The UK has paid a high price for Brexit, which has spurred inflation and trimmed the size of its economy, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing economists from Goldman Sachs.
The country's departure from the EU has reduced Britain’s real GDP by about 5%, compared to the performance of its economic peers, according to Goldman’s chief European economist, Sven Jari Stehn. Seven years on from the referendum campaign, Britain has ended up with an underperforming economy and soaring cost of living due to reduced international trade, weak business investment, and a reduction in migrants coming from the EU, the UK’s largest trade partner, the experts noted. “The evidence points to a significant long-run output cost of Brexit,” Goldman Sachs’ economists wrote in a note. “The UK has significantly underperformed other advanced economies since the 2016 EU referendum.” Previous estimates from other observers also pointed to a long-term negative impact of Brexit. The UK’s National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimated in November that Brexit had reduced the size of the economy by 2-3%, an impact that is expected to rise to 5-6% by 2035. According to estimates made last year by the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, the exit from the EU likely reduced economic output by 4%. However, not all of the UK’s economic woes can be linked to the departure from the EU, according to the Goldman economists. Brexit headwinds come on top of the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine conflict, and the high interest rates required to tame inflation, which is at historic highs in Britain.
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Chinese migrants are flocking to the southern border of the USA and some have Chinese TikTok guides on how to enter the USA.
Over four days, journalists observed nearly 600 migrants, some of whom were Chinese, crossing the border through a gap at the end of a border fence near San Diego. Chinese migrants who spoke to 60 Minutes said they learned about the gap via the video application Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. The Chinesehad reviewed several Douyin posts, which gave detailed instructions on how migrants could hire smugglers to get to the border. And the journey is no walk in the park either. Chinese migrants hoping to start a new life in the US have to trek through multiple countries before they arrive stateside. Some have had to crisscross through Turkey, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and then Mexico, per CNN. There has been a surge in the number of Chinese migrants entering the US through its borders. According to data from the US Customs and Border Protection, the number of encounters the agency has had with Chinese nationals at the Southwest land border has increased more than 50-fold, from 450 people in 2021 to 24,314 in 2023. Chinese social media platforms have been a boon for migrants hoping to enter the US. In April, Reuters interviewed more than two dozen Chinese migrants entering the US via southeastern Texas. All the migrants that Reuters spoke to said that social media had helped them to plan their journey. It's not just China. Content creators from Venezuela and India have been producing similar videos as well. "Migration sells. My public is a public that wants a dream," Venezuelan Manuel Monterrosa, 35, told The New York Times in a story published in December. A representative for the Department of Homeland Security told BI that the department was "experiencing historical global migration." "DHS is working with our partners throughout the hemisphere and around the world to disrupt the criminal networks who take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants," the representative said.
Similar rallies were held across Poland in January. A separate protest by another group of farmers and truckers blocking a key border crossing with Ukraine saw Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government capitulate to the protesters’ demands, which included reinstating a permit system for Ukrainian truckers, adopting government subsidies for Polish corn, and a moratorium on tax hikes. Last Thursday, the European Commission proposed extending the suspension of customs duties on agricultural goods from Ukraine and Moldova through 2025. The measure was originally scheduled to expire this year. Thousands of farmers from across the bloc descended on Brussels ahead of that summit, throwing eggs, rocks, and fireworks at the EU Parliament building and setting huge piles of manure on fire.
Last week, a Hong Kong court ruled that the largest indebted property developer in the world, Evergrande, would be liquidated, two years after the company defaulted on its debt in late 2021.
Much of the media reporting on the decision focused on whether foreign creditors would ever recoup their losses from Evergrande, as the Chinese government has already said it will prioritize completing the group’s existing projects, though how this will happen is less clear. But beyond the question of who will get repaid, Evergrande’s liquidation opens up a slew of larger and more profound questions about the future of the Chinese economy, especially the relationships between the central government, local governments, the private sector and households. The liquidation of Evergrande is not an accident. It is part of a larger crackdown on the private sector and government collusion that President Xi Jinping launched at the very start of his term, beginning in 2013 with the Anti-Corruption Campaign, which has become one of the most consequential and longest-running campaigns in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Taken as a whole, this crackdown has fundamentally changed the relationship between the Communist Party and the business community, creating deep distrust and fear, while leading to capital flight and a deep downturn in confidence. The Anti-Corruption Campaign was followed by other policies that put the private sector on notice that old patterns of behavior would no longer be tolerated. Xi’s “new normal” would include more discipline and oversight. Xi’s confidence in the ability of his government to implement this crackdown expanded enormously in late 2020 and early 2021, coinciding with the regime’s successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic before the arrival of the incredibly infectious omicron variant. Xi made numerous speeches and statements at the time about the importance of “common prosperity” and the need to crack down on “disorderly capital,” while also emphasizing his dislike of real estate development as investment, epitomized by his oft-quoted mantra that “houses are for living in.” The “three red lines” policy, which reined in debt-fueled property development and directly targeted firms like Evergrande that were enormously leveraged, dates back to this period. In addition to launching the attack on the over-leveraged property sector, Chinese authorities canceled the IPO of Ant Financial, forced the rewinding of Didi’s listing on the N.Y. Stock Exchange, banned private tutoring and nationalized gray rhinos, as large firms that create systemic risk, such as Anbang Insurance and HNA, are known. At the same time, in his speeches on “common prosperity,” Xi vaguely alluded to new forms of taxation and redistribution so that China would eventually become an “olive-shaped society” with a large middle class and relatively few rich and poor. But crackdowns alone cannot substitute for the deep structural reform that the Chinese economy desperately needs. Any viable solution to the property crisis and to local government’s fiscal health requires that China’s central government take on more responsibility and more accountability. Xi must shift from being a disciplinarian to accepting that these problems are not only rooted in the bad behavior of corrupt officials, greedy capitalists or overextended households. All of these actors were responding to incentives set up by China’s development model, which grew increasingly dependent on real estate and land development for growth. So while Xi talks frequently about high-quality development as the “hard truth” of his administration, this is unlikely to be achieved without a fundamental shift in responsibility upward toward the central government. In other words, it’s not just local governments and private entrepreneurs who must change their behavior—the central government must as well. Given the scale of the current crisis—over 1.5 million home purchasers are still waiting for residences that they have already paid Evergrande for—it’s possible that local governments will still be held responsible for finding other viable real estate developers to take over the unfinished projects in their regions. But local governments are themselves deeply in debt for both related and unrelated reasons. Local governments were caught up in the same frenzy of real estate development and land sales for years. But they are also reeling from debt related to COVID-19 management and testing, as well as from the basic structure of their fiscal relations with the central government, which leaves them with many mandates to fund social security and public goods like education, but without enough resources to do so. This fiscal imbalance is one of the primary reasons that local governments became so reliant on land speculation and real estate development in the first place, because in a period of ever-rising property prices, it provided much-needed revenue. It was also, not coincidentally, an excellent mechanism for local officials to collude with real estate developers to become personally wealthy. As a result, local governments are implicated in the accumulated problems of overinvestment and corruption. But any long-term solution will require changes to the tax system, so that they have sufficient tax revenue to pay for the disproportionate amount of governance they are tasked with. This will by necessity include more directly taxing both the wealthy and property, and directing more tax revenue to localities instead of the central government. Requiring local governments to find “viable developers” to take over Evergrande’s unfinished homes also ignores how Evergrande’s problems are only the tip of the iceberg of real estate development debt. It is not even clear which developers are viable enough to take on the burden of finishing the homes Evergrande has already been paid for, while also attempting to make money on new development, given China’s significant overbuilding and declining property values. A new International Monetary Fund report on the Chinese economy estimates that China’s fundamental demand for housing will decrease by 50 percent over the next decade, even as media reports indicate a current oversupply in excess of 50 million homes. The real estate sector cannot deal with these problems alone, but most local governments are in no position to help. An effective solution will require that the central government allow for substantial restructuring of existing firms and perhaps direct bailouts to households currently left holding the bag. The IMF estimates that such measures will cost about 5 percent of GDP but will be offset by avoiding longer-term losses. For households, the real estate sector’s unraveling is hitting their pocketbooks directly. Because of China’s presale model of development, households have already paid for the promised properties, so they cannot be expected to pay more, especially when the value of these future properties are going down. Meanwhile, investments in existing property are the most important source of wealth for China’s urbanites, representing about 70 percent of household wealth. So the contraction in the real estate sector, while necessary, will make many Chinese poorer. Employment opportunities have also worsened, as the real estate decline affects not just construction, but everything else tied to property, from landscaping to interior design. All of these impacts will exacerbate the problem of consumer confidence, inducing households to save rather than spend, an incentive structure that is already reinforced by China’s weak social safety net. This in turn means that China will be forced to look to external markets to absorb excess capacity in everything from building materials to electric vehicles, further exacerbating imbalances that are complicating China’s relations with trade partners. Once again, any effective policy to address the problem of consumer confidence will similarly require more support from the central government and improvements to China’s underfunded and shallow welfare state. The risk of social unrest is still low due to strong state capacity to repress street protests. But Chinese households have already shown ingenious ways to express their displeasure through inaction, such as not paying mortgages and not seeking employment—the practice known as lying flat. Beijing has accomplished much with Xi’s dramatic crackdowns as he seeks to shift China’s development in a new and more sustainable direction. But the crackdowns are only the first step. They need to be followed by increased support for local governments from the central government. So far, Xi has deftly yielded sticks. Much will depend on whether he can now do the same with carrots. Chinese sporting authorities have cancelled next month's friendly international between Argentina and Nigeria amid a growing backlash against Lionel Messi's failure to play in an Inter Miami match in Hong Kong last week.
Argentina were scheduled to play Nigeria in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next month before facing the Ivory Coast in Beijing, but Messi's failure to take the field for Inter Miami in Hong Kong on Sunday caused widespread anger among fans. The organiser of the Hong Kong match said they would give fans a 50 percent refund for tickets after the Argentine did not take the field due to injury, but played in Japan days later. The backlash grew on Friday, with Hangzhou sports authorities saying that Argentina's friendly against Nigeria would no longer take place. "As a commercial event, a company and the Argentinean soccer team negotiated that the team would play a friendly match in March this year in the city of Hangzhou," the Hangzhou authorities said in a statement. "In view of the current well-known reasons, according to the competent authorities, conditions to hold the friendly match are not mature, therefore (we) have decided to cancel it." It was not immediately clear if Argentina's other friendly against Ivory Coast in Beijing would also be cancelled. The Chinese FA did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside normal business hours. The Argentine FA also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Tatler Asian, a privately owned publishing and lifestyle company, said in a statement on its Instagram page that it was "deeply sorry" and "heartbroken" that fans were let down after Messi stayed on the bench during Sunday's match. The match in Hong Kong drew 40,000 fans, with some spectators paying up to $1000 per ticket. The cost of all match tickets bought from official channels can be 50 percent refunded, Tatler said, adding that it had been in discussions with the Hong Kong government to resolve the issue. Inter Miami head coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino said Messi was deemed unfit to play in the friendly in Hong Kong, but he came on as a 60th minute substitute against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday. "When we learned that Messi would not be playing, we pleaded with Inter Miami CF ownership and management to urge him to stand up, engage with the spectators and explain why he couldn't play," Tatler said. "He didn't. The fact that Messi and (team mate Luis) Suarez played in Japan on Feb. 7 feels like another slap in the face." In the match in Tokyo, entire blocks of seats at the Japan National Stadium were unoccupied, with just 28,614 tickets sold. Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians and some fans swiftly condemned Messi's participation in the Japan match, with state-controlled Global Times writing that his absence posed many questions on the differential treatment for Hong Kong. In a statement, Hong Kong's government said Tatler Asia had made its best effort to arrange a refund, adding that many people had questions about the incident. "The government hopes that the Inter Miami team will eventually provide a reasonable explanation to Hong Kong citizens and fans who came to Hong Kong to watch the game." Tatler Asia said Inter Miami had committed to ensuring that their top players, including Messi and Uruguay's Suarez, would play for 45 minutes unless injured. It said it had hoped to create an iconic moment in support of the government's efforts to remind the world how relevant and exciting Hong Kong is. "That dream is broken today for us and all those who bought tickets to see Messi on the pitch."
Cocoa prices have roughly doubled since the start of last year. Experts attribute the spike to poor crops in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the countries together responsible for two-thirds of the world’s cocoa beans. Both countries have been struggling with extreme weather changes and cocoa pod diseases for months. Shipments of cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire were down by roughly 39% from the previous year over the period of October 2023 to February 2024, at 1.04 million metric tons, Euronews reported. Exports from Ghana also plunged by some 35% to 341,000 metric tons during the period of September 2023 through January 2024. A Reuters cocoa poll last week projected the global cocoa bean deficit reaching 375,000 tons in the current agricultural season. Industry analysts note that bean costs are likely to keep growing due to the threat to global supply posed by the weather phenomenon El Nino, which caused draughts in West Africa during the third quarter of 2023, and is expected to continue at least until April.
Chocolate manufacturers have been warning that rising cocoa bean costs may force them to pass on the changes to consumers. On an earnings call on Thursday, the CEO of US candy giant Hershey, Michele Buck, said she expects “historic cocoa prices” to limit earnings growth in 2024 and translate into price rises on products. “We will be using every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, as a way to manage the business,” Buck stated. The company Mondelez, the owner of candy maker Cadbury, last month also warned that it would be hiking prices as a “last resort” to manage costs. Earlier this week, the head of the European Cocoa Association, Paul Davis, warned that the global cocoa market is likely to remain tight for another 18 months to three years. “We’ve got headwinds all over the place at the moment. Very expensive fertilizers, tough conditions for farmers, tough conditions for consumers… We are in a very tight balance. There is no cavalry that’s coming to the rescue,” he stated, as cited by the Business Insider. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of grossly misrepresenting the situation in Ukraine, claiming he told an “absurd story” about the origin of the conflict during his sit-down with Tucker Carlson.
Speaking during a visit to Washington, DC on Friday, Scholz weighed in on Putin’s recent interview with the former Fox host, arguing it only “mocks what real actions have been done by Russia in Ukraine” and presented a “completely absurd story about the cause of this war.” “There is a very clear cause, that is the desire of the president of Russia to annex part of Ukraine. And all the stories that are told about it do not change the fact that that is exactly the purpose of his imperialist efforts,” the chancellor added. Scholz went on to say that the fighting could “end at any time,” but not “by Ukraine capitulating,” and that “conditions for a peaceful solution” must be created as soon as possible.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of grossly misrepresenting the situation in Ukraine, claiming he told an “absurd story” about the origin of the conflict during his sit-down with Tucker Carlson. Speaking during a visit to Washington, DC on Friday, Scholz weighed in on Putin’s recent interview with the former Fox host, arguing it only “mocks what real actions have been done by Russia in Ukraine” and presented a “completely absurd story about the cause of this war.” “There is a very clear cause, that is the desire of the president of Russia to annex part of Ukraine. And all the stories that are told about it do not change the fact that that is exactly the purpose of his imperialist efforts,” the chancellor added. Scholz went on to say that the fighting could “end at any time,” but not “by Ukraine capitulating,” and that “conditions for a peaceful solution” must be created as soon as possible. Christian Horner has been spotted ahead of his Red Bull hearing over alleged inappropriate behaviour on a major day for Formula One. Allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been made against the team principal.
The 50-year-old has said that he denies the allegations. Red Bull are yet to expand on the nature of the complaint, although the BBC reports that it relates to alleged inappropriate and controlling behaviour. Horner was spotted in the back seat of a car on his way to the hearing, which is taking place in London. Red Bull, the F1 team Horner has managed since 2005, say they are treating the allegations ‘extremely seriously’. They sought to have the investigation completed swiftly, with the hearing taking place less than a week after the allegations first emerged. An independent lawyer will question Horner during his hearing. "After being made aware of certain recent allegations, the company launched an independent investigation,” Red Bull said in a statement on Monday. "This process, which is already under way, is being carried out by an external specialist barrister. The company takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practically possible. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."Questions have been raised over Horner’s future in F1. The BBC report that many insiders in F1 do not expect Horner to survive in his role.Red Bull are due to launch their RB20 car for the 2024 season on February 15. It is unclear if Horner will lead the presentation. Horner has been team principal at Red Bull since 2005, the first year the team competed in F1. He has overseen six Constructors’ Championship victories and has played a role in Max Verstappen’s three consecutive world titles.The Brit raced professionally but retired at the age of 25 when he set his sights on managing an F1 team.Bahrain will host the first Grand Prix of the 2024 season on March 2, although testing gets underway on February 21. Red Bull’s Verstappen will be hoping to win a fourth consecutive world title, while the team will want to retain their constructors’ crown Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible by definition”, but insisted he does not seek to expand the war to neighbouring countries such as Poland and Latvia.
In a high-profile interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin repeated his claim that invading Ukraine was necessary to stop the country from threatening Russia by joining NATO, denied that he had territorial ambitions across Europe, and insisted he would only send troops into neighbouring countries if attacked first. Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended his war in Ukraine in a two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible by definition”, but insisted he does not seek to expand the war to neighbouring countries such as Poland and Latvia. In a high-profile interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin repeated his claim that invading Ukraine was necessary to stop the country from threatening Russia by joining NATO, denied that he had territorial ambitions across Europe, and insisted he would only send troops into neighbouring countries if attacked first. It is absolutely out of the question. You just don’t have to be any kind of analyst, it goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war,” Putin said in the interview posted on social media and Carlson’s personal website on Thursday. “And a global war will bring all of humanity to the brink of devastation. It’s obvious.” During a two-hour interview that saw Putin talk at length about the history of Eastern Europe and Russia, the Russian leader said that his government was in contact with the United States and that a peaceful resolution to the war would only be possible if Washington stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine. “I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership,” Putin said. “If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks, that’s it, and then we can agree on some terms. Before you do that, stop.” Putin said he has “never refused” to negotiate peace with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but Moscow has not yet achieved its goals in Ukraine, including “de-Nazification”, referring to his claim that Kyiv is committing genocide against ethnic Russians. Asked by Carlson whether he would be willing to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as a “sign of your decency”, the Russian leader said a deal is possible and there is “no taboo” on resolving the issue. “We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them. No, we have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner. However, in theory, we can say that we do not rule out that we can do that if our partners take reciprocal steps,” Putin said. Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March 2023 on spying charges that Washington has described as “baseless”. The Kremlin said Putin agreed to sit down with Carlson because he presented a less one-sided view of the war in Ukraine. Carlson has repeatedly questioned the rationale for US support for Kyiv, and in a video posted on social media this week, he criticised US media outlets for their “fawning” coverage of Zelenskyy. After his interview with Putin aired, Carlson said in a video posted on his website that anyone who believed Putin would give up Crimea for peace is a “lunatic” and “they want a weak leadership in Russia”. Before the interview, Carlson attracted criticism for travelling to Moscow to interview the Russian leader, with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accusing the former TV host of being a “useful idiot”. Russia’s presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin has said his bid to run in elections in March has been blocked, and that he will challenge the decision of the election commission in the country’s highest court.
Nadezhdin, a prominent critic of the war in Ukraine, is intent on unseating incumbent Vladimir Putin. But his bid was stymied by the Central Election Commission (CEC), which refused to register him as a candidate, he said on Thursday on Telegram, adding that he would launch an appeal in the country’s Supreme Court.Running on the ticket of the small centre-right Civic Initiative party, Nadezhdin last month submitted the 100,000 signatures required to register as a candidate for the election to be held on March 15-17. However, the CEC had informed Nadezhdin on Monday that it had found flaws in 15 percent of signatures he had collected in support of his candidacy, and that some of the purported signatures were those of dead people. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the decision by election officials was in line with the rules. “I collected more than 200,000 signatures across Russia. We conducted the collection openly and honestly – the queues at our headquarters and collection points were watched by the whole world,” Nadezhdin said. “Taking part in the presidential election in 2024 is the most important political decision of my life. I am not giving up on my intentions.”Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old municipal councillor who is known for his criticism of Putin, had caught the attention of Russia’s small opposition forces with promises to end the war in Ukraine. Born in Soviet-ruled Uzbekistan to a Jewish mother who was a music teacher and a physicist father – he has spent the last 30 years in Russian politics, working as a councillor in the town of Dolgoprudny outside Moscow. He says Putin, 71, made a “fatal mistake” by launching the invasion and has pledged to end it via negotiation. It was already thought that authorities would not welcome a candidate who would introduce antiwar rhetoric in the race. Putin is almost certain to win re-election to extend his 24-year leadership of Russia, including eight years as prime minister, for at least another six years. He has not allowed real electoral opposition during his rule, with rivals such as opposition leader Alexey Navalny behind bars. Putin will be running as an independent, rather than as the candidate of the governing United Russia party, meaning he needs 300,000 signatures to support his candidacy. He has already collected more than 3.5 million, according to his supporters. Half of NSC voters think it is a bad thing that their party does not want to join a majority cabinet with PVV, VVD and BBB. They are disappointed and do not understand the decision: "I voted NSC to participate."
There are some mixed feelings within Pieter Omtzigt’s NSC about the party’s abrupt departure from the Cabinet formation negotiations on Tuesday evening. Most understand the decision to step back, but there is also some criticism. Omtzigt left the negotiations after new information about “worrisome” government finances. According to the NSC leader, formation talks leader Ronald Plasterk should have informed the negotiating parties sooner about the treasury’s position. Nieuwsuur spoke to several NSC members, most of whom showed understanding for the break. Jasper Nouws said he did not expect the formation to fall apart over finances but doesn’t object to the decision. “Good cooperation is based on facts.” Bert Smit also understands why Omtzigt threw in the towel. “If you talk for two weeks and on the last day it turns out that you have been basing everything on the wrong figures, it is logical that you think: this is not how we talk to each other. But I expected it would happen sooner. Because it seems quite something to be completely burned on social media and then talk in the morning with a cup of coffee and a smile about how you are going to improve the country.” He referred to members of the negotiating parties - PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB - lashing out at each other in recent weeks. Hans van der Burg, formerly a VVD member and now an NSC member, understands the break but hopes it is a temporary rift. “Pieter, get over it and stay at the table,” he advised his party leader. He thinks a coalition of NSC with PVV, BBB, and VVD is the only option after the election results. Other NSC members are a bit relieved, having worried about working with Geert Wilders and the PVV. “I don’t think Wilders is a reliable partner,” Ton Timmermans told Nieuwsuur. He thinks Omtzigt has escaped a trap. Evert Barreveld was also reluctant to work with the PVV and sees the finances as an additional reason to take a different tack. According to the Telegraaf, criticism of the move mainly stems from how the NSC announced its exit from the negotiations. “It doesn’t deserve a beauty prize,” a spokesperson for the party told the newspaper. The news hit the media before the other parties were informed by text message. According to the newspaper, the NSC decided to pull the plug during a faction meeting on Tuesday afternoon. A letter about this to members leaked before the party could inform the other negotiators. The Telegraaf also writes that some NSC members didn’t want to break off the talks over the finances but over concerns about the rule of law and the persistent bickering. “If you had said: there is just no confidence that things will turn out well, you would have had a better story than now,” an insider told the newspaper. Formation leader Plasterk invited the leaders of all four negotiating parties to another meeting starting at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. Omtzigt was not expected to attend. Conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson has said on Instagram that his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be aired at 6pm EST on Thursday.
Carlson, who launched his own network on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2023, traveled to Moscow for a sit-down with Putin. The Kremlin confirmed the meeting on Tuesday. The Russian president rarely grants one-on-one interviews to foreign press. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Putin has “no desire” to speak to Western media outlets that have “completely one-sided” opinions and “aren’t even trying to be impartial.” Carlson said he wanted to talk to the Russian leader because many Western news outlets “lie to their readers and viewers” and are biased in their coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “That’s wrong. Americans have the right to know all they can about a war they are implicated in,” he said in a video on X on Tuesday. Carlson has been criticized by some politicians and media figures at home and abroad who say his interview with Putin will only amplify Russian “propaganda.” “He parrots Vladimir Putin’s pack of lies about Ukraine,” former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told MSNBC. Newsweek quoted one former and two current members of the European Parliament as saying that Carlson could be banned from visiting the EU for providing “a platform” for Putin. The leaders of the PVV, VVD, and BBB would all like an explanation from Pieter Omtzigt about his NSC’s abrupt withdrawal from the Cabinet formation negotiations on Tuesday. According to Geert Wilders, Omtzigt acted “fairly disrespectfully.” The PVV leader called it “strange that someone who thinks it is so important that we attach great importance to institutions in the new administrative culture would send the [formation talks leader] a text message and then not show up,” Wilders said to NOS.
Ronald Plasterk, the “informant” leading this phase of the government formation talks, invited the leaders of all four parties to a meeting on Tuesday evening to “conclude the talks properly,” he said. Wilders hopes that Omtzigt will accept Plasterk’s invitation. “We were engaged in good and constructive conversations. I really don’t understand it at all,” Wilders said about the NSC’s departure. According to him, Omtzigt owes the other parties “and also the Netherlands” an explanation. The PVV leader also said that Omtzigt was taking the coward's route and thereby opening the door to left-wing leader Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA). “I don’t think that is in the national interest. Ultimately, the voter wants a center-right Cabinet.” VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz also thinks that Omtzigt should personally explain to the people he has been meeting with for weeks why he suddenly withdrew with no warning. Yesilgöz said she received a text from Otmzight “after he informed your journalists” about his departure. “I think all kinds of things about that,” she said to the broadcaster on her way to a parliamentary debate on the Ministry of Justice and Security’s budget. BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told the broadcaster that she was “totally confused” about what happened on Tuesday. She read in the media that Omtzigt would not return to the formation table before she heard from the man himself. “The message was already on the NOS site; we were just reading it, and then we all received a text message.” Like Yesilgöz and Wilders, Van der Plas hopes the NSC leader will accept Plasterk’s invitation to talk this evening so that he can explain. She called it “very strange that he just left us behind. And that from someone who so desperately wants to keep the rule of law and institutions in tact.” |
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