U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Chinese counterpart on Saturday in a new effort to try to rein in or at least manage rampant hostility that has come to define recent relations between Washington and Beijing. Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were holding talks in the Indonesian resort of Bali, a day after they both attended a gathering of top diplomats from the Group of 20 rich and large developing countries that failed to reach consensus over Russia's war in Ukraine and how to deal with its impacts. Wang and Blinken were discussing a range of contentious issues from tariffs and trade and human rights to Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea. Just two days earlier, the two countries' top military officers had faced off over Taiwan during a virtual meeting. “In a relationship as complex and consequential as the one between the United States and China, there is a lot to talk about and I’m very much looking forward to a productive, constructive conversation,” Blinken said as the pair headed into the closed-door meeting. Read: USA announces new actions to support intl students' careers Wang said “it is necessary for the two countries to maintain normal exchanges” and “to work together to ensure that this relationship will continue to move forward along the right track.” He echoed frequent Chinese lines about remaining committed to the principles of “mutual respect,” “peaceful coexistence” and “win-win cooperation.” That, he said, "serves the interests of the two countries and two peoples. It is also the shared aspiration of the international community.” U.S. officials said ahead of time they don’t expect any breakthroughs from Blinken's talks with Wang. But they said they are hopeful the conversation can help keep lines of communications open and create “guardrails” to guide the world’s two largest economies as they navigate increasingly complex and potentially explosive matters. The United States and China have staked out increasingly confrontational positions, including on Ukraine, that some fear could lead to miscalculation and conflict. The U.S. has watched warily as China has refused to criticize the Russian invasion, while condemning Western sanctions against Russia and accusing the U.S. and NATO of provoking the conflict. The Biden administration had hoped that China, with its long history of opposing what it sees as interference in its own internal affairs, would take a similar position with Ukraine. But, it has not, choosing instead what U.S. officials see as a hybrid position that is damaging the international rules-based order. At the G-20 meeting, Wang made an oblique reference to China's policy on global stability, saying “to place one’s own security above the security of others and intensify military blocs will only split the international community and make oneself less secure,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. On Thursday, China's joint chiefs of staff chairman Gen. Li Zuocheng upbraided his U.S. counterpart Gen. Mark Milley over Washington's support for Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. Li demanded that the U.S. cease military “collusion” with Taiwan, saying China has “no room for compromise” on issues affecting its “core interests,” which include self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. “China demands the U.S. ... cease reversing history, cease U.S.-Taiwan military collusion and avoid impacting China-U.S. ties and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Li said. Also read: Russia and China slam NATO after alliance raises alarm At the same time, Li was also quoted in a Defense Ministry news release as saying China hoped to “further strengthen dialogue, handle risks, and promote cooperation, rather than deliberately creating confrontation, provoking incidents and becoming mutually exclusive.” China routinely flies warplanes near Taiwan to advertise its threat to attack, and the island’s Defense Ministry said Chinese air force aircraft crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait dividing the two sides on Friday morning. The meeting between Li and Milley followed fiery comments by Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe at a regional security conference last month that was also attended by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Wei accused the United States of trying to “hijack” the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington is seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of multilateralism.” At the same meeting in Singapore, Austin said China was causing instability with its claim to Taiwan and its increased military activity in the area. In May, Blinken incurred Chinese wrath by calling the country the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order” for the United States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic South China Sea. The U.S. and its allies have responded with what they term “freedom of navigation” patrols in the South China Sea, prompting angry responses from Beijing.

The United Nations mission to Libya expressed concern Saturday over clashes in Tripoli, after a night of heavy fire between militias in the capital. The latest fighting comes as Libya is once again divided between competing governments — one of which is based in Tripoli — despite more than a year of tentative steps towards unification. The cause of the violence in the seaside neighborhood was unclear, but videos circulated on social media showed families with children sheltering and fleeing as artillery fire flew across the night sky. Some accused two of the city’s powerful militias of infighting. In a statement, the mission said the clashes endangered civilians and called on Libyans “to do everything possible to preserve the country’s fragile stability at this sensitive time.” Libya has for years been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each supported by various well-armed militias and foreign governments. The Mediterranean nation has been in a state of upheaval since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. READ: Detained Bangladeshis in Libya to be brought back: FM The country’s plan to transition to an elected government fell through after an interim administration based in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, failed to hold elections last year. Dbeibah has refused to step down since then, raising questions over his mandate. In response, the country’s East-based lawmakers have elected a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, a powerful former interior minister who is now operating a separate administration out of the city of Sirte. Dbeibah, in a televised phone call, urged a powerful commander who leads the 444 brigade — which serves his government — to do what is necessary to restore peace in Tripoli. His rival, Bashagha, in a series of Tweets called on armed groups to surrender their weapons. Last month, Bashagha entered Tripoli and attempted to install his government there, but left within hours after fighting broke out that killed one person. Meanwhile, a widening blockade on oil production, largely in the country's east, has cut off key state revenues in opposition to Dbeibah's remaining in power. On Friday, a video announcement by residents and workers of the Sidra oil port, a key export facility, warned that they would stop operations due to lack of basic services in surrounding towns.

BNP on Friday urged the people of the country to maintain communal harmony instead of responding to any kind of ‘provocation’ from the government. "Our party has asked the people of all communities to maintain unity and communal harmony upholding our long-lasting tradition under any provocation. We’ll maintain our strong ties, said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. Speaking at a human-chain programme, he also said their party will not react to any provocation from the government. READ: Govt plot behind communal incidents, alleges BNP “Communal harmony is a long history and tradition of the Bengali nation. There have been repeated attempts to destroy that tradition,” the BNP leader said. He alleged that the incident of the desecration of the holy Quran in Cumilla is a planned one. “It was staged as part of a government’s plan.” Bangladesh Jatiya Dal, one of the components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance arranged the programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club, demanding that the next national election be held under a non-party neutral government. The local administration locked into a clash with a group of people in Cumilla over an allegation of the desecration of the holy Quran at a puja mandap. Some rowdy people attacked puja mandaps in different areas of the country following the incident. On Thursday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blamed government agencies for the communal incidents in Cumilla and elsewhere in the country, saying these are part of a plot to mislead people. Later, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader alleged that evil communal forces are trying to unleash  violence in the country with the patronage of BNP ahead of the next general election. READ: ‘AL men’ behind e-commerce scams: BNP Reacting to Quader’s remark, Rizvi said Awami League has left no misdeed undone only to hang onto power. “The incident in Cumilla was also carried out by ruling party men out of fear of losing power. The motive behind this incident is to mislead people and divert their attention to a different direction.” Rizvi opposed the Jatiya Press Club’s decision of banning all political programmes on its premises, saying it will hinder the minimum space for raising voice against ‘misdeeds and misrule’ of the government.