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Maldives’ ruling People’s National Congress party won an absolute majority in parliament in elections held Sunday, giving President Mohamed Muizzu’s pro-China policies a boost.

President Muizzu’s party won 71 seats seats in 93-member parliament or Majlis, reported The Edition a local news platform, Monday. The main opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party, won 12 seats.

Muizzu won the presidential vote last year on a campaign to reduce India’s influence in the island. The president moved soon after taking office to demand the removal of Indian troops stationed on one of the country’s islets. New Delhi has agreed to withdraw its troops, who operate radars and aircraft, from the island nation by May 10.

Beijing, in the meantime, upgraded its diplomatic ties with the Maldives to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during Muizzu’s five-day visit to China in January. China agreed to provide free military assistance to the Maldives and President Xi Jinping said China will seek to boost direct flights to the island nation. The two countries also agreed to increase cooperation in areas of trade, investment, agriculture and others.

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Li Auto, Tesla’s nearest rival in mainland China, reduced the price of all its vehicles by up to 5.7 per cent, just a day after the US carmaker offered discounts to local customers amid an escalating discount war.

The Beijing-based company announced on Monday morning that it would cut prices by between 18,000 yuan (US$2,485) and 30,000 yuan as a way of “focusing on customer value”. It said it is determined to keep improving its offerings for Chinese families such as its large vehicles fitted with household appliances.

On Monday, it cut the price of its Li Mega multipurpose minivan by 30,000 yuan, or 5.4 per cent, to 529,800 yuan. Launched in March this year, the fully-electric minivan described by its maker as being essentially a “mobile home” is designed to cater to the travel demands of wealthy families and is fitted with a refrigerator and a sofa. ⠀

“It is a fresh sign that the electric vehicle (EV) price war has spread to the premium segment now that Tesla and Li Auto, the two leaders, have joined the price competition,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Their pricing strategies are detrimental to small and unprofitable rivals whose profit margins will be squeezed further.” ⠀

On Sunday, Tesla lowered prices of its Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by more than 5 per cent, a move that came hot on the heels of price cuts it made in the US, its biggest market, on Friday. ⠀

BYD, the world’s bestselling electric-car maker, fired the first salvo in a price war in February, slashing the prices of some budget models to lure young and low-income Chinese drivers.

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Barbados indicated on Friday its intention to recognise Palestine as an independent State says Minister of Foreign Affairs Kerrie Symmonds in talks that according to the official started in September last year. ⠀

The FM said there is an incongruity and inconsistency because "how can we say we want a two-state solution if we do not recognise Palestine as a state?” ⠀

The Palestine State recognition it is expected to be very welcomed by the local pro-Palestinian campaign group, the Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine (CAAP), which has been pushing for Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has previously condemned the genocide in Gaza, to do more to stop the Israeli siege.

Declared a state by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in November 1988, and accepted as a UN non-member observer state in 2012, the State of Palestine has so far been recognised by 140 of the UN’s 193 member states.

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A group of settlers who attacked the village of Al Sawiya, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank resulted in the death of a Palestinian and left at least two others wounded by gunfire this Saturday.

Dozens of settlers from the Ali settlement, also located south of Nablus, attacked citizens' homes in the western part of the village, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, which cites several witnesses at the site, The agency says once a 50-year-old was shot in the chest and a 26-year-old was shot in the face.

Mohammad Awadallah Musa, 50, driver of the ambulance carrying the wounded was later killed when other Israeli settlers and soldiers attacked the vehicle. ⠀

WAFA reports that dozens of colonists from the illegal Eli settlement, built on stolen Palestinian lands south of Nablus, ansd have attacked homes of Palestinian citizens in the eastern area of the village.

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As tensions with China rise, scientists at America’s leading universities complain of stalled research after crackdown at airports

Stopped at the border, interrogated on national security grounds, laptops and mobile phones checked, held for several hours, plans for future research shattered. ⠀

Earlier this month the Chinese embassy in Washington said more than 70 students “with legal and valid materials” had been deported from the US since July 2021, with more than 10 cases since November 2023. The embassy said it had complained to the US authorities about each case. ⠀

“The impact is huge,” says Qin Yan, a professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut, who says that he is aware of more than a dozen Chinese students from Yale and other universities who have been rejected by the US in recent months, despite holding valid visas. Experiments have stalled, and there is a “chilling effect” for the next generation of Chinese scientists. ⠀

The refusals appear to be linked to a 2020 US rule that barred Chinese postgraduate students with links to China’s “military-civil fusion strategy”, which aims to leverage civilian infrastructure to support military development. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute thinktank estimates that 95 civilian universities in China have links to the defence sector.

Nearly 2,000 visas applications were rejected on that basis in 2021. But now people who pass the security checks necessary to be granted a visa by the State Department are being turned away at the border by CBP, a different branch of government.

“It is very hard for a CBP officer to really evaluate the risk of espionage,” said Dan Berger, an immigration lawyer in Massachusetts, who represents a graduate student at Yale who, midway through her PhD, was sent back from Washington’s Dulles airport in December, and banned from re-entering the US for five years. ⠀

Academics say that scrutiny has widened to different fields – particularly medical sciences – with the reasons for the refusals not made clear.

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China’s ambassador to Canada has left his post after nearly five years, a period marked by heightened tensions between the two countries.

Cong Peiwu has returned to China, according to a representative for Global Affairs Canada who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The news was first reported by the Globe and Mail. China’s embassy in Ottawa declined to comment.

Cong’s exit comes as one of Canada’s most senior diplomats, Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison, is visiting China. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has not traveled to the country since her appointment in late 2021, but has signaled her pursuit of “pragmatic diplomacy,” engaging with non-like-minded countries.

Last year, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of targeting a Canadian Conservative lawmaker and his family in Hong Kong, prompting China to turf a Canadian envoy in response. Cong told Bloomberg News in an interview at the time that China would like to see the relationship “back on track.”

“But it’s up to the Canadian side to make sure that they will correct mistakes and not to be engaged in any further provocation or confrontation,” Cong said.

He also recently told Bloomberg that his country will continue to do business in Canada’s domestic critical minerals sector despite Trudeau’s crackdown on foreign investment.

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This Friday, in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets to show their support for the Palestinian people in the midst of the genocide committed by the Zionist regime against them. ⠀

Yemen declared its unwavering support for the people of Gaza and condemned once again the actions of Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Sanaa also condemned the actions of the Arab countries that support the Zionist regime and protect it in a military and media way.

For its part, the Yemeni government congratulated the actions of the Houthis, against the commercial ships of Israel and the western powers.

The statement also formally congratulated the government of Iran for its stance of resistance and combativeness against Tel Aviv’s attacks against them.

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• Special envoy Li Hui’s latest mission to Europe was met with scepticism, and could be seen as ‘signalling’ to the Global South
• Beijing has yet to confirm if it will attend the June peace summit in Switzerland but continues to lobby for Moscow to take part

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared to have secured Chinese support for the Ukraine peace summit when he was in Beijing this week, though it is still not clear if Xi Jinping will attend.

China is among more than 100 nations invited to Switzerland for the conference in June to discuss how to end the war, which has dragged on for more than two years.

While China has yet to confirm its attendance, it has been pushing for Russia to take part, with special envoy Li Hui lobbying in European capitals last month.

Observers say Li’s trip achieved little, but that China – aiming to be a peace broker – has seen an opportunity to push for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, with the Swiss summit the first step. ⠀

Düben said China’s efforts in Europe could also be seen as “signalling” to the Global South that it is a responsible power.

“The most cynical interpretation might be, China just wants to be seen as a peacemaker … when the US is perceived by more people around the world as not so much of a responsible actor in the context of what’s happening in Gaza,” he said.

China has sought to expand its influence in the Global South amid an intensifying rivalry with the United States.

It also wants to be a global peacemaker, brokering a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran last year and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US is meanwhile under pressure over the military funding and support it provides to Israel. ⠀

Back in Beijing, Li said the “large gap” between the involved parties had made mediation difficult, but they had agreed that the conflict would ultimately be resolved through peace talks.

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• Superintendent Harbour Chan found guilty of two counts of fraud in relation to two mortgage applications made involving luxury house and flat
• Co-defendant former chief inspector Wong Ho-ngai found guilty of defrauding bank but not credit firm

A Hong Kong court has found a senior police officer guilty of fraudulently obtaining mortgages in excess of HK$26 million (US$3.32 million) by concealing his affiliation with the force.

Superintendent Harbour Chan Hoi-kong, 50, appeared at the District Court on Friday to hear the verdict on two counts of fraud in relation to two mortgage applications made in 2019 involving a luxury house at Seaview Villas in Tai Po and a flat at Coastal Skyline in Tung Chung.

Deputy District Judge Edward Wong Ching-yu found Chan guilty on both counts as he had provided false documents to the Bank of East Asia and OCBC Wing Hang Credit.

Chan had claimed he worked in the private sector and made between HK$115,000 and HK$246,500 a month between July and December 2019. But Chan, who joined the force in 1995, was making about HK$150,000 per month during the time of the offence.

His co-defendant, businessman and former chief inspector Wong Ho-ngai, faced the same charges. But the judge only found him guilty of the charge relating to the bank and not the credit firm.

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On Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Vietnamese Vice Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang signed five "Work Commitment Documents" in Caracas.

"We have signed a strategic alliance for the construction of a new glass industry in Venezuela," the Bolivarian leader said. ⠀

"We also signed a comprehensive work plan for Vietnam to support us in agricultural production... This year, Venezuela will reach 100 percent production of the food consumed at home. This happens for the first time in 100 years," Maduro pointed out.

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On Thursday, Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri said that his country has applied to become a "global partner" of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). ⠀

Argentina has been an "extra-NATO ally" since 1998, when then-U.S. President Bill Clinton gave the green light to Argentine President Carlos Menem, but "global partner" status is a "step up."

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Iranian state media confirmed an attack by Israel in the early hours of Friday and said the “sabotage” operation involving drones had failed.

Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran following last week’s missile and drone barrage from Tehran, according to two US officials, though media from both countries appeared to downplay the severity of the incident.

An explosion was heard early Friday in Isfahan, Iran’s third-biggest city, Fars news agency reported. Nuclear facilities located there are safe, state television and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said.

The Israeli government, which rarely comments on specific military actions linked to Iran, hasn’t confirmed the strike.

Flights were suspended in Isfahan and the Iranian cities of Tehran and Shiraz as well as airports across the country’s western borders, but those restrictions were soon eased.

The incident follows days of frantic diplomacy from the US and European nations in which they tried to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond too aggressively, if at all, to Saturday night’s Iranian attack. ⠀

Isfahan is home to around 2 million people and several military bases and facilities. It’s believed to have been one of several launch sites for Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday night.

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