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[1/2] Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud arrives to attend the APEC Leader's Informal Dialogue with Guests during the APEC 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, 18 November 2022. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday the immunity decision did not speak to a review of Washington's relationship with Saudi Arabia, which was ongoing. HISTORIC LOWSaudi ties with the United States and the wider West are still at a historic low point. When Saudi Arabia consequently took its security into its own hands with its war in Yemen, it saw Western criticism as hypocritical. Saudi Arabia would likely still prefer to have a U.S. security umbrella.

☆ World Cup teams abandon plan to wear 'OneLove' armbands
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The captains of seven European nations will not wear anti-discrimination armbands in World Cup games after threats from FIFA to show yellow cards to the players. “As national federations we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions, including bookings,” the seven soccer federations said Monday in a joint statement. The climbdown after threats from FIFA came hours before England’s Harry Kane, the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Wales’ Gareth Bale were due to wear the One Love armbands in Monday’s games. The captains of Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark were also expected to wear the armbands in the coming days. “Our number one priority at the World Cup is to win the games,” the Dutch soccer federation said in a separate statement.

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine rages on without a clear end in sight. Here are 6 ways the conflict could play out.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, there does not appear to be a clear end in sight. Russian victoryWhen it began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia's goal was to take over the country completely. Rather than taking more territory, Russia's objectives in the current stage of war seem to be to weaken Ukraine's resources, economy, and army. Nuclear war and/or NATO interventionPutin has repeatedly made nuclear threats since he began the invasion of Ukraine and, in September, claimed that it was "not a bluff." One senior official previously said that a Russian nuclear strike could trigger a "physical response" from NATO itself.

LONDON — Her tenure as Britain’s prime minister began in the early days of fall, but it didn’t even last until winter. The plan was criticized not only by the opposing Labour Party, but also President Joe Biden and the International Monetary Fund. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and British Prime Minister Liz Truss attend the annual Conservative Party conference on Oct. 2. Truss told Parliament on Wednesday, “I am a fighter, not a quitter,” after repeatedly being told she was unfit for office by opposition lawmakers. Under an expedited process, leadership challengers must win the support of 100 fellow Conservative Party lawmakers (out of a total of 357) by Monday afternoon.

☆ Joe Biden says Liz Truss's plan to cut taxes for Britain's 'super-wealthy' was a 'mistake' as the UK prime minister battles to stay in power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US President Joe Biden said plans by the UK to cut taxes for the highest earners were a "mistake." Liz Truss's government was forced into a U-turn on $50 billion of unfunded tax cuts this week. The US president told reporters the prime minister's climbdown on a multi-billion dollar tax cut plan was "predictable," in a rare comment on British politics. Truss, who leads the UK's centre-right Conservative Party, proposed sweeping tax cuts to the tune of £45 billion (around $50 billion) that would have been largely funded by borrowing. On Friday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House wouldn't comment on the situation in the UK.

☆ British PM Liz Truss axes finance minister, tax cuts that sent pound crashing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON — Embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister and abandoned a flagship policy Friday, in a bid to save her job after her economic plan stoked weeks of market panic. Earlier, Truss removed Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng just 38 days after the pair took power. Kwarteng becomes the second shortest-serving chancellor of the exchequer, as the British finance minister is known. Truss' personal office confirmed the next finance minister will be Jeremy Hunt, a former health secretary and minister under successive Conservative governments. Crucially, the bank’s bond-buying program is set to end Friday, meaning the government must convince markets its economic plan is sound to avoid further chaos.

London CNN Business —UK Prime Minister Liz Truss will hold a news conference Friday amid widespread speculation that she’s getting ready to ditch a big part of her economic strategy unveiled just three weeks ago. Kwarteng flew back from the IMF meeting in Washington, D.C., on Friday for discussions with Truss about the plan. Under pressure, Kwarteng has already brought forward his full budget statement to Oct. 31, more than three weeks earlier than planned. But investors may not be prepared to wait that long for reassurance about the state of Britain’s public finances. — Luke McGee and Zahid Mahmood in London, and Xiaofei Xu in Paris contributed to this article

London CNN Business —UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has fired finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and ditched a big part of her discredited economic strategy in a desperate bid to rescue her month-old premiership. “It was right, in the face of the issues we had, that I acted decisively to ensure that we had economic stability,” Truss said Friday. Kwarteng presented a “mini budget” just three weeks ago, promising tax cuts worth £45 billion ($50 billion) and increased borrowing with the hope of boosting UK economic growth. “Liz Truss’ reckless approach has crashed the economy, causing mortgages to skyrocket, and has undermined Britain’s standing on the world stage,” he said. Kwarteng had flown back from the IMF meeting in Washington, D.C., overnight for discussions with Truss.

☆ North Korea needs nukes because of its religion
▼ + stars: | 2017-07-08 | by ( Paul French | Foreign Policy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But even engagement strategies can't stop the relentless move toward a deliverable North Korea nuclear arsenal. President Bill Clinton essentially attempted this in 1994 when he approved $4 billion in "energy aid" to North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with participants during the 8th Congress of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) in Pyongyang, North Korea. A vendor waits for customers at the shop inside the international airport in Pyongyang, North Korea May 3, 2016. But if the world accepts a nuclear North Korea (and it accepted a nuclear Pakistan, as North Koreans have reminded me), then the second half of Kim's theory might just give the kind of pressure that can be used.

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