The bloc chief intends to discuss “current imbalances” with Xi Jinping

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intends to talk to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping about policies that she claims pose a threat of de-industrialization in the bloc.

The Chinese leader arrived in France on Sunday as part of a six-day, three-country trip to Europe, his first since 2019. The head of the EU executive branch said she would discuss “current imbalances” in Chinese trade during talks with Xi on Monday.

”China is currently manufacturing, with massive subsidies, more than it is selling due to its own weak domestic demand. This is leading to an oversupply of Chinese subsidized goods, such as EVs (electric vehicles) and steel, that is leading to unfair trade,” she claimed.

”Europe cannot accept such market-distorting practices that could lead to de-industrialization in Europe,” von der Leyen added.

Read more Loss of Russian gas speeding Germany’s deindustrialization – media

In the last several weeks, EU authorities have launched investigations into alleged unfair Chinese practices, including restrictions on the supply of European medical devices to the Asian nation’s market and subsidies for Chinese firms producing wind turbines, electric vehicles, and trains.

Meanwhile, China has opened an anti-dumping probe into brandy imported from the EU, which particularly affects French exporters. The mutual investigations are perceived as a mounting tit-for-tat stand-off over protectionism. Von der Leyen has pushed for “de-risking” trade with China, but has not gone as far as to advocate decoupling from the economic powerhouse.

EU members have largely decoupled their economies from Russia in an attempt to penalize Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. The loss of access to cheap Russian natural gas has hit energy-intensive industries in Western Europe, forcing businesses to move manufacturing to other locations. The US was among their primary destinations, as the government offered subsidies to certain producers under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

READ MORE: Blinken threatens China over Russia ties (VIDEO)

In an op-ed published in the French press ahead of his visit, Xi said Beijing was committed to reaching “new vistas” in its relationship with the country. He wrote: “France is advancing re-industrialization based on green innovation, whereas China is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces.”

After France, the Chinese president is scheduled to visit EU member Hungary and Russia-friendly non-member Serbia.

The upcoming event will promote a “Russophobic peace formula” proposed by Kiev, Moscow has said

The upcoming Swiss-hosted peace conference on Moscow’s conflict with Kiev is a “parody of negotiations” in which Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will be promoted, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated.

In an interview with Bosnian broadcaster ATV released on Sunday, he claimed that Bern is “lying” about its willingness to invite Russia to the upcoming summit scheduled for June 15 at the Burgenstock Resort near Lucerne.

“When our Swiss colleagues declare their desire to invite Russia to the first conference, they are lying,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow will not participate in any events that promote Zelensky’s “peace formula.”

He added that Russia is “seriously” open to negotiations; however, they must be based on the current “realities.”

Zelensky’s roadmap to resolve the crisis, which he has been promoting since 2022, calls for a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from all territories Ukraine considers its own, for Moscow to pay reparations, and for a war crimes tribunal. Russia has rejected the proposals as “unrealistic” and a sign of Kiev’s unwillingness to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Read more Date for Swiss-proposed Ukraine peace talks revealed

The West will “play a parody of negotiations” at the Swiss-proposed summit, Lavrov said, adding that Russia “has no one to talk to” about the settlement of the Ukraine conflict because no one is ready for a “serious” dialogue among US and EU leadership.

He added that the ‘peace plan’ on which the summit will be centered contains “an openly illusory and Russophobic essence.”

Moscow has not ruled out engagement with Kiev, but has signaled that it has no intention of attending the Swiss event even if offered an invitation.

The delegations invited to the summit include members of the G7, G20, BRICS, the EU, international organizations, and two religious representatives, according to Switzerland.

Although Bern is “convinced” that a peace process without Russia is “unthinkable,” Moscow has not been invited “at this stage,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry announced last week.

In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the planned conference, saying Moscow is ready for a diplomatic solution but that holding negotiations without it is “nonsense.”

Russia has said it is willing to resolve the Ukraine conflict peacefully but will not accept a deal that ignores its national interests.

Dozens of participants joined the event in Benin, four days after a similar procession in DR Congo

An ‘Immortal Regiment’ march has been held in Cotonou, Benin, to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the Russian Embassy reported on Sunday.

According to a Telegram post, 70 people attended the procession in the West African country’s largest city, including Russians and Beninese graduates of Soviet and Russian high schools. Cuban Ambassador Ricardo Garcia Napoles and his wife were also present.

In a speech to mark the upcoming Victory Day, Russian Ambassador Igor Evdokimov emphasized the importance of preserving the truth about WWII “in the context of attempts by the ‘collective West’ to diminish the role of the Soviet people in the victory over fascism.”

During the event, embassy staff and fellow Russians residing in Benin and Togo held more than a dozen performances. Participants were also shown photo exhibitions titled ‘Ukrainian Crimes against Humanity (2022-2023)’ and ‘The Siege of Leningrad’, as well as the documentary film ‘Encounter at the Elbe’, the embassy reported.

Read more ‘Immortal Regiment’ marches in African state (PHOTOS)

An ‘Immortal Regiment’ procession was organized in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for the fourth time on May 1. Dozens of people carried photos of family members who had participated in WWII, while a six-meter Russian flag was displayed at the front of the column.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ is a large-scale civic event held in cities across Russia and other nations. Participants carry photos of their relatives who fought in WWII as an expression of gratitude to the Red Army for its decisive role in the defeat of the Axis powers.

The concept of the ‘Immortal Regiment’ started in the Russian city of Tomsk in 2012, and has since gained popularity nationally and further afield.

Facts get lost and emotions dominate on the internet, the US Secretary of State has said

Social media is partially responsible for the widespread international criticism of Israel’s conduct during its military campaign in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested.

The top American diplomat made the comment during an exchange with Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) at the McCain Institute’s 2024 Sedona Forum in Sedona, Arizona on Friday.

Romney asked Blinken why “the PR [has] been so awful” for Israel amid the conflict in Gaza. “Why has [Palestinian armed group] Hamas disappeared in terms of public perception? An offer is on the table to have a ceasefire, and yet the world is screaming about Israel,” he said. “Typically, the Israelis are good at PR. What’s happened here?” Romney said.

The Secretary of State recalled that when he started working in Washington in the early 1990s “everyone did the same thing,” which was reading newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, and watching national news networks to get information about world events.

But now, in the 2020s, “we are on an intravenous feed of information with new impulses, inputs every millisecond” and social media “has dominated the narrative,” he said.

Read more US froze military aid shipment to Israel – Axios

"And you have a social media ecosystem environment in which context, history, facts get lost, and the emotion, the impact of images dominates. And we can’t – we can’t discount that, but I think it also has a very, very, very challenging effect on the narrative,” Blinken suggested.

However, he also stressed that another reason for Israel’s bad PR was the “the inescapable reality of people who have and continue to suffer grievously in Gaza. And that’s real and we have to… be focused on that and attentive to that.”

Israel has faced harsh criticism from the international community due to the high number of civilian casualties during its attacks in the enclave over the past seven months. In March, UN experts ruled that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that “genocide” was being committed in the Palestinian enclave.

In recent weeks, colleges across the US have been gripped by pro-Palestinian protests, which have been marred by clashes with police and resulted in several thousand people being detained.

READ MORE: Pro-Palestine protesters disrupt college commencement ceremony (VIDEOS)

Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in response to a October 7 cross-border incursion by Hamas, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. According to the enclave’s health ministry, more than 34,683 Palestinians have so far been killed and 78,018 others wounded in the IDF’s airstrikes and ground offensive.

An exercise to check the military’s ability to use smaller-range systems was announced by the Defense Ministry on Monday

Russia will test its ability to deploy tactical nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

The French leader may be scaremongering in order to gain a leading role in the EU, Moscow has said

French President Emmanuel Macron may be using Russophobia to satisfy his ambition of leading the EU, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed.

Speaking to the Bosnian Serb Alternativna TV on Sunday, Lavrov noted the French leader’s recent interview with The Economist in which he called Moscow the main threat to EU security, adding that Macron has adopted an “ardent” anti-Russian stance.

“According to the French leader, the ambitions of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon were driven by the fact that these countries saw Russia as a threat,” Lavrov claimed.

“I know how the power system is set up in France and how the French tend to see their role in Europe. I do not rule out that this ‘caveman’ Russophobia that Macron is currently ‘breathing’ might be necessary in order to try and become the leader in Europe, by riding this topic,” the foreign minister explained.

Read more Macron calls for EU nuclear force

In recent months, Macron has made several statements that Moscow criticized as “dangerous talk,” accusing the French leader of “verbal escalation.” In the interview with The Economist, he outlined his “strategic objective” of preventing Russia from prevailing in the conflict with Ukraine, saying French troops could be deployed “If the Russians were to break through the front lines.”

He also called for a debate on building a pan-European defense capability, including anti-missile shields and long-range weapons “that would deter the Russians,” arguing that the EU should rethink its nuclear capability.

Moscow has maintained that it has no plans or interest in targeting any European nations, saying that some leaders resort to fearmongering to distract people from domestic problems.

READ MORE: Kremlin accuses Macron and Cameron of dangerous talk

Kamikaze UAVs hit several vehicles carrying civilians, Vyacheslav Gladkov has said

A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod Region has killed six people and injured dozens of others, including children, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

The Ukrainian leader previously claimed that God was Kiev’s “ally” in the fight against Russia

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has no right to enlist God in his fight against Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church has said, rebuking a statement Zelensky made during his Easter Sunday speech.

In a video address, Zelensky described God as “an ally” of Ukraine who “has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder.”

“The Lord is not a resident of the Kiev region for Zelensky to mobilize him and put him in the Ukrainian army. His statements don’t merit any attention,” Vakhtang Kipshidze, the head of the Russian church’s public relations department, told news outlet news.ru.

Kipshidze further blasted the Ukrainian leader as “a non-believer” who “claims that he can decide for God whose ally he is.”

Read more Ukrainians are God’s chosen people – Zelensky

Kiev has stepped up the crackdown on its largest Christian church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), accusing its clergy of being “agents of Moscow.” The UOC renounced its historical ties with Moscow after Russia launched its military operation in the neighboring state in February 2022. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian authorities have since launched criminal cases against more than 60 priests and seized a number of monasteries and other assets in favor of the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

Last year, the Ukrainian government introduced a bill that would pave a way for an eventual ban of the UOC. The legislation, however, has since been stalled.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has repeatedly condemned the campaign against the UOC, denouncing it as a violation of religious rights.

The move came in response to a rocket barrage that killed three IDF soldiers

Israel has closed the main border crossing used to deliver humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas rocket attack on its troops.

According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian militants fired more than 10 rockets at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stationed near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday, killing three soldiers and wounding 11. The route was first reopened in December due to the pressure from the UN and Israel’s primary ally Washington.

The IDF said the barrage came from an area close to a civilian shelter near the Rafah crossing with Egypt. The attack was “another clear example” of Hamas using humanitarian sites and civilians as human shields, the Israeli army said.

Read more US froze military aid shipment to Israel – Axios

The attack coincided with the negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, which ended without a breakthrough. NBC News reported that CIA Director William Burns, who was mediating the talks in the Egyptian capital, will travel to Israel this week to hold further discussions.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has reiterated that the IDF would conduct “a power operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza.” Israeli officials are insisting that the army must eliminate Hamas fighters operating out of Rafah, despite the city being overcrowded with refugees from the parts of Gaza that were previously subject to the IDF’s evacuation notices.

“It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), warned earlier this week.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israel-Hamas war that will enter its seventh month on Tuesday. The fighting broke out on October 7 when the Palestinian militants carried out a surprise raid into Israeli territory, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.