Author: staff
After years of tension with the previous Conservative government over human rights and security concerns, Reeves has political space to take a different, more business-like approach to Beijing and try and tap China’s vast market for economic benefits. “Everything the Tories did on foreign policy was about backbench management,” said a U.K. government official, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “We got to a position where we were the G7 country with the worst relationship with China.” Reeves’ mission has become more desperate as the U.K. economy continues to falter, with borrowing costs this week…
The late US President Jimmy Carter received a funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. All living current and former presidents were in attendance, in addition to foreign dignitaries, to witness the final honouring of the 39th US president. Former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, was honoured with a stated funeral and the National Cathedral in the US capital on Thursday.Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the funeral just days after announcing his resignation following weeks of domestic pressure calling on him to step down. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also attended the service.All living…
Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column. And we’re back! After a couple of weeks spent hiding under the Southern European sun, Declassified is here, ready to pick up where we left off. And if 2024 went out with a bang, it seems that 2025 has started playing the same tune. Europe will soon have to deal with yet another unexpected election, this time in Germany — remember Germany? The strong and stable powerhouse of the EU, where the biggest political scandal used to be a defense minister forced to resign after being found to have copied parts of his…
“I’m really sure that all the other members, and hopefully also the United States, are ready to continue with the support to Ukraine,” Kallas said on her way to the Ramstein gathering. “The European Union is also ready to take over this leadership if the United States is not willing to,” she added. “It’s difficult to predict what happens now,” said Guntram Wolff, an economist and senior fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank, adding the Ramstein meet “has been a useful format for coordinating military support to Ukraine.” While some wanted to roll the platform into NATO, this is…
Frederiksen’s comments come just two days after the incoming U.S. president declined to rule out using military or economic force to gain control of Greenland, an expansionist vision he has repeatedly set out since his Nov. 5 election. The Danish prime minister on Tuesday replied firmly to Trump’s remarks about taking control of the island, stating: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.” While Trump’s comments have dominated headlines this week, Frederiksen declared on Thursday that there is “no reason to believe” the incoming president plans to invade Greenland, and emphasized the “close cooperation” between the two NATO allies. Danish Foreign Minister…
“As for humanity, we don’t want to be one of those lame, one-planet-civilizations. Any self-respecting civilization should have at least two planets.” 7. Do you believe in God? Weidel followed the spaced-out riffing on the end of humanity with a classic deep-and-meaningful, end-of-the-night question. “Do you believe in God?” she asked. “I’m open to believing in things that are proportionate to the information that I receive,” he replied, indicating he was “open to the idea” of God. “I try to form my opinions based on what I learn. And as I learn more, I aspire to change my views.” Elon…
But Murphy built a reputation for even-handedness and attention to detail during his previous career at Stormont, where he served as Mo Mowlam’s deputy as Northern Ireland secretary during the 1997-98 negotiation of the Good Friday deal. While the outspoken and eccentric Mowlam garnered the headlines, Murphy spent months away from the spotlight leading the U.K. government’s team in the crucial “strand two” of negotiations. These spelled out how a future cross-community administration for Northern Ireland would coordinate cross-border policies with the government in Dublin — an agenda long opposed, but grudgingly accepted in the end, by most unionists. Such…
Trump has his reasons Meloni, who is gaining a reputation as Europe’s future bridge to Donald Trump, came to the president-elect’s defense after he floated his designs on Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal. Meloni brushed off the threat of a U.S. invasion, claiming that when Trump does something, it’s “for a reason.” Instead, Meloni said she sees Trump’s comments as a “forceful message to other big global players rather than a hostile action.” As president from 2017 to 2021, Trump was capable of deterrence diplomacy, Meloni added. Meloni visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida last weekend and…
Les Danois semblent plus enclins à prendre Trump au mot. Le mois dernier, le roi Frederik a publié un décret modifiant les armoiries du Danemark afin d’y faire figurer de manière plus visible l’ours polaire du Groenland. Entre-temps, le gouvernement du Groenland a renouvelé ses appels à l’indépendance. Le moins que l’on puisse dire, c’est que l’annonce de Trump relève d’une “diplomatie très grossière”, commente Arild Moe, spécialiste du développement de la route maritime du Nord par la Russie à l’Institut Fridtjof Nansen, en Norvège. “L’idée que l’on puisse acheter un territoire autonome est scandaleuse. Mais je pense que l’on…
The early exchanges in the live audio discussion on Musk’s X social media platform were eclectic, ranging from solar power to the vagaries of Germany business red tape. The pair laughed together, when Weidel asked if Musk understood how burdensome German business rules could be. “As a matter of fact I do,” he replied, describing how one of his own applications stretched to 25,000 pages and had to be printed multiple times. Weidel was clearly delighted by the opportunity to put her case to the public without, as she argued, being interrupted or falsely castigated as leader of an “extremist”…