A trader works in front of a board displaying the chart of Germany’s share index in Frankfurt western Germany on April 7, 2025. [AFP] European stock markets were expected to open deep in the red on Wednesday as futures contracts fell after US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on dozens of countries took effect. Around 40 minutes before markets were due to open, futures contracts — essentially bets on what the price of a stock will be at a later date — were down more than three percent in Paris and Frankfurt, and 2.5 percent in London. A trader works…
Author: By AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump listens as coal miner Jeff Crowe speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the White House on April 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] India’s central bank cut interest rates in the world’s fifth-largest economy on Wednesday as Donald Trump’s tariffs kicked in and policymakers warned of “challenging global economic conditions”. The cut, the second this year, aims to boost a slowing economy grappling with the impact US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, the level at which it lends to commercial banks, would…
This photo illustration shows Chinese 100 yuan notes (red) and US 100 dollar notes, in Beijing on April 8, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs on dozens of economies came into force Wednesday, including over 100 percent in levies against Chinese goods, sending markets into a tailspin again as the devastating global trade war intensified. Following the sweeping 10 percent tariffs that took effect over the weekend, rates on imports to the United States from exporters like the European Union or Japan rose further at 12.01 am (0401 GMT) Wednesday. China — Washington’s top economic rival but also…
A Palestinian man walks in a burnt building after a reported attack by Israeli settlers, in the village of Sadya near the West Bank city of Salfit on April 8, 2025. [AFP] The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli troops killed a 30-year-old woman near the West Bank city of Salfit on Tuesday after what the army described as an attempted stabbing. The ministry reported the death of Amana Ibrahim Mohammed Yaqub, 30, “who was shot by (Israeli) forces near Salfit”, south of Nablus. The Israeli military said it had “neutralised a terrorist who hurled rocks and attempted to stab soldiers…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during joint press conference with Belgium Prime Minister in Kyiv on April 8, 2025. [AFP] Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, military and economic cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened on the territory of Ukraine — in the Donetsk region,” Zelensky said in a post on social media. “We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards, and personal data,” Zelensky said in a post that included a video of one of the alleged Chinese prisoners. There was no…
Italian Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Pope Francis during a surprise appearance at the end of a mass for the sick and healthcare workers as part of the Jubilee Year in The Vatican, on April 4, 2025. [AFP] Pope Francis’s voice and mobility continue to improve, the Vatican said Tuesday as the 88-year-old Catholic leader recovers from life-threatening pneumonia. The Argentine pontiff spent five weeks in Rome’s Gemelli hospital before returning home to the Vatican on March 23 for what doctors said would be at least two months of convalescence. Despite being told to take it easy, Francis made a surprise…
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after inspection of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on April 8, 2025. [AFP] China’s expansion of its armed forces is “staggering”, NATO’s chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at “projecting” the alliance’s power in the Asia-Pacific region. “Let us not be naive about China,” Secretary General Mark Rutte told the Japan Times. “The build-up of their armed forces and investments in their defence industry, and in their defence capabilities, is staggering,” Rutte said in the interview published on Monday. The comment came as he visited…
Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in central London, on April 8, 2025. [AFP] Prince Harry was in a UK court on Tuesday for the latest stage of his legal challenge against a government decision to downgrade his personal security when he visits Britain. The self-exiled royal entered the Royal Courts of Justice in central London around 9:30 am (0830 GMT), AFP reporters saw, where judges at the complex’s Court of Appeal were to begin considering his case. Following Harry’s dramatic split with the royal family in 2020 and…
United Nations peacekeepers drive in vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) past destroyed buildings on April 6, 2025. [AFP] An Israeli strike Monday on southern Lebanon killed one person, according to the health ministry, with Israel’s military saying it had “eliminated” a Hezbollah commander in the latest raid despite a truce. Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, including two months of all-out war. The Lebanese health ministry said in a statement that an “Israeli enemy” strike…
A man walks past a screen showing Chinese stock market movements in Beijing on April 7, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump lashed out at China on Monday as a stock market rout deepened after Beijing retaliated against his global tariffs offensive. European equities were deep in the red but Asia fared worse, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index crashing 13.2 percent, its biggest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 falling an eye-watering 7.8 percent. A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect on Saturday but a slew of countries will…
US President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. [AFP] Note: This article was first published in February 2025. President Donald Trump’s plan for “reciprocal tariffs” on US trading partners are set to spark a flurry of negotiations that could bring reductions in levies- but analysts warn that it also risks painful retaliation. “This is every country, and essentially, when they treat us fairly, we treat them fairly,” Trump told reporters.…
Photo illustration shows an image generated by artificial-intelligence (AI) in the style of Studio Ghibli animation. [AFP] Artificial intelligence risks taking Japanese anime artists’ jobs but nothing can replicate Hayao Miyazaki, the creative lifeblood of the studio behind classics such as “Spirited Away”, his son told AFP. Thanks to ChatGPT’s new image generator, the internet is awash with pictures imitating Studio Ghibli’s whimsical style, raising fresh debate over potential copyright infringements. Movies such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Howl’s Moving Castle” are famous for their lush nature and fantastical machinery, painstakingly drawn by hand. While the studio has not commented…
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a so-called Fireside-Chat with the CEO of German carmaker Volkswagen (unseen) where they unveiled their cooperation for the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud developed with Microsoft, on February 27, 2019 in Berlin. [AFP] Microsoft has been at the heart of computing for half a century, becoming a tech stalwart almost taken for granted as lifestyles embraced the internet. As the company, founded with a vision of putting computers in every home and office, celebrates its 50th anniversary on Friday, it is looking to boost its fortunes by being a leader in the fast-developing field of…
A crew from Voice of America make a live report as they stand in a causeway leading to US President-elect Donald Trump’s estate in Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach on December 13, 2024. [AFP] President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday put journalists at Voice of America and other US-funded broadcasters on leave, abruptly freezing decades-old outlets long seen as critical to countering Russian and Chinese information offensives. Hundreds of staffers at VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other outlets received a weekend email saying they will be barred from their offices and should surrender press passes and office-issued…