Comment on German business confidence up less than expected

President Vladimir Putin will play host to Russia’s biggest gathering of world leaders since the invasion of Ukraine and use the BRICS summit to show the U. S. and its allies that he’s no pariah. With Russian troops advancing in eastern Ukraine and evidence of growing war fatigue among some of Kyiv’s allies, the Kremlin is seizing its opportunity to cast Putin as standing up to the West in attempting to reshape the global order.

LIMA, Peru — Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country.

SAYLORSBURG, Pa. — Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive U. S.-based Islamic cleric who inspired a global social movement while facing accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died. Abdullah Bozkurt, the former editor of the Gulen-linked Today’s Zaman newspaper, who is now in exile in Sweden, said Monday that he spoke to Gulen’s nephew, Kemal Gulen, who confirmed the death.

An Indigenous senator has interrupted a reception for British monarch King Charles III during his first visit since taking the throne, calling for a treaty between the Australian government and First Nations peoples. At an event held to welcome the king to Australia at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted to the British monarch that he was not her king and he should “give us our land back.” “Give us what you stole from us,” Thorpe said, before being quickly escorted out of the room by security.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as the eighth president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, completing his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses during the dark days of Indonesia’s military dictatorship to the presidential palace. The former defense minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered through the streets by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran in front of lawmakers and foreign dignitaries.

Two and a half years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Western effort to wean Europe off of Russian oil and gas and isolate the Kremlin has stalled. The E. U.’s much lauded energy transition has kept apace, but it has also provided cover for continuing and in some cases increasing purchase of Russian energy that is funding its ongoing assault on Ukraine.