World News

"We, the players of the Icelandic women's national handball team, believe it is important to share our experience after having played two playoff matches against the Israeli national team this week. It is time for the international sports movement – and sports authorities in Iceland – to reassess their stance on Israel's participation in international competitions while their military operations in Gaza continue.

Playing two international matches against Israel was not an easy decision for us. We were faced with a challenge we had never encountered before: to compete against representatives of a state responsible for the deaths of countless innocent civilians – or to refuse to participate, thus allowing the Israeli team to advance. We chose to play – because we wanted to see the Icelandic flag at the World Championship, not the Israeli one.

It is neither normal nor acceptable for a national team to have to play two matches behind closed doors, arrive under police escort, and worry about their safety both on and off the court. We want to play handball with passion, for our country – but we also want the conditions we are asked to play under to align with the fundamental values of sport: peace, respect, and solidarity. For these values, and the rules of international sports federations intended to uphold them, to retain their meaning, it is fair to ask: Why is Israel still allowed to participate in international competitions?

We urge the Icelandic Handball Association (HSÍ) and the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (ÍSÍ) to share our experience with the relevant international federations and to call for Israel to be banned from international sporting events while their military actions continue. We want our voices to be heard – as sportswomen, as representatives of Iceland, and as human beings. We stand united in the hope that our stance will contribute to changes that reflect the human dignity that sports are meant to represent."

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.12-132331/https://www.ft.com/content/3eb48a07-7cb0-4a44-9159-eb5b402c2fec

The Trump administration has excluded smartphones from its steep “reciprocal” tariffs as it battles to calm global markets by tempering its approach to the multifront trade war launched by the president. 

According to a notice posted late on Friday night by Customs and Border Patrol, which is responsible for collecting tariffs, smartphones, along with routers and selected computers and laptops, would be exempt from reciprocal tariffs, which include the 125 per cent levies Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese imports.

Like many African nations, Nigeria has lagged behind Global North countries in shifting away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. Solar power contributes just around 3 percent of the total electricity generated in Africa — though it is the world’s sunniest continent — compared to nearly 12 percent in Germany and 6 percent in the United States.

At the same time, in many African countries, solar power now stands to offer much more than environmental benefits. About 600 million Africans lack reliable access to electricity; in Nigeria specifically, almost half of the 230 million people have no access to electricity grids. Today, solar has become cheap and versatile enough to help bring affordable, reliable power to millions — creating a win-win for lives and livelihoods as well as the climate.

That’s why Nigeria is placing its bets on solar mini-grids — small installations that produce up to 10 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 1,700 American homes — that can be set up anywhere. Crucially, the country has pioneered mini-grid development through smart policies to attract investment, setting an example for other African nations.

Nearly 120 mini-grids are now installed, powering roughly 50,000 households and reaching about 250,000 people. “Nigeria is actually like a poster child for mini-grid development across Africa,” says energy expert Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, managing director of EnergyInc Advisors, an energy infrastructure consulting firm.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.11-082455/https://www.ft.com/content/706b6281-1077-40b8-ad40-e11ee0f55f92

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32485682

Palau would not cave to diplomatic pressure from China and would remain an ally of Taiwan “until death do us part,” Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr said yesterday.

As one of the few nations that recognize Taiwan’s statehood, Palau has repeatedly risked China’s ire over the years by refusing to reverse its stance.

“China has one goal, and that is for us to renounce Taiwan,” Whipps said during a speech at Australian think tank Lowy Institute. “But we hope that they understand — that decision is a sovereign decision and no country tells us who we should be friends with.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32482982

The videos are across Chinese social media. Some are slickly produced Russian propaganda about being “tough” men; some sound more like influencer advertisements for a working holiday. Others are cobbled-together screenshots by regular citizens about to leave China. But they all have one thing in common: selling the benefits of becoming a Chinese mercenary for Russia.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced that two Chinese nationals had been captured in the eastern Donetsk region and accused Moscow of trying to involve China “directly or indirectly” in the conflict. A day later, he said the men were among at least 155 other Chinese members of Russia’s armed forces. Then again, on Thursday, he accused Russia of conducting “systemic work” in China to recruit fighters.

[...]

China says it is a neutral party to the conflict, although its leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, are public allies, with a “no limits” partnership between their two nations.

Zelenskyy demanded answers from Beijing, accusing it of turning a blind eye to Russia’s recruitment of its citizens.

[...]

Numerous recruitment clips are easily found on Chinese social media. All of them emphasise the pay on offer, ranging from 60,000 to 200,000 RMB (£6,000 to £21,000) as a sign-on bonus and monthly salaries of about 18,000 RMB (£1,900).

One video, which has had hundreds of thousands of views across different platforms, appears to be a Russian recruitment ad with Chinese subtitles overlaid. It shows Caucasian men leaving their day jobs to fight and asks viewers: “Do you want to show strength here? Is this the path that you long for? You are a tough man, be like them!”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2411873

Archived version

China and the European Union are unlikely to become close allies quickly, analysts say, even as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs sour relations between the world's largest economy and both its transatlantic allies and Beijing.

"I don't see the EU and China uniting against the US," Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

...

"I think there will be interest on both sides but deep practical constraints for both. Unless China is willing to make some big concessions, I struggle to see the EU uniting behind a strategy of deeper engagement."

...

The EU and China have a fractious relationship. While China is one of the EU's biggest trading partners besides the U.S., economic relations between the two have also historically been characterized by investigations and tit-for-tat measures linked to trade.

The EU has long alleged that Beijing subsidizes key sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and steel and aluminum in a way that is harmful to global markets and competitiveness. Last year, the EU hit China with tariffs on electric vehicles, as a result.

... And it is not only trade that is causing tensions in the EU-China relationship, Carsten Nickel, managing director at Teneo, [said].

He added that there are "fundamental differences" between the two "regardless of what is going on with the U.S."

...

"That has to do with unresolved questions around overcapacity in China. It has to do with ongoing misgivings in the European Parliament, especially regarding the human rights situation, and it has to do with concerns over China's support for for Russia and Ukraine," he explained.

Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the Eurasia group, also pointed out that there is a "deep" European mistrust toward China in areas like intellectual property and technological surveillance, as well as industrial policy.

This "doesn't go away with the United States becoming an adversary."

...

"I think it's pretty clear that that that doesn't that that doesn't mean that the the the underlying challenges in the European relationship with China are gone overnight," he added.

...

Eurasia Group's Emre Peker and Mujtaba Rahman echoed this idea in a Thursday note.

"Trade diversions as the US-China tariff fight escalates will prompt the European Commission to swiftly deploy safeguard measures to prevent China—and other countries—from dumping their goods on the EU market," they said.

...

European policymakers will use "softer rhetoric" towards China to avoid triggering a trade war on two fronts. "But this is highly unlikely to translate into Brussels-Beijing cooperation against Washington," they concluded.

US troops will be able to deploy a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP on Thursday, April 10, a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway. The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and "other activities."

The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its own permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught. But it gives the United States broad sway to deploy an unspecified number of personnel to bases, some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago.

China says it will cut the number of US films that are imported into the country in retaliation against the latest wave of tariff increases imposed by the Trump administration. A statement issued by the Chinese Film Administration (CFA) on Thursday, which we’ve translated using Google, said that the decision to increase tariffs against China to 125 percent was “the wrong move,” and will “further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability” towards American-made movies.

“We will follow market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported,” The CFA said. “China is the world’s second-largest film market. We have always adhered to a high level of opening up to the outside world and will introduce more excellent films from the world to meet market demand.”

Predictions about a potential ban on American film imports into China have been circulating in recent days since Trump ramped up his trade war against the country. Under previous trade agreements, China agreed to release 34 foreign films per year and provide overseas studios with a 25 percent share of ticket sales. It’s unclear how significantly these allowances may be reduced going forward.

Developing…

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.10-102821/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-freedom-city-rich-donors-push-trump-tech-hub-up-north-2025-04-10/

April 10 (Reuters) - As the Trump administration intensifies efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark — or take it by force — some Silicon Valley tech investors are promoting the frozen island as a site for a so-called freedom city, a libertarian utopia with minimal corporate regulation, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The discussions are in early stages, but the idea has been taken seriously by Trump's pick for Denmark ambassador, Ken Howery, who is expected to be confirmed by Congress in the coming months and lead Greenland-acquisition negotiations, the people said. Howery, whose involvement with the idea hasn't been previously reported, once co-founded a venture-capital firm with tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a leading advocate for such low-regulation cities. Howery is also a longtime friend of Elon Musk, a top Trump advisor.

Howery declined to comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Sources who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

In a dramatic shift, the US president paused tariffs on most nations while hiking China's rate to 125%, triggering a global market rally but leaving key policy details unclear. 

Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 9, abruptly backed down on his tariffs on most nations for 90 days but raised his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%. It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the United States and most of the world to one between the US and China.

"Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Saying that more than 75 countries had asked for negotiations over the tariffs, Trump said he "authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately."

Global markets surged on the development, but the precise details of Trump's plans to ease tariffs on non-China trade partners were not immediately clear. Shortly after Trump announced his latest pivot on his Truth Social platform, the S&P 500 surged 6.0% higher to 5,281.44, snapping a brutal run of losses since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement a week ago.

China's Finance Ministry announced that, in reponse to US tariffs on imported Chinese goods being raised to 104%, it would raise its own tariffs on American products, effective Thursday, April 10. 

China's Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday, April 9, that it was imposing additional tariffs on American products, increasing them "from 34% to 84%," in an additional countermeasure to a further increase in US tariffs on imported Chinese products, announced by Donald Trump on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump's total 104% tariff rate on Chinese exports to the US went into effect.

"The US's practice of raising tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which seriously infringes on China's legitimate rights and interests and seriously harms the rules of the multilateral trading system," the ministry announced in a statement. It added that the increase would take effect from 12:01 pm on Thursday, April 10.

Last week, China had said it would levy 34% tariffs on all US goods in response to Trump's announcement of tariffs on countries around the world.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.10-043038/https://www.ft.com/content/cd7c043a-1983-4106-b4f9-13d66f951faf

US shale oil producers are facing their gravest threat in years, as a sudden crude price sell-off triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war has pushed parts of the sector to the brink of failure, executives have warned.

US oil prices have fallen 12 per cent since Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement last week, leaving them below the level many producers in Texas say they need to break even — and sparking fears the industry could be forced to idle rigs.

Opec’s recent decision to raise production has also raised alarm bells.

“This reminds me exactly of Covid,” said Kirk Edwards, president of Latigo Petroleum, an independent producer based in Odessa, Texas, referring to the 2020 price crash that brought a wave of bankruptcies across the shale sector. (…)

Hatsushima is not a particularly busy station, relative to Japanese rail commuting as a whole. It serves a town (Arida) of about 25,000, known for mandarin oranges and scabbardfish, that is shrinking in population, like most of Japan. Its station sees between one to three trains per hour at its stop, helping about 530 riders find their way. Its wooden station was due for replacement, and the replacement could be smaller.

The replacement, it turned out, could also be a trial for industrial-scale 3D-printing of custom rail shelters. Serendix, a construction firm that previously 3D-printed 538-square-foot homes for about $38,000, built a shelter for Hatsushima in about seven days, as shown at The New York Times. The fabricated shelter was shipped in four parts by rail, then pieced together in a span that the site Futurism says is "just under three hours," but which the Times, seemingly present at the scene, pegs at six. It was in place by the first train's arrival at 5:45 am.

Love the kicker of "Concrete Examples." chef's kiss

From the who-needs-precogs dept.:

Researchers are alleged to be using algorithms to analyse the information of thousands of people, including victims of crime, as they try to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent offences.

The scheme was originally called the “homicide prediction project”, but its name has been changed to “sharing data to improve risk assessment”. The Ministry of Justice hopes the project will help boost public safety but campaigners have called it “chilling and dystopian”.

The number of state executions around the world has reached its highest level in ten years, a new report by Amnesty International has said.

More than 1,500 recorded executions took place in 2024 with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for a combined 1,380 and the United States for 25, the charity found.

Despite this rise, the report also found that the total number of countries carrying out the death penalty stood at 15 - the lowest number on record for the second consecutive year.

Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the "tide is turning" on capital punishment, adding that "it is only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadow of the gallows".

While these figures are the highest they have been since 2015 - when at least 1,634 people were subject to the death penalty - the true overall figure is likely to be higher.

Amnesty International says the figure does not include those killed in China, which it believes carries out thousands of executions each year. North Korea and Vietnam are also not included.

The US will impose a cumulative 104 percent tariff on goods imported from China after midnight tonight, alongside a host of tariffs on other countries, the White House confirmed to CNBC.

It’s one of the most staggering figures from President Donald Trump’s worldwide trade war launched last week. The Trump administration calls the tariffs part of an effort to get the US on even footing with trade partners, bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, and replace the existing tax structure. But critics on Wall Street and elsewhere say that thinking is flawed, and American consumers and businesses will be the ones in pain amid uncertainty and rising costs.

Even in comparison with the previously announced taxes on goods from other US trading partners, this tariff will have huge implications for many US businesses that manufacture or assemble at least parts of their products in China, including Apple and Tesla. Many economists say that price hikes are likely to be passed on to consumers. 

Trump initially planned to impose 34 percent tariffs on goods from China, on top of ones that he put in place earlier this year. This escalation comes after China imposed its own 34 percent tariffon US goods crossing into its borders. Trump threatened raising tariffs by 50 percent unless China removed its own, but the Chinese government has said it would stand firm on its tariffs, CNBC reports.

Kathmandu (AFP) – Nearly two decades since Nepal became a secular republic, a surge of pro-monarchy protests have swept the Himalayan nation, fuelled by economic despair and disillusionment with current leaders.

Despite the WHO's polio campaign reaching a high number of children in Gaza, hundreds of thousands remain at risk of paralysis amid Israel's blocking of aid

Obviously, things can quickly devolve on any story about Israel. Let's stick to Netanyahu's political situation.

On Monday, while Netanyahu was attending a hearing in his corruption case at the Tel Aviv district court, the prime minister was forced to interrupt his own testimony to respond to an urgent police summons after the arrest of two of his aides.

Jonatan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s most trusted advisers, and Eli Feldstein, hired as a spokesperson by the prime minister’s office shortly after the war broke out, are suspected of taking money from Qatar, funnelled via a US lobby group, in order to promote a positive image of the Gulf state in their briefings to journalists. Lawyers for both men have declined to comment on the allegations.

The UN received reports that Myanmar's military had conducted attacks, while the military accused rebels of the same.

Fighting has been reported in Myanmar despite the military junta and a rebel group alliance announcing temporary ceasefires to support earthquake relief.

As of Friday, the military had carried out at least 14 attacks since the ceasefire, according to reports received by the UN Human Rights office.

The military accused two rebel groups in the alliance that declared a ceasefire of carrying out attacks. One group said fighting broke out in response to "offensives" by the military.