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Davos
At the power gathering of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, the reflective shades worn by French President Emmanuel Macron captured attention in ways that words didn't. Hiding an unsightly but what Macron says is a benign medical issue with his right eye, the sunglasses bled into news feeds, triggered a jab from US President Donald Trump, and spawned memes and an AI-generated spoof of Macron as a fighter jet pilot, set to Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" track from the Tom Cruise blockbuster "Top Gun." "Those beautiful sunglasses," Trump said in his Davos address. "What the hell happened?" Here's what to know about the now famous shades and what they say about Macron and politics: The glasses The shades were made by a French firm, Henry Jullien, Macron's office told The Associated Press. They were its Pacific S 01 model, which don't come cheap, retailing for 659 euros (USD 775) on the manufacturer's website. It struggled with demand after Macron wore them for a hard-hitting speech
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he thinks he is 'reasonably close' to a deal on stopping the Russia-Ukraine war, though he had earlier thought it would be an easier one for him to settle in a matter of hours. He also said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be stupid if they don't end it now, and that he knows they are not stupid. Speaking here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Trump said he is good at the 'stuff (settling wars) though the United Nations should be doing it. "I hate to say, I thought that was going to be so, I settled for four plus. And I thought that was going to be one of my easier ones. Not the easiest, so settled in a matter of hours," Trump said in reply to a question on the Ukraine war. "It's got to get done. Saving a lot of lives, saving millions of lives. With Ukraine and Russia, this tremendous hatred between President Zelensky and President Putin. That's not good. That's not good for
Attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting here for the first time in its history, Assam has secured investment commitments worth Rs 1 lakh crore already, and it is only a base for the state in the global arena, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. Speaking to PTI here, Sarma said Assam, or for that matter any state from the northeastern region, has come to Davos for the first time, and it has been an enlightening experience, and it will help us in framing policy and bringing more investment to our state. Citing RBI data, he said Assam is now the fastest-growing state in the country, and in the last five years, we have consistently achieved 13 per cent plus growth, while next year our growth projection will be around 15 per cent. "We are a small economy, but now we are growing at a faster pace. The Prime Minister is championing the cause of Assam, championing the cause of the northeastern region," he said. Sarma said the Prime Minister has laid the foundatio
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday asserted that India will definitely become the world's third-largest economy over the next few years, with economist Gita Gopinath saying it can happen by 2028 or even earlier. Speaking in a World Economic Forum Annual Meeting session here, Vaishnaw said the only matter of concern is what will happen with the mountains of debt in the rich world and what could be the impact on India. Gopinath said the challenge for India is not becoming the third-largest economy; the challenge is raising per capita income to higher levels. Vaishnaw said what is working really well is that in the last decade, there has been a transformational change in our country, and it's a very well thought-through, well-defined and a very focused execution. He said it's built on four pillars -- the pillar of public investment in physical, digital and social infrastructure, the pillar of making sure that the entire society grows with the growth of the country, that is .
