CAVOK

Paywall? https://archive.is/FrNa4

US President Donald Trump has announced a 25 percent tariff on all car and light truck imports into the country, saying the move would 'spur growth' in the American economy. But world leaders are among those warning of the chilling effect it will have on the global economy. The White House said the tariffs would raise 100 billion dollars a year. Applying them could be tricky, however, with US carmakers sourcing many components internationally, especially from Canada and Mexico. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has given her reaction to Trump's announcement.

Paywall? https://archive.is/S0oZ4

US President Donald Trump ramped up his claims to Greenland on Wednesday, saying ahead of a visit by Vice President JD Vance that the United States needed to take control of the Danish island for "international security."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27384100

The global backlash against the second Donald Trump administration keeps on growing. Canadians have boycotted US-made products, anti–Elon Musk posters have appeared across London amid widespread Tesla protests, and European officials have drastically increased military spending as US support for Ukraine falters. Dominant US tech services may be the next focus.

There are early signs that some European companies and governments are souring on their use of American cloud services provided by the three so-called hyperscalers. Between them, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) host vast swathes of the Internet and keep thousands of businesses running. However, some organizations appear to be reconsidering their use of these companies’ cloud services—including servers, storage, and databases—citing uncertainties around privacy and data access fears under the Trump administration.

“There’s a huge appetite in Europe to de-risk or decouple the over-dependence on US tech companies, because there is a concern that they could be weaponized against European interests,” says Marietje Schaake, a nonresident fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and a former decadelong member of the European Parliament.

Countries including France are said to want to tie a new post-Brexit security deal to more beneficial access to British waters, potentially holding up military cooperation.

In short:

Three European nations have asked the Trump administration for their unspent USAID contributions to be refunded.

Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands had been partnering with USAID on a project called Water and Energy for Food, or WE4F.

What's next?

The nations have asked for an explanation from the US government on whether the funds will be spent, or if they can be refunded.

Wood is a precious raw material. In Sweden, the packaging industry is destroying more and more old-growth forests to make toilet paper or cardboard. Biologists warn these ancient woodlands will no longer be able to help protect ecosystems and the climate.