To Survive Trump, India Needs More Than Just Handshakes With Xi And Putin  NDTV
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Five children in Gaza among those killed by Israeli strike while fetching water

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Latest attack comes as Israel’s military urges people to leave Gaza City with 60,000 more reservists to be called up

At least nine people, including five children, have been killed in an Israeli strike while fetching water in al-Mawasi, an area of southern Gaza which Israel has designated as a safe zone, health officials said.

A doctor from al-Nasser hospital shared a picture of the children’s bodies in the hospital, as well as a picture of water jugs left in a pool of blood at the site of the attack on Tuesday.

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‘Anonymity Online Is Going to Die’: What Age-Verification Laws Could Look Like in the U.S. – Rolling Stone

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  1. ‘Anonymity Online Is Going to Die’: What Age-Verification Laws Could Look Like in the U.S.  Rolling Stone
  2. Behind the Passwords Alternative: Passkeys - Tech News Briefing - WSJ Podcasts  The Wall Street Journal
  3. Global movement to protect kids online fuels a wave of AI safety tech  CNBC
  4. ‘Scan your face’ laws for the web are having unexpected consequences  The Washington Post
  5. Online age checks are proliferating, but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom  AP News
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Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo charity makes undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute

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Exclusive: The progressive thinktank, which has championed a ‘real zero’ emissions policy, says it protects privacy of donors to avoid them being targeted

Andrew Forrest’s charity has made an undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute, raising transparency concerns about the funding of influential advocacy groups.

The donation to the progressive thinktank, which has been confirmed by several sources familiar with the deal but not authorised to comment, highlights differing disclosure standards across the research and advocacy sector.

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There are just 150 of these creamy-flowered shrubs left in the world – and a Victorian fire break could destroy dozens

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More than 40 round-leaf pomaderris discovered by environmental community group inside the area earmarked for fire break in July

A mere 150 round-leaf pomaderris were thought left in the world in 2021 and now a planned firebreak in Victoria could destroy dozens of the plants.

The critically endangered shrub, which bursts into cascades of creamy flowers, is known to exist in only a handful of locations in central Victoria’s hill country.

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Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by ‘sledgehammer’ powers to deport noncitizens to Nauru, lawyers warn

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Greens senator David Shoebridge accuses Tony Burke of ‘doing his Peter Dutton impression, dog-whistling and punching down on migrants’

Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by the Albanese government’s proposed powers to strip basic legal protections from the noncitizens it plans to deport to Nauru, refugee lawyers warn.

The proposed federal powers, revealed last Wednesday, are expected to pass parliament this week with the Coalition’s support at a snap two-hour committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday night.

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Andriy Parubiy: Suspect admits killing Ukrainian lawmaker, says it was ‘revenge’ against authorities – CNN

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  1. Andriy Parubiy: Suspect admits killing Ukrainian lawmaker, says it was ‘revenge’ against authorities  CNN
  2. Disguised gunman who assassinated prominent Ukraine politician is linked to Russia, Kyiv says  CBS News
  3. Kyiv Links Moscow to Killing of Former Ukrainian Parliament Speaker  The New York Times
  4. Arrest after fatal shooting of Ukrainian politician Andriy Parubiy  BBC
  5. Hundreds mourn pro-Western Ukrainian politician who was gunned down in the street  AP News
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Treasury Intensifies Pressure on Iranian Oil Smuggling and Sanctions Evasion Schemes in Iraq – U.S. Department of the Treasury (.gov)

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  1. Treasury Intensifies Pressure on Iranian Oil Smuggling and Sanctions Evasion Schemes in Iraq  U.S. Department of the Treasury (.gov)
  2. Oil settles up 1% after US imposes sanctions targeting Iranian oil  Reuters
  3. US Targets Iraqi Tycoon in Latest Move Against Iran Oil Exports  Bloomberg.com
  4. US sanctions network for transporting Iranian oil as nuclear talks remain stalled  The Times of Israel
  5. Oil prices hold on to gains from US sanctions  Yahoo Finance
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