/news/world/rss 九一星空无限 Keep up with the latest developments and breaking news around the globe with 九一星空无限talk ZB. Sat, 19 Apr 2025 14:04:01 Z en /news/world/plane-passenger-shoots-kills-us-hijacker-on-belize-flight/ /news/world/plane-passenger-shoots-kills-us-hijacker-on-belize-flight/ A passenger on a small plane from Belize on Thursday shot dead an American armed with a knife who was attempting a hijacking, police in the Caribbean nation said. The would-be hijacker threatened the pilot shortly after the Cessna Grand Caravan from Belize’s Tropic Air took off in the morning with 14 on board from the town of Corozal. It was headed for the Belizean island of San Pedro, but the man ordered the pilot to head “out of the country”, police commissioner Chester Williams told Channel 5 news. The plane hovered for some time over the international airport of Belize City before landing just as it was about to run out of fuel, at which point the hijacker stabbed two fellow passengers. One had a firearm he was licensed to carry, and shot the attacker dead, according to officials and local media. Police identified the assailant as 49-year-old US national Akinyela Sawa Taylor, who was apparently a military veteran. The injured passengers were taken to the hospital. The US Embassy in Belize expressed its regret over the incident on the eve of the Easter long weekend. “It really highlights the importance of safety and security,” the embassy’s public affairs officer, Luke Martin, told reporters. “We have a strong relationship with Belizean law enforcement, and in times like this, that partnership proves crucial,” with a quick exchange of information, he added. -Agence France-Presse Thu, 17 Apr 2025 23:58:27 Z /news/world/ukraine-us-sign-deal-for-access-to-critical-minerals/ /news/world/ukraine-us-sign-deal-for-access-to-critical-minerals/ Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum for US access to Kyiv’s natural resources. The deal includes an Economic Partnership Agreement and an Investment Fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Kyiv seeks military guarantees, while the US aims to deter Russian aggression through business interests. Ukraine and the United States have signed a “memorandum of intent” to move forward with a fraught deal for US access to Kyiv’s natural resources and critical minerals, Kyiv said. “We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s first Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X. Kyiv and Washington had planned to sign a deal on extracting Ukraine’s strategic minerals weeks ago, but a clash between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February derailed work on the agreement. Trump wants the deal – designed to give the US royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals – as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Svyrydenko did not publish details of the memorandum, but said work continued towards securing a final agreement. ‘Beneficial for both’ “We hope that the Fund will become an effective tool for attracting investments in the reconstruction of our country, modernisation of infrastructure, support for business, and the creation of new economic opportunities,” she said. “There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries.” US officials say boosting American business interests in Ukraine will help deter Russia from future aggression in the event of a ceasefire. Kyiv is pushing for concrete military and security guarantees as part of any deal to halt the three-year war. - Agence France-Presse Thu, 17 Apr 2025 22:04:03 Z /news/world/russian-missiles-hit-sumy-civilians-as-military-held-ceremony-soldier-says/ /news/world/russian-missiles-hit-sumy-civilians-as-military-held-ceremony-soldier-says/ Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr was sitting at a military medal ceremony in a university building basement on Sunday when two Russian ballistic missiles tore through the surrounding area. From the hospital where his wounded stepdaughter is being held in intensive care, Oleksandr described how spraying shrapnel struck passing civilians and the city streets were engulfed in flames. While the soldiers, including fellow troops from his 117th Brigade, sat safely underground waiting for the all clear, Oleksandr’s wife – who had been walking on the street with their children – used her hand to plug their 6-year-old’s shrapnel wound as the girl’s lung filled with blood, he said. The Russian missile attack on the centre of this crowded city on Palm Sunday killed 35 people and wounded more than 100 others, almost all of them civilians, according to local authorities. The carnage enraged Ukraine, supporting Ukrainians’ views that Russia remains intent on killing them and demolishing their cities even as President Donald Trump’s negotiators make repeated visits to Moscow, hoping the Kremlin will agree to a deal. The strikes came just two days after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for an hours-long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump later told reporters he understood the attack on Sumy to have been a “mistake,” adding to Ukrainian distrust in Washington’s views of the war. But many in this grieving city, including Oleksandr, 38, have also directed their fury at the organisers of the military medal ceremony, which may have been the target of the Russian strikes. In an hour-long interview, Oleksandr, whom The Washington Post is identifying only by first name in keeping with military rules and to avoid retribution from higher command, said that plans for the wartime pageantry probably attracted Russia’s attention. Under international law, both sides must take measures to avoid civilian harm. Russia’s launch of ballistic missiles into a busy intersection in a major city amounted to the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident in Ukraine so far this year. However, the law also requires Ukraine to avoid placing military targets in heavily populated civilian areas. That arrangement can prove extraordinarily complicated in Ukraine as troops defend civilian areas from assault, but events such as medal ceremonies, which Russia has targeted in the past, are not vital defensive positions. Oleksandr said holding the event in Sumy was unnecessary and irresponsible. The city sits just 18 miles from the Russian border, lacks adequate air defences and comes under regular attack. Russians may have intercepted communications or been informed by a local collaborator about the plans. Oleksandr had recently been fighting just inside the Russian region of Belgorod and was annoyed to be called home for the ceremony. Soldiers were needed on the battlefield, he said, not in a basement in the centre of Sumy. “I don’t need these medals or these papers,” he said from the children’s hospital where his stepdaughter, Elina, had shrapnel and bone removed from her lung. “I want to kill all Russian soldiers and go home to my civilian life.” “We’re fighting for Ukraine,” he added. “For me, Ukraine is that little girl in her hospital bed. It’s the woman standing next to her.” On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the head of Ukraine’s regional military administration, Volodymyr Artiukh. He acknowledged his presence at the ceremony to Ukraine’s national broadcaster but denied organising it. Oleksandr said Artiukh was “100% responsible” for the deaths and injuries caused by the strikes. Artiukh did not respond to a request for comment. The Ukrainian Government has not publicly acknowledged that there was a ceremony but has instead focused on the large number of civilian casualties – which Post reporting confirmed – including people headed to church services. Russia, meanwhile, has claimed without evidence that the attack killed more than 60 Ukrainian troops. Sumy’s hospitals and cemeteries, newly filled with civilians, tell a different story. Russia’s Defence Ministry has not responded to queries about the civilian casualties. Spring comes to Sumy It was the first warm spring weekend of the year, and Sumy’s downtown – home to a large community centre and the state university – was filled with locals enjoying a reprieve from winter. Congregants were celebrating Palm Sunday. Children were preparing to put on a play. Residents strolled the streets and others boarded bus No 63, heading to church, picnics and family visits. And in a basement, soldiers, commanders and Artiukh had discreetly gathered for a ceremony that Oleksandr said began at 10am. Soon after 10am, the first missile hit, shattering the community centre’s glass atrium and smashing through the ground floor and into the basement, where the children’s play was about to begin. Outside, witnesses said, chaos broke out as people scrambled for shelter. Stunned, Ivan Marunchak and Mykhailo Zubakiev, both 13, turned toward the scene. Ivan’s phone rang and his mother, Tetiana, frantically asked if he was okay. Then came the second missile, tearing through the roof of a university building and sending Ivan’s phone flying from his hand. The boys were thrown to the ground. Ivan, his leg numb, tried to drag himself up a flight of steps to shelter. He saw Mykhailo running for help, but his friend wouldn’t get far – he had taken shrapnel to the stomach. On the red city bus that had been passing by, Kyrylo Ilyashenko, also 13, waited on the floor for glass to stop raining down on his head. The driver was already dead. Bodies lay slumped in seats and on the floor. He knew his mom was trapped somewhere in that mess. He crawled through a window and – working on pure adrenaline and years of wrestling training – ripped the bus door open from the outside with his bare hands. He helped pull the living to safety, including his mom, Marina, whose face and white puffy coat were drenched in blood. Oleksandr rushed up from the basement and called his wife, Viktoria, as he took in the disaster outside. She answered screaming “Elina is 300!” – using the military code for wounded to describe their daughter. They were already en route to the hospital, she said. As they always do, the streets quickly filled with helpers: medics, soldiers, passersby. The wounded were rushed to hospitals. The dead were first covered with foil blankets, then moved into bags. The attack happened on Sumy's first warm spring weekend of the year. Photo / The Washington Post Ivan’s and Mykhailo’s parents were running through the streets in a frantic search. Both boys ended up at the same hospital for surgery – Ivan on his leg and Mykhailo on his stomach. It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that Mykhailo opened his blue-gray eyes. His first question was about Ivan, who was recovering downstairs. Mykhailo’s mother, Alla Zubakieva, said she felt scared and stressed for her son and his friend but also furious at Artiukh and other officials for planning a medal ceremony in the city. “Today I found out he’s been fired, and thank God,” she said of Artiukh. “I’m not just angry at the Russians – I also find the Government responsible.” ‘It was a holiday’ In a hospital across town, wounded adults were scattered everywhere, recovering from surgery days after the strike. In one lay Nataliya Nartayeva, 66, whose left arm was blown off in the attack. When asked whether she would leave Sumy, she raised her right arm in defiance and said she will not. “We will always win,” she said. In another room, Viktor Vovtenko, a security guard at the university physics building, was flat on his back. He was rushing to the shelter after the first strike when the second threw him to the floor, breaking his spine. Now he can’t feel his legs. His family stayed in Sumy in hopes a ceasefire might pan out. When asked what message he had for Trump after the latest attack, he lifted his hand over the edge of his hospital bed and raised his middle finger in the air. In another room, Lyudmila, 62, lay under her sheets and wept. Her curly grey hair had been shaved, her head wrapped in white bandages after a surgery to remove a hematoma in her brain. “My husband died in the bus,” she said quietly. “You can’t imagine what kind of hell it is.” The couple had been on their way to church for Palm Sunday. “It was a holiday – a special day,” she said. She sat near the bus window, and her husband, Mykola, 60, a truck driver, stood next to her. After the blasts, everything was echoing as she dug through bodies on the floor. She found Mykola already dead. Emergency workers dragged her to the street, then to the hospital. “I don’t want to live right now,” she said, tears streaming. “I want the entire world to know what’s happening in Sumy.” Mykola’s funeral would be on Wednesday, she said, but doctors would not allow her to go. So many people died in the strikes that several funerals have happened in Sumy each day this week. Mourners have gathered again and again in black at churches, in cemeteries and by the attack site to lay flowers and stuffed toys in honour of the dead. The risk of the next attack is constant. On Monday morning, locals paused cleaning the streets to look up in fear as a Russian drone buzzed overhead. On Wednesday morning, a crowd gathered to bury Nataliya and Mykola Martynenko and their 11-year-old son, Maksym – a whole family eliminated in an instant on their way to church three days before. As their bodies were displayed in front of the family’s village house, a double rainbow appeared in the sky. The crowd looked up. “A rainbow around the sun. It’s a sign,” one woman said. Then another air raid alert: a ballistic missile threat. Telegram channels warned civilians to take cover. A fighter jet flew overhead. The crowd dispersed. Thu, 17 Apr 2025 04:30:02 Z /news/world/earth-s-water-may-not-have-originated-from-asteroids-after-all/ /news/world/earth-s-water-may-not-have-originated-from-asteroids-after-all/ With water covering the majority of our planet, scientists have been wading through ideas to answer a fundamental question: Where did it all come from? A popular theory suggests asteroids or comets helped bring the precious resource to Earth in chance encounters, but new evidence may be sinking this idea. A study published in the journal Icarus showed the ingredients for water may have been present as early Earth was developing, indicating that the creation of water may be a more common process on planets than previously thought. “We always kind of assumed that Earth was unique,” said Tom Barrett, the lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford. “We have massive oceans on our surface that are crucial to the way that we live our lives.” Contrary to previous notions, the materials that made our planet seem to have contained the ingredients for water, he said. Scientists have long questioned whether an early Earth could have contained the appropriate hydrogen and oxygen on its own to create the water on our planet. The International Space Station orbits Earth. Photo / 123RF Some think clues could be embedded in a meteorite thought to be similar to our new-born planet, called an enstatite chondrite. These types of meteorites were formed in the inner solar system and “probably represented the bulk contribution of the material that formed Earth 4.6 billion years ago”, Barrett said. Used as an analogue for early Earth, these meteorites embody a promising prospect for water formation. Previous research showed they contained enough hydrogen to account for the formation of Earth’s oceans, but it identified the location of only about 20% of the hydrogen in these meteorites. It was unclear whether the rest of the hydrogen existed intrinsically in the meteorites or if the sample was contaminated on Earth. Barrett and his colleagues aimed to account for the rest of the hydrogen. Using X-ray technology to probe an enstatite chondrite meteorite found in Antarctica, they discovered significant portions of the hydrogen attached to sulphur. To their surprise, they found the compounds in the matrix of the rock - like the dough that holds bigger grains in rock together. The team proposed methods of how hydrogen may have appeared there. Barrett said that in the early solar system, existing iron sulphide compounds in the meteorite could have been acting as a catalyst to create the hydrogen and sulphur compound, acting like a hydrogen factory. He said the compound could have been formed in the bigger grains within the rock and was pumped into the matrix material, which is “quite an effective way of storing quite notable concentrations of this hydrogen-bearing compound”. The meteorite also contained oxygen, but the team did not investigate how the hydrogen-sulphur compound eventually led to water. Other researchers say the analysis is an important step in understanding the origin of water on Earth. “What is new is that researchers have found the location of hydrogen in enstatite chondrites, the likely building blocks of the Earth,” said Yves Marrocchi, a cosmochemist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, who was not involved in the research. Marrocchi was part of the team that previously found that these meteorites have a high hydrogen content but couldn’t identify the locations. He said the findings affirm his previous conclusions that hydrogen was inherited from early in the solar system and that these meteorites contain enough hydrogen to produce Earth’s oceans. “Earth may have had more than enough ingredients to form water from the beginning,” said planetary scientist Patrick Shober, who was not involved in the research. He added that the research shows that “water abundance on Earth is not a freak accident; it’s what was expected”. But Shober points out that asteroids or comets could have still played an important part later in Earth’s history. For instance, the hydrogen in these enstatite chondrite meteorites matches the composition of Earth’s mantle, but it doesn’t explain hydrogen and nitrogen content in Earth’s oceans well. Where did all the water on Earth come from? Photo / Annabel Morgan “Later bombardments by outer solar system sources added in an additional spice to the story, modifying the isotopic make-up of our oceans,” Shober said. But he said we have “enough volatiles to make water even beforehand”. If the ingredients for water are more abundant than previously thought, the resource could be more common on other planets, the researchers say. For instance, evidence shows Mars may have had flowing water and appeared very similar to modern-day Earth. If Mars initially had water, Barrett said, something may have happened in its history that depleted its water. Now, a new question arises: Is Earth habitable today because of how it formed or because of how it evolved? Thu, 17 Apr 2025 02:44:32 Z /news/world/webb-telescope-detects-a-possible-signature-of-life-on-a-distant-world/ /news/world/webb-telescope-detects-a-possible-signature-of-life-on-a-distant-world/ A distant planet’s atmosphere shows signs of molecules that on Earth are associated only with biological activity, a possible signal of life on what is suspected to be a watery world, according to a report that analysed observations by Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope.  The peer-reviewed report in the Astrophysical Journal Letters presents more questions than answers, acknowledges numerous uncertainties and does not declare the discovery of life beyond Earth, something never conclusively detected.  However, the authors do claim to have found the best evidence to date of a possible “biosignature” on a planet far from our solar system.  The planet, known as K2-18b, is 124 light-years away, orbiting a red dwarf star.  Earlier observations suggested that its atmosphere is consistent with the presence of a global ocean. The molecule purportedly detected is dimethyl sulfide (DMS).  On Earth, it is produced by the decay of marine phytoplankton and other microbes, and it has no other known source. The astronomers want to observe the planet further to strengthen the evidence that the molecule is present.  The lead author of the new paper, Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge in England, repeatedly urged reporters in a briefing to be cautious in describing the new research. But his warning bracketed more dramatic statements.  This possible detection of a biosignature could be “potentially one of the biggest landmarks in the history of science”, Madhusudhan said.  “This is the first time humanity has ever seen biosignature molecules - potential biosignature molecules, which are biosignatures on Earth - in the atmosphere of a habitable-zone planet,” he added.  The habitable, or “Goldilocks”, zone is the distance from a star that could allow water to remain liquid at the planet’s surface.  K2-18b, which is within our galaxy, the Milky Way, cannot be seen by any telescope as a discrete object. But it has a fortuitous orbit that crosses its parent star as seen from Earth.  Such transits dim the starlight ever so slightly, which is how many exoplanets have been discovered. The transits also change the starlight’s spectrum in a pattern that - if observed with instruments on a telescope as advanced as the Webb - can reveal the composition of the planet’s atmosphere.  In 2023, Madhusudhan and colleagues reported that two instruments on the Webb had detected carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere of K2-18b, as well as hints of DMS.  His team observed the planet for an additional eight hours last April using the Webb’s mid-infrared instrument. The resulting data boosted their confidence that DMS or an almost identical molecule, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) - or possibly both - are present.  The paper describes the result as “an important step forward in the search for signatures of life on exoplanets”, but it adds that strengthening the finding will need “a dedicated community effort in multiple directions - observational, theoretical, and experimental”.  In a statement, Cambridge University said: “While an unknown chemical process may be the source of these molecules in K2-18b’s atmosphere, the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system”.  Even if further observations strengthen the case that K2-18b has an atmosphere that contains DMS, the scientific community would probably want a great deal more evidence that this is truly a biosignature and not something with an abiotic origin.  A molecule glimpsed in the air of a planet 729 trillion miles (1173 trillion km) away is a thin reed upon which to rest what would be the historic discovery of alien life.  The Webb telescope is an international collaboration among Nasa and the space agencies of Europe and Canada, but the agencies have not sought coverage of the new findings, an indication that the community wants to see more data and robust evidence before saying anything about possible alien life.  Nasa did not comment on the paper but instead provided a statement about Webb’s search for biosignatures.  Finding “biosignatures, or gases produced only by life, is challenging for Webb - this requires tens to hundreds of hours of observing time for a single planet, the results may not be conclusive due to evolution of the star and planet atmosphere over time, and the planets Webb can search orbit relatively inhospitable stars,” Nasa said.  “Finding life elsewhere in the universe will also be a process, and detection of a single potential biosignature would not constitute discovery of life,” the statement added.  The search for extraterrestrial life has had many false positives over decades.  In the early 20th century, astronomer Percival Lowell assured the world that Mars was laced with canals.  In 1976, an experiment on Nasa’s Viking lander showed tantalising signs of possible microbial activity, but other tests showed that the surface appears sterile.  Reports of alien spaceships visiting Earth, the topic of many a credulous media report as well as congressional hearings with more than a whiff of nonsense, invariably crash upon the unforgiving turf of the scientific method.  Astronomers studying K2-18b will need to answer three basic questions before the broader scientific community may accept they have indeed discovered a biosignature, Sara Seager, an astrophysicist and a leading figure in the study of exoplanets, said in an email.  “Is the signal real? Is it correctly attributed to the proposed gas, or could other gases produce the same feature? Can the gas be produced without life?”  Even if the first two questions were answered satisfactorily, she said, the third “may never be fully resolved with the limited data exoplanets offer”.  Her bottom-line assessment: “Not yet a biosignature, but a timely prompt to sharpen our methods and expectations”.  Madhusudhan told reporters that DMS is abundant on K2-18b and that there is no known chemical mechanism to produce the molecule at that level other than through biological processes.  “Either we are looking at a new chemical process that we haven’t seen before … or we’re witnessing the first signs of biological activity outside of Earth,” said Mans Holmberg, a co-author of the report and a postdoctoral researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute.  The solar system may harbour life in hidden realms, such as beneath the surface of Mars or on the ice-crusted moons of Jupiter or Saturn. Nasa’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched in October in what will be a multiyear mission to study the Jovian moon, believed to have a subsurface ocean with as much water as all the oceans of Earth.  Life exploits elements common in the universe. Planets are now known to be abundant, and stars can burn for billions of years as reliable power sources. The universe may be primed for life.  The first planets outside our solar system were detected just 30 years ago, and since then astronomers have discovered thousands.  K2-18b was first discovered by Nasa’s Kepler Space Telescope in 2015. The planet orbits its parent star, a small, relatively cool one known as a red dwarf, in just 33 days. The planet’s diameter is about 2½ times that of Earth.  K2-18b’s orbit around the star, which puts it about one-seventh of Earth’s distance from the sun, is within the habitable zone of its planetary system.  Observations by the Webb suggest that it has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere and a liquid ocean vastly deeper than any on our planet, Holmberg said. Such planets have been dubbed hycean worlds. “Hycean” is a portmanteau, derived from “hydrogen” and “ocean”.  “Everything about this system is quite alien. We don’t have anything like it in the solar system,” Holmberg said.  His team is hoping for additional observation time with the Webb to strengthen the case that the DMS detection is real.  Beyond the question of whether there is life on K2-18b is the more speculative question of what form that life might take. On Earth, life remained one-celled for several billion years before the appearance of anything as complex as a clam. K2-18b is about 2.4 billion years old.  Emily Mitchell, a biologist at the University of Cambridge who was not part of the new paper but has collaborated with its authors, said K2-18b is warmer than Earth and the evolution of life there could be a more rapid process than on our planet.  That doesn’t mean fish or crabs or sharks exist, but the planet might have relatively complex microbes, she said.  “It’s very, very speculative,” Mitchell said. “But our models would be consistent with having complex phytoplankton.”  The search for biosignatures is likely to remain an endeavour burdened by ambiguities. Definitive discoveries may be unicorns.  “There’s never going to be one biosignature where everyone says, yes, we all agree, definitely life,” Mitchell said. “Any one signature is always going to be debated.”  -Joel Achenbach, Washington Post Thu, 17 Apr 2025 01:17:46 Z /news/world/california-sues-trump-over-tariffs-claims-harm-to-state-economy/ /news/world/california-sues-trump-over-tariffs-claims-harm-to-state-economy/ California Governor Gavin 九一星空无限om and Attorney General Rob Bonta are suing the Trump administration over tariffs they claim harm the state’s economy.  They argue President Donald Trump exceeded his authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.  The lawsuit seeks to halt the tariffs, citing significant economic impacts on California’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors.  California Governor Gavin 九一星空无限om and Attorney-General Rob Bonta are suing the Trump administration in federal court, claiming that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority in imposing tariffs that they say are creating immediate and irreparable harm to California’s economy, the fifth-largest in the world.  In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Bonta and 九一星空无限om challenged Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). They say the President cannot impose tariffs or direct Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to enforce them without the consent of Congress.  “Congress has the power to impose tariffs, not the President,” Bonta told The Washington Post on Wednesday as he travelled to the Central Valley to meet with farmers affected by the tariffs. “The President has overreached again. He’s welcome to exercise his authority within his given jurisdiction, but not outside his given authority.”  九一星空无限om, speaking at a news conference after the lawsuit was filed, railed against Congress, asking why Republicans – who hold the majority in both chambers – have not reclaimed their tariff powers.  “Where the hell is Congress? Where the hell is Speaker Johnson? Do your job,” 九一星空无限om said, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). “They’re sitting there passively as this guy wrecks the economy in the United States of America.”  No authorisation  In the lawsuit, Bonta and 九一星空无限om argue that IEEPA does not authorise the President to impose tariffs under a declared emergency, noting specifically that the word “tariff” does not appear in the statute at all. Additionally, the suit argues that no President before Trump has relied on IEEPA to impose tariffs in the 50 years since it was enacted.  Bonta acknowledged that Congress has sometimes delegated authority to the President to impose tariffs under certain circumstances, but said IEEPA does not give him that power.  “I’m not saying that the President can never impose tariffs under any circumstances,” Bonta said. “I’m saying he can’t impose the tariffs he’s imposed here under his cited authority under the IEEPA.”  Bonta said California is asking the court to declare the tariff orders “unlawful and void in their entirety”.  “That means he’s trampling over his own party, by the way, which currently controls Congress,” Bonta said. “Trump doesn’t have the singular power to radically upend the country’s economic landscape. That’s not how our democracy works.”  California's economy is the world's fifth biggest. Photo / Supplied  Outsized impacts  九一星空无限om argued that the tariffs have already inflicted billions of dollars in damage to the state’s economy. During the news conference Wednesday, he argued that “no state is poised to lose more than the state of California”.  “That’s why we’re asserting ourselves on behalf of 40 million Americans,” he said. “The geopolitical impacts are outsized. The trade impacts are outsized, not just the economic.”  The suit claims that California – the country’s most populous state – stands to suffer “unique harm” from Trump’s “reckless and unprecedented actions on tariffs,” and that any costs that go up because of the tariffs will be passed on to the state and its residents.  “All told, President Trump’s tariffs will transform the State of California’s economic situation, put at risk its position as the fifth largest economy in the world, and directly impact Governor 九一星空无限om’s ability to deliver on his policy goals for all Californians,” the lawsuit states.  九一星空无限om said Wednesday that his Government has not only been in touch with other states over the negative impact the tariffs may have on their economies, but also with trading allies, including Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada.  “They want to know that we’re a stable partner. They want to know we’re not going to turn [our] back as this administration’s turned their back on our allies,” 九一星空无限om said. “They want to know that, that we’re going to continue to have their back as it relates to addressing the anxiety and uncertainty.”  九一星空无限om said he knows that he, as Governor, has “no authority in terms of international trade,” but said he wants to make sure allies know that California wants them “back visiting the state”.  Panic in the markets  “We want them continuing to trade with the state,” he said. “We want to continue to maintain our dominance.”  Last week, after touching off panic in the financial markets, Trump paused some of the large-scale tariffs that were slated to go into effect on more than 70 nations. He said he would suspend the tariffs for 90 days to allow his advisers to negotiate deals with individual countries and that they had started talks with nations that included Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Israel. But Trump imposed a 10% tariff on virtually all imports and increased tariffs on China to more than 100%.  The President declared a national emergency to impose the tariffs, pointing to the annual merchandise trade deficit that the United States has run each year since 1975.  Bonta and 九一星空无限om are asking the court to immediately halt enforcement of the tariffs, invoking the Supreme Court’s “major questions” doctrine holding that the executive branch and federal agencies must have clear authorisation from Congress when taking actions that have significant economic and political consequences.  California is the nation’s top agricultural producer, and it has a huge manufacturing sector that employs more than a million people. Mexico, Canada and China are California’s top three trade partners, and more than 40% of California’s imports come from those three countries – accounting for $203 billion of the $491b in goods that the state imported last year.  California exported $183b in goods in 2024 – with those three countries accounting for more than a third of the purchases.  Officials in California also have expressed alarm about the extent to which the tariffs could slow the pace of rebuilding after the wind-driven fires that ravaged the Pacific Palisades and Altadena earlier this year. The tariffs could affect the state’s ability to import enough timber, wood, steel, aluminium and components needed for drywall, among other construction materials, the officials say.  -Washington Post, Maeve Reston, Mariana Alfaro  Wed, 16 Apr 2025 22:09:22 Z /news/world/trump-ties-become-liability-for-australia-s-conservative-party-leader/ /news/world/trump-ties-become-liability-for-australia-s-conservative-party-leader/ A few days after United States President Donald Trump took office, just as Elon Musk was firing up his chainsaw to carve up American bureaucracy, a similar cost-cutting proposal was taking shape on the opposite side of the globe. Australia’s conservative Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, promised to tackle government inefficiency if he became prime minister in the looming election, echoing many of the notes Musk hit with his US Doge Service. Dutton also promised to fire government “cultural diversity and inclusion” officials and to cut similar programmes in schools, along the same lines as Trump’s anti-DEI agenda. “I think there is going to be a new revolution that comes with the Trump Administration in relation to a lot of the woke issues that might be fashionable” in Australia, Dutton told Sky 九一星空无限. Ten weeks later, however, it is the global trading system - and Dutton’s political future - that has undergone a revolution. After leading in the polls for six months, the Liberal head of the Coalition suddenly finds himself trailing as Australia’s May 3 federal election approaches. And while analysts say Dutton’s missteps have played a role, so too has his decision to at times emulate Trump - an already unpopular figure in Australia whose standing has plummeted further after he imposed a 10% tariff on goods from Australia, one of Washington’s closest allies. Australia’s centre-left Labor Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has benefitted as differences between himself and Trump have become a virtue. “Initially, the focus of the media coverage was on whether Albanese or Dutton could best manage Donald Trump,” said Emma Shortis, an expert at the Australia Institute think-tank who has written about the US-Australia relationship. “But the way Trump in his second term has attacked America’s traditional allies - with tariffs but also his foreign policy more broadly - has put his right-wing would-be ideological allies in a bind.” One-third of Australian voters said they were less likely to vote for Dutton because of their views about Trump, according to a Resolve Political Monitor poll released on Tuesday. That was far higher than the 21% who were less likely to vote for Albanese for the same reason. Dutton and Albanese each declined to be interviewed. As Trump’s tariffs have sown chaos around the world, the idea of having an ideologically aligned leader has soured for some Australians, said James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. “Once Trump started whacking tariffs left, right and centre, then Albanese could cast himself as a person of stability,” he said. “No Australian is going to back a US president who is attacking our trade. That’s going to help the incumbent.” Albanese’s Labor Government has had some success in painting Dutton as a Trump acolyte, labelling him “Doge-y Dutton” and accusing him of “importing” ideas from the US, Shortis said. At the same time, the Trump Administration’s at times antagonistic attitude toward Australia - including imposing a 25% tax on steel and aluminium, a major export industry, as well as making belittling comments - has boosted Albanese. A few months ago, the Prime Minister trailed in the polls and faced tough questions over how he would moderate his past criticism of Trump to get along with an American president who is, in many ways, his political and personal polar opposite. Trump’s tariffs - not just on China but even on close allies - have turned that on its head, transforming the tensions between the two leaders into an advantage for Albanese, Laurenceson said. Albanese has repeatedly called Trump’s tariffs “totally unwarranted”, illogical and “not the act of a friend”. Those remarks pale in comparison with the pushback by Canada’s new centre-left Prime Minister, Mark Carney, whose opposition to Trump has helped him soar in the polls ahead of the country’s April 28 election. But the comments have nonetheless put Dutton and his conservative coalition in a difficult position, Shortis said. “Ideologically, much of the Coalition is aligned to Trumpism but can’t express that in a straightforward way because that means endorsing Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda over and above an ‘Australia First’ agenda,” she said. “That’s why we’ve seen a bit of equivocation on the side of the Coalition.” The latest sign of that came over the weekend when Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a conservative senator from the Northern Territory and Dutton’s pick to lead his equivalent of Doge, or the Department of Government Efficiency, introduced him at a rally by promising to “make Australia great again”. Price quickly tried to play down the comment before accusing the Australian media of being “obsessed” with Trump. But then a photo emerged of Price and her husband wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and holding up a Trump Christmas ornament. In recent weeks, Dutton has tried to tamp down the Trump comparisons while pushing back on the President’s tariffs and decision to temporarily suspend military assistance to Ukraine. But that has led to odd contortions for a conservative, as when a member of his team criticised Albanese’s fuel efficiency standards by portraying them as “subsidising Chinese EV manufacturers and Elon Musk”. Despite the drumbeat of Trump- and Musk-related media coverage in Australia, it’s uncertain whether foreign affairs will sway a significant number of voters, said Paul Williams, a political scientist at Griffith University in Brisbane. Instead, Australian elections almost always tend to turn on “pocketbook” issues. “It’s a bad time to be compared to Donald Trump, and it’s a bad time to say you want government efficiency when Elon Musk is doing that in the US,” he said. “But if people don’t vote for Peter Dutton, it will likely be because of his own issues.” Peter Dutton is the leader of the Coalition parties. Photo / Getty Images For more than a year, Dutton had successfully criticised the Government over the country’s cost-of-living crisis. But Dutton - a former police officer who, Williams said, is the Liberal Party’s most conservative leader - had failed to craft policies to attract centrist voters. And in recent weeks, he also had “lost focus”, including a costly backflip on forcing federal workers to return to the office. “They’ve won all the pre-season games, and now it’s the grand final, and they’ve dropped the ball,” Williams said. Labor now leads the Coalition in a two-party-preferred vote, according to recent polls - a remarkable reversal from just a few months ago. Albanese is still facing the prospect of having to form a minority government with climate-focused “teal” independents. Albanese might have a better chance of attaining a majority if he escalated his criticism of Trump, Williams said, though that is unlikely. “He’s trying to be the diplomat and walk both sides,” he said. Whether Albanese or Dutton is Australia’s next leader, the nation’s alliance with the US is almost certain to endure, said Mike Green, a former national security official in the George W. Bush Administration who now heads the United States Studies Centre, a think-tank in Sydney. While Trump’s tariffs have “empowered” the 15 to 20% of Australians already opposed to the alliance, they have not led to serious doubts in either government about the relationship, he said. “What I hear from people in government and businesses is consternation about the tariffs and real worry about unpredictability, but not a sense that this is the new normal for the US,” he said. There have been some questions about the future of Aukus, the trilateral security pact in which the US and the United Kingdom are helping Australia build nuclear-propelled submarines to counter China’s growing military assertiveness in the region. Green said that he saw no evidence that either Canberra or Washington was getting cold feet, but that Trump’s tariffs do risk distracting the US and its allies from the common challenge of countering China. “The US needs Australia and other allies more than it ever has,” he said. “We’re going to pay a price if we create doubt in large parts of the Australian public about our reliability.” - Washington Post Wed, 16 Apr 2025 03:57:10 Z /news/world/hamas-raises-fears-for-hostage-at-centre-of-latest-gaza-truce-offer/ /news/world/hamas-raises-fears-for-hostage-at-centre-of-latest-gaza-truce-offer/ By AFP team in Gaza with Lama Taha in Jerusalem Hamas said today that after an Israeli strike it had “lost contact” with the captors of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, whose release reportedly takes centre stage in Israel’s latest proposal for a renewed ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire. Speaking to troops, he said Hamas would continue to “suffer blow after blow”. In a statement on Telegram, Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said: “We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location”. “We are still trying to reach them at this moment,” he added. The military wing later released a video addressed to the families of the remaining hostages, warning them that their loved ones were likely to return in coffins if Israel kept up its bombardment of the territory. Over video images of masked militants carrying black coffins out of white vans in the darkness, the video carried a subtitled message in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. “Be prepared. Soon, your children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart by shrapnel from your army’s missiles,” the message warns. Hamas’ armed wing released a video at the weekend showing Alexander alive, in which he criticised the Israeli Government for failing to secure his release. Alexander appeared to be speaking under duress in the footage, making frequent hand gestures as he criticised Netanyahu’s Government. AFP was unable to determine when the video was filmed. Alexander was serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was abducted by Palestinian militants during their October 2023 attack. The soldier, who turned 21 in captivity, was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in the American state of New Jersey, returning to Israel after high school to join the army. ‘Gesture of goodwill’ Hamas said yesterday NZT that it had received a new truce offer from Israel that foresees the release of 10 living hostages, starting with Alexander, in exchange for a 45-day ceasefire. A Hamas official said the Israeli proposal called for Alexander’s release on the first day of the ceasefire as a “gesture of goodwill”. It was delivered to the group’s delegation in Cairo by Egyptian officials over the weekend, and a senior Hamas official told AFP the group would “most likely” respond within 48 hours. Another Hamas official said Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war, but said this crossed a “red line”. Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas’ October 2023 attack, a total of 58 remain in captivity, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. In northern Gaza, Netanyahu told troops: “They are striking the enemy and Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives.” French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu in a telephone call that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free the remaining hostages. Saying the suffering of Gazan civilians “must end”, he called for “opening all humanitarian aid crossings” into the Palestinian territory. Israel has cut off all aid to the Gaza Strip since March 2 to put pressure on Hamas. The United Nations has warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is worsening, with no aid having entered the territory for a month and a half. “The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,” the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Macron angered Israel last week when he suggested Paris could recognise a Palestinian state during a UN conference in New York in June. Netanyahu’s office said he told Macron that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be a “huge reward for terrorism”. - Agence France-Presse Wed, 16 Apr 2025 02:28:22 Z /news/world/donald-trump-says-ball-in-china-s-court-on-tariffs/ /news/world/donald-trump-says-ball-in-china-s-court-on-tariffs/ Donald Trump believes it is up to China, not the United States, to come to the negotiating table on trade, the White House said on Tuesday. The US President has accused Beijing of reneging on a major Boeing deal. “The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. “We don’t have to make a deal with them,” said a statement from Trump read out by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at a briefing. “There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger,” she added. Leavitt’s comments came after Trump accused China of going back on a major deal with US aviation giant Boeing – following a Bloomberg news report that Beijing ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of the company’s jets. The report also said that Beijing requested Chinese carriers to pause purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US firms. “They just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of ... aircraft,” said Trump in a Truth Social post, referring to China. He did not provide further details on the Boeing agreement. Trump has slapped new tariffs on friend and foe since returning to the presidency this year, but has reserved his heaviest blows for China – imposing additional 145% levies on many Chinese imports. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told German weekly Die Zeit that the relationship between the EU and the United States was “complicated,” after Trump imposed 10% tariffs on the bloc. Asked about potential negotiations, von der Leyen said Europeans were “setting out our position clearly, and the Americans are doing the same”. Separately, Ottawa offered tariff relief to automakers on condition that they maintain production in Canada, fearing Trump’s policies could trigger a flight of the key manufacturing sector to the US. Trump took aim at Beijing again on Tuesday, saying on Truth Social that China did not fulfil its commitments under an earlier trade deal. He appeared to be referencing a pact that marked a truce in both sides’ escalating tariff war during his first term. He said China bought only “a portion of what they agreed to buy,” charging that Beijing had “zero respect” for his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration. Since the start of the year, Trump has imposed steep duties on imports from China, alongside a 10% “baseline” tariff on many US trading partners. His administration recently widened exemptions from these tariffs, excluding certain tech products like smartphones and laptops from the global 10% tariff and latest 125% levy on China. Trump also vowed to protect US farmers on Tuesday, noting on social media that they were often “put on the Front Line with our adversaries, such as China,” when there were trade tussles. Many Chinese imports still face the total 145% additional tariff, or at least an earlier 20% levy that Trump rolled out over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain. In response, Beijing has introduced counter-tariffs targeting US agricultural goods, and it later retaliated with a sweeping 125% levy of its own on imported US products. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to AFP queries on the aircraft deliveries, and Boeing has declined to comment on the Bloomberg report. Boeing shares closed 2.4% down on Tuesday. – AFP Wed, 16 Apr 2025 01:35:53 Z /news/world/russian-missile-strike-in-sumy-kills-34-draws-global-condemnation/ /news/world/russian-missile-strike-in-sumy-kills-34-draws-global-condemnation/ A Russian missile strike on Sumy killed at least 34 people and wounded nearly 120. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling for a strong response from the US and Europe. European and US officials criticised the attack, highlighting Russia’s disregard for human lives and international law. A Russian missile strike in the city centre of Ukraine’s city of Sumy has killed at least 34 people, Kyiv says, with European and US officials condemning the attack – one of the deadliest in months. Kyiv said Moscow hit the northeastern city, close to the Russian border, with two ballistic missiles on Sunday and that the attack also wounded nearly 120 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressing that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday, said: “Only bastards do this.” US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, said on X that the attack by Russian forces on civilian targets “crosses any line of decency”. The strike came two days after US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war. The local emergency service said in its latest bulletin that 34 people died, including two children, and 117 were wounded, including 15 children. That revised upwards a previous toll of 32 dead and 99 wounded. Bodies were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene of the strike in the centre of the city, with a destroyed trolleybus. Rescuers worked through the rubble of a building. The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy. One woman told AFP she heard two explosions. “A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,” she said, struggling to speak. It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine. Zelenskyy called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.” World reacts to the strike French leader Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia. The fact the bloodshed fell on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders. It was “a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday”, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X. “The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said the “missile attack on civilians gathered on Palm Sunday... shows Russia’s true face”. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the killing “as many people made their way to prayer on Palm Sunday” demonstrated that “Putin underscores with blood that he seeks not peace but destruction”. Dutch Premier Dick Schoof urged more air defences “so that Ukraine can defend itself against this violence”. Russia did not immediately comment on the strike. Moscow has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Local authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies strewn on the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground. Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, extending the violence wrought by its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years. In early April, a Russian attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people, including nine children. Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border. Kyiv for weeks has warned that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy. Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Mon, 14 Apr 2025 01:07:57 Z /news/world/trump-tariffs-donald-trump-downplays-tariffs-walk-back-says-no-country-off-the-hook/ /news/world/trump-tariffs-donald-trump-downplays-tariffs-walk-back-says-no-country-off-the-hook/ United States President Donald Trump warned today that no country would be getting “off the hook” on tariffs, despite a 90-day reprieve on some levies, while also downplaying exemptions for Chinese technology. Global markets have been on a rollercoaster since Trump’s April 3 tariffs announcement, declining sharply before partially recovering with his 90-day pause on the steepest rates last week. Most nations will now face a baseline 10% tariff for the near-three-month period – except China, which launched a tit-for-tat escalation. The exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145% and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% band on US imports. Trump’s administration has said it intends to negotiate trade deals, including with China, but it is not clear what terms the President would be willing to accept. He has long said that US trade deficits are the result of unfair practices that need to be corrected, though his tariffs also hit countries with which the US has a trade surplus. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non-Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China, which, by far, treats us the worst!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform today. In addition to the general reprieve for other countries, over the weekend Trump issued exemptions for Chinese-made semiconductors and electronics, amid warnings that US consumers faced skyrocketing prices for products such as smartphones and laptops. Today, however, Trump asserted that there was “no tariff ‘exception’” on those products, saying that they remained subject to a 20% rate in “a different tariff ‘bucket’”. Earlier, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry had said the weekend’s move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy. Short-lived relief? The relief could be short-lived, with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defence networks. Trump has said he will give “very specific” details on Monday, UST, and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two”. Lutnick said pharmaceutical products would “also be outside the reciprocal tariffs”, using an administration term for tariffs aimed at bringing all US trade imbalances to zero. The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although US officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first. Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS Face the Nation that “we don’t have any plans” for talks between the US President and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. China looks elsewhere China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm. Xi on Monday kicks off a five-day Southeast Asia tour for talks with the leaders of Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia. The fallout from Trump’s tariffs – and subsequent whiplash policy reversals – has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging. Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires – including a number of his own supporters – have openly criticised the tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive. The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends. “We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS 九一星空无限. – Agence France-Presse Mon, 14 Apr 2025 01:04:57 Z /news/world/israeli-air-strike-on-gaza-hospital-kills-child-who/ /news/world/israeli-air-strike-on-gaza-hospital-kills-child-who/ An Israeli air strike hit Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital, killing a child, according to the World Health Organisation. The hospital’s emergency room, laboratory, and pharmacy were destroyed, forcing the relocation of 50 patients. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned of expanding the offensive if Hamas does not release hostages. An Israeli air strike hit one of Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, killing a child, according to the World Health Organisation, as Israel warned it would expand its offensive if Hamas does not release hostages. Since the outbreak of war, tens of thousands of Gazans have sought refuge in hospitals, many of which have suffered severe damage in the ongoing hostilities. “A child died due to disruption of care” at the Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza after a strike, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. “The emergency room, laboratory, emergency room X-ray machines and the pharmacy were destroyed,” he added. “The hospital was forced to move 50 patients to other hospitals. Forty critical patients couldn’t be moved.” The military said it targeted a Hamas “command and control centre” at the hospital, a claim the Palestinian group denied. Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strike came “minutes after the [Israeli] army’s warning to evacuate”. AFP photographs showed massive slabs of concrete and twisted metal scattered across the site after the strike. The blast left a gaping hole in one of the hospital’s buildings, with iron doors torn from their hinges. Another air strike on Sunday (local time) on a vehicle in the city of Deir el-Balah killed seven people including six brothers, the civil defence agency said. Patients stranded in streets Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Sunday that the military would expand its offensive if Hamas “persists in its refusal” to free the remaining hostages. “Gaza will become smaller and more isolated, and more of its residents will be forced to evacuate from the combat zones,” he said, adding that hundreds of thousands had already evacuated. Patients, relatives and medical personnel found themselves stranded in the streets after the strike on Al-Ahli hospital. Naela Imad, 42, had been sheltering at the hospital but had to rush out of the complex. “Just as we reached the hospital gate, they bombed it. It was a massive explosion,” she told AFP. “Now, me and my children are out on the street... The hospital was our last refuge.” Hamas condemned what it described as a “savage crime” committed by Israel. Qatar, which helped mediate a fragile ceasefire between the warring parties that fell apart last month, denounced it as “a heinous crime”, as did Saudi Arabia. Also on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for advocating a Palestinian state. “President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land — a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement. Macron, in an interview to France 5 this week, stated that France could take the step at a UN conference in New York in June, saying he hoped this would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries. Hospitals repeatedly targeted Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Al-Ahli was heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, 2023 that caused multiple fatalities. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel on Sunday to halt the “deplorable attacks” on hospitals. Last month, Israeli forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza, killing 15 medics and rescuers in an attack that sparked international condemnation. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that a medic who had been missing since the attack, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was “being held by Israeli authorities”. The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944. The ceasefire had largely put a halt to the fighting in Gaza for two months, but Israel restarted intense strikes in mid-March, with Palestinian militants resuming rocket fire from the territory days later. The Israeli military said on Sunday that it intercepted a projectile launched from Gaza. Later on Sunday, it said it had also intercepted a missile launched from Yemen. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, said they had fired two ballistic missiles on Israel, including one that targeted Ben Gurion airport. -Agence France-Presse Sun, 13 Apr 2025 23:42:32 Z /news/world/tech-tariff-exemptions-may-be-short-lived-us-officials-say/ /news/world/tech-tariff-exemptions-may-be-short-lived-us-officials-say/ Recent exemptions to US import tariffs may be short-lived, with China urging their complete removal. The exemptions benefit US tech companies but could be reversed with upcoming sector-specific tariffs. Trump’s tariff strategy has caused economic turbulence, with criticism from Wall Street and global uncertainty. Recent exemptions to sweeping US import tariffs may be short-lived, top officials have warned, as China urged the Trump administration to simply abandon its aggressive trade tax policy altogether. The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports. Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145%, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% band on American imports. The US side appeared to dial down the pressure slightly on Friday (local time), listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source. But Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said the move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy. The new exemptions will benefit US tech companies like Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China. Relief could be short-lived The relief could, however, be short-lived with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defence networks. Trump has said he will give “very specific” details on Monday, and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two”. The US President sent financial markets into a tailspin earlier this month by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners, only to abruptly announce a 90-day pause for most of them. China was excluded from the reprieve. The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first. Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for a talk between the President and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. China looks elsewhere China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm. Xi on Monday kicks off a five-day Southeast Asia tour for talks with the leaders of Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia. The fallout from Trump’s tariffs — and subsequent whiplash policy reversals — has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging. Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires — including a number of his own supporters — have openly criticised the whole tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive. The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends. “We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS. -Agence France-Presse Sun, 13 Apr 2025 22:22:09 Z /news/world/trump-insists-tariff-policy-works-despite-market-turmoil-china-retaliation/ /news/world/trump-insists-tariff-policy-works-despite-market-turmoil-china-retaliation/ Donald Trump claimed his tariff policy benefits the US and the world, despite China’s 125% tariffs. Stock markets fluctuated and the dollar fell as the US-China trade war intensified. Chinese President Xi Jinping stated China is “not afraid” and urged resistance to “unilateral bullying.” President Donald Trump says his tariff policy is working and will benefit the United States and the world, despite China hiking tariffs on US goods to 125% in a deepening trade war. Traumatised stock markets seesawed, the dollar tumbled and US government bonds faced renewed pressure after Beijing’s retaliation intensified the confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies. In a message on social media on Friday, Trump continued to insist that “we are doing really well on our tariff policy”. “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote. Trump sent global financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of countries last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10% on Wednesday – although hiking them for China. But the subsequent bounce in the markets has faded with the realisation that the Washington-Beijing trade war is still spiralling. Chinese President Xi Jinping says China is not afraid despite the deepening trade war between his country and the US. Photo / Greg Bowker What Xi said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid”. Xi also said the European Union and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Then, Beijing announced that new tariffs of 125% on US goods would take effect Saturday – almost matching the staggering 145% level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America. A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said the United States bore full responsibility, deriding Trump’s tariffs as a “numbers game” that “will become a joke”. But China’s finance ministry said tariffs would not go any higher in an acknowledgment that almost no imports are possible at the new level. ‘We’ll end up working out something’ Trump had reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions. “He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters. But US officials have made it clear they expect Xi to make contact first. Pressure was growing on Trump, however, as markets continued to fret. Yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a safe haven, were up again Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright. Trump admitted he had been watching people get “queasy” over the bond market before making his stunning tariffs backtrack. Dollar falls Some traders speculated that China was offloading some of its vast holdings – which increase the cost of borrowing for the US Government – in retaliation for Trump’s measures. In a further sign of investor worry, the dollar fell to a three-year low against the euro and prices of gold, another safe haven, surged. Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve meanwhile warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead because of Trump’s tariff policy. Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote bank, told AFP the tariff figures were “so high that they don’t make sense any more”, but said China was “now ready to go as far as needed”. The rest of the world is still calibrating its response. EU/China summit planned Trump on Thursday described the European Union – which was originally hit with 20% tariffs by Trump – as “very smart” for refraining from retaliatory levies. Top EU officials and Chinese leaders are set to hold their next summit marking 50 years of ties in China in July, Brussels announced. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meanwhile hold talks in Washington on Monday. But the 27-nation bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times on Friday that it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” including a possible hit on digital services that would strike US tech firms. – Agence France-Presse Sun, 13 Apr 2025 04:00:04 Z /news/world/trump-exempts-smartphone-laptops-chips-in-china-tariff-backdown/ /news/world/trump-exempts-smartphone-laptops-chips-in-china-tariff-backdown/ The Trump administration has exempted a raft of consumer electronics from its punishing import tariffs - offering relief to US tech firms and partially dialling down a trade war with China. A notice late on Friday (Saturday NZT) by the US Customs and Border Protection office said smartphones, laptops, memory chips and other products would be excluded from the global levies President Donald Trump rolled out a week ago. Retaliatory Chinese import tariffs of 125% on US goods took effect on Saturday, with Beijing standing defiant against its primary trade competitor. Exempted products account for 20% of Chinese imports The exemptions will benefit US tech companies such as Nvidia and Dell, as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China. The step-down will generally narrow the impact of the staggering 145% tariffs Trump has imposed this year on Chinese goods entering the United States. US Customs data suggests the exempted items account for more than 20% of those Chinese imports, according to senior RAND researcher Gerard DiPippo. ‘Screwing in little screws’ Trump hinted at exemptions when he spoke to reporters late Friday on Air Force One. “There could be a couple of exceptions for obvious reasons, but I would say 10% is a floor,” Trump said. Despite the backdown, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “absolutely” believes iPhones can be made in America. Photo / Getty Images Earlier, administration officials said the tariffs on China would encourage the manufacturing of electronics in the US. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick last Sunday told CBS 九一星空无限 that “great American workers” would build and operate new factories in the US and an “army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing, is going to come to America”. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the statement and said “absolutely” Trump believes iPhones can be made in America. Tech relief Daniel Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, called the US exemptions the “best news possible” for tech investors. The exclusions remove “a huge black cloud” that had threatened to take the US tech sector “back a decade” and significantly slow AI development, Ives said in a note. Many of the exempted products, including hard drives and computer processors, are not generally made in the United States and Trump argues tariffs are a way to bring domestic manufacturing back. Commenting on the exemptions announcement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that the likes of Apple and Nvidia were still “hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States” as soon as possible. Many analysts, however, say it will likely take years to ramp up domestic production. Trade war fears Washington and Beijing’s escalating tariff battle has raised fears of an enduring trade war between the world’s two largest economies and sent global markets into a tailspin. The fallout has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging. Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires - including a number of his own supporters - have openly criticised the whole tariff strategy as damaging and counter-productive, while key ally Elon Musk has reposted pro-free trade comments on X and attacked Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro as “truly a moron”. China ‘not afraid’ Even with Washington and Beijing going toe to toe and financial markets in turmoil, Trump has remained adamant that his tariff policy is on the right track. Beijing, meanwhile, has vowed not to give in to what it sees as bullying tactics, and - in his first comments on the tensions - President Xi Jinping stressed Friday that China was “not afraid”. Economists warn the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession. China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that US tariffs will “inflict serious harm” on poor nations. “The United States has continuously introduced tariff measures, bringing enormous uncertainty and instability to the world, causing chaos both internationally and domestically within the US,” Wang told WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a call. The White House says Trump remains “optimistic” of securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first. -Agence France-Presse. With reporting by Herald staff Sat, 12 Apr 2025 21:11:16 Z /news/world/six-dead-after-helicopter-crashes-into-new-york-s-hudson-river-reports/ /news/world/six-dead-after-helicopter-crashes-into-new-york-s-hudson-river-reports/ A helicopter has crashed into the Hudson River in New York today, emergency services say, as local media reported multiple deaths in the incident. Several people were pulled from the water and taken to a hospital in New Jersey, the NBC4 broadcaster reported, citing law enforcement at the scene, adding that four had died. ABC7 reported three fatalities, although emergency services had yet to confirm any toll. Images showed the chopper’s landing skids protruding from the river beside Manhattan’s West Side Highway as several boats clustered around the impact site. Police from both New York and New Jersey, which is on the opposite side of the river from Manhattan, were at the scene along with fire department vessels. The NBC4 channel reported that its own helicopter was unable to take off because of conditions, with the weather in New York windy under thick cloud cover. JUST IN: Helicopter crashes into Hudson River; no word on injuriespic.twitter.com/a5NsjAIrdD— BNO 九一星空无限 Live (@BNODesk) April 10, 2025 Witnesses told the outlet that the main rotor blade had come loose from the aircraft. Aircraft tracking service FlightRadar24 reported that based on air traffic control data the helicopter was likely a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV. The river is a busy shipping channel and the scene of a dramatic 2009 incident when a US Airways jet safely landed in the water. All 155 people on board escaped with their lives in an event dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson”. The river is as deep as 60m at points, and the images of the helicopter appeared to show floatation devices deployed on the aircraft’s skids. BREAKING: A helicopter crashed in the Hudson River near New York City on Thursday afternoon, and fatalities have been reported, law enforcement sources told ABC 九一星空无限.At least four people were on board, according to fire officials. https://t.co/Ddfy1Z72Jb pic.twitter.com/zoSGmftgDX— ABC 九一星空无限 (@ABC) April 10, 2025 The average temperature of the river is 8C at this time of year, according to the US Geological Survey. There is a heliport close to the Hudson Yards development but it was unclear if the aircraft was heading to or from the facility. “Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas,” the New York Police Department wrote in a statement. A fire service spokesperson said that “we got the call at 3.17pm local time” about a “helicopter in the water,” but was unable to give other information. New Jersey State Police did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. There have been around 30 helicopter crashes in New York since 1980, Brooklyn Borough President Mark Levine told reporters, calling for tighter restrictions on helicopter traffic in the city. -Gregory Walton, Agence France-Presse Thu, 10 Apr 2025 20:47:44 Z /news/world/white-house-to-ignore-journalists-who-use-pronouns-in-email-bios/ /news/world/white-house-to-ignore-journalists-who-use-pronouns-in-email-bios/ White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said she will not engage with reporters listing pronouns. Reporters from the New York Times and Crooked Media were denied responses for using pronouns in emails. The Air Force’s ban on pronouns in email signatures violated the 2024 National Defence Authorisation Act. The White House’s top spokesperson says she will not engage with reporters who list their pronouns in their email signatures, the Trump administration’s latest move to target expressions of gender identity in the workplace. “Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Washington Post. The White House did not respond to follow-up questions about when a formal policy on the matter had been implemented or confirm whether this would apply to all correspondence between reporters and other White House officials outside the press office. But at least one Washington Post reporter has recently received replies from White House officials despite having an email signature listing pronouns. Reporters at other news outlets appear to have experienced this snub over pronouns first-hand. The New York Times reported earlier that three of its reporters were denied responses from the White House because they listed pronouns in their emails. Matt Berg, a correspondent for the outlet Crooked Media, also said he listed his pronouns in his email to a Trump administration spokesperson as an experiment and was denied any information because of it. Including one’s pronouns in introductions, over email and in-person, has become normalised across many industries in recent years as a way to show support with the transgender or non-binary community and prevent misgendering. But the practice has been fiercely rejected by Republican politicians, some of whom have introduced bills limiting pronoun changes at schools or mocked the use of pronouns in introductions. On January 29, the White House ordered federal agencies to stop using any email features that prompt users for pronouns. President Donald Trump also issued an executive order on January 20, the day he was inaugurated, declaring that the official policy of the US would be to recognise two sexes, male and female. In Texas, Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest allies, and Republican Governor Greg Abbott celebrated the firing of a Texas worker over his refusal to remove his pronouns from his email signature. The US Air Force had also announced a ban on using “preferred pronouns” in email signatures, social media and official websites, before officials realised that such a measure violated a provision of the 2024 National Defence Authorisation Act, which prohibits any policy “regarding identification of gender or personal pronouns in official correspondence” – for or against. The announcement comes shortly after a judge ordered the White House to lift restrictions it had placed on reporters for the Associated Press for continuing to use the Gulf of Mexico instead of what Trump renamed the Gulf of America. AP reporters were banned from Oval Office events, Air Force One and other official presidential events for nearly two months. Thu, 10 Apr 2025 08:49:56 Z /news/world/donald-trump-told-people-to-buy-hours-later-his-tariff-pause-sent-markets-soaring/ /news/world/donald-trump-told-people-to-buy-hours-later-his-tariff-pause-sent-markets-soaring/ Less than four hours before President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pausing tariffs sent markets soaring, he posted online telling his 9.4 million followers that it was a good time to buy. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” he posted on his social media site, Truth Social, at 9.37am Eastern time on Wednesday. Shortly after 1pm, he announced on the same site that he would pause most new tariffs, causing the ailing stock markets to sharply rise. Democrats are now accusing Trump of “market manipulation,” and the term is trending on the social media platform X, with more than 33,000 posts. “The President of the United States is literally engaging in the world’s biggest market manipulation scheme,” the Democrats from the House Committee on Financial Services posted on X on Wednesday afternoon. Trump has long drawn questions from ethics experts about his various business holdings, and after he was elected he made no promises to divest from any of his financial interests. Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children, the White House said. The president holds much of his net worth in his stake in Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group. That company trades at the ticker DJT, the president’s initials and the sign-off he used in Wednesday morning’s Truth Social post. The company’s stock rallied with the broader markets after the tariff announcement, closing the day up more than 21%. The White House pushed back on Wednesday on the idea that Trump improperly manipulated the markets. “It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of non-stop media fear mongering,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. It’s not the first time Trump has encouraged people to buy stock - amid a market slide in 2018, during his first term, he told reporters it was a “tremendous opportunity to buy.” In an interview, Representative Steven Horsford (Democrat, Nevada) said Trump’s post raised suspicion that members of the administration may be trading on information about tariffs in advance of it being disclosed to the public. “It’s my concern that the administration may be using trade policy to give insider information to individuals before impending actions or inactions,” he said. “If it occurred, that is market manipulation.” Horsford said he is calling for a full investigation into who may have profited from this information, but he acknowledged that carrying out such a probe would be difficult when the administration has fired many of the inspectors general who normally provide such oversight. Typically, cases of potential market manipulation are first investigated by exchanges, including Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, whose investigators look for trading anomalies and unusual patterns by individual traders, said James Angel, a finance professor at Georgetown University. If they find evidence of unusual activity they report it to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which determines whether enough evidence exists to build a case against someone for improper disclosures or trades, he said. In this case, it’s unclear whom the SEC would build a case against because nobody knows who may have benefited from Trump’s post. Officers and large shareholders of companies are required to disclose their trades, but private individuals who may have benefited from Trump’s post are generally not required to disclose that information to the public. As the key decision-maker around tariff policy, Trump did have access to information that regulators would consider “material” to the value of stocks when he made his “great time to buy” post. However, his comment was so general that it would be difficult for anyone to build a case that it represented a disclosure violation, Angel said. “Our securities laws outlaw any kind of fraud or manipulation, but it’s often hard to prove manipulation,” Angel said. “I doubt regulators would go after someone who says it’s a good time to buy.” But others say the President is opening himself up to scrutiny with his post. Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush White House, said Trump was taking big risks by posting on social media in ways that explicitly referred to the markets. Trump exposes himself to allegations that he’s engaging in market manipulation, potentially giving insider tips “or other forms of securities fraud,” he said. The post could also trigger federal investigations or private lawsuits from any investors who lose money on his recommendation. “He’s playing with fire,” Painter said, adding that he didn’t believe the conduct would count as “official acts” as part of his duties as president. Major stock indexes climbed sharply after days of losses following the tariff announcements last week. The S&P 500 closed up 9.5%, and the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 8%. Trump’s posts may have at least one less visible effect than the stock market swings. “After today, a bunch of hedge funds are going to have their computers following Truth Social and trading on the President’s tweets,” Angel said. Thu, 10 Apr 2025 03:18:12 Z /news/world/us-pallbearers-fall-into-grave-during-botched-burial/ /news/world/us-pallbearers-fall-into-grave-during-botched-burial/ Pallbearers fell into an open grave in Philadelphia when a wooden platform collapsed. Benjamin Aviles’ son was injured, with the casket landing on him, knocking him unconscious. The family blames Greenmount Cemetery and Rodriguez Funeral Home, calling the platform ‘wobbly’. Video has captured the horrific moment the ground under a group of pallbearers gave way – and sent them tumbling into an open grave alongside the coffin. The botched burial took place in the United States city of Philadelphia. Family and friends of Benjamin Aviles were preparing to lay their loved one to rest on March 21 when a wooden platform above the grave gave way. The pallbearers were all injured as they fell in, Aviles’ stepdaughter, Maribelle Rodriguez, told 6 Action 九一星空无限. The pallbearers fell into the grave. Photo / 6 Action 九一星空无限 The dead man’s son suffered the worst. “The casket lay on top of him, and he was out like a light with his face in the mud,” Rodriguez said. The family blame Greenmount Cemetery and the Rodriguez Funeral home for what happened, saying the platform was “wobbly”. “The whole thing was trembling,” Rodriguez said. “It was just a horrible incident that happened at a bad moment.” Thu, 10 Apr 2025 01:43:23 Z /news/world/kiwi-facebook-insider-sarah-wynn-williams-claims-meta-aided-china-lied-to-us-congress/ /news/world/kiwi-facebook-insider-sarah-wynn-williams-claims-meta-aided-china-lied-to-us-congress/ Sarah Wynn-Williams alleged Meta collaborated with the Chinese Government on AI and censorship, then lied to the US Congress. Wynn-Williams claimed the Facebook owner worked with Chinese officials, developing censorship tools tested in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Meta’s Andy Stone denied the allegations, stating the company’s services are blocked in China. The former Kiwi Facebook employee behind a scathing book about parent company Meta has alleged that the social networking giant collaborated with the Chinese Government on artificial intelligence, censorship and more – and then lied to Congress about what it was doing. Former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, told members of a Senate committee that top Facebook executives met routinely with Chinese officials, schooling them on technology to compete with US companies and even building products to appease Beijing’s government censors. “The greatest trick [Meta founder and CEO] Mark Zuckerberg ever pulled was wrapping the American flag around himself and calling himself a patriot and saying he didn’t offer services in China while he spent the last decade building an $18 billion business there,” Wynn-Williams said of the Meta co-founder and chief executive. Wynn-Williams said she saw Meta work “hand-in-glove” with the Chinese Communist Party to construct censorship tools tested on users in Taiwan and Hong Kong. “When Beijing demanded that Facebook delete the account of a prominent Chinese dissident living on American soil, they did it and then lied to Congress when asked about the incident in a Senate hearing,” Wynn-Williams said. Kiwi Facebook insider Sarah Wynn-Williams alleged Meta collaborated with the Chinese Government on artificial intelligence, censorship and more. Photo / AFP Meta communications director Andy Stone told AFP Wynn-Williams’ testimony was “divorced from reality and riddled with false claims”. “While Mark Zuckerberg himself was public about our interest in offering our services in China and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago, the fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today,” he added. The company’s family of apps is currently blocked in China. Meta’s open-source artificial intelligence (AI) platform Llama can be used there, as can its Oculus virtual reality gear, hearing testimony indicated. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who initiated the hearing, cited documents and testimony provided by Wynn-Williams to accuse Zuckerberg of lying during past congressional hearings. “The truth is, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have lied to the American people repeatedly,” Hawley said. Careless People book recounts work at tech titan Wynn-Williams’ book, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism, was released last month and became a bestseller, despite Meta winning an arbitration court order barring the author from promoting the work or making derogatory statements about the company. Her book recounts working at the tech titan and includes claims of sexual harassment by long-time company executive Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and ally of President Donald Trump who took over as head of Meta’s global affairs team this year. Meta took the matter to arbitration, contending the book violates a non-disparagement contract signed by Wynn-Williams when she worked with the company’s global affairs team. “The measure of how important these truths are is directly proportional to the ferocity of Meta’s efforts to censor and intimidate me,” Wynn-Williams told Senators. Careless People ranks second on a New York Times bestseller list of non-fiction books. – Agence France-Presse Thu, 10 Apr 2025 01:15:51 Z /news/world/trump-raises-china-tariffs-to-125-pauses-others-at-10/ /news/world/trump-raises-china-tariffs-to-125-pauses-others-at-10/ US President Donald Trump announced a 125% tariff on goods from China, effective immediately.  Tariffs against seventy-five other countries are paused for ninety days, with a 10% tariff.  Trump cited China’s “lack of respect” for world markets as the reason for the increase.  US President Donald Trump this morning announced he is raising tariffs on goods from China to 125%. In a post on his favoured platform, Truth Social he said: “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. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.” US stocks immediately rocketed higher after Trump’s announcement. STORY CONTINUES AFTER THE LIVEBLOG (function(n){function c(t,i){n[e](h,function(n){var r,u;if(n&&(r=n[n.message?"message":"data"]+"",r&&r.substr&&r.substr(0,3)==="nc:")&&(u=r.split(":"),u[1]===i))switch(u[2]){case"h":t.style.height=u[3]+"px";return;case"scrolltotop":t.scrollIntoView();return}},!1)}for(var t,u,f,i,s,e=n.addEventListener?"addEventListener":"attachEvent",h=e==="attachEvent"?"onmessage":"message",o=n.document.querySelectorAll(".live-center-embed"),r=0;r',c(t.firstChild,i)))})(window); STORY CONTINUES  The president’s post on Truth Social lifted the three major indexes towards one of their best days on record. By mid-afternoon, the US market had gained about US$4.8 trillion in market value. “More than 75 Countries” Trump wrote, “have called to negotiate a solution ... and have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form.” Because of that, he wrote, “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.” Donald Trump has slammed China's "behaviour". Photo / Getty Images  During a press conference following the announcement Trump was asked how he could have credibility with so much changing back and forth. Trump told reporters, “you have to have flexibility”. “You can’t say, ‘here’s a wall, I’m going to go through it’. Sometimes you have to go around the wall, under the wall ... financial markets, look how much they changed today - you have to be flexible.” Trump said nothing was over yet and they have a “tremendous amount of spirit from other countries” - including China. “China wants to make a deal, they just don’t know how to go about it. [They’re] quite the proud people, and President Xi is a proud man. “I know him very well, and they don’t know quite how to go about it, but they’ll figure it out. “They’re in the process of figuring out, but they want to make a deal.” Asked why he posted to “be cool” just hours before announcing a tariff reversal, Donald Trump said he “thought people were jumping a little bit out of line”, Sky 九一星空无限 reported. “They were getting yippy, you know, were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.” He was watching the bond market last night and knew people were getting “a little queasy”, Sky 九一星空无限 reported from Trump’s press conference. Replying to the suggestion his latest decisions were in response to movement in the bond market, Trump said: “The bond market right now is beautiful.” “The big move wasn’t what I did today, the big move was what I did on Liberation Day. “We had Liberation Day in America. We liberated from all of the horrible deals that were made, all the horrible trade deals that were made.” Magic roundabout A New Zealand money market expert is describing the latest about-face on US tariffs as a “magic roundabout” with US trade policy moving like a yo-yo and uncertainty in the financial sector sitting at “defcon 5”. JMI Wealth’s Andrew Kelleher told 九一星空无限talk ZB’s Mike Hosking the world was living in an alternative universe after today’s tariff announcement pause. “Crazy stuff continues. The US sharemarket has absolutely exploded to the upside. A 10% move on the Nasdac, 8% moves on the S&P 500, Dow Jones, 6-7. Who knows where that will close?” Kelleher said. Meanwhile the trade war with China was really “ramping up” and all the “crazily calculated tariffs” were now off the table with a baseline tariff for everyone for the next 90 days. However, there was confusion in the European market whether it was included in the equation given it too was moving to retaliatory action. “There are just no facts, there’s a lack of clarity and the usual colourful rhetoric from the White House media spokesperson”, Kelleher said. He said facts would be great but they seem to be hard to come by. Kelleher said it seemed the policy around trade and tariffs was being made “on the hoof” and all power was in Trump’s hands. The Kiwi dollar had jumped on the back of the pause announcement, but uncertainty levels were at “defcon 5” and were driving markets higher. “But who knows what’s going to be announced next? We’ve just got to sit and wait for this day-to-day yo-yo. “The magic roundabout I’m calling it.” Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Donald Trump’s “strategy” had played out as planned after the US president paused tariffs for most countries while hitting China harder. “This was his strategy all along, and you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position,” Bessent told reporters at the White House after Trump’s abrupt backtrack. He said China was the “most imbalanced economy” in modern history, posing trade problems for the United States and other countries. “China is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world and they are the biggest source of the US trade problems,” Bessent told reporters, saying US tariffs on Chinese imports have caused its goods to flow into Europe. He said China’s economy poses problems for the rest of the world. JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon had said the economy was likely headed for a recession. More to come. - Wall Street Journal and AFP with additional reporting by NZ Herald Wed, 09 Apr 2025 19:10:30 Z /news/world/dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-kills-nearly-100-including-singer/ /news/world/dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-kills-nearly-100-including-singer/ The roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a Rubby Perez concert, killing nearly 100 people. Among the dead were singer Rubby Perez and retired MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel. President Luis Abinader has declared three days of national mourning. Rescuers raced to find survivors today after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of nearly 100 people killed in the disaster. Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort which, more than 24 hours after the roof caved in, began to be limited more to recovering bodies. Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was on stage at the popular Jet Set nightclub when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight on Tuesday (local time), was one of those killed, according to his manager. “We are waiting for the children to reach an agreement for the funeral,” Perez’s manager Enrique Paulino told AFP. Helicopter images reveal the club’s collapsed roof. Photo / AFP About 370 rescue personnel combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors. Also among the dead was 51-year-old retired Major League Baseball pitcher Octavio Dotel, who won a World Series in 2011 with the St Louis Cardinals. He was rescued alive but died of his injuries while being taken to hospital, local media reported. A black-and-white photo of the player and images of the Dominican flag were projected on to the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday’s game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins. “Peace to his soul,” the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote on social media. Local media said there were between 500 and 1000 people in the club when disaster struck around 12.44am on Tuesday. The club has capacity for 700 people seated and about 1000 people standing. Dozens of ambulances ferried the injured to hospital, as scores of people gathered outside the venue desperately seeking news of their loved ones. Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to witness reports. Perez’s daughter Zulinka told reporters she managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not. Also among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, according to President Luis Abinader. The President visited the scene and declared three days of national mourning. The death toll started at 15 and kept rising throughout Tuesday. By early Wednesday, the preliminary toll had reached 98, said Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Centre. “As long as there is hope for life, all authorities will be working to recover or rescue these people,” he said earlier. ‘We are desperate’ Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son. “At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table,” she said. “A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out,” Pena recounted. “The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.” Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news. “We are desperate,” Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. “They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything.” Helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club’s roof once was. A crane helped lift some of the heavier rubble as men in hard hats dug through the debris. Authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood. The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours. Its last post before Monday’s event invited fans to come and “enjoy his [Perez’s] greatest hits and dance in the country’s best nightclub”. On Tuesday, the club issued a statement saying it was working “fully and transparently” with authorities. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, received more than 11 million visitors in 2024, according to the tourism ministry. Tourism generates about 15% of GDP, visitors attracted by its music and nightlife, Caribbean beaches, as well as the colonial architecture of the capital Santo Domingo. -Agence France-Presse Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:00:31 Z /news/world/musk-brands-trump-aide-dumber-than-a-sack-of-bricks-in-tariff-spat/ /news/world/musk-brands-trump-aide-dumber-than-a-sack-of-bricks-in-tariff-spat/ Billionaire Elon Musk has blasted President Donald Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro as “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” in a growing rift over the US tariff policy that has rocked the world.  The extraordinary public spat came after Navarro described the Tesla boss and so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) chief as “not a car manufacturer” but “a car assembler” who relies on imported parts.  Musk, the world’s richest person, has previously signalled his opposition to the president’s new import tariffs that have roiled markets.  “Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk posted on his X social network, under a clip of Navarro saying Tesla imported batteries, electronics and tyres, and that Musk “wants the cheap foreign parts”.  Peter Navarro is in a war of words with Elon Musk. Photo / Getty Images  Musk doubled down in a series of other messages, saying that “Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”  Musk also dubbed him “Peter Retarrdo” and said Navarro “should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara” – referring to a fictional pundit Navarro quoted in a series of books and a policy memo, using an anagram of his own name.  The White House played down the row.  “Boys will be boys and we will let their public sparring continue,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing when asked if the spat would harm the White House’s messaging on tariffs.  “Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs.”  Musk recently backed the idea of a free-trade zone between North America and Europe - a wish at odds with Trump’s flagship tariffs.  ‘Car assembler’  The US president has ruled out any pause in his aggressive stance despite retaliatory action from China and signs of criticism from within his normally loyal Republican Party.  But there have also been conflicting messages from within the White House itself.  A long-time China hawk, Navarro has been one of the most hardline voices on tariffs, and targeted Musk in an interview with CNBC.  “When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon’s a car manufacturer. But he’s not a car manufacturer – he’s a car assembler in many cases,” Navarro said.  “If you go to his Texas plant ... the batteries come from Japan and from China, the electronics come from Taiwan.”  The row came a day after Navarro insisted in an opinion piece in the Financial Times that the tariffs were “not a negotiation” – only for Trump to admit later that he was in fact open to some negotiations.  The spat is all the more unusual because of the mesh of loyalties involved.  Trump has strongly defended Musk after a series of vandalism attacks and protests against Tesla over Doge’s cost-cutting drive – even turning the White House into a pop-up showroom for the electric vehicles in a show of support.  Navarro, however, has proven his loyalty to Trump by serving a four-month jail sentence for contempt after refusing to testify to Congress on the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.  -Agence France-Presse  Tue, 08 Apr 2025 19:06:12 Z /news/world/trump-announces-us-iran-nuclear-talks-amid-tensions-with-israel/ /news/world/trump-announces-us-iran-nuclear-talks-amid-tensions-with-israel/ US President Donald Trump announced direct high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear programme starting on Sunday. Tehran confirmed indirect talks in Oman, emphasising the opportunity and challenge for the US. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump discussed freeing hostages from Gaza and US-Israel trade issues. US President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear programme on Sunday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking in the Oval Office today, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran but warned the Islamic republic would be in “great danger” if the talks failed. Hours later, Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Sunday in Oman but stressed they were “indirect” talks. “Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on [Sunday] for indirect high-level talks,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test,” he added. “The ball is in America’s court.” Netanyahu, meanwhile, said the US and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran’s ally Hamas has collapsed. “We’re dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on [Sunday] and we’re dealing with them directly,” Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel’s bid to avoid US tariffs. Trump did not say where the talks would take place but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at “almost the highest level”. US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. Photo / AFP Trump’s stunning announcement came a day after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country’s nuclear programme, calling the idea pointless. The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached. Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however. “I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran’s going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said. Meanwhile, officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue in Moscow. Trump’s revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to plead personally for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world. The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade “barriers”. His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting. Gaza talks Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed. Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war. “We’re working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we’re committed to getting all the hostages out,” he said. Trump also doubled down on his plan for the US to “control” the Gaza Strip, which he described as a “great piece of real estate”. He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February. Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office. Their planned press conference was cancelled at short notice without explanation — an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office. The Israeli premier’s visit is his second to Washington since Trump’s return to power and comes at short notice — just days after the president slapped a 17% tariff on Israel in his “Liberation Day” announcement last week. Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel. Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday soon after his arrival, according to his office. The Israeli premier also met Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. - Agence France-Presse Tue, 08 Apr 2025 03:44:00 Z /news/world/nz-traders-face-frightening-honour-as-trump-vows-huge-new-china-tariffs-asian-markets-nosedive/ /news/world/nz-traders-face-frightening-honour-as-trump-vows-huge-new-china-tariffs-asian-markets-nosedive/ Donald Trump announced 34% in new tariffs against China in his ‘Liberation Day’ speech.  Beijing responded with 34% duties on US goods, set to take effect Thursday.  Trump today threatened new 50% tariffs on China, sending global stocks into a third trading day of heavy losses. Hong Kong collapsed by 13.2%, but Wall Street was down less than 1%  US President Donald Trump on Monday (Tuesday NZT) threatened new tariffs of 50% on China, ratcheting up a trade war even as a dramatic selloff in global markets gathered pace. In late trading, the Dow was down 1.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq down 0.4% as the market turned negative, following early gains on rumours of a tariff pause. Trump upended the world economy last week with sweeping tariffs that have raised fears of an international recession and triggered criticism even from within his own Republican Party. (function(n){function c(t,i){n[e](h,function(n){var r,u;if(n&&(r=n[n.message?"message":"data"]+"",r&&r.substr&&r.substr(0,3)==="nc:")&&(u=r.split(":"),u[1]===i))switch(u[2]){case"h":t.style.height=u[3]+"px";return;case"scrolltotop":t.scrollIntoView();return}},!1)}for(var t,u,f,i,s,e=n.addEventListener?"addEventListener":"attachEvent",h=e==="attachEvent"?"onmessage":"message",o=n.document.querySelectorAll(".live-center-embed"),r=0;r',c(t.firstChild,i)))})(window); In response to Trump’s tariffs, Beijing – Washington’s major economic rival – unveiled its own 34% duties on US goods to come into effect on Thursday. The US President on Monday chastised China for not heeding “my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate”. He said on social media that if China did not immediately back down “the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th”. President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office. Photo / Getty Images  With the incoming 34% rate and new 50% threat, the total additional tariffs this year could hit 104%, the White House told AFP.  Stock markets and oil prices collapsed further, as trading floors across the world were overcome by waves of selling after last week’s sharp losses.  Wall Street was racked by volatility, bouncing into positive territory on hopes of a 90-day pause in tariffs, only to sink lower when those were dashed by the White House.  Hong Kong collapses  Hong Kong collapsed by 13.2% on Monday, its worst day in nearly three decades.  Trillions of dollars have been wiped off combined stock market valuations in recent sessions.  Tokyo closed down by almost 8%. Frankfurt fell as much as 10% in early trading before paring back losses.  ‘Don’t be weak’  “Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid!” Trump urged Americans minutes before Wall Street opened.  “Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”  Trump scrapped any meetings with China over its retaliation, but said the United States was ready to open talks with all countries willing to negotiate.  A 10% “baseline” tariff on US imports from around the world took effect on Saturday but a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34% for Chinese goods and 20% for EU products.  Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Ling Ji said its tit-for-tat duties “are aimed at bringing the United States back on to the right track of the multilateral trade system”.  “The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling told representatives of US companies on Sunday.  EU trade ministers gathered in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the bloc’s response, with Germany and France having advocated a tax targeting US tech giants.  “We must not exclude any option on goods, on services,” said French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.  The 27-nation bloc should “open the European toolbox, which is very comprehensive and can also be extremely aggressive,” he said.  But signs of divergence emerged from Ireland, whose low corporate tax rate has attracted US tech and pharmaceutical companies.  Targeting services “would be an extraordinary escalation,” said Irish Trade Minister Simon Harris.  Inflation? Recession?  Bitcoin tumbled, while the dollar rebounded after sharp losses last week.  The 78-year-old Republican believes that the tariffs will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing foreign companies to relocate to US soil, rather than making goods abroad.  But most economists question his theory and say his tariff figures on importing countries are arbitrary.  JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned the tariffs “will likely increase inflation”, in a letter to shareholders.  “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he said.  “The market’s telling you in plain language: global demand is vanishing, and a global recession is on the cards and coming on fast,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.  US Senator Ted Cruz – a staunch Trump loyalist – warned of a jobs crunch and rising inflation that would threaten the Republican hold on Congress.  Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel – hit with 17% tariffs despite being one of Washington’s closest allies – was due on Monday to become the first leader to meet Trump since last week’s announcement.  - Agence France-Presse  Mon, 07 Apr 2025 19:09:45 Z /news/world/torrential-rains-kill-dozens-in-dr-congo-capital/ /news/world/torrential-rains-kill-dozens-in-dr-congo-capital/ Heavy downpours in Kinshasa have killed around 30 people and devastated several suburbs. Rising waters paralysed the city, cutting off traffic on National Rd 1 and causing huge congestion. Residents criticised the authorities’ response, citing poor maintenance and inadequate sewerage systems. Heavy downpours in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa have killed around 30 people while wreaking havoc across the central African megacity, an official told AFP on Sunday. After the rain poured down overnight from Friday to Saturday, rising waters devastated several outlying and impoverished suburbs of the metropolis of some 17 million people, with some residents forced to navigate the streets by canoe. “There are many wounded who have been evacuated and for the moment we are in the 30s for the number of dead,” Patricien Gongo Abakazi, Kinshasa’s Provincial Minister of Public Health, told AFP. The victims either drowned or were killed when the walls of their homes collapsed, the doctor added. The rising waters have paralysed much of the haphazardly urbanised capital, cutting off traffic on National Rd 1, Kinshasa’s main thoroughfare, which leads from the city centre to the airport. “At around 2 pm, we suddenly noticed that the water was rising in the plot, and it just kept getting higher. As a precaution, we took the children to flee, as it was difficult to get through”, said Orline, a resident of the Masina commune in the east. Residents stand on a pole for safety as floodwaters engulf a road following heavy rains in the Ndjili district of Kinshasa. Photo / AFP Paddling in canoes In the eastern Debonhomme district, waters swallowed up dozens of cars, forcing some residents to swim or paddle in dug-out canoes, AFP journalists saw. Some victims were trapped in the upper levels of their homes after water invaded their ground floors. “The water has reached 1.5m high. We have just managed to save ourselves, the rest is trapped in our homes,” said Christophe Bola, a resident of the Ndanu quarter in Limete commune. Flooding caused huge traffic jams in a city where chronic congestion is the norm. Several residents told AFP journalists they were angry at what they saw as a tardy and inadequate reaction by the authorities. Neighbouring Kongo-Central province was also hit by the deluge. Flooding frequently proves deadly in Kinshasa, which sits on the banks of the Congo River, Africa’s second-largest, after the Nile. Poor maintenance and inadequate sewerage systems have left drainage pipes blocked by rubbish in many poorer neighbourhoods. Those living in makeshift shacks and quarters with unpaved streets are especially at risk. In 2022, at least 120 people were found dead in the capital after downpours caused landslides and flooding. Central Africa has been grappling with extreme downpours and thunderstorms since Thursday, notably in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Some 6.9 million people in west and central Africa were affected by torrential rains and severe flooding in 2024, according to data from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). - Agence France-Presse Mon, 07 Apr 2025 04:00:53 Z /news/world/trump-defiant-on-tariffs-as-50-nations-push-for-negotiations/ /news/world/trump-defiant-on-tariffs-as-50-nations-push-for-negotiations/ More than 50 countries have sought talks with Donald Trump to ease US tariffs. Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Trump to discuss 17% tariffs on Israeli exports. Markets have reacted negatively, with fears of continued turbulence and economic impact. More than 50 countries have sought talks with President Donald Trump in a scramble to ease punishing tariffs on exports to the United States, the White House says, as trade partners brace for further fallout. The Republican has remained defiant since unleashing the blitz of tariffs on stunned countries around the world last week, insisting that his policies “will never change” even as markets went into a tailspin. He took to the golf course on Sunday, according to his own post on Truth Social. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel – which has been hit with 17% tariffs, despite being one of Washington’s closest allies – will fly in for crunch talks with Trump on Monday. Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in a newspaper op-ed that “the world as we knew it has gone”, saying the status quo would increasingly hinge on “deals and alliances”. Time to talk Trump’s staggered deadlines have left space for some countries to negotiate, even as he insisted he would stand firm and his administration warned against any retaliation. “More than 50 countries have reached out to the President to begin a negotiation,” Kevin Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday, citing the US Trade Representative. Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse that counted the US as its biggest export market in the first quarter, has already requested a delay of at least 45 days to thumping 46% tariffs imposed by Trump. Hassett said countries seeking compromise were doing so “because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariffs”, as the administration continues to insist that the duties would not lead to major price rises in the United States. “I don’t think that you’re going to see a big effect on the consumer in the US,” he said. The President’s choice Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also told NBC’s Meet the Press that 50 countries had sought talks. But as for whether Trump will negotiate with them, “I think that’s a decision for President Trump,” Bessent said. “At this moment he’s created maximum leverage for himself ... I think we’re going to have to see what the countries offer, and whether it’s believable.” Other countries have been “bad actors for a long time, and it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks”, he claimed. Despite hopes for negotiations to avert the worst economic carnage, there was widespread fear that the markets bloodbath could continue into the new trading week. Demonstrators gather outside the Minnesota State Capitol during the nationwide "Hands Off!" protest against US President Donald Trump and his advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Kerem YUCEL / AFP) Hands off protest Market response In Saudi Arabia, where the markets were open on Sunday, the bourse was down 6.78% – the worst daily loss since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to state media. Larry Summers, formerly director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama, said “there is a very good chance there’s going to be more turbulence in markets the way we saw on Thursday and Friday”. A drop like that following the announcement of tariffs “signals that there’s likely to be trouble ahead, and people ought to be very cautious”, he wrote on X. Peter Navarro, Trump’s tariff guru, has pushed back against the mounting nervousness and insisted to investors that “you can’t lose money unless you sell”. “Right now, the smart strategy is not to panic, just stay in, because we are going to have the biggest boom in the stock market we’ve ever seen under the Trump policies,” Navarro, who has become the public face of tariffs, told Fox 九一星空无限. Russia’s omission Russia has not been targeted by the latest raft of tariffs, and Hassett cited talks with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine as the reason for their omission from the hit list. “There’s obviously an ongoing negotiation with Russia and Ukraine, and I think the President made the decision not to conflate the two issues. It doesn’t mean that Russia, in the fullest of time, is going to be treated wildly different than every other country,” Hassett said. On Wednesday a White House official suggested the reason for Russia’s omission was because trade was negligible thanks to sanctions. Trump has long insisted that countries around the world that sell products to the United States are in fact ripping Americans off, and he sees tariffs as a means to right that wrong. But many economists have warned that tariffs are passed on to consumers and that they could see price rises at home. -Agence France-Presse Sun, 06 Apr 2025 21:29:56 Z /news/world/magnitude-69-quake-strikes-off-papua-new-guinea-coast-usgs/ /news/world/magnitude-69-quake-strikes-off-papua-new-guinea-coast-usgs/ A magnitude 6.9 earthquake has struck off the Papua New Guinea coast, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).  The quake was at a depth of 49 kilometres, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).  The US Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 metres above the tide level are possible along some coasts of Papua New Guinea.  It says tsunami waves are forecast to be less than 0.3 metres above the tide level for the coasts of the Solomon Islands.  The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat to Australia from the quake.  No #tsunami threat to Australia from magnitude 7.0 #earthquake near NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Latest advice at https://t.co/Tynv3ZQpEq. pic.twitter.com/jhKXjontmC— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 4, 2025 The last major earthquake in Papua New Guinea occurred in March last year and killed five people.  That earthquake, in the East Sepik region on the main land mass of Papua New Guinea, was magnitude 6.9 and just over 40 kilometres deep.  More to come.  - Agence France-Presse with additional reporting by The New Zealand Herald  Fri, 04 Apr 2025 21:31:17 Z /news/world/liberation-day-new-zealand-and-the-world-to-learn-trump-tariff-fate/ /news/world/liberation-day-new-zealand-and-the-world-to-learn-trump-tariff-fate/ US President Donald Trump has imposed 10% tariffs on New Zealand goods. Trump announced reciprocal tariffs of half, saying “they do it to us, we do it to them.” America will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars. US stocks fell 2% in after hours trading following Trump’s tariff announcement. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced huge new tariffs of 34% on imports from China and 20% on imports from the European Union - two of the main US trade partners. Trump said that a baseline tariff of 10% would be imposed on imports from a wide range of other countries, but that some would come under far harsher duties, also including 24% on Japan and 26% on India. That baseline of 10% includes New Zealand which former diplomat Stephen Jacobi described as “unjustified, painful but at a lower level of pain than expected”. ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER LIVEBLOG  (function(n){function c(t,i){n[e](h,function(n){var r,u;if(n&&(r=n[n.message?"message":"data"]+"",r&&r.substr&&r.substr(0,3)==="nc:")&&(u=r.split(":"),u[1]===i))switch(u[2]){case"h":t.style.height=u[3]+"px";return;case"scrolltotop":t.scrollIntoView();return}},!1)}for(var t,u,f,i,s,e=n.addEventListener?"addEventListener":"attachEvent",h=e==="attachEvent"?"onmessage":"message",o=n.document.querySelectorAll(".live-center-embed"),r=0;r',c(t.firstChild,i)))})(window); ARTICLE CONTINUES  Kiwibank economists earlier this week said the global outlook is shrouded in uncertainty.  “That’s not great for the Kiwi ‘small, open’ economy.  “While we’ve managed to stay off the Trump tariff country hit list (for now), the ramifications of an escalated trade war could hurt us significantly.”  The scope of Trump’s proposed tariffs is raising fears of a global growth slowdown, Kiwibank said.  “And in that environment, demand for Kiwi exports will come under pressure.  “It certainly doesn’t help that our two key trading partners are at the forefront of the trade war. Such a scenario could stall the Kiwi economy’s expected recovery.”  Westpac economists said it’s likely Trump’s announcement won’t directly impact New Zealand outside of any general tariff applied to all countries.  “However, we doubt this will be the end of the story as the administration is likely working on sector-specific tariffs that could include the agricultural products NZ exports to the US.”  Speaking to The Country radio show last month, Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said Trump’s comments about agriculture were “worrying for New Zealand”.  Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: “To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”  McClay said: “It’s a very big beef market for us, high quality beef going up there, but actually a lot of our beef fat and tallow, they mix it with their beef and it goes into hamburger chains.  “The announcement around agricultural trade is extremely concerning.”  The US was the second-largest export destination for New Zealand goods in 2024, with a value of $9 billion, or 12% of our total exports by value, according to Stats NZ.  Meat exports led the way with $2.6b worth of trade, followed by dairy exports at $883 million.  The Meat Industry Association (MIA) and Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) wouldn’t comment on the matter amid significant uncertainty.  McClay said while there was no indication Trump was focused on New Zealand, “there is harm done to us”.  “Fisher and Paykel, as an example, have a manufacturing plant in Mexico selling into the US. They’re hit by the 25% tariffs,” he said.  “But ultimately, what happens is you put all of these tariffs on, we are not less competitive in that market because it’s on everybody, but it is harder to sell our product there.”  McClay said New Zealand was trade diverse with a wide network of Free Trade Agreements (FTA).  “The European Union FTA is not even into force a year, yet we’ve seen almost a 30% increase in exports from New Zealand to the EU.  “We will still do well, however, restrictions of trade and tariffs on New Zealand products going into the US is concerning and it will harm us.”  The tariff picture so far  Since taking office for a second term, Trump has escalated his protectionist trade policies.  In March, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium products.  China – a key target during Trump’s first term – was also hit with 20% tariffs on all Chinese goods.  Trump is currently waging an on-again, off-again 25% tariffs war with Mexico and Canada.  And more recently, Trump announced plans for 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts and has suspended a 10% tariff on Canadian oil and gas until April 2 (US time).  Trump has also threatened “reciprocal” levies on any country that imposes tariffs on the US.  Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based journalist with the Herald business team. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics such as retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.  Wed, 02 Apr 2025 19:48:12 Z /news/world/ukraine-russia-complain-to-us-about-strikes-on-energy-sites/ /news/world/ukraine-russia-complain-to-us-about-strikes-on-energy-sites/ Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of violating an unofficial deal to stop targeting energy sites. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the US to strengthen sanctions on Russia for these alleged violations. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov said complaints were given to US officials, including Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio. Both Ukraine and Russia complained to the United States about striking each other’s energy sites on Tuesday, with Kyiv calling on Washington to strengthen sanctions on Moscow for “violating” agreements made in Saudi Arabia. Each side has accused the other of breaking a supposed deal to stop firing on energy sites, though a formal agreement has not been put in place and what commitments each side has undertaken remain unclear. Following separate meetings with US officials, the White House said both Ukraine and Russia had “agreed to develop measures for implementing” an “agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his defence minister, Rustem Umerov, was in touch with US officials. US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine in 2019. Trump on Sunday warned Zelenskyy he would have "big problems" if Kyiv rejected the latest US proposal, details of which have not been published by either side. Photo / Doug Mills, The New York Times “We have passed on all the necessary information about Russian violations in the energy sector,” Zelenskyy said in his daily evening address. He earlier called on Washington to strengthen sanctions on Russia as a response. “I believe we have come to the point of increasing the sanctions impact, because I believe that the Russians are violating what they have promised America. At least what America has told us, and publicly,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv. “And we very much hope that President Trump has all these appropriate tools to increase the sanctions pressure on the Russian side.” He said Ukraine remains “ready” for an unconditional ceasefire with Russia. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier discussed allegations of Ukrainian “violations” in a private meeting of top security officials on Tuesday. Moscow also said it had handed its complaints to Washington. ‘List of violations’ “We passed a list of violations ... to the US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the meeting. “I have passed this list to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” he added. Russia’s defence ministry earlier accused Kyiv of striking Russian energy sites in the Russian region of Belgorod and the partially Moscow-controlled Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia. The allegations come hours after Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said tens of thousands were left without power in the southern Kherson region by a Russian strike. Local authorities later said power supplies had been restored. Russia has launched systematic aerial attacks on Ukrainian power plants and grids since invading in February 2022. Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional and full ceasefire. Sybiga also said Kyiv and Washington were holding fresh talks on a minerals agreement that would give the United States access to Ukrainian natural resources in return for more support. The two countries had planned to sign a deal in February on extracting Ukraine’s strategically important minerals, until a spectacular televised White House clash between Trump and Zelenskyy derailed the agreement. Trump on Sunday warned Zelenskyy he would have “big problems” if Kyiv rejected the latest US proposal, details of which have not been published by either side. - Agence France-Presse Wed, 02 Apr 2025 01:38:27 Z