Overseas News

In short:

A group of pro-Palestinian activists say their ship has been struck by drone fire in international waters off the coast of Malta.

Four Australian activists were preparing to board the ship in Malta and journey to Gaza with humanitarian aid.

What's next?

The Maltese government said "all crew were confirmed safe" and that a nearby tug had been directed to aid the vessel.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21314742

At Panchsheel Inter College in Uttar Pradesh, students now study inside a new school wing built not from concrete or traditional brick, but from sugarcane. The innovation was born at the University of East London (UEL) and its creators argue it could reshape how buildings are made and how the planet pays for it.

Sugarcrete combines the fibrous residues of sugarcane, called bagasse, with sand and mineral binders to produce lightweight, interlocking blocks. Lab tests show that Sugarcrete has strong fire resistance, acoustic dampening, and thermal insulation properties. It’s been tested to industrial standards and passed with flying colors. In terms of climate impact, the material is a standout. It’s six times less carbon-intensive than standard bricks, and twenty times less than concrete, by some estimates.

Yet the real excitement doesn’t only come from what Sugarcrete is, but how it’s made and used. It is purposely ‘open access’ in order to establish partnerships to produce new bio-waste-based construction materials where sugarcane is grown. Unlike conventional building materials locked behind patents, Sugarcrete can be made by anyone with the right ingredients and basic manufacturing tools. That choice decentralizes construction innovation, allowing small-scale producers — especially in the Global South — to lead.

In short:

Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88.

Francis had been in a critical condition in hospital in Rome receiving treatment for double pneumonia before being discharged on March 23.

What's next?

Cardinals, including Australia's Mykola Bychok, will now be summoned to Rome to choose Francis's successor.

In short:

A portrait of a Palestinian boy who lost both arms as a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza has been chosen as World Press Photo of the year.

"This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly," said World Press Photo Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury.

The winner of the 68th edition of the prestigious photojournalism contest was selected from 59,320 entries submitted by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries.

In short:

A portrait of a Palestinian boy who lost both arms as a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza has been chosen as World Press Photo of the year.

"This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly," said World Press Photo Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury.

The winner of the 68th edition of the prestigious photojournalism contest was selected from 59,320 entries submitted by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries.

This interview is notable for asking some questions from a different perspective to most opinions I've seen. The questions include: (paraphrased)

• What are the aims of the tarrifs, and will they achieve it? (spoiler: lol no)
• Do the US mega-rich support Trump’s tariffs?
• How do they fit into Trump's broader foreign policy?
• Do these tarrifs spell the end of globalisation?
• Will these lead to further decoupling from the Global South, allowing them to pursue more autonomous development strategies?
• What position should working-class forces take towards these tariffs and talk of retaliatory tariffs from other countries, whether in the Global North or South?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32513117

• New Zealand prime minister suggests European Union, Trans-Pacific trade partners could work together
• Australian officials have held talks with Japan, India, EU and others
• Australia, New Zealand face 10% Trump tariff

New Zealand and Australia said on Thursday they are each working with other nations on a possible joint response to shore up free trade against a barrage of U.S. tariffs.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said he had spoken with the leaders of Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as the head of the European Union's executive about international trade cooperation.

[...]

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said government ministers had held discussions with Southeast Asian nations, Japan, Korea, India and the EU about a joint response to Trump's tariffs.

"There is a group of countries who see the benefit of free and open and fair trade," she said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

[...]

He said he also spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about "what the EU and New Zealand can do together to support the trade rules that underpin Kiwi (New Zealand) jobs and growth".

New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia are members of the CPTPP, which also includes countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Britain.

"One possibility is that members of the CPTPP and the European Union work together to champion rules-based trade and make specific commitments on how that support plays out in practice," Luxon said earlier in a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

He added that he would head to Britain later in April for talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on trade, security and geopolitical issues.

[...]

Archived

China’s economic support for Russia during the war in Ukraine brought the security of the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic closer than ever before, NATO boss Mark Rutte says, warning the two regions must co-operate to address the threat Beijing poses.

[...]

“It’s absolutely clear that we cannot be naive about China,” says Rutte, secretary-general of the North Atlantic alliance, which comprises 30 European states as well as the US and Canada.

“We know that [China] helps and supports the Russians’ warfare through war effort, through sanction circumvention, through delivery of dual-use goods. They are an integral part of the war effort.

[...]

While China maintains its official position of neutrality towards the Ukraine conflict, its actions say otherwise. Ukraine’s capture on Tuesday of two Chinese citizens who, along with four others, were fighting as mercenaries in the country’s east grabbed global headlines, but it is the critical role of Beijing exports in Russia’s arms industry that has kept its war machine ticking.

[...]

Vehicles, machine tools and raw materials such as ball bearings and strategic minerals have become indispensable to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war efforts. Chinese cars and trucks have filled the void left by the sanctions-enforced departure of Western auto makers from Russia.

Official Chinese customs data shows a sharp increase in exports to Russia, with the total value of goods exceeding $US80 billion ($133 billion) last year – double what it was in 2021, the year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

[...]

Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, as part of the so-called Indo-Pacific 4, have stood steadfast with NATO allies since Russia invaded Ukraine. The nations’ leaders have gathered at every major NATO summit and meeting since.

[...]

[...]

"We are not going to be holding hands with China in respect of any contest that is going on in the world," Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News, referring to the Chinese ambassador's proposal for countries to "join hands" on trade.

"We are not doing that. What we are doing is pursuing Australia's national interests and diversifying our trade around the world."

He said Australia would build its economic resilience by strengthening trade ties with the European Union, Indonesia, India, Britain and the Middle East.

[...]

US President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs that had just been placed on imports from dozens of countries.

Those countries will now by subject to the 10 per cent baseline tariff, rather than the additional tariffs announced by the president last week.

In the same social media post, Mr Trump said he was again increasing the tariff on Chinese goods to 125 per cent.

New Zealand is not exactly known as a major military power.

For decades the country has relied on its geographical isolation and the reassuring presence of the Australian Defence Force on its western flank, rather than building up its own forces.

But as the world becomes more perilous and uncertain, all that is changing rapidly.

Yesterday afternoon NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon unveiled perhaps the most significant boost to NZ's defence spending in years — promising to almost double defence spending over the next eight years.

Archive/non-paywall link.

In short:

Donald Trump's newest round of tariffs mean virtually all imports to the US — including from Australia — will be hit with an import tax of at least 10 per cent.

Australia has avoided a higher "reciprocal" tariff rate, which is being placed on imports from specific countries deemed to have treated America poorly.

What's next?

Some of America's trading partners are preparing retaliatory measures, such as counter-tariffs. Australia says it would prefer to work through a dispute settlement process in the nations' free trade agreement, but hopes it doesn't come to that.

Fifteen Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, including at least one United Nations employee, were killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried in a mass grave eight days ago in southern Gaza, the UN has said.

According to the UN humanitarian affairs office (Ocha), the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) and civil defence workers were on a mission to rescue colleagues who had been shot at earlier in the day, when their clearly marked vehicles came under heavy Israeli fire in Rafah city’s Tel al-Sultan district. A Red Crescent official in Gaza said that there was evidence of at least one person being detained and killed, as the body of one of the dead had been found with his hands tied.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31652140

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has described another threatening letter sent to an exiled Hong Kong dissident in Australia as “reprehensible”, a “threat to our national sovereignty” and “the safety and security of Australians”.

The anonymous letter, mailed from Hong Kong and sent to Ted Hui’s Adelaide office, offered his colleagues $203,000 for information on his whereabouts and his family. It arrived just days after China’s foreign ministry accused the Albanese government of interfering with its internal affairs.

The letter, which contained a picture of Hui and personal details, claimed he was a “wanted person” for a “range of national security related offences including incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country”. It is now being investigated by Australian federal police.

The letter also accuses Hui, who fled to Australia via Europe in 2019, of leaving Hong Kong with $3m in proceeds of crime. Hui, who was a pro-democracy legislator in Hong Kong, denies that claim and says it is “fictitious”.

[...]

A spokesperson for Wong escalated the Albanese government’s condemnation of the letters on Wednesday and said the matter would be directly raised with Chinese officials.

“Continued attempts to target individuals in Australia are reprehensible and threaten our national sovereignty, as well as the safety and security of Australians,” the spokesperson said.

“Australia will not tolerate the targeting, surveillance, harassment or intimidation of any person in Australia by a foreign government.

“The Australian government and our security agencies are acting to keep Australians safe, protect their democratic rights, and support affected individuals and communities.”

When Wong first raised concerns about the letters earlier this month, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, accused the Australian government of unacceptable interference in its domestic affairs.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31221791

A small number of Melbourne residents have received anonymous letters purporting to offer a police bounty of $203,000 if they inform on Kevin Yam, an Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist wanted for alleged national security crimes in Hong Kong, linking him to two nearby locations.

A spokesperson for the [Australian] foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, [said] the letter was “deeply worrying” and that the matter would be raised directly with officials from China and Hong Kong.

The anonymous letter – mailed from Hong Kong and delivered to some Melbourne homes on Friday – contained a photograph of Yam with a headline alleging he was a “wanted person”. It then detailed a range of alleged “national security related offences” and offered HK$1m (A$203,000) from the Hong Kong police to anyone who provided information on his whereabouts or took him to Hong Kong or Australian police.

Yam is a lawyer who lived in Hong Kong for 20 years before returning to Australia in 2022. He is one of eight overseas-based activists, the subject of Hong Kong police arrest warrants, accused in July 2023 of breaching its controversial national security law that grants authorities sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal.

Yam has criticised the crackdown on dissent and erosion of judicial independence in the Chinese-controlled city and has been accused of encouraging foreign governments to impose sanctions against members of the judiciary, prosecutors and government officials.

[...]