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☆ U.S. and China trade divisions threaten a 'reversal' for global economy, IMF official warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Carlos Barria | Afp | Getty ImagesDifferences between U.S.-led Western and China-aligned economic blocs threaten global trade cooperation and economic growth, a top official with the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday. IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in a speech at Stanford University that events such as the global pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have disrupted global trade relations in ways not seen since the Cold War. "Increasingly, countries around the world are guided by economic security and national security concerns in determining who they trade with and invest in," she said, adding that this has resulted in countries increasingly picking sides between China and the U.S. Trade between the China and U.S. blocs has declined compared with trade among countries within the groupings, Gopinath said. The U.S. bloc mainly includes Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, while China-leaning countries include Russia, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Carlos Barria, Gita Gopinath, Gopinath Organizations: National Committee, China Relations, China Business Council, Economic Cooperation, APEC, Afp, International Monetary Fund, Stanford University, U.S, IMF, Trade, West Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, China, Ukraine, Washington, Beijing, U.S, South, Taiwan, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Syria

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russians inflict 'massive attack' on Ukraine's energy network, leaving power plants damaged
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Russia used more than 50 missiles and 20 drones to attack Ukraine's infrastructure overnight, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday morning, with the country's energy network suffering a "massive attack." "The enemy does not abandon plans to deprive Ukrainians of light. Again a massive attack on our energy!" Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook Wednesday. Power plants and transmission facilities were attacked in a number of regions, he said, including the southern Zaporizhzhia region and Vinnytsia and Lviv in central and western Ukraine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Galushchenko Organizations: Ukraine's Energy, German, Facebook Locations: Russia, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Ukraine

☆ A Ukrainian tank crew says the Abrams is still being used on the front lines, but isn't finding 'tank-on-tank' battles where it has the edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Ukrainian tank crew told state media they're still using the Abrams tank on the front lines. A Ukrainian Abrams commander told Army TV that the tanks weren't withdrawn but are used situationally. AdvertisementA Ukrainian tank crew says the US-supplied Abrams is still viable on the front lines, but the tank-on-tank battles where it excels have been few and far between. Advertisement"WHERE IS UKRAINIAN ABRAMS: how the legendary American tank fights at the front," its title reads. At least five Abrams tanks have been reported lost in combat, with another three damaged.

Persons: Abrams, Ukrainian Abrams, —, Kyiv hadn't, Dmytro, Alexey, Biden Organizations: Pentagon, Abrams, Army, Service, Associated Press, Kyiv, Mechanized Brigade, Ukraine's Defense Ministry, YouTube, ABRAMS, Business Insider, Russian, AP, Russia, Congress Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Hill

☆ Opinion | Iran and Israel Weren’t Always Enemies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Karim Sadjadpour | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“History is littered,” the British writer and politician Enoch Powell said, “with the wars which everybody knew would never happen.”A full-blown conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel once seemed implausible. Iran and Israel are not natural adversaries. In contrast to other modern conflicts — between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan — Iran and Israel have no bilateral land or resource disputes. Their national strengths — Iran is an energy titan and Israel is a tech innovator — are more complementary than competitive. Iran was the second Muslim nation, after Turkey, to recognize Israel after its founding in 1948.

Persons: Enoch Powell, specter, King Cyrus the Great Locations: Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, United States, Iran, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Turkey

☆ A Ukrainian tank crew said the Abrams tank is as easy to drive as a scooter and that they learned how to operate its weapons in 1 week
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewA Ukrainian tank gunner and driver were filmed heaping praise on US-supplied Abrams tanks in a state-backed media report, boasting that they've been easy to learn to operate. "There's nothing so complicated here," he told Army TV. Alexey and Koka's commander, Dmytro, told Army TV that the Abrams' armor was effective against Russian anti-tank missiles like the Kornet. AdvertisementUkraine was promised 31 Abrams tanks by the US in January 2023, with the first batch arriving in September after crews trained for months in Germany to operate them. In late April, the Russian military displayed an abandoned Abrams M1A1 at an exhibition called the "Trophies of the Russian Army," which showcased NATO equipment seized during the war.

Persons: —, Abrams, Koka, Alexey, Yevhen Nazarenko, Dmytro, Zeus Organizations: Service, Mechanized Brigade, Army TV, Business, Abrams, Army, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Pentagon, Associated Press, Business Insider, Russian, Capitol Hill, Republican, New York Times, Russian Army, NATO Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Germany, Soviet

☆ Opinion: Russia can lose this war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Opinion Timothy Snyder | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And far too many of us, during Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, have believed that. Of its three most consequential foreign wars, the Red Army lost two. And the Russian army of today is not the Red Army. It was disproportionately Ukrainians who fought their war to Berlin in the uniform of the Red Army. Russia can lose this war, and should, for the sake of Russians themselves.

Persons: Timothy Snyder, Richard C, Levin, “, ”, Read, Leonid Brezhnev, Putin, Alexander Nemenov, Brezhnev, Vladimir Putin, Robert Nickelsberg Organizations: Global Affairs, Yale University, CNN, Russia, Getty, Red, Red Army, Soviet, Lease, Russian Empire, Russo, Fascism Locations: Nazi Germany, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Poland, Afghanistan, USSR, Soviet Ukraine, Berlin, United States, Russian, Crimean, Japanese, Europe, Pacific, Kabul, Soviet Union, Crimea, Japan, Soviet, Ukrainian

☆ A Week of Pomp to Project Putin’s Confidence
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With his army on the offensive in Ukraine and all forms of dissent inside Russia firmly suppressed, President Vladimir V. Putin is set to take center stage this week at two major events that will showcase his dominance over the country’s politics and his determination to win in Ukraine. On Tuesday, Mr. Putin, 71, will formally begin his fifth term as Russia’s president in a highly choreographed inauguration ceremony in the Kremlin. On Thursday, he is to preside over the Victory Day parade in Red Square, an annual demonstration of military might that in the last two years sought to symbolically link Russia’s war in Ukraine with the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Kremlin is also expected to nominate a prime minister and five key ministers, including foreign and defense, though the officials in those six posts may simply be renominated. The shape of the next Russian government will provide signals to the country’s course in the coming years.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Nazi Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Red Square, Nazi Germany

☆ Putin's Crimea bridge has been out of military use for at least 3 months, satellite images suggest
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewRussia has all but stopped transporting military equipment via a strategic Crimean bridge, Ukrainian analysts say, based on satellite imagery. In an examination of Maxar satellite images by open-source intelligence agency Molfar, analysts said that between February and mid-April, they saw no Russian freight trains carrying military equipment on the Kerch Bridge. It also said it saw no trains carrying military equipment on the bridge between May and September 2023. Built in 2018 following President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea, the bridge is considered an illegal construction by Ukraine. AdvertisementA potent symbolAn explosion causes fire at the Kerch bridge in the Kerch Strait, Crimea on October 08, 2022.

Persons: —, Molfar, Vasyl Malyuk, Vladimir Putin's, Kyrylo Budanov, Artem Starosiek, Vera Katkova, Starosiek, Putin, Oleksii Neizhpapa, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Inna Sovsun, Sovsun, Artem Organizations: Service, Business, Ukraine's Security Service, The Telegraph, Anadolu Agency, Getty Locations: Russia, Kerch, Ukraine, Crimea, Russia's Rostov, Ukrainian

☆ Ukraine's manpower problem is likely going to 'get worse before it gets better,' war expert says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Despite US aid, Ukraine struggles to maintain sufficient manpower on the front lines. Ukraine's dwindling soldier numbers are a problem that could get worse, a war analyst warned. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementUkraine is having trouble maintaining a sufficient force size in its fight against Russia, which could lead to more problems down the road, war analyst Michael Kofman said. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Michael Kofman Organizations: Service, Russia, Carnegie Endowment, International, Business Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kharkiv

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin to be sworn in for the fifth time ahead of government reshuffle; West boycotts inauguration
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Presidential Regiment's officers seen during an awards ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace on June 12, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. Vladimir Putin is set to be sworn in as Russia's president for the fifth time in his political career. Putin's allies heaped praise on the strongman leader ahead of the inauguration ceremony in the Kremlin on Tuesday, saying society is consolidated around the president, who first took office 24 years ago. The Russian government will resign after the ceremony and a reshuffle will take place in the next few days and weeks. Western nations are boycotting the ceremony in light of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with the U.S. and U.K. among those refusing to send diplomats to the inauguration.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin's, — Organizations: Presidential, U.S Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Russian, Ukraine

☆ Russia's military is so hard up for manpower that it now pays more than the oil and gas sector
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russia's military is paying more in sign-on bonuses and salaries than the oil and gas sector. Russia's oil and gas revenues have been keeping its war chest filled. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementRussia is facing a labor crisis as its war with Ukraine siphons manpower away from the country's economy. Russia's oil and gas sector has been paying wages that are at least two-thirds higher than the national average wage since 2017, per Bloomberg calculations based on official data.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Business Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ A Russian helicopter fought an unusual Ukrainian drone armed with heat-seeking missiles, war watchers say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine used exploding drone boats to attack Russian naval assets on Monday. AdvertisementUkraine appears to be arming its naval drones with heat-seeking missiles to defend against air attacks, an unusual innovation for Kyiv's growing arsenal of explosive unmanned systems. Equipping the Ukrainian drones with this kind of air-combat munition could help them defend against aerial attacks, war watchers suspect. In the Black Sea, Russian forces spotted a Ukrainian USV armed with a twin rail launcher for R-73 all-aspect IR homing air-to-air missiles. Monday's naval drone attack marked the latest strike on a Russian naval asset.

Persons: —, 🐈🇺 Organizations: Service, br Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Crimean, Moscow, Ukrainian, Crimea, Kherson

☆ Oleksandr Pielieshenko: Olympic weightlifter from Ukraine dies fighting in war with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Kevin Dotson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko, who competed for Ukraine at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has died while fighting in his country’s war with Russia, according to statements from the Ukraine Olympic Committee and the Ukraine Weightlifting Federation posted Monday. The 30-year-old Pielieshenko was a two-time European gold medalist, winning the 85kg weight class at the 2016 and 2017 European Weightlifting Championships. “We express our deepest condolences to the family and everyone who knew Oleksandr!” the Ukraine Weightlifting Federation said Monday in its statement. CNN has reached out to the Ukraine Olympic Committee and the Ukraine Weightlifting Federation for more information. Ukrainian national weightlifting coach Viktor Slobodianiuk said in a social media post: “War takes the best… Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine, two-time European champion, Olympic weightlifting contestant Oleksandr Pielieshenko heroically died defending Ukraine from invaders.

Persons: Oleksandr Pielieshenko, “, Ukraine Oleksandr Pielieshenko, ”, Oleksandr, Bright, Viktor Slobodianiuk Organizations: CNN, Ukraine Olympic Committee, Ukraine Weightlifting, Olympic, Armed Forces, Ukraine Weightlifting Federation, Sports Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian

☆ About half of the North Korean missiles Russia fired at Ukraine flew off course and exploded in the air, official says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewAbout half of the North Korean missiles Russia has fired at Ukraine have failed, Ukraine's top prosecutor said, per new reporting. State prosecutors have been examining the debris of 21 out of 50 North Korean missiles fired at Ukraine by Russia between December and February. AdvertisementBeyond the missiles, North Korean rockets have also been called into question. Last summer, the Ukrainians got their hands on North Korean rockets that troops characterized as "very unreliable," noting they sometimes "do crazy things." AdvertisementOne of the North Korean missiles sent to Russia appears to be KN-23s, known in North Korea as the short-range Hwasong 11.

Persons: —, Andriy Kostin, Yuriy Belousov, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Kostin Organizations: Service, North Korean, Business, Korean, Reuters, North Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Korean, North, Pyongyang, North Korea, Korea, Russian, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kirovohrad

☆ Vladimir Putin once made Italy's prime minister throw up by shooting a deer, carving out its heart, and offering it to the man raw: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Berlusconi, Cicchitto said, was accompanying Putin on a hunting trip in the Russian countryside when Putin spotted a pair of deer. After shooting the deers, Putin told Berlusconi he would prepare an extraordinary meal with it, per Cicchitto's recount. According to Cicchitto, Putin proceeded to cut open one of the deer's body with a hunting knife. Berlusconi might have balked at Putin's culinary offering, but the former Italian prime minister shared a close relationship with Putin. In fact, eating a deer's heart is probably not that strange once you consider what else Putin has done with animals, per prior accounts.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Fabrizio Cicchitto, della Sera, Berlusconi, Cicchitto, Putin, Silvio, Putin's machismo, he's, didn't Organizations: Service, Forza Italia, della, Business, BI Locations: Italian, Russia, Russian, Cicchitto, Ukraine

CNN —Vladimir Putin has formally begun his fifth term as Russia’s president in a carefully choreographed inauguration ceremony, in a country he has shaped in his image after first taking office nearly a quarter of a century ago. Putin won Russia’s stage-managed election by an overwhelming majority in March, securing for himself another six-year term that could see him rule until at least his 77th birthday. Attendees wait in the Kremlin as Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony. Putin waves during his inauguration ceremony. To ensure it has enough drones and missiles to bombard Ukraine, Russia has also entered into deeper partnerships with Iran and North Korea.

Persons: CNN — Vladimir Putin, Putin, – Putin, “, Matthew Miller, Putin’s, Maxim Shemetov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, ”, ” Putin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, US State Department, Reuters, US Embassy, Presidential Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Kremlin, Moscow, Russian, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Iran, North Korea

☆ Zelensky assassination plot: Two Ukrainian security officials detained over plan to kill president
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Olga Voitovych | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Two Ukrainian security officials have been detained for planning to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the country’s State Security Service (SBU). Two Ukrainian government protection unit colonels have been detained and are accused of leaking classified information to Russia, the SBU said Tuesday, after it “exposed a network of agents” belonging to Russia’s state security service (FSB). A woman from the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv was arrested in August 2023 in connection to a plot to assassinate Zelensky. She was accused of gathering intelligence about Zelensky’s planned visit to Mykolaiv in order to plan a Russian airstrike to kill him. The plot was uncovered by Ukrainian authorities and the man was later detained and charged in Poland.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Zelensky, SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, Kyrylo, Zelensky’s, Prosecutors, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Mitsotakis Organizations: CNN, country’s State Security Service, State, Ukrainian, Defence Intelligence Locations: Russia, “, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Mykolaiv, Russian, Polish, Republic of Poland, Jasionka, Poland, Odesa

☆ Ukraine Says It Foiled Russian Plot to Kill Zelensky
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures. Two Ukrainian colonels accused of participating in the plot have been arrested on suspicion of treason. According to the Ukrainian agency, the agents working at Russia’s direction were tasked with identifying people close to Mr. Zelensky’s security detail who could take him hostage and later kill him. It is not the first time that Ukraine has reported a potential assassination attempt aimed at its top leaders. Mr. Zelensky himself said in an interview with an Italian television channel earlier this year that his security services had told him of more than 10 such attempts.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, —, Vasyl Malyuk, Kyrylo Budanov, Zelensky Organizations: Russia’s Federal Security Service Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Italian

☆ In Europe, Xi looks to counter claims it’s aiding Russia in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Xiaofei Xu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“China is neither the creator of the crisis, nor a party to it or a participant. The trip will also see Xi visit Serbia and Hungary, with the leader’s visit to Belgrade coinciding with the 25th anniversary of NATO’s bombing of the Chinese embassy in the city that killed three. Beijing has defended its trade with Russia as part of normal bilateral ties; it also says it does not provide weapons to parties in conflict. It has not been accused of sending lethal weapons to Russia, but rather goods with military use. Beijing supports efforts recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with “equal and just discussions of all possible peace plans at the conference,” he said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der, “, ramped, Macron, Xi “, he’s, ”, ” Macron, presser, Xi, Vladimir Putin, von der Leyen, Putin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, French, European, NATO, Biden, Kyiv Locations: Hong Kong, Ukraine, China, Europe, Moscow, “ China, Paris, Washington, Beijing, Russian, Serbia, Hungary, Belgrade, Serbian, Balkans, Russia, France, “, Israel, Switzerland

☆ Isolated From West, Putin Projects Domestic Power at Inauguration
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vladimir V. Putin was inaugurated for a fifth term as president on Tuesday in a ceremony filled with pageantry and a televised church service, as the Russian leader tried once more to depict his invasion of Ukraine as a religiously righteous mission that is part of “our 1,000-year history.”Mr. Putin took the presidential oath — he swore to “respect and safeguard the rights and freedoms of man and citizen” — with his hand on a red-bound copy of Russia’s constitution, the 1993 document that guarantees many of the democratic rights that he has spent much of his 25-year rule rolling back. Mr. Putin claimed his fifth term in March in a rubber-stamp election that Western nations dismissed as a sham. If he serves the full six years of his new term, he will become the longest serving Russian leader since Empress Catherine the Great in the 19th century. “Together, we will be victorious!” Mr. Putin said at the end of a speech after he took the oath in the Kremlin’s gilded St. Andrew’s Hall.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, —, ” —, Empress Catherine the Great Organizations: Andrew’s Locations: Russian, Ukraine

☆ China's Xi backs Macron call for global Olympic truce
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Emmanuel Macron, France's president, right, greets Xi Jinping, China's president, ahead of the state dinner marking the visit at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Monday, May 6, 2024. Xi called on France to help fend off a "new Cold War" as the EU increasingly aligns with U.S. concerns over security risks and trade tensions. China's President Xi Jingping on Monday called for a global truce during the Olympic Games in Paris this summer after the French president and the head of the European Commission urged him to use his influence on Russia to end its war in Ukraine. As member of the United Nations Security Council and as a responsible country, China urges with France for a truce in the world during the Paris Olympic games," Xi said, speaking through an interpreter alongside Macron during a joint statement. Russia has previously been lukewarm about a truce saying Ukraine might use it as an opportunity to regroup and rearm.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Xi Jinping, Xi, Xi Jingping, Ursula von der, Macron, Vladimir Putin, Putin's Organizations: Olympic Games, European Commission, United Nations Security Council, Paris Olympic, Paris, Games, Paralympic Games Locations: Paris, France, EU, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, China, Moscow, Russian, Switzerland

☆ French cognac makers surge as Macron hints at cooling of China trade dispute
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after delivering a joint statement at the Elysee Palace, as part of the Chinese president's two-day state visit in France, in Paris on May 6, 2024. The French president his Chinese counterpart for a state visit on May 6, 2024, seeking to persuade the Chinese leader to shift positions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and also imbalances in global trade. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier / POOL / AFP) (Photo by SARAH MEYSSONNIER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Shares of several French cognac makers rallied on Tuesday after France's President Emmanuel Macron suggested that trade tensions between China and the European Union, which could impact the drinks makers, may ease. France's Macron on Monday addressed the ongoing trade dispute with Chinese President Xi Jinping and gifted him a top-range bottle of French cognac which reportedly retails at over $3,200. "I thank the president for his open attitude regarding provisional measures on cognac and for his wish not to implement them," Macron said in a press conference on Monday.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Xi Jinping, Sarah Meyssonnier, SARAH MEYSSONNIER, Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, France's Macron, Macron Organizations: Getty, European Union Locations: France, Paris, Ukraine, China, Europe

☆ Xi to Head for Friendly Ports in an Eastern Europe Disenchanted With China
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That vessel has since sunk, scuppered by China’s support for Russia in the war in Ukraine and bitter disappointment over projects that never materialized. Also capsized are many of the high hopes that took hold across Eastern and Central Europe for a bonanza of Chinese money. So when Mr. Xi returns to the region this week, after a visit to France, he will travel to Serbia and Hungary, two countries whose long-serving authoritarian leaders still offer a haven for China in increasingly turbulent political and economic waters. “The Czechs, the Poles and nearly everyone else are really pissed at China because of the war,” said Tamas Matura, a foreign relations scholar at Corvinus University of Budapest. “But in Hungary that is not a problem, at least not for the government” of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Mr. Matura said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Europe’s, Xi, ”, Tamas Matura, Viktor Orban, Matura Organizations: Corvinus University of Budapest Locations: Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Eastern, Central Europe, France, Serbia, Hungary, China, “

☆ Journalist sounds alarm on dangers of propaganda, calling it ‘one of the worst crises for American democracy this century’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“I think it is at the center of one of the worst crises for American democracy this century, certainly in recent decades,” Applebaum told me by phone Tuesday. “They don’t believe journalists. They don’t believe independent ombudsman. They don’t believe institutions or science. It is not possible to understand why Trump continues to hold a firm grip over the Republican Party without understanding the propaganda machine at his disposal.

Persons: CNN — Anne Applebaum, ”, Donald Trump, Applebaum, authoritarians —, ” Applebaum, Vladimir Putin’s, Vladimir Putin’s Russia “, Trump, Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Steve Bannon, “, it’s, Steve Bannon’s, that’s, David Muir, Lester Holt, Norah O’Donnell, Carlson, MAGA Organizations: CNN, Trump, Putin, Sputnik, MAGA Media, New York Times, Washington, Fox News, Republican Party Locations: U.S, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia is raising a stink about F-16s in Ukraine by saying they're nuclear-capable, even though the types of warplanes already deployed there can carry nukes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia said on Monday that it would treat F-16s in Ukraine as an escalation because they're nuclear-capable. AdvertisementRussia warned on Monday against the expected arrival of F-16s in Ukraine, saying the US warplanes would be treated as an escalation given their potential as nuclear weapons platforms. AdvertisementMeanwhile, Russia has for months said the delivery of the F-16s is a provocation from NATO because they can be fitted to carry nuclear weapons. In any case, Ukraine does not possess any nuclear weapons in its arsenal, having surrendered them in 1994 when it gained independence. It is subject to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Persons: —, Sergey Lavrov, Ukraine's Su, it's, They're, Jake Epstein, Epstein Organizations: Foreign Ministry, Service, NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, Soviet, British Storm Shadow, Nuclear Weapons, US Navy Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, North, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Kyiv, Russian, Belarus, Minsk, Moscow

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