Dark day for Celtics fans. Speechless

China's covert military training of Russian forces last year was personally approved by Vladimir Putin's defence minister and directly involved at ​least four Russian and Chinese generals, according to 2 European officials & documents seen by Reuters

AfD leader Alice Weidel: “Cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of ‘Made in Germany’. We need it back” www.reuters.com/world/afd-le...

Europe has a competitiveness problem. It has an energy price problem. And it has a China problem. But if Europe did everything it could to address the first two problems, it would still struggle to compete with China. This is what this article gets wrong economist.com/leaders/2026...

Sefcovic: "China's exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking. This trend is not sustainable. The status quo is not an option." Sefcovic statement: ec.europa.eu/commission/p... Joint press statement: ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Some comments for the @nzz.ch on Europe's de-risking challenge with China www.nzz.ch/internationa...

German Economy Minister Reiche appears to have swooped into Brussels to meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao before his meeting today with EU Trade Commissioner Sefcovic. Her statement strikes a very different tone than what we've been hearing from Merz. www.linkedin.com/posts/noahba...

The premier of Lower Saxony, VW's largest shareholder, is back with more calls for the company to produce cars in Germany that it currently produces in China. He doesn't seem to understand what is happening - a deliberate, wholesale transfer of German jobs to China www.reuters.com/world/china/...

“No one in Israel is suggesting a pivot to China or Russia quite yet” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/w...

Charles Michel was an embarrassment when he headed the European Council and he has managed to turn himself into an even bigger embarrassment since leaving Brussels. Add #michel to the long list #schroeder #blair #zapatero #raffarin … www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202606/26/...

There is a paradox in German memory culture: while most Germans know a lot about the general history of the Nazi era … we tend to know less about our own family stories. Most of us never quite found the time or the inclination to start digging around … www.ft.com/content/2229...

Extraordinary detail in the new book on Trump's second term administration

Just coming to this remarkable story: Tulsi Gabbard, until recently the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration, has been receiving and obeying political directives for years from a reclusive Hawaii-based cult leader. This is not a joke www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

The EU has shown a “distinct lack of sincerity” in trade talks over the past weeks with China, a source tells the Global Times www.globaltimes.cn/page/202606/...

This is massive. The kind of announcement that is likely to accelerate the German “tipping point” on China www.ft.com/content/d076...

The Art of the War in 6 steps… 1. Blunder into war without a plan 2. Deplete arms needed to fight wars that matter 3. Declare victory when all signs point to defeat 4. Botch peace deal 5. Pressure Congress to fund war you said you won 6. Try to rebuild arms on fly www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/u...

Some comments for @asia.nikkei.com on EU plans for tougher trade measures against China asia.nikkei.com/economy/trad...

A revealing headline from the NYT … revealing about the NYT

New Merz quotes on China from an exchange in the Bundestag today. The tone is getting sharper substack.com/profile/2516...

The more competent & decorated you are, the bigger the the threat you pose to Pete Hegseth. The latest casualty: CD Donahue, a widely respected special forces veteran who served in Iraq/Syria/Afghanistan and has been critical to US efforts to help Ukraine fight Russia www.ft.com/content/b293...

EU leaders have asked the Commission to engage with Beijing. This is what they will hear when they do. www.ft.com/content/ecf2...

The world hates the US www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/...

Days after EU leaders came together in Brussels to discuss a major shift in China policy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives a 25 minute speech at the biggest industry conference of the year and doesn't mention China once

The Republicans in the House Foreign Affairs Committee don’t seem to know how to spell Colombia

Up next: safeguards on foie gras www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Belgium PM De Wever showing Spanish PM Sanchez what he thinks of his China policy

“It is the single worst — and there’s a lot of competition for it — American national security mess that I’ve ever seen” www.ft.com/content/3be5...

Trump humiliates Meloni again, triggering a fierce response from the Italian PM and the cancellation of her foreign minister’s trip to Washington. She was supposed to be Europe’s Trump whisperer. www.politico.eu/article/ital...

Trump is strikingly unpopular at both ends of the economic spectrum (via @wsj)

Important story: the German government funnels tens of millions of euros per year to the CISPA research center in Saarland which works closely with Chinese researchers from PLA-linked institutions on sensitive cybersecurity issues. Merz himself seems to approve👇🏼 www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deut...

Merz says Europe cannot accept when fair competition is distorted by high subsidies across entire sectors which flood other markets. He points to imbalance between Chinese demand and production. And on top of that an undervalued currency.

Merz says the European Commission will present plans for new trade instruments at the next European Council in October. He repeats concerns about China's currency being undervalued by up to 30 percent, and points to Plaza Accords as model for dealing with this.

Reporting all over the place on what EU leaders agreed at their China dinner but following seems clear: - No mandate to impose immediate robust trade defense measures - Nod to eventually complement toolbox with new instruments - A push to engage with Beijing Overall it seems leaders blinked

EU leaders do not appear to have given the Commission a robust mandate to hit back at China, despite combative rhetoric in the lead-up to their dinner in Brussels. Spain opposed any new measures and Merz was more circumspect during the debate, the FT reports giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

💥 European Council finished at 1.20am - leaders spent 2 hours discussing China Looks like they gave the commission guidance to produce new trade tools Via an EU official - leaders asked the commission with two tasks vis-à-vis China

Sanchez calls China a “potential ally” days after the EU confirmed reports that China has been training Russian military officers for the battlefield in Ukraine.

Bernd Lange: “China is pursuing an aggressive, hegemonic industrial policy with the clear goal of dominating the global market for industrial goods” bernd-lange.de/uploads/bern...

Germany's Bosch to pay US $36 million for shipping sensors and software to China's Huawei between 2020-24 without a license www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

He who must not be named 🤫

“This is as close as we have come in years to a make-or-break moment for European China policy" My comments to @fbermingham.bsky.social on what could be a historic day in the relationship between Europe and China www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

There are profit warnings, and then there are existential howls www.ft.com/content/2c03...

The EU "swarm" strategy in action 👇

Smart piece from @ajwsmall.bsky.social @ecfr.eu on how the EU can respond to China with "swarm" strategy built around 6 conditions for market access ecfr.eu/publication/...

Germany is backing new instruments. The question is whether it will support short-term measures like safeguards as new tools may take 1-2 years to put in place. This is where the big divide seems to be www.ft.com/content/06b7...

The G7 eyes binding critical mineral diversification quotas for the defense industry. The EU wants to broaden this out to all critical inputs in a new "diversification instrument" that could be discussed tomorrow at the European Council. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A real sign of weakness www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2...

Full submission @alanbeattie.bsky.social? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Important story: the US push for a plurilateral agreement on critical minerals is faltering amid tensions over who would ​pay a premium for minerals, how far down the supply chain those subsidies should go and how governance would work. www.reuters.com/world/americ...

Kallas says China has been training Russian forces to fight in Ukraine @fbermingham.bsky.social www.scmp.com/news/world/e...

Breaking news: EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas says the EU has "now verified reports that the Chinese military has been training Russian military personnel to fight in Ukraine" Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers - "we are carefully assessing the implications"