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☆ Mike Johnson and the Uneasy Coalition Government Keeping Ukraine Funded - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Brendan Buck | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved the most consequential legislation of this Congress, a foreign aid package for American allies. More Democrats than Republicans voted in favor of the measure that allowed the package to pass. The speaker, Mike Johnson, holds his role only because a few hard-line Republicans ousted the previous speaker for being too dismissive of their demands. For all its rank partisanship, the House right now is functionally and uneasily governed by a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats. Instead, a coalition has emerged that is willing to do what is necessary to save the House from itself.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson Organizations: Republicans, Democrats, Republican

☆ Jan. 6 Obstruction Case at Supreme Court Could Help Trump and Many Others
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At first blush, the case the Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday seems technical, requiring the justices to parse a decades-old statute mainly concerned with the destruction of business records. But the case has the potential to knock out half of the federal charges against former President Donald J. Trump for plotting to subvert the 2020 election, entangle hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions and help adjudicate the very meaning of the attack on the Capitol. The immediate question for the justices is whether a federal law aimed primarily at white-collar crime, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, can be used to prosecute members of the mob who stormed the Capitol, including the defendant in the case, Joseph W. Fischer, a former Pennsylvania police officer. More than 300 people have been prosecuted under the law, which makes it a crime to obstruct an official proceeding. But its language is broad, and prosecutors say its plain terms cover Mr. Fischer’s conduct.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joseph W, Fischer, Fischer’s Organizations: Capitol, Sarbanes, Oxley, Enron Locations: Pennsylvania

☆ Inside a Michigan Town's War Over a Chinese-Owned Battery Plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Brent Crane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

This was nothing short of a communist invasion, in his eyes, and the patriots of Green Charter needed to rise up and confront the Red Peril. But the backlash in Green Charter represents something seldom seen since the Red Scare: a quasi-militant, homegrown resistance to the perceived threat of communism at home. But as the war over Gotion began to consume Green Charter, Riebow began to feel that the township board was behaving "too secretly." It's easy to dismiss what's happened in Green Charter as yet another sign of America's descent into dangerous incivility. Asked about Gotion's plans in Green Charter, Panetta replied, "I don't think there's any question that they are going to take advantage of that situation."

Persons: Jeff Peticolas, Sam Peticolas, He'd, Peticolas, Gos, Green, Matt Harrison Clough, Jim Chapman, I've, Chapman, freaked, Rush Doshi, Joe Biden's, Doshi, Donald Trump, Sen, Katie Britt, Lori Brock, Kristina Karamo, Lana Theis, John Moolenaar, it's, Gotion, John Holdsworth, I'm, Tracy Ruell, Ruell, Carlleen Rose, she'd, Suzi, Tim Hahn, Hahn, texted Hahn, Jeff, Corri Riebow, She'd, Riebow, Breitbart, Gretchen Whitmer, —, we've, Holdsworth, Jason Kruse, Kruse, that's, Kruse demurred, Hahn's, we're, We're, what's, William Evanina, Leon Panetta, Barack Obama's, Panetta, Brent Crane Organizations: Imperial, Pacific, Nikon, Ferris State University, Tech, Green Charter, BI Green Charter, Michigan, United States, Chinese Communist Party, Michigan Republican Party, Michigan GOP, WE, Republican, Republicans, Gotion, Treasury Department, BI, CCP politburo, Party, Communist Party of China, SAIC, Nexteer Automotive, Facebook, Big Rapids, Local, Moolenaar, Fox News, Daily Mail, Gov, Green Charter's, Ferris State, Big, FBI Locations: Pearl, He'd, Imperial Japan, Vietnam, Mecosta County , Michigan, American, Green Charter, Green, China, Green Charter's, Montana, Beijing, Arkansas, Reedley , California, Manteno , Illinois, Washington, America, United, United States, Biden's State, Alabama, Mecosta County, Michigan, Sweden, Big Rapids, enervated, Gotion, Northern Michigan, USA, Filipino, Charter, San Diego

BEIJING (AP) — As the U.S. presidential campaign moves closer to a Donald Trump-Joe Biden rematch, China is watching uneasily. While Biden has looked for areas of cooperation with China, Beijing is concerned about his efforts to unite allies in the Indo-Pacific in a coalition against China. “For China, no matter who won the U.S. presidential election, they would be two ‘bowls of poison’,” said Zhao Minghao, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. When Biden and Trump squared off in 2020, U.S. intelligence agencies reported before the election that China viewed Trump as “unpredictable” and opposed his reelection. “Trump is by nature volatile and cruel and is a person hard to be familiar with,” said Shi Yinhong, international relations professor at Renmin University of China.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, uneasily, Biden, It’s, hasn’t, ”, Zhao Minghao, Sun Chenghao, Trump, Chuan Jianguo, “ Trump, Sun Yun, Sun, Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, Xi, Miles Yu, China's, ” Yu, Deng Xiaoping, Shi Yinhong, Shi, Wang Yiwei, ” Wang, ” Shi, ___ Tang, Yu Bing, Chen Wanqing, Eric Tucker Organizations: BEIJING, U.S, China, Trump, “, Fudan University, Center for International Security, Tsinghua University, Stimson Center, Hudson Institute, Communist Party, Renmin University of China, White, Institute of International Affairs, Associated Press Locations: China, Beijing, Taiwan, Shanghai, Asia, Pacific, Sun, Washington, Lago, Florida, City, United States, U.S

☆ ‘Eileen’ Review: Sudden Fire, Sudden Danger
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Alissa Wilkinson | More About Alissa Wilkinson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

McKenzie’s accent is a bit wobblier than Hathaway’s, but once you’re over that hump, the pair are thrilling together. McKenzie plays Eileen as a wide-eyed girl in arrested development who might have been an ingénue if she’d ever had a moment to sparkle. That’s you, Eileen. Oldroyd’s cold but keen eye for women pushed to the edge of a nervous breakdown by boorish, violent men meets rich ground here. Not just Eileen, but Rebecca and several other female characters are not good or angelic women, and yet they’ve clearly bent themselves to fit molds made by men.

Persons: McKenzie, Eileen, she’d, You’re, Rebecca, Radcliffe, She’s, —, she’s, William Oldroyd, Macbeth, ”, Florence Pugh Organizations: Harvard Locations: England, Moshfegh

☆ Libya flood: fury that warnings went unheeded
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/4] A view shows the damaged areas, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya, September 13, 2023, in this picture obtained from social media. In his report, hydrologist Ashour cites an unpublished 2006 study from the Water Resources Ministry on "the danger of the situation." The Turkish company, Arsel, lists a project on its website to repair the Derna dams as having begun in 2007 and been completed in 2012. Even as the catastrophe was unfolding on Sunday night, the Water Resources Ministry issued a post on its Facebook page telling residents not to worry. "When the water started flowing into the house, me and my two sons with their wives escaped to the roof.

Persons: Marwan Alfaituri, hydrologist Abdul Wanis Ashour, Ashour, Abdulqader Mohamed Alfakhakhri, Alwad Alshawly, hydrologist Ashour, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Al Qaeda, Omar al, Moghairbi, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Petteri Taalas, Gaddafi, Khalifa Hafter, Abdulhamid, Aguila Saleh, Yousef Alfkakhri, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam, Tarek Amara, Emma Farge, Mariana Sandoval, Peter Graff, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Reuters, Public Water Commission, Sebha University, of, Applied Sciences, Water Resources Ministry, NATO, Islamic, Gaddafi's, Libya's, Derna, Sunday, World Meteorological Organization, Libyan National Army, Thomson Locations: Derna, Libya, Tripoli, Turkish, Islamic State, Geneva, Libyan, Benghazi

☆ 'They knew' - Libyans express fury that warnings went unheeded before catastrophic flood
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

"The Libyan government knew what was going on in the Derna River Valley and the danger of the situation for a very long time." In his report, hydrologist Ashour cites an unpublished 2006 study from the Water Resources Ministry on "the danger of the situation." The Turkish company, Arsel, lists a project on its website to repair the Derna dams as having begun in 2007 and been completed in 2012. Even as the catastrophe was unfolding on Sunday night, the Water Resources Ministry issued a post on its Facebook page telling residents not to worry. "When the water started flowing into the house, me and my two sons with their wives escaped to the roof.

Persons: hydrologist Abdul Wanis Ashour, Ashour, Abdulqader Mohamed Alfakhakhri, Alwad Alshawly, hydrologist Ashour, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Al Qaeda, Omar al, Moghairbi, Marwan Alfaituri, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Petteri Taalas, Gaddafi, Khalifa Hafter, Abdulhamid, Aguila Saleh, Yousef Alfkakhri, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam, Tarek Amara, Emma Farge, Mariana Sandoval, Peter Graff, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Reuters, Public Water Commission, Sebha University, of, Applied Sciences, Water Resources Ministry, NATO, Islamic, Gaddafi's, Libya's, Derna, Sunday, World Meteorological Organization, Libyan National Army, Thomson Locations: Libya, Derna, Tripoli, Turkish, Islamic State, Geneva, Libyan, Benghazi

☆ Spain Gets Last Word, and Reaches First World Cup Final
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Rory Smith | More About Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The players streamed from the substitutes’ bench and onto the field, the coaching staff not too far behind them, swarming around the teammates who had rescued their dream. At last, celebrating together, they could release all of the stress and strain of the last couple of days, the last three weeks of this World Cup, the last year or more. This time, though, it was not Sweden celebrating, but Spain. They had barely had the chance to relish the sensation of relief before it was extinguished, cruelly and instantly. It will be Spain, then, that takes its place in a maiden World Cup final — against either Australia or England — in Sydney on Sunday, thanks to a 2-1 victory in the mist and drizzle of Auckland.

Persons: Rebecka Locations: Sweden, Spain, Australia, England, Sydney, Auckland

☆ Battling Brexit, some British firms turn to invest in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

German data show British firms opened 170 foreign direct investment projects in Europe's biggest economy last year as companies sought a foothold in the bloc's single market. That's a far cry from the 50 enquiries from British firms - rather than projects committed - recorded by German Trade & Invest in 2015, the year before the Brexit referendum. Pro-Brexit economists say such data ignore the fact British corporate investment boomed in the years before mid-2016, and it was bound to slow. British firms are also waiting to hear how - or even if - London intends to compete with the enormous green energy and tech subsidies pitched by the United States and EU. At Farrat, the effects of Brexit are insidious, running beyond decisions over investments, said Farrell, describing a sense of unease felt towards British firms from potential foreign clients, worn down by years of political turmoil"People are nervous.

Persons: Brexit, Oliver Farrell, Andy Burnham, Burnham, it's, capitalising, Steve Connor, Connor, Jeremy Hunt, Farrell, Dave, Subrah Krishnan Harihara, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg, David Clarke Organizations: European Union, Reuters, German Trade, Invest, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, Reuters Graphics, Labour Party, EU, Creative Concern, European Commission, Manchester Chambers of Commerce, Thomson Locations: MANCHESTER, England, Britain, Manchester, Germany, English, Europe's, Netherlands, France, United States, England's, London, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Farrat, EU, Warwick, West Midlands

☆ Why the US ‘does not get to assume that it lasts forever’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

“We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene said in a tweet on President’s Day this year. Blue state governors, legislatures and mayors might respond to such an offensive in forceful ways difficult to predict today. The Republican-appointed majority on the US Supreme Court has encouraged the red state social offensive with decisions that stripped away national rights – most prominently on abortion and voting. “Given the make-up of the courts, it’s difficult for blue states to be hopeful about this,” says Kettl. “The United States does not get to assume that it lasts forever.”

Persons: we’ve, ”, Donald Kettl, Donald Trump, I’ve, ’ “, Trump, Daniel Cox, Alan Wolfe, Wolfe, ” Wolfe, “, Joe Biden, Trump –, Abraham Lincoln, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy, ” Greene, Susan Stokes, Stokes, he’s, Biden, Jim Crow, Cox, Michael Podhorzer, what’s, MAGA, Eric Liu, Liu, Richard Nixon’s, Liu’s, ” Liu Organizations: CNN, America, University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, Republican “, American Enterprise Institute, Boston University, Republican, Democratic, Chicago Center, Democracy, University of Chicago, CBS, Trump, National Guard, Fugitive, “, US, GOP, White House, AFL, Citizen University Locations: United States, States, America, Black, Confederate States, Georgia, Midwest, Heartland, Great, New York, Memphis, Austin, Blue, Michigan , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona

☆ John Roberts, Republican Statesman - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The unusual powers of the American Supreme Court have unusual effects on all its members, but especially on whichever justices hold the balance of power: Their role fits especially uneasily with the letter of the Constitution and modern democratic norms, evoking more ancient forms or concepts — the Roman censor, the Greek archon, Plato’s philosopher-king. Three figures have occupied and sometimes shared this role over the last two generations, and each has brought a different mind-set to the work. Sandra Day O’Connor, drawing on her background as an elected official, often seemed to regard herself a canny intuiter of the American middle ground, constantly seeking political balances and settlements. Then Anthony Kennedy, who shared the role with O’Connor and stood alone after her retirement, seemed to favor the philosopher-king model, issuing sweeping judgments based on his distinctive libertarianism, often written in the style of a papal bull.

Persons: Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, O’Connor Organizations: American Supreme Locations: American

☆ Morning Bid: World markets calm after Russia drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

More perplexed by events than anything else, world markets stayed relatively calm on Monday after a dramatic Russian military mutiny at the weekend was uneasily quelled. For Russian markets themselves, the rouble slipped to 15-month lows - but it too had been falling last week as oil prices ebbed. Largely now isolated from western investment, Russian stocks fell about 1%. U.S. Treasury yields slipped lower, perhaps with a smidgen of a safety bid from the weekend events helping too. Turkey's lira slid again to record lows after the central bank took steps to simplify rules governing lenders' holdings and foreign deposits after a sharp but underwhelming interest rate rise last week.

Persons: Mike Dolan, uneasily, Vladimir Putin, Leonardo, Raphael Bostic, James Bullard, Loretta Mester, Ed Osmond Organizations: Wall, Saab, Rheinmetall, Brent, . U.S, Treasury, Bank for International Settlements, HSBC, Dallas Federal, Central Bank, Central Banking, Atlanta Federal Reserve, St Louis Fed, Cleveland Fed, PMI, Thomson, Reuters Locations: U.S, Ukraine, Moscow, Shanghai, Europe, United States, ., Canary Wharf, London, Sintra, Portugal

☆ Belarus Is Fast Becoming a ‘Vassal State’ of Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Schools give patriotic lessons and teach students how to assemble rifles, while textbooks have been rewritten to favor Russia’s view of history. These by-now familiar scenes would hardly bear mention in wartime Russia, except that these were drawn recently from Belarus, an autocratic country of 9.4 million neighboring Russia, Ukraine and the NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Long uneasily in the orbit of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Belarus is increasingly doing his bidding, socially, militarily and economically. It is also an important step, democracy advocates and military experts say, toward Russia’s absorption of Belarus, a longtime goal of Mr. Putin. “Belarus’ sovereignty is evaporating very fast,” said Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat who is now a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Persons: Long, Vladimir V, Putin, Moscow —, Mr, ”, Pavel Slunkin Organizations: NATO, European Council, Foreign Relations Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Moscow, “ Belarus, Belarusian

☆ Verstappen took chequered flag with dead bird on board
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MONTREAL, June 19 (Reuters) - Red Bull's advertising slogan is 'gives you wings' but Max Verstappen had the whole bird on board when he won Sunday's Canadian Formula One Grand Prix. Red Bull's double world champion reported a bird strike early in the 70 lap race at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and team boss Christian Horner provided more details. "I think the biggest moment he had was hitting a bird that did half the race behind the front right brake duct," he told reporters. Verstappen told Sky Sports television: "It was still stuck on my car when I came in, it didn't look great. Red Bull have won every race this season, Verstappen victorious in six of them, and are on course to smash records.

Persons: Max Verstappen, Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Christian Horner, Verstappen, Red, Sergio Perez, Bull, Alan Baldwin, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Montreal's Circuit, Sky Sports, Formula, Miami, Prix, Thomson Locations: MONTREAL, St Lawrence, London

☆ Protester turned protector, Ben-Gvir officiates uneasily at Jerusalem Pride
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, June 1 (Reuters) - Accustomed to a hostile response from some religious residents of Jerusalem, participants in the city's Gay Pride parade on Thursday found themselves in the unwelcome situation of looking to a far-rightist former adversary for their protection. Catapulted into national politics last year at the head of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, Ben-Gvir has disavowed his past remarks. Ahead of the event, police said three people were detained over suspected threats against the marchers. The Islamist militant group Hamas also called on Palestinians, who contest Israeli control of Jerusalem, to "confront" the Gay Pride parade. Describing Jerusalem as a "mosaic" of differing views, Ben-Gvir said he would also safeguard the right to counter-protest.

Persons: Itamar Ben, Gvir, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Meirav Cohen, Jerusalem, Alon Sheler, Dan Williams, Emily Rose, Ros Russell Organizations: Jewish Power, Hamas, Reuters, Open, Thomson Locations: Jerusalem

☆ Biden, GOP reach debt-ceiling deal, now Congress must approve it to prevent calamitous default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The compromise announced late Saturday risks angering both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as they begin to unpack the concessions. Negotiators agreed to some Republican demands for increased work requirements for recipients of food stamps that House Democrats had called a nonstarter. The agreement would raise the age for existing work requirements on able-bodied adults, from 49 to 54, without children. Lifting he nation's debt limit, now at $31 trillion, allows more borrowing to pay the nation's already incurred bills. Biden has said the work requirements for Medicaid would be a nonstarter.

☆ Opinion | Learning the Lessons of My Mother’s Unlived Life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Elise Loehnen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One Christmas, home from college, I went to a holiday gathering of families with my parents. After dinner we played a game where husbands answered frank questions on behalf of their wives. When my parents’ turn came, the host asked my father, “How many children did you want when you got married?” My dad, ventriloquizing my mother, snapped, “Zero. My mother went to a now-defunct nursing school, met my doctor dad at the Mayo Clinic and signed up for his dream — an upper-middle-class life out west with horses and kids. Sure, she didn’t want children or large animals, but it was a safe choice, one she could manage.

☆ How Sudan's paramilitary forces took parts of Khartoum, stormed army chief's quarters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Satellite image shows burned and damaged General Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces headquarters building in Khartoum, Sudan April 16, 2023, in this handout image. More than 30 of his guards died in the ensuing battle, before the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters retreated from the residence in the capital, said the bodyguard, who asked not to be named. "Why did the army let Hemedti become a parallel army and threatening the normal people. RSF fighters open mobile phones to look for army contacts, residents say. Reuters could not establish where Hemedti is currently operating from, or whether Burhan was still using army headquarters as his base of operations.

☆ ‘A Trump tribute act’: Meet Suella Braverman, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s culture wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

London CNN —Late last year, after a breakneck ascent of British politics put her in charge of the country’s migration, crime and national security agenda, Suella Braverman revealed her political fantasy. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAnd she is an equally furious culture warrior, borrowing rhetoric from the American right when lambasting “woke” culture, transgender rights and climate protesters. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesIt is a stance that has drawn sharp criticism – including from within the traditional wing of Braverman’s Conservative Party. Should Braverman succeed at her next bid for the party leadership, her critics fear another rightwards shift in British politics. “She’s recognized that in the current political climate, her way of creating an impact… (is) positioning herself as a Trump tribute act.

☆ The President, the Soccer Hooligans and an Underworld ‘House of Horrors’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Robert F. Worth | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

direction, and he chose not to.” Serwer speculated that Vucic has concluded the reforms required to join the E.U. The notion that Serbia can “balance” the West against Russia is largely a mirage, Bassuener said. One afternoon in Belgrade, I spent an hour talking to Boris Tadic, who served as Serbia’s president from 2004 until 2012, when he lost to Vucic’s party. Vucic, he said, had “helped put criminals in power” with the belief that he could control them. “What is the final outcome of your power if you’re going to destroy the foundations of society with hooligans and criminals?” he asked.

☆ Chinese ambassador sparks European blowback over post-Soviet states comment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Several leaders in former Soviet states, including Ukraine, were quick to hit back following the interview, which aired Friday on French station LCI. Beijing has formal diplomatic relations with post-Soviet states, which include Russia. Ties have soured as Europe has uneasily watched China’s tightening relationship with Russia and its refusal to condemn Putin’s invasion. Voices in former Soviet states, where many remember being under Communist authoritarian rule, have been among those in Europe critical of such an approach. For Russia, giving up control of Crimea is widely seen as a non-starter in any potential peace settlement on Ukraine.

☆ World leaders are lining up to meet Xi Jinping. Should the US be worried?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Hong Kong CNN —Xi Jinping has had a busy couple of weeks. “(Chinese leaders) believe it’s time now for China to make its strategic plans,” said Li Mingjiang, an associate professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. Beijing has watched uneasily as the war in Ukraine has driven the US and its European allies closer. When French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing last week, Xi drew comparisons between China and France: both “major countries with a tradition of independence,” Xi said, and “firm advocates for a multi-polar world” – or a world without a dominant superpower. But how Beijing navigates these initiatives, observers say, comes down to a bottom line that’s integrally related to Xi’s global ambitions and world view.

☆ A top tip for central banks: talk less, smile more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors hang on central bankers’ every word, hoping to gain an edge for their next trade. But with consumer prices rising at the fastest pace in decades, central bankers can’t easily cut borrowing costs, either. Chatty central banks are a relatively new phenomenon. Investors are also more sensitive to central banks today than in years past. Still, being more careful about what’s said, and how it’s said, could help central banks better balance their priorities.

☆ Analysis: French pension standoff causing cracks in Macron's camp, insiders say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Elizabeth Pineau | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

With no sign of the protests abating, insiders question whether Borne's government has lost control of the political messaging necessary to appease the street. The situation has deteriorated considerably since Macron decided on March 16 to adopt the reform using special constitutional powers to bypass parliament. When asked about the divisions, the president's office said the majority of Macron's camp remained strong and united. "There are still ministers who are saying 'we should have done this or that', No!," the source lamented. An official in Borne's office said the prime minister had made efforts to preserve unity among ministers and lawmakers.

☆ SVB deal helps to steady banks amid credit crunch concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The sudden collapse of tech-focussed SVB earlier this month destabilised the sector and drew some of Europe's biggest banking names into investors' focus. In March, the Stoxx index of European bank shares .SX7P is down more than 18% and the U.S. KBW regional bank index .KRX has lost 21%, with investors on edge about what's next. In Europe, bank bonds are under pressure and credit default swaps, or the cost of insurance against defaults, uneasily high. First Citizens said it would take on assets of $110 billion, deposits of $56 billion and loans of $72 billion, and expand in California. It will share further potential losses with the FDIC and the FDIC retains some $90 billion in securities held for disposal.

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