Chinese president Xi Jinping is primed to consolidate his already considerable power as the ruling Communist Party begins its twice-a-decade national congress tomorrow.

A Chinese invasion of North Korea or at least a forced regime change is not as unlikely as most people might think and could help ‘Make China Great Again’, writes Bill Emmott.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Catch up on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com this morning.

The dimensions of Beijing and its minimalist architecture are alienating, and murals of China’s founding father, Mao Zedong, at odds with Prada stores, says Margaret Hickey.           

Duan Yongping is convinced Tim Cook didn’t have a clue who he was when they first met a couple years ago. 

Ryle Dwyer reads a trilogy that traces the life and crimes of the tyrant responsible for the deaths of millions of his fellow countrymen. 

Polly Samson loves to write, but hates sitting at her desk. She tells Colette Sheridan why she finds the short story to be the ideal form.

The leaders of Russia, Turkey, and China have cast off quasi democratic checks and balances, but the more autocratic their rule, the more they have to lose, writes Nina L Khrushcheva

The Soviet leader did not bang his shoe on the desk at the UN, says granddaughter  ,but few nations are immune to diplomatic blunders

Iran is divided between those seeking to embrace a Western way of life and the tradtionalists, writes Janine Di Giovanni

After a lavish display of Chinese military muscle in Beijing Rana Mitter assesses the future path of the Eastern colossus.

Hank Paulson is the ultimate insider. He worked with Nixon, was US treasury secretary, but hit the jackpot working for Goldman Sachs in China. Gerard Howlin discusses a career built on, among other things, charm.

Wide Open Opera’s ‘Nixon in China’ commemorates the late American president’s meeting with Mao Zedong in 1972, writes Alan O’Riordan.

History offered another one of its delicious ironies yesterday when a World Bank report suggested that China, hardly 30 years after Communist demigod Mao Zedong’s death, will become the world’s biggest economy and the country with the greatest purchasing power this year, several years earlier than had been anticipated.

Indian Maoist rebels have killed 14 people in two separate attacks as they continue a campaign of violence aimed at disrupting a five-week national election.

Aspiring superpower China has so far been happy to sit on the fence over neighbour Russia’s actions in Crimea, as it waits to see what may be possible closer to home, writes Max Strasser

’All fours’ runner sets 100m record

Chinese police are circulating a list of eight suspects wanted in connection with an apparent suicide car crash near Tiananmen Square in Beijing that killed five people and injured dozens.

Greed and betrayal in one of China’s elite families went on display today when prosecutors in the corruption trial of disgraced politician Bo Xilai released testimony from his wife on a businessman’s gifts to the family, including a French villa and plane tickets to three continents.

Ousted politician Bo Xilai recanted a confession of bribery when prosecutors alleged he used his wife and son to help collect more than €2.9m in illicit funds as he stood trial in China’s biggest political scandal in decades.

In a century riven by two world wars and famines causing millions of deaths, disease exacted a spectacular toll on humanity even when compared to war or hunger.

MY IRELAND-SIZED sense of distance had got me in trouble-again.

Between 1958 and 1961, some 36 million Chinese people starved to death because of Mao’s obsessive and dishonest Great Leap Forward, finds Neil Robinson

Activists, academics and dissidents are questioning China’s purge of Bo Xilai, demanding the rule of law be followed allowing the disgraced leader to defend himself.

Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis sold for $37m (€28m) and works by Roy Lichtenstein and Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei broke their own records at Sotheby’s contemporary art sale.

Good luck wishes go to China in its bid to establish a multi-billion dollar thoroughbred breeding and training facility, with Irish help.

WHEN US vice president Joe Biden visited China last August, he spent many hours bonding with his Beijing counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The visit to Ireland of China’s pro-business vice-president Xi Jinping could mark the start of a significant increase in trade between the countries, but we must be ready to grab this golden opportunity with two hands, writes Dan Buckley

Despite his Machiavellian morals, Henry Kissinger’s tale of the Asian nation’s newfound significance is a fascinating read, says TP O’Mahony.

Dennis Hopper’s widow has prevented the sale of part of his art collection.

A bomb planted under a bridge has killed eight civilians in India – a day after police found the crude device but left it under sandbags until it could be defused.

China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact today that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war.

Maoist rebels launched a series of devastating ambushes on Indian troops today killing at least 75 in the deadliest strike against the government in their 43-year insurgency.

Maoist rebels killed at least 60 paramilitary soldiers in attacks in eastern India today.

By Jan Wong

Security forces were searching forests in central India today after suspected Maoist rebels ambushed a patrol team, killing at least 17 policemen, a top official said.

CHINA celebrated its wealth and rising might with a show of goose-stepping troops, gaudy floats and nuclear-capable missiles in Beijing yesterday, 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.

The only grandson of China’s revolutionary leader Chairman Mao has been made the youngest general in the People’s Liberation Army at the age of 39.

A Taiwan court imposed a life sentence on former President Chen Shui-bian after convicting him of corruption today, marking a watershed in the island's turbulent political history.

Suspected Maoist rebels blew up a police van in eastern India today, killing at least 11 police.