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“It is exactly due to the continuous flow of economic and military aid from the US and NATO that has prolonged the military conflict, cheering Ukraine up to fight a 10-year war. But it is in the end an illusion,” the op-ed said. “How long will the conflict last; how many missiles can Ukraine make use of; and how much ability does the country have to keep fighting Russia - depending on how many more weapons the US and NATO are willing to supply to Ukraine....

China has worked since 2009 to promote grassroots football and crush illegal gambling syndicates but admitted last year its efforts were still lagging. The latest plan, released by the powerful planning body the National Development and Reform Commission and reported by the official People’s Daily, splits China’s soccer ambitions into three phases. The first phase aims to get 30 million school children regularly playing football by 2020 and by 2030 China hopes its men’s national team will be one of Asia’s top sides....

The Biden administration announced plans on Monday to not send diplomats to the Olympics next year due to human rights concerns, the Ap reported. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a conference that U.S. athletes will still be able to attend, but that they hold a “fundamental commitment to promoting human rights” and thus will not send representatives. This move comes as the two countries are attempting to work together to curb climate change....

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Monday that the two sides had reached a deal on the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA), which will allow the two nations to share satellite and sensor data, helping India better select military targets. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper are in India this week for the talks. New Delhi and Washington have been looking for ways to enhance military and diplomatic ties in recent years, spurred on by concerns in both capitals about China’s growing strength....

The map was released via the state-run Xinhua News Agency, showing six zones boxed out in red miles off the coast of Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory. The exercises would reportedly begin on August 4 at midnight local time. The news came a day after China’s Maritime Safety Administration announced a stretch of the South China Sea, which lies to Taiwan’s southwest, would be blocked for military drills between August 2 and 6....

The Chinese Foreign Ministry published a report Wednesday outlining “three dangerous trends” regarding the Taiwan issue as cited by Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his recent contacts with counterparts in Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea. “The first is to be alert to the fact that the United States is unwilling to fail,” Wang said, “and has gathered some partners to add fuel to the fire, increase regional military deployment, promote the further escalation of the situation, and attempt to create new and greater crises....

Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, has been a cause for international concern since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Moscow’s forces approached the site a few days later, sparking a standoff with Ukrainian resistance—and fears the facility could be critically damaged,. In early March, Russian forces captured the sprawling plant, which has retained a workforce of Ukrainian engineers who have kept it running. However, both Russia and Ukraine have accused the other of firing at the facility, with shelling intensifying last week....

“Simultaneously revoking press credentials of three correspondents is an unprecedented form of retaliation against foreign journalists in China,” the FCCC said in a statement. China revoked the press credentials of U.S. nationals Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin and reporter Chao Deng and Australian national Philip Wen, ordering them to leave the country in five days, according to the WSJ. On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the expulsion was due to the WSJ’s “racially discriminatory language” and “malicious” slandering China....

China is the only major economy in the world still trying to stamp out outbreaks. The approach, known as “dynamic zero COVID,” has kept deaths from the virus at a minimum, but it has also throttled the economy, leading to a decline in exports and a rise in youth unemployment. On Monday night, footage circulated on social media showed angry residents in Guangzhou charging barricades and kicking down fences after a weekslong lockdown, termed “static management,” was extended due to surging case numbers....

During his campaign, Biden reiterated his intention to work with Beijing on matters of common interest, such as addressing global warming and the proliferation of nuclear arms, while at the same time confronting its “abusive behavior” in other realms. The pledge was emphasized as recently as Monday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that there were still “cooperative” aspects of the U.S.-China relationship. A few days earlier, however, the Chinese government had already indicated that it would not cooperate on climate without Washington’s willingness to first accept Beijing’s own conditions....

The military operation coincided with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group’s (CSG) presence north of the Philippines, and came in the hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed Washington’s “serious commitment” to Taiwan and its self-defense. Beijing’s use of its People’s Liberation Army to intimidate democratic Taiwan became a matter of public record last September when the island’s defense ministry began logging aircraft intrusions into its self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ)....

“We just feel like it’s time to retire Warpaint,” Donovan said during a Monday press conference. “There’s a lot of reasons for that and we just feel like it’s the right thing to do. Warpaint will not be running at Arrowhead anymore, and we will continue the conversations, we’ll continue to take the path that we’ve taken.” Donovan noted several changes to Arrowhead Stadium ahead of the Chiefs’ 2021-2022 season, which begins next month....

The U.S. Navy said over the weekend that two of its carriers, the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, were conducting exercises in the South China Sea. Alongside a video, the U.S. Navy tweeted that the “Nimitz Carrier Strike Force celebrated #IndependenceDay with unmatched sea power while deployed to the South China Sea conducting dual carrier operations and exercises in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.” On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily press briefing that the American military operations were conducted “totally out of ulterior motives,” The Associated Press reported, and undermined stability....

At a press briefing on Wednesday, China’s state news service Xinhua asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian about remarks by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who said Russia’s demand that the alliance not expand its membership was a “non-starter.” Speaking on January 10, after unsuccessful NATO-Russia Council talks in Geneva, Sherman said: “We will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open-door policy.” In Beijing, Zhao spoke disparagingly of the alliance as a “Cold War remnant....

The coronavirus pandemic increased tensions between the U.S. and China as the two countries sparred over who was to blame for the large-scale outbreak. On Sunday, Navarro argued in an op-ed that China “exploited” the pandemic to advance its own agenda and a pro-authoritarian government narrative. “Based on this behavior—including China’s attempt to snuff out democracy in Hong Kong—let’s consider whether COVID-19 might better stand for China On to Victory In Death by 19 ways,” Navarro wrote....

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said that the South Asian governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were invited to the call. “The meeting is open to all South Asian countries, including India,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, AP reported. “We welcome India and all regional countries to take an active part in the meeting.” A violent altercation last June between Chinese and Indian soldiers that resulted in multiple deaths in the Karakoram mountains is the cause of a current standoff between China and India at their borders....

Richard Marles, who is also deputy prime minister in the recently elected Labor government, warned that an arms race in the region could be caused by feelings of “insecurity” prompted by China’s actions. “China’s military buildup is now the largest and most ambitious we have seen by any country since the end of the second world war,” Marles said. “So it is critical that China’s neighbors do not see this buildup as a risk to them....

The Chinese government vessels joined two other China Coast Guard ships that had entered and remained in the contiguous zone adjacent to the waters of the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands on Monday, said Japan Times. The energy-rich Senkakus in the East China Sea are uninhabited but also claimed by the governments of China and Taiwan, which refer to them as the Diaoyu and Diaoyutai Islands, respectively. Nobuo Kishi, Japan’s defense minister, told reporters Tuesday that a fishing vessel operating off one of the islets, Taisho, was “pursued” by the pair of intruding ships, which were warned off by Japan Coast Guard patrol ships....