Entertainment
Putin to join President Xi and world leaders at SCO meeting in China

TIANJIN: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to arrive in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday, where he will join President Xi Jinping and around 20 other world leaders for a major regional summit.
The gathering, organised under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), will run until Monday and comes just days before a huge military parade in Beijing marking 80 years since the end of World War II.
The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.
China and Russia have sometimes touted the SCO as an alternative to the NATO military alliance.
In an interview published on China’s Xinhua news agency on Saturday, Putin said the upcoming summit will “strengthen the SCO’s capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats, and consolidate solidarity across the shared Eurasian space”.
“All this will help shape a fairer multipolar world order,” Putin said, Xinhua reported.
As China’s claim over Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen them clash with the United States and Europe, experts say Beijing and Moscow are eager to use platforms like the SCO to curry influence.
“China has long sought to present the SCO as a non-Western-led power bloc that promotes a new type of international relations, which, it claims, is more democratic,” said Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
“In short, it offers a Chinese-inflected multilateral order that is distinct from the western-dominated ones in international politics,” Loh told AFP.
More than 20 leaders including Iranian and Turkish presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.
“The large-scale participation indicates China’s growing influence and the SCO’s appeal as a platform for non-Western countries,” Loh added.
Beijing, through the SCO, will try to “project influence and signal that Eurasia has its own institutions and rules of the game”, said Lizzi Lee from the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“It is framed as something different, built around sovereignty, non-interference, and multipolarity, which the Chinese tout as a model,” Lee told AFP.
Talks on the sidelines
Chinese President Xi met leaders including Egyptian Premier Moustafa Madbouly and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Tianjin on Saturday.
Other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit will be organised.
Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Turkey’s Erdogan and Iran’s Pezeshkian about the Ukraine conflict and Tehran’s nuclear programme respectively.
Putin needs “all the benefits of SCO as a player on the world stage and also the support of the second largest economy in the world”, said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan’s Soka University.
“Russia is also keen to win over India, and India’s trade frictions with the United States present this opportunity,” Lim told AFP.
The summit comes days after India was hit by a sharp bump up in US tariffs on its goods as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tianjin on Saturday evening after a trip to Japan, marking the start of his first visit to China since 2018.
The two most populous nations are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia and fought a deadly border clash in 2020.
A thaw began last October when Modi met with Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.
Modi was not on a list of attendees for the Beijing parade published by Chinese state media on Thursday that included Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Entertainment
Prince William to ‘follow King’s playbook’ on Harry, Meghan titles?

Prince William is reportedly planning to strip down brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle’s royal titles by using Prince Andrew’s blue print as he recently dropped his royal privileges amid alleged association to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
As per a report by Radaronline, during the royal family’s summer stay at Balmoralthe, the future king is said to have talked about the move with King Charles following Andrew’s statement about relinquishing his titles and honors.
A royal insider said, “From the outside, Balmoral seemed like the usual royal getaway – strolls, barbecues, and cozy family meals. But privately, major talks were going on. William’s convinced the monarchy can’t evolve while Harry and Meghan still hold titles.”
“What happened with Andrew showed him it’s time for a definitive break. The King’s decision basically handed him the playbook.”
It is pertinent to mention that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from royal duties back in 2020 but the pair kept their royal titles and continued to use them.
To William it is now “safeguarding the monarchy’s future.”
A second source said, William “really respects how his father handled Andrew – it was tough but the right call, and it showed that no one, regardless of status, is above the Crown. He feels the same principle should apply to Harry and Meghan. This isn’t about revenge – it’s about preservation.”
Entertainment
Prince Harry warned media after ‘crossing a line’ over Meghan Markle

Prince Harry developed real paranoia after Meghan Markle debut for Invictus Games.
The Duke of Sussex got worried about his future with the ‘Suits’ star and called out the media after comments were made on her racial background.
Speaking about Harry’s state of worry, Royal expert Phil Dampier notes: “We were completely and utterly shocked by that. I just couldn’t believe it when he did that.”
He continued: “Looking back I think there were one or two remarks in a couple of columns that made some rather unpleasant remarks about her background.
“But generally speaking, 99 per cent of the coverage was overwhelmingly positive and welcoming.”
Dampier added: “She seemed like a breath of fresh air.
“I just couldn’t believe it when he started complaining to the press that she was being mistreated because, generally speaking, I don’t think she was.”
Mr Dampier summarised by saying: “We know from Spare and everything that has happened subsequently that obviously he bottled up a lot of angst and bitterness.
“But William had to go through the same and he has managed to cope with it.
“It’s obviously really affected him but I just wish he didn’t blame everyone else for it. It wasn’t the press, it wasn’t the public, they all wanted it to succeed,” he noted.
Entertainment
Jessica Simpson admits she ‘never planned’ to be single again

Jessica Simpson candidly spoke about the ups and downs of life, including its unpredictability and the uncertainty of future events.
The 45-year-old singer and actress opened up about becoming a single mother in her 40s revealing how she is moving forward with this tough patch in life.
“I feel like we get caught up in numbers,” Jessica told People. “Like, ‘Oh, at 45, would I think that I would be single again as a mom of three?’ Absolutely not. That was not how I planned it. But it’s just a part of what destiny holds for me.”
The Nashville Canyon artist announced her separation from her husband of 10 years this year, with whom she shares three children: Maxwell Drew, 13, Ace Knute, 12, and Birdie Mae, 6.
On one side she went through separation from her husband and becoming a single mother but she also channeled her energy into creativity and released her first music project in 15 years, earlier this year.
“This time in my life, I was meant to be independent in my self-discovery without anybody else’s critiques, judgments or opinions,” she continued.
Moreover, she recently launched her new fragrance, Mystic Canyon.
“It was really about coming home to myself, being proud of that person, coming from a place of being just very honest and very vulnerable, and putting that into melodic form, but also using it in the brand. It has been really empowering,” Jessica added.
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