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  • The UK has approved the construction of a new mega-embassy for China in London, raising national security concerns and sparking protests from local authorities.
  • De Beers has cut diamond prices for the first time since 2024, signaling a potential prolonged slump in the diamond industry, which is expected to adversely affect Botswana's economy, significantly reliant on diamond production.
  • Germany's Chancellor Merz admitted that the decision to shut down nuclear energy production was a "severe strategic mistake," contributing to the country's growing electricity crisis and escalating energy costs.
  • Latvia's central bank governor warned Europe about the ongoing threat from Russia, advocating for recognition of the current state of conflict and the need for strategic financial preparedness amid escalating tensions.
  • Thousands of workers are escaping scam centers in Cambodia, as international pressure mounts on the government to address human trafficking issues and crack down on these prevalent criminal enterprises.

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ZeroHedge

  • Despite Mass Protests, UK Approves Controversial Chinese Mega-Embassy In London an hour ago by Tyler Durden

    Despite Mass Protests, UK Approves Controversial Chinese Mega-Embassy In London Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Despite a weekend protest, the UK has approved plans for a new, significantly expanded Chinese embassy in central London, ending a planning dispute and overriding objections from local authorities and lawmakers who raised national security concerns. An exterior view of the proposed site for the new Chinese Embassy, near Tower Bridge in London on June 23, 2023. Hannah McKay/Reuters The Chinese communist regime purchased the Royal Mint Court site in 2018 and plans to convert it into a much larger embassy than its existing

  • De Beers Cuts Diamond Prices, Botswana Warns Of Prolonged Slump 2 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    De Beers Cuts Diamond Prices, Botswana Warns Of Prolonged Slump De Beers, the world's largest diamond mining company, has warned of a prolonged downturn in the gem industry after cutting prices for the first time since 2024. Botswana is the epicenter of De Beers' diamond production, and declining output alongside falling prices is set to put significant pressure on the southern African nation's finances. On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that De Beers cut its diamond prices for the first time in over a year, abandoning efforts to prop up the market amid faltering demand. A combination of soft Chinese luxury spending, expanding market

  • "Rich Kids Of Iran" Flee To Turkish Nightclubs Amid Deadly Crackdown On Protesters: Report 3 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    "Rich Kids Of Iran" Flee To Turkish Nightclubs Amid Deadly Crackdown On Protesters: Report The children of Iran's political and military elite are back in the spotlight for their opulent lifestyles amid reports that they fled the country to party in Turkish nightclubs, even as the regime's security forces carry out its deadliest crackdown on nationwide protests in years, the New York Post reports. Anashid Hoseini, a model and designer, is married to the son of Iran’s ambassador to Denmark. They are considered part of the aghazadeh, or children of the elite The phenomenon of Iran's affluent youth first drew international attention more

  • German Chancellor Merz Admits Shutting Down Nuclear Energy Production Was A "Severe Strategic Mistake" 4 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    German Chancellor Merz Admits Shutting Down Nuclear Energy Production Was A "Severe Strategic Mistake" Via The Last Refuge, Germany has a severe electricity shortage and cost problem, and it’s getting worse. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently made the admission that shutting down the German nuclear power reactors was a “severe strategic mistake.” “To have acceptable market prices for energy production again, we would have to permanently subsidize energy prices from the federal budget,” Merz said, adding: “We can’t do this in the long run.” “So, we are now undertaking the most expensive energy transition in the entire world,” Merz said with pronounced frustration. “I know of no other country

  • "Naive To Think We’re Not At War": Latvia's Central Banker Warns Europe On Russia 5 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    "Naive To Think We’re Not At War": Latvia's Central Banker Warns Europe On Russia Latvia's central bank governor, Martins Kazaks, has warned European leaders against downplaying the danger posed by Russia, describing in a fresh interview the European Union is already "at war" with Moscow and must be ready for further escalation, particularly in its financial systems. This is raising eyebrows at the Kremlin, but many Russian officials might actually agree with this grim assessment: "It's naive to think that we are not at war" with Russia, Kazaks told the Financial Times. Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks He cited as examples


The Guardian

  • Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US ‘generosity’ despite aid cuts 19 hours ago by Aisha Down
    US foreign policy, Africa, USAID, Trump administration, Aid, US news, World news, US politics

    Email sent to diplomats by state department office’s new boss is labelled ‘racist’ after dismissing Africa as a priority US diplomats have been encouraged to “unabashedly and aggressively” remind African governments about the “generosity” of the American people, according to a leaked email sent to staff in the US state department’s Bureau of African Affairs this January and obtained by the Guardian. “It’s not gauche to remind these countries of the American people’s generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine,” says the email. Continue reading...

  • ‘Brazen’ political influence of rich laid bare as wealth of billionaires reaches $18.3tn, says Oxfam 3 days ago by Kaamil Ahmed
    Global development, Inequality, Inequality and development, Oxfam, Protest, World news, Global economy, Economics, Business, Social exclusion, Rich lists, Kenya, Nepal, US political lobbying, Africa, US news, South and central Asia, Society

    Governments opting for oligarchy while brutally repressing protests over austerity and lack of jobs, charity report says The world saw a record number of billionaires created last year, with a collective wealth of $18.3tn (£13.7tn), while global efforts stalled in the fight against poverty and hunger. Oxfam’s annual survey of global inequality has revealed that the number of billionaires surpassed 3,000 for the first time during 2025. Since 2020, their collective wealth grew by 81%, or $8.2tn, which the charity claims would be enough to eradicate global poverty 26 times over. Continue reading...

  • Uganda’s president calls opponents 'terrorists' in victory speech 3 days ago by Agence France-Presse
    Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, Bobi Wine, Africa, World news

    Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term but poll criticised by observers and rights groups over repression of opposition and internet blackout Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, fresh from winning a seventh term in office at 81, said on Sunday that the opposition were “terrorists” who had tried to use violence to overturn the election results. Official results showed Museveni winning a landslide with 72% of the vote, but the poll was criticised by African election observers and rights groups due to the heavy repression of the opposition and an internet blackout. Continue reading...

  • Yoweri Museveni wins Ugandan election as opponent condemns ‘fake result’ 4 days ago by William Christou
    Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, Africa, World news

    Museveni’s opponent, Bobi Wine, alleges that members of polling staff were kidnapped and called for peaceful protests Yoweri Museveni, has won the Ugandan election and his seventh term with more than 70% of the vote, state election authorities have said, amid an internet shutdown and claims of fraud by his opponent. His opponent, a youthful musician known as Bobi Wine, condemned what he called “fake results” and alleged that members of polling staff were kidnapped, among other election irregularities. He called for peaceful protests to pressure the authorities to release what he called the “rightful results”. Continue reading...

  • Confidence runs high in London’s Little Morocco as Afcon glory beckons 4 days ago by Matthew Weaver
    London, Morocco, Africa Cup of Nations 2025, Senegal, Football, Africa, Sport, UK news, Africa Cup of Nations, Middle East and north Africa

    Atlas Lions face Senegal in final of Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday and Moroccan diaspora scents victory London’s Little Morocco is brimming with pride and anticipation. The Moroccan diaspora in North Kensington is in no doubt that on Sunday the Atlas Lions will triumph against Senegal in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. “There’s not just an excitement, it has completely taken over everything else,” said Souad Talsi, who runs the Al-Hasaniya Moroccan women’s centre at the base of 31-storey Trellick Tower, at the north end of Golborne Road. Continue reading...


South China Morning Post

  • After Spanish rail disaster, search for missing dog grips the nation: ‘he is family’ 40 minutes ago by Associated Press

    Blanket draped over her shoulders and a bandage on her cheek, Ana Garcia issued a desperate plea: she needed help finding her dog, Boro. Hours earlier, 26-year-old Garcia and her pregnant sister had been travelling with Boro by high-speed train from Malaga, their hometown in southern Spain, to capital Madrid. The tail of their train car jumped the rails for reasons that remain unclear, then was smashed into by a train coming in the opposite direction that tumbled down an adjacent slope. At least...

  • Palestinian baby dies from cold in Gaza tent as Trump talks Board of Peace at Davos 2 hours ago by Associated Press

    A Palestinian baby died from hypothermia on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the grim humanitarian conditions in the territory as world leaders were gathering at a Swiss resort where US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is high on the agenda. Shaza Abu Jarad’s family found the 3-month-old on Tuesday morning in their tent in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. “She was freezing, and dead,” the baby’s father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, who spoke by phone after a funeral, said. “She...

  • Larry Fink ponders moving World Economic Forum from Davos 3 hours ago by Bloomberg

    Larry Fink, the interim co-chief of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is openly musing about a venue change for the flagship event that would take the annual January meeting outside Switzerland. “You should also see WEF start doing something new: showing up – and listening – in the places where the modern world is actually built,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Davos, yes. But also places like Detroit and Dublin – and cities like Jakarta and Buenos Aires.” The Blackrock chief executive officer...

  • How China is rethinking export-led growth as global trade walls rise 3 hours ago by Alice Li

    Beijing’s recent call to balance trade and investment as part of a push for more sustainable growth reflects a gradual shift towards greater overseas localisation of Chinese supply chains, analysts said, as the country grapples with simmering frictions amid a record trade surplus. “Commercial authorities at all levels ... should guide the reasonable and orderly cross-border layout of industrial and supply chains, promote integrated development of trade and investment... and effectively...

  • China mega-embassy approval further boosts UK relations 3 hours ago by Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma

    The UK approved China’s controversial plan to build a mega-embassy in London, a move that probably paves the way for Keir Starmer to make the first trip to Beijing by a British prime minister since 2018. The decision, following three delays, moves China closer to constructing the roughly 65,000 square metre (700,000 sq ft) embassy at the site of the former Royal Mint near the Tower of London. Local residents may challenge the decision in court. Starmer is set to visit Beijing and Shanghai from...


New York Times

  • Carney Speech on U.S. ‘Rupture’ and Canada’s Survival Draws Standing Ovation at Davos 12 hours ago by Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Ian Austen
    United States International Relations, International Trade and World Market, Politics and Government, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Customs (Tariff), North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Carney, Mark J, Trump, Donald J, Canada, Davos (Switzerland), United States

    Prime Minister Mark Carney got a standing ovation in Davos for starkly describing the end of Pax Americana. He is looking for new allies to help his country survive it.

  • Air Force One Turns Back With Trump After Electrical Issue 4 hours ago by Francesca Regalado, Luke Broadwater, Yan Zhuang and Qasim Nauman
    United States Politics and Government, Air Force One (Jet), Airlines and Airplanes, Leavitt, Karoline, Trump, Donald J, World Economic Forum

    The plane was heading for Switzerland when it turned back for Joint Base Andrews. A White House official said there had been a minor electrical issue.

  • Canada’s Leader Warns of a ‘Rupture’ in the Global Order, and ICE Is Accused of Killing Detainee an hour ago by Tracy Mumford, Will Jarvis, Ian Stewart and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
    Illegal Immigration, Immigration Detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US), Trump, Donald J, United States, Canada, Europe

    Plus, what’s the point of learning cursive?

  • Supreme Court Considers Trump’s Attempt to Fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook 2 hours ago by Ann E. Marimow
    United States Politics and Government, Banking and Financial Institutions, Appointments and Executive Changes, Courts and the Judiciary, Federal Courts (US), Ethics and Official Misconduct, Elections, Courts and the Judiciary, Mortgages, Federal Reserve System, Supreme Court (US), Cook, Lisa D, Powell, Jerome H, Sauer, D John (1974- ), Trump, Donald J

    The justices deferred a decision on the president’s efforts to oust Cook, agreeing to hear arguments on Wednesday instead.

  • Supreme Court to Weigh Trump’s Bid to Fire Lisa Cook an hour ago by Colby Smith, Sutton Raphael, Gabriel Blanco, James Surdam, June Kim and Nikolay Nikolov
    United States Politics and Government, Federal Reserve System, Supreme Court (US), Trump, Donald J

    The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on Wednesday in the case of Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor whom President Trump is trying to fire. Our reporter Colby Smith describes the importance of Cook’s case for the independence of the central bank.


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