American universities and museums are home to some of the world’s leading historians. They also have their fair share of skilled archaeologists and curators. But Trump despises them and claims they don’t tell America’s story the right way. Above all, he dislikes narratives and presentations that clash with the MAGA movement’s twisted ideology. Even worse if they portray Trump himself in a negative light.
Now he wants to restore the “truth” about the nation’s past. Most people should be aware that Hitler, Stalin, and Mao took similar approaches.
An important step was taken in March, when he issued a presidential order with the telling title: “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” In it, he ordered the Smithsonian, a well-known museum in Washington, and other affiliated institutions to review their exhibitions to ensure they promote “patriotic values” and avoid “ideological and divisive” language.
“Take action to reinstate the pre-existing monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties,” the order read.
fredag 8. august 2025
Trump calls for Intel boss to resign immediately, alleging China ties
President Donald Trump has called on the head of US chipmaker Intel to resign "immediately", accusing him of having problematic ties to China. In a social media post, he said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was "highly conflicted", apparently referring to Mr Tan's alleged investments in companies that the US says are tied to the Chinese military. It is unusual for a president to demand the resignation of a corporate executive.
Mr Tan was appointed in March to turn around the tech giant, a pioneer of the US chips industry that has more recently fallen behind competitors. It has received billions of dollars from the US government as part of the effort to rebuild America's semiconductor manufacturing industry. In a statement on Thursday, Intel said it was making significant investments in the US aligned with Trump's "America First agenda".
Mr Tan was appointed in March to turn around the tech giant, a pioneer of the US chips industry that has more recently fallen behind competitors. It has received billions of dollars from the US government as part of the effort to rebuild America's semiconductor manufacturing industry. In a statement on Thursday, Intel said it was making significant investments in the US aligned with Trump's "America First agenda".
Japan’s Forgotten Countryside: Demographic Crisis and Revival Strategies
What happens when a nation famed for its cultural richness and close-knit communities begins to decay–not from war or famine, but from a demographic implosion? For Japan, this is not a hypothetical question but a stark reality. In 2017, The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicted that in the next 50 years, Japan’s population would decline by 30%.
A 2023 revision predicted a further decline in fertility with only slight increases in life expectancy and net migration to alleviate it. Japan is in a very severe national crisis and while the impact of this crisis in cities is temporarily mitigated by their economic wealth, metropolitan areas such as Tokyo are projected to share the economic and infrastructural strains of the countryside, with the aging rate of Tokyo predicted to eclipse the national average by 2050.
Learning from Mao’s ‘nightmare’ youth revolution in China
In the 1960s and 70s, the youth of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia rebelled by protesting against the Vietnam War, trying psychedelic drugs, embracing free love and discovering the Beatles. Meanwhile, what their contemporaries in China were getting up to was just as transformative. The key difference, as Linda Jaivin’s book shows, is that the young Chinese rebels’ actions had profoundly destructive consequences – and their senseless behavior was masterminded by their “great leader,” Mao Zedong.
Bombard the Headquarters! is a compelling but disturbing account of what happened in China during the Cultural Revolution. In just over 100 pages, alternating between broad brush strokes and a fine-grained touch, Jaivin’s book takes the reader on a tumultuous journey through the political upheavals in China from 1966 to 1976.
She is a consummate storyteller. This, when combined with an intimate knowledge of Chinese language and a solid grounding in existing scholarship on China, equips her well for the mammoth challenge of making sense of the most indelible national trauma of 20th-century China.
Eighty years after Hiroshima, the big nuclear risks are in Asia
Eighty years ago, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki helped end the largest war in history. The bomb has reshaped global power, deterrence and diplomacy ever since. Today, much of the world’s nuclear attention is fixed on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Russia’s brinkmanship. But Asia remains the region most affected by the nuclear age.
In Asia, where nuclear weapons were first used in warfare, nuclear issues continue to shape security dynamics. For decades, nuclear order was sustained mainly by the taboo against using the weapons. Cold War architecture and geopolitics reinforced restraint through escalation management, arms control and alliance discipline.
The Indo-Pacific is the world’s most diverse and dangerous nuclear environment. Longstanding rivalries, emerging threshold states and the absence of regional guardrails, such as hotlines and arms treaties, mean that strategic stability is increasingly improvised.
In Asia, where nuclear weapons were first used in warfare, nuclear issues continue to shape security dynamics. For decades, nuclear order was sustained mainly by the taboo against using the weapons. Cold War architecture and geopolitics reinforced restraint through escalation management, arms control and alliance discipline.
The Indo-Pacific is the world’s most diverse and dangerous nuclear environment. Longstanding rivalries, emerging threshold states and the absence of regional guardrails, such as hotlines and arms treaties, mean that strategic stability is increasingly improvised.
Taiwanese analysts sceptical about China’s barges with legs
Since March, China has been making a splash with manoeuvres off its south coast involving a line of odd-looking barges with retractable legs that work like giant stilts. Taiwanese analysts aren’t impressed, however.
The barges have towers at their fronts that convert to long, drop-down bridges, so the vessels can connect to each other. If the first barge in a line of them touches the land, they can form a pier standing on the seabed and extending 800 metres or more to deeper water. Chinese soldiers, equipment and supplies could be offloaded from big ships that need that water depth, and the invasion force would have less need for ports.
Or so the theory goes. But analysts in Taiwan say that, for the moment, the barges are not helping China much in achieving a capability to invade the island.
The barges have towers at their fronts that convert to long, drop-down bridges, so the vessels can connect to each other. If the first barge in a line of them touches the land, they can form a pier standing on the seabed and extending 800 metres or more to deeper water. Chinese soldiers, equipment and supplies could be offloaded from big ships that need that water depth, and the invasion force would have less need for ports.
Or so the theory goes. But analysts in Taiwan say that, for the moment, the barges are not helping China much in achieving a capability to invade the island.
Japan's population decline shows no sign of slowing
Japan’s precipitous population decline shows no sign of slowing, with the nation shrinking by more than 900,000 people last year – the biggest annual drop on record, according to government data. The data, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Wednesday, showed that the number of Japanese nationals fell by 908,574 in 2024, bringing the total population to 120 million.
Since peaking at 126.6 million in 2009, the population has declined for 16 consecutive years, diminished by various factors like a struggling economy and deep-seated gender norms. With the population of Japanese nationals set to continue plummeting for decades yet, the country will feel the blow to its pension and health care systems, and other social infrastructure that is difficult to maintain with a shrinking workforce.
Since peaking at 126.6 million in 2009, the population has declined for 16 consecutive years, diminished by various factors like a struggling economy and deep-seated gender norms. With the population of Japanese nationals set to continue plummeting for decades yet, the country will feel the blow to its pension and health care systems, and other social infrastructure that is difficult to maintain with a shrinking workforce.
torsdag 7. august 2025
Propaganda or fair warning? Taiwanese TV show imagines Chinese invasion
A Chinese fighter jet plane crashes in the waters off Taiwan's coast, prompting Chinese warships to blockade the island for a "search and rescue". Taiwanese soldiers manning Dadan Island, a rocky outcrop mere kilometres from China's coast, begin vanishing mysteriously. Then one night, a fishing boat lands on Dadan. A signal flare arcs into the inky sky – and illuminates Chinese soldiers who have spilled out of the boat and amassed on the beach.
This is the key scenario in Zero Day Attack, a new Taiwanese television show about a fictional Chinese military invasion. Beijing has long viewed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, vowing to "reunify" with it some day while not ruling out the use of force.
The series, which aired its first episode over the weekend, was partially funded by the Taiwanese government, which hopes to raise awareness about the threat China poses. But the show has also landed at a highly divisive moment in Taiwan and attracted criticism of fear-mongering.
This is the key scenario in Zero Day Attack, a new Taiwanese television show about a fictional Chinese military invasion. Beijing has long viewed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, vowing to "reunify" with it some day while not ruling out the use of force.
The series, which aired its first episode over the weekend, was partially funded by the Taiwanese government, which hopes to raise awareness about the threat China poses. But the show has also landed at a highly divisive moment in Taiwan and attracted criticism of fear-mongering.
Stay or go? Under Trump, dreams fade for Chinese who trekked to US
When Pan decided to leave his homeland in early 2023, he did so with a conviction that his future no longer belonged there. As he headed to America, he dreamed of a freer society, a fairer economy, and a life lived with dignity – things he said he could never claim in China, where his home had been forcibly demolished by the local government to make way for real estate development.
To chase that dream, he embarked on a journey of thousands of miles from China to Ecuador in 2023, from which point he trekked jungles as part of his long route. About two months later, he finally made it to the US. Pan, a soft-spoken man in his late 50s from a small village in Jiangxi province in eastern China, is one of tens of thousands of Chinese nationals who have made the same journey in recent years.
To chase that dream, he embarked on a journey of thousands of miles from China to Ecuador in 2023, from which point he trekked jungles as part of his long route. About two months later, he finally made it to the US. Pan, a soft-spoken man in his late 50s from a small village in Jiangxi province in eastern China, is one of tens of thousands of Chinese nationals who have made the same journey in recent years.
Chinese nationals charged with exporting Nvidia AI chips to China
Two Chinese nationals have been arrested and charged with illegally shipping millions of dollars' worth of powerful AI chips to China, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday. The DOJ alleged that over the last three years ALX Solutions, a company it said was run by Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang, exported the chips from the US to China without the required licences.
Court documents seen by the BBC allege the shipments included Nvidia's H100 graphics processing units (GPUs), which have become a key focus of US export controls aimed at stopping China purchasing the cutting-edge technology. The case shows that smuggling its chips "is a nonstarter," an Nvidia spokesperson said. Nvidia sells products to well-known partners who help to ensure that all sales comply with US export control rules, she added.
Court documents seen by the BBC allege the shipments included Nvidia's H100 graphics processing units (GPUs), which have become a key focus of US export controls aimed at stopping China purchasing the cutting-edge technology. The case shows that smuggling its chips "is a nonstarter," an Nvidia spokesperson said. Nvidia sells products to well-known partners who help to ensure that all sales comply with US export control rules, she added.
From heatwaves to floods: Extreme weather sweeps across Asia
While torrential rains lash China, Pakistan and parts of India, sweltering heat has enveloped Japan and South Korea as extreme weather claims hundreds of lives in the region. Climate change has made weather extremities more intense, frequent and unpredictable, scientists say.
This pattern is especially pronounced in Asia, which according to the World Meteorological Organization is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average. The region has lost $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) to extreme weather – from floods to heatwaves and droughts – over the past three decades, according to the annual Climate Risk Index survey. Japan marked its hottest day on record on Tuesday, with 41.8C (107F) registered in Isesaki city, Gunma prefecture.
This pattern is especially pronounced in Asia, which according to the World Meteorological Organization is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average. The region has lost $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) to extreme weather – from floods to heatwaves and droughts – over the past three decades, according to the annual Climate Risk Index survey. Japan marked its hottest day on record on Tuesday, with 41.8C (107F) registered in Isesaki city, Gunma prefecture.
How Europe is vying for rare earth independence from China
For almost 80 years rare earth metals have been pumped out of this industrial plant in La Rochelle on France's west coast. But as the materials become more and more crucial to the global economy, chemicals firm Solvay is expanding its processing plant next to the glistening Atlantic Ocean to meet surging demand across Europe.
This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners. However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government. Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay's plant will be critical to those ambitions.
This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners. However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government. Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay's plant will be critical to those ambitions.
Trump's tariffs up to 50% kick in worldwide, sparing few
In just six months, President Donald Trump has remade global trade and upended a century of precedent. Trump on Thursday placed higher tariffs — again — on just about every country in the world. Even as some countries’ tariff rates came in lower than they had feared, practically all goods coming in to the United States face a significantly higher tax than when Trump took office in January.
The new trade regime will put in place the highest tariffs America has imposed since 1933, during the Smoot-Hawley era — a tariff bill that contributed to the deepening of the Great Depression. The higher tariffs threaten to disrupt the global economy again. Despite a milder-than-expected impact so far at home, there’s already some evidence Trump’s tariffs are — slowly — reigniting inflation and slowing the US economy.
That danger is why leaders of developed countries for decades have largely lowered tariff rates and welcomed globalization — actions that have fueled the services economy backed by Big Tech and finance, but have also contributed to the offshoring of factories and manufacturing jobs.
The new trade regime will put in place the highest tariffs America has imposed since 1933, during the Smoot-Hawley era — a tariff bill that contributed to the deepening of the Great Depression. The higher tariffs threaten to disrupt the global economy again. Despite a milder-than-expected impact so far at home, there’s already some evidence Trump’s tariffs are — slowly — reigniting inflation and slowing the US economy.
That danger is why leaders of developed countries for decades have largely lowered tariff rates and welcomed globalization — actions that have fueled the services economy backed by Big Tech and finance, but have also contributed to the offshoring of factories and manufacturing jobs.
India isn’t flinching: Why Trump might be misreading India’s tariff playbook
India has taken a more measured approach toward U.S. President Donald Trump compared to China and Brazil, but some in Washington may be interpreting this as a sign of U.S. leverage. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be able to afford to wait, as any breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine could remove the U.S.′ reason for its 50% tariffs on India.
Trump has said India’s purchases of Russian oil are why it’s facing these high tariffs, with the full rate due to be imposed 21 days after Trump’s executive order was signed Wednesday.From bureaucrats to businesses, there’s a broad consensus in India that the latest escalation from the U.S. is only a pressure tactic to fast-track trade talks. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi now has something he didn’t have, even a day earlier: the support of the Indian opposition to push back.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, described the penalty for Russian oil purchases as “economic blackmail” by Trump.
Trump has said India’s purchases of Russian oil are why it’s facing these high tariffs, with the full rate due to be imposed 21 days after Trump’s executive order was signed Wednesday.From bureaucrats to businesses, there’s a broad consensus in India that the latest escalation from the U.S. is only a pressure tactic to fast-track trade talks. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi now has something he didn’t have, even a day earlier: the support of the Indian opposition to push back.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, described the penalty for Russian oil purchases as “economic blackmail” by Trump.
China preparing to invade Taiwan: deputy foreign minister
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement.
The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President Donald Trump, visited a university lab teaching students to make semiconductors and spoke to Taiwanese veterans at a care home.
The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President Donald Trump, visited a university lab teaching students to make semiconductors and spoke to Taiwanese veterans at a care home.
China Faces Economic Blow From Population Crisis
China's potential output growth could fall to half its 2020s level by mid-century, with a shrinking labor force becoming a structural drag on the world's second-largest economy, warns a new report. Birthrates are falling across much of the world amid falling child mortality rates, increased life expectancy, greater economic opportunities for women and rising costs of living.
China and several of its East Asian neighbors face a sharper demographic challenge: some of the world's lowest birthrates alongside rapidly aging populations, without the mitigating effect of large-scale immigration seen in countries like the United States.This trend has driven policymakers to roll out childcare subsidies, fertility treatments, and other pro-natal measures—so far to little effect—in hopes of slowing or reversing the trend and maintaining economic stability.
China and several of its East Asian neighbors face a sharper demographic challenge: some of the world's lowest birthrates alongside rapidly aging populations, without the mitigating effect of large-scale immigration seen in countries like the United States.This trend has driven policymakers to roll out childcare subsidies, fertility treatments, and other pro-natal measures—so far to little effect—in hopes of slowing or reversing the trend and maintaining economic stability.
India's Modi Sends Message to Trump Over Tariffs
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has responded to President Donald Trump increasing tariffs on certain Indian goods to 50 percent."I know I'll have to pay a heavy price, but I'm ready. India is ready," Modi said, according to Indian media.
It came after Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday hitting the country with an additional 25 percent tariff for its continued purchasing of Russian oil, increasing overall duties on certain exports to 50 percent. The new tariffs will start from August 27. Alex Adamo, CEO of negotiation firm The Commercialiser, told Newsweek Thursday that Trump's executive order is about testing how far he can push Modi.
It came after Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday hitting the country with an additional 25 percent tariff for its continued purchasing of Russian oil, increasing overall duties on certain exports to 50 percent. The new tariffs will start from August 27. Alex Adamo, CEO of negotiation firm The Commercialiser, told Newsweek Thursday that Trump's executive order is about testing how far he can push Modi.
onsdag 6. august 2025
China used to fine couples for having too many babies. Now it can’t pay them enough
Zane Li was nine years old when he got a baby sister – and her arrival plunged the family in a small city in eastern China into crippling debt. Under China’s stringent one-child policy at the time, Li’s parents were fined 100,000 yuan (about $13,900) for having a second child – nearly three times their annual income from selling fish at the local market.
“We were barely able to survive,” Li recalled. The then third-grader was forced to grow up overnight, taking on most of the housework and spending school holidays helping his mother at her stall. Now 25, Li says he has no plans to have children – a stance increasingly common for his generation and something that worries China’s government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
“We were barely able to survive,” Li recalled. The then third-grader was forced to grow up overnight, taking on most of the housework and spending school holidays helping his mother at her stall. Now 25, Li says he has no plans to have children – a stance increasingly common for his generation and something that worries China’s government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
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