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☆ Everything you want to know about Janet Yellen’s China visit; Russia, chopsticks, oversupply
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb this enormous capacity,” Yellen told reporters Monday. US intelligence has warned that China is providing technology and equipment to Russia that is important to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. During her last visit to Beijing, Yellen dramatically boosted business for a Yunnan restaurant chain and its mushroom dish after her delegation was spotted dining there. “As a US official, Yellen needs to know more about China than just its food. Only by understanding China better, can she correct the US worldview and its views of China and China-US relations.”

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, ”, China Nicholas Burns, Pedro Pardo, Li Qiang, ” Yellen, Li, Biden, “, Mao Ning, Xi, CNN’s Marc Stewart, we’ve, Andy Wong, “ Yellen, Tao Tao Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Russia, China's, Getty, Vice, Foreign Ministry, Treasury Department ., Ukraine, China’s, Ministry, “ Locations: China, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, United States, AFP, Washington, Xinhua, Russia, Ukraine, Treasury Department . China, San Fransisco, “, Yunnan, Weibo

☆ Japan FX tsar Kanda says speculation behind weak yen, ready to take action
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Masato Kanda, vice-minister of finance for international affairs at Japan's Ministry of Finance, during a press conference after the Group of 20 (G-20) finance ministers and central bank governors meeting. "Looking at currencies, the dollar/yen pair has gone through big fluctuations of 4% over only the past two weeks," Kanda told reporters. Kanda described the recent yen moves as "speculative." He said he wouldn't rule out any measures but stands ready to respond appropriately to the currency's move. He added he has been closely watching currency moves with a sense of urgency, even when he was travelling overseas over the weekend.

Persons: Masato Kanda, Kanda Organizations: Japan's Ministry of Finance

☆ Crocus City attack: The ghost of Russia’s past wars comes back to haunt Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Twenty years ago, the Dubrovka gunmen were the disturbed product of Russia’s savage anti-terror campaign that summarily executed hundreds of military aged males in Chechnya in the early 2000s. Emergency services personnel and police work at the scene of the Crocus City Hall attack. First, there will be further efforts to suggest Ukraine and the West are somehow involved in these attacks. The Dubrovka attack was followed two years later by airplanes being blown out of the sky and the catastrophic nightmare of the Beslan school siege. In 2002, Dubrovka forced Moscow reluctantly yet closer to the United States’ war on terror.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Kadyrov, Stringer, Maria Zakharova, Margarita Simonyan, overstretched Putin, Dubrovka, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: CNN, Gunmen, Dubrovka Theatre, Chechen, Crocus City, Kremlin, Authorities, Getty, Russia Today, ISIS Locations: Moscow, Crocus, Russia, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Caucasus, AFP, Ukraine, fatigues, Russian, Beslan, United States

In the past, leading opposition figures in Putin’s Russia who stood up to him and who questioned his authority have tended to be dealt with harshly. Life in Putin's Russia View All 14 ImagesThe liberal Boris Nemtsov was killed, for instance, in 2015 outside the Kremlin (supposedly by agents linked to Putin’s FSB). He needs the election to be seen as “clean” as a means of cementing his legacy as Russian state leader. As leader, Putin has regularly been recorded as enjoying popular support. While Putin does appear now to enjoy a high degree of popularity in Russia (albeit largely media-engineered), this may not last.

Persons: Rod Thornton, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Tsar Peter the Great, Nikolai Kharitonov, Putin –, Yekaterina Duntsova, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, –, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: Communist, Kremlin, St, International Studies , Defense, Security, King's College Locations: Russia, Soviet, Ukraine, Putin’s Russia, Siberia, Navalny, London, Russian, Moscow, St Petersburg

☆ George Hoyningen-Huene: The man who captured the jazz age on film
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Christian House | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —In 1930 George Hoyningen-Huene pulled off one of the greatest dupes in the history of photography. George Hoyningen-Huene Estate ArchivesRönngren said Huene was “like Forrest Gump. George Hoyningen-Huene Estate ArchivesAll this gossip and glamour would, of course, make great television: and Rönngren is now working on a Netflix drama about the photographer’s life and times. The Jaeger exhibition, which presents works, dating from 1927 to 1955, coincides with the publication of “George Hoyningen-Huene: Photography, Fashion, Film” by Susanna Brown (Thames & Hudson). Photographer George Hoyningen-Huene in the studio in Paris, 1937.

Persons: George Hoyningen, Huene, Horst P, Horst, Lee Miller, ”, “ George Hoyningen, Katherine Hepburn, Josephine Baker, Benjamin Jaeger, Steffi, ” Huene, Baron Barthold Theodor Hermann von Hoyningen, Tsar Nicholas II, Susannah Brown, George, Salvador Dalí, Weissmuller, Huene “, Tommy Rönngren, Asa, Tommy “, Rönngren, Forrest Gump, Joseph Pilates, Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, George Cukor, Condé Nast, Cole Porter, “ sauvage, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, “, Dietrich, Garbo, ’ ” Heune, Miriam Hopkins, Susanna Brown, Baker, Roger Schall, Lisa Fonssagrives, Irving Penn, Jaeger Organizations: CNN, Vogue, Cote, Jaeger Art, Jaeger, “, British Army, Condé, Thames & Hudson, Nexus Hall, Neue, Hudson Locations: Paris, Russian, New York, Côte, Berlin, St Petersburg, England, France, Montmartre, Swedish, Huene, Horst’s, Stockholm, “, Hollywood, revolté, Thames, Tokyo, Europe, Germany

☆ China gives suspended death sentence to Tian Huiyu, former China Merchants Bank president
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The court said he had used his privileged access to information to make more than 290 million yuan ($41 million) in illegal gains from the stock market. He also leaked inside information about stocks to other people, which yielded more than 8 million yuan ($1.1 million) in illicit profits, it said. In return, he accepted bribes worth more than 210 million yuan ($30 million), it said. In 2013, Tian was promoted to head China Merchants Bank, serving as its president and its Communist Party boss. The Communist Party has stepped up its crackdown on the country’s state-owned financial system since last year.

Persons: Tian Huiyu, Xi Jinping, Tian, Wang Qishan, ”, Li Xiaopeng, Liu Liange, Bao Fan, Bao Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, China Cinda Asset Management, Beijing, Communist Party, Central Commission, Communist, Adobe, China Everbright Group, Bank of China, China Renaissance Locations: China, Hong Kong, Changde city, Hunan, China’s, Shanghai, Changde

☆ Caspar David Friedrich: The German artist’s rise from obscurity to fame
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Catherine Hickey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Caspar David Friedrich's work "Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon." Staatliche Museen zu BerlinThe Berlin exhibition, “Caspar David Friedrich: Infinite Landscapes,” will examine the Nationalgalerie’s role in rediscovering the artist at the beginning of the 20th century. Thanks to the royal purchases, Berlin has one of the most significant collections of Friedrich works in the world. SHK/Hamburger Kunsthalle/bpkThe German museums were in discussion about loans from Russia before February 2020, Verwiebe says. In 1974, long queues formed for a Friedrich exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle marking his 200th birthday.

Persons: —, Caspar David Friedrich, Alte, Dresden’s, Caspar David Friedrich's, “ Caspar David Friedrich, Birgit Verwiebe, Friedrich, Clemens Brentano, Heinrich von Kleist, Frederick William IV, ”, Frederick William III, Charlotte, Tsar Nicholas I, Friedrich's, Verwiebe, — Hitler, London’s Tate, Christina Grummt, Friedrich sketchbook, Gerhard Richter, Julian Charrière, Olafur Eliasson, Ulrike Rosenbach, Kehinde Wiley, “, ” Grummt Organizations: The Art, CNN, Hamburg’s Kunsthalle, zu, Berlin Academy, SHK, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Staatliche, Villa Grisebach, Kunst, Metropolitan Museum of Art Locations: Germany, Weimar, Greifswald, Friedrich’s, zu Berlin, Berlin, Dresden, Oakwood, ”, Russia, Hermitage, St Petersburg, Hamburger, Ukraine, German, Villa, Greenland, Hamburg, Winterthur, New York

☆ Russia says its scientists created a new nuclear blast simulator with flash and mushroom cloud effects to train soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russian nuclear missile rolls along Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat, on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesMoscow has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, with nearly 5,900 warheads, according to a tally by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Tactical nuclear weapons have arisen as a point of debate and discussion during the fighting in Ukraine. Several weeks later, a Kremlin spokesperson said Moscow would use nuclear weapons if it felt like it faced an existential threat. At the time, the top United Nations official warned that nuclear war was back "within the realm of possibility."

Persons: —, Mikhail Svetlov, John Plumb, Tsar, TATYANA MAKEYEVA, Vladimir Putin, NSNW, Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, that's Organizations: Service, Business, Khrulev Military Academy of Logistics, Getty, International, Nuclear, Pentagon, Defense, Space, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia Strategic Initiative, US European Command, Tactical, NATO, Kremlin, United Nations Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, United States, Soviet, AFP, Ukraine, Belarus

☆ How Jewish People Built the American Theater
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +46 min

Let Us Tell You A Story How Jewish people built the American theater as we know it. The theater, which for many Jews was a major way of becoming American in the first place, seems unable to acknowledge that the danger that American Jews face is not just historical, and not just onstage. (Both of Adler’s parents were Yiddish theater stars — her father, Jacob Adler, was a renowned Shylock in 1903.) Embedding their own observation and experience within Stanislavsky’s, along with the best of Yiddish theater and a generous dollop of Freud, they converted the American theater to Judaism. Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe Jewish contribution to the creation of the American theater was built on the acknowledgment of a larger humanity alive within each of us, available to some, with natural empathy and rigorous training.

Persons: Glocca, “, Lerner, Loewe, ”, Isidore Hochberg, Burton Lane, né Burton Levy, William Goldman, “ Killybegs, Sammy Davis Jr, Julie Andrews, Connie Francis, Rosemary Clooney, Tommy Dorsey, Davis, —, Arthur Miller’s “, joyously, Jason Schmidt, Christine Jones, Miller, I’ve, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Brustein, Neil Simon’s, ” Cynthia Ozick, Sholom, Philip Roth, Simon, Leonard Bernstein, Matt Nadel, Bradley, Bernstein, “ Maestro, Shylock, William Shakespeare’s “, Venice ”, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe’s, Farah Karim, Cooper, Bard ”, “ Merchant, Tom Stoppard’s, Sara Krulwich, Ansky’s, Stella Adler, Bessie Berger, Clifford Odets’s, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Francis Joseph Bruguière, Billy Rose, Eugene Smith, Roth, Arthur Schnitzler, Juliet Stevenson, Ruth Wolff, Lorraine Hansberry’s, Sidney’s, Alex Edelman’s “, Leo Frank, Bernard B, Frank, Mandy Patinkin, James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim’s, George, Martha Swope, outspokenness, creatives, Oscar Isaac, Sidney, “ Sidney Brustein, Isaac, Stevenson, Robert Icke, Roman Catholic Cooper, Rachel Brosnahan, Maisel, Joan Rivers —, Brosnahan, Sidney Brustein’s, Alec Guinness, Fagin, “ Oliver Twist, I’m, Micaela Diamond, Ben Platt, Lucille, Alfred Uhry, Jason Robert Brown’s, Rivers, Wolff, Robert, Republic ”, isn’t, LEE Strasberg, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s, Fyodor Ivanovich, Strasberg, Israel Strassberg, Zalmon, Srulke, Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock’s “, Bette Midler, Jackie Hoffman, Photofest Stanislavsky, Theater’s, Isaac Butler, Stanislavsky, Harold Clurman, George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, Clurman, Adler, Jacob Adler, Freud, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ruthie Rivkin, Jerome Weidman, Harold Rome’s “, John Weidman, disown Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Bobby Lewis, né, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Meisner, Robert Duvall, Lewis, Meryl Streep, Clifford Odets, Jacob Garfinkle, Jules Garfield, Odets, Sam Feinschreiber, Garfield, Ralph Berger, wasn’t, John, Tovah Feldshuh, Golda Meir, William Gibson’s, Aaron Epstein, exigencies, Bessie, Feinschreiber —, loveless, William Fox, Louis B, Mayer, Jack Warner, Marjorie Morningstar ”, Morgenstern, Marjorie, Natalie Wood, Anne Frank ”, Millie Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Susan Strasberg —, Ibsen, Sholom Aleichem, August Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Thomas Jefferson, Lin, Manuel Miranda’s “ Hamilton ”, Adrian Lester, Emanuel Lehman —, Barbra Streisand, Marmelstein, George Silk, Miller’s, Sophie Okonedo, Elizabeth Proctor, Ben Whishaw, John Proctor, Jan Versweyveld, Don’t, — Bernstein, Stoppard, Schnitzler, Jeanine Tesori, Tony Kushner’s “ Caroline, Sharon D Clarke, Adam Makké, Noah Gellman, Leo, Stoppard —, Hermine, ” Leo Frank, there’s, Matthew Broderick, Eugene Jerome, it’s, Edelman’s, Queens bigots, David Yosef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman, Woody Allen, Joshua Harmon’s, — George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Porgy, Bess ”, Barns, Alex Edelman, Paula Vogel, Harvey Fierstein, Jordan Taylor Fuller, — that’s, Wendell Pierce, Friedman, Jacobs, Hirschfeld, Gershwin, Rodgers, PAULA VOGEL, BRANDON URANOWITZ, DAVID CROMER, MICAELA DIAMOND, TONY KUSHNER, Diamond, Monica Rich Kosann, Marco Bicego, JESSE EISENBERG, MATTHEW BRODERICK, AMY HERZOG, LESLIE RODRIGUEZ KRITZER, JOEL GREY, Herzog, Michael Kors, Kritzer, Marco, HARVEY FIERSTEIN, LIEV SCHREIBER, ETHAN SLATER, IDINA MENZEL, TINA LANDAU Organizations: Broadway, Broadway’s Lyceum, “, of Venice, New York Times, Defamation League, New York Public Library, Performing, Vandamm, Billy, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Performing Arts, New, Jacobs, Empire State, Nazi, Goyim Defense, The New York Public Library, Roman Catholic, New York City, Street, Moscow Art, Group, Hollywood, Disney, Everett, The New York Times, Philadelphia, Brit, Times Locations: Poland, American, kilts, E.Y, Harburg, Kilkerry, Kildare, Philadelphia, New York, Polish, Massachusetts, Vichy, Biloxi, Venice, Malta, of, ”, Germany, playgoers, Sweden, England, United States, Pittsburgh, Nazi, Brustein’s, Greenwich, Georgia, Gutenberg, “, Atlanta, Republic, New, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow, Russian, America, Moscow, Stanislavsky’s, Clurman, Eastern Europe, Czech, Austrian, Auschwitz, Heini, Southern, Brighton, Rivers, French Republic, “ Brigadoon

☆ El discurso de odio antisemita y antimusulmán prolifera en internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Sheera Frenkel | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

“Algunos de ellos dicen explícitamente que esta es una oportunidad para regodearse y celebrar el asesinato de judíos en internet”, declaró. “Están intentando atraer público a sus contenidos, y este es un momento de enorme crecimiento para ellos”. Sheera Frenkel es una reportera afincada en la bahía de San Francisco que cubre el impacto de la tecnología en la vida cotidiana, centrándose en las redes sociales, como Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram y WhatsApp. Más deSheera FrenkelSteven Lee Myers cubre temas de desinformación para The New York Times. Ha trabajado en Washington, Moscú, Bagdad y Pekín, donde contribuyó a los artículos que ganaron el Premio Pulitzer por servicio público en 2021.

☆ Biden and Xi meeting set for next week as US hopes to halt downward spiral in relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —President Biden’s highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is set for next Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area, senior US administration officials said, setting up a test of whether the two men can slow a downward spiral in relations at a moment of heavy global turbulence. It includes restoring military-to-military communication between the two countries, a chief objective for Biden, who plans to press Xi on the issue. Despite a deep and apparently warm personal relationship cultivated during their time as vice presidents, Biden and Xi have overseen a deterioration in US-China relations to the lowest level in decades. That meeting was intended to establish a baseline for the relationship amid heightened economic and military tension. Ahead of next week’s meeting, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen invited Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, known as the country’s “economic tsar,” for a two-day meeting starting Thursday.

Persons: Biden’s, Xi Jinping, aren’t, Biden, Xi, ”, Bonny Lin, “ Rather, Nancy Pelosi, Antony Blinken, Janet Yellen, Gina Raimondo, Wang Yi, Jake Sullivan, Han Zheng, ” Han Organizations: CNN, San Francisco Bay Area, White, Communist Party, Biden, China Power Project, Center for Strategic, International Studies, US National, Washington, Bloomberg Locations: San Francisco Bay, Ukraine, Washington, Beijing, Israel, South, Taiwan, California, China, Russia, United States, Bali, Singapore

☆ Humane's Ai Pin has some in the tech world scratching their heads
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Humane's wearable Ai Pin is finally here — and some tech workers don't seem to be impressed. The criticisms come as techies debate whether Humane's Ai Pin will be the iPhone of the AI era. AdvertisementAdvertisementHumane's highly anticipated Ai Pin is finally here — and some people in tech don't have nice things to say about it. Humane's Ai Pin isn't the only AI gadget getting attention. As for whether AI devices like Humane's Ai pin will create a sea change in the tech industry — only time will tell.

Persons: Humane's Ai, —, Imran Chaudhri, Bethany Bongiorno, Ai, It's, Casey Newton, he'd, didn't, zB2taCCmZ6 — Casey Newton, Avi Schiffmann, Ai Pin's, Ben Kylak, what's, doLIcfU060, Liron Shapira, Joseph Tsar, Steve Jobs, — Joseph Tsar Organizations: Service, Apple, Meta Locations: @CaseyNewton

☆ Janet Yellen to host China’s top economic official ahead of expected Biden-Xi talks in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Bryan Mena | Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Yellen’s talks with China’s new economic tsar will set the stage for the high-stakes potential meeting expected between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The United States is the host for this year’s summit, which is an annual gathering of top leaders in government and business of the 21 economies in the Pacific Rim. The United States is the host for this year’s summit, which is an annual gathering of top leaders in government and business of the 21 economies in the Pacific Rim. US and Chinese officials are seeking to shore up diplomatic ties and cooperation on economic issues. The International Monetary Fund recently upgraded its forecast for China’s economic growth based on Beijing’s policies aimed at propping up the country’s ailing property sector.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Lifeng, Yellen’s, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, John Kerry, Gina Raimondo, Wang Yi, “, Biden, Xi, ”, Mattie Bekink, Yellen, ” Yellen Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Economic Cooperation, Washington, Economist Intelligence, Network, Treasury Department, Biden, CNN, Monetary Fund Locations: China, Washington, Hong Kong, Asia, San Francisco, United States, Rim, Beijing, Shanghai, decouple

☆ Beijing is ready to improve ties with US, says Chinese vice-president
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Beijing is ready to improve ties with Washington, a senior Chinese official said Wednesday, days before a highly anticipated potential meeting between leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in San Francisco. Ahead of that potential meeting, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has invited Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, known as the country’s “economic tsar,” for a two-day meeting starting Thursday. Washington has sent four cabinet officials to Beijing since June, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Climate Envoy John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “The foundation of Sino-US relations lies in the people, and the source of strength lies in people-to-people friendship,” Xi added. Biden and Xi last met face-to-face in November 2022 for a three-hour talk in Bali, Indonesia, at a G20 summit.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, ”, Han Zheng, ” Han, Biden, Xi, Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, John Kerry, Gina Raimondo, Wang Yi, Jake Sullivan, Xi Han’s, ” Xi, Yellen Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Washington, Bloomberg, Economy, Economic Cooperation, US National, Getty, Sister Cities Conference, Relations, China, Treasury Department Locations: China, Hong Kong, Hong Kong CNN — Beijing, San Francisco, Singapore, United States, Asia, . Washington, Beijing, Washington, Bali , Indonesia, Ukraine, Israel

☆ China Appoints He Lifeng as Head of Office of the Central Financial Commission -Central Bank Publication
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy tsar He Lifeng has been appointed as head of office of Central Financial Commission, according to a central bank publication Financial News report on Monday. He was also appointed as party chief of Central Financial Work Commission, according to the publication. The publication for the first time referred to He by the new titles in a readout of a meeting of the Central Financial Commission, without giving details on the appointments. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Persons: Lifeng, Tom Hogue Organizations: Central Financial Commission, Central Financial Work, Beijing Locations: BEIJING

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attends a joint press conference following the 10th China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China September 25, 2023. He, 68, replaced internationally respected Liu He as one of China's four vice premiers during its annual parliament session in March. The full scope of his portfolio had been largely unclear until Sunday when state media referred to him as the director of a powerful Communist Party economic body. "He Lifeng mainly implements policies from the top leader," said a policy adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity, referring to Xi. "Now under the leadership of the Party ... there will be closer cooperation among the top economic planner, central bank and the finance ministry."

Persons: Lifeng, Florence, Xi Jinping's, Liu, Xi, Liu He, Li Keqiang, Peng Liyuan, Kevin Yao, Laurie Chen, Joe Cash, Ellen Zhang, Marius Zaharia Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Communist Party, Central Financial Commission, Harvard, Investors, State Council, Party, Xiamen University, National Development, Reform Commission, Thomson Locations: China, EU, Diaoyutai, Beijing, Rights BEIJING, China's, Washington, Europe, Quanzhou, Fujian, Xiamen, Tianjin, Lincoln

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attends a joint press conference following the 10th China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China's economy tsar He Lifeng has been appointed director of a key ruling Communist Party economic body, matching his high-profile predecessor Liu He with a particularly powerful portfolio covering economic policy, the financial sector and trade ties with Washington. He, who had previously headed the state planning agency, became one of China's four vice premiers in March when he replaced Liu He, who retired. He has now also replaced Liu as director of the office of the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Commission, a party body headed by President Xi Jinping. He could emerge as head of the resurrected Central Financial Work Commission, when state leaders, regulators and top bankers gather for a quinquennial, closed-door national financial work conference.

Persons: Lifeng, Florence, Liu, Liu He, Xi Jinping, Xi, Li Qiang, Janet Yellen, Valdis Dombrovskis, Joe Cash, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Communist Party, Washington, Central Finance, Economic Affairs Commission, U.S, Treasury, EU Trade, Harvard, Financial Work Commission, Bloomberg News, Thomson Locations: China, EU, Diaoyutai, Beijing, Rights BEIJING, Shanghai, China's, U.S

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends EU-China High-Level Strategic Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, China, on October 13, 2023. "Cooperation is very much important," Borrell told a press conference ending a three-day visit that had twice been postponed. During talks in Beijing last month, China's economy tsar, He Lifeng, asked EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to "exercise restraint in the use of trade remedy measures". The EU plans to open an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese steelmakers this month, the Financial Times has reported. The EU and China plan a summit by the end of the year, with Borrell's visit and those of a number of other top EU officials in recent months having paved the way.

Persons: Josep Borrell, Pedro Pardo, Borrell, Enrique Mora, Wang Yi, Lifeng, Valdis Dombrovskis, Laurie Chen, Joe Cash, William Mallard Organizations: EU, Representative, Foreign Affairs, House, REUTERS Acquire, EV, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: EU, China, Beijing, BEIJING, Brussels, Europe, United States, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Russia

☆ How hydrogen bombs compare to atomic bombs, and how scientists created the most destructive weapon ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Hydrogen bombs and atomic bombs are both nuclear weapons that can cause mass destruction. But just seven years later an even more destructive nuclear bomb was built — the hydrogen bomb. Whereas hydrogen bombs get their power from a combination of fission and its opposite — nuclear fusion — the binding of atoms. Hydrogen vs. atomic bombs: damage and destructionWhile atomic bomb blasts are measured in kilotons — 1 kt is equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT — hydrogen bombs are often measured in megatons. AdvertisementAdvertisementBoth atomic and hydrogen bombs are nuclear weapons and therefore create long-lasting, dangerous nuclear fallout.

Persons: Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman, Hahn, Lisa Meitner, Otto Frisch, Meitner, Frisch, Alex Wellerstein, Wellerstein, Little, Amanda Macias, Tsar, Soviet Union —, Bomba, it's Organizations: Service, Trinity, Stevens Institute of Technology, Little Boy, Lions, TNT, Little, Bravo, US, Hanford , Washington . Department of Locations: Wall, Silicon, United States, Japan, Austrian, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, megatons, Soviet Union, Soviet, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Hanford , Washington

☆ NASA scientists calculated the exact date an asteroid could hit Earth with the force of at least 24 nuclear bombs. Thankfully, it's a long way off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of hitting our planet on September 24, 2182, NASA said. It would release as much energy as about 24 nuclear bombs, so NASA is keeping a close eye on it. Dust grabbed from the asteroid by NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft is due to arrive on Earth on Sunday. NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid Bennu, a 1,610-foot-wide cosmic object that could smash into our planet. Bennu was photographed under all angles by NASA's Osiris-Rex mission.

Persons: NASA's Osiris, Tsar Bomba, NASA's, — it's, there's, Bennu, Rex Organizations: NASA, Service, Empire, Eiffel, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, University of Arizona NASA, NASA's Goddard Space Locations: Wall, Silicon, Bennu, Chelyabinsk, Russia, Utah

☆ Russell Brand can no longer make money on YouTube following sexual assault accusations from 4 women
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

British comedian Russell Brand can no longer make money on YouTube following "serious allegations." Brand was recently accused of sexual assault by four women in reports published by British media. "This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand," the Google-owned video service said. Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. London's Metropolitan Police Force said that since those claims were made public, it has received a report of a separate sexual assault dating from 2003.

Persons: Russell Brand, Brand, Russell, Katy Perry, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Ellie Tomsett, … Organizations: YouTube, Service, BBC, Google, Brand's, Football, Twitter, The Times, Sunday Times, London's Metropolitan Police Force, Birmingham City University Locations: British, Wall, Silicon, Hawaii, Los Angeles, U.K, London, Windsor

☆ In China, Raimondo says US will prioritise national security, does not seek decoupling
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Andy Wong/Pool via REUTERS/ Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The United States will put national security concerns first but does not seek to decouple from China, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told China's Vice Premier He Lifeng at a meeting on Tuesday. "While we will never compromise in protecting our national security, I want to be clear that we will never seek to decouple or hold China's economy back," Raimondo said during opening remarks in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. A confidant of President Xi Jinping, He took up the post of China's economy tsar in March, having earlier run the powerful state planner. Earlier on Tuesday, Raimondo and Tourism Minister Hu Hepin agreed to hold the 14th China-U.S. Tourism Leadership Summit in China in the first half of 2024. Such an exchange offered a platform to reduce misunderstandings of U.S. national security policies, Raimondo said on Monday, but added, "We are not compromising or negotiating on matters of national security.

Persons: Gina Raimondo, Andy Wong, Biden, " Raimondo, Xi Jinping, Liu, Raimondo, Hu Hepin, Walt Disney, Matthew Axelrod, Xie Feng, Wang Wentao, Xie, Wang, David Shepardson, Joe Cash, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: . Commerce, of, People, REUTERS, Rights, Harvard, U.S . Tourism Leadership Summit, Commerce Department, United, Walt, Shendi, Twitter, Intel, Micron, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, United States, decouple, Beijing's, U.S, Seattle, Shanghai, Washington

☆ US commerce chief meets Chinese premier in Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng head to their seats for a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Tuesday, August, 29, 2023. Andy Wong/Pool via REUTERS/ Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Aug 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met China's Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday, her second full day of talks with top Chinese leaders on balancing business ties and national security concerns. Earlier on Tuesday, Raimondo told China's economy tsar and her direct counterpart, He Lifeng, that the U.S. does not seek to decouple from its geopolitical rival. A confidant of President Xi Jinping, He took up the post of China's economy tsar in March, having earlier run the powerful state planner. Such an exchange offered a platform to reduce misunderstandings of U.S. national security policies, Raimondo said on Monday, but added, "We are not compromising or negotiating on matters of national security.

Persons: Gina Raimondo, Andy Wong, China's, Li Qiang, Raimondo, Biden, Xi Jinping, Liu, Hu Hepin, Walt Disney, Matthew Axelrod, Xie Feng, Wang Wentao, Xie, Wang, David Shepardson, Joe Cash, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: . Commerce, of, People, REUTERS, Rights, Harvard, U.S . Tourism Leadership Summit, Commerce Department, United, Walt, Shendi, Twitter, Intel, Micron, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, U.S, Seattle, United States, Shanghai, Washington

☆ Pope Francis draws criticism for extolling Russian imperialist tsars
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience, in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, August 9, 2023. You are heirs of the great Russia - the great Russia of the saints, of kings, the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, the great Russian empire, cultured, so much culture, so much humanity. An editorial on Italy's Il Sismografo website, which specialises in Catholic affairs, called the pope's words "odd" at a delicate moment in history. Pope Francis is a Jesuit. The comment prompted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to summon the Vatican's ambassador in Kyiv to protest, saying the pope's words were "unfair" and had "broken Ukraine's heart".

Persons: Pope Francis, Paul VI, Peter the Great, Vladimir Putin, Francis, Catherine II, Russia, Oleg Nikolenko, Nikolenko, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Italy's, Catherine, Catherine the Great, Pope Clement XIV, Last, Putin, Tsar Peter the Great, propounding, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Nexta, Darya, Dmytro Kuleba, Ron Popeski, Tomasz Janowski, Alex Richardson Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, CITY, Kremlin, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Facebook, Rite Catholic Church, Ukrainian, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Russia, Crimea, Russian, Estonian, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Moscow, Kyiv

☆ How hydrogen bombs work and why they were created after WWII despite being more powerful than atomic bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

But just seven years after dropping the atomic bombs, the United States detonated an even more powerful nuclear weapon: the hydrogen bomb. A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, can create explosive force hundreds or even thousands of times greater than an atomic bomb. That extra challenge is why it took scientists longer to build a hydrogen bomb than the atomic bomb. Some physicists, including Oppenheimer, who were concerned about the far greater destructive potential of hydrogen bombs compared to atomic bombs, opposed their development. Hydrogen bomb tests were incredibly powerfulOn November 1, 1952, the US detonated the first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Persons: Edward Teller, Sun, there's, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Melinda Sue Gordon, Enrico Fermi, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Harry S, Truman, Stanislaw Ulam, Teller, Mike, NurPhoto, Dragon Organizations: US, Service, TNT, University of Nevada, Getty, Tsar, Manhattan Project, Los, Universal, Alamos, Soviet Union, Atomic Energy, Bravo, Castle Bravo, Marshall Locations: Los Alamos, Wall, Silicon, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, United States, Las Vegas, Mt, Soviet, Soviet Union, Marshall, Castle, Bikini Atoll, Japan, Great Britain, Russia

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