"An uncontested election of Rishi Sunak today would reinforce the return of market credibility and show the Tories have rediscovered a will to win," he says. As the war in Ukraine enters its ninth month, some analysts believe the Saudis will likely remain defiant of Western pressure to align against Moscow. They say that, for the leadership in Riyadh, maintaining relatively neutrality serves Saudi interests and the kingdom is using this war – and its reaction to it – to send a message to the US that Saudi Arabia is not Washington’s vassal state. irannews.ru/ - irannews.ru These South China Sea islands are only the most daring and visible of Xi's moves to take control of the near abroad. Taiwan could be next.   That certainly seemed to be the case under Xi's predecessor, Hu Jintao - corruption was on the rise and his authority was being openly ignored and even challenged. Destroyed home in Kherson region In one school which they used as a base, their supplies, ammunition, and rubbish are scattered in all directions. These are not the traces of a disciplined force. It's evidence they'd been fighting in squalor and left in a hurry. Xi's goal, according to him, is a glorious mythical Chinese culture - tian xia or "all under heaven". A unified China that is home to a unified people. "The Chinese patriot is somebody who loves China, the Communist Party and its leader," Prof Tsang says. "And by Chinese he means Han culture." In the first year of Covid, Prof Yang says, the lockdowns made sense. They were brief and allowed life in China to carry on. There was even pride at how the country was handling the pandemic so much better than the West. "That's no longer the case," he says.