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NDTV
13-08-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Trump To Host Putin Where Russia Once Ruled: Here's Other Things To Know Ahead Of Alaska Summit
When US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday, it will be the latest chapter in the 49th state's long history with Russia - and with international tensions. Siberian fur traders arrived from across the Bering Sea in the first part of the 18th century, and the imprint of Russian settlement in Alaska remains. The oldest building in Anchorage is a Russian Orthodox church, and many Alaska Natives have Russian surnames. The nations are so close - Alaska's Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait is less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Russia's Big Diomede - that former Gov. Sarah Palin was right during the 2008 presidential race when she said, "You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," though the comment prompted jokes that that was the extent of her foreign policy experience. Alaska has been US territory since 1867, and it has since been the location of the only World War II battle on North American soil, a focus of Cold War tensions and the site of occasional meetings between US and world leaders. Here's a look at Alaska's history with Russia and on the international stage: The fur traders established hubs in Sitka and on Kodiak Island. The Russian population in Alaska never surpassed about 400 permanent settlers, according to the Office of the Historian of the US State Department. Russian settlers brutally coerced Alaska Natives to harvest sea otters and other marine mammals for their pelts, said Ian Hartman, a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor. "It was a relationship that the Russians made clear quite early on was not really about kind of a longer-term pattern of settlement, but it was much more about a short-term pattern of extraction," Hartman said. Meanwhile, Russian Orthodox missionaries baptized an estimated 18,000 Alaska Natives. By 1867, the otters had been hunted nearly to extinction and Russia was broke from the Crimean War. Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the US for the low price of $7.2 million - knowing Russia couldn't defend its interests in Alaska if the US or Great Britain tried to seize it. Skeptics referred to the purchase as "Seward's Folly," after US Secretary of State William H. Seward. That changed when gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896. The US realised Alaska's strategic importance in the 20th century. During World War II the island of Attu - the westernmost in the Aleutian chain and closer to Russia than to mainland North America - was captured by Japanese forces. The effort to reclaim it in 1943 became known as the war's "forgotten battle." During the Cold War, military leaders worried Soviets might attack via Alaska, flying planes over the North Pole to drop nuclear weapons. They built a chain of radar systems connected to an anti-aircraft missile system. The military constructed much of the infrastructure in Alaska, including roads and some communities, and its experience building on permafrost later informed the private companies that would drill for oil and construct the trans-Alaska pipeline. Last year the Pentagon said the US must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia, and it sent about 130 soldiers to a desolate Aleutian island amid an increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching US territory. Putin will be the first Russian leader to visit, but other prominent figures have come before him. Japanese Emperor Hirohito stopped in Anchorage before heading to Europe in 1971 to meet President Richard Nixon, and in 1984 thousands turned out to see President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II meet at the airport in Fairbanks. President Barack Obama visited in 2015, becoming the first sitting US president to set foot north of the Arctic Circle, on a trip to highlight the dangers of climate change. Gov. Bill Walker welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport in Anchorage in 2017 and then took him on a short tour of the state's largest city. Four years later Anchorage was the setting for a less cordial meeting as top US and Chinese officials held two days of contentious talks in their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office two months earlier. Sentiment toward Russia in Alaska has cooled since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to suspend its three-decade-long sister city relationship with Magadan, Russia, and the Juneau Assembly sent its sister city of Vladivostock a letter expressing concern. The group Stand Up Alaska has organised rallies against Putin on Thursday and Friday. Dimitry Shein, who ran unsuccessfully for Alaska's lone seat in the US House in 2018, fled from the Soviet Union to Anchorage with his mother in the early 1990s. He expressed dismay that Trump has grown increasingly authoritarian. Russia and the US "are just starting to look more and more alike," he said. Many observers have suggested that holding the summit in Alaska sends a bad symbolic message. "It's easy to imagine Putin making the argument during his meetings with Trump that, 'Well, look, territories can change hands,'" said Nigel Gould-Davies, former British Ambassador to Belarus and senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. "'We gave you Alaska. Why can't Ukraine give us a part of its territory?'" (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
13-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
You really can see Russia from Alaska, things to know ahead of Friday's Trump-Putin summit
When US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday, it will be the latest chapter in the 49th state's long history with Russia - and with international tensions. Siberian fur traders arrived from across the Bering Sea in the first part of the 18th century, and the imprint of Russian settlement in Alaska remains. The oldest building in Anchorage is a Russian Orthodox church, and many Alaska Natives have Russian surnames. Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 4 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 3 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals By Vaibhav Sisinity View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 2 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass Batch-1 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program The nations are so close - Alaska's Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait is less than 5 kilometres from Russia's Big Diomede - that former Gov. Sarah Palin was right during the 2008 presidential race when she said, "You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," though the comment prompted jokes that that was the extent of her foreign policy experience. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Undo Alaska has been US territory since 1867, and it has since been the location of the only World War II battle on North American soil, a focus of Cold War tensions and the site of occasional meetings between US and world leaders. Here's a look at Alaska's history with Russia and on the international stage: Live Events You Might Also Like: The Russian past of Alaska, where Trump and Putin will meet Russian trappers and Seward's Folly The fur traders established hubs in Sitka and on Kodiak Island. The Russian population in Alaska never surpassed about 400 permanent settlers, according to the Office of the Historian of the US State Department. Russian settlers brutally coerced Alaska Natives to harvest sea otters and other marine mammals for their pelts, said Ian Hartman, a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor. "It was a relationship that the Russians made clear quite early on was not really about kind of a longer-term pattern of settlement, but it was much more about a short-term pattern of extraction," Hartman said. Meanwhile, Russian Orthodox missionaries baptized an estimated 18,000 Alaska Natives. By 1867 the otters had been hunted nearly to extinction and Russia was broke from the Crimean War. Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the US for the low price of USD 7.2 million - knowing Russia couldn't defend its interests in Alaska if the US or Great Britain tried to seize it. Sceptics referred to the purchase as "Seward's Folly," after US Secretary of State William H. Seward. That changed when gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896. World War II and the Cold War The US realised Alaska's strategic importance in the 20th century. During World War II the island of Attu - the westernmost in the Aleutian chain and closer to Russia than to mainland North America - was captured by Japanese forces. The effort to reclaim it in 1943 became known as the war's "forgotten battle." During the Cold War, military leaders worried Soviets might attack via Alaska, flying planes over the North Pole to drop nuclear weapons. They built a chain of radar systems connected to an anti-aircraft missile system. The military constructed much of the infrastructure in Alaska, including roads and some communities, and its experience building on permafrost later informed the private companies that would drill for oil and construct the trans-Alaska pipeline. Last year the Pentagon said the US must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia, and it sent about 130 soldiers to a desolate Aleutian island amid an increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching US territory. Past visits by dignitaries Putin will be the first Russian leader to visit, but other prominent figures have come before him. Japanese Emperor Hirohito stopped in Anchorage before heading to Europe in 1971 to meet President Richard Nixon, and in 1984 thousands turned out to see President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II meet at the airport in Fairbanks. President Barack Obama visited in 2015, becoming the first sitting US president to set foot north of the Arctic Circle, on a trip to highlight the dangers of climate change. Gov. Bill Walker welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport in Anchorage in 2017 and then took him on a short tour of the state's largest city. Four years later Anchorage was the setting for a less cordial meeting as top US and Chinese officials held two days of contentious talks in their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office two months earlier. Critics say Alaska is a poor choice for the summit Sentiment toward Russia in Alaska has cooled since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to suspend its three-decade-long sister city relationship with Magadan, Russia, and the Juneau Assembly sent its sister city of Vladivostock a letter expressing concern. The group Stand Up Alaska has organised rallies against Putin on Thursday and Friday. Dimitry Shein, who ran unsuccessfully for Alaska's lone seat in the US House in 2018, fled from the Soviet Union to Anchorage with his mother in the early 1990s. He expressed dismay that Trump has grown increasingly authoritarian. Russia and the US "are just starting to look more and more alike," he said. Many observers have suggested that holding the summit in Alaska sends a bad symbolic message. "It's easy to imagine Putin making the argument during his meetings with Trump that, Well, look, territories can change hands,'" said Nigel Gould-Davies, former British Ambassador to Belarus and senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. "'We gave you Alaska. Why can't Ukraine give us a part of its territory?'"
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Business Standard
13-08-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Alaska's Russian ties in spotlight as Trump, Putin meet in the 49th state
When US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday, it will be the latest chapter in the 49th state's long history with Russia and with international tensions. Siberian fur traders arrived from across the Bering Sea in the first part of the 18th century, and the imprint of Russian settlement in Alaska remains. The oldest building in Anchorage is a Russian Orthodox church, and many Alaska Natives have Russian surnames. The nations are so close Alaska's Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait is less than 5 kilometres from Russia's Big Diomede that former Gov. Sarah Palin was right during the 2008 presidential race when she said, You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, though the comment prompted jokes that that was the extent of her foreign policy experience. Alaska has been US territory since 1867, and it has since been the location of the only World War II battle on North American soil, a focus of Cold War tensions and the site of occasional meetings between US and world leaders. Here's a look at Alaska's history with Russia and on the international stage: Russian trappers and Seward's Folly The fur traders established hubs in Sitka and on Kodiak Island. The Russian population in Alaska never surpassed about 400 permanent settlers, according to the Office of the Historian of the US State Department. Russian settlers brutally coerced Alaska Natives to harvest sea otters and other marine mammals for their pelts, said Ian Hartman, a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor. It was a relationship that the Russians made clear quite early on was not really about kind of a longer-term pattern of settlement, but it was much more about a short-term pattern of extraction, Hartman said. Meanwhile, Russian Orthodox missionaries baptized an estimated 18,000 Alaska Natives. By 1867 the otters had been hunted nearly to extinction and Russia was broke from the Crimean War. Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the US for the low price of $7.2 million knowing Russia couldn't defend its interests in Alaska if the US or Great Britain tried to seize it. Sceptics referred to the purchase as Seward's Folly, after US Secretary of State William H. Seward. That changed when gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896. World War II and the Cold War The US realised Alaska's strategic importance in the 20th century. During World War II the island of Attu the westernmost in the Aleutian chain and closer to Russia than to mainland North America was captured by Japanese forces. The effort to reclaim it in 1943 became known as the war's forgotten battle. During the Cold War, military leaders worried Soviets might attack via Alaska, flying planes over the North Pole to drop nuclear weapons. They built a chain of radar systems connected to an anti-aircraft missile system. The military constructed much of the infrastructure in Alaska, including roads and some communities, and its experience building on permafrost later informed the private companies that would drill for oil and construct the trans-Alaska pipeline. Last year the Pentagon said the US must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia, and it sent about 130 soldiers to a desolate Aleutian island amid an increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching US territory. Past visits by dignitaries Putin will be the first Russian leader to visit, but other prominent figures have come before him. Japanese Emperor Hirohito stopped in Anchorage before heading to Europe in 1971 to meet President Richard Nixon, and in 1984 thousands turned out to see President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II meet at the airport in Fairbanks. President Barack Obama visited in 2015, becoming the first sitting US president to set foot north of the Arctic Circle, on a trip to highlight the dangers of climate change. Gov. Bill Walker welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport in Anchorage in 2017 and then took him on a short tour of the state's largest city. Four years later Anchorage was the setting for a less cordial meeting as top US and Chinese officials held two days of contentious talks in their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office two months earlier. Critics say Alaska is a poor choice for the summit Sentiment toward Russia in Alaska has cooled since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to suspend its three-decade-long sister city relationship with Magadan, Russia, and the Juneau Assembly sent its sister city of Vladivostock a letter expressing concern. The group Stand Up Alaska has organised rallies against Putin on Thursday and Friday. Dimitry Shein, who ran unsuccessfully for Alaska's lone seat in the US House in 2018, fled from the Soviet Union to Anchorage with his mother in the early 1990s. He expressed dismay that Trump has grown increasingly authoritarian. Russia and the US are just starting to look more and more alike, he said. Many observers have suggested that holding the summit in Alaska sends a bad symbolic message. It's easy to imagine Putin making the argument during his meetings with Trump that, Well, look, territories can change hands,' said Nigel Gould-Davies, former British Ambassador to Belarus and senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. 'We gave you Alaska. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Star
10-08-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's fiery baijiu spirit evolves to attract younger drinkers
The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu, long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times. Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60% alcohol. It's the usual choice for toasts of "gan bei,' the Chinese expression for bottoms up, and raucous drinking games. "If you like to drink spirits and you've never had baijiu, it's kind of like eating noodles but you've never had spaghetti,' said Jim Boyce, a Canadian writer and wine expert who founded World Baijiu Day a decade ago. The annual event aims to promote the traditional liquor, which is far less known internationally than whiskey or vodka. Shirley Huang, out with friends on a Friday night at the bar in Sanlitun, talks about the baijiu spirit at a bar in Beijing, China, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Moutai, a kind of baijiu made in mountainous Guizhou province in southwestern China, is known as the country's "national liquor.' Perhaps its biggest endorsement came in 1974, when U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger banqueted with Deng Xiaoping, who would later become China's top leader. "I think if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything," Kissinger said. "Then, when I return to China, we must take steps to increase our production of it,' Deng replied, according to an archived document from the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian. A bottle of a popular brand of the fiery Chinese baijiu spirit is seen at a bar in Beijing, China, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Price fluctuations of Feitian Moutai, the liquor's most famous brand, serve as a barometer for China's baijiu market. This year, its price has dropped by 36% after four consecutive years of decline, according a report by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association. The report forecast China's baijiu production will likely fall for the eighth straight year in 2025. Baijiu consumption has dropped as people spend more cautiously, cutting back on banquets and drinking due to a weaker economy. Perennial anti-corruption campaigns by the ruling Communist Party targeting lavish official dinners have taken a harsh toll. In May, the party issued new rules banning cigarettes and alcohol during work meals. A worker test the baijiu from a vat at Jiangxiaobai Liquor Co.'s Jiangji Distillery in southwestern China's Chongqing on May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) China's drinking culture is evolving, with younger people keen to protect their health and less inclined to overindulge or be bound by rigid social conventions. Faced with far more choices, they might instead opt for whiskey, wine or non-alcoholic alternatives. "There is an old saying in China: 'No banquet is complete without alcohol.' It means in the past, without alcohol there is no social lubricant,' 30-year-old Chi Bo said while having cocktails with friends in Beijing's chic Sanlitun area. "People no longer want to drink alcohol or tend to drink less but they can still sit together and even discuss serious affairs,' Chi said. "Most of the people don't want to drink alcohol unless they have to.' A worker shows the Green Plum Liqueur, a mix handcrafted single sorghum baijiu with plum juice to reporters during a media organized tour at Jiangxiaobai Liquor Co.'s Jiangji Distillery in southwestern China's Chongqing on May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Baijiu makers are responding with creative innovations like baijiu-flavored ice cream. Kweichou Moutai partnered with China's Luckin' Coffee last year to introduce a Moutai-flavored latte that reportedly sells 5 million cups a day across China. Bartenders also are designing cocktails using a baijiu base. "There are so many choices right now,' Boyce said. "It's just about fighting for attention in terms of choice.' Jiangxiaobai, a newer brand made in southwestern China's Chongqing, has targeted young consumers from the beginning. It offers fruit-infused baijiu with an alcohol content below 10%, packaged in smaller, more affordable bottles adorned with philosophical or sentimental phrases meant to resonate with Chinese youth such as, "Unspoken words. In my eyes, in drafts, in dreams, or downed in a drink.' "Our promotion of products combines the culture and lifestyle young people advocate," Jiangxiaobai marketing director Fan Li said. "From our products to our branding, it's a process of embracing the younger generation." Shirley Huang, out with friends on a Friday night in Sanlitun, said she had never touched baijiu at age 27, preferring cocktails. But that night, something new on the menu caught her attention: a baijiu-based cocktail. "Baijiu is quietly making its way into our lives. We just haven't noticed,' she said "It may not appear as itself, but it reemerges in new forms.' – AP
01-08-2025
- Business
China's fiery baijiu spirit evolves to attract younger drinkers
BEIJING -- The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu, long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times. Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60% alcohol. It's the usual choice for toasts of 'gan bei,' the Chinese expression for bottoms up, and raucous drinking games. 'If you like to drink spirits and you've never had baijiu, it's kind of like eating noodles but you've never had spaghetti,' said Jim Boyce, a Canadian writer and wine expert who founded World Baijiu Day a decade ago. The annual event aims to promote the traditional liquor, which is far less known internationally than whiskey or vodka. Moutai, a kind of baijiu made in mountainous Guizhou province in southwestern China, is known as the country's 'national liquor.' Perhaps its biggest endorsement came in 1974, when U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger banqueted with Deng Xiaoping, who would later become China's top leader. 'I think if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything," Kissinger said. 'Then, when I return to China, we must take steps to increase our production of it,' Deng replied, according to an archived document from the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian. Price fluctuations of Feitian Moutai, the liquor's most famous brand, serve as a barometer for China's baijiu market. This year, its price has dropped by 36% after four consecutive years of decline, according a report by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association. The report forecast China's baijiu production will likely fall for the eighth straight year in 2025. Baijiu consumption has dropped as people spend more cautiously, cutting back on banquets and drinking due to a weaker economy. Perennial anti-corruption campaigns by the ruling Communist Party targeting lavish official dinners have taken a harsh toll. In May, the party issued new rules banning cigarettes and alcohol during work meals. China's drinking culture is evolving, with younger people keen to protect their health and less inclined to overindulge or be bound by rigid social conventions. Faced with far more choices, they might instead opt for whiskey, wine or non-alcoholic alternatives. 'There is an old saying in China: 'No banquet is complete without alcohol.' It means in the past, without alcohol there is no social lubricant,' 30-year-old Chi Bo said while having cocktails with friends in Beijing's chic Sanlitun area. 'People no longer want to drink alcohol or tend to drink less but they can still sit together and even discuss serious affairs,' Chi said. 'Most of the people don't want to drink alcohol unless they have to.' Baijiu makers are responding with creative innovations like baijiu-flavored ice cream. Kweichou Moutai partnered with China's Luckin' Coffee last year to introduce a Moutai-flavored latte that reportedly sells 5 million cups a day across China. Bartenders also are designing cocktails using a baijiu base. 'There are so many choices right now,' Boyce said. 'It's just about fighting for attention in terms of choice.' Jiangxiaobai, a newer brand made in southwestern China's Chongqing, has targeted young consumers from the beginning. It offers fruit-infused baijiu with an alcohol content below 10%, packaged in smaller, more affordable bottles adorned with philosophical or sentimental phrases meant to resonate with Chinese youth such as, 'Unspoken words. In my eyes, in drafts, in dreams, or downed in a drink.' 'Our promotion of products combines the culture and lifestyle young people advocate," Jiangxiaobai marketing director Fan Li said. "From our products to our branding, it's a process of embracing the younger generation." Shirley Huang, out with friends on a Friday night in Sanlitun, said she had never touched baijiu at age 27, preferring cocktails. But that night, something new on the menu caught her attention: a baijiu-based cocktail. 'Baijiu is quietly making its way into our lives. We just haven't noticed,' she said 'It may not appear as itself, but it reemerges in new forms.'
