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On Saturday, a US warship was on a joint operation with the Canadian Navy vessel HMCS Montreal. The ships were floating through the contested waters between the island of Taiwan and mainland China. But it wasn't all plain sailing; the ships were cut off by a Chinese warship. And why are parents still spending so much on these institutions?

At a meeting of defence ministers from the Asia-Pacific region, heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington were all too apparent. A naval spat in the Taiwan Strait looms large over relations. What will it take for both sides to talk? In Brazil, Lula faces an uphill battle to undo his predecessor’s policies. And are British boarding schools worth it?

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