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.
Mumford & Sons served as the musical guest in the latest episode of Saturday Night Live on February 28, and they brought out a surprise guest along.
The folk-rock band based on Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane, took the stage to perform songs from their latest album, Prizefighter, and sang Rubber Band Man featuring Hozier.
Their performance also featured a cameo from The National’s Aaron Dessner which doubled the excitement for fans.
Videos of the performance taken from Studio 8H went viral all over social media, as fans expressed their delight at Mumford & Sons’ comeback, and the surprise guests.
The song Rubber Band Man is a collaboration between the Someone New hitmaker, and the band.
Prizefighter, which marked the second album since the band’s return after seven years, features many collaborations as the band described their project a collaborative effort between friends.
They co-produced and co-wrote the album with Dessner, and worked with Gracie Abrams and Chris Stapleton on tracks from the project.
The special SNL episode where Mumford & Sons performed, was hosted by Heated Rivalry star Connor Storie.
Kitty Song Covey is entering her senior year – and apparently, she still hasn’t discovered the concept of “chill.”
Anna Cathcart is back as everyone’s favourite chaos queen in season 3 of XO, Kitty, premiering on Netflix this spring. And according to the 22-year-old star, Kitty may want to consider a yoga class. Or three.
“She just needs to calm down a little bit,” Anna told People magazine. “I feel like Kitty has the most chaos [sic] of anyone I know, and that’s what we love about her.”
“But also, girl, you need to sit down sometimes,” she continued. “Take a deep breath, it’s okay. She kind of always has been [that way], but in a controlled way, I guess. She handles it well.”
Season 3 picks up after that cliffhanger (you know the one), and for the first time, fans will see a summer episode – yes, summer at KISS is officially unlocked.
“I’m finally allowed to talk about that because it’s been a secret forever,” Anna shared. “So very excited and I think they’re going to be surprised, but also super happy. So I can’t wait.”
And it’s not just poolside vibes. “[Kitty’s] making some big decisions in her life and it’s senior year, all of that, so I’m very excited for them to see,” she added.
Translation? Expect romance, identity spirals, possibly tears – and definitely Kitty-level impulsive decision-making.
Holly Willoughby is preparing to make her TV comeback with her won Youtube channel, following reports of her solo project.
Since leaving This Morning, she briefly hosted ITV’s You Bet! and Netflix’s reality show Celebrity Bear Hunt.
It has now been reported that the 44-year-old is following other stars who have their own channels, including Ant and Dec, chef Gordon Ramsay and rapper KSI.
By comparison, Gordon Ramsay leads with 21.9 million Youtube subscribers, followed by KSI at 17.3 million.
A source close to Ms Willoughby previously told Daily Mail:
‘She is working with her husband Dan Baldwin’s production company Hungry Bear to develop a ‘multi-strand programme for digital platforms’ in a move she is said to be ‘thrilled and excited’ about.
She also has a production company on hand, Hungry Bear, which creates Gladiators and Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and is run by her husband Dan Baldwin.
A TV insider said: ‘This is a massive game-changer for Holly and the wider industry because this show and her channel will be a threat to the main broadcasters, particularly This Morning and ITV.
‘Advertisers are increasingly turning away from traditional terrestrial telly and looking for new opportunities and new ways to promote themselves online — and with a magazine show like this it’s the perfect vehicle.
‘And if any of the big-name retailers could cherry-pick a presenter who’s an ideal figure to front it, then it is surely Holly.’
Ms Willoughby has largely been off our screens since she left This Morning in October 2023, after she was told a former security guard had planned to kidnap, rape and murder her.
T20 World Cup 2026: India win toss, opt to bowl against West Indies
Mumford & Sons shock fans with surprise guest on ‘SNL’ performance
This Backyard Smoker Delivers Results Even a Pitmaster Would Approve Of
-
Business1 week agoUS Top Court Blocks Trump’s Tariff Orders: Does It Mean Zero Duties For Indian Goods?
-
Fashion1 week agoICE cotton ticks higher on crude oil rally
-
Entertainment1 week agoThe White Lotus” creator Mike White reflects on his time on “Survivor
-
Politics1 week agoPakistan carries out precision strikes on seven militant hideouts in Afghanistan
-
Business1 week agoEye-popping rise in one year: Betting on just gold and silver for long-term wealth creation? Think again! – The Times of India
-
Sports1 week agoBrett Favre blasts NFL for no longer appealing to ‘true’ fans: ‘There’s been a slight shift’
-
Entertainment1 week agoViral monkey Punch makes IKEA toy global sensation: Here’s what it costs
-
Sports1 week agoKansas’ Darryn Peterson misses most of 2nd half with cramping