DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied” with Baerbock’s comments and “firmly opposes” them. “The remarks made by Germany are extremely absurd, seriously infringe on China’s political dignity, and are an open political provocation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing on Monday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry often leaves out content it deems sensitive from the transcripts of its regular briefings. In June, US President Joe Biden also referred to Xi as a “dictator,” sparking a fierce backlash from Beijing. As a result of this and China’s political decisions, we need to change our approach to China,” the paper said.

Persons: Xi, ”, Berlin’s, Annalena Baerbock, “, Putin, Germany’s, Patricia Flor, Mao Ning, Xi –, Joe Biden, Jiang Zemin, Mike Wallace, Jiang, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong’s, Angela Merkel, Baerbock Organizations: CNN, Fox News, China’s, Ministry, Chinese Foreign Ministry, CBS, South China, Germany’s Greens Locations: China, Germany, United States, Ukraine, Beijing, Berlin, Moscow, Taiwan, South, “ China, Australian

☆ Hillary Clinton returns to the White House for arts celebration
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Jeff Mason | Thomson Reuters | Jeff Mason Is A White House Correspondent For Reuters. He Has Covered The Presidencies Of Barack Obama | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Clinton will attend an event with first lady Jill Biden to celebrate Praemium Imperiale Laureates, recipients of a global arts prize by the Japan Art Association for lifetime achievement in the arts. A former senator and first lady, Clinton, a Democrat, was the first woman to be a major U.S. political party's presidential nominee. Recipients of the arts award were first celebrated at the White House by President Bill Clinton and the then first lady in 1994. Though she spent plenty of time at the White House during the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton did not return during Republican Trump's four years in office. With President Joe Biden in the White House since 2021, Clinton has been back, but not to give public remarks.

Persons: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Charles McQuillan, Donald Trump, Clinton, Jill Biden, Praemium Imperiale, Barack Obama, Obama, Republican Trump's, Joe Biden, Angela Merkel, Biden, Trump, Roe, Wade, Jeff Mason, Miral Organizations: Queen's University Belfast, Rights, White, U.S, Japan Art Association, Democrat, Republican, House, Trump, Democratic Party, Electoral College, Thomson Locations: Hillsborough, Belfast , Northern Ireland, U.S

CNN —As Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) grows ever popular, the country’s once dominant Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party finds itself at a crossroads. The center-right CDU was in power for much of Germany’s post-war era and oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany. Max Schwarz/ReutersBerlin’s CDU mayor, Kai Wegner, took to X to write: “What cooperation is there to be had? Populist parties as ‘lightning rods’The CDU’s Michael Kretschmer, state premier of Saxony, believes a shift in policy is the best approach for democratic parties to stop the rise of the far-right. Opinion polls in his state, one of the five that make up Germany’s former east, put the AfD in the lead; Saxony has long been a stronghold for the far-right party.

Persons: Angela Merkel, Friedrich Merz, shockwaves, Merz, Merz backpedaled, ”, Robert Sesselmann, Max Schwarz, Kai Wegner, Jörg, “, ” “, Kühne, ” Tino Chrupalla, John MacDougall, Merkel, it’s, sadi, Michael Kretschmer, Kretschmer Organizations: CNN, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, East, Social, Green Party and Free Democrats, ZDF, Reuters Berlin’s CDU, INSA, New, SPD, Greens, ARD, Bundestag, Getty, Federal Criminal Police, UN, UNHCR, “, Citizens Locations: Germany, West Germany, Sonneberg, Thuringia, Germany’s, Saxony, Leipzig, West, East Germany, East Germans, West Germans, Saxony Anhalt, Ukraine, Poland, Syria

☆ Putin couldn't believe how 'fit' Biden was when they met for their 2021 summit: book
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vladimir Putin apparently couldn't believe how fit Biden was in 2021, per a new book. In The Last Politician, Franklin Foer wrote about how the Russian president couldn't believe his eyes. Apparently, Putin had taken it to heart that Biden was a feeble man before their 2021 summit. But it was Putin who couldn't believe that President Joe Biden was looking good during their 2021 summit, according to a new book. Advertisement Advertisement Watch: Inside Putin's secret bunker and billion-dollar palace"When Putin called Angela Merkel to deliver the postmortem of the meeting, he told her, 'President Biden is very fit.'"

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Biden, Franklin Foer, couldn't, Putin, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, Foer, Scranton Joe wasn't scrawny, Angela Merkel, Biden's, Matthew McConaughey's, Boris Johnson Organizations: Service, Scranton, Capitol, British Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Geneva, Ukraine, Rehoboth Beach

☆ What to know about Merkel cell carcinoma, Jimmy Buffett’s rare cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who died September 1, had Merkel cell carcinoma, a skin cancer that’s diagnosed in fewer than 3,000 people in the US every year. Merkel cell carcinoma happens when something makes them grow out of control. Merkel cell carcinoma typically shows up on a person’s face or neck or in other areas that are often exposed to the sun, like the arm. A Merkel cell carcinoma may be mistaken for a cyst, but cysts can be painful while these spots often are not. The American Cancer Society says cancer is detected in the lymph nodes of 1 in 3 people who have Merkel cell carcinoma.

Persons: CNN — Singer, Jimmy Buffett, Merkel, Friedrich Merkel, don’t, Merkel, Buffett, it’s, carcinoma, There’s, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, you’ll Organizations: CNN, US Center for Disease Control, American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, American Academy of Dermatology, CDC, CNN Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Dermatological Association, Environmental Locations: United States

☆ Jimmy Buffett Died of Rare Form of Skin Cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jimmy Buffett died of skin cancer at his home in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Long Island, according to a statement on the singer-songwriter’s website. After Mr. Buffett died on Friday at age 76, his site announced the death but did not give a cause or specify where he died. In an update over the weekend, the website said that he had Merkel cell carcinoma for four years. A rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, Merkel cell is diagnosed only about 2,500 times a year in the United States, and until recent years it had carried a life expectancy of five months. He sold at least 23 million albums in the United States alone, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, on par with Jimi Hendrix and the Beastie Boys.

Persons: Jimmy Buffett, Buffett, Merkel, Jimi Hendrix Organizations: Recording Industry Association of America, Beastie Locations: Sag Harbor, N.Y, Long, United States, Paradise

☆ Fact Check-Video of Putin ‘snubbing’ Macron has been cropped
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A clip that shows Russian President Vladimir Putin snubbing French President Emmanuel Macron before shaking hands with other world leaders has been cropped. The full video shows that Putin did not ignore Macron. The full video shows that Putin greeted Macron before shaking hands with then German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then U.S. President Donald Trump (timestamp 0:50) (here). A clip taken from a different angle (timestamp 0:27) (here) also shows the leaders shaking hands. The video has been cropped to make it seem like Putin ignored Macron.

Persons: Vladimir Putin snubbing, Emmanuel Macron, Putin, ”, Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Read Organizations: Reuters, Macron Locations: Paris, France

☆ Germany Takes Step Toward Legalizing Marijuana
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Catie Edmondson | More About Catie Edmondson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The German government approved a plan on Wednesday to legalize some recreational marijuana use, paving the way to allow adults to legally buy and possess small amounts of cannabis. The legislation, which would allow adults to purchase and possess up to 25 grams of recreational cannabis for personal consumption through nonprofit social clubs, must still be approved by Parliament. But the endorsement from the three-party coalition’s cabinet was a crucial step toward Germany becoming the first major European country to legalize marijuana. The measure is weaker than what Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government had originally proposed. The socially liberal coalition announced its intent to legalize recreational marijuana when it came into power in 2021, quickly finding consensus on an issue opposed for years by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Persons: ”, Karl Lauterbach, Olaf Scholz’s, Chancellor Angela Merkel Locations: Germany

☆ Analysis: No decoupling, but West and China drift apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Mark John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, China, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, October 19, 2020. But underlying trade and investment trends point to an unmistakable long-term drift in commercial ties with the West. Take foreign direct investment - the more forward-looking clue as to where commercial ties between countries are heading. WATCH GERMANYSome, meanwhile, point to the fact that U.S.-China trade - exports and imports of goods combined - hit a record $690 billion last year as evidence that the reality does not match the frosty political rhetoric. Last month's China strategy document unveiled by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition left open exactly how far Berlin would ultimately go in reining in commercial ties.

Persons: Aly, China's, Louise Loo, Stephen Roach, Yale Law School's Paul Tsai, Angela Merkel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Mark Leonard, –, Joe Biden, Loo, Mark John, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, West, Oxford Economics, Yale Law, Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, Reuters, European Council, Foreign Relations, – Mercedes, Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, BASF –, Oxford, Thomson Locations: Port, Shanghai, China, United States, Europe, GERMANY, Germany, Berlin, reining, Taiwan, U.S

☆ Rise of Far Right Leaves Germany’s Conservatives at a Crossroads
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Catie Edmondson | More About Catie Edmondson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mario Voigt, a leader of Germany’s mainstream conservative party, has watched with concern the slow but steady string of victories notched by the far-right Alternative for Germany, known as the AfD. In his home state of Thuringia, in eastern Germany, the AfD just last month won the district administrator’s seat, giving the far right bureaucratic authority over an area for the first time. Since the spring, the AfD has only gathered momentum. The party has gained at least four points in polls since May, rising to 20 percent support and overtaking the country’s governing center-left Social Democrats to become Germany’s second-strongest party. A more recent poll, released on Sunday, put the AfD at a record high of 22 percent support.

Persons: Mario Voigt, Voight’s, Angela Merkel Organizations: Social Democrats, Christian Democratic Union Locations: Germany, Thuringia

☆ Why are far-right parties on the march across Europe?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Far-right parties are propping up coalitions in Finland and Sweden. Afraid of losing voters to UKIP (and other far-right parties), the governing Conservatives ended up adopting many of its positions. Chesnot/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesConversely, far-right parties have attempted to sanitize some of their rhetoric, hoping to appear a more credible electoral prospect. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesA different type of populismAnd so the recent successes of far-right parties cannot be explained by dramatic shifts in public opinion. A lot depends on the ability of mainstream parties – particularly on the left – to build tents big enough to accommodate their differences, rather than compromising with far-right parties to prop up their coalitions.

Persons: Donald Trump, –, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel’s, Mario Draghi, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Viktor Orban, Andrej Babis, Czech Michael Bloomberg, Czech Donald Trump, Meloni, Mussolini, Nigel Farage, Jack Taylor, Farage, Jean, Marie Le Pen, Marine, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac, Petteri Orpo, Sanna Marin, Vilhelm Junnila, Ulif Kristersson, Mark Rutte’s, Pen, Chesnot, Philippe Marlier, ” Le, Matteo Salvini, Vladimir Putin, Tino Chrupalla, Alice Weidel, Thomas Lohnes, Omer Messinger, Larry Bartels, Boris Johnson, Leon Neal, Giorgia Meloni, Odd Andersen, Orban, Kaczynski, Rutte’s, Pedro Sanchez Organizations: CNN, White, Channel, European Central Bank, Italy’s, Vox, UK Independence Party, UKIP, European Union, EU, Conservatives, National, Socialist, Socialists, Finns Party, Swedish, Sweden Democrats, Rassemblement National, University College London, Lega, Ukraine, Russia, Former British, Italy's, NATO, Getty, Spain’s Locations: United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Brussels, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czech, France, Finland, Sweden, Austria, European, Netherlands, Russian, Oxfordshire, Vilnius

☆ '4chan for economists' is melting down as racist, sexist anonymous posts are linked to Harvard, Yale, and other top institutions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Kate Taylor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A new study links anonymous posts on "4chan for economists" to IP addresses at Harvard, Yale, and other top schools. Other snippets of posts with IP addresses at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, University of Chicago, and the National Bureau of Economic Research headquarters include: "Rapefugees Welcome!!!!! Other snippets of posts with IP addresses at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, University of Chicago, and the National Bureau of Economic Research headquarters include: "Rapefugees Welcome!!!!! Notre Dame IP addresses made up 3.4% of posts from a research-institution IP address. According to Ederer, it took just 15 minutes to figure out how to connect usernames with IP addresses.

Persons: Anya Samek, Samek, EJMR, Boston University's Florian Ederer, Yale's Paul Goldsmith, Pinkham, Kyle Jensen, Ederer, Christina Romer, Scott Cunningham, Rob Seamans, Merkel, bubba, Trevon Logan, that's, She's Organizations: Harvard, Yale, North American Economic Science Association Conference, University of Chicago, undergrad, National Bureau of Economic Research, American Economics Association, Baylor, Marvel, Stanford, University of Notre Dame, Columbia, Notre Dame, Ohio State University, UMass Amherst, University of California Locations: Tucson , Arizona, Cambridge , Massachusetts, Ederer, Erdogan's Turkey, troon, Samek, San Diego

Black Lives Matters protesters won a record $13 million settlement from the City of New York after investigators analyzed thousands of videos that showed widespread abuse by the NYPD.

Organizations: NYPD Locations: City of New York

☆ Opinion: Welcome to the ‘looking-glass’ world of Putin’s Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Opinion Daniel Treisman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Welcome to the weird, through-the-looking-glass world of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where everything is its opposite and almost nothing is what it seems. That may hold as well for the still-murky fate of last month’s mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group. Daniel TreismanWorse yet for the Kremlin, Prigozhin’s claim — coming from a diehard nationalist — will seem quite believable to many Russians. In this looking-glass world, the president has no time for politics. After the war started, Navalny offered a 15-point program for ending it and rebuilding a democratic Russia.

Persons: Daniel Treisman, “, ”, Vladimir Putin’s, mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Prigozhin, Putin, Alexey Navalny, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Orwell, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Emmanuel Macron, Navalny, Angela Merkel Organizations: University of California, CNN, Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Russian, Putin, Kremlin, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Los Angeles, Moscow, Belarus, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Belarusian, Minsk, St . Petersburg, Kremlin, Russian, Melekhovo, Vladimir, Russia, Kara, Rostov, Sochi, Ukraine, Dagestan, Crimea, “

[1/3] A selection of injector pens for the Wegovy weight loss drug are shown in this photo illustration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 31, 2023. It highlights the challenge Novo and rivals face in convincing European governments to pay for obesity drugs, which analysts say is likely to slow their take-up there. Germany's health ministry told Reuters there were no plans to change the law to cover weight loss drugs. DIFFERENT PICTUREIn the United States, the federal Medicare health plan for older Americans is prohibited from covering weight-loss drugs. Many health plans paid for by large employers will cover Wegovy, although they may require that patients try a rigorous diet programme or cheaper drugs first.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Wegovy, Martin Merkel, Merkel, Duane Mellor, Novo, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, Michael Wirtz, Terence McManus, Phil McEwan, they've, McEwan, Patricia Weiss, Josephine Mason, Catherine Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Novo Nordisk, Wegovy, Europe's, pharma, European Union, Endocrinology Society, Aston University in, Reuters, Bellevue Asset Management, Barclays, Thomson Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, Germany, FRANKFURT, Aston University in Birmingham, England, Wegovy, Europe, Danish, Berlin, Norway, Denmark, Britain, United States, Switzerland, Bellevue, EU, Cardiff , Wales, Frankfurt

☆ German coalition at odds over fighter jet sale to Saudi Arabia, Welt am Sonntag reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, July 1(Reuters) - Germany's coalition government is at odds over whether to bow to British pressure and approve the production of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for Saudi Arabia, the newspaper Welt Am Sonntag reported on Saturday, citing anonymous sources. A third of the components for the jets come from Germany, industry sources told Reuters at the time. Since the rapprochement of Saudi Arabia and Iran, which could end their proxy war in Yemen, the British have argued that Germany cannot block the export of Eurofighter jets to third parties. A spokesperson for the Chancellery declined to comment to Welt am Sonntag. Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Jamal Khashoggi, Angela Merkel, Sabine Siebold, Victoria Waldersee, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Eurofighter Typhoon, BAE Systems, Reuters, Social Democrats, Finance, Greens, SPD, Eurofighter, Welt, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Yemen, Saudi, Germany, United States, France, Britain, Iran

☆ Russia pulls back from brink of crisis after deal reached to end Wagner insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images Putin judges an arm wrestling match while visiting the Seliger youth educational forum in Russia's Tver region in August 2011. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Prigozhin, ” Peskov, Putin, Putin Putin, Joseph Stalin, –, “ Putin, Evelyn Farkas, ’, Vladimir Putin, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Pavel Bednyakov, Peter Zwack, Beth Sanner, ” Sanner, “ He’s, … Putin, Moscow’s, Priogozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Communist, McCain, Putin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, Russia’s Southern Military District, US Army, National Intelligence for Mission, State Department, European Union Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Russia’s Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russian, Rostov, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, –, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet, Kazakhstan

☆ Russia is charging foreign business execs over $25,000 to attend its version of Davos — but nobody really wants to be seen there in the first place
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Most attendees hail from the ex-Soviet states, Africa, Cuba, and the UAE, per the Moscow Times. But it's still charging foreign participants over $25,000 to attend, which appears to baffle even the forum's own organizers. "The main problem for the 2023 organizers is to scrape together participants," a forum organizer told The Moscow Times on Thursday. "Although it serves no real purpose, this forum will never be abandoned," a manager at another major Russian state-owned company told The Moscow Times. Organizers of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: —, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin's Organizations: UAE, Moscow Times, Service, St ., Economic, United Arab Emirates, The Moscow Times Locations: Davos, Africa, Cuba, Moscow, St, St . Petersburg, Ukraine, Swiss, Russian, Europe, Petersburg

☆ Opinion: This is bigger than just the US and China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Opinion Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The possibility of miscalculation has increased in recent months as China has triggered some close encounters with US ships on the high seas. (In 2020, China overtook the US as Europe’s biggest trading partner for goods.) The confusion in Europe over how to treat China was on full display earlier this year when French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen made their disastrous joint visit to China. Blinken’s visit to Beijing is being marketed as a bilateral meeting with a shot at achieving détente.

Persons: Michael Bociurkiw, Antony Blinken, Michael Bociurkiw Chrystia, Laura Ballman, Blinken, Li Hui, Lu Shaye, can’t, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen, Angela Merkel, Philippe Moreau Chevrolet, ”, “, Xi Jinping Organizations: Atlantic Council, Organization for Security, Cooperation, CNN, Amsterdam CNN —, NATO, CIA, European Commission, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Odesa, Europe, Beijing, United States, China, Ukraine, Washington, Taiwan, Canada, Russia, Paris, French, Russian, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Iran

☆ Russia's isolation from the global economy causes poor turnout at Putin's economic forum
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's isolation from the global economy caused poor turnout at Putin's economic forum in St. Petersburg. The event previously drew big names from the West, but was mostly populated by lower-level politicians this time. Experts have sounded the alarm on Russia's economy amid Ukraine war sanctions. But experts have warned that the moat between Russia and Western world could be lethal to Russia's economy. Though some prognosticators see Russia's economy posting small growth this year, those estimates are largely based on the Kremlin's "cherry-picked" statistics, according to two Yale researchers, who recently made the case that Russia's economy is struggling far more than Putin has let on so far.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin's, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Zhang Hanhui, Zhou Liqun, Putin Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs, Yale Locations: St . Petersburg, Ukraine, Soviet Union, America, Asia, Russia, China, Moscow, Western

☆ The rise of Germany's most successful far-right party since the Nazis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, June 7 (Reuters) - Following are some of the key moments in the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country's' most successful far-right party since the Nazis were in power. The party wants Germany to quit the euro and reintroduce the Deutsche Mark. 2015 - The party shifts right during Europe's migration crisis, causing some of the original founders to quit. As the only party to criticise Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy that let in hundreds of thousands of migrants, it sees support rise steadily. 2021 - Germany's BfV domestic spy agency service places the AfD under surveillance on suspicion of trying to undermine Germany’s democratic constitution.

Persons: Chancellor Angela Merkel's, Bjoern Hoecke, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Sarah Marsh, Madeline Chambers, Edmund Blair Organizations: Deutsche, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, Turkey, Thueringen, Russia

☆ Opinion | Fareed Zakaria on Where Russia’s War in Ukraine Stands — and Much More
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +96 min

Obviously, the line is not perfect, but I think that’s a very sensible line. And I don’t think that’s all about absorption capability. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Russians have done everything they can. fareed zakaria[LAUGHS] And by the way, I think that’s some key to understanding the alliance is a personal one. I think India, Israel, and Poland — usually, in the 70 percent-plus say they like — have a favorable view of America.

Persons: ezra klein, it’s, Fareed Zakaria, Zakaria, “ Fareed Zakaria, fareed zakaria, Ezra, Putin, They’ve, there’s, fareed zakaria It’s, they’re, It’s, Fidel Castro, Sean Penn, haven’t, you’re, won’t, Biden, They’re, Washington, Winston Churchill, Merkel, wouldn’t, —, Nancy Gibbs, Khomeini, Macron, Ron DeSantis, YouGov, fareed zakaria I’m, that’s, DeSantis, Lindsey Grahams, Mitch McConnell, Xi Jinping, ezra klein Yes, Xi, Gorbachev, Zelensky, Trump, Obama, Bush, United States —, McCarthy’s, I’ve, they’d, doesn’t, didn’t, ezra klein They’re, fareed zakaria They’re, we’ve, Simpson, I’m, Janet Yellen, Colin Powell, unquote, That’s, Jonathan Haidt, We’ve, he’s, fareed zakaria That’s, they’ve, fareed zakaria Well, gee, TikTok, we’re, George Kennan, Mike Gallagher, klein, Nirupama Rao, Bob Kagan, can’t, — fareed zakaria, Lord Mountbatten, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh, fareed zakaria Right, narratively —, Modi, you’ve, China’s —, fareed zakaria Modi, India’s, Advani, Vajpayee, you’d, There’s, India, Joe Biden, fareed zakaria I’ve, Benedict Anderson’s “, Orville Schell, John Delury, Sunil Khilnani, ezra klein Fareed Zakaria Organizations: CNN, The Washington Post, Putin, Starbucks, Russia, Revolutionary Guard, NATO, Ukrainian, Communist, European Union, U.S, Republican Party’s, Republican Party, Republicans, ASEAN, Trump, Defense, United, U.S ., Democrats, Chinese Communist Party, State, Facebook, Google, Soviet Union, Huawei, Twitter, South China Seas, Foreign Affairs, Yale Law, International Criminal, South China, . Security, Trade Organization, Pax Americana, Americana, New York Fed, America, Republican, Fox, Beijing Locations: ezra klein Russia, Ukraine, Russia, America, Europe, China, India, Russian, United States, Relatedly, Japan, Turkey, Holland, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, Venezuela, Central America, Southeast Asia, Washington, Britain, ‘, U.S, United Europe, Germany, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Beijing, Trump, Asia, Iraq, Hainan, Montana, Republic, Soviet, weirdly, South, Taiwan, Pakistan, New Delhi, South Africa, Kuwait, Russia’s, Eden, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kashmir, it’s, Cuba, Pax, American, Mumbai, Shanghai, Israel, Poland, Indian, Nigeria

The logo of Russia’s state gas company Gazprom was emblazoned on the shirts of players at the soccer club Toennies chaired. In Germany, Toennies’ story is far from unique. At the centre of Gazprom’s influence campaign was Schalke 04, the soccer club Toennies chaired at the time and which Gazprom began sponsoring in 2006. Russian gas imports have dropped dramatically and Germany is supplying tanks and other weapons systems to Ukraine. In 2001 Toennies assumed another of his older brother’s roles – chairman of soccer club Schalke 04.

Persons: Clemens Toennies, Vladimir Putin, Toennies, Willy Brandt, ”, Putin, Sberbank, Angela Merkel, “, ” Merkel, Bernd, Clemens, Putin’s, Alexei Gromov, Gromov, Gerhard Schroeder, Schroeder Organizations: Gazprom, Toennies, Schalke, Gazprom’s, Reuters, Miele, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, ” Schalke, Chelsea, Kremlin, Former Locations: WIEDENBRUECK, Germany, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Berlin, Russians, Crimea, Gazprom, Rheda, German, Europe, Nord Stream, Dresden

☆ Germany's Scholz publicly backs Biden over Trump for re-election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, May 22 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to his predecessor, Donald Trump, and hoped Biden would be re-elected for a second term in office. Addressing pupils at a primary school close to Berlin, Scholz accused Trump of being divisive and that he would be bad not only for the United States but also for Germany. Responding to a pupil's question, Scholz said: "I think the current president is better, so I want him to be re-elected." Biden's many years of public service mean he knows exactly "what you have to do to prevent the world from going to war," Scholz said. Recent polls show Biden with an edge over potential Republican challengers Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis as the November 2024 U.S. presidential election draws closer.

Walking away, President Joe Biden wrapped his arm around Zelensky’s shoulders. None of the G7 leaders are particularly popular at home, even as they produce results abroad. After all, it was Trump who had argued over dinner at the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, France, that Russia should be allowed back into the group. That level of chaos was nowhere to be found in Hiroshima this past week, when leaders appeared to generally like each other. Even before Biden left for the G7 summit, the stalemate over raising the federal borrowing limit prompted a scramble to rearrange the president’s engagements so he could return to Washington early.

Search resuls for: "merkel"

25 mentions found