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☆ South Africa, due to host Putin, rows back from pledge to quit war crimes court
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ramaphosa had said on Tuesday that the ruling African National Congress would aim to repeal South Africa's membership of the Hague-based court, which hears cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Moscow denies committing war crimes including forced deportations of children, and says the ICC has no authority as Russia is not a member. Putin is due to visit South Africa in August for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. As an ICC member, South Africa would be required to detain him. The presidency said on Wednesday that South Africa would work towards establishing an African continental criminal court that would complement the ICC as a court of last resort.

☆ A verbal slip by Russia's Vladimir Putin on a rare visit to occupied Ukraine suggested the trip happened days earlier and was kept secret
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Putin is seen saying Orthodox Easter, held on April 16, was "coming up," suggesting the visit was earlier. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin visited a military headquarters in Russian-occupied Ukraine, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the visit took place on Monday, April 17, state media outlet TASS reported. The Kremlin said Putin visited a military headquarters in the Kherson region and a national guard headquarters in the Luhansk region. The trip took place yesterday."

☆ China could cross a red line and start arming Russia if Ukraine pulls off a major counterattack, leaked Pentagon papers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Leaked US documents reveal what could prompt China to begin arming Russia, reports say. A Ukrainian attack on Russia using NATO weapons could be a red line for China, they say. The US Defense Department documents posted online appear to contain extensive discussion of the Ukraine conflict, and of China's military plans and capabilities. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2021, China has trodden a careful path, seeking to portray itself as neutral in the conflict. The leaked papers suggest that it is attacks within Russia itself that would draw China into the war.

☆ Ukraine appears to be trying to capitalize on cracks in China and Russia's alliance after a nuclear snub from Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited China's Xi Jinping to Ukraine. It comes after cracks emerged in Xi's alliance with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Xi has proposed a plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Putin last weekend said he planned to station nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, breaking an agreement Russia had signed only days before at the summit with China. The US has warned that China may be preparing to arm Russia, a claim China has denied.

☆ Factbox: Putin, quoting Confucius, heaps praise on Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Both countries pursue an independent and autonomous foreign policy, and consider relations between China and Russia as one of the main priorities in diplomacy." "China and Russia adhere to the concept of eternal friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation." - Xi said he and Putin have met more than 40 times at different venues. - Putin speaks about the 'Power of Siberia' gas pipeline from Russia to China as the "deal of the century". - Putin said oil and coal deliveries had grown and that Russia is helping to build new nuclear power reactors in China.

☆ Russia's former president suggested firing a hypersonic missile at The Hague after Putin's ICC arrest warrant: 'Look carefully into the sky'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dmitry Medvedev suggested striking The Hague with a hypersonic missile in a furious post on Monday. It came after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russia's Vladimir Putin. On Friday, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin relating to the "unlawful deportation" of children from occupied areas of Ukraine. Medvedev also claimed that the arrest warrant for Putin heralds the collapse of international law, calling it "a grim sunset of the whole system of international relations." While the US' own relationship with the ICC has been fraught, on Friday President Joe Biden said the arrest warrant for Putin was justified.

☆ Chinese leader Xi Jinping is heading to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Russia next week to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. This marks the first time that Xi will be traveling to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. Xi's visit would mark the first time China's leader will visit Russia since Moscow launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022. Xi and Putin will discuss "deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation" between their nations, the Kremlin said in a Friday statement. Ahead of the announcement, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Thursday evening.

Following are some of the issues China and others are likely to be taking into account as it considers prospects for peace in Ukraine. Attempting to broker peace is a low-cost venture that can yield high returns for China, even if a quick breakthrough is highly unlikely, analysts say. The plan got lukewarm welcomes in both Russia and Ukraine while the United States and NATO were sceptical. China expanded trade with Ukraine after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and did not recognise the annexed territory as Russian, he said. Days before Russia invaded Ukraine, China and Russia announced a "no-limits" partnership.

☆ Want to prevent a civil war? Regulate social media algorithms, says an expert on political violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Political scientist Barbara Walter said unregulated social media is increasing the threat of a civil war. "Let people put whatever they want on social media," Walter said in an interview on Wednesday. And my answer is always the same: regulate social media," Walter said. Russia's Vladimir Putin, through his intelligence services and state-run media properties, has also used social media to pursue his own anti-democratic agenda. "Let people put whatever they want on social media," Walter said.

☆ Putin was 'calculated' when he chose to send Brittney Griner back to the US while 'leaving others in custody in Russia,' Rep. Adam Schiff says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Adam Schiff said Russia's Vladimir Putin made a "calculated" choice to only swap Brittney Griner. Other Americans, like Paul Whelan, remain in Russian custody despite efforts to get them home. Putin made a one-for-one swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout to "roil the American" people, Schiff said. Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel remain held in Russia. And I'm so impressed with both the Whelan and Fogel families for their gratitude that one American is free," Schiff said.

☆ Biden at 80: A ‘respecter of fate’ considers a second White House bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One upon his arrival at the airport of Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, to attend the COP27 climate conference, on November 11, 2022. It's soon time for Joe Biden, 80 on Sunday, to decide whether he has one more mountain to climb — the one to a second term as president. Getty: President Joe Biden gives remarks on student debt relief at Delaware State University on October 21, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. "While President Biden may chronologically be 80 years old, biologically he probably isn't," he said. U.S. President Joe Biden smiles during a rally with Democratic nominee for Maryland Governor Wes Moore, U.S.

☆ Putin ally admits Russia interfered in US elections, says it's working 'surgically' to disrupt the midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin, admitted to interfering in past US elections. "We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere," he said on social media. Russia has long denied US accusations that it meddles in its elections. On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Russia was attempting to interfere in Tuesday's US midterm elections. Russia has long denied accusations that it interfered in US elections.

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin stepping back from the nuclear ledge? Concerns over Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine had lessened recently, the sources said. Putin himself has given mixed signals over the question of Russia’s threshold for nuclear use. Russian President Vladimir Putin. “While Putin is unlikely to use nuclear weapons, that is because he is deterred by the fear of escalation, including nuclear escalation.

China's strategy aims to win over "swing" countries to score United Nations votes, the diplomat said on Tuesday. Washington said it had taken note of the congress and stressed the importance of keeping open lines of communication. Like many up-and-comers, he is a former subordinate from Xi's days as party chief of the eastern province of Zhejiang. Other pro-reform policymakers excluded from the party's new central committee were outgoing economic czar Liu He, 70, and central bank party chief Guo Shuqing, 66. Also among the newcomers is Ding Xuexiang, who was Xi's chief of staff and named to the new Standing Committee.

☆ Trump angrily rejected the CIA considering Kim Jong Un 'stupid', insisting he knows best because of their 'chemistry'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In them, Trump rejects a CIA assessment that Kim Jong Un is "ultimately stupid." Trump has long spoken highly of Kim, and insisted he has a special ability to appraise US enemies. "The CIA says about Kim Jong Un that he's 'cunning, crafty but ultimately stupid'," Woodward said in the exchange. He won't deal with anybody else," Trump said, and went on to describe his personal connection with Kim. He compiled the recordings as an audiobook called "The Trump Tapes" which is going on sale Tuesday.

☆ China's Xi clinches third term, packs leadership team with loyalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) - China's Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term on Sunday and introduced a new Politburo Standing Committee stacked with loyalists, cementing his place as the country's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang followed Xi onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People as the new leadership team was introduced, meaning he is likely to succeed Li Keqiang as premier when he retires in March. The other members of the seven-man Standing Committee, China's top governing body, are Zhao Leji and Wang Huning, who return from the previous committee, and newcomers Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi. Li Qiang is also new to the Standing Committee. Xi Jinping also has total control over the larger Politburo and Central Committee," he said.

☆ The big reveal: Xi set to introduce China's next standing committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Tony Munroe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File PhotoBEIJING, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Xi Jinping, poised to clinch a third five-year term as China's leader, will on Sunday preside over the most dramatic moment of the Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress and reveal the members of its elite Politburo Standing Committee. Xi's break with precedent to rule beyond a decade was set in motion when he abandoned presidential term limits in 2018. His norm-busting as China's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong has made it even harder to predict who will join him on the standing committee. At least two of the seven current Standing Committee members are expected to retire due to age norms. Reports this week in the Wall Street Journal and South China Morning Post suggest there could be as many as four openings, with Premier Li, 67, possibly among those stepping down.

☆ Trump boasted of getting on with strongmen like Putin and Erdogan better 'the tougher and meaner they are' in new audio
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In one clip, Trump said he likes leaders better "the tougher and meaner they are." In one excerpt, Trump described his admiration for authoritarian strongmen including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, and North Korean President Kim Jong Un. I campaigned on getting along with Russia, China and everyone else," Trump said in a January 2020 interview. Trump noted in the interviews that he had better relationships with leaders "the tougher and meaner they are." "It's funny, the relationships I have, the tougher and meaner they are, the better I get along with them.

☆ China to refine COVID measures, reiterates need for persistence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A woman walks past a poster welcoming the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing, China October 14, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 15 (Reuters) - China will make its COVID-19 prevention measures more scientific, accurate and effective, a spokesman for the ruling Communist Party said on Saturday, while reiterating Beijing's stance that its pandemic approach is the right one. "If you count the general ledger, our epidemic prevention measures are the most economical and effective," Sun said. "Our prevention and control strategies and measures will become more scientific, more accurate, and more effective," he said. Cities across China, including its financial capital Shanghai, have been subjected to various degrees of economically disruptive and socially stifling lockdowns.

☆ China's Xi to open 20th Communist Party Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Visitors walk past a screen showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Florence LoBEIJING, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is to open the 20th Communist Party Congress on Sunday, a week-long event where he is widely expected to win a third leadership term and cement his place as the country's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. REVOLUTIONARY'S SONThe son of a Communist Party revolutionary, Xi has reinvigorated a party that had grown deeply corrupt and increasingly irrelevant, expanding its presence across all aspects of China, with Xi officially its "core". The twice-a-decade congress is expected to reconfirm Xi as party general secretary, China's most powerful post, as well as chairman of the Central Military Commission. The day after the congress ends on Saturday, Xi is expected to introduce his new Politburo Standing Committee, a seven-person leadership team.

☆ Xi set to open party congress at challenging time for China
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Tony Munroe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China's President Xi Jinping attends a wreath laying ceremony on Tiananmen Square to mark Martyrs' Day on the eve of the National Day in Beijing, China September 30, 2022. Still, diplomats, economists and analysts spoken to by Reuters say Xi is set to consolidate his grip on power. In securing a third term Xi breaks with the two-term precedent of recent decades. Also breaking with norms: no successor to Xi, 69, is expected to be identified, analysts say, which would indicate he plans to remain in power even longer. Still, analysts say, the views of any individual matter less nowadays as Xi has sidelined those seen as "reformers" in favour of his more state-driven and nationalistic economic policies.

☆ Putin offered to redirect natural-gas supplies to Europe via Turkey and make the country a gas hub. Turkey said this is the first time it's heard of the plan.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Putin said Russia could send natural gas to Europe via Turkey, making it a "gas hub," per Reuters. That's because the key Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe are damaged. Putin's statement comes two weeks after leaks were first reported on the key Nord Stream pipelines that transport natural gas from Russia to Germany. The German government flat out rejected the proposal to use Nord Stream 2 on Wednesday. Last month, he said the EU can simply turn on the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it wants more natural gas from Russia.

☆ Analysis: How China's Xi accumulated power, and why it matters in a third term
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

A visitor takes pictures in front of a screen displaying an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China September 3, 2022. Restoring the practice, which entails self-criticism in front of the general secretary, marked a small but symbolic example of how Xi has departed from China's collective leadership of recent decades and accumulated power unseen since Mao's time. The expected absence of a clear successor will also enable Xi to rule unchallenged but potentially ratchets up risk the longer he stays in power. Many were purged, including rivals for power like the popular former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai. Xi also oversaw a crushing of dissent and forbade "disrespectful" discussion about the party among members.

☆ Turkey's state banks suspend use of Russian Mir payment system -finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Can Sezer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Turkey's three state banks have suspended the use of the Russian Mir payment system, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati told Reuters on Thursday. Two private banks, Isbank and Denizbank, suspended their use of the Mir system last week after Washington expanded its sanctions on Russia, including targeting the entity that runs the payment system. The two other state banks, Halkbank and Vakifbank, have not commented on the issue. NATO member Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours. The Kremlin on Wednesday said Turkish state banks that have stopped using Russia's Mir bank cards are clearly under unprecedented U.S. pressure and the threat of secondary sanctions.

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