Just a day after the US Secretary of State Tony Blinken warned China to keep its cool, 25 Chinese military jets flew into Taiwan’s air zone on Monday – the largest breach since the island began regularly reporting activity last September. Taiwan responded by scrambling combat aircraft, alerting missile defence systems and issuing radio warnings to the planes. China has put in almost daily appearances over the past few weeks as tensions heat up between Beijing and Taiwan’s main supporter, the US. Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province, and analysts say the exercises serve as a warning that Beijing is prepared to use force to unify the island with the mainland. #SquizShortcut

And while we have you… All US troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by 11 September – the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America coordinated by al-Qaeda from that country. They had been working towards a 1 May withdrawal.