Content warning for SA at the bottom when discussing the Dominican Republic.
Scientists have announced that the world’s coral reefs are facing a fourth global bleaching event as the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency pushes ocean temperatures to record highs, imperiling the critical underwater ecosystems that sustain thousands of species.RNN
A large proportion of the world’s 39 small island developing states owe more than half their total debt to development banks, with 23 of those countries spending three times more on debt servicing than they receive in international climate finance funding.ICN
Frustrated indigenous groups are creating their own funds to push money to communities, in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia. Many are in the start-up phase, but a few have managed to reach operation.CHN
The world has installed 117 GW of new wind power capacity in 2023, a 50% increase from 2022. The world total is now just over 1 TW. China had 65% of new installations.AN
Farmers throughout the EU and conservative/fascist politicians are banding together to oppose EU green policies ahead of the June elections.E
Germany’s economic relationships with China is cracking after decades of a mutually beneficial relationship, as China has now moved up the manufacturing chain towards becoming a major competitor, and Germany is losing jobs to China as the United States once did.SCMP Germany’s employers’ federation has announced that Germans must work longer hours and retire later in order to increase economic growth, as Germany is performing the worst among all major global economies. E
The far-left separatist party EH-Bildu, the favourite to win the Basque elections on Sunday, and the ruling socialist party PSOE have clashed after the former refused to call the now-defunct Basque group ETA “terrorists”.E
Nearly 600 people in Poland, including opposition politicians, were being monitored via Pegasus spyware under the previous Conservative government’s rule.E
Estonia’s economy has been shrinking for two years, and so the IMF has risen from its fiery pentagram to inform the government that they must increase competitiveness, lift immigration quotas, and return to fiscal consolidation.BNE
A US investor plans to invest $1 billion in Romania within ten years to develop a magnesium complex which would give Europe a domestic supply of magnesium, which Europe currently entirely imports, mainly from China. This magnesium would be used to create aluminium alloys for cars and such.BNE
Czechia has paid five times more for oil and gas imports from Russia than on aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, which some Westerners are pretty mad about.BNE
Ukraine has signed into law a military mobilization bill which means, among other things, that demobilization is currently impossible (if you are enlisted into the military, you are in it until death, or until a new bill outlines what demobilization looks like); and also that all Ukrainians, including those living abroad, must update data on themselves to military authorities within two months.RT
Ukraine’s population has collapsed to 29 million and has a birth rate of just 187,000 per year, the lowest annual figure in 300 years.BNE
Ukraine and Russia almost achieved a new Black Sea shipping deal in late March but Ukraine suddenly pulled out, for reasons unknown.E
The London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange have blocked the trade of Russian aluminium, copper, and nickel. This will probably not have immediate effects as the London exchange has large stockpiles of those metals and existing stocks can still be traded.BNE This is all pointless because the Shanghai Futures Exchange still accepts Russian metals and thus these bans shift power to Shanghai and away from the West.SCMP
Russian peacekeeping forces have withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh, as there’s not much point being there anymore now that it’s been retaken by Azerbaijan.BNE
The United States is expanding its military cooperation with Armenia and helping to “modernize its military”, which is a fairly entertaining prospect given Russia and Iran’s growth in power lately. I wish them the best in spending billions of dollars on planes that can barely get off the ground, and military training that has and continues to lose wars.EN
Central Asian states have doubled their usage of coal in power generation over the past decade, with coal accounting for 45% of electricity production.BNE
Spain has urged the EU to recognize Palestinian statehood in order to achieve a lasting peace.E
The US thinks that putting new sanctions on Iran would be a great idea that would definitely do literally anything after Iran struck Israeli airbases and a HQ in the Golan Heights, for reasons that I cannot even begin to fathom.GT
Flooding has hit the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and other Gulf countries, with buildings damaged, flights disrupted, and at least 20 dead. A combination of climate change, infrastructure, geography, and cloud seeding in the UAE caused the flooding to be serious.MEE It significantly affected the Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest.AN
China’s semiconductor output has increased by 40% in 2024 Q1, expanding production of older-generation chips as China works on overcoming the US’s barriers on newer-generation chips.SCMP China’s AI industry could use more water than South Korea by 2030 according to a Hong Kong think tank.SCMP Fitch has cut the outlook for China’s state-owned banks from stable to negative, citing the government’s limited capacity to support them. It also cut its projection for the sovereign credit rating. This comes as China transitions from a property-driven growth model to a more sustainable one, which is a crime worse than genocide to most economists.SCMP
India is building its first bullet trains capable of exceeding speeds of 250 kmph, and is on the cusp of sealing a deal with Japan for 25 Shinkansen high-speed trains.RT
Several trade unions in Sri Lanka met with opposition parties to oppose the selling of state-owned enterprises and national resources, which the IMF is calling for and the Sri Lankan government is pushing for.WSWS
The Australian government is pushing a reactionary immigration bill which could result in 5000 to 10,000 non-citizens being removed from the country. The bill is facing overwhelming opposition from refugee, migrant, and human rights groups.WSWS
Belgium’s Prince Laurent used the country’s courts to seize 15 billion euros from the Libya sovereign wealth fund as he seeks a payment for projects undertaken by an NGO which aimed to reforest inland Libya. The fund has now launched an arbitration drive against Laurent.B
Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Niger’s capital of Niamey on Saturday, calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, following the government’s decision to terminate a military agreement with the United States.PD Niger and the Chinese state oil giant CNPC have signed a $400 million deal to supply oil to China after Niger cut ties with France and the United States, as the country seeks to stabilize the economic situation. In November, the CNPC finished the construction of a 2000 km pipeline towards a port in Benin, and the company owns two-thirds of the country’s Agadem oilfield. Many African countries and figures are critical of deals like this which involve loans in exchange for natural resources.SCMP
Approximately 17.7 million Sudanese people have experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between October 2023 and February 2024, the highest number ever recorded during a harvest season.TS International donors have pledged to contribute over $2 billion to humanitarian aid to Sudan. This is about half of the UN’s estimated needs.E
Kenyan doctors are on their fifth week of striking.AN
The Republic of the Congo is diversifying its oil and gas partnerships and is eyeing closer ties with Azerbaijan in order to expand Congo’s oil refineries. Russia also has bilateral agreements with the ROC, but delays have prompted them to seek other friends.BNE
Ghana is yet to reach a definitive deal with international bondholders towards the restructuring of $13 billion in external debt.AN
Tanzania is suffering from significant floods, with dozens killed in two weeks and over a hundred thousand people affected. The construction of 14 dams is planned to prevent flooding in the future. The rains will continue to intensify over the next month.AN
Nigeria’s inflation rate continues to rise, reaching 33.2% in March, which is its highest in 28 years. The government has devalued its currency twice in under a year in order to ease shortages of forex, thus increasing the value of the dollar against the naira, and has also raised interest rates. Last June, the President removed a fuel subsidy.AN
The F-35 fighter jet program will cost more than $2 trillion over its lifetime, cementing its place as one of the most expensive weapons programs in U.S. history. The Pentagon also extended the projected life of the plane to 2088 rather than the previous goal of 2077.RS
Tesla has cut 14,000 jobs internationally, or 10% of it workforce. This is part of a more general campaign of job cuts throughout industries, with about one million industrial jobs being cut in the United States in 2023.WSWS
Indigenous people from Arctic communities in Canada and Alaska are calling for environmental protection in the runup to this month’s round of negotiations aimed at securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution.ICN
Argentina has finalized its largest military aircraft acquisition in decades with the purchase of 24 F-16 fighter jets from Denmark, signaling a significant step in bolstering its defense capabilities.MP
Improvements in rain conditions has meant that the Panama Canal can now let through more ships. Starting in mid-May, about 30 ships per day will be allowed to transit. The average number of ships per day in years prior is around 35.MP
The Dominican Republic continues to commit sexual violence against members of the Haitian immigrant community, including girls at least as young as 14.HL The Dominican Republic police recently raided Haitian immigrant homes without court orders and arrested dozens.HL A new Dominican Republic government provision has banned buses from transporting legal or illegal Haitian migrants.HL
CARICOM has been trying to set up some kind of leadership transition after Ariel Henry resigned on March 11th, and they don’t seem to be getting terribly far with it.HL