World Thru Lenz has added a photo to the pool:
World Thru Lenz has added a photo to the pool:
BEIJING (ANP/RTR/AFP/BLOOMBERG) - De Chinese export is in april sterker gegroeid dan verwacht, ondanks druk op de wereldeconomie door de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten. Volgens cijfers van de Chinese douane steeg de uitvoer met 14,1 procent tegenover een jaar eerder.
Economen hadden gerekend op een groei van 7,9 procent, na een plus van 2,5 procent in maart. Persbureau Bloomberg meldde op basis van een eigen peiling onder economen een verwachting van 8,4 procent.
Ook de import groeide met 25,3 procent harder dan voorzien. Dat was minder dan de stijging van 27,8 procent in maart, maar opnieuw meer dan economen hadden verwacht.
Handelsoverschot
De export naar de Verenigde Staten steeg in april met 11,3 procent tot 36,8 miljard dollar. President Donald Trump bezoekt China volgende week voor overleg met president Xi Jinping.
De aantrekkende uitvoer volgt op een scherpe groeivertraging in maart, de eerste maand van de oorlog in Iran. Volgens Bloomberg blijft de vraag naar Chinese producten mede sterk door wereldwijde investeringen in kunstmatige intelligentie, datacenters en stroomvoorziening.
Het grote Chinese handelsoverschot in de handel met de VS staat naar verwachting centraal bij het geplande overleg tussen Trump en Xi. China boekte in april een handelsoverschot van 84,82 miljard dollar. Vorig jaar liep het overschot op tot een record van 1,2 biljoen dollar (omgerekend zo'n 1,017 biljoen euro).
Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson star in a farmyard mystery, while the spirited bonkbuster returns for a smutty second outing
The Sheep Detectives
Out now
Few can claim a writing career as varied as Craig Mazin, creator of TV’s Chernobyl, co-writer of several Scary Movie and The Hangover films, and co-creator of The Last of Us. Here, he turns his hand to a comedy-mystery about sheep, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson. Adapted from a novel by Leonie Swann.
I suspect the fox is stealing my delivery parcels off the doorstep, but I’m not going to escalate without proof
It is late afternoon, and I’m standing before the living room’s big bay window, with its commanding view of the street, when I hear the middle one coming down the stairs and turning the corner to the kitchen.
“Look at this,” I say. I can hear the reluctance in the slowing of his footsteps as he changes course.
Continue reading...Jonathan, 23, a student, meets Katie, 27, an environmental campaigner
What were you hoping for?
To meet someone outside my usual bubble, have an interesting conversation, and see where it goes.
With the war on Iran, Ukraine, AI and climate breakdown increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war, the clock stands closer to midnight than ever before. So who decides how many seconds we have left – and can we buy ourselves more time?
The Earth is getting hotter. Conflicts are raging, in the Middle East and Ukraine, each increasing the chance of nuclear war. AI is infiltrating almost every aspect of our lives, despite its unpredictability and tendency to hallucinate. Scientists, tinkering in labs, risk introducing new, deadly pathogens, more destructive than Covid. Our pandemic response preparedness has weakened. The Doomsday Clock – a large, quarter clock with no numbers, keeps ticking, counting down the seconds until the apocalypse. Tick. Tick. Tick. In January, we reached 85 seconds to midnight. Experts believe humanity has never stood so close to the brink.
“What we have seen is a slow almost sleepwalk into increasing dangers over the last decade. And we see these problems growing. We see science advancing at a rate that defies our ability to understand it, much less control it,” says Alexandra Bell, CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organisation that sets the Doomsday Clock. She speaks of the “complete failure in leadership” in the US and other countries, which are doing little to address global, catastrophic threats, even as they feed into one another. Climate change increases global conflict, for instance, and the incorporation of AI into nuclear decision-making is, frankly, terrifying.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is preferred choice of new leader for 42% of those surveyed
The majority of Labour members say they do not believe Keir Starmer can turn around the party’s fortunes, while 45% say the prime minister should step down.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was the first preference for 42% of members, who were asked to rank their preferred successor.
Continue reading...Zingy lemon and mint elevate tender young beans in this fresh and simple spring supper
What are your simple pleasures in the kitchen? The sizzle and spit of a fried egg? The smell of buttered toast, or putting on an apron to mark the end of a day? I like podding beans. I enjoy how it involves hands but not much brain, and how it makes time feel slow and good, like drinking a cup of tea. I also like that it reminds me of my Gujarati aunties doing the same (but with valor beans). And I love not always cooking so much, as in this recipe, where you pod and chop the beans, then mix them with pasta to reveal a simple good meal.
Lucy Punch’s middle-class antihero is back, and one half of the Knife presents an album of dazzlingly inventive psychedelia. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews
Continue reading...Fears over a natural disaster or cyber attack are pushing households into contingency planning, Link survey shows
Millions of Britons are “prepping” for a potential “major disruptive event” by keeping a stash of cash at home, stockpiling tinned goods or ensuring they have a battery-powered torch close to hand, new data suggests.
With war raging in the Middle East and Ukraine, extreme weather becoming more frequent, and warnings that the UK’s critical infrastructure is at risk from cyber-attacks and power outages, many people feel the world has become a more dangerous and chaotic place.
Continue reading...The festival can often make you queasy, as geopolitics are played out through the proxy of art. This year it feels on the verge of collapsing in on itself
On Tuesday, the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale was full of activity. Several pallets, piled high with cases of prosecco and a few boxes of good old English Gordon’s gin, had been delivered outside. Inside, Ensemble Toloka, a group of “young folk performers and professional researchers of Russian authentic music”, were singing, balalaikas at their feet, the first in a programme of performances staged for the preview days of the art festival.
When I sent a few seconds of footage of this to a friend, a close and critical observer of Russia who lived there until recently, the reply came quickly, a succinct review: “Ethnic shit to cover up their war crimes.” Later, I saw DJs at the decks and a handful of people dancing. At pretty much the same time, the city centre of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine was being bombed in broad daylight – six dead.
Charlotte Higgins is the Guardian’s chief culture writer
Continue reading...The world has watched the news of deaths and evacuations anxiously, and those still onboard MV Hondius face a wary reception in the Canary Islands
As the MV Hondius sailed out of Ushuaia, the most southerly city on Earth, on 1 April, the grey skies above Tierra del Fuego lifted, lighting up the fresh snow on the mountaintops and the autumnal tree cover closer to shore.
Eighty-eight passengers and 61 crew of 23 nationalities had boarded the small polar-class vessel for its 35-day “Atlantic expedition” from the Argentinian province to Cape Verde, via some of the most remote islands on the planet. As the ship cleared the narrow channel leading to the open sea, those onboard had already been treated to glimpses of humpback whales, dolphins, black-browed albatrosses and South American sea lions.
Continue reading...