Poland has called on China to pressure Russia to end its conflict with Ukraine during a visit from China's Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, to Warsaw; Li had also been in Kyiv prior to his arrival in the Polish capital. A statement from Poland’s Foreign Ministry following the meeting said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister, Wojciech Gerwel, had requested China to use its influence on Russia “to condemn Russia’s aggression, and exert pressure on Russia to return to compliance with the principles of international law". The statement also said Poland was worried about Chinese statements that it wants to activate relations with Russia. China and Russia signed a “no limits” partnership agreement just before Russia's incursion into Ukraine, however, Beijing has failed to condemn Moscow’s actions, and has criticised Western sanctions on Russia.
K9 Jets launched its pet-friendly private jet in the UK in March, which allows pets to travel alongside their owners on flights carrying 10 people and 10 pets. After it was announced, all 15 scheduled flights between April and September of 2023 sold out within four weeks, which means the company made more than £800,000 in sales. The service seems to appeal to middle-class families who would rather pay £7,000 per seat than separate from a beloved animal on a commercial flight. The current spots are from Farnborough, Hampshire, to transatlantic and selected European destinations.
Rugby Australia's decision to support the Indigenous Voice to Parliament initiative is deserving of praise, in contrast to the stance of conservative former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, according to this op-ed. The sporting body's embrace of the landmark social change campaign is in line with the sport's moral responsibility to represent all Australians, it adds. The article cites the example of former Wallaby Tony Abrahams, who withdrew from selection for a tour of South Africa in 1969 in protest against apartheid, as evidence of rugby's long-standing tradition of engaging with social issues.
Canada's decision to create an EV supply chain might be a mistake, according to a Globe and Mail opinion piece. It argues that, on several fronts, supporting EVs is both irresponsible and crazed. For example, the author claims that despite being presented as planet-savers, EVs and hybrid cars play a part in an ever-expanding car culture, which harms cities and the environment alike. Furthermore, they argue that EVs do not solve wider environmental issues, as the supply chain is notoriously carbon-intensive, and building more and more power plants to service millions of EVs has knock-on environmental consequences too.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has spoken out against pessimistic reports over the country’s future prospects. Sunak defended the Conservative government, stating bold action taken to prevent recession and protect small businesses led to one of the biggest upward revisions for the UK economy by the Bank of England and the strongest surge of confidence amongst finance directors since 2020. Sunak also made direct reference to post-Brexit growth rates and said the country’s plans to boost its economy and trade with other nations had led to significant inward investment.
The European Commission has requested that rival tech firms of Microsoft provide details of customer data they are required to pass onto the firm as part of their contracts with Azure cloud. As we reported last November, Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), whose members include Amazon, lodged a complaint that Microsoft's new contractual terms imposed on 1 October last year, together with other practices, threatened to damage the cloud computing ecosystem in Europe.
The Arab League recently saw Syrian President Bashar al-Assad return to the fore during its summit in Jeddah. President al-Assad was embraced by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Ten years ago, the Saudis funded anti-Assad militias. However, Saudi Arabia and the UAE need Syria as a key ally in their Middle East operations, and they believe that the Assad regime is now a Middle Eastern reality. Despite this, Syrians who blame the Assad regime for destroying their country view the Arab League's decision with dismay. Lebanese military deportations have recently increased by the army, targeting refugees, with around 1,500 Syrians being deported at gunpoint.
According to data from councils collected by the BBC, thousands of voters failed to vote in England's local elections this year due to incorrect ID. In all, 26,165 voters were initially unable to vote at polling stations, with 16,588 returning with valid ID. The council data was collected from 160 of the 230 councils with elections. Elections monitoring group the Electoral Reform Society warned that if ID is still required for the next UK general election, due in 2024, "far more" voters will be affected unless the policy is scrapped.
Glasgow Warriors rugby union captain Kyle Steyn admitted that the team would take time to recover after they lost 43-19 to Toulon in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup in Dublin. The team also exited the BKT United Rugby Championship in the quarter-finals. Steyn admitted that the two play-off defeats meant that getting over them would take some time. Toulon’s victory means that they enter next season’s Heineken Champions Cup, a title they won three times between 2013-2015.
The US has announced that it will send more sophisticated weaponry to help Ukraine fight Russian-backed separatists. The decision to allow several nations to supply F-16 fighter jets, which will be accompanied by training for the Ukrainian pilots, was revealed by President Biden at a global summit in Japan. However, the US has yet to release details about how many planes will be sent and from which country they’ll come. There are also no details about where the aforementioned training will take place. The US had previously refused to provide this sort of assistance for over a year, due to the increased tensions that could result from it. Initially opposed to the idea, the US has a record of eventually taking the advice of allies to provide more sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine, as it once famously did when reluctantly providing Stinger missiles to the Afghans fighting the Soviets.
The G7 summit is seeking to adopt a common approach on Beijing and is planning to introduce measures to respond to Chinese "economic coercion" in an announcement on Saturday. A “platform” is to be unveiled which will provide a forum for the identification of economic vulnerabilities and coordination of protective measures. This follows two years of efforts by the US administration of Joe Biden, helped by Japan, to foster unity among G7 members on challenges posed by Beijing. China has taken issue with the G7’s language on “economic coercion”, saying in a statement "it is, in fact, the United States itself that instigates coercive diplomacy".
US President Joe Biden plans to discuss the situation in Ukraine with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Group of Seven (G7) summit this weekend. Biden plans to focus on the "sacrosanct" issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the discussions. Brazil and India have previously played a bridge-building role in relations with Russia and China, however, Lula angered the West last month by asking the US and European allies to stop supplying arms to Ukraine. The Brazilian leader has since toned down his comments. Biden also aims to discuss supply chain resilience, infrastructure investments and dealing with large debt burdens with the G7 summit attendees.
China will take on Japan in the semi-finals of badminton’s Sudirman Cup after defeating Indonesia 3-0. Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong secured China's win after they recovered from a rocky start and clinched victory. Shi Yuqi and Chen Yufei followed with their singles matches and beat Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in two sets. The biennial event, held in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, counts towards qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The final will take place on Sunday.
Despite the rise of other options such as sushi and buddha bowls, the British sandwich is still the lunch of choice for many. Market research firm Kantar revealed that Britons spent nearly £5bn on pre-packaged sandwiches last year, nearly returning to pre-pandemic levels. This is a considerable step up from the years that saw commuters and travellers making do with incredibly mediocre railway sandwiches, the subject of many jokes and hoary anecdotes mocking their stale filling and suspiciously formed meat. The sandwich as we know it, filling pushed artfully towards the centre, was rehabilitated in the 1980s by Marks & Spencer, which became the first supermarket to sell pre-packaged sandwiches. The other leading supermarkets followed suit and nearly forty years later, Britons buy 1.6 billion packs a year.
China's Russian oil imports rise in April but Saudi is top supplier
Reuters
23-05-20 06:29
China's crude oil imports from Russia rose 8.6% from a year earlier in April. Deliveries from Russia, including seaborne shipments and supplies via pipelines, totalled 7.1 million tonnes or 1.73 million barrels per day, according to customs data. While large private integrated refiners have joined smaller independent plants in snapping up cheaper Russian oil, overall crude oil imports in China have dropped 16% from March due to weaker orders from smaller importers affected by Beijing's measures to stem the coronavirus outbreak.
US President Joe Biden has apologised to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia for his cancelled trip to the country and said that negotiations to resolve the US debt crisis were “in their closing stages” ahead of the rescheduled Quad summit on Saturday night. Biden said he was confident the US will avoid a default if the deadline of 1 June is met. At the summit in Hiroshima, Biden is expected to discuss threats to regional and global security with leaders from India, Japan and Australia.
The Guardian's Alison Flood explores the benefits and dangers of using YouTube to enhance reading epriences. Flood describes how she paired her recent reading of Alan Cumming's Baggage with the near-constant companionship of relevant YouTube videos, including footage of Cumming's Emcee in Cabarat. While undeniably an enjoyable pastime, the strategy comes with downsides: "I finished the week fully understanding why nobody ever gets round to anything any more."
Greek politics has traditionally centred around grandiose election promises that can't be kept, leading to a cycle of disillusionment when such promises aren't fulfilled, according to Deutsche Welle. Georgios Papandreou, who served as prime minister until 2011, once said that making a pledge doesn't hurt, while keeping it might. Many of those who follow have lived up to his meme, including Alexis Tsipras who lead the Syriza movement which won the 2015 election promising to abolish austerity, but abandoned the pledge after being elected.
The explosion of incoherent, undisciplined political protests, from the demands of climate extremists to the inanity of the trans lobby has created a remarkably similar sense of unreality, according to Melanie McDonagh in The Spectator. The article argues that this determined egomania — seeking to create anarchic disorder through demonstrations and ultimatums with no engagement with political argument — can be attributed to the collapse of great ideological debates and the growth of a post-rational battle that often leads to cancellation and physical threats.
Brazil has felt pressure to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy following the unannounced attendance of Zelenskiy to the G7 summit in Japan. Brazilian officials have said that the Brazilian delegation felt nervous about the event and considered it to be a “trap” scene. The Brazilian President Lula, who is attending as an invitee, was urged by French President Emmanuel Macron to meet with Zelenskiy. Some tensions may arise from Brazil’s more neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, feeling that both Ukraine, the US and EU share the blame for Russia’s invasion.
