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

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


Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the educational marathon “Knowledge. First” in Moscow, Russia, April 30, 2025. — Reuters

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.





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Jim Belushi shares having lively dreams about late brother John

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Jim Belushi shares having lively dreams about late brother John


Jim Belushi is opening up about a deeply personal experience that has stayed with him for decades, revealing that he still has recurring dreams about his late brother, John Belushi, more than 40 years after his death.

The actor and comedian says these dreams feel less like memories and more like meaningful reunions.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Jim, now 71, shared that several of these dreams have stood out over the years, especially those where John appears healthy, alive, and doing what they both loved most. 

“He’s alive and fine, and we were acting together,” Jim said. “We’re improvising at Second City or on Saturday Night Live.” 

In the dreams, the brothers are back on stage, fully immersed in comedy, as if time never interrupted their bond.

Jim admitted that even in his dreams, John’s humour gets the best of him. 

“I got mad at him because he was making me laugh so hard I couldn’t stay in character,” he said, recalling how those moments would play out.

“Those were kind of nice visits.” The actor’s words reflect both the joy and ache of reconnecting with a brother he lost too soon.

John Belushi, a celebrated Saturday Night Live star and performer, died on March 5, 1982, at just 33 years old. 

His death was ruled an accidental overdose caused by acute cocaine and heroin intoxication, often referred to as a “speedball.” 

More than 43 years later, Jim says the dreams still come from time to time, offering what he describes as “little visits.”

He echoed similar thoughts in a conversation with Variety, explaining, “I have dreams once in a while where he and I are acting at Second City.”

Jim went on to describe one dream in detail, saying, “We were on stage together, and he was so funny that I cracked up, eating the scene in front of everybody. I got so mad at him, because that’s the worst thing you can do, is break character, right? But he was just so funny, and he goes, ‘Ah, come on, kid!’ He was sweet to me. So, I still get little visits.”

Jim Belushi has spoken about his brother many times over the years, often reflecting on their close relationship and shared passion for comedy. 

Today, as he stars in the new film Song Sung Blue alongside Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, those dreams remain a comforting reminder that the connection he shared with John never truly faded.





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Olivia Rodrigo, Louis Partridge call it quits after two years, details revealed

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Olivia Rodrigo, Louis Partridge call it quits after two years, details revealed


Olivia Rodrigo, Louis Partridge call it quits after two years, details revealed

Olivia Rodrigo and Louis Partridge have reportedly broken up after dating for two years.

The Hope ur OK singer and the House of Guinness actor, who started seeing each other in 2023, are said to have parted ways a few weeks ago.

A source told The Sun that people close to the couple were surprised by the news.

However, the insider said it was a hard time for both of them and that they thought it was better to be apart for now.

Olivia, 22, is reportedly very emotional when talking about the break-up at Lily Allen’s Christmas party at Stringfellows in Covent Garden, London, on December 20.

Insider revealed that friends are there to support her but the source said it was still a tough and sad moment.

Olivia and Louis didn’t confirm the split just yet, as in September, Louis said he was happy being known as Olivia’s boyfriend and told Variety that everything was good between them.

Earlier in their relationship, the driver license hitmaker visited Louis in London with her friend Conan Gray.

They spent time together at dinners, clubs and events, showing fans how close they were.

Louis also said he wanted to keep their relationship private, as he told British Vogue that dating should not be done in public.

Moreover, Olivia and Louis’ last public outing together was in October at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles.





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King Charles gifts Prince Harry formal meeting with harsh treatment

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King Charles gifts Prince Harry formal meeting with harsh treatment


King Charles gifts Prince Harry formal meeting with harsh treatment

King Charles and Prince Harry finally came face to face earlier this year but despite warm smiles and exchanged gifts, insiders say the reunion felt less like a family catch up and more like a carefully choreographed diplomatic call.

The 55 minute meeting at Clarence House marked the first time father and son had spoken in person for 19 months, yet sources insist it unfolded on the King’s tightly controlled timetable. 

Harry reportedly slipped into London between the monarch’s scheduled audiences during what palace insiders privately dubbed a “faux royal” visit hardly the relaxed homecoming some had imagined.

According to OK! Magazine, Harry left feeling less like a prodigal son and more like a formal visitor. 

One insider close to the duke said he later joked that the meeting was so official he might as well have arrived with a diplomatic badge.

Harry had apparently hoped for something warmer and more personal after such a long gap.  

The duke brought a framed photograph of himself with Meghan Markle and their children, Archie and Lilibet.

The King’s grandchildren he has not seen since the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Charles, for his part, offered a birthday gift, with Harry’s 41st just days away.

Crucially, insiders stress that the conversation steered well clear of Harry’s future role, if any, within the royal setup. 

A senior figure with knowledge of the talks was blunt: there was no discussion of duties, responsibilities or hybrid arrangements. 

King Charles remains firmly aligned with the Sandringham Agreement reached in January 2020, when Queen Elizabeth ruled out Harry’s request for a part-time royal role while living overseas. That decision, insiders insist, is not being revisited.





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