Saturday, February 15, 2025

Chinese FM Wang Yi calls for Multipolar wWorld Order @ Munich Security Conference 2025

Feb 14, 2025

As the Munich Security Conference unfolds amidst global uncertainties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi articulated China's stance on international relations in his address on Friday.

Amid questions about whether multipolarity could incite chaos or conflict, Wang asserted that China promotes an equal and orderly multipolar world, advocating against domination by major countries and the oppression of weaker nations.
He emphasized China's role as a source of stability and a constructive force in the global order.
Highlighting initiatives like the Belt and Road and the Global Gateway from Europe, he proposed collaboration for common development in regions such as Africa and the Middle East, aiming to foster global peace and stability.

For more: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-02-15...

The MSC 2025 comes at a pivotal moment of change: a new US administration takes office in January, a new cycle of European legislature in Brussels and German parliamentary elections follow just one week after the conference.

Euronews.com

3 hours ago

Zelenskyy calls for creation of 'armed forces of Europe' at Munich conference | Euronews

Munich Security Conference 2025

The 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) will take place from February 14 to 16, 2025, at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The MSC 2025 will once again offer an unparalleled platform for high-level debates on the key foreign and security policy challenges of our time.

After an opening by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on February 14, hundreds of decision-makers and opinion leaders from different regions of the world will discuss the world's security policy challenges under the chairmanship of Christoph Heusgen.

On Friday, the conference’s main program will start with a focus on global security challenges, including global governance, democratic resilience, climate security, and many more topics.

On Saturday, debates will take place on the state of the international order as well as regional conflicts and crises.
The future of the transatlantic partnership will also be a focus of the second day of the conference.
On Sunday, the conference will wrap up with discussions on Europe’s role in the world.

The MSC 2025 will once again serve as a marketplace for ideas and create space for as many relevant and consequential debates as possible. As in previous years, the conference’s program consists of three parts: the main program curated by the MSC, around 200 official side events, and dozens of public outreach events. The day before the conference, the Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany, Jörg Kukies, will bring together ministers and high representatives from international institutions for the 4th No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing.

At the end of the third and last conference day, Jens Stoltenberg will succeed Christoph Heusgen as the new Chair of the MSC.

Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz

Ewald von Kleist Award & McCain Dissertation Award 2025

- Munich Security Conference

The John McCain Award 2025

Tim Heinkelmann-Wild (@heinkelmannwild) / X

The MSC is proud to award this year’s John McCain Dissertation Award 2025 to Tim Heinkelmann-Wild for his outstanding academic achievements in the field of transatlantic relations.

Heinkelmann-Wild’s thesis “After Exit: Alternative Leadership and Institutional Resilience after Hegemonic Withdrawal” examines how international institutions and treaties were affected by US withdrawal.

His dissertation and its conclusion that in such cases, European countries have often been able to maintain international cooperation, is of considerable policy importance at the current moment.

The jury was profoundly impressed by the thoroughness and depth of his research.

TV > The End

For the first time in the history of the broadcast, the Oscars will be streamed live outside of the pay TV ecosystem, on Disney’s Hulu, alongside its broadcast home on ABC.

Now that pay TV will have little if any exclusive content, the floodgates will likely open to more creative bundling of channels, with providers perhaps hoping that skinnier bundles with more niche genres can be stickier for consumers and provide the value proposition that long ago left the basic bundle.

Person looking at a TV in a museum — Illustration by C.J. Burton

The End of TV Is Here

As the final few holdouts (like the Oscars) ink streaming deals, a monumental shift in the way Hollywood works is underway.

February 12, 2025

In fact, 14 of the top 50 TV broadcasts in 2024 were exclusive to pay TV bundle services, according to data from Nielsen, all of them football games on Fox or ESPN (CBS streams its games on Paramount+, while NBC Sports events are on Peacock). The Oscars also cracked the top 100.

Come next year, that number will be 0 of 50. Every single thing on Nielsen’s most watched list will be available in a stand-alone streamer in addition to the big bundles.

To be certain, the migration to streaming has been slow and steady. Entertainment programming pivoted to on-demand streaming years ago thanks to Netflix. Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount all fell in line accordingly. As Hollywood began to pour billions of dollars into streaming, cable channels became husks of their former selves. Brands like TNT and USA, which had full slates of scripted fare, shed most of that, while others like FX and Bravo became channels that doubled as genre sub-brands for Hulu and Peacock.

“We actually are at a point where the linear networks in our company are not a burden at all, they're actually an asset,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told Wall Street analysts Feb. 5. “We are programming them and funding them at levels that actually give us the ability to enhance our overall television business, that obviously includes and leans into streaming, which, let's face it, is really the future of the television business.”

The Hollywood Reporter

a day ago

Bluey' and 'Bridgerton' Top 2024 Year-End Streaming Charts

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“Ne Zha 2” Makes Cinema History Ahead of U.S. Release

A Chinese animated film about a mythical child with a punk attitude and superpowers has become China’s highest-grossing movie of all time, stoking national pride and potentially setting more records as it premieres overseas.

Chinese animated film shatters box office records as it heads overseas

“Ne Zha 2” has earned almost $1.3 billion, becoming China’s highest-grossing movie of all time and the first non-Hollywood film to cross the billion-dollar mark.

r/chinalife - ‘Ne Zha 2’ box office surpasses $1 billion at home market

By Dawn Liu and Rae Wang

BEIJING — "Ne Zha 2" has earned almost $1.3 billion in the two weeks since it was released in mainland China, according to the Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan. In addition to being the most successful film in Chinese box office history, it is the first non-Hollywood film to earn more than $1 billion and the first film in the world to earn more than $1 billion in a single market.

South China Morning Post

a day ago

5 things to know about Ne Zha 2, including why the Chinese animated film is so popular | South China Morning Post

Global Times

3 days ago

The release of 'Ne Zha 2' overseas resonates with certain expectation: Global Times editorial - Global Times

Variety

Ne Zha 2' Becomes Highest-Grossing Chinese Film Ever

Friday, February 14, 2025

'Dictator' Zelensky Shamed In Ukraine's Parliament; 'Won't Allow This Ma... #zelensky #poroshenko #ukraine #protest #politicalrepression #sanctions #ukrainianparliament #russia #authoritarianism

Feb 13, 2025 #TOIVideos #TOILive #ukraine

Ukrainian lawmakers blocked the parliament podium in protest against President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy’s sanctions on former President Petro Poroshenko.

MPs accused Zelensky of authoritarianism and political repression.

The sanctions, approved by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, target Poroshenko, oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, and politician Viktor Medvedchuk.

Zelensky claimed these measures were aimed at combating treason and illegal activities. Poroshenko, a vocal critic of Zelensky, called the sanctions "illegal" and accused Zelensky of suppressing political competition.