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Apr 30, 2025 - World

Temu and Shein among fast-fashion sites affected by drop in first three months of this year but sales in rise to EUExports to the US from Chinese online shops such as Temu and Shein have plunged in the face of Donald Trump’s trade war, as shipping from China to the EU has increased.Official Chinese data showed its total e-commerce shipping to the US dropped 65% by volume in the first three months of the year, but rose by 28% in Europe. Continue reading...

Apr 30, 2025 - World

by Javier TOVARCardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, the Spanish-born archbishop of Rabat, admits he is a little anxious ahead of his first conclave, although also curious.The 72-year-old is among 133 cardinals from around the world who will vote for a successor to Pope Francis starting May 7. "I haven't decided anything," he told AFP when asked whom he would vote for as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics."We believe in the Holy Spirit and we will see what it shows us and where we have to go.""It doesn't necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator," said Lopez, who the Argentine pontiff appointed as a cardinal in 2019."I am happy for him to be a good impersonator of Christ, that he is a good Christian, a good person and pays attention to what happens in the world."Born in Spain, Lopez has been the archbishop of the Moroccan capital Rabat since 2017.There, he claims to have experienced a "conversion" -- not to Islam, the overwhelming majority religion in the North African country, but in his approach to his work."I hear confession barely once every six months," Lopez said. Christians make up less than one percent of Morocco's population of 38 million people."That helped me to realise that I wasn't there to serve the Church but rather, as the Church, to serve the world -- in this case the Muslim world."- 'Not worried, but curious' -Lopez has been taking part in the daily cardinal meetings, known as "general congregations", in which those present discuss the priorities for the new pope and future direction of the 2,000-year-old Church."We are listening to people who we have never listened to before... and that guides you," said Lopez, who is a Paraguayan citizen, having lived there for almost two decades.The cardinals taking part in the conclave -- those aged under 80 and able to attend -- are staying in the relatively modest Casa Santa Marta on the Vatican's grounds where Francis lived during his papacy.They are, however, sworn to lifelong secrecy about what happens inside the Sistine Chapel during the conclave.Smartphones are banned, the room will be swept for listening devices and cardinals are barred from reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television."I'm not worried, but I am curious," said Lopez. "A little apprehensive because I know the responsibility that this entails, but calm because I believe in the Holy Spirit." In fact, Lopez even feels "a certain happiness" about the whole process -- but hopes it will not last more than "two or three days".There are up to four votes a day until at least two-thirds of the cardinals agree on a single candidate.Two days were needed to elect Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, but the longest ever conclave lasted three years."It's already many days that I have been out of Morocco and I'm eager and need" to return, said Lopez.- Like replacing Messi -Like Francis, Lopez wants a missionary Church pushing out especially into areas where Catholicism has few adherents, such as Morocco."Thanks to Pope Francis this has become much clearer, that the Church is universal, Catholic, that there are no geographic borders that limit us," he said.And Lopez has not ruled out the next pope hailing from outside the traditional Catholic heartlands."After 50 years of a Polish pope, a German pope and an Argentine pope, why not think about a pope from Myanmar, East Timor or Australia, or North America, or Africa. It's all open," he said.However, he is ruling himself out of the running."It's as if I said (Lionel) Messi is going to retire and I'm going to replace" the Argentine football legend, he joked.jt/bc/ar/kjm© Agence France-Presse

Apr 30, 2025 - World

President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the pope's funeral went a lot better than their confrontation in the Oval Office, and sources say there's one big reason for that.The pair briefly met Saturday at the Vatican while attending Pope Francis' funeral, and Axios reported new details of that tête-à-tête as Trump and Zelenskyy attempt to reach an agreement to end Russia's invasion."Zelensky received 'signals' ahead of Pope Francis' funeral that Trump was prepared to meet on the sidelines, the sources say," the website reported. Zelensky's advisers were nervous, and some — still traumatized by the scenes in the Oval on Feb. 28 — told Zelensky they weren't sure it was a good idea."Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentNo plans were finalized ahead of the meeting, which a source said was initially expected to come after the funeral, but the leaders ran into one another upon arrival and met alone in St. Peter's Basilica, where Zelensky told Trump that Vladimir Putin would not change his position unless Trump applies more pressure."One source said Trump replied that he might have to change his approach to Putin, as he later stated in his Truth Social post [threatening sanctions]," Axios reported. "Zelensky also pushed Trump to return to his initial proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as a starting point for peace talks, which Ukraine accepted but Russia rejected. One source said Trump seemed to agree."Zelenskyy made clear that he would not recognize Crimea as Russian, which Trump insisted he was not asking him to do, but the U.S. president again pressed his counterpart to sign the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible.Officials for each government declined to comment on the specifics of their conversation, but the sources said it seemed to have gone better than the contentious meeting in February at the White House. "The sources said one potential reason this Trump-Zelensky meeting was more positive was that Vice President Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — whom the Ukrainians see as more supportive of the Russian position — were not there," Axios reported.

Apr 30, 2025 - World

Leaked documents indicate Harita, owner of key nickel mine in Indonesia, did not reveal water contaminationOne of Indonesia’s largest nickel-mining companies, which supplies a mineral critical to the global electric car industry, did not tell the public that local drinking water was polluted, according to documents seen by the Guardian.Indonesia has become the world’s biggest producer of nickel, used in the production of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. But observers have voiced concerns that regulatory oversight in the country has failed to keep up with the rush to develop mines to satisfy booming global demand. Continue reading...

Apr 30, 2025 - World

Index of activity drops to lowest reading since December 2023 as a result of ‘sharp changes’ in international trading China’s factory activity slowed in April, with Beijing blaming “sharp changes” in the global economy as it fights a widening trade war with the US.Punishing tariffs introduced by Donald Trump that reached 145% on many Chinese products came into force in April, and Beijing responded with 125% duties on imports from the US. Chinese exports soared more than 12% last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the punishing tariffs. Continue reading...