28 h. ago Kim Jong Un’s staff seen scrubbing every surface he touched after meeting with Putin

Analysts say extreme security measure meant to prevent foreign intelligence agencies from gathering samples that may reveal North Korean leader’s health condition

Politics

44 h. ago A summit and parade in China may signal a geopolitical shift. They might also be political jockeying

The pictures from this week’s military parade in Beijing commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the earlier economic gathering would seem to offer a striking, maybe even sinister, message to the United States and its allies — evidence of a possible new reconfiguration of rising power in Eurasia, an “Axis of Upheaval,” as one U.S. analyst has called it

Politics

45 h. ago Trump’s belligerence is pushing Xi, Putin and Kim together – and tearing the old world order apart | Simon Tisdall

The three-way partnership on show in Beijing is united in opposition to US hegemony and a western-dominated financial systemSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreDonald Trump’s first reaction to the disconcerting spectacle of China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un marching side-by-side at a huge military parade in Beijing was, predictably, all about him. This show of solidarity and strength, he complained, was nothing less than an attempt to “conspire” against the United States. Trump likes military parades – his own, that is. Even more, he likes to be on the podium, at the centre of attention. He casts himself as world number one. The images coming out of the Chinese capital this week challenged him on all three counts.This puncturing of Trump’s insecure ego, and the striking feebleness of his response, will greatly grat...

Politics

57 h. ago Xi, Putin and Kim: behind the choreographed image that could symbolise a shift in the global balance of power

In an unprecedented spectacle the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea led a group of more than 20 world leaders at a victory day parade in BeijingFull report: Xi Jinping appears with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un at China military paradeIt is an image that, had it been published just a few years ago, would have been dismissed as a piece of mischievous photo-shopping: the leaders of Russia and China, accompanied by the head of a pariah regime whose mission to arm his country with nuclear weapons had been opposed at the United Nations by his two companions.But dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, crucially, the re-election of Donald Trump – have combined to bring Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un together in what many observers are calling a dramatic redrawing of the global balance of power. Continue reading...

Politics

59 h. ago Could NATO stand up to President Xi's 'Axis of Upheaval'? As China pushes for a new world order, how the alliance's military forces compare to combined might of Beijing, Russia and North Korea

After three and a half years of devastating conflict, Putin is showing no signs of relenting on his military ambitions, and there are growing fears that his target stretches beyond Ukraine.

Events

4 d. ago Voices: The West neglects the other half of the world at its peril

Given the presence of 25 global leaders in China, including those of Russia, India, Iran and North Korea for the SCO summit, you might well ask why the West seems to have shown so relatively little interest – or alarm, writes Mary Dejevsky

Politics

8 d. ago A look at the travels of North Korea's Kim Jong Un, who visits China next week

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make his first visit to China in six years to attend a military parade next week

Politics

8 d. ago Kim Jong Un to join Xi and Putin at Beijing military parade in rare trip outside North Korea

Western leaders have shunned China’s ‘Victory Day’ celebrations, while Russia and North Korea are strengthening ties with China

Events

2 w. ago Chinese man jailed for 8 years in US for smuggling arms to North Korea

Chinese man sent consignment of firearms and ammunition to North Korea via China

Events

3 w. ago Japan says it is too busy with Russia, China and North Korea to hold annual military parade

Japan defence minister says no scope for ‘slightest gap’ in defence preparedness in potential military event from Russia, China and North Korea

Events