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☆ GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared to shade Ron DeSantis, referencing his comments on the Ukraine war and calling it 'weakness'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Haley made reference to Republicans who refer to the Ukraine war as a "territorial dispute." Some call it a mere 'territorial dispute,'" Haley wrote. The quote "territorial dispute" is a possible reference to a statement DeSantis made on March 13, when he called for an end to US aid for Ukraine. Prior to this statement, DeSantis had supported aid to Ukraine and later became defensive when a reporter asked him about his position earlier this month. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu also criticized DeSantis using the term "territorial dispute" to describe the war in an op-ed for the Washington Post.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. should continue supporting Ukraine, former Vice President Mike Pence and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said on Saturday, a position that puts them at odds with the top two contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Foreign policy has emerged as the main ideological fissure within the Republican Party as the 2024 nominating contest heats up. Both Pence and Sununu have defended Ukraine before, but their Saturday comments were particularly pointed and come as the Republican foreign policy feud intensifies. In a Washington Post opinion column, Sununu, the New Hampshire governor, went after Trump and DeSantis directly. Pence is running well behind Trump and DeSantis, vying for a distant third with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, another Ukraine supporter.

☆ Ron DeSantis was invited to Ukraine to gain a 'deeper understanding' of the war after the Florida governor called Russia's full-scale invasion a 'territorial dispute'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis called Russia's year-long war in Ukraine a 'territorial dispute,' on Monday. On Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry invited DeSantis to see the situation on the ground himself. Ron DeSantis to visit the war-torn country after DeSantis reduced Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor to a "territorial dispute," earlier this week. DeSantis' comments came via a statement sent to Fox News on Monday where he said that Russia's war in Ukraine was not a "vital interest." The next day, Ukraine foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko pushed back against DeSantis' comments and extended an offer, per the BBC.

Once the party of foreign policy "hawks," Republicans have increasingly cooled on foreign entanglements and military support for allies, particularly after Trump took office in 2016. Republican senators Marco Rubio, who is from DeSantis' home state, and Lindsey Graham, both former presidential candidates, criticized isolationists within their party. "People care about foreign policy, but I think it's kind of mixed on Ukraine funding," said Trudy Caviness, a member of the Iowa Republican State Central Committee. By embracing Trump's hands-off brand of foreign policy, DeSantis risks turning off some of the white-collar Republicans that are most eager to move on from the former president. That will give the eventual winner of the Republican nomination significant power to shape the party's foreign policy preferences going forward.

☆ Liz Cheney blasts DeSantis over his comments about Russia's invasion of Ukraine: 'Weakness is Putin's greatest weapon'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The governor told Tucker Carlson in a statement that the war should not be a priority for the US. "This is not 'a territorial dispute,'" Cheney said in a statement to The New York Times. Ron DeSantis in a statement Tuesday, saying the Governor was "wrong" for his comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "Weakness is provocative and American officials who advocate this type of weakness are Putin's greatest weapon. Abandoning Ukraine would make broader conflict, including with China and other American adversaries, more likely," Cheney said in the statement to the Times.

☆ Further U.S. involvement in Ukraine is not vital national interest, says DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Becoming "further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia" is not a vital U.S. national interest, said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is eying running for president, in comments released on Monday. Public opinion polls show DeSantis as the strongest threat to former President Donald Trump for their party's nomination for the 2024 presidential contest. "While the U.S. has many vital national interests ... becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them," DeSantis said in his reply. Trump, when asked whether the United States should support regime change in Russia, wrote: “No. We should support regime change in the United States, that's far more important.

☆ Top Republicans bash DeSantis for calling Ukraine war a territorial dispute: 'Obviously, he doesn't deal with foreign policy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis called the Ukraine war a "territorial dispute" and said it's not a "vital" US interest. "Obviously, he doesn't deal with foreign policy every day as governor," said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. His comments quickly elicited pushback from other Republicans, both for his characterization of the conflict as a "territorial dispute" and for suggesting that defending Ukraine is not a vital national interest. Rubio went on to say that "foreign policy is about nuance" while taking pains not to criticize DeSantis directly. And Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told POLITICO that he was "disturbed" by DeSantis' statement.

☆ After Ron Desantis got testy over a reporter’s question about Ukraine, he told Tucker Carlson the war should not be a US priority, moving closer to Trump’s position
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Hannah Getahun | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis has previously avoided taking a hard stance on the US's Ukraine policy. On Monday, DeSantis said in a statement the Ukraine war is not of "vital national interest." The US has since provided Ukraine with billions of dollars of military aid, which has had bipartisan support. For Biden and his European allies, support for Ukraine is framed as a vital part of protecting the sovereignty of the country. Prominent House Republicans Rep. Mike McCaul and Rep. Mike Turner have even called on Biden to increase existing support for Ukraine.

☆ DeSantis flip-flopped on aid to Ukraine after previously offering full-throated support for arming Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ron DeSantis says it's not in the "vital" interests of the US to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia. But as a member of Congress in 2015, DeSantis offered strong support for arming Kyiv. Trump's first impeachment was linked, in part, to his dealings with Ukraine and a decision to freeze vital security aid to Kyiv. To be sure, it was the Trump administration who first provided US lethal aid to Ukraine, providing Javelin anti-tank missiles. Recent polling also suggests that Republican voters are more likely than Democratic voters to oppose further aid to Kyiv.

☆ DeSantis Calls U.S. Support of Ukraine Distraction From More Vital Interests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( John Mccormick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a Freedom Blueprint event in Des Moines, Iowa, last week amid rising expectations that he will run for president in 2024. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , a likely 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said Monday evening the U.S. shouldn’t necessarily help defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and instead focus its resources on issues closer to home. The statement was in response to a questionnaire Mr. Carlson’s show sent to all major prospective GOP presidential candidates.

☆ Georgian protesters rally in Tbilisi after violent clashes with police
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The ruling Georgian Dream party say it is modelled on U.S. legislation dating from the 1930s. In violent clashes on Tuesday evening, protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Critics say Georgian Dream is too close to Russia and has taken the country in a more repressive direction in recent years. Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze defended the bill again on Wednesday, saying it would help root out those working against the interests of the country and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. He criticised Georgia's "radical opposition" for stirring up protesters to commit "unprecedented violence" during Tuesday's rallies, according to Georgian news agencies.

☆ China to set up new financial regulator in sweeping reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The new financial regulator will replace the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) and bring supervision of the industry, excluding the securities sector, into a body directly under the State Council, or cabinet. The proposal for setting up the new regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, was presented to China's parliament during its annual meeting on Tuesday. China's financial sector is overseen by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the CBIRC, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), with the cabinet's Financial Stability and Development Committee having overall responsibility. The setting up of the new financial regulatory body comes as Beijing seeks to rein in large corporate and financial institutions that may bring systemic risks via regulatory arbitrage among multiple authorities. 'STRENGTHEN SUPERVISION'The new administration will "strengthen institutional supervision, supervision of behaviours and supervision of functions", according to the plan.

☆ Mast Reforestation is using drones, nurseries and carbon offsets to revitalize land after wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

All that burnt land means the country is in need of a dramatic increase in reforestation. But there's not a big enough supply of native seeds and seedlings to meet the regrowth demands. That's where a Seattle startup called Mast Reforestation sees an opportunity. Mast still provides aerial seeding, but drones are just one piece of its growing "reforestation as a service" business, said founder and CEO Grant Canary. Mast now has 130 full-time employees, including 45 from Cal Forest.

☆ Republican states say the FDA doesn't have the authority to override state abortion pill bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Boxes of the medication Mifepristone used to induce a medical abortion are prepared for patients at Planned Parenthood health center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14, 2022. The Food and Drug Administration's power to approve drugs does not override state bans on the abortion pill, a coalition of Republican attorneys general told a federal judge this week. The company has asked the court to overturn West Virginia's abortion ban, arguing that it conflicts with how the FDA regulates mifepristone under federal law. The GOP attorneys general said West Virginia's law does not completely ban the abortion pill. "A State's police power does not extend to functionally banning an article of interstate commerce — the Constitution leaves that to Congress," the company's lawyers wrote.

☆ China to form a national bureau to manage its troves of data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, March 7 (Reuters) - China will form a national data bureau that will be responsible for coordinating the sharing and development of the country's data resources, according to a plan submitted on Tuesday to parliament. The proposed bureau will be administrated by the state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the plan said. This has included issuing a series of new laws that require organisations with large user bases undergo assessments and obtain approvals when handling data. Some firms are struggling with a deadline requiring them to seek approval to export user data. "Multinationals will no doubt want to understand how a centralised data regulator will interface with overseas stakeholders."

☆ Two Israels face off as justice overhaul deepens the divide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

For them, weakening the Supreme Court would undermine the bedrock of Israel's democracy and could set the country on the path to becoming a corrupt and religiously coercive state. In 2020, the Supreme Court struck down a law that had retroactively legalised homes built by settlers on land owned by Palestinians, like Amona. Settlers driven by ideology see themselves as pioneers redeeming land that was promised by God and many feel betrayed by Supreme Court rulings against settlements. The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. "The Supreme Court has challenged parliament time and again, playing politics, not nicely."

☆ Brawl erupts in Georgia parliament over 'Russian-inspired' foreign agent law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People take part in a protest against the controversial "foreign agents" bill outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia March 6, 2023. Critics have compared it to a 2012 Russian law, which has been steadily expanded since then and used to crack down on Russian civil society and independent media. "The Russian legislation that now is proposed in parliament is against Georgia's national interests, against our European aspirations," said Irakli Pavlenishvili, a civil rights activist and opposition politician. However, Givi Mikanadze, a Georgian Dream lawmaker, told national television: "Georgian society absolutely deserves to know which organisations are being financed, from which sources. Last month, more than 60 civil society organisations and media outlets said they would not comply with the new "foreign agent" legislation if it becomes law.

☆ Australian PM seeks to diversify trade, investment on India visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, March 7 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government wants to diversify trade and foreign investment partners, as he prepares to lead a business delegation to India which he said shares Australia's democratic values. China is easily Australia's largest trading partner, although a diplomatic dispute has resulted in what Australia calls "trade blockages" being imposed by China on a raft of Australia's exports. Business leaders across transport, resources, finance, higher education, architecture and energy will on Wednesday accompany Albanese to India, which is Australia's sixth largest trading partner. "We can do all these things as well as remaining a trusted and reliable supplier of energy to key trading partners such as Japan and the Republic of Korea," he added. Albanese said Australia would be "deepening and diversifying our international investment and trade links".

☆ South Korea says its own companies will pay to resolve forced labor dispute with Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during a briefing on March 06, 2023 in Seoul. The South Korean government announced it will no longer seek direct payment from responsible Japanese firms to compensate victims of Japan's forced wartime labor. South Korea said on Monday that its companies would compensate people forced to work under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, in a bid to improve poor relations that have impeded trade and cooperation between the two countries. Under the plan, South Korea would compensate former forced laborers through an existing public foundation funded by private-sector companies, Foreign Minister Park Jin told a briefing. "We welcome this as a step that returns Japan-South Korea relations to a healthy one," he said.

Under the plan, South Korea would compensate former forced labourers through an existing public foundation funded by private-sector companies, South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin told a briefing. SOUTH KOREAN FUNDSRelations plunged to their lowest point in decades after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Japanese firms to pay reparations to former forced labourers. Overall there are fewer than 1,300 living victims of forced labour in South Korea, according to media estimates. The South Korean companies include KT&G (033780.KS), Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) and other companies that benefited from a 1965 treaty between South Korea and Japan. Asked whether Japanese companies would pitch in to compensate, Park said both Japanese and South Korean businesses were considering a plan to contribute.

☆ Putin's war in Ukraine is endangering Russia's centuries of great-power status
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Robert Farley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

And yet Russian power and influence have waned in the past; the first 20 years of the 20th century represented a nadir in Russian power, as the Russian Empire lost most of its western territories after suffering a series of defeats at the hands of Japan, Germany, and Poland. Russian soldiers in World War II uniforms parade at Dvortsovaya Square in St. Petersburg in January 2019. AP Photo/Dmitri LovetskyBy virtue of its size and legacy, Russia is undoubtedly an important military power. Even as Russia has struggled mightily to impose its will upon Ukraine, nuclear weapons have ensured that NATO stays on the sidelines. Thomson ReutersBut is Russia a great power if it can't even crush its neighbor without help from China?

☆ CORRECTED Italy's Meloni says on track to rebuild 'excellent' relations with UAE
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I think discussions this morning went very, very well and we're going back to a strategic partnership. Italy historically had very strong relations with UAE which in recent years experienced serious difficulties," Meloni told reporters in Abu Dhabi. Italy in 2021 halted the sale of thousands of missiles to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, citing Rome's commitment to restoring peace in Yemen. "On all these matters Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has expressed his willingness to help," Meloni said. "I think there is a strong will on both sides to rebuild not just good but excellent relations, a friendship, which I think is very important for our national interest."

Lavrov also said the question of when Russia will negotiate an end to the war should be put to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier in the day Blinken had met with his counterparts from the Quad, as the grouping is informally called, and they issued a statement saying "the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible". Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty and threatened to resume nuclear tests. During their brief exchange on the sidelines of the G20 meeting on Thursday, Blinken told Lavrov to end the war and urged Moscow to reverse its suspension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) on nuclear weapons. China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries".

☆ The Treasury just gave the strongest indication yet that the US will get a digital dollar, but an expert says proliferation of CBDCs poses risks to the dollar.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US Treasury just made its strongest indication that a central bank digital currency is on the table. A US digital dollar, Liang said, would be legal tender and users could convert it one-for-one with other forms of central bank assets, like paper money or reserves. Redbord also believes the US must carefully evaluate the space, given that China is embarking on a similar digital currency program that's aimed at competing with the dollar. In her Wednesday speech, Liang differentiated between wholesale and retail digital dollars. The upside for a retail CBDC, meanwhile, comes from access, rather than technology, but could also destabilize private sector lending during times of duress, she added.

☆ Putin cancels decree underpinning Moldova's sovereignty in separatist conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexander Tanas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

CHISINAU, Feb 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin revoked on Tuesday a 2012 decree that in part underpinned Moldova's sovereignty in resolving the future of the Transdniestria region - a Moscow-backed separatist region which borders Ukraine and where Russia keeps troops. The decree, which included a Moldova component, outlined Russia's foreign policy 11 years ago which assumed Moscow's closer relations with the European Union and the United States. It is part of a series of anti-Western moves announced by Putin on Tuesday. "The decree is a policy document that implements the concept of Russia's foreign policy," Flenchea told Publika-TV. "Moldova and Russia have a basic political agreement that provides for mutual respect for the territorial integrity of our countries."

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