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President Joe Biden on Saturday called the Chinese spy balloon debacle “embarrassing” for the Asian superpower’s leaders – while highlighting his hopes for productive talks as Antony Blinken embarks upon the first high-profile diplomatic trip to Beijing since the 46th president took office. Speaking before boarding a plane to Pennsylvania on Saturday morning, President Biden told reporters that China “has some legitimate difficulties unrelated to the United States. “And I think one of the things that that balloon caused was not so much that it got shot down, but I don’t think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on,” the President said. “I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional. And so I’m hoping that, over the next several months, I’ll be meeting with [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] again, and talking about legitimate differences we have – but also how ... to get along.” The already tense relations between the United States and China became further strained earlier this year when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon flying over American soil. China persistently denied that the balloon, which was shot down in February over the Atlantic, had been used for spying. Presidents Biden and Xi agreed to Secretary Blinken’s trip at a meeting last year in Bali, but it was delayed by the balloon drama. Secretary Blinken will be the highest-level American official to visit China since President Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. He is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to US officials. “Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years,” the Associated Press news agency reported. “Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.” Speaking to the AP before Mr Blinken’s departure, two US officials downplayed hopes for major progress and stressed that the trip was intended to restore a sense of calm and normalcy to high-level contacts. “We’re coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific. Kurt Campbell, the top Asia expert at the National Security Council, said “intense competition requires intense diplomacy if we’re going to manage tensions. That is the only way to clear up misperceptions, to signal, to communicate, and to work together where and when our interests align.” Read More Blinken set for high-stakes China visit with tensions rising and breakthrough prospects low China calls hacking report 'far-fetched' and accuses the US of targeting the cybersecurity industry Chinese premier meets with Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence Blinken heads to China this weekend on mission to salvage sinking ties and keep communications open Beijing criticizes new US sanctions on companies over pilot training, weapons development

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A TikTok has gone viral after viewers called it a "coming of age movie" and joked that the girls featured in it should be "nominated for an Academy Award". The video, originally uploaded to TikTok account @palmview956, which has since been removed and re-uploaded to the family's new account, has over 1 million views on TikTok. The video starts with a young girl, Valentina, participating in the 'Get Unready With Me' trend, but as she starts one of her young sisters runs in asking for scissors and then runs out again. A few seconds later a scream is heard and the girl's two younger sisters run into her room, and you can see that one sister, Khaleesi, cut her sister, Camilla's, hair. As the girls begin shouting, accusing one another of being in the wrong, Valentina tells them to be quiet after their mum can be heard off-camera asking if everything is okay. When the mum's suspicions are seemingly down, Valentina tells Khaleesi through her teeth "close the door now", whilst looking at Camilla's hair and trying to salvage it. "Tomorrow's picture day!" Camilla says, before Khaleesi hands her the cut piece of her. Valentina scolds them saying, "why are you laughing! I told you not to do anything stupid!" She then proceeds to search 'how to cut bangs', attempting to rectify the situation as all eldest sisters do. However, not before the youngest daughter comes running in saying "ooh you're in trouble!" Valentina however manages to buy the youngest girl's silence with... a cookie. Valentina manages to cut some bangs that look great, which Camilla initially agrees with until saying "what have you done to my life". Eventually the mum walks in demanding to know what is going on. The sisters are all giggling trying to insist that it is nothing, until they eventually give in and show the new haircut. They try and blame it on one another, until Camilla is demanded by her mother to show her dad her hair, to which Valentina says to the camera "pray for them," before ending the video. @palmview956oficial GURWM gone wrong.. Camelia cut her bangs Again ?? #parati #sisters #hermanas #gurwm #valentina #scissors #camelia #magdalena #bangs #fypシ #956 #palmview956 #viral #rgv #zamarripa #zamarripasisters #fail #gonewrong #letsgetto200k #rgv956 #rgvtx956 The eventful five-minute TikTok has gone viral after Twitter/X account @kingbealestreet, posted the video with the caption "this is literally a coming of age movie". The tweet has been viewed over 100 million times. Some called it "cinema", others compared it to Louisa May Alcott's famous novel 'Little Women', which follows four sisters. Other elder sisters also attested to this being a key part of the experience. Even Halle Berry loved the video: Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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The Family Guy TV series has always had a reputation for walking a tightrope between being satirical and downright offensive. Now, an AI-generated version of the show has been banned from one of its main platforms, the streaming site Twitch, after it seemingly made a bomb threat in one of its sequences. The parody was being hosted on the channel ai_peter, when one of the characters started talking about how best to plant a bomb in an indoor arena venue in Washington DC. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter A Twitter user who was tuned into the show when it happened said the account was disabled within minutes. The show was also later removed from YouTube, and the show is no longer streaming on Kick. Now, users trying to visit the channel on Twitch see the message: “This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.” The parody also featured a sequence in which the AI-generated protagonist Peter Griffin announced the death of Brian, the family's dog, who was a hugely popular character in the original show. AI parody streams court controversy The ai_peter account is the latest in a string of live streamers who have used the technology to mimic scenes from a popular TV show and beam it to users on platforms like Twitch, YouTube and Kick. Another earlier parody is AI Seinfeld, which started generating mocked-up scenes from the hit 1990s sitcom. However, that too was banned after it made an anti-LGBT+ joke. Despite the repeated controversies, AI-generated Twitch streamers have attracted thousands of viewers to their regular streams in recent months, with viewers enjoying the novelty of seeing how powerful the technology can be. The shows typically generate parody scenes from the original shows, while also taking suggestions and interacting with viewers. The AI Family Guy uses OpenAI DaVinci, a writing assistant and content creation platform. It uses audio generated using FakeYou.com, with the stream running 24/7. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.