Portugal’s former head of government, António Costa, has formally assumed the post of EU Council President. A first exchange with Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola is planned for this Monday. Costa wants to make a “jour fix” with the President of the Commission and Parliament every two weeks a tradition. The Portuguese politician […]
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has excellent political contacts in China. But his mother, Maye Musk, also enjoys celebrity status in the People’s Republic. The popularity of the 76-year-old with silver-grey hair can be seen on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, for example, where she has more than half a million followers. Her posts, in […]
Donald Trump saved one of his most important appointments for last. On Sunday, the future POTUS announced that Brooke Rollins would head the Department of Agriculture in his second term of office. This means that the 52-year-old will head one of the most powerful departments in Washington. The Department of Agriculture is not only responsible […]
When Samir Puri accepted an invitation from the German business community to attend the Asia-Pacific Conference (APC) in New Delhi in October, he was not only amazed at the acute shortage of beer at the evening reception. Even more remarkable for him were the geopolitical and economic implications of the meeting between Germany and the […]
Since the beginning of this month, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong has been the Managing Director of the Loss and Damage Fund, which was set up during the World Climate Conference (COP) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, two years ago. The so-called “Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage” is intended to provide funds to developing countries that […]
Sima Nan has made a name for himself on the Chinese internet as an ultra-nationalist who loves China but hates the West. However, nothing more has been heard from him for a few days now. According to the South China Morning Post from Hong Kong, citing official sources, the blogger, whose real name is Yu […]
Manoj Kewalramani has to get up early because, besides his job at the Indian think tank Takshashila Institution, he spends two to three hours each day carefully reading the newspaper. On the front page, he always sees: Xi Jinping. Kewalramani reads the People’s Daily, China’s top propaganda newspaper, and has been publishing his assessments and […]
Bakehouse can hardly save itself from customers. The queues outside the Hong Kong bakery’s branches are always so long that the waiting customers have to be kept at a distance with fluttering tape. Bakehouse, known for its pancakes and croissants, has long been a well-known brand in Hong Kong. But the huge rush has only […]
Almost exactly one year ago, Gubad Ibadoghlu was supposed to take up a new position at TU Dresden. But it never happened. In July 2023, the native of Azerbaijan was arrested together with his wife on the street in Baku. His wife was released the same day and subsequently reported mistreatment and even torture. Ibadoghlu […]
When Qin Liwen was still a little girl, she knew little about the world, but there was one thing she had learned quickly. That the society in which she grew up valued boys more than girls. “Boys are great and girls are so useless,” her father and his family told her. Raising a girl was […]