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In an article published on Monday, shortly after the 15-year-old figure skating European champion was allowed to continue competing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the People’s Daily quoted Russian commentator Igor Korotchenko as suspecting an anti-Russia plot by the United States and its NATO allies. Korotchenko, who is editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine National Defense, said Valieva’s case could be the result of “hybrid warfare” by Western spies. The newspaper, which is owned by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, voiced its own suspicions about the timing of Valieva’s case, which emerged last week after she tested positive for a banned substance in a sample collected on December 25....

China’s ambassador to Vanuatu was exceptionally busy in December as the tiny Pacific Island nation signed a security deal with America’s key ally Australia. Starting on December 13, when Vanuatu and Australia sealed the agreement, Ambassador Li Minggang hosted three events over three days in Vanuatu - including at the massive Chinese embassy in the capital Port Vila. Li was at pains to highlight China’s extensive involvement in the region with aid and infrastructure and its 40 years of diplomatic ties to a country where the U....

Time and date systems are central components for modern civilization. Many of us are familiar with the Gregorian calendar, which is the most widely accepted civil calendar in the world. It is a solar calendar based on a 365-day year, and makes a distinction between BC and AD, with the birth of Jesus Christ. Timekeeping gets more complicated than that, though, when we need to keep seconds extremely accurately....

The comments were posted on Twitter by Hu Xijin, the top editor of the Global Times, an English-language daily newspaper that operates under the authority of the Chinese Communist Party. Friday June 4 marks the 32nd anniversary of when the Chinese government declared martial law against protesters in Tiananmen Square and sent the People’s Liberation Army to occupy parts of Beijing. Hu also wrote of the events from 1989: “Many people today may not fully understand this incident....

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the Washington-based CIUS, which facilitates Chinese language and cultural courses in American universities and schools through the Confucius Institute (CI) programs, as an “entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign.” The order means its staff will have to register and follow similar kinds of restrictions faced by diplomatic missions in what is likely to increase tensions between the U.S. China and spark a response from Beijing....

Ambassador Cui Tiankai told Axios on HBO that his position had not changed since he told CBS News’ Face the Nation on February 9 that it was “crazy” to claim the new coronavirus was manufactured by the U.S. military. He also said it was not for diplomats or journalists to “speculate” about the origin of the disease, adding that it was “a job for the scientists to do.” Ambassador Tiankai’s remarks, broadcast Sunday, represented a break with China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who asserted the unfounded theory that the U....

October was the busiest month by far, with Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reporting 196 sorties by People’s Liberation Army aircraft flying into its air defense identification zone. An ADIZ extends beyond a nation’s territorial airspace and is used for logging approaching civilian and military aircraft, but it is not regulated under international law. The PLA’s frequent training missions are mostly concentrated within a band of international airspace about 100 to 150 miles southwest of the island, but the message they send is clear....

The Pacific Island nation only established formal diplomatic relations with China in 2019. The decision has been the subject of scrutiny at home and abroad. Last November, anti-government riots across Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, caused extensive damage to businesses including in the local Chinatown. The event is now among Beijing’s justifications for seeking the pact, which covers policing. The manner in which the agreement came about was a cause for alarm....

People’s Daily—the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party—sent the tweet as the city ended its lockdown that began on January 23. COVID-19 has since spread worldwide, infecting more than 1.4 million people and killing more than 82,000. To date, some 275,000 people have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University. People’s Daily came under fire for its tweet, which declared: “Have a taste of Wuhan! Let these mouth-watering specialties in Wuhan satisfy your stomach....

Pena arrived on a year-long loan from Rangers at the same time as Caixinha arrived in Mexico City. The 47-year-old coach had signed the former Leon and Chivas midfielder to a deal at Rangers in the summer of 2017 before an unsuccessful spell there ended in the manager’s dismissal after just seven months. Caixinha brought Pena in on loan to Cruz Azul, but the 28-year-old started only twice and saw time in eight matches over the 17-match season....

These shortages have been exacerbated by the recent early release of thousands of inmates due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many of whom have been trained under the state’s Conservation Camp Program, which helps government agencies respond to emergencies such as fires and other disasters. “All inmates receive the same entry-level training that Cal Fire’s seasonal firefighters receive in addition to ongoing training from Cal Fire throughout the time they are in the program,” according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)....

Cal and Hawaii will open the college football season a week earlier than normal: Friday, August 26. More information about the game, including kickoff time, location and TV schedule, can be found below. MORE: Pac 12 predictions | 21 questions for 2016 Where is the Cal-Hawaii game? Cal and Hawaii will play at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. It’s the first American football game in Sydney and the first in Australia since 1987....

The shallow earthquake hit Weitchpec, to the northeast of Eureka, at 12:01 a.m. on January 20, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It wasn’t the only earthquake to rumble the area recently. A magnitude 3.6 temblor hit the same area on January 19, while several smaller earthquakes have also swept throughout the rest of the state. A 2.9 magnitude one hit Portola Valley at 11:09 p.m. on January 19, while New Idria saw a 3....

“The historical truth is that Serra repeatedly pressed Spanish authorities for better treatment of the Native American communities,” read a statement issued by the California Catholic Conference of Bishops. Serra was an 18th century Franciscan friar who founded the first nine missions in California during the era of Spanish colonization. “He made great sacrifices to defend and serve the indigenous population,” read the statement. “If that is not enough to legitimize a public statue in the state that he did so much to create, then virtually every historical figure from our nation’s past will have to be removed for their failings measured in the light of today’s standards....

Each pastor preceded the Sunday services by saying he could be fined $1,000 by local officials for proceeding with plans to hold worship events inside, and one pastor said congregants could also be fined for attending. “The first 1,000 people could feasibly tomorrow receive a citation,” Pastor Rob McCoy with Godspeed Calvary Church in Newbury Park, California, said in a video message shared with the public on August 8. McCoy encouraged patrons to weigh the risks and rewards of attending and said he’d received calls from many people who told him they “couldn’t wait” to be fined....

Los Angeles County has reported over 14,000 new cases of the virus in the last two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The number of new cases is far higher than the state’s mandate of no more than 25 per 100,000 residents. However, the county was able join the majority of California in phase two of the state’s reopening plan due to meeting other thresholds, including a testing positivity rate of no more than 8 percent....

The Zogg Fire, which also broke Sunday, has burned 7,000 acres and evacuation orders have been issued for multiple parts of Shasta County, according to the latest report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). A Red Flag Warning is in effect through Monday for much of northern California, with “gusty winds and low humidity creating critical fire weather conditions,” Cal Fire noted. “A Fire Weather Watch is in effect Monday across the Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego Mountains, Santa Clarita Valley and San Diego Valley due to gusty Santa Ana winds and low humidity....

The two most recent blazes, the Blue Ridge and Silverado fires in Orange County, have together burned at least 27,724 acres so far, according to Cal Fire. Red Flag Warnings have expired across the state but “with no significant rainfall in sight, California remains dry and ripe for wildfires,” Cal Fire warned Wednesday. There are 18 large active fires burning across California, which have collectively burned over 2.2 million acres, according to the latest report Wednesday by the National Interagency Fire Center....

Gov. Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) have released stringent new regulations in an attempt to curb growing cases amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Gatherings are defined as social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space or place. When people from different households mix, this increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19,” the CDPH said in a statement....