Mutual praise, buzzwords plus a few walkouts: Xi and Putin meet in Beijing

Xi Jinping met his internationally isolated Russian counterpart in Beijing on Wednesday against the backdrop of China’s biggest diplomatic event of the year, underlining the close relationship between two leaders amid the war in Ukraine.

The Chinese president, addressing delegates at the belt and road initiative (BRI) forum, spoke out against international sanctions during his opening speech.

“Ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not the choice for us, but we stand against economic sanctions, economic coercions, and decoupling and supply chain disruptions,” Xi said. The US Commerce Department on Tuesday had expanded controls on chip and technology exports to China amid tensions with Beijing.

Pension becomes another Alberta-Ottawa fight. But this time, Trudeau's on offence

Jim Dinning, engagement panel chair: Thank you, Duane from Camrose. We appreciate all your comments on the potential Alberta Pension Plan. Isn't this telephone town hall format a swell idea? Sarah, please put through the next call.

Operator: Our next commenter is Justin, and he's on the line from Ottawa.

OK, so it didn't quite happen this way, but may as well have.

Trudeau attacks pitch to take Alberta out of CPP in open letter to Danielle Smith

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sent an open letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith calling her efforts to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan a risk to "certainty and stability."

"With all the uncertainty they face, Canadians should not have to worry whether or not the Canada Pension Plan will continue to be there for them in their retirement," Trudeau said in the letter.

"Alberta's withdrawal would weaken the pensions of millions of seniors and hardworking people in Alberta and right across the country. The harm it would cause is undeniable."

Kamala Harris now leads in US polls but state-level data puts race on knife-edge

National polls for the US presidential race have been upended ever since Kamala Harris took over from Joe Biden to run against Donald Trump.

While Biden was trailing the Republican former president nationally and in many crucial swing states, Harris has gained about three points in national polls since becoming the nominee.

The Guardian’s poll tracker assesses polls over a rolling 10-day period. It now has Harris leading nationally by about two points.

Poland scrambles planes as Russia strikes western Ukraine

NATO-member Poland has scrambled aircraft as Russia launched air strikes on Ukraine‘s western city of Lviv close to its border.

Polish and “allied” aircraft were scrambled overnight on Tuesday as Russia launched a major attack on Lviv, according to Reuters news agency. It was the third time in eight days that the NATO member’s defences had been activated since Russia stepped up its bombardment across Ukraine.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed in Lviv, with many more injured in drone and missile attacks that saw historic buildings destroyed in the heart of the city, according to regional officials.

Jewish Voice for Peace Holds Massive Rally at Capitol for Israel-Gaza Ceasefire

A massive protest is being held on Wednesday at noon in front of the Capitol building in Washington D.C., organized jointly by Jewish-led anti-occupation groups Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow, in which participants are demanding that lawmakers pass a resolution calling for the U.S. to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

According to a press release from JVP, the event is part of a broader effort to have “ten thousand American Jews…lead a week of massive protests” in the nation’s capital in reaction to the violence that has been perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Israel’s Violence Will Never Bring “Safety” to Anyone, Including Jews

The horror and heartbreak in Gaza reaches new proportions each minute: Israel’s siege has killed at least 3,400 people and injured more than 12,000 in the past week and a half, and a possible ground invasion threatens unspeakable levels of new violence. The Israeli forces and settlers have also killed 61 and injured 1,250 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The death tolls climb even as Palestinians and those in solidarity with them are marching and rallying worldwide in powerful and urgent protests.

For us, as anti-Zionist Jewish journalists, the past week and a half has been a flood of many griefs.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Destroying Donald Trump’s Election Chances, Poll Says

Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy is on track to push President Joe Biden to an easy victory over Donald Trump in a potential 2024 showdown, according to a new poll.

Since Kennedy announced he was leaving the Democratic race to run as an independent earlier this month, the debate has swirled over whom he would hurt more, the four-times-indicted ex-president or the incumbent.

The GOP’s Secret to Protecting Gerrymandered Electoral Maps? Claim Privilege.

Eva Bonilla grows furious when she thinks about how Latino voters are treated by the Republican power structure in Texas. At 74, the small business owner watched the GOP Legislature pass a series of measures like a voter ID law that she felt would make it harder for Latinos to cast ballots or run for public office.

Two years ago, serving as the leader of a Hispanic women’s group in Fort Worth, she decided to strike back. The Republican Legislature had just pushed through new election maps that carved up Latino communities and made it even harder for them to elect candidates of their choice. So Bonilla joined other minority voters as plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit alleging intentional discrimination in the 2021 redistricting plan.

“I wanted to see the right thing done, and this is just not right,” she said.

Then Bonilla waited.

Trump Can’t Contain His Vile Eruptions

Donald Trump has always perfumed his personal word cloud with sulfurous vitriol and dank insults. At an early point in the mid-1970s, as the on-the-make developer from Queens crashed the Manhattan scene, he learned that if he directed enough volume at his opponents, he could intimidate, embarrass and shock them into collapse.

Trump’s fountain of bile — calling people “disgusting,” “moron,” “dummies,” “disgraceful,” “horseface,” “lowlife,” ‘dogs,” “low I.Q.,” or branding them with degrading nicknames — flowed then and flows now like an impure stream. In recent weeks, he’s topped even himself by calling obliquely for the execution of Gen. Mark A. Milley, urging shoplifters to be “shot,” accusing NBC News of “treason,” which is punishable with prison or death, and repeatedly calling the special counsel putting him on trial a “thug.”