'How to responsibly manage competition'
| 'How to responsibly manage competition'  Never in the modern histories of the United States and China has antagonism been so high ahead of a major leaders' summit.
President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping will meet virtually on Monday after a tumultuous start to the Biden administration's turn to manage relations with Beijing. After years insisting the US is not trying to contain China, no one in Washington is pretending anymore.
While Beijing would prefer that Washington mind its own business, the list of US complaints is long and growing. Most alarming is China's intense pressure on the self-governing island of Taiwan amid a gathering debate in Washington about what to do in case of an invasion and deep concern about China's build-up of conventional and nuclear weapons. Biden's administration also accuses Xi's government of overplaying its hand in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province, and eviscerating democracy in Hong Kong. It's also frustrated that China has not done more to explain the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan.
The two leaders come into the talks -- taking place online because Xi hasn't left China since the pandemic erupted -- in contrasting political positions.
Xi has moved aggressively to cement his own power, and is expected to secure an almost unprecedented third five-year term next year after the Communist Party elevated him to the same symbolic stature as former leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Biden, who unlike Xi has to deal with the complications of democracy, is struggling to stabilize a presidency hammered by the aftermath of the pandemic and a perfect storm of rising inflation and gas prices that dented his approval ratings, though he has made strides in reinvigorating US alliances with an eye on China. Economic concerns weigh on both.
Given the vast gulf between the sides, and the political imperative for both leaders to stand firm against the other right now, it's unlikely that tangible steps to ease tensions will emerge from the talks. But an understanding not to let tensions get even worse would be a start.  'An opportunity for the two leaders to discuss how to responsibly manage competition' US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday rang up his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in preparation for their bosses' freighted summit. "The meeting presents an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss how to responsibly manage competition between the United States and the (People's Republic of China) while working together in areas where interests align," a readout of the call released by the US State Department readout said. The world and America Police arrested three men after a lethal explosion outside a Liverpool hospital.
Meanwhile in America, Oklahoma's National Guard defied the Pentagon's vaccine mandate.
 An impressive victory by Ireland's rugby team over the feared New Zealand All Blacks in a rocking Dublin on Saturday impressed a very famous fan.
President Joe Biden, who wears his Irish descent on his sleeve, placed a video call to the victorious team after their 29-20 triumph. The President appeared alongside his sister Valerie Owens and brother Jim Biden in a video of the call tweeted by the JJ Bowles Pub in Limerick.
"We're really proud of you guys," Biden told the team.
The Irish team can be heard chanting "USA," over the phone during the call, with one player shouting, "Bring us to the White House!" "By the way, I can probably work that out," said Biden, who habitually welcomes championship winning teams from US major league sports to receptions at the presidential mansion.
Don't be surprised if you see the Irish scrumming down on the White House south lawn soon. (Video via Twitter/@jjbowlespub) Truth or consequences The House investigation into Donald Trump's Capitol insurrection just took a very serious turn.
A federal grand jury on Friday indicted the ex-President's populist political guru Steve Bannon for refusing a subpoena to testify, putting him at risk of jail. The decision sets an important precedent: If the Justice Department had failed to respond to the ongoing obstruction by Trump and his aides and acolytes, it might have hamstrung lawmakers' ability to carry out checks and balances in the US political system for decades to come.
The move against Bannon now leaves Trump's ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with some serious thinking to do. Meadows, who spent hours with Trump on January 6 and in the days leading up to the ex-President's coup attempt, refused to show up before the committee on Friday. Meadows argues that his consultations with Trump were protected by a concept known as executive privilege -- intended to ensure a president can receive confidential advice and to prevent Congress impinging on the executive branch of government. But the congressional committee argues that in this case, it's the current President who gets final say on assertions of executive privilege -- and Biden has made clear that he thinks the events on January 6 were so heinous that Congress must be allowed to investigate.
Ultimately, the dispute over executive privilege is likely to end up in the Supreme Court. But the committee is in a race against time. If Republicans win the House in mid-term elections next November, their loyalty to Trump's personality cult will likely prompt them to shutter the investigation.
And the former President would escape accountability yet again. 'Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits' There's trouble in the White House, CNN's Edward Isaac-Dovere and Jasmine Wright report. Staffers and supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris fear she's being set up to fail, while West Wing aides accuse her team of dysfunction and lack of focus as Biden battles to land achievements.
Suspicion has sprouted out of the bitterness. Last month, White House aides leapt to the defense of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was being hammered with outrage by Fox News host Tucker Carlson and like-minded online pundits for taking paternity leave after the adoption of his twins in September. Harris loyalists tell CNN they see in that yet another example of an unfair standard at play, wondering why she didn't get similar cover any of the times she's been attacked by the right.
"It's hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a White man, knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn't want to take themselves," said one former Harris aide. Thanks for reading. On Monday, Biden is expected to sign his long-awaited infrastructure bill. Trading begins on the Beijing Stock Exchange. And Cuban dissidents are planning a march for greater political freedom -- despite government warnings to stay home. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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