World
World reaction to US presidential debate: Mockery from China and Russia, concern from allies
America’s adversaries didn’t just think President Biden got pummeled in Thursday’s debate, they claim the United States was the real loser.
Russia, China, Iran and others weighed in after Biden’s faltering performance left viewers stunned. Media outlets in those countries, many of which are government-run, seized on the debate debacle to criticize the U.S.
“Every outlet, big and small, carries a piece describing what happened,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital. “Some have more than one. Most of them, if not all, are derogatory of both candidates and mocking America.”
“What [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is seeing is that the American Society is deeply fractured and consumed by its own problems,” Koffler said. “Putin likely believes that Russia wins either way, no matter who wins, because he expects the U.S. to plunge into chaos in the aftermath of the elections, because the country is so divided and polarized.”
“Bottom line, Moscow feels confident that the societal crisis that has engulfed the U.S. is good for Russia,” she added.
HERITAGE FOUNDATION WORKING ON ELECTION LEGAL CHALLENGES IN CASE BIDEN PULLED FROM DNC NOMINATION
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed that Putin “was too bored to wake up and watch the U.S. debate,” but that “we have seen media reports about these debates.”
Peskov added that the Kremlin has made no attempt to “assess this debate” or make “official conclusions” and insisted that Russia has “never interfered in the election campaigns of the United States.”
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un visit the Vostochny Сosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, September 13, 2023. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via Reuters/File Photo)
Outside the Kremlin, Russian media have reportedly touted the debate as a victory for Russia, with Putin positioned to dictate terms in the war in Ukraine – especially if Donald Trump were to win the White House.
They highlighted Biden’s “half-open mouth, unblinking eyes” and “blank expression on his face.”
BILL MAHER GETS BLUNT WITH FELLOW DEMOCRATS ON BIDEN: ‘HE IS GOING TO LOSE, IT’S SO APPARENT’
“This is how Joe Biden appeared before an audience of millions,” Russian state TV New York bureau chief Valentin Bogdanov said on Kremlin-backed RT.
The news report especially focused on the reaction from CNN, calling the anchors “powerless” and the Democratic Party in the throes of a “deep panic,” according to East2West.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban jointly meet the press after their talks in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
China also took an unfavorable view of the debate. Official media appeared to generally ignore it, but the state-run Global Times labeled it “the most chaotic presidential debate ever” and “like a reality show” while also highlighting the times Biden and Trump talked about China, according to the BBC.
The Global Times most specifically took issue with Trump blaming Beijing for “the raging COVID-19 epidemic and U.S. economic woes.”
BIDEN AIMS TO CHANGE NEGATIVE NARRATIVE AFTER ROUGH DEBATE WITH TRUMP
State-owned Beijing News claimed that the debate exposed both candidates’ shortcomings, with a “habitually confused” Biden and Trump spreading “rumors” instead of answering questions directly.
The Xinhua news agency framed the debate within the context of an America “weary of another Biden-Trump match-up” and focusing on Biden’s “several verbal slips” and “unclear” speech, while hitting Trump for failing to answer questions directly while providing statements that “contained many exaggerations and falsehoods.”
President Joe Biden (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ week in Woodside, California, on November 15, 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese social media personalities were even more pointed. Former state media editor Hu Xijin on social media platform X mocked the U.S. presidential debate for proving “very entertaining for many Chinese people,” according to Newsweek.
“Objectively speaking, the low-quality performance of these two old men was a negative advertisement for Western democracy,” he wrote.
JILL BIDEN PRIVATELY ASSURED DONORS ‘JOE’S READY TO GO’ AHEAD OF DISASTROUS DEBATE: REPORT
Other social media users described the debate as a “disaster,” “train wreck” and “waste of time, though it should be noted that Chinese media has regularly tried to paint the U.S. as a country in turmoil with an uncertain political future.
Iran’s Republic News Agency did not appear to focus much on the debate as the country holds its own presidential elections this weekend, which dominated coverage, but Middle East expert and The Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Daftari warned that the mediocre showing at the debate will interest all of America’s rivals.
In this photo released by the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center with black turban, leads a prayer over the flag-draped coffins of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country’s northwest, at the Tehran University campus, during a funeral ceremony for them in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“Any American adversary may look at President Biden’s performance as a reminder that the leader of the free world is currently less than competent,” Daftari said. “It’s always been the case that the United States has the ability to defend its interests and bring about stability throughout the world just through deterrence and proper rhetoric and positioning.”
“That has not always been the case with the Biden administration, and [Thursday] night’s performance allows for an even more extreme perception of American weakness,” she added.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFER MOOD IS SO ‘ABYSMAL’ THAT ‘A LOT OF PEOPLE CHOSE TO WORK FROM HOME TODAY’: REPORT
“We are looking at many precarious global crises right now, including China invading Taiwan, Iran’s regime possessing and/or using nuclear weapons, Iran’s regime continuing its proxy wars against Israel and Western assets in the region [and] Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine,” Daftari said. “Of course, any one of these current crises may find more momentum between now and the election.”
Reaction even in allied nations was less than glowing, starting with Polish Foreign Minister Radslaw Sikorski’s cryptic message on X, which some have taken to be an unfavorable comparison between Biden and the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Giorgia Meloni (l-r), Prime Minister of Italy, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Charles Michel, EU Council President (hidden), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, and U.S. President Joe Biden, watch parachutists at the G7 summit; Biden watches the parachutists on the far right. (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“Marcus Aurelius was a great emperor, but he screwed up his succession by passing the baton to his feckless son Commodus (He, from the Gladiator) whose disastrous rule started Rome’s decline),” Sikeorski wrote. “It’s important to manage one’s ride into the sunset.”
French news outlet Le Monde described that debate as a “terrible storm” and bemoaned Biden’s obsession with trying to “push his opponent off his hinges” by mocking Trump’s answers to questions, the BBC reported.
German outlet Der Spiegel compared the debate to “a car accident” and half-heartedly applauded both candidates for the “theatrical performance” while claiming that supporters on both sides will feel that their candidate did their job.
Another outlet, Die Welt, lamented that Biden was not an exciting candidate but one who had “common sense and a stable personality” who would keep “normalcy” in the White House.
World
Google puts AI agents at heart of its enterprise money-making push
World
Landlords allegedly posting ‘Muslim-only’ apartment ads in violation of country’s equality act: report
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Some landlords in England are apparently advertising “Muslim-only” apartments online, according to a local media report.
An investigation by The Telegraph found that alleged listings posted in London on Facebook, Gumtree and Telegram feature phrases such as “only for Muslims,” “for 2 Muslim boys or 2 Muslim girls,” and “Muslims preferred.”
Other ads appeal to Punjabi and Gujarati speakers, while some job vacancies on the platforms are advertised for men only.
Some listings specify “Hindu only,” in addition to posts that likely use religious subtext by stating: “The house should be alcohol and smoke-free.”
IS MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST PUSH FOR RENT CONTROLS ABOUT TO WRECK THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING MARKET?
On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” “one double room is available for Muslims,” and “suitable for Punjabi boy.” A Meta spokesman told Fox News Digital that Facebook then removed the company’s page “for violating the platform’s policies on discriminatory practices.”
Apartment buildings in Westminster, London, U.K. (John Keeble/Getty Images)
The ads run afoul of Britain’s Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief, race and other protected characteristics.
“These adverts are disgusting and anti-British. It goes without saying that there would be a national outrage if the tables were turned,” Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s economic spokesman, told The Telegraph. “All forms of racism are unacceptable, and no religious group should get a special exemption to discriminate in this way.”
Houses and properties line Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London, U.K. Some landlords in the city are illegally advertising for “Muslim only” tenants across the city, an investigation by The Telegraph has found. (Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images)
One landlord told The Telegraph to “go away” when asked about an ad for a “Muslims only” room for $1,150, and whether it was available to renters of other faiths.
A spokesperson for Gumtree told the newspaper that the company has clear policies in place that prohibit unlawful discrimination.
On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“We take reports of inappropriate listings very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The ads referenced appear to relate to private rooms within shared homes, where existing occupants may express preferences about who they live with. This is different from renting out an entire property, which is subject to stricter rules under the Equality Act.”
Telegram did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
World
Is Europe too late to the metal recycling game?
Europe’s critical raw materials crisis has a partial answer sitting in the waste stream — but the continent has been too slow to see it.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Dorota Włoch, CEO of Eneris Surowce, was direct: recycling is no longer optional.
Unlike plastics, metals can be recovered and reused indefinitely, making urban mining — the recovery of raw materials from existing products and waste — increasingly valuable, particularly for batteries.
“From recycling, we recover metallic aluminium and so-called black mass, which is a concentrate of metals, mainly cobalt-nickel. These are some of the most valuable battery metals. And batteries are crucial today, not only in the automotive sector, but also in storing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar,” she said.
‘Europe is 25 years late’
Włoch put the scale of the problem plainly. “Deposits are critical — any machine can be bought, but natural resources are not. They are non-transferable and non-renewable. If we use them, they simply disappear,” she said.
Europe’s belated recognition of that reality has cost it dearly.
“The regulation of critical raw materials came 25 years after other regions of the world had invested heavily in deposits. Europe was too passive. Today we are catching up, but the regulations are often so demanding that countries like Poland have difficulty implementing them.”
Who benefits most from extraction?
Poland holds significant reserves of raw materials critical to the modern economy, such as copper, coking coal, nickel, platinum group metals, helium, rhenium, lead and silver.
But the minerals needed most for the energy transition, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, exist only in limited quantities, forcing imports.
Arkadiusz Kustra, dean of the faculty of civil engineering and resource management at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, told a panel at the European Economic Congress that awareness of the full supply chain, and who profits from it, was now essential.
He pointed to Serbia as a case study.
“Serbia has lithium deposits and is already in talks with Mercedes or Stellantis,” he said. Belgrade is using that leverage to attract investment in battery factories and car plants, keeping more of the value chain at home.
The goal, Kustra argued, should be regional supply chains that retain added value locally.
“You can earn the least at the beginning and the most from the end customer,” he said.
The bigger obstacle is Chinese dominance.
“Margins in critical raw materials largely go to the Chinese, who control more than 90% of processing and trading, even though they do not own most of the deposits,” he said.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo — among the world’s most resource-rich countries — Chinese entities control around 90% of deposits.
The panel also pointed to growing interest in new supply partnerships, with Poland eyeing assets in the Congo region and the Americas.
-
News11 minutes agoU.S. soldier charged with suspected Polymarket insider trading over Maduro raid
-
New York2 hours agoCommunication Failures Preceded Deadly Crash at LaGuardia, N.T.S.B. Says
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoPart of Detroit Riverwalk reopens after infrastructure work
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours ago49ers draft picks: Full list of team’s round-by-round selections
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoCowboys draft picks tracker: Every selection, live grades
-
Miami, FL3 hours ago5 arrested in undercover teen sex trafficking bust in Miami, authorities say
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoBoston police seek missing 12-year-old from Dorchester
-
Denver, CO3 hours agoRoadrunner spotted far from its usual range in Denver surprises birders