Week in Review: Guttenberg on Europe, Russian Plane Crash, China-Taiwan Relations, and More

Johannes Simon/Kevin Frayer/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

Week in Review: Guttenberg on Europe, Russian Plane Crash, China-Taiwan Relations, and More

All you need to know about everything in the news this week

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Top Stories:

Guttenberg condemns Europe’s leaders

  • According to former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the 28-nation European Union is analogous to a terminally ill invalid.
  • “You are dealing … with a patient on the operating table where you have 28 very distinct, talented doctors standing around this operating table,” he explained. “And once in a while someone is stumbling over the plug of the heart-lung machine, and then the patient groans, and then they would put the plug back into the wall and everyone will be happy the patient is still alive. But again, another short-term solution.”
  • Guttenberg issued his take on Europe’s leadership crisis at the same time he is making a comeback to political office. His insight and charisma place added significance to Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s recent article “Has Germany’s Strongman Finally Arrived?
  • The politics of the Russian plane crash

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to suspend all Russian flights to Egypt at the recommendation of his chief of intelligence.
  • Where does this leave Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi?
  • While he has stamped down on political Islam, Islamic terrorism in Egypt has increased, and mounting pressure surrounding Sisi’s rule may lead to his impending downfall.
  • Chinese and Taiwanese presidents to meet

  • “In a first,” reported the Diplomat, “Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 7.”
  • Ever since he was elected president in 2008, Ma Ying-jeou has made it his priority to improve Taiwan’s relationship with China—a relationship that has been sour since 1949.
  • IBM and China’s military complex

  • A report by Defense Group Inc. expressed concern over ibm’s partnerships with Chinese companies that have “deep and troubling ties to the Chinese military, defense industry, and state security apparatus.”
  • “Through these partnerships,” the report said, “ibm is endangering the national and economic security of the United States by providing the Chinese government with the means to perfect and innovate these sensitive, high-level technologies.
  • Other news:

  • Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s influence in the Iraqi parliament is waning. The Wall Street Journal reported that this development will further empower “[former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] and his supporters among hard-line Shiite politicians and Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups, both of which have sought to check America’s role in Iraq.”
  • cnn reported November 2 that “China, Japan and South Korea said they have ‘completely restored’ relations after meeting Sunday for the first trilateral summit of the East Asian powers in three years.”
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin is Number 1 on Forbes’ 2015 Ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is Number2, while President Barack Obama is Number 3. This is the first year a sitting U.S. president has not made it into the top two spots.
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