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☆ Germany U-turns over battle tanks, saying it will send Leopard 2s to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that Germany will provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks out of its own Bundeswehr (German armed forces) stocks. Germany said its goal was to "quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine. As a first step, Germany will supply a company with 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks. Reports emerged late Tuesday that Chancellor Scholz was ready to agree to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, while the Biden administration was potentially prepared to provide a couple dozen M1 Abrams tanks. Warsaw on Tuesday sent a request to Berlin, asking permission to re-export 14 of its own Leopard tanks to Kyiv.

☆ Factbox: Tanks for Ukraine: who is lining up to send them to Kyiv?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Germany, the United States and more allies are poised to announce plans to send tanks to Ukraine, officials and sources say, after Britain said it would send its Challenger 2 tanks and Poland pressed Berlin for approval to send German-built tanks. Ukraine has until recently faced resistance to its requests for main battle tanks to fight against invading Russian forces. BRITAINThe British government announced on Jan. 14 that it would send its a squadron, or 14, of its Challenger 2 battle tanks, which has a 120 mm rifled gun. POLANDWarsaw has said it is ready to send up to 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks and has been pressing Berlin to approve the move. NORWAYThe Norwegian government is considering whether to send some of its Leopard tanks, newspapers reported.

☆ Poland Formally Requests German Permission to Send Tanks to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Thomas Grove | Bojan Pancevski | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Poland asked Germany for permission to re-export Warsaw’s Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, raising pressure on Berlin to allow the supply of heavier weapons to Kyiv. “The Germans have already received our request for consent to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” said Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak. “I also appeal to the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks.”

☆ 2,300-year-old 'golden boy' mummy was found with 49 amulets, including a gold tongue to let him speak with the gods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The child, nicknamed the "golden boy," was mummified with 49 protective amulets. A team of scientists has digitally unwrapped the 2,300-year-old mummy using a CT scanner to uncover its secrets. The team found that the so-called "golden boy" was lavishly mummified with gold and semi-precious stones. Forty-nine protective amulets were precisely placed in three columns on his body, suggesting he was rich and of high status. A curved arrow shows the location of a dense golden amulet placed in the boy's mouth.

Pressure has been building on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine and let other countries send the ones they own. Ukraine says heavily armoured Western battle tanks would give its ground troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive that Kyiv expects in the near future. Germany has previously said that no country had formally asked for permission to send their Leopard tanks. A German defence source told Reuters that Poland had submitted a request to let it supply up to 14 Leopard 2 A4 tanks to Ukraine. He expressed confidence that a decision on sending battle tanks would come soon.

☆ Petr Pavel: who is the ex-army chief leading Czech presidential election race?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Polls make the bearded retired general, 61, the favourite to win a run-off vote on Friday and Saturday against billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babis, 68. "We got into several tense situations and he always managed them with deliberation and calm," retired Czech general Ales Opata, who served in Croatia and after with Pavel, told Reuters. He lead the Czech general staff from 2012, during Czech involvement in operations in Afghanistan, and in 2015 became NATO's military committee chair, an advisory position of the alliance's secretary-general. Jiri Sedivy, chief executive of the European Defence Agency and former Czech ambassador to NATO, said Pavel was a decision-maker who could take responsibility. After Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Pavel represented NATO in a 2017 meeting with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

☆ Poland pushes for tanks for Ukraine, will seek German OK
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

He said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Poland needs the consent of Germany, which builds the tanks, to send them to a non-NATO country. But even if there is no permission from Germany, Warsaw will make its own decisions, Morawiecki said. Poland has become a leading advocate in the European Union for giving Ukraine the military aid that could help it prevail over the Kremlin’s invading forces 11 months after the war started. Germany’s hesitation has drawn criticism, particularly from Poland and the Baltic states, countries on NATO’s eastern flank that feel especially threatened by Russia’s renewed aggression.

☆ Explainer: How to correctly re-export German tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The following explains defence export rules in Germany and other countries and the way such deals have been handled previously:HOW DO GOVERNMENTS CORRECTLY RE-EXPORT GERMAN TANKS? The same goes for cases where the weapons may be used to wage a war of aggression or the re-export approval might violate Germany's obligations under international law. As defence exports are a touchy issue in Germany, foreign countries usually do not directly submit a formal request for re-export to the German authorities. If not, the foreign country abstains from submitting a formal re-export request, and no diplomatic harm is done. GERMANY'S HIGH HURDLES FOR DEFENCE EXPORTSGermany has one of the toughest defence export regimes in the world – largely due to its bloody pre-1945 past.

[1/5] Ukrainian servicemen are seen near the frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near Soledar in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 23, 2023. The corruption scandal could dampen Western enthusiasm for his government just as European countries bicker over sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. One of the most widely used Western tanks, Ukraine says it needs them to break through Russian lines and recapture territory this year. Germany is not blocking the re-export of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the European Union's top diplomat said on Monday. Ukraine says Western tanks would give its ground troops the mobility, protection and firepower to break through Russian defensive lines and resume their advance.

☆ German green-light for Leopard tanks is 'secondary' issue, Poland says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Poland is pushing for countries who have Leopards to send them to Ukraine, even if Germany does not want to join them. Even if we did not get this approval ... we would still transfer our tanks together with others to Ukraine", Morawiecki told reporters. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday that Berlin would not stand in the way if Poland sent its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. However, a German government spokesperson said on Monday that Berlin had still not received any requests to authorise the re-export of the tanks.

☆ Leopard tanks are the 'right' weapon to send Ukraine, but don't expect a 'silver bullet,' military expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

European countries are continuing to press Germany to green light Leopard tanks to Ukraine. One military expert told Insider that these German-made weapons are the "right tank" to send. One military expert said the much-sought-after tanks are the "right" tanks to send to Ukraine at this moment and would be "militarily useful" depending on how many are sent, but don't expect them to be a "silver bullet." Germany has been reluctant to send its Leopards or permit other countries that operate the German-made armor to send tanks to Ukraine, and some countries are growing impatient. The foreign minister said on Monday that while Warsaw will seek Germany's permission, his country will "certainly" send the formidable Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

☆ Poland earmarks $1 bln to help curb surge in household heating bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Proposed measures to help Polish households cope with rising heating bills will cost 4.5 billion zlotys ($1.04 billion), according to a draft law posted on the parliament website on Friday. Warsaw has vowed to limit price increases for heating to 40%, as the impact of the war in Ukraine on voters' wallets comes into sharp focus in an election year. If the measure becomes law it would be financed using money from a fund set up to aid businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The money in this fund has been raised using bonds issued by state fund PFR and state development bank BGK. Poland had in 2022 pledged to limit the increase in heating bills to 40%, but some consumers have received bills with price increases topping 100%.

☆ Poland ready to send Ukraine tanks even if Germany opposes it -deputy FM
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Poland could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine even without Germany's re-export approval, a deputy foreign minister said on Friday, ahead of a crunch meeting on weapons for Kyiv. The issue looks set to dominate talks between Western allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. "I do not rule out that we are ready to take such a step," Pawel Jablonski told private radio RMF FM referring to the possibility of sending tanks to Ukraine even if Germany opposes it. Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on Thursday several countries would announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at the Ramstein meeting. However, Germany has yet to receive a request from any country for permission to re-export German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, a German government source said on Thursday.

☆ Ukraine expects decisions on tanks at Western defence leaders' meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"We are, in fact, now waiting for a decision from one European capital, which will activate the prepared chains of cooperation regarding tanks," Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday night. German government sources have said Berlin would move on the Leopard tanks issue if Washington agreed to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine needed the tanks to defend itself, recapture occupied land, and did not plan to attack Russia, Zelenskiy told ARD television on Thursday. "From Washington to London, from Paris to Warsaw, you hear one thing: Ukraine needs tanks. Nearby towns also were shelled by Russian forces - including Klishchiivka, just south of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military said.

☆ Factbox: Ukraine's military supplies: What ground vehicles are Kyiv's allies sending?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

THE UNITED STATES:Bradley Fighting Vehicle: a tracked, armoured vehicle with a turret-mounted 25-mm gun that can carry up to seven soldiers in addition to three crew. M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer: a tracked, armoured vehicle with a 155 mm gun. Stryker armoured personnel carrier: a wheeled armoured vehicle that can be configured to handle anything from carrying infantry to medical evacuations. M1117 armoured security vehicle: a wheeled vehicle with a mine-resistant hull. SWEDENArcher Artillery System: a wheeled, self-propelled gun.

☆ Discord is paying for teens to give each other compliments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Discord app is seen on an iPhone in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on April 3, 2021. We've been here and done this before when it comes to social media: a new, fast-growing app is providing a way for online users to share inspiration and encouragement. At some point in most social media companies' histories, dating all the way back to Facebook's role in global "democratization" during Arab Spring, early social media success has been focused on positive effects. Seattle Public Schools' recently filed lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Snap and others alleging a youth mental health crisis caused by social media. But Gas has continued to grow as a place for teens to engage with peers, amassing 7.4 million installs.

☆ Putin is a tyrant who wants to enslave Ukraine, Poland's president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022. Sergey Guneev | Sputnik | ReutersPoland's president, Andrzej Duda, has slammed his Russian counterpart, saying Vladimir Putin is behaving like a colonialist. "Vladimir Putin wants to enslave Ukraine, he wants to expand his regime across the Ukrainian territory, [to] take away Ukrainians' freedom. Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands and hug during their press conference on August 23, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Or do we think that the free world can progress and every country has the right to self-determine?"

☆ Putin was so worried about a conflict with the West that he basically ended up starting one, former US Army general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Putin has wound up basically creating a proxy war with the West, a former US Army general said. Putin's long-held "fear" about a conflict with the West "encouraged" him to invade Ukraine, he said. "Putin believed that war was inevitable with the West," Ryan said. With his attack on Ukraine, Putin has essentially "created this reality of the war with the West," he said. "The Russian leadership believes it is in a war with the West, that the West wants to destroy them," the former general said.

☆ Russia releases U.S. Navy veteran into Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Russia on Thursday released a U.S. citizen who had crossed into its Kaliningrad exclave in the first weeks of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last February, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, who met the man at the border in Poland, said in a statement. U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, 35, was backpacking in Europe when he crossed the Polish-Russian border in April, Jonathan Franks, a lawyer who represents families of Americans detained overseas, said in an email to reporters. Dudley’s circumstances while in Russia were unclear and his case had not been previously publicized. Kaliningrad is a Russian province sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania and is the headquarters of the Russian navy’s Baltic Fleet.

☆ Polish central banker Kotecki says no room for rate cut this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Double-digit inflation in Poland leaves no room for loosening monetary policy this year but interest rates will not rise further, central banker Ludwik Kotecki told Reuters. Kotecki said even talking about lower rates at the moment risked weakening the impact of monetary policy. Kotecki's views follow comments last week by Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski, who said he remained hopeful a rate cut could happen this year, despite still rising inflation rates. The MPC has de facto ended the hike cycle, although formally it is in a phase of monetary policy tightening. Talking about rate cuts at the moment is, in my opinion, a communication error," that weakens the impact of monetary policy, he said.

U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, 35, was backpacking in Europe when he crossed the Polish-Russian border in April, Jonathan Franks, a lawyer who represents families of Americans detained overseas, said in an email to reporters. Dudley's circumstances while in Russia were unclear and his case had not been previously publicized. "The negotiations and work to secure Taylor’s safe return were done discreetly and with engagement on the ground in both Moscow and Kaliningrad and with full support from Taylor’s family back in the United States," the Richardson Center said. A U.S. embassy representative in Warsaw was also present at Dudley's release, according to Franks, and the Richardson Center thanked U.S. officials, as well as businessman Steve Menzies, for helping secure Dudley's return. Kaliningrad is a Russian province sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania and is the headquarters of the Russian navy's Baltic Fleet.

☆ Poland plans to give Ukraine Leopard tanks as part of coalition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Poland's President Andrzej Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, January 11, 2023. Duda said that he hoped that the Polish tanks, together with tanks from other countries, would soon travel to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday that Poland did not intend to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine without the formation of a broader coalition. Any re-export of Leopard tanks requires approval by the government in Berlin. However, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday that it was not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

While Budapest and Warsaw are haggling with the bloc over rule-of-law strings attached to billions worth of pandemic recovery funds, Romania has already drawn down over 6 billion euros in grants and cheap loans. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has said the government aims to tap more than 10 billion euros a year, equivalent to about 4% of GDP, of about 90 billion euros of EU funding available to Bucharest through to 2027. RESHORINGCompanies reshoring from Russia and Ukraine to nearby low-cost manufacturing hubs partially helped push foreign direct investment to 9.39 billion euros in January-October, the largest 10-month figure since Romania joined the EU. "We are optimistic that investment will rise in coming years, also encouraged by EU funds," said Alex Milcev, head of Tax and Legal at E&Y Romania. And relations with the EU are not always smooth: in December, Austrian opposition over unauthorised immigration kept Romania out of Europe's borderless Schengen area.

[1/5] Passengers push their luggage through the international arrivals hall at Beijing Capital International Airport after China lifted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine requirement for inbound travellers in Beijing, China January 8, 2023. China's management of COVID was technically downgraded to "Category B" on Sunday, although many curbs have been dropped for weeks. Officially, China has reported just 5,272 COVID-related deaths as of Jan.8, one of the lowest rates of death from the infection in the world. State broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea to China were close to sold out. South Korea like many other countries now requires travellers from China, Macau and Hong Kong to provide negative COVID test results before departure.

☆ China reopens borders in final farewell to zero-Covid policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Travelers began streaming into mainland China by air, land and sea on Sunday, many eager for long-awaited reunions, as Beijing opened borders that have been all but shut since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the abrupt policy reversal has triggered a massive wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals and causing business disruptions. China on Sunday also resumed issuing passports and travel visas for mainland residents, and ordinary visas and residence permits for foreigners. Beijing has quotas on the number of people who can travel between Hong Kong and China each day. I’m thrilled, I can’t believe it’s happening,” said a business woman surnamed Shen, 55, who flew in from Hong Kong.

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