World News

Four former British ambassadors to the United States have expressed concern about the future of intelligence sharing with the US following the re-election of Donald Trump.

Sir David Manning, who served as ambassador between 2003 and 2007, told a parliamentary committee some of Trump's appointees had "strange track records" which would create a "problem on the intelligence front".

Dame Karen Pierce, who only left the role last month, said intelligence sharing would continue "even if at the top level there might be things we might wish to be circumspect about".

. . .

He said some of the people appointed by Trump to lead intelligence and security could "present some difficulties in terms of their view of us and views of co-operation".

MBFC
Archive

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has warned that Russian aggression “knows no borders”, will not stop at Ukraine and is a direct threat to France and Europe which must prepare in case the US steps away from its side.

“I want to believe the US will stay by our side,” Macron said in a televised address late on Wednesday. “But we have to be ready if that isn’t the case,” he said.

. . .

Macron said to the French public in a prime-time TV speech: “I’m speaking to you tonight because of the international situation and its consequences for Europe … I know you are legitimately worried faced with the historic events that are shaking the world order.

“The war in Ukraine, which has left almost one million dead and injured, continues with the same intensity. The US, our ally, has changed its position on this war, supporting Ukraine less and allowing doubt to linger on what will come next.”

MBFC
Archive

Summary

U.S.-China tensions are escalating as Trump imposes tariffs on all Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate and vow to fight “any type” of war.

China is boosting defense spending by 7.2% while portraying itself as a stable global partner.

The fentanyl issue adds to disputes, with Beijing dismissing it as a pretext for tariffs.

China faces economic struggles but is injecting billions to stabilize growth.

If Trump continues escalating tariffs, the trade war could intensify, worsening global economic and geopolitical instability.

Donald Trump just imposed a 25 percent tariff on virtually all goods produced by America’s two largest trading partners — Canada and Mexico. He simultaneously established a 20 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods.

As a result, America’s average tariff level is now higher than at any time since the 1940s.

Meanwhile, China and Canada immediately retaliated against Trump’s duties, with the former imposing a 15 percent tariff on American agricultural products and the latter putting a 25 percent tariff on $30 billion of US goods. Mexico has vowed to mount retaliatory tariffs of its own.

This trade war could have far-reaching consequences. Trump’s tariffs have already triggered a stock market sell-off and cooling of manufacturing activity. And economists have estimated that the trade policy will cost the typical US household more than $1,200 a year, as the prices of myriad goods rise.

All this raises the question: Why has the US president chosen to upend trade relations on the North American continent? The stakes of this question are high, since it could determine how long Trump’s massive tariffs remain in effect. Unfortunately, the president himself does not seem to know the answer.

In recent weeks, Trump has provided five different — and contradictory — justifications for his tariffs on Mexico and Canada...

...more in the article.

A sharply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration must comply with a district court order and pay out nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance funds to nonprofit aid groups for work already completed on the government's behalf.

The court ruled 5-4 with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett siding with the liberal justices.

Summary

The EU is shifting toward defense self-sufficiency with Ursula von der Leyen’s €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, driven by U.S. uncertainty.

It allows higher defense spending by breaking debt rules and introducing EU-backed loans for military investments.

Previously hesitant countries like Sweden and Germany now support it, while Hungary and Slovakia remain skeptical.

The plan prioritizes Europe’s security, sidestepping Ukraine-specific aid to avoid vetoes. If approved, it marks a historic step toward an independent EU defense strategy.

Summary

The U.S. has halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine following Trump’s suspension of military aid, further weakening Kyiv’s position against Russia.

The White House suggests both bans could be lifted if peace talks progress. Ukrainian officials fear the loss of intelligence on Russian targets will hinder their strikes and defense.

Trump has praised Zelenskyy’s conciliatory letter, but critics argue the U.S. is pressuring Ukraine while making no demands of Russia.

Meanwhile, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure have intensified

The range is home to one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth minerals and uranium in the world: the Kvanefjeld site, or Kuannersuit in Greenlandic. It contains high concentrations of metals such as terbium and neodymium, which are used to manufacture permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric cars. Every major power in the world is scrambling to get access to these minerals for carbon-free energy and transport.

A proposed open-pit mine would be worth about $7.5bn (£6bn) if it went ahead, according to the site operator, generating income for the island’s economy.

Greenland has a troubled history with mining pollution: the sites of lead and zinc mines developed in the 1970s remain polluted more than 50 years later, with fish, mussels and seaweed still testing positive for toxins. The ecosystem surrounding Narsaq is rich with seals, whales and other marine life, which Inuit hunter-gatherers rely on for their livelihoods.

In 2021, Greenland went to the polls, in a contest to which uranium was so central, international media dubbed it “the mining election”. The people voted in a green, leftwing government, led by the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which campaigned against uranium mining due to the potential pollution.

Many Greenlanders celebrated the vote as a victory for health and the environment. But three years later, the (Australian) company is suing Greenland for stopping its plans, demanding the right to exploit the deposit or receive compensation of up to $11.5bn: nearly 10 times the country’s 8.5bn krone (£950m) annual budget.

EDIT: Translation using Deepl

Translated from Dutch using Yandex (I’d have done it using Deepl, but posting whole articles apparently isn’t allowed, so there to me doesn’t seem to be another way to share non-English articles):

Censoring an obscure punk song about corruption in the Indonesian police has had the opposite effect: it has become the soundtrack of a fledgling protest movement. 'Want to bribe someone? Pay the police!’, echoes from the throats of disgruntled students at demonstrations.

The billionaire overseeing a wide-ranging government efficiency effort is offering his own SpaceX technology as the future of flight-safety inside the Federal Aviation Administration

The US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military’s ability to target Russian forces, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The move follows the decision on Monday by the Trump administration to suspend military aid deliveries to Ukraine and comes after a dramatic breakdown in relations between the US president and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[…]

While the US has also formally blocked its allies from sharing US intelligence with Ukraine, two officials said that recipients with assets inside the country were likely to continue passing on relevant intelligence to Kyiv. But that would not apply to time-sensitive and high-value intelligence, such as that needed for Ukraine to conduct precision strikes on moveable Russian targets.

The US decision to ban its allies from passing intelligence to Ukraine was first reported by the Daily Mail.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250305120633/https://www.ft.com/content/c58fccea-00c4-4fad-bc0a-0185b7415579

Summary

Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede firmly rejected Trump’s vow to acquire the island, declaring, “Greenland is ours.”

His statement came after Trump told Congress that the U.S. supports Greenland’s self-determination but will “get it one way or another” for security reasons.

Trump’s remarks, made a week before Greenland’s elections, have fueled discussions on full independence from Denmark.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen downplayed Trump’s comments, highlighting Greenland’s decision-making process. Amidst growing interest in severing ties with Denmark, Greenlanders will vote Tuesday.

Summary

Half of the world’s CO2 emissions in 2023 came from just 36 fossil fuel companies, including Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, and Shell, according to a new report.

These firms produced over 20 billion tonnes of CO2, worsening the climate crisis despite global commitments to reduce emissions.

State-owned enterprises, especially in China, also dominate the list.

The findings support legal efforts to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate damage. Experts warn that continued fossil fuel expansion contradicts net-zero goals, as 2023 was the hottest year on record.

Germany's anti-Semitism commissioner on Tuesday said US President Donald Trump's heavily criticized plan to rebuild Gaza and resettle Palestinians deserves a "closer look."

"I don't think it's wrong to think radically and in a completely new way," Felix Klein told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper.

The commissioner argued that Trump does not want to drive out Palestinians, but only to resettle them while Gaza is rebuilt.

"After all, you don't sleep in your house while you're renovating it, and the massive destruction basically calls for the comprehensive construction of a completely new infrastructure," said Klein.

His comments were immediately disowned by Germany's Interior Ministry, which Klein's office is a part of.

Klein "did not speak for the federal government, but expressed his personal opinion," a spokesman for the ministry told dpa.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/40109472

{Myanmar] Junta chief, on Moscow visit, thanks hosts for weapons and predicts victory over Ukraine.