Trade between Russia and China is booming so much that shipping containers are ‘piling up’ (www.cnn.com)
Shipping containers from China are “piling up” in Russia amid a surge of Chinese goods flowing into the country as trade soars, a new analysis has found....
Nearly five decades after the fall of Saigon, U.S. will help Vietnam boost its military capabilities (www.cnbc.com)
Young Women in Afghanistan on the Taliban: "Your Arrival Transformed My Dreams into Nightmares" (www.spiegel.de)
The lives of Kobra, Najia, Madina, Sonya and Zahra looked as though they were just getting started two years ago. When the Taliban captured the Afghan capital of Kabul, they were about to finish school, working towards a university degree or beginning a career. Suddenly, though, their lives changed dramatically....
The Netherlands short 390.000 homes in 2023 (www.iamexpat.nl)
Stars leave Oppenheimer premiere as Hollywood actors' strike called (www.bbc.com)
JD Vance pick adds to European fears over Trump presidency (www.bbc.com)
European politicians and diplomats had already prepared for changes to their relationship with the US in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency....
Israeli weapons packed with shrapnel causing devastating injuries to children in Gaza, doctors say (www.theguardian.com)
Pope told by student to stop using anti-LGBTQ language (www.bbc.com)
Pope Francis has been told by a Filipino Catholic university student to “stop using offensive language” against LGBTQ people....
Thousands demonstrate against far right across France (www.lemonde.fr)
Paris police said 3,000 people gathered in Paris on Monday evening, at a demonstration against the far right, which made historic gains in the European elections on Sunday. Other gatherings took place around the country....
‘People ask me to use another door’: MEPs on bias, whiteness and rise of far right (www.theguardian.com)
From being repeatedly asked for ID to feeling threatened by harmful rhetoric, politicians say lack of diversity is undermining work of EU...
Exclusive: Putin wants Ukraine ceasefire on current frontlines (www.reuters.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond....
Helicopter carrying Iran's President Raisi crashes, search under way (www.reuters.com)
DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident....
EU restates readiness to launch trade war with China over cheap imports (www.theguardian.com)
The European Commission chief said she was “convinced that if the competition is fair” from China, then Europe “will have thriving durable economies”. But she said the “imbalances” caused by state support for Chinese industry leading to cut-cost products threatened jobs in Europe, and that was “a matter of great...
Why Donald Trump ‘hates Ukraine’: The once and possibly future U.S. president blames the country for his political woes (www.politico.eu)
Donald Trump doesn’t easily forgive or forget....
Israeli Firms Are Working Overtime to Sell Stolen Palestinian Land to US Jews (truthout.org)
Former armed forces minister James Heappey says UK must prepare for war despite being 'long way behind' (news.sky.com)
On the bunker drill, the former minister said that all secretaries of state - not just defence - have a desk and a bed ready for them in a bunker....
Russian military ‘almost completely reconstituted,’ US official says (www.defensenews.com)
Migrant workers who helped build modern China have scant or no pensions, and can't retire (apnews.com)
At 53, Guan Junling is too old to get hired at factories anymore. But for migrant workers like her, not working is not an option....
Draft-dodging plagues Ukraine as Kyiv faces acute soldier shortage (www.politico.eu)
An early burst of patriotic fervor saw draft centers swamped with volunteers, but that has waned with Vladimir Putin’s war in its third year....
“Man-Made Hell On Earth”: A Canadian Doctor on His Medical Mission to Gaza (theintercept.com)
Greta Thunberg dragged by police from climate protest blocking Swedish parliament (www.independent.co.uk)
After boots on the ground comment, French PM doubles down: 'Putins troops are already in our country', pointing at Le Pen (www.lemonde.fr)
By raising for the first time the idea of sending troops to Ukraine, the French leader “has taken a further step toward belligerence,” blasted his rival Marine Le Pen, of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party. She accused him of “posing an existential risk to 70 million French people, and more particularly to our...
Netanyahu dismisses Hamas ceasefire proposal, insists on total victory (www.reuters.com)
DOHA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday total victory in Gaza was within reach, rejecting the latest offer from Hamas for a ceasefire to ensure the return of hostages still held in the besieged enclave....