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The debate between Donald J. Trump and President Biden had analysts in Asia fretting. During Thursday night’s debate, President Biden told former President Donald J. Trump that the United States is the “envy of the world.”After watching their performance, many of America’s friends might beg to differ. In Europe and Asia, the back-and-forth between the blustering Mr. Trump and the faltering Mr. Biden set analysts fretting — and not just about who might win the election in November. Image Mr. Biden leaving the debate stage. Kasit Piromya, Thailand’s foreign minister from 2008 to 2011 and a former ambassador to the United States, lamented the state of American politics.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, ”, fretting —, ” Simon Canning, ” Sergey Radchenko, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, “, Putin, “ I’ve, Mr, Kenny Holston, François Heisbourg, Trump’s, “ I’m, Heisbourg, Radoslaw Sikorski, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Sikorski, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Daniela Schwarzer, Bogdan Butkevych, “ Trump, Chan Heng Chee, Ms, Chan, Lee Byong, ’ ”, Koichi Nakano, Haiyun Jiang, Narendra Modi, Tara Kartha, —, Shen Dingli, don’t, Kasit, Damien Cave, Lee Wee, Choe Sang, Vivian Wang, Camille Elemia, Mujib Mashal, Ségolène Le Stradic, Marc Santora Organizations: Johns Hopkins School, International Studies, —, Mr, Russia, New York Times, Trump, Bertelsmann Foundation, Washington , D.C, Credit, Kremlin, Kyiv Independent, Biden unnerves, Institute for Far Eastern, Kyungnam University, Sophia University, The New York Times, Washington, National Security Council of, ”, Weibo Locations: Asia, Australian, United States, Europe, Australia, Washington, Russia, China, North Korea, Ukraine, Lebanon, Iran, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Gaza, Jerusalem, France, Washington ,, American, Ukrainian, North, Seoul, “, United, Tokyo, The New York Times India, National Security Council of India, New Delhi, Beijing, India, Communist, Shanghai, U.S, Southeast Asia

☆ CoolApp: Cambodia’s WhatsApp-like messaging app critics fear could be used for state surveillance
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Cambodian strongman leader Hun Sen has thrown his weight behind a new homegrown messaging app, which critics say is a way for the government to monitor and undermine political discussion in the country. One of the world’s longest-serving leaders, Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for more than three decades. Though his eldest son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister last year, Hun Sen remains the ruling party’s center of power. Greater online surveillanceInternet freedom in Cambodia has experienced a drastic regression under Hun Sen’s rule, rights groups say. CNN has reached out to Hun Sen’s office for comment.

Persons: Hun Sen, WhatsApp, ”, Vietnam’s, Hun Manet, Lim Cheavutha, Hun Sen’s, Hun, Mu Sochua, leader’s, China’s, “, Sam Rainsy, ” Sam Rainsy Organizations: CNN, Facebook, US State Department, United Nations, Meta, Reuters, Communist Party, CoolApp Locations: Cambodian, Cambodia, Southeast Asia

☆ China sets mid-July for highly anticipated ‘Third Plenum’ meeting to discuss 'deepening reform'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

NINGBO, China — China's top leaders will gather from July 15 to 18 for a highly anticipated meeting known as the Third Plenum, state media said Thursday. He said his analysis of an annual government meeting in December found the readout had twice as many mentions of policy implementation than the prior year, highlighting its importance. The Communist Party of China selected a new group of leaders in October 2022 at its 20th National Party Congress. Its third plenary session will run from July 15 to July 18, state media said. The plenum will discuss "further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization," English-language state media said.

Persons: Pang Ming Organizations: Communist Party of, National Party Congress Locations: NINGBO, China, Communist Party of China

☆ China expels two former defense ministers from Communist Party as corruption purge deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

CNN —China on Thursday expelled its former Defense Minister Li Shangfu from the ruling Communist Party over corruption allegations, state broadcaster CCTV reported, eight months after he was dramatically removed from the post. Li, who was also a former member of the powerful Central Military Commission, was removed in October last year without explanation after he disappeared from public view for two months, amid a series of high-level purges that have roiled the world’s largest military. Li’s predecessor as defense minister, Wei Fenghe, was also expelled from the Communist Party, also over alleged corruption, according to CCTV. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Persons: Li Shangfu, Li, Wei Fenghe Organizations: CNN, Defense, Communist Party, CCTV, Central Military Commission Locations: China

☆ Shein and Temu use a US tax loophole to keep their prices low. Now, some American brands are, too.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

De minimis shipments have also grown more popular with American brands looking to save money in their supply chains. AdvertisementThe startup Portless emulates Shein's model by fulfilling online brands' orders in China and shipping them directly to customers. Even though awareness of de minimis has grown, Section 321 shipments still account for only about 5% of ShipHero's business overall. At the end of May, The Information reported that US Customs and Border Protection had begun cracking down on de minimis shipments, including suspending several brokers from a program called Entry Type 86, designed to speed up de minimis shipments. "The American brands that we service are more profitable and do better prices to their customers."

Persons: —, it's, Portless, Izzy Rosenzweig, Jolie, Evan, Matt Nichols, JADE GAO, minimis, Prince Ghosh, Maggie Barnett, Barnett, Temu, I'm, Rosenzweig Organizations: Service, Business, Commerce Ventures, US, Lawmakers, Chinese Communist Party, Customs, Protection Locations: China, Portless, San Francisco, Canada, Mexico, American, Canada's

☆ Vietnam’s VinFast looks to tiny EV, priced at less than $10,000, to change its fortunes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Vinfast VF6 all-electric vehicle is on display at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show on Nov. 18, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Vietnamese automaker VinFast, for a short time the third-most valuable car company in the world, has a big problem: It just can't sell enough cars. Designed specifically for the Vietnamese and other Asian markets, the VF3 is priced for "mass appeal," according to VinFast. VinFast's future matters for Vietnam, both because its ambitions dovetail with the Communist Party's own goals, and because of parent company Vingroup's large role in the Vietnamese economy. "We will never let VinFast go," he told Vingroup shareholders at their annual general meeting in April, according to state media.

Persons: Le Thi, VinFast, It's, Vingroup, Pham Nhat Vuong, Tu Le Organizations: Angeles Auto, Nasdaq, General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co, Communist, Vingroup's, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Sino Locations: Los Angeles , California, Le, U.S, VinFast, North Carolina, California, Vietnam, Ukraine, Asia

☆ After Escaping China by Sea, a Dissident Faces His Next Act
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( John Yoon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The dissident’s lone regret after his 200-mile escape across the Yellow Sea was not taking night vision goggles. Nearing the end of his jet ski journey out of China last summer, Kwon Pyong peered through the darkness off the South Korean coast. As he approached the shore, sea gulls appeared to bob as if floating. “I had everything — sunscreen, backup batteries, a knife to cut buoy lines,” he recalled in an interview. In response, he said, he faced an exit ban and years of detention, prison and surveillance.

Persons: Kwon, ” Organizations: Communist Party Locations: China, Korean, South Korea

☆ Opinion | The E.U. Is Revealing Its True Identity. Europeans Don’t Like It.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( Christopher Caldwell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In European Parliament elections this month, voters in most of the European Union’s 27 countries rallied to parties that hold the union in contempt. Analysts have leaped to the conclusion that the European Union must have done something wrong. In Germany, where a hard-right party anchored in the formerly Communist East got more votes than any of the three governing parties, voters cited highhanded energy policies. But the European Union’s governing machinery in Brussels is never where voters’ hearts and hopes are. The union is looking more and more like one of those 19th- and 20th-century projects to universalize the un-universalizable, like Esperanto.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron Organizations: European Union, Communist Locations: France, Germany, Communist East, Brussels, Esperanto

☆ Putin Came to Asia to Disrupt, and He Succeeded
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-22 | by ( Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four days in Asia. That’s all President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia needed to anger Washington, undermine Beijing and rattle a collection of Indo-Pacific nations already scrambling to cope with a jumbled world order. After stops in Pyongyang and Hanoi this week that were draped in Communist red, Mr. Putin left behind a redrawn map of risk in Asia. North Korea sat at the center: a rogue nuclear state that regularly threatens its neighbors, suddenly empowered by Russian promises of sophisticated military aid and a mutual defense pact. Mr. Putin also signed at least a dozen deals with Vietnam — a country of growing importance for both China and the United States as they vie for influence — where he insisted that “reliable security architecture” could not be built with “closed military-political blocs.”The trip was both defiant and disruptive.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr Locations: Asia, Russia, Washington, Beijing, Pyongyang, Hanoi, Asia . North Korea, Vietnam, China, United States

☆ Putin signs deals with Vietnam in bid to shore up ties in Asia to offset Moscow’s growing isolation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russia and Vietnam pledged on June 20, 2024 to deepen ties as President Vladimir Putin made a state visit aimed at bolstering his alliances to counter Moscow's growing isolation over the war in Ukraine. Putin and President To Lam agreed to further cooperate in education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and clean energy. The two countries also agreed to work on a roadmap for a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam. In Hanoi, Putin also met Vietnam’s most powerful politician, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, according to the official Vietnam News Agency. Putin drove to Vietnam’s Presidential Palace on Thursday afternoon, where he was greeted by school children waving Russian and Vietnamese flags.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Lam, Gavriil Grigorov, Putin, ” Lam, “, Kim Jong, Nigel Gould, Davies, ”, Nguyen Khac Giang, Giang, Nguyen Phu Trong, Pham Minh Chinh, Putin’s, Ridzwan Rahmat, Janes, ” Rahmat, Prashanth, Wilson, Vladimir Lenin, Trong, Nhan Dan, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Gould, they’ve, he’s, Parameswaran Organizations: Sputnik, Hanoi Opera, Afp, Getty, North, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Singapore’s, Yusof, Institute, Communist Party General, Vietnam News Agency, Criminal, Kremlin, U.S, Embassy, Security, NATO, Asia, Communist Party’s, Vietnam’s Communist Party Locations: Russian, Hanoi, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine, Moscow, Asia, Pacific, Eurasia, London, British, Belarus, China, North Korea, U.S, Hague, Korea, Singapore, Soviet Union, Soviet, trickier, Washington

☆ How China could take Taiwan without even needing to invade
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“China has significantly increased pressure on Taiwan in recent years, stoking fears that tensions could erupt into outright conflict. China’s escalating gray zone tactics were on stark display this week as China Coast Guard vessels clashed with Philippine Navy boats in the South China Sea. In the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. Friday, 36 Chinese military aircraft crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says. Meanwhile, a quarantine, rather than a blockade, would not require China to close or restrict access to the Taiwan Strait, the CSIS report notes. Under its claims that Taiwan is Chinese territory, Beijing could require customs declarations to be filed before vessels can call in Taiwan.

Persons: CNN —, Beijing’s, Xi Jinping’s, Bonny Lin, Brian Hart, Matthew Funaiole, Samantha Lu, Tinsley, stoking, Adm, Dong Jun, ”, Dong, China’s, “, Joe Biden, Rong Xu, Carl Schuster, ” Schuster, Alessio Patalano, Sidharth Kaushal, Patalano Organizations: CNN, Communist Party, Center for Strategic, International Studies, China Coast Guard, CSIS, TAIWAN, GUARD, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Chinese Defense, Philippine Navy, Taiwan Relations, White, PLA Navy, Maritime Safety Agency, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, Bloomberg, Getty, “, Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, Taipei, King’s College, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Imports, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Taiwan, Ukraine, China, Washington, United States, Pengjia, Beijing, Singapore, South China, Manila, Second, Philippines, Taiwan’s, Taiwan Strait, Port, Taichung, Kaohsiung, London, Covid

☆ 3 Takeaways From Putin’s Trip to Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Sui-Lee Wee | Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A day later, in Vietnam, the Russian leader was far less provocative. Vietnam values its relations with the United States, which would be jeopardized if Mr. Putin were to make fiery statements about Washington on its soil. So even though Vietnam and Russia have deep military relations and a shared communist history, leaders in Hanoi instead focused talks with Mr. Putin on boosting ties in areas like trade, education, energy, and science and technology. The Russian leader kept his formal remarks muted. There were no major breakthroughs, but the show of unity with Vietnam was designed to give Mr. Putin a veneer of international legitimacy at a time of increasing isolation in the West.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr Locations: North Korea, Vietnam, Russian, United States, Washington, Russia, Hanoi, West

☆ How Architecture Became One of Ukraine’s Essential Defenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Jason Farago | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the German Army finally broke through in central Ukraine in September 1941, pasting up ordinances around Kyiv to announce a new occupying authority, they had only a few days’ calm. Less than a week after the occupation began, an explosion went off in a children’s toy store on Khreshchatyk Street — the capital’s grandest shopping boulevard, Kyiv’s equivalent of Fifth Avenue or the Champs-Élysées. Soon the city hall and the Communist Party headquarters crumbled. Walk through central Kyiv today, down the Khreshchatyk, past the grand Independence Square and the ritzy Tsum department store, and you can read the history of postwar and post-independence Ukraine in the subsequent architecture. When the city is a battleground, architecture becomes an act of defense and defiance.

Organizations: German Army, Communist Party, New York Times Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia

☆ Putin arrives in Vietnam as Russia seeks support in face of Western isolation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Considered a pariah by the West, Putin is looking to boost economic ties with friendly countries and show that Western isolation is not having an impact. Vietnam was among several Southeast Asian countries that abstained from joining a global summit on Ukraine in Switzerland last week. Last week, Vietnam sent a delegation led by its Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Summit in Russia. Analysts say Russia is likely to get more out of the visit than Vietnam, and Hanoi may even suffer reputational damage by hosting Putin following his trip to North Korea. “If no substantive deals are made, the visit will mainly be symbolic and a means for Putin and Russia to show the world that Western sanctions against Russia are not working,” said Le.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong, Putin, Nguyen Phu Trong, Lam, Minh, Yury Ushakov, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, ”, Le Hong Hiep, – Yusof, Le, ” Putin, Xi, –, John Kirby, Anwar Ibrahim Organizations: CNN, West, US, Reuters, Communist Party General, Vietnam’s, Vietnam News Agency, ” TASS, TASS, ”, Vietnam Studies, International Criminal Court, ICC, United Arab, Foreign Ministry, Foreign Affairs, ’ Summit, Analysts, Putin Locations: Hanoi, North Korea, Ukraine, Vietnam, Moscow, United States, China, Russia, Pyongyang, Russian, Soviet, India, US, South China, Switzerland, Beijing, Kazan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Egypt, Malaysia, BRICS, “

☆ Taiwan to acquire more than 1,000 armed drones in new US arms sale
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The United States has approved the $360 million sale of more than 1,000 small armed drones to Taiwan, as the self-ruled island claimed by China aims to strengthen its asymmetrical warfare abilities with an eye on successful tactics used on the battlefield in Ukraine. The proposed sale comes as China increases military pressure on Taiwan, with extensive military exercises around it and almost daily warplane flights near the island. In a statement Wednesday, Taiwan’s presidential office thanked the US for its security commitments, adding this was the Biden administration’s 15th weapons sale to the island since 2021. That includes $6.1 billion in asymmetrical weapon systems, including Harpoon missiles, PAC-3 missile interceptors and MQ-9B aerial drones, Cato said. Many analysts have urged Taiwan to pursue more asymmetrical weapons, which they say would be harder for China to counter than conventional arms in any invasion of the island.

Persons: “, Adm, Dong Jun, ”, Wahid Nawabi, Anduril, Biden, Karen Kuo, Cato Organizations: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Communist Party, Taiwan Relations, Washington, Chinese Defense, “, Cato Institute, Harpoon Locations: States, Taiwan, China, Ukraine, Taipei, Beijing, Singapore, “ Taiwan, Washington

☆ Putin arrives in North Korea for first visit in 24 years as anti-West alignment deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Anna Chernova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Following his visit to North Korea, Putin is scheduled to travel to Hanoi in a display of Communist-governed Vietnam’s ties to Russia that is likely to rankle the United States. Putin’s trip to North Korea will have a “very eventful” agenda, his aide Yuri Ushakov said during a press conference Monday. One image was of a grandstand being constructed on the eastern side of Kim Il Sung Square, the site where all major parades in North Korea are held. Putin arrives in North Korea on Tuesday, June 18. But Russia’s apparent increasing reliance on North Korea and rising frictions with the West appear to have shifted that dynamic.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Putin, Kim, Yuri Ushakov, Ushakov, Kim Il, John Kirby, Biden, wasn’t “, ’ Kim, ” Kim, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin’s, Defense Lloyd Austin, “, ” Putin, Kim Jong Il, Xi Jinping, Michael Mitsanas, Katharina Krebs, Mariya Knight, Yoonjung Seo, Betsy Klein, Paul P, Murphy Organizations: CNN, TASS, Putin, Planet Labs, Maxar Technologies, US, North Korean, North, South Korea’s, Chiefs of Staff, West, Ukrainian, Kyiv, NATO, Ukraine, Defense, Kremlin, United Nations Security, UN Locations: North Korea, Pyongyang, Ukraine, Korean, Korea, Hanoi, Russia, United States, Asia, Moscow, North, Zarubinreporter, South Korea, South, Russia’s, Eurasia, Italy, Kyiv, Russian, Vietnam, Beijing, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil

☆ Thailand to become first Southeast Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Helen Regan | Kocha Olarn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The result of the vote means that Thailand will become only the third place in Asia to allow for marriage equality after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 and Nepal in 2023. Mark Phillips/CNNPrevious attempts to legalize marriage equality over the past decade had stalled. Nonetheless Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, of the Pheu Thai Party, had also promised to bring the marriage equality bill to parliament. Japan is the only Group of Seven (G7) country that has not recognized either same-sex civil unions or same-sex marriage, despite recent high court decisions that ruled not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. South Korea does not legally recognize same-sex marriage but in February 2023, a South Korean court ruled in favor of a same-sex couple seeking equal health benefits.

Persons: ”, Panyaphon Phiphatkhunarnon, Thailand –, ” Panyaphon, Watit, ” Pokpong, Pokpong, Mark Phillips, Pita Limjaroenrat, Srettha Thavisin, Srettha, “, Peerapon Boonyakiat, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, Love Foundation, Pokpong, “, Party, Thailand’s, Pheu Thai Party, Bangkok Pride Locations: Thailand, Southeast Asia, Asia, Taiwan, Nepal, Bangkok, Sukhumvit, Myanmar, Brunei, Indonesia, Aceh, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, China, Beijing, South Korea, Korea

☆ China’s property prices are still plunging despite government efforts to rescue the market
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Prices in 70 major cities were down 0.7% in May from April, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures showed on Monday. According to separate calculations by the Macquarie Group, prices of existing homes in those cities fell by 7.5% year-on-year last month, marking the biggest decline on record. A month ago, Beijing unveiled wide-ranging measures to rescue the crisis-hit property market, including asking local governments across the country to buy unsold homes from beleaguered developers and easing rules on purchases. Measures, including efforts to provide cheap loans to state-owned enterprises for buying unsold homes from distressed developers, will “take time” to have an impact on the property market, the analysts said. Property investment for the first five months of the year dropped 10.1% from a year ago, according the NBS on Monday.

Persons: ”, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Bureau of Statistics, Macquarie Group, Societe Generale, NBS, Labor, Macquarie, HSBC, Communist Party Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing

☆ Chinese citizens grapple with Florida law that bars them from buying property
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It’s just purchasing property,” Bian, who is originally form Nanjing, China, said. Bian and other Florida residents told CNN that the rules have fostered uneasiness and confusion among ethnic Chinese people living in the state. Some say the law has damaged their businesses, while others say they are considering abandoning Florida altogether. Ever since Florida Senate Bill 264 went into effect on July 1, 2023, Chinese citizens without green cards face a felony charge and possible prison time if they purchase property in the state. For Chinese citizens without the permanent right to live in the US, specifically, the law goes a step further, barring the group from purchasing any property in the state.

Persons: CNN —, Jin Bian, Bian, “, Ron DeSantis, isn’t, Bill 264, Sellers, ”, Echo King, ” DeSantis, Clay Zhu, ” Zhu, Susan Li, Li, TikTok, Glenn Youngkin, Teresa Jin, ” Jin Organizations: CNN, Echo, Florida Asian American Justice Alliance, United, Chinese Communist Party, CCP, American Civil Liberties Union, US, US Department of Agriculture, Virginia Republican Locations: Tampa , Florida, Nanjing, China, Florida, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, “ Florida, United States, People’s Republic of China, Orlando , Florida, Montana, Virginia, California

☆ UK’s MI5 spy agency may have issued Chinese alert to distract from Partygate, tribunal hears
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Caitlin Danaher | Sugam Pokharel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —A former opposition lawmaker in Britain’s House of Commons has alleged that the UK’s domestic spy agency MI5 may have issued a rare alert notice in 2022 about an alleged Chinese agent as a distraction from the so-called Partygate scandal, according to testimony before a tribunal looking into the alert. The Christine Lee & So Solicitors office on Wardour Street, London, on January 13, 2022. He was the chairman of the now-disbanded Chinese in Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group, on which Lee sat. The UK has since introduced a foreign agents registration act, which is expected to come into force later this year. In a statement to CNN in 2022, Gardiner said he had not benefited personally from Lee’s donations in any way, adding that the money had been properly reported and its source verified.

Persons: London CNN —, Christine Ching Kui Lee, China’s, Boris Johnson, Barry Gardiner, Lee, Johnson’s, Gardiner, ”, “, Boris ’ Partygate, Christine Lee, Rob Pinney, Boris Johnson’s, ” “, Daniel Wilkes, Mr Gardiner, CNN’s Andrew Raine Organizations: London CNN, Communist Party, Labour Party, Getty, CNN, Security Services, MI5, Security Service, Labour, Parliamentary, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Britain’s, London, Europe, ”, Britain, British

☆ Russia’s Putin to visit North Korea in rare trip as anti-West alignment deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Anna Chernova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Following his visit to North Korea, Putin will travel to Hanoi Wednesday for another two-day trip, in a display of Communist-governed Vietnam’s ties to Russia that is likely to rankle the United States. Both countries have denied North Korean arms exports. The Kremlin has said that Russia hopes to build a partnership with North Korea “in all possible areas,” according to Russian state media. Putin’s move to bolster North Korean ties has also been a boon for Kim, who remains unbowed by years of international sanctions over his illegal nuclear weapons program. But Russia’s apparent increasing reliance on North Korea and rising frictions with the West appear to have shifted that dynamic.

Persons: CNN — Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Putin, Kim, ” Kim, Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin’s, Defense Lloyd Austin, “, ”, ” Putin, Kim Jong Il, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Putin, North Korean, Pyongyang –, North, North Korea “, Ukrainian, Kyiv, NATO, Ukraine, Defense, United Nations Security, UN Locations: North Korea, Russian, Ukraine, Pyongyang, Hanoi, Russia, United States, South Korea, Moscow, Korean, Russia’s, Italy, Kyiv, Beijing, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil

☆ Meet the Professors Whose Porn Careers Cost Them Their Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Hallie Lieberman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +28 min

The porn videos had titles like "Juicy Anniversary" and "Bedroom Shenanigans." In search of a man for Wilson, Gow sought advice from his therapist, who suggested joining a swingers club. In the background, Video Gow is moaning "Oh yeah" as IRL Gow says, "I've always had some ED issues." As the video ends with the big finale — the money shot, as it's known in the industry — Video Gow stands above kneeling Video Wilson, arms outstretched. The termination letter said he had failed to properly report his income from the porn videos and had violated "prohibitions for using one's public position for private benefit."

Persons: Joe Gow, Carmen Wilson, Gow, isn't, " Gow, Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, we've, It's, I'm, Simone Lueck, BI Gow, hadn't, Wilson's, Nina Hartley, Danny Mountain, who'd, We've, Cal Berkeley, Lauren Phillips, Phillips, mischievously, We’ll, We'll, Barack Obama, Geri, Jay Hart, IRL Gow, I've, she'd, Barack Obama's, Hartley, Raymond Cross, Cross, Hartley dustup, Stills, —, Tony Tomich, Moberg doesn't, Gow's, demurely, Starr, Socrates, Eugene Volokh, Roe, Diane, wouldn't, aren't, They've, Wilson wouldn't, Hallie Lieberman, She's Organizations: University of Wisconsin, selfies, CNN, The, BI, UW, La, Sony, Higher, MIT, USC, Cal, Dickinson State University, Food Network, IRL, Dartmouth, La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, University of, FTI Consulting, Easton Moberg, Press, Stanford, Court, eBay, Sssh.com Locations: La Crosse, London, India, Gaza, Gow, Rock, San Francisco, Wisconsin, Chicago, Los Angeles, North Dakota, Arizona, Communist China, City, San Diego

☆ The F.B.I. Kept a File on My Father That Has Made His Family Proud - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Samuel G. Freedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On an otherwise pleasant day in May 1957, my father received two unwelcome visitors at his tool-and-die factory. The agents intended to use that information as leverage to turn my father, too, into a snitch. Having grown up hearing family stories about my father’s lifelong radical politics, Aaron put through a Freedom of Information Act request for the F.B.I. That file is a reminder of what I inherited from him — not just his politics, but the convictions that they were built on. Dad would have been a logical enough target of scrutiny of J. Edgar Hoover’s F.B.I.

Persons: Aaron, David Freedman, —, Carol, Ken, Paul Avrich, Edgar Hoover’s F.B.I Organizations: Communist Party Locations: Highland Park, N.J, Piscataway

☆ China wants a fleet of aircraft carriers for pride and power, and it's building it at a breakneck pace
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Read previewChina is building a fleet of aircraft carriers, making technological and capability jumps at a breakneck pace. An aerial drone photo taken on May 1, 2024 shows China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, during its maiden sea trials. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford transits the Strait of Gibraltar, Jan. 5, 2024. For China, having aircraft carriers allows it to enjoy many of those perks. A composite image shows the American flag flying near the bridge of the US Navy's first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and the Chinese flag flying near China's aircraft carrier Shandong.

Persons: —, Pu, would've, Matthew Funaiole, Xi Jinping, Kyle Amonson, Dane Egli, Xi, Funaiole, Gerald R, Navy Petty, Jacob Mattingly, Trenton, Li Gang, Cmdr, Michael Dahm, Peter W, Singer, Guy Snodgrass Organizations: Service, Business, Ford, Getty, China Power, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Jiangnan Shipyard, Getty Images, People's Liberation Army, Communist Party, US Coast Guard, Pacific Affairs, Chinese Communist Party, US Navy, Navy, DoD Aircraft, South China Seas, Pacific, Communication, Trenton Edly, US, New America, Defense, PLA Navy's Locations: China, Fujian, Shandong, Liaoning, Xinhua, Getty Images China, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Gibraltar, Jan, South, Beijing

☆ Huang Xueqin: China #MeToo journalist sentenced to five years in prison, supporters say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Huang Xueqin, an independent journalist, was found guilty by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court Friday for “inciting subversion of state power,” supporters said. “There are so few people prosecuted because there are only so few victims who report,” she told CNN in a 2018 interview. In the months following their detention, more than 70 friends and supporters of Huang and Wang were summoned by the police for questioning, according to supporters. A close friend of Huang previously told CNN the journalist had suffered significant weight loss in detention and stopped menstruating for months. I have no sense of belonging anymore,” the friend told CNN last year ahead of the closed-door trial.

Persons: Huang Xueqin, ”, Wang Jianbin, Huang, Wang, “, ” Huang, Huang’s, menstruating, it’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Communist, Guangzhou, Labor, CNN, University of Sussex, Amnesty International, Communist Party Locations: Hong Kong, China, Guangzhou, United Kingdom

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