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China’s Foreign Minister Heads to Moscow After Meeting US National Security Adviser 

Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi waits for the start of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. (AP)
Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi waits for the start of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. (AP)
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China’s Foreign Minister Heads to Moscow After Meeting US National Security Adviser 

Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi waits for the start of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. (AP)
Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi waits for the start of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. (AP)

China's top foreign policy official is heading to Russia for security talks after two days of meetings with US President Joe Biden's national security adviser over the weekend in Malta.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who simultaneously holds the ruling Communist Party's top foreign policy post, will be in Russia from Monday to Thursday for a round of China-Russia strategic security consultations, the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

The US and China are at odds over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. China has refrained from taking sides in the war, saying that while a country's territory must be respected, the West needs to consider Russia's security concerns about NATO expansion. It has accused the US of prolonging the fighting by providing arms to Ukraine, weaponry that the US says is needed to defend against Russian aggression.

China and Russia have grown closer in recent years as relations with the West have deteriorated for both. China is looking for support as it seeks to reshape the US-led international order into one that is more accommodating to its approach. Last month, it helped engineer an expansion of the BRICS partnership, which invited six more countries to join what has been a five-nation bloc that includes China and Russia.

Wang discussed the situation in Ukraine in his weekend meetings with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Both sides described the talks as candid, substantive and constructive as they try to stabilize their rocky relationship and manage differences over security, trade, technology and human rights. Specifics of their talks were not released.

Wang stepped down as foreign minister at the end of last year, taking on the more senior position of Communist Party foreign affairs chief, but was called back as foreign minister in July after his successor, Qin Gang, disappeared from public view. It's unclear what happened to Qin, but he may have fallen out of favor with the leadership.

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Labor Predicted to Rout Sunak's Conservatives as Britain Goes To Polls

FILE PHOTO: A polling station direction sign is attached to a street sign near the Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben, ahead of general elections, in London, Britain July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A polling station direction sign is attached to a street sign near the Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben, ahead of general elections, in London, Britain July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
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Labor Predicted to Rout Sunak's Conservatives as Britain Goes To Polls

FILE PHOTO: A polling station direction sign is attached to a street sign near the Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben, ahead of general elections, in London, Britain July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A polling station direction sign is attached to a street sign near the Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben, ahead of general elections, in London, Britain July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo

Britain looks set to elect Labor Party leader Keir Starmer as its next prime minister when voters go to the polls on Thursday, sweeping Rishi Sunak's Conservatives out of office after 14 often turbulent years.
Opinion polls put Starmer's center-left party on course for a landslide victory as voters turn their backs on the Conservatives following a period of infighting and turmoil that led to five prime ministers in eight years, Reuters said.
However, surveys show many voters simply want change, rather than fervently backing Labor, meaning Starmer could enter office with one of the biggest to-do lists in British history but without a groundswell of support or the financial resources to tackle it.
"Today, Britain can begin a new chapter," Starmer told voters in a statement on Thursday. "We cannot afford five more years under the Conservatives. But change will only happen if you vote Labor."
Sunak, who called the election months earlier than expected, has in recent weeks abandoned his call for a fifth consecutive Conservative victory, switching instead to warning of the dangers of an unchallenged Labor Party in parliament.
He issued a fresh rallying cry to voters for election day, saying a Labor government would hike taxes, hamper economic recovery and leave Britain more vulnerable at a time of geopolitical tension, charges Labor deny.
"They will do lasting damage to our country and our economy - just like they did the last time they were in power," Sunak said. "Don't let that happen."
PUNISHING GOVERNMENT
If the opinion polls are correct, Britain will follow other European countries in punishing their governments after a cost of living crisis that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Unlike France it looks set to move to the center left and not further right.
Labor has held a poll lead of between 15 and 20 points since shortly after Sunak was chosen by his lawmakers in October 2022 to replace Liz Truss who resigned after 44 days, having sparked a bond market meltdown and a collapse in sterling.
Modeling by pollsters predicts Labor is on course for one of the biggest election victories in British history, with a likely majority in parliament that would exceed those achieved by Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher, although a high number of voters are undecided and turnout could be low.
Such an outcome would have been unthinkable at Britain's last election in 2019 when Boris Johnson won a large victory for the Conservatives, with politicians predicting that the party would be in power for at least 10 years as Labor was finished.
Starmer, the former chief prosecutor of England and Wales, took over Labor from veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn after it suffered its worst defeat for 84 years in 2019, and dragged it back to the center.
At the same time, the Conservatives in Westminster have imploded, ripped apart by scandal under Johnson and the rancor that followed the vote to leave the European Union, and a failure to deliver on the demands of its broad 2019 voter base.
While Johnson destroyed the party's reputation for integrity, Truss eroded its long-held economic credibility, leaving Sunak to steady the ship. During his time inflation returned to target from its 41-year high of 11.1% and he resolved some Brexit tensions, but the polls have not budged.
Sunak's election campaign has been hit by a string of gaffes. He announced the vote in driving rain, an early departure from a D-Day event in France angered veterans and allegations of election gambling among aides reignited talk of scandal.
The unexpected arrival of Nigel Farage to lead the right-wing Reform UK has also eaten into the Conservatives' vote, while the centrist Liberal Democrats are predicted to fare well in the party's traditional affluent heartlands.
PROMISE OF CHANGE
Starmer could also benefit from a Labor recovery in Scotland, after the Scottish National Party embarked on its own self-destructive path following a funding scandal and looks set to lose its stronghold for the first time since 2015.
But Starmer may find his fortunes more sorely tested in Downing Street.
His campaign was built around a one-word promise of 'Change', tapping into anger at the state of stretched public services and falling living standards. But he will have few levers to pull, with the tax burden set to hit its highest since 1949 and net debt almost equivalent to annual economic output.
Starmer has consistently warned that he will not be able to fix anything quickly, and his party has courted international investors to help address the challenges.
Sunak has argued that his 20 months in charge have set the economy on an upward path and Labor should not be allowed to put that in jeopardy.
Voters will give their verdict on Thursday.
Polls open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (0600-2100 GMT) and an exit poll at 10 p.m. will give the first sign of the outcome with detailed results expected early on Friday.