Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is being treated for a type of chronic leukaemia, hospital doctors in Milan have confirmed.
He was rushed to intensive care on Wednesday with breathing problems and doctors said he was suffering from a related lung infection.
A four-time prime minister and media mogul, Mr Berlusconi, 86, still leads his party and is an elected senator.
But he has had repeated health problems since he contracted Covid-19 in 2020.
Colleagues have expressed hope that he will still be able to return to front-line politics as he continues to lead Forza Italia, a centre-right junior partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition.
"We want to be optimistic," said Antonio Tajani, Italy's foreign minister and one of the most senior figures in Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
As Italians waited for more details, the billionaire media tycoon's younger brother, Paolo, told reporters the family was now feeling confident: "We're more relieved, there's an improvement."
Mr Berlusconi has combined politics with a business career at the helm of a media empire. He last served as prime minister in 2011, although his latter years in power became overshadowed by sex and corruption scandals.
He was elected to Italy's upper house, the Senate, last September but has repeatedly required hospital treatment. He returned to hospital in Milan on Wednesday only six days after he was discharged following days of check-ups.
His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said his lung infection was related to a chronic blood condition that he had borne for some time but that it had not yet become acute. Earlier reports said he had begun chemotherapy to fight the leukaemia.
"He's stable. He's a rock. he's going to make this time too." said his younger brother Paolo Berlusconi earlier.
His return to hospital has caused concern in Italy and politicians from across the spectrum have wished him well. Ms Meloni has wished him a speedy recovery, tweeting the words "Forza Silvio" - "Come on Silvio!", echoing the name of his political party.
His fiancée Marta Fascina, who is an MP in his party, spent the night with him in the hospital and his children visited him on Thursday for a second time.
Reuters
Forza Italia officials said their leader had spoken on Thursday morning to party figures including Mr Tajani and Maurizio Gasparri, vice president of the Senate.
Mr Berlusconi remains a divisive figure in Italian politics. Earlier this year, he was finally cleared of bribing young showgirls to lie about his notoriously raunchy "bunga bunga" parties.
However, both left-leaning and right-leaning newspapers have paid tribute to the charismatic, yet controversial, politician and media tycoon.
Several newspapers have wished him well, while others have highlighted the potential impact of his illness on the country's political landscape.
"Everyone with Silvio" was the main headline in Il Giornale, which belongs to the Berlusconi family, expressing its support and solidarity.
Like the prime minister, Libero, another right-leaning newspaper, opted for "Forza Silvio", while La Repubblica called him the "fearless Knight". The centre-left daily has for decades strongly criticised his political actions and extensively covered the repeated scandals surrounding Mr Berlusconi.
Although his entourage has downplayed the seriousness of his condition, his illness has raised questions about the future of his political party.
Forza Italia may be part of the ruling coalition but it has been in decline in recent years, and Mr Berlusconi's declining health may further weaken its position. When Mr Tajani spoke to reporters, he said there was only one party leader: "Now let's hope he returns to lead the party."
His condition has also revived questions about the future of the Berlusconi business empire, which includes several television channels and publishing companies, making him one of the most influential media moguls in Italy.
His family also owns a minority stake in football club AC Monza, which has climbed from the third tier of Italian football to Serie A during his five-year ownership.
"Warm wishes, dear president, from the whole big red-and-white family," tweeted club president Adriano Galliani.
President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, and told Xi “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason.”
The French president, who arrived on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, shook hands with Xi outside the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in China’s capital.
Xi greeted his guest on a huge red carpet lined by Chinese and French flags as the countries’ national anthems played, an AFP journalist said.
Reuters quotes the French president saying:
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.
Macron has said during his trip that Beijing can play a “major role” in finding a path to peace in the conflict and welcomed China’s “willingness to commit to a resolution”.
He is accompanied on his visit by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and said he wants to “be a voice that unites Europe” over Ukraine, and that coming to China with her serves to “underline the consistency of this approach”.
Bilateral relations between Sweden and Hungary are at a low point, prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás told a media briefing on Thursday, calling on Stockholm to take steps to boost confidence, Reuters reports.
Finland and its neighbour Sweden applied together last year to join Nato, but Sweden’s application has been held up by Nato members Turkey and Hungary. Hungary cites grievances over Swedish criticism of Orbán’s record on democracy and rule of law.
President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, and told Xi “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason.”
The French president, who arrived on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, shook hands with Xi outside the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in China’s capital.
Xi greeted his guest on a huge red carpet lined by Chinese and French flags as the countries’ national anthems played, an AFP journalist said.
Reuters quotes the French president saying:
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.
Macron has said during his trip that Beijing can play a “major role” in finding a path to peace in the conflict and welcomed China’s “willingness to commit to a resolution”.
He is accompanied on his visit by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and said he wants to “be a voice that unites Europe” over Ukraine, and that coming to China with her serves to “underline the consistency of this approach”.
Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, one of the partly occupied regions which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has posted a status update to Telegram.
Pavlo Kyrylenko writes that in Bakhumt, “two civilians were killed and two wounded – the damage to a kindergarten, two private houses and three high-rise buildings was added to the total destruction in the city”.
He also reported that: “There was a massive shelling of Zvanivka in the Lysychansk direction – a school, a cultural centre, a shop and more than 20 private houses were damaged.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
It remains unclear who was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany which spewed gas into the Baltic last year, Sweden’s prosecution authority, which is investigating the incident, said on Thursday.
“We are working unconditionally and turning over every stone and leaving nothing to chance,” Reuters reports prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement.
“Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime, but it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances.”
Swedish news site Aftonbladet reported that Ljungqvis also said that the incident had become a focus for political speculation, but that “these speculations are nothing that affects the preliminary investigation, which is based on the facts and information that emerged from analyses, crime scene investigations and cooperation with authorities in Sweden and in other countries”.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, includes this in its daily roundup of news on its official Telegram channel:
At night, Russian troops fired mortars at Bilopillya in Sumy oblast, people in the community were left without electricity.
As a result of Russian shelling yesterday in Donetsk region, five people were killed and nine others were injured. A man who was injured in yesterday’s shelling of Beryslav in the Kherson region died in the hospital.
Overnight news broke that the Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an anti-war sketch at school has been taken from the facility by her mother.
Reuters is carrying quotes from Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova about the situation. It quotes her saying:
Masha did not want to go to her mother at first, and her opinion is legally required to be taken into account. Now her position has changed – she told me this herself on the phone.
Olga has already taken Masha from the social rehabilitation centre. Let’s hope that everything will work out for mum and daughter. I am glad about the beginning of the reunion of daughter and mother.
Lvova-Belova published a picture on her official Telegram which she claimed showed the reunited child and mother.
Associated Press reminds us that, in a case that drew international outrage, the father of 13-year-old Maria Moskalyova was convicted of discrediting the Russian military and handed a two-year prison term, and his daughter was sent to the orphanage.
The father, Alexei Moskalyov, fled house arrest just before his sentencing hearing last week in the town of Yefremov south of Moscow. He was detained in Belarus two days later. His whereabouts are unclear.
Russia introduced severe punishments for discrediting the armed forces after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on 24 February 2022, laws that have subsequently snared dissidents, journalists, actors, musicians and comedians.
The Hague-based international criminal court (ICC) last month issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting children from Ukraine and the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine as it sees it. Today the focus has been the reported dismissal of Lt Gen Rustam Muradov. It writes:
As claimed on Russian social media, the Russian MoD has highly likely dismissed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine.
The EGF under Muradov has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar.
The operations attracted intense public criticism from across the spectrum of Russian commentators - including Muradov’s own troops.
Muradov took over the EGF after its disastrous attempt to assault Kyiv from the north-west during the initial full-scale invasion.
He is the most senior Russian military dismissal of 2023 so far, but more are likely as Russia continues to fail to achieve its objectives in the Donbas.
In a further sign that Moscow was unhappy with the state of the fighting, Russian media on Sunday reported the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had sacked the commander of its eastern military district, Lt Gen Rustam Muradov.
His dismissal represents the latest reshuffle of top brass amid a string of battlefield setbacks. Pro-war bloggers close to the Kremlin linked Muradov’s dismissal with his unsuccessful attempts to capture the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk.
Under Muradov’s command, Russia is believed to have lost more than 100 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in a three-week battle in Vuhledar last month.
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Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports on its official Telegram channel that “during the past day, 5 April, the Russian military shelled civilian infrastructure in the area of 15 settlements of the Zaporizhzhia region”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The resilience of Russia’s economy over the past year has surprised many observers as Moscow adjusts to unprecedented western sanctions over its assault on Ukraine, AFP reports.
But late last month in a rare public admission, Putin warned of possible economic troubles ahead and urged the government to act quickly.
“The sanctions imposed against the Russian economy in the medium term could really have a negative impact,” Putin said at a televised meeting.
It was a major change of tone after Putin earlier said the worst was over, praising the benefits of “economic sovereignty” and insisting that the west’s sanctions strategy had backfired.
“Mr Putin’s observation is quite simply realistic,” said Arnaud Dubien, director of the Franco-Russian Observatory thinktank in Moscow.
Dubien, a veteran Russia expert, said Putin was seeking to further mobilise companies and government officials as Russia cut ties with the west.
“The situation is better than expected, but do not relax, continue to find alternatives,” he said, describing the Kremlin chief’s logic.
Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank official, suggested that Putin’s message primarily targeted companies that have been hit hard by sanctions.
“It’s a message to businesses,” said Prokopenko, who worked at the central bank between 2017 and 2022 and quit after the start of Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
“You’re only safe in Russia under my charge, there’s no way back,” she said, referring to his possible thinking.
Ukraine has made what the Financial Times calls its “most explicit statement of Ukraine’s interest in negotiations” since cutting off peace talks last year in April, saying that it is willing to discuss the future of Crimea.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office, said: “If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue.” “It doesn’t mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army.”
The FT report continues:
Sybiha’s remarks may relieve western officials who are sceptical about Ukraine’s ability to reclaim the peninsula and worry that any attempt to do so militarily could lead Vladimir Putin to escalate his war, possibly with nuclear weapons. To date, Zelenskiy has ruled out peace talks until Russian forces leave all of Ukraine, including Crimea. Sybiha is a veteran diplomat who focuses on foreign policy in the president’s office and has been at Zelenskiy’s side at key moments in the war. He said the president and his aides were now talking specifically about Crimea, as Ukraine’s army gets closer to launching its counteroffensive to regain territory.
Zelenskiy says Poland may help form a coalition of western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv.
During a visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Poland had been instrumental in getting western allies to send battle tanks to Ukraine and he believed it could play the same role in a “planes coalition”.
The Polish government said it would send 10 more MiG fighter jets on top of four provided earlier, but so far there has been no agreement from the US or Ukraine’s other major military backers to send the F-16 fighters Kyiv has requested.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, are to make Europe’s case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine at meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The French and European leaders will be greeted in the late afternoon by the Chinese president at the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in the capital.
Western pressure is mounting on China to take a more active role in the peace process in Ukraine. Though Beijing is officially neutral, Xi has never condemned the Russian invasion.
While he recently went to Moscow to reaffirm his alliance with Putin – framed as an anti-western front – Xi has not even spoken on the phone with Zelenskiy.
On Wednesday, Macron said Beijing had a “major role” to play in finding a path to peace in Ukraine, welcoming what China called its “willingness to commit to a resolution” to the conflict.
Von der Leyen took a sterner tack last week in Brussels, saying: “How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations.”
In a Thursday morning meeting at the Great Hall of the People with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, Macron stressed the importance of dialogue between China and France “in these troubled times”.
“The ability to share a common analysis and build a common path is essential,” he said.
Macron is set to meet the head of China’s top legislative body, Zhao Leji, before a one-on-one meeting with Xi in the afternoon.
The pair will give statements to the press before by a three-way meeting with Von der Leyen and, finally, a state dinner.
The exiled mayor of Melitopol, a Russian-occupied city in the Zaporizhzhia region, says that several explosions had been heard overnight.
“Several powerful explosions have just been recorded in the city,” Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram. That’s as much as we know so far, but we’ll bring you more news as it breaks.
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan.
Coming up today: French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen make Europe’s case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping.
The French and European leaders will be greeted late afternoon by the Chinese president at the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in the capital.
And early this morning, explosions were heard in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region, the Mayor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Poland will send 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Duda said at a joint news conference with Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy thanked the Polish leader, government and people for standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine and giving fleeing Ukrainians shelter. Poland has led the way in mobilising western military and political support for Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-fledged invasion 13 months ago.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron warned that anyone helping “aggressor” Russia in the Ukraine conflict would become an “accomplice”. The French leader arrived in Beijing for a three-day state visit during which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing.
A Ukrainian drone crashed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia’s RIA news agency said, citing a Russian officer. It comes as the chief of the UN’s nuclear watchdog was expected in Russia for talks on the plant’s security.
The United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out on Russia’s envoy for children’s rights – whom the international criminal court wants to arrest on war crimes charges – as she spoke by video to UN security council members.
Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian troops face a difficult situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that Kyiv will take the “corresponding” decisions to protect them if they risk being encircled by Russian forces. The Ukrainian president, at a news conference in Poland on Wednesday, said Kyiv’s troops in Bakhmut sometimes advanced a little only to be pushed back by Russian forces, but that they remained inside the city.
The president of Belarus and close ally of Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, arrived in Moscow for a meeting with the Russian leader, Belarus’s state-run Belta news agency reported. Lukashenko and Putin will hold a meeting on Wednesday evening, where the pair will “discuss a broad range of matters concerning Belarusian-Russian relations”, it said.
The United States is working through a formal process to determine whether a Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention by Russia is “wrongful”, secretary of state Antony Blinken said.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus demonstrated that a Russia-China joint statement amounted to just “empty promises”. The Nato chief noted that Russia was becoming more and more dependent on China, partly as a result of international sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Any Chinese supply of lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine would be a “historic mistake with profound implications”, Stoltenberg also said.
The six Leopard 2A4 tanks Spain has promised to send to Ukraine will leave the country in the second half of April, defence minister Margarita Robles told state broadcaster TVE on Wednesday, pushing back the estimated shipment date. The German-made battle tanks have not been used since the 1990s and had been mothballed in reserve, requiring refitting and battle readiness tests after initial doubts as to whether they could go into combat again.
Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia after he was admitted to hospital, Sky News understands.
The 86-year-old was being treated in intensive care at Milan's San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday after suffering breathing problems.
A source said the four-time prime minister had been diagnosed with leukaemia and is in a stable condition.
Image:The intensive care unit at San Raffaele Hospital
"He's stable. He's a rock," Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo said after visiting him on Wednesday afternoon.
The billionaire media tycoon has suffered several bouts of ill health in recent years, including contracting COVID-19 in 2020.
After being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay, he said the disease had been "insidious" and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.
He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer. He was admitted for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.
Mr Berlusconi stepped down as prime minister for the last time in 2011 as Italy came close to a Greece-style debt crisis and he faced several scandals, most notably around his notorious "bunga bunga" parties.
He returned to the Senate after a general election last September.
Image:Mr Berlusconi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
'Forza Silvio'
Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, but he does not have a role in government.
"Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi," Ms Meloni wrote on social media, adding: "Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio)."
An Australian man has been charged after allegedly stealing a platypus from the wild, taking it on a train and then showing it off at local shops.
The 26-year-old man was located after police appealed for public help to find the animal - for which they have grave health concerns.
Queensland Police were told the mammal had been released in a nearby river but haven't been able to locate it.
The man could face a fine of up to A$430,000 (£231,700, $288,500).
A woman who was with him has also spoken to police.
Surveillance cameras on Tuesday captured the pair boarding a train at Morayfield, about an hour north of Brisbane, holding the animal wrapped in a towel.
"According to the report that was provided to [authorities], they were showing it off to people on the train, allowing people to pat it," Queensland Police's Scott Knowles said.
Police will also allege in court that the pair were seen showing the animal to members of the public at a nearby shopping centre.
Queensland's environment department had stressed that the platypus was at risk of sickness or death the longer it remained out of its habitat, and urged the pair to take it to a vet.
Police said they were advised the platypus had been released into the Caboolture River, but said they were unsure of its condition.
In a statement, police said it was risky behaviour for both the humans and the animal.
"Taking a platypus from the wild is not only illegal, but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs," it said.
"If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in the wild, keep your distance. Never pat, hold or take an animal."
The arrested man has been charged with taking an animal classified as protected from the wild and keeping a protected animal captive. He will face court on 8 April.
Famously shy and elusive, platypuses are found in eastern Australia, in freshwater creeks, slow-moving rivers, lakes and dams.
The animals are one of only two types of monotremes - mammals that lay eggs - in the world.
As Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen meet Xi Jinping, they will be sending a message of unity - even as China seeks to exploit potential cracks in Europe's alliances.
The French president and the head of the European Commission flew into Beijing on Wednesday and will be welcomed by the Chinese president on Thursday.
Their joint trip is the latest in a noticeable push from European leaders to engage with China, which has seen German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez paying visits in recent months.
Like them, Mr Macron and Ms von der Leyenwill be pressing Mr Xi on taking further steps to halt the Ukraine war, while also finessing the increasingly fraught trade relationship between the European Union and China, its biggest trading partner.
European watchers expect them to work as a tag team on the Chinese.
With his attempts at engaging Vladimir Putin, the French president is likely to play the good cop. An Élysée Palace spokesman told reporters that Mr Macron found "points of convergence with Chinese proposals" on ending the war.
Meanwhile, some have called Ms von der Leyen the "bad cop from Brussels", given her strong relationship with US President Joe Biden and vocal support for Nato's position.
Days before her arrival, Ms von der Leyen gave a strongly-worded speech criticising Mr Xi for maintaining his friendship with Mr Putin. In a reference to China's 12-point peace plan, she stressed that any plan consolidating Russian annexations was "simply not viable".
She also pushed the concept of "de-risking", a more moderate version of the US idea of decoupling from China, where Europe would talk tougher in diplomacy, diversify its trade sources, and protect its trade and technology.
Together, the leaders represent two "fairly different strands of European thinking on China", said Dr Andrew Small, a senior fellow with think-tank the German Marshall Fund.
"One is on China deepening support for Putin on the war, especially on the question of lethal aid. They will want to say at a minimum that it will be damaging to the entire relationship with Europe."
But with Mr Macron coming with a large delegation including business leaders, "there is also the commercial and economic relationship that continues even in the middle of this… the message is that Europe and France still want to do business".
Crucially, Ms von der Leyen is in China at Mr Macron's invitation.
This would provide reassurance that they would hold the line, noted Dr Small, not only to EU member states sceptical of Mr Macron's approach to Russia and China, but also to the Americans who would be watching closely.
The US has yet to meet the Chinese leadership since Secretary of State Antony Blinken's much-anticipated trip to Beijing was called off during the spy balloon row. This trip may be the closest the Americans get to facetime with Mr Xi for now, and just before leaving France Mr Macron spoke to Joe Biden where they discussed plans to engage China.
Mr Macron and Ms von der Leyen's show of unity is also an attempt to put paid to any Chinese hopes of exploiting differences within Europe. Some observers believe this is one goal of Beijing as it tries to woo parts of Europe away from the US orbit.
But with member states maintaining relationships of varying degrees of closeness to China, the EU has yet to come up with a clear consensus on how to handle Beijing. Some, like France and Germany, are more keen to preserve trade ties while others, particularly former Soviet bloc states nervous about Russia looking to claim other territories after Ukraine, will want to go harder on China.
The danger is that China may be emboldened to use its relationship with Russia as leverage over Europe, warn observers.
Rather than just follow the US and Nato's lead, Europe must clearly draw their own red line and lay out the consequences of China overstepping it, said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
"This Chinese really need to understand what the stakes are. This is an opportunity for Europeans to say, 'This is your problem, you could have stayed away like in 2014 [during Russia's annexation of Crimea], but you chose not to - so you own this'," said Dr Oertel.
Getty Images
So how would China likely respond?
Ms von der Leyen would be greeted with wariness. Her speech last week needled the Chinese, eliciting a swift retort from their ambassador to the EU, Fu Cong, who said it contained "a lot of misrepresentations and misinterpretations" and it "deliberately distorted Chinese positions".
China would not be keen on her concept of "de-risking", but it may have no choice but to accept it, say experts. In any case, it may be hard for China to protest given its own efforts to become more economically self-sufficient, with Mr Xi championing his own "dual circulation" strategy.
"The Chinese also do not want to be caught in a situation where they are too dependent on the US or the Russians," said Reuben Wong, an associate professor in political science who studies Asia-Europe relations at the National University of Singapore.
Stoked by the war, the growing unity among Western allies - underscored by Finland joining Nato on Tuesday - represents a "serious development in foreign relations" for China, leaving "very little room for them to take an unyielding position", said Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based independent political consultant.
Increasingly, he noted, the only route Beijing could take is to be more co-operative in working out, such as lifting trade sanctions. A recent Chinese move to block imports to Lithuania, over its decision to allow Taiwan to open a de facto embassy, did not go down well with the Europeans, who in response developed their own tools to block what they see as economic coercion.
But the biggest sticking point will be the Ukraine war.
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Keen on burnishing his credentials as an interlocutor, Mr Macron has favoured personal talks with key players. But the opacity of the Chinese leadership has meant there is little available evidence Mr Xi can be easily influenced with such an approach.
Mr Macron is also mounting his Chinese campaign right after Mr Xi's visit to Russia where, publicly at least, the two countries made it clear to the rest of the world that their "friendship with no limits" was still very much intact.
This could mean his visit to China "may end up like his visit to Russia and talks with Putin, where it has proven to be largely fruitless", said Dr Wu.
"In the past month, we have also seen a high wind of foreign diplomacy from China, representing its return to the global stage. Under these circumstances China is confidently asserting its stance, so it will not easily change."
But others believe this is precisely why China may be keen on working with Mr Macron to end the war Russia started - taking advantage of an opportunity to show the world it can do what the Americans have failed to accomplish so far.
In recent weeks it has promoted itself as an alternative peace broker, releasing concept papers and surprising the world with its hand in an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"When the Ukraine war eventually ends, China wants to be at the table… this time it would be seen as a peacemaker. So this would really raise their profile in international diplomacy," said Dr Wong.
As the war continues to exact a toll on the global economy, and Chinese exports continue to shrink, "it is in Beijing's interests to start fine-tuning their message to the Russians", he added.
It will no doubt be the goal foremost in Mr Macron and Ms von der Leyen's minds, as they walk down the red carpet laid out for them in Beijing.
At least four young children have been killed by a man wielding a hatchet in a kindergarten in the city of Blumenau in southern Brazil, local officials say.
Another four children were injured by the 25-year-old man who entered the creche at around 09:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
At least one of them is reportedly in a serious condition.
Police told local media that the attacker had surrendered and was in police custody.
In a statement, military police said that the assailant had handed himself in at one of their stations in the town.
Firefighters said three boys and a girl were killed. They were between five and seven years old, they said.
In total, around 40 children had been inside the Cantinho Bom Pastor nursery - which translates as Good Shepherd - at the time of the attack.
They added that the assailant had jumped over a wall in order to gain entrance to the privately run kindergarten and had apparently targeted the victims at random.
A teacher said it was "a scene that you'd never imagine you'd see in your life".
She told reporters gathered outside the building that she had managed to lock some of the youngest children in one of the rooms in order to protect them from the assailant.
She said as well as a hatchet, the man also carried other weapons, although she did not specify what these were.
Parents ran to the kindergarten as news of the incident spread.
City officials have suspended classes in Blumenau until at least tomorrow.
The governor of Santa Catarina state - where Blumenau is located - has declared three days of mourning.
The incident also comes just 10 days after a teenager stabbed a teacher to death and injured another four people at a school in São Paulo.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tweeted that "there is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so when it's through an act of violence against innocent children who can't defend themselves".
The city has about 360,000 inhabitants and is a popular destination with visitors exploring the German heritage of the region.
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