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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island. Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy, she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad. China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials…

There was no clear winner between former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday after the UK’s prime ministerial candidates went head-to-head in their first television debate as finalists and clashed fiercely on their economic policies and tax plans. A snap Opinium poll of who performed best in the BBC debate on Monday night found Sunak just slightly ahead at 39 per cent, compared to Truss at 38 per cent. However, 47 per cent of Conservative Party voters quizzed thought it was the Foreign Secretary who was…

COVID-19 symptoms left President Joe Biden with a raspy voice and cough as he met Friday via videoconference with his top economic team. But the president tried to strike a reassuring tone, declaring, I feel much better than I sound. Biden took off a mask and sipped water as he opened the meeting to discuss the decline in gas prices in recent weeks. Reporters were allowed into a White House auditorium to view a few minutes of the proceedings, and when they asked how Biden was feeling, he flashed a…