“Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party on Sunday received its members’ mandate to proceed with steps toward a potential disbandment, part of the erosion of political freedoms as China cracks down on dissent in the southern city. Democratic Party Chairman Lo Kin-hei said over 90% of the members who took part in the vote supported the motion to let the central committee take up the procedure toward disbandment. He said he hopes there will be a final vote in the coming months. The party’s decision reflects the dwindling semi-autonomy and freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China’s rule in 1997. The moderate political party has effectively become a pressure group, members say.” (04/13/25)
“Russia’s ambassador to the UK has not denied allegations that Russian sensors have been hidden in seas around Great Britain in an attempt to track UK nuclear submarines. Andrei Kelin said that while he did not deny Russia was attempting to track British submarines, he rejected the idea that such activities presented a threat to the UK. Asked on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg whether he objected to the claims, Kelin said: ‘No.’ ‘I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarine with very old outdated nuclear warheads… all these threats are extremely exaggerated,’ he said. Pressed further by Kuenssberg, the ambassador added: ‘I’m denying existence of threats for the United Kingdom. This threat has been invented, absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK.'” (04/13/25)
“America’s most prestigious law firms have agreed to provide almost $1 billion worth of legal work to President Trump — and that total will likely grow. Trump announced deals with 5 firms Friday. He’s now gotten the giants of Big Law to pledge a combined $940 million in pro bono legal work for conservative causes. Trump began this process by signing executive orders targeting firms that had employed or represented his critics. … Four of yesterday’s agreements came from firms that were placed under investigation for their internal diversity policies — a less severe threat than Trump’s early tactic of revoking lawyers’ security clearances.” (04/12/25)
“Iran and the U.S. said they held ‘positive’ and ‘constructive’ talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week in a dialogue meant to address Tehran’s escalating nuclear programme, with President Donald Trumpthreatening military action if there is no deal. ‘I think we are very close to a basis for negotiations and if we can conclude this basis next week, we’ll have gone a long way and will be able to start real discussions based on that,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state television. Araqchi said the talks – the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his 2017-2021 first term – took place in a ‘productive, calm and positive atmosphere.’ ‘Both sides have agreed to continue the talks … probably next Saturday,’ Araqchi added. ‘Iran and the U.S. side want an agreement in the short term. We do not want talks for (the sake of) talks.'” (04/12/25)
“The centre-left party of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged on Sunday to help more would-be home buyers as it launched a campaign for the May 3 election shaping as a tight race with the conservative opposition. Albanese’s Labor government, which is running neck-and-neck with the Liberal-National coalition, has promised to build 1.2 million homes by 2030, to ease cost pressures that have sparked dissatisfaction with a lack of affordable housing.” (04/13/25)
“More than three million children around the world are thought to have died in 2022 as a result of infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a study by two leading experts in child health. Children in Africa and South East Asia were found to be most at risk. Antimicrobial resistance – known as AMR – develops when the microbes that cause infections evolve in such a way that antibiotic drugs no longer work. It has been identified as one of the biggest public health threats facing the world’s population. A new study now reveals the toll that AMR is taking on children. Using data from multiple sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, the report’s authors have calculated there were more than three million child deaths in 2022 linked to drug-resistant infections.” (04/13/25)
“The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage surged 13 basis points Friday to 7.1%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That’s the highest rate since mid-February. Mortgage rates have been on a roller coaster ride all week, as bond yields spiked higher mid-week when President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on dozens of countries went into effect. Yields dropped when Trump lowered the tariff rate on most countries hours later. Tariffs on Chinese imports, however, currently stand at 145%. But bonds began selling off again Friday, despite a cooler-than-expected inflation report. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury.” (04/11/25)
“A 45-foot statue of a nude woman is the newest — and tallest — resident of San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza. The artwork, titled ‘R-Evolution,’ was unveiled with music, lights and performance art Thursday, courtesy of the public art nonprofit Illuminate. Designed to glow at night and appear to ‘breathe’ via internal motors, the statue was meant to represent strength and compassion. Instead, it’s sparked backlash, internet memes and questions about the city’s priorities. Originally created for Burning Man in 2015 by sculptor Marco Cochrane, the stainless steel figure now stands outside the Ferry Building, casting a long (and anatomically detailed) shadow over a city where fewer and fewer people seem impressed by spectacle.” (04/12/25)
“Tanzania’s main opposition party CHADEMA has been disqualified from elections due later this year, a senior election commission official said on Saturday, days after the party’s leader was charged with treason for allegedly seeking to disrupt the vote. Ramadhani Kailima, director of elections at the Independent National Elections Commission, said CHADEMA had failed to sign a code of conduct document due on Saturday, thereby nullifying its participation in the presidential and parliamentary elections expected to take place in October.” (04/12/25)
“A Liberal Democrat MP has spoken of her ‘shock’ after being barred from entering Hong Kong this week. Wera Hobhouse said she flew to the Chinese region with her husband on Thursday to visit their newborn grandson but she was detained at the airport, questioned, and then deported on the first flight home. The MP for Bath, who is one of more than 40 parliamentarians on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China that scrutinises Beijing’s human rights record, told the Sunday Times she had been given no reason as to why she was refused entry. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: ‘We will urgently raise this with the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to demand an explanation.'” (04/13/25)
