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☆ Henry Kissinger’s life in pictures
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Henry Kissinger, a former US secretary of state and national security adviser who escaped Nazi Germany in his youth to become one of the most influential and controversial foreign policy figures in American history, has died at the age of 100. Kissinger was synonymous with US foreign policy in the 1970s. But he was also reviled by many over the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War that led to the rise of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime and for his support of a coup against a democratic government in Chile. In the Middle East, Kissinger performed what came to be known as "shuttle diplomacy" to separate Israeli and Arab forces after the fallout of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. His "détente" approach to US-Soviet relations, which helped relax tensions and led to several arms control agreements, largely guided US posture until the Reagan era.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Reagan Locations: Nazi Germany, Vietnam, China, United States, Cambodia, Chile, Soviet

☆ Henry Kissinger Dies at 100: Latest News and Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Michael D. Shear | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

For many in China, Henry A. Kissinger represented a now-bygone chapter in relations between China and the United States, when the countries seemed to be moving inexorably closer. In July, China laid out a red-carpet welcome for Mr. Kissinger, including an audience with Xi Jinping, the top leader. “China and the United States’ relations will forever be linked to the name ‘Kissinger,’” Mr. Xi said to Mr. Kissinger as the two men sat side by side in cream-colored armchairs. When Mr. Xi was on the cusp of power in 2012, he met Mr. Kissinger twice — once in Beijing and then in Washington. In a sign of the high regard in which he was held, Mr. Xi respectfully cited Mr. Kissinger’s views in speeches.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Henry A . Kissinger, ”, Mr, Kissinger, Nixon’s, Xie Feng, Biden, “, ‘ Kissinger, ’, Xi, Zhou Enlai, Li Shangfu, John F, Kirby, Kissinger “, Wu Xinbo, —, President Trump, Wu, Trump, Kissinger’s, Charles T, Munger, Lu Yeh, Lu Organizations: of, People, Global Times, Communist Party, Beijing, United, Mr, U.S . National Security Council, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, National Chengchi University Locations: Beijing, State, China, United States, Washington, Communist, U.S, ” China, “ China, Diaoyutai, Shanghai, Philippines, Australia, Weibo, Taiwan, Taipei, “

☆ In death, Charlie Munger is loved by China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chinese social media is treating Charlie Munger, who died at 99 on Tuesday, with great reverence. AdvertisementAs Wall Street mourns the death of investing legend Charlie Munger, Chinese social media is tipping its hat to the man. Advertisement"Live long, be rich, have children and grandchildren, what a perfect life," wrote another user under a news report about his death. Munger, who amassed a net worth of around $2.3 billion, had a reputation for witty one-liners on life, geopolitics, business, and governance. Munger, who was outspoken against cryptocurrencies, also lauded China's main bank for banning crypto in 2021.

Persons: Charlie Munger, —, Berkshire Hathaway, Munger, aplenty, Warren Buffet's, Xi Jinping, Jack Ma, Ma, cryptocurrencies, Elon Musk's Tesla Organizations: Service, Berkshire, Weibo, Twitter, Sina Finance, Business, Communists Locations: Weibo, Munger, China, Berkshire, Nebraska, America, Washington, Beijing, Shenzhen

☆ Hong Kong’s pro-democracy leaders to give final defense as landmark national security trial nears an end
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Chris Lau | Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Those on trial say that plan was simply part of the pluralistic, oppositional politics that has long been permitted in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government has repeatedly denied the national security law is suppressing freedoms. They hail from multiple generations and a wide political spectrum - from moderate democrats to those who advocate for Hong Kong’s self-determination. Known as “Grandma Wong,” the 67-year-old had been a fixture of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. No national security cases in the city have been heard in front of a jury.

Persons: Hong, ”, Joshua Wong, Benny Tai, Claudia Mo, Alexandra Wong, Grandma Wong, Hong Kong’s, ” Alexandra Wong, Noemi Cassanelli, Gwyneth Ho, Leung Kwok, ISAAC LAWRENCE, John Lee, ” Lee, –, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Prosecutors, Hong, Kowloon Court, CNN, Getty, Communist Party, city’s, Hong Kong’s Legislative Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, Hong, Kowloon, Britain, China, AFP, Hong Kong’s

☆ Henry Kissinger, a dominating and polarizing force in US foreign policy, dies at 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Paul Leblanc | Kristin Wilson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Kissinger takes a call in his office in the early 1970s. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Kissinger talks with journalists on his way to meet with NATO foreign ministers. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Kissinger, second from left, walks with Leonid Brezhnev, secretary-general of the Soviet Communist Party, in 1973. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Kissinger looks out a window at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1975. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Kissinger is greeted by US Sen. John McCain after a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2015.

Persons: CNN — Henry Kissinger, Kissinger, Henry Kissinger, Stephen Voss, Walter, Heinz Alfred Kissinger, Henry, William P, Rogers, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Tom Blau, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Warren Burger, Alamy Kissinger, Le Duc Tho, Tho, Wally McNamee, Corbis, Zhou Enlai, Leonid Brezhnev, Dirck Halstead, Gerald Ford, Nancy, pats, King David Hotel, David Hume Kennerly, Kirk Douglas, David, Elizabeth, Mikki Ansin, Diana Walker, Peter Southwock, Princess Diana, Colin Powell, Barbara Walters, Diana, David McNew, George W, Bush, Charles Dharapak, Christian Wulff, Stephan Schraps, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, John Kerry, Chip Somodevilla, US Sen, John McCain, Tom Williams, Ash Carter, Yin Bogu, Cui Tiankai, Zhang Chaoqun, Donald Trump, Jim Watson, Andrew Harnik, Maximilian, Daniel Vogl, Xi Jinping, Nixon’s, Reagan, ” Kissinger, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, ”, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, “, Lincoln, Bernie Sanders, Count, ” Sanders, Clinton, “ I’ve, Zakaria Organizations: CNN, Kissinger Associates, Bettmann, Getty, Harvard University, Harvard's Center for International Affairs, National Security Council, US Arms Control, Disarmament Agency, State Department, Camera, State, Chief, Everett, Inc, Paris Peace Accords, MPI, NATO, Soviet Communist Party, Hulton, King, Times Newspapers, Concord Academy, Senate Energy, Richard, US Diplomacy Center, US, Armed Services, Nixon Library, Museum, Capitol, Science, Arts, New York’s, Nazis, United States Army, Jewish, Pentagon, CBS News, Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Republican Party Locations: Nazi Germany, Connecticut, Washington , DC, Fürth, Germany, United States, Paris, Beijing, ITAR, Washington ,, Japan, Egypt, Israel, Jerusalem, Massachusetts, Boston, New York, Yorba Linda , California, Berlin, Xinhua, AFP, Bavarian, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Chile, Soviet, Saigon, Laos, New, Furth, Nazi, Soviet Union, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Fuerth

☆ Sen. Marco Rubio: TikTok should be demonetized unless China hands over algorithm
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2023. WASHINGTON — Social media giant TikTok should be demonetized in the U.S. unless the Chinese government hands over its algorithm, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Wednesday. "It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good," Rubio said in a December 2022 statement on his bill. More than 150 million Americans use TikTok and nearly five million businesses advertise on the platform, according to the company. "What companies in the world is that algorithm going to be beneficial to in the long term?"

Persons: Marco Rubio, Sen, " Rubio, Rubio, TikTok, It's, Mike Gallagher, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Angus King Organizations: Republican, Senate Intelligence, Washington , D.C, WASHINGTON — Social, Summit, BuzzFeed, Financial Times, Chinese Communist Party, Senate, Sen, CNBC PRO Locations: Florida, Washington ,, U.S, Beijing, ByteDance, Taiwan, New York, China, Russia, Maine

☆ How the U.S. courted the Philippines to thwart China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

What followed was two trips to the United States in less than a year for Marcos, and visits to the Philippines by high-ranking Biden administration officials. Marcos’ predecessor, the populist firebrand Rodrigo Duterte, was openly hostile to the United States and attempted to bring his country closer to communist China during his six-year term. For the United States, cementing alliances in the Asia-Pacific region is likewise crucial to keeping China in check. China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement to Reuters, characterized China and the Philippines as “close neighbors across the sea” with a common interest in friendship. At the time, he said the cancellation of his visa was the latest in a list of “gripes and disrespect” by the United States.

Persons: Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Joe Biden, Marcos, Gregorio Maria Araneta III, “, ” Araneta, Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Defense Lloyd Austin, Julio Amador III, Marcos ’, Rodrigo Duterte, China’s, Xi Jinping, ” Marcos ’, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, ”, Marcos family’s, Washington, Duterte, China “, Becca Wasser, Wasser, Barack Obama, Xi, “ I’ve, ” Duterte, Ronald “ Bato, dela Rosa, Dela Rosa, gripes, Toribio Adaci, hadn’t, Blake Herzinger, Herzinger Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Defense, ., Party, China, U.S . State Department, ” Reuters, Philippine, United, Foreign Ministry, ” ‘, People’s Liberation Army, Center, New, New American Security, CNAS, U.S . Department of Defense, U.S ., Initiative, Philippines National Economic Development Authority, United States, Philippine National Police, Washington, Forces, VFA, Mutual, China’s, U.S . Pacific Fleet, Cooperation Locations: Philippines, Philippine, Manila, United States, U.S, China, America, Asia, Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, South, East Asia, Pacific, Washington, Hawaii, South China, It’s, American, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New American, Taiwan . U.S, Duterte, China’s, Guangdong

Decades later, his name still provoked impassioned debate over foreign policy landmarks long past. “No doubt my vanity was piqued,” Kissinger later wrote of his expanding influence. For eight restless years — first as national security adviser, later as secretary of state, and for a time in the middle holding both titles — Kissinger ranged across the breadth of major foreign policy issues. That “incursion,” as Nixon and Kissinger called it, was blamed by some for contributing to Cambodia’s fall into the hands of Khmer Rouge insurgents who later slaughtered some 2 million Cambodians. Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in the Bavarian city of Fuerth on May 27, 1923, the son of a schoolteacher.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Nixon, “, ” Kissinger, Donald Trump’s, — Kissinger, Kissinger demurred, ”, David, Xi Jinping, Israel, George W, Bush, Michael Bloomberg, Kissinger incongruously, Jill St, John, Nancy Maginnes, Nelson Rockefeller, Heinz Alfred Kissinger, Heinz, Henry, Elizabeth, ___, Barry Schweid Organizations: WASHINGTON, Democrats, ABC, Washington Post, CBS, New, New York City, National Security Council, Khmer Rouge, South, Playboy, Newsweek, Senate Armed Services Committee Locations: United States, Vietnam, China, Nazi Germany, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Paris, Saigon, Soviet Union, Beijing, Egypt, Syria, U.S, New York, Connecticut, White, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Khmer, Chile, Bavarian, Fuerth, Manhattan

He initiated the Paris talks that ultimately provided a face-saving means to get the United States out of war in Vietnam. “No doubt my vanity was piqued,” Kissinger later wrote of his expanding influence during Watergate. Kissinger called women “a diversion, a hobby.” Isaacson wrote that Hollywood executives were eager to set him up with starlets, whom Kissinger squired to premieres and showy restaurants. That “incursion,” as Nixon and Kissinger called it, was blamed by some for contributing to Cambodia’s fall into the hands of Khmer Rouge insurgents. But records from the Nixon era, released over the years, brought with them revelations that sometimes cast him in a harsh light.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, — Kissinger, Nixon, “, ” Kissinger, ”, Walter Isaacson, “ Kissinger, Kissinger, ” Isaacson, starlets, Kissinger squired, Jill St, John, Shirley MacLaine, Marlo Thomas, Candice Bergen, Liv Ullmann Organizations: WASHINGTON, Hollywood, Playboy, Newsweek, National Security Council, Republican, Democratic Locations: United States, China, Vietnam, Soviet Union, White, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Khmer, Southeast Asia, Latin America

☆ Henry Kissinger, the towering American diplomat, dies at age 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Marty Steinberg | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +25 min

President Gerald Ford (left) and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger talk together in the Oval Office, February 19, 1975. In his 2001 book "The Trial of Henry Kissinger," social critic Christopher Hitchens called him a war criminal. North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho (left) and US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger at the Paris peace talks, January 1973. Chairman Zedong of the People's Republic of China meets U. S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Nov. 12, 1973. On a helicopter during the period of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East, Henry Kissinger talks to his wife, Nancy.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, —, Richard Nixon's, Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Richard Corkery, Duc Tho, Gerald Ford, Benjamin E, Ford, Warren Burger, Kissinger's, Paula, Gene, Forte, Seymour M, Hersh bashed Kissinger, Walter Isaacson's, Christopher Hitchens, Greg Grandin, Niall Ferguson, Kant, Clausewitz, Bismarck, Barry Gewen, Gewen, Elizabeth Holmes, Nixon, George Shultz, Holmes, Heinz Alfred Kissinger, Louis, Walter, Hitler, Kissingers, Fritz Kraemer, William Yandell Elliott, Spengler, Toynbee, Metternich, Castlereagh, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Mike Wallace, Wallace, Kennedy, Johnson, Republican Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Hubert Humphrey, Democratic Sen, George McGovern, McGovern, Nguyen Van Thieu, Reg Lancaster, Tho, Thieu, Mao, Gen, Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Nicolae Ceausescu, Zhou Enlai, Leonid Brezhnev, Andrei Gromyko, Dirck, Sen, Henry Jackson, Charles Vanik, Brezhnev, Spiro Agnew, Archibald Cox, Cox, Robert Bork, White, Alexander Haig, Anwar Sadat, David Hume Kennerly, Marxist Salvador Allende Gossens, Fidel Castro's, Martin Bernetti, Allende, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Pinochet, Ann Fleischer, Elizabeth, David, Nancy Maginnes, Rockefeller, Jill St, John, Candice Bergen, Shirley MacLaine, Liv Ullman, Diane Sawyer, , Napoleon, Nancy, David Rubinger, Maginnes, Moshe Dayan, Robert Dallek, Nixon's, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Paula Kissinger, Brooks Kraft Organizations: Gould, Kissinger Associates, National Security, Waldorf, Astoria, Richard Corkery | New York Daily, Forte, Soviets, State, Chief, New York, Theranos Inc, Economic, Nuremberg, George Washington High School, City College of New, Army, 84th Infantry Division, U.S ., Hesse . Harvard, Harvard, Confluence, Foreign, Eisenhower, Republican, Republican National Convention, Rockefeller and Michigan Gov, Democratic, District of Columbia, US National Security, Getty, Paris Peace, North, Nationalist, China, Bettmann, East Pakistan, of, U.S, Soviet Union ., Ballistic, Soviet, Washington, Egyptian Third Army, Department, West, Marxist, Museum, AFP, CIA, Israeli, Southern California Quaker, White, Partners, Power Locations: New York City, U.S, Connecticut, Richard Corkery | New, United States, Vietnam, Saigon, Viet, Soviet Union, Communist China, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Chile, Pakistan, Theranos, Ukraine, Russia, Davos, Switzerland, Fuerth, Germany, Bavarian, American, Nazi Germany, London, New York, City College of New York, Ahlem, Hanover, German, Krefeld, Hesse, Cambodia, Massachusetts, Haiphong, Paris, North, China, Washington, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Beijing, Moscow, India, East, Bangladesh, Shanghai, USSR, Soviet, Kremlin, Dirck Halstead, Ohio, Saudi, Japan, Sinai, Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Americas, Santiago, Cuba, Chilean, America, Europe, Virginia, Southern California

TOKYO (AP) — A polarized reaction poured in Thursday to the death of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who managed to galvanize global attention decades after his official service as one of the most powerful diplomats in American history. Kissinger, who died Wednesday in Connecticut at 100, was praised as a skilled defender of U.S. interests by world leaders. On social media he was widely called a war criminal who left lasting damage throughout the world. Political Cartoons View All 1273 ImagesAnother former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Kissinger left an indelible mark on American and world history. A Rolling Stone magazine headline said, “Henry Kissinger, war criminal beloved by America's ruling class, finally dies.”Kissinger exerted uncommon influence on global affairs long after he left office.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, Kissinger, George W, Bush, ” Bush, “, ” Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Mike Pompeo, ” Pompeo, “ Henry Kissinger, America's, Xi Jinping, Nixon, Nixon’s, Tricia Nixon Cox, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, “ Dr Organizations: TOKYO, Nazis, United States Army, State, Stone, Communist Party and Washington Locations: Connecticut, America, United, Vietnam, China, Beijing, U.S, Paris, United States, People’s Republic of China, Soviet Union

☆ China's Xi visits financial hub Shanghai
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Retreat at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - China President Xi Jinping visited Shanghai, where he went to several venues and learned about the city's efforts to strengthen its competitiveness as an international financial centre, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. Xi made the trip on Tuesday and Wednesday and he inspected the Shanghai Futures Exchange, an exhibition on Shanghai's sci-tech innovations and a government-subsidized rental housing community, the report said. Vice Premier He Lifeng, Shanghai's Communist party secretary Chen Jining and Mayor Gong Zheng also accompanied his visit. It was his first visit to the city since November 2020 and comes a year after historic street protests against China's zero-COVID policy broke out in Shanghai.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Xi, Cai Qi, Chen Jining, Gong Zheng, Xi's, Premier Li Qiang, Brenda Goh, Bernard Orr, Ella Cao, Ethan Wang, Mark Potter, Louise Heavens, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter Organizations: Economic Cooperation, REUTERS, Rights, Shanghai Futures Exchange, Communist Party of China Central Committee, CPC, Communist, Shanghai Free, Trade, Disney, L'Oreal, Premier, Thomson Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, U.S, China, Shanghai, Xinhua, Minhang

☆ Britain bids farewell to its only giant pandas after 12 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Zookeepers have spent the last few weeks making sure the two pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, are used to crates in preparation for their long journey, expected at some point in early December. [1/4]Yang Guang, one of the giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, eats bamboo stalks in its enclosure, in Edinburgh, Britain, November 29, 2023. REUTERS/Lesley Martin Acquire Licensing Rights"Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature," he said in a statement. The return of the Edinburgh bears to China comes as a number of giant pandas have also headed home from the U.S., part of a fading legacy in which giant pandas served as animal ambassadors. That began in 1972, when the government of China presented two giant pandas as gifts to the U.S. after President Richard Nixon's historic Cold War visit to the communist country.

Persons: Zookeepers, Yang Guang, Tian Tian, David Field, Lesley Martin, Richard Nixon's, Washington's, Sarah Young, Jan Harvey Organizations: Edinburgh Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, China Wildlife Conservation Association, REUTERS, Edinburgh, Thomson Locations: China, Edinburgh, Britain, U.S, Memphis, San Diego

☆ Cuban family business produces flour from coconut and yucca amid shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Alien Fernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Entrepreneur Gabriel Perez, 38, poses for a photo as he checks slices of banana put to dry in his farmland in the rural outskirts of Havana, Cuba, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Acquire Licensing RightsHAVANA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - On a small farm outside Havana, a Cuban family-run business produces gluten-free flour from banana, coconut and yucca, preferring locally-sourced ingredients to pricey imports as Cubans seek innovative solutions to a growing food crisis. His business, Bacoretto, dries and mills yucca, rice, banana and coconut into organic flour preferred by gluten-intolerant consumers, who have only recently been able to find food products tailored to their dietary needs in Cuba. Byproducts of their processes are used to make coconut oil, coconut-fiber rope, vinegar and fermented products and sweets, Perez told Reuters. It produces 6 to 8 kilograms (13.2 to 17.6 pounds) of flour a week, Perez said, in small batches, in addition to byproducts, with a staff of eight people.

Persons: Gabriel Perez, Alexandre Meneghini, Perez, Fidel Castro's, Alien Fernandez, Nelson Acosta, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Havana, Cuba, Rights HAVANA, Caribbean

☆ China's Xi Urges Stronger Rule of Law Overseas Amid 'External Risks'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping has called for stronger rule of law related to foreign affairs given "external risks and challenges" as China opens up to the outside world, state media reported on Tuesday. Xi, speaking during a study session of the Communist's Party's powerful political bureau, said that to protect its overseas citizens and interests, it was necessary to deepen international cooperation on law enforcement, strengthen consular protection and assistance, and build strong rule of law. To facilitate economic and trade exchanges, authorities say Chinese law firms have set up 180 overseas offices in 35 countries and regions, an increase of nearly 50% since 2018. China needs to actively develop foreign-related legal services and cultivate world-class arbitration institutions and law firms, Xi said. China says such centres are meant to help its citizens renew expired driving licences, and are run by Chinese volunteers, not law enforcement officers.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi, Ryan Woo, Robert Birsel Organizations: Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Locations: BEIJING, China, Nepal, U.S, Canada, Britain, Netherlands, Beijing, Ukraine, Sudan

☆ Chinese social media mourns Charlie Munger, who said BYD was his best investment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese social media users are mourning the death of billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway passed away “peacefully” on Tuesday morning in a California hospital, according to a press release by the investment firm. According to a recent filing by Berkshire Hathaway to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the firm held about 7.98% of BYD by late October. Berkshire Hathaway has sold more than 137 million shares of BYD since the middle of 2022, according to its previous statements. He praised the country despite its crackdown on Chinese tech giant Alibaba, which was a top Munger investment at Daily Journal, a Los Angeles-based newspaper publisher and investment firm Munger headed from 1977 through 2022.

Persons: Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway, “, ”, Warren Buffett, Tim Cook, Munger, Tesla, “ Munger, ” Stella Li, Hathaway, ” Munger, Wang Chuanfu Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Berkshire, Apple, BYD, Hong Kong, Tesla, Elon, Daily Journal Locations: Hong Kong, ”, California, China, Weibo, American, BYD Americas, Berkshire, BYD, Tesla, Munger, Los Angeles

☆ Slowing China still leads the race for commodities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Yawen Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"When it comes to copper, the thinking usually goes that copper equals property, property equals China," said one commodities trader. "And because China property is down, copper must be down too." That’s why China's copper demand will still rise by 4 million tonnes from the 2020 level to around 18 million tonnes per year in 2030, according to estimates by commodity trading group Trafigura. And China's copper demand has grown by 8% this year, faster than the 5% Xi is targeting for overall GDP growth. China's annual aluminium demand rose by 18 million tonnes from 2010 to 2020 and is forecast to grow by another 13 million tonnes to over 50 million tonnes a year in 2030, per Trafigura.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Communist Party’s, Wood Mackenzie, Francesco Guerrera, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, HK, Communist, Shanghai Futures Exchange, London Metal Exchange, ING, International Monetary Fund, IMF, World Bank, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Oxford, HSBC, Democratic, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, China, Washington, Moscow, Taiwan, Shanghai, Republic, United States, Australia, Beijing, Chile, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo

Speaking to parliament, Scholz went into Germany's recent history of the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices to extend a suspension of self-imposed borrowing limits to tackle a crisis that has knocked his coalition. A constitutional court ruling nearly two weeks ago blocked the government's plans to reallocate unused pandemic funds towards green initiatives and industry support, raising fears Germany's economy could be further weakened. Scholz's assurances that his government would solve the budget crisis with care were met with jeers and laughter from the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), whose lawsuit against the government had sparked the earlier court ruling. He underscored support for Ukraine, after the recent budget turmoil raised questions over how much military aid Berlin was willing to commit. "It is also clear that we must not let up in our support for Ukraine and in overcoming the energy crisis.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck, Friedrich Merz, Scholz, Germany's, Berlin, Scholz's, " Merz, Andreas Rinke, Christian Kraemer, Miranda Murray, Rachel More, Matthias Williams, Kirsti Knolle, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Climate, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Bundestag, Christian Democrats, Ukraine, Finance, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Ukraine, Germany, East Germany

☆ Charlie Munger death: Warren Buffett’s business partner in Berkshire Hathaway passes away, aged 99
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Billionaire investor Charlie Munger, the long-time friend and business partner of Warren Buffett, has died. Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm where Munger served as vice chairman, said in a press release that Munger passed “peacefully” on Tuesday morning in a California hospital. Charles Thomas Munger, known by his nickname, “Charlie,” was born on January 1, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett told CNBC in 2021 that after their first meeting, he knew “I’m not going to find another guy like this …. “If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich,” Munger said during a 2015 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting.

Persons: Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Munger, Charles Thomas Munger, “ Charlie, ”, Wall, Munger’s, “ Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie, Mohamed El, ” Whitney Tilson, Buffett, “, ” Munger, “ I’m, CNN Munger, — CNN’s Nicole Goodkind Organizations: New, New York CNN, Berkshire, US Army, University of Michigan, Harvard Law School, Berkshire Hathaway, Erian, Allianz, CNN, Forbes, CNBC, Xerox, Daily Journal Locations: New York, “, ”, California, Omaha , Nebraska, Southern California, Japan, Omaha, Berkshire, Munger, Los Angeles

☆ Bedrock exec questions, without evidence, if a former OpenAI board member is a Chinese agent
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After Sam Altman's ouster, many are wondering why OpenAI board members booted him. Bedrock Capital's founder, an OpenAI investor, is more concerned with a board member's background. Geoff Lewis said, without offering evidence, he thinks an ex-board member's ties to China should be examined. Instead of debating Toner's reason to oust Altman, Lewis said the "right set of questions" should be aimed at her background. AdvertisementToner, along with Tasha McCauley, the only two female board members of OpenAI, were removed from the board following their votes to vacate Altman from his role as CEO.

Persons: Sam Altman's, Geoff Lewis, —, Sam Altman, Altman, Helen Toner, Lewis, Toner, CNBC's Rebecca Quick, Tasha McCauley Organizations: Service, Chinese Communist Party, CNBC, Oxford University's Center, Twitter, US Social, Foreign Affairs, Bedrock, Business, The New York Times, Microsoft Locations: China, OpenAI, Beijing

☆ German government unveils budget fixes as way out of crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Christian Kraemer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The government said the spillover effects from the energy crisis that hit in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and caused rocketing prices had created an emergency situation that justified suspending the debt brake. The leader of Scholz's SPD urged the government to consider suspending the debt brake next year, a move rejected in particular by the fiscally hawkish Free Democrats (FDP). "The debt brake must remain." The debt brake, introduced after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, was first suspended in 2020 to help the government support firms and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday he stressed the need to give companies, which have been worried by the uncertainty caused by the budget crisis, clarity as quickly as possible.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck, Annegret, Olaf Scholz's, finalising, Scholz's, Christian Duerr, Bijan Djir, Christian Kraemer, Riham Alkousaa, Amir Orusov, Rachel More, Matthias Williams, Thomas Escritt, Alison Williams, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Finance, Climate, REUTERS, Free Democrats, ZDF, Greens, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, BERLIN, Ukraine, Sarai, East Germany

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the retreat session of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 5, 2023. The document, known as Resource Mobilisation Plan, has to be agreed with investors ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) which begins on Thursday in Dubai. Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the COP28 from Nov 30 to Dec 3, the government portal said, raising expectations that the plan could be announced there. A second foreign official said there was no major issue pending, and approval of the final version "is very nearly there." There is no certainty that Vietnam would actually take the loans on offer, and the communist government has been reluctant to take foreign loans in the past.

Persons: Pham Minh Chinh, Mast, Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Khanh Vu, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Vietnam's, 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Rights, Change, Reuters, of, Thomson Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, Rights HANOI, Vietnam, Dubai, Hanoi

People who claimed the power to control nature and the energy resources around them saw the environment as a tool to be used for progress, historians say. Over hundreds of years, that impulse has remade the planet's climate, too — and brought its inhabitants to the brink of catastrophe. Tapping nature for its resources drove progress and productivity for some, but it's also been a major driver of emissions and environmental degradation. By the mid-19th century, steam power was adopted in manufacturing, cotton mills, steam ships and locomotives around the world, turning coal into a global trade. Centuries later, the United Kingdom has nearly weaned itself off coal, with weeks or months at a stretch where the national grid gets no coal power.

Persons: ”, Luis Zambrano, it's, Anya Zilberstein, ” Zilberstein, Vera S, Candiani, Jan Golinski, “, ” Golinski, Deborah Coen, Andreas Malm, Barak, it’s, J.R, McNeill, ” McNeill, Victor Seow, Elizabeth Chatterjee, “ Indira Gandhi, Chatterjee, Joshua Howe, Howe, Yale's Coen, —, ” Howe, Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Jonsson Organizations: National University Autónoma, Concordia University, Mexico City —, America, Princeton, University of New, Yale, Lund University, Tel Aviv University, Laboratory, Global, Project, Energy, Georgetown University, Communist, University of Chicago, Reed College, . Environmental Protection Agency, U.S, AP Locations: Nations, Mexico, Lake Texcoco, Montreal, Spanish, University of New Hampshire, Maui, Britain, Sweden, ”, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Ottoman Empire, United Kingdom, Cumbria, England, Wales, Scotland, China, Japan, U.S, Europe, United States, British, Portland , Oregon

Eventually, China wants the schemes to be integrated into national emissions trading and generate credits that can offset emissions by industrial polluters, government plans show. PERSONAL CARBON TRADINGChina's carbon inclusion ambitions have been in gestation since 2015, when the southeastern province of Guangdong published rules on how to convert low-carbon activity into credits. Guangdong also allows enterprises to meet 10% of carbon reduction obligations through carbon inclusion credits. And there are worries the carbon inclusion schemes could let industrial polluters off the hook by shifting the burden of emission cuts to households. China climate official Su Wei told local media the green transformation of China would "inevitably involve profound changes in people's daily habits and consumption patterns", but he said carbon inclusion schemes would remain voluntary.

Persons: David Kirton, China's, Xie Zhenhua, Banks, Benjamin Sovacool, Li, Zhang Xin, people's, Yaqiu Wang, Su Wei, David Stanway, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, China, Communist, China Academy of Sciences, People's Bank of, Boston University, Environmental Studies, New, Thomson Locations: Pingshan district, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, SHENZHEN, Dubai, Guangdong, People's Bank of China, Quzhou, Finland, British, Singapore, New York, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ Shein files for U.S. IPO as fast-fashion giant looks to expand its global reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Shein has confidentially filed to go public in the U.S. as the Chinese-founded fast-fashion juggernaut looks to expand its global reach with a long-rumored initial public offering, CNBC has learned. Over the next few months, Shein will likely make tweaks to its paperwork and answer numerous questions from the agency. The filing will be made public once the company is ready to move forward with its IPO. He said, "there's no such thing as forced labor" in the Shein factories that he has visited. As Shein grew from an obscure Chinese retailer into a global behemoth with headquarters in Singapore, it largely stayed in the shadows.

Persons: Shein, it's, Marcelo Claure, Sky Xu, Donald Tang, influencers, Xu, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Organizations: CNBC, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Chinese Communist Party, Bear, Sparc Group, Authentic Brands Group, Simon, Group, JPMorgan, CNBC PRO Locations: U.S, Beijing, Singapore, Bear Stearns

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