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☆ Xi promotes China as peacemaker on first trip to Russia since Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In this grab taken from video, China's President Xi Jinping, left, speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. Russia, China and the U.S. are not members of the court. "I am pleased to once again set foot on the soil of our friendly neighbor Russia," Xi said in a statement after arriving in Moscow on Monday for the three-day state visit. Xi said his Russia trip was intended to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries in a world faced with "damaging acts of hegemony, domination and bullying." The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not confirmed reports that Xi may hold a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy after his trip to Moscow.

☆ East Congo militants kill at least 22 in string of attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19 (Reuters) - Suspected militants killed at least 22 people in a string of attacks across the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri and North Kivu provinces overnight Saturday, officials and activists said on Sunday. The incidents were the latest in a stream of continuous violence that has plagued eastern Congo for years, despite increasing interventions from the country's army and U.N. peacekeepers. At least 12 people were killed Saturday in simultaneous raids across several villages in Ituri province. Congo's government declared a state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri in 2021, in an attempt to stem rampant militia violence in the country's vast mineral-rich east. "Even when we are under siege, the enemy still surprises us every day," said Delphine Malekani, an activist in North Kivu.

☆ China coast guard enters disputed waters in East China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 15 (Reuters) - China's coast guard entered the waters around disputed East China Sea islets on Wednesday to counter what it called the incursion of Japanese vessels into Chinese territorial waters. Disputed East China Sea islets claimed by China and Japan have long been a sticking point in bilateral ties. China Marine Police spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement that coast guard vessels entered the waters of the Diaoyu for a "normal rights protection patrol" calling it a "routine move". "(This also）is a strong countermeasure to the Japanese side's intrusion of one yacht and several patrol vessels into our territorial waters," Gan said, though he did not specify any incident. China's coast guard said in late January that the Shinsei Maru and four other Japanese ships illegally entered the territorial waters of the Diaoyu islands before being driven away by Chinese coast guard vessels.

☆ South Korea's Yoon arrives in Tokyo hours after North's missile launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Sakura Murakami | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee arrive at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Tokyo, Japan March 16, 2023. Before Yoon's flight, North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile, which landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, emphasising both the urgency of regional security and the threat posed by North Korea. "There is an increasing need for (South) Korea and Japan to cooperate in this time," Yoon said in a written interview with international media on Wednesday, calling both North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and supply chain disruptions a "polycrisis". South Korea and Japan at the time agreed to exchange real-time intelligence on North Korea's missile launches, which experts say will help both countries better track potential threats. Tokyo worries that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has set a precedent that will encourage China to attack self-ruled Taiwan.

☆ Fox News' Brian Kilmeade praises Trump for being disciplined about not 'having lunch with white supremacists'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade praised Trump for having a "very disciplined message." "Since he went and visited East Palestine, stopped having lunch with white supremacists, and has got a very disciplined message," Kilmeade said. He attributed that, in part, to Trump not "having lunch with white supremacists" and visiting East Palestine, Ohio, after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the town last month. The reference to "white supremacists" is likely a nod to Trump's November meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort with notorious white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and the rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye. "This is the most disciplined I've ever seen him," Kilmeade said of Trump, "even compared to 2016."

☆ Nord Stream mystery: the tanker Minerva Julie spent 7 days idling near the attack site
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Days before the explosions, a tanker called the Minerva Julie was drifting nearby in the Baltic Sea. He discovered that the Minerva Julie, a 600-foot Greek-flagged tanker, was headed east from Rotterdam when, on September 6, it came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the Baltic Sea. From September 6 through September 13, the Minerva Julie drifted near the site of the September 26 explosions, AIS data show. The Minerva Julie stayed there, alternately idling and crossing a roughly 200-square-nautical-mile area above the two natural-gas pipelines, for seven days, from September 6 until September 12. The Minerva Julie, a 600-foot oil and chemical tanker, near the port of Rotterdam in 2020.

☆ Ukrainian Forces, Under Renewed Russian Pressure, Seek to Reinforce Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( James Marson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian advances into the northern suburbs of Bakhmut are placing severe pressure on Ukrainian forces there, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Saturday in its bleakest assessment yet of the situation in the embattled eastern city. Russia has made Bakhmut its main target in recent months and is seeking to cut the city off, advancing from the north, south and east. Ukraine sent elite units to reinforce the area, and two bridges in and around Bakhmut have been blown up in the past two days, including one that connects the city to the last main supply route to the town of Chasiv Yar to the west, the U.K. ministry said.

☆ Rail unions tell Biden officials workers have fallen ill at Norfolk Southern derailment site
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pete Buttigieg, US transportation secretary, speaks during a news conference near the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, US, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. The presidents of U.S. railroad unions told Biden administration officials that rail workers have fallen ill at the Norfolk Southern derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio, in a push for more train safety. The meeting comes on the heels of letters sent to both the DOT and the FRA Wednesday in which union representations claimed rail workers had gotten sick at the derailment site. According to the letter, Norfolk Southern rail workers who have worked or continue to work the cleanup site have reported experiencing "migraines and nausea." One worker reportedly asked his supervisor to be transferred off the derailment site because of his symptoms, but never heard back from his supervisor and was left at the job site.

☆ Zelenskiy fires a top Ukrainian military commander, no reason given
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday fired a senior military commander helping lead the fight against Russian troops in the country's embattled east but gave no reason for the move. In a one-line decree, Zelenskiy announced the dismissal of Eduard Moskalyov as commander of the joint forces of Ukraine, which are engaged in battles in the Donbas region. Zelenskiy mentioned Moskalyov in a daily address on Friday when listing the military commanders he had spoken to. Neither the joint forces' Facebook nor Twitter accounts made any mention of the dismissal. In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian armed forces' general staff said Russian troops had carried out several unsuccessful attacks in the Bakhmut area on Sunday.

☆ Migrant crossings in Mediterranean leave thousands dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

2021Dec. 17: 9 dead, 93 missing, 8 survivors after boat sinks off Sabratha, Libya. 2020Nov. 12: 57 dead, 18 missing, 48 survivors after boat sinks off the coast of Al Khums, Libya. July 25: 75 dead, 75 missing, 134 survivors when boat sinks off Al Khums, Libya. 2018Sept. 1: 2 dead, 128 missing, 55 survivors when boat sinks off the coast of Al Khums, Libya. June 29: 3 dead, 101 missing, 16 survivors when boat sinks off the coast of Tripoli, Libya.

☆ Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, blasts a Texas GOP congressman after he questioned her loyalty to the US: 'It is racist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Judy Chu criticized Lance Gooden after he seemingly questioned her "loyalty" to the US on Fox News. "I think she has drug along the other Chinese American members to sign this letter. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent." "Lance Gooden's slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic," Jeffries said in a statement. Rep. Gooden accused Democrats of bringing up race after his criticism of Rep. Chu.

☆ Lithuania's prime minister says Ukrainians should get all the weapons they want because they are dying for Europe's safety: 'We're just losing some money'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainians are dying to help protect European security, Lithuania's prime minister told Insider. That's why Ukraine should get the weapons it needs, including offensive weapons, she said. I say we are losing, [but] I think we are investing in a way, investing into our security," she said. Lithuania was sending Ukraine weapons even before Russia's invasion began last February, at a time when Ukraine was fighting Russian-backed separatists in its east. "It's sort of a cliche to say that Ukrainians are fighting this war for all of us," she added.

☆ Norfolk Southern wants to 'make things right' after Ohio train crash, CFO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) will take responsibility for cleaning up the environmental damage from this month's train derailment and controlled detonation of hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, its finance chief said on Wednesday. "We take responsibility ... We're fully dedicated to making things right," George said at an investor conference hosted by Barclays. Norfolk Southern will quantify costs of the clean up no later than its first-quarter earnings, he said. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said it would release a preliminary report on its initial findings on Thursday into the derailment. He will be joined by representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

☆ U.S. transportation chief tours Ohio derailment site; NTSB to release initial report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the wreckage of this month's train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as federal investigators prepared to release their initial report of the Feb. 3 incident later on Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board will issue its preliminary findings into the fiery crash in a report to be released after 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) and will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT). Norfolk Southern's chief executive apologized on Wednesday at a CNN town hall event that highlighted residents' concerns about soil and ground water contamination. The transportation secretary has said he will push major railroads to improve safety and seek bipartisan support in Congress to raise the cap on fines against railroads for violating safety regulations. Some Republicans have criticized the Biden administration over the incident while some Democrats have pointed to regulations rescinded under former President Donald Trump.

☆ Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says 'he'll do some thinking' on whether he should have visited East Palestine, Ohio sooner
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pete Buttigieg said he could have expressed concern "sooner" for East Palestine, Ohio, after a train derailed. He said he'll "do some thinking" on whether it was a mistake to wait to visit. Asked on Thursday whether it was a mistake to have held off on visiting the community, Buttigieg said he'll "do some thinking" on that. "I felt strongly about this and could have expressed that sooner," he said. Buttigieg acknowledged earlier in the week that he could have spoken out sooner about the derailment.

☆ A first-of-its-kind fighter jet landing shows India's big ambitions for its growing aircraft carrier fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Two fighter jets landed on and took off from India's new aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, this month. The continued growth of India's carrier fleet reflects New Delhi's ambitions in the region. Indian carriersA naval variant of India's Tejas fighter jet lands on INS Vikrant on February 6. Indian navyThough Vikrant is India's first domestically built carrier, it is actually the fourth to enter service with the Indian Navy. The third carrier, INS Vikramaditya, is a modified Kiev-class carrier India purchased from Russia in 2004.

☆ Donald Trump, who rolled back rail safety regulations and slashed environmental protections, donates Trump-branded water to East Palestine residents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, following a disastrous train derailment. Trump's visit raised questions about his administration's rollback of rail safety regulations. The former president dismissed questions about his administration's rollback of Obama-era rail safety regulations saying he "had nothing to do with it." The Trump administration slashed several environmental and rail regulations while in office, most notably rescinding a 2015 proposal to require faster brakes on trains that were carrying highly flammable or hazardous materials. Following his Wednesday news conference, Trump visited a local Ohio McDonald's where he handed out more MAGA hats and bought meals for firefighters.

☆ Republican Doug Mastriano told supporters he didn't get any money from Ohio derailment train operator Norfolk Southern. Records show he took $1,000.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano is holding a hearing Thursday on the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. Mastriano, a Republican, recently denied receiving any money from train operator Norfolk Southern. "Biden's in Ukraine and Shapiro's MIA," the user wrote, praising Mastriano for visiting East Palestine over the weekend. Mike DeWine, a Republican, assured East Palestine residents that their drinking water is safe. He lauded the EPA for ordering Norfolk Southern to cover the cost of cleaning up the accident.

☆ U.S. officials address mounting tensions between U.S. and China during Munich Security Conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The officials met on the margins of the Munich Security Conference, where leaders from around the world gathered to discuss geopolitical challenges. Blinken said he thinks other countries "appreciate" the fact that the United States has "exposed" China's balloon program. He told NBC there are "various kinds" of lethal aid that China is considering providing, including weapons. Blinken said China has already been aiding Russia in more diplomatic ways, but that sending lethal aid would be a significant escalation. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also appeared at the Munich Security Conference, and he told ABC that if China does provide Russia with lethal aid, the world needs to "come down hard" on China.

[1/2] Director Sean Penn attends a photo call on the red carpet to promote the documentary 'Superpower' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Nadja WohllebenBERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Late in the evening of Feb. 24, 2022, just some 15 hours after Russia triggered its invasion of his country, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy found time to receive American actor Sean Penn. Sitting in a bare, apparently windowless room, Zelenskiy speculated on Vladimir Putin's motives for the invasion. In fighting against the Russian invasion, Ukraine is "fighting a fight on all of our behalf," Penn told the audience at the premiere. "You're Sean Penn.

☆ East Germany's last Communist premier dies aged 95
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz/File PhotoBERLIN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Hans Modrow, who as the last Communist prime minister of East Germany oversaw democratic reforms that opened the way to German reunification, has died at age 95, Germany's hard-left Die Linke party said on Saturday. With this, our party loses an important personality," the party, successor to the East German Communist Party, said in a statement. Modrow saw himself as a reformer who had wanted to change the communist party from the inside and make it more democratic. He also served in the East German parliament for more than three decades. Modrow became East Germany's de facto leader after Egon Krenz resigned as SED leader on Dec. 5, 1990, leaving Modrow holding the highest state post.

☆ Former CIA Director says it'd be 'impulsive' to try to shoot down China's spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former CIA Director John Brennan said it'd be "impulsive" to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon. Brennan told NBC News that China may have sent the balloon to test the US' response. The US defense department said it was a spy balloon, possibly flying over sensitive US sites to collect information. The former CIA director also questioned whether Chinese President Xi Jinping was "personally aware of this balloon flight." As of Saturday afternoon, the balloon had been spotted soaring over North Carolina as it drifted east on air currents.

☆ Russia Claims Gains in Battle for Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ian Lovett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV, Ukraine—Russian forces claimed new advances in their effort to encircle the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, while European leaders arrived in Kyiv to discuss further military aid. Yevgeny Prigozhin , leader of Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization that is leading the assault in Ukraine’s east, said Wednesday that his forces had seized the village of Sacco and Vanzetti, north of Bakhmut. Rybar, a Telegram channel linked to the Kremlin, said Thursday that Wagner was claiming territory on the contested east side of the city, seizing a sparkling-wine factory and a meat-processing plant.

☆ China, Japan discuss concerns over disputed East China Sea islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi discussed disputed islands in the East China Sea on Thursday, with both expressing concerns and Qin hoping Japan could stop "right-wing" provocations. The disputed East China Sea islets claimed by both China and Japan have long been a sticking point in bilateral relations. China calls the islands Diaoyu, while Japan calls them Senkaku. Hayashi said bilateral relations face "many challenges and concerns," adding that Japanese public opinion toward China is "extremely severe," Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Hayashi also expressed "serious concerns" about the East China Sea, including China's activities around the islands, as well as its "increasingly active military activities near Japan".

☆ Grand Central's sparkling new terminal could use a spellcheck — it misspelled artist Georgia O'Keeffe's name in an engraved quote about New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new terminal for the Long Island Rail Road in New York's Grand Central Station opened Wednesday. The terminal's walls are engraved with homages to New York from famous artists. In a new terminal in New York's Grand Central Station that opened last Wednesday, called the Grand Central Madison station, O'Keeffe's name is spelled with one "f" instead of two, Bloomberg reported. That's the quote that made it into the Grand Central Madison station. Bloomberg reported that the Grand Central Madison terminal is part of an $11.1 billion project called East Side Access that will bring passengers on the Long Island Railroad to Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal instead of Penn Station.

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