US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping began their first conversation since March on Thursday, a call the White House says is intended to keep relations stable despite rising tensions over Taiwan and the war in Ukraine. The exchange is overshadowed by friction over a possible trip to Taiwan next month by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a prospect that has prompted warnings of a “firm and strong” response from China. US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said in June that relations with Beijing have deteriorated to probably “the lowest moment” since former President Richard Nixon’s landmark visit to China in 1972. China views any Taiwan trip by Pelosi as a violation of the deal that helped establish ties between Washington and Beijing a half century ago, including an American promise to cease formal relations with Taipei. Pelosi has refused to confirm her travel schedule, citing security concerns. The itinerary includes stops in Indonesia, Japan and Singapore, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, adding that Taiwan remains off the official itinerary. The White House hasn’t taken a public position on any Taiwan visit, saying it’s Pelosi’s decision, but Defense Department officials have privately expressed unease to the speaker and her staff. The American, Chinese and Taiwanese military are all regularly active around the island and an aircraft carrier battle group led by the USS Ronald Reagan entered the South China Sea this week as part of what the Navy said was a scheduled operation. Wang Yang, the Communist Party’s No. 4 official, told a meeting Tuesday that “**no individual and no force should underestimate the resolve, the will and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.**” Biden, who had been isolating with Covid-19 until yesterday, has said little publicly about the matter. It isn’t clear whether he supports the trip or if he’s spoken about it with Pelosi directly. He told reporters last week that the US military didn’t think a Pelosi visit was a good idea, prompting consternation in Taiwan. The president and his advisers also continue to assess whether to cut some of the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, though US officials have played down the likelihood of the topic coming up in the call. “The key thing is that the president wants to make sure that the lines of communication with President Xi remain open because they need to,” John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman said. “There’s issues where we can cooperate with China on and then there’s issues where obviously there’s friction and tension.” Kirby added that Biden would “**reaffirm that there’s no change to America’s commitment to the ‘One China’ policy, none, zero.**”

How Ukraine has been changed over the years! 

"You think you have rights? You have none"

[Radio Free Europe Link reports](https://www.rferl.org/a/islamic-world-china-uyghurs/31324045.html) Please head over to the [original post here for more ](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/283968)

What was expected to happen to Russia is happening to Japan. Japan is a resource poor country dependent on Russia for energy and raw material supply. US is thrashing the currencies of its allies to save its own.

The US is sending Ukraine heavy guided missiles with a range of 70km for use with the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl revealed on Tuesday. The White House previously said that HIMARS launchers would be provided with “battlefield munitions,” widely understood to be unguided rockets with a shorter range. The high-mobility artillery rocket system will come with GMLRS guided rockets, Kahl said on Tuesday, speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for New American Security (CNAS), a Democrat-linked think tank for which he used to work. “Sometimes when you see images of MLRS firing off, it’s like salvos of multiple rockets going off at the same time. That’s really not how this system is meant to operate,” Kahl said. “The GMLRS is a precision guided munition, and a big one – a 500 pound munition,” he added. “Think of GMLRS more like the effect of an airstrike rather than launching off whole salvos. So, in other words, you can do a lot with a little, or you don’t need a lot to have a significant effect.” When the White House first announced it was sending HIMARS launchers to Ukraine on June 1, it said they would be armed with “battlefield munitions,” which was widely taken to mean barrage rockets with a range of between 32km and 60km, considering that HIMARS is also capable of launching ballistic projectiles with a range of up to 300km. “The range does not depend on the system itself, but on the missiles that are used,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a TV interview earlier this month, adding that if the US sends long-range rockets Russia will “draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons, which we have enough of, in order to strike at those objects that we have not yet struck.”

Defense chief Lloyd Austin has claimed the US is focused on maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific, and not splitting the region into blocs. In a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s top security conference, Austin said, “the stakes are especially stark in the Taiwan Strait.” This comes amid multiple warnings from China against US military cooperation with Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be part of its territory. Austin stressed that Washington’s policy regarding Taiwan remains unchanged – the US is committed to the One-China policy, “categorically opposes any unilateral changes in the status quo,” and therefore does not support the island’s independence. Would the US consider actions off its coast as just maintaining stability? Source : [RT](t.me/rtnews)

Inflation accelerated further in May, with prices rising 8.6% from a year ago for the fastest increase since December 1981, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Shelter costs, which account for about a one-third weighting in the CPI, rose 0.6% for the month, the fastest one-month gain since March 2004. Those escalating prices meant workers took another pay cut during the month. "It's hard to look at May's inflation data and not be disappointed," said Morning Consult's chief economist, John Leer." With 75 basis points of interest rate rises already under its belt, markets widely expect the Fed to continue tightening policy through the year and possibly into 2023. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers recently released a white paper with a team of other economists that suggests the Fed will need to go further than many are anticipating.

The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian “militants of the nationalist battalions” of deliberately setting fire to a large granary in Mariupol’s sea port while fleeing from Russian forces. According to a ministry statement, the alleged act of arson was down to the unwillingness of the “militants” to leave grain supplies to Mariupol’s residents. As a result, according to the military, more than 50 thousand tons of grain were destroyed. Video : https://files.catbox.moe/txg93e.mp4 Source : https://www.rt.com/russia/556791-grain-burned-russia-ukraine/

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki announced a massive $630mn military weapon contract with Kiev Tuesday that will be part-financed by the EU, and will allow Warsaw to enrich its production potential. Speaking at a visit to the Stalowa Wola arms factory, Morawiecki claimed their munitions will “pass the baptism of fire… most likely in eastern Ukraine”. Poland claims to be the second-largest exporter of military hardware to Kiev behind the US, having already delivered T-72 tanks, howitzers, air-to-air missiles, drones and Grad rocket launchers.

<div style='position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(56.25%)'><iframe src='https://invidious.snopyta.org/embed/ewb9scEI_Hk' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' width='100%' height='100%' style='position:absolute;top:0;left:0;' allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <br/> cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/259173

All prisoners from Azovstal are kept in the DPR, they will be judged by a tribunal on the territory of the republic, said the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin.

The president confirmed Washington would use force during his first trip to Japan, saying "that's the commitment we made." The US has been supplying weapons to Taiwan since 1979, with the Biden admin continuing that in a mega deal confirmed last August.