TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A plan to build a synthetic diamond plant in the United States is a prime prospect in Japan's $550-billion investment package, as the allies push to expand production of a material vital to chip and high-precision manufacturing, sources said.
It could be among the first batch of projects, details of which Reuters is reporting for the first time, set to be unveiled ahead of a U.S. visit by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planned as early as March, the two sources said.
Both declined to be identified as the matter is private.
"The United States wants to accelerate domestic production of synthetic diamonds," one of the sources said. "By involving Japanese companies, Washington hopes to build a U.S.–Japan supply chain that does not rely on China."
China's recent moves to put export controls on some artificial diamonds has underscored the strategic importance of the material, most of which is now produced in China.
The synthetic diamond project involves Element Six, part of De Beers Group, the world's leading diamond company, the source added.
The news comes as Japan accelerates efforts to finalise projects under the initiative agreed as part of Tokyo's deal with Washington to lower tariffs on Japanese exports.
Its investment package would include equity, loans and loan guarantees from state-owned agencies Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).
At the same time, President Donald Trump is raising tariffs on South Korea, which it accuses of dragging its feet on adopting a similar agreement reached last year.
Also likely to figure in the first batch of projects is a large-scale power-generation project, involving Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd (6501.T), opens new tab, the sources said.
The deal value of the projects was not immediately known.
Japan's trade ministry declined to comment on the projects under discussion, saying it was in talks with the United States to swiftly put together the project pipeline, but nothing had been decided.
Element Six said there were no formal agreements currently in place regarding any potential projects. Hitachi said it was engaged in discussions with the Japanese and U.S. governments, but declined further comment.
The U.S. commerce department and its Japan embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.
A major infrastructure project involving construction of a data centre linked to SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab also remains a finalist, Reuters reported this month.
One of the hardest known materials, diamond is crucial to high-precision manufacturing.
It is used for ultra-fine polishing of semiconductors, machining hard metals and ceramics in quantum devices, and dissipating heat in advanced electronic systems.
Artificial diamonds also have dual-use military applications, in turning out munitions and radar components.
Before Thanksgiving 2023, Thomas Crooks' online life was fairly routine for a 20-year-old. He'd scroll through social media, listen to music on Spotify, visit news sites and peruse Reddit.
But a plan for mass violence was brewing, and in order for it to succeed, Crooks had to compartmentalize his life. It was something he was already comfortable doing from a childhood in which he let few people get close.
Friends knew little about his home and tight-knit family. They were rarely invited over to the Crooks home to play or, as they got older, hang out. In late 2023, he pivoted to keeping a new set of secrets -- building homemade improvised explosive devices in his bedroom and planning an assassination, while pursuing a career in engineering.
On July 13, 2024, Crooks would take aim at a rally for President Trump in the small town of Butler, Pennsylvania, firing from a rooftop eight shots that came within inches of dramatically altering the course of American history. He left no manifesto, no explanation for why he tried to kill the former and future president. In the year since the shooting, investigators and those who knew him have been trying to piece together what led him to climb that roof in Butler, with frustratingly few answers.
This CBS News investigation provides the most comprehensive portrait yet published of the insular young student. It draws from interviews with more than two dozen friends, professors, law enforcement officials and others, as well as open records requests to half a dozen agencies and a review of thousands of documents.
The young man who died in the assassination attempt crafted a furtive double life in the months leading up to the attack, unbeknownst to the people closest to him.
he "nice" boy who "kept to himself"
Crooks was born in 2003 and lived his entire life in a suburban home purchased by his parents before he and his older sister came along, tucked along a leafy street in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. Growing up, Crooks loved Legos, his cat, building and creating model airplanes, watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and cooking with family.
His parents were both social workers, and took pride in their work and family. In 2008, his father, Matthew, filled out an online registry for a family coat of arms, writing that he hoped to pass down to his young children a sense of family unity and instill in them the virtues of generosity, sincerity, hope, joy and service to the country.
Crooks and his mother, who is visually impaired, often prepared dinner together. During holidays, everyone helped out. "For Thanksgiving, me and my dad will cook turkey and mashed potatoes together. At Christmas, me and my mom will bake dozens of cookies together, and on New Year's Eve, my mom and I will bake the pork and the sauerkraut together," Crooks said in a video he recorded for a college class.
In kindergarten, Crooks met Tristan Radcliffe. They ate lunch together frequently throughout most of elementary, middle and high school, and kept in touch after they both enrolled at the same college.
"I've known Tom, like, all of my life," Radcliffe said. "He was cool. You know, he was kind of just Tom to me."
There were many things about Crooks that stayed familiar and consistent through the years: his tight jeans, his tidy shirts and his bespectacled smooth face beneath neatly parted hair. But there was plenty, Radcliffe said, that he never knew about his friend, even though they saw each other nearly every day.
He was never invited to Crooks' home, and Crooks rarely talked about his family. Radcliffe said Crooks was a "nice" boy who "kept to himself." Crooks' neighbors said the family didn't interact much with folks on their block, and the children rarely had visitors.
Radcliffe wasn't bothered by it. To him, Crooks seemed like he had more on his mind.
"He always seemed like he focused on his work more, you know, like he came off smart," Radcliffe said.
Crooks' grades and test scores supported that. Crooks scored 1530 on his SAT exam, putting him in the 99th percentile nationally. He enrolled in the Community College of Allegheny County in 2022, and told an adviser he was saving money before pursuing a four-year engineering program.
As the tight quarters and crowded classrooms of high school gave way to the sprawl and remote coursework of commuter college, Crooks' social connections largely evaporated, allowing his secret life to go largely unnoticed.
A star student walking two paths
A diligent college student, Crooks routinely contacted professors to make sure his grades remained high.
His teachers were impressed with his work, often lauding his effort and dedication. One emailed to compliment Crooks for "getting such an early start" on a project. Another wrote to thank him for his contributions to class all semester.
Crooks stood out among his peers, according to former engineering professor Patricia Thompson.
"I thought he was a star student. He had his head on straight and he was on a path [to] success," Thompson said.
She recalled showing other professors in her department one of Crooks' projects which exceeded her expectations. He designed and 3D-printed a unique chessboard, engineered for players with visual impairments.
For many others contacted by CBS News, Crooks did not leave a lasting impression. Several former students said they did not realize he had been in the same class. Even some who had emailed and worked on projects with Crooks said they couldn't recall interacting with him.
For one assignment, Crooks was called upon to record a speech in front of an audience of five adults. He emailed his professor seeking to be excused from that requirement.
"I currently only live with my Mom and Dad. There are no other adults in my house and I have one sister who lives nearby that could potentially come over to be part of this audience," Crooks wrote. "I do not have access to any other adults."
In the summer of 2023, Crooks bought a rifle from his dad for $500 and signed up for a membership at a local shooting range. He became a regular at Clairton Sportsmen's Club, about nine miles from his home, signing in to use the rifle range more than 40 times in the last 11 months of his life, records show. Around that time, records obtained by CBS News show he started using encryption services that masked some of his internet use, mixing those with more typical visits to sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.
His habits started to rapidly shift that fall. To his professors, he still appeared focused on getting straight A's and preparing to apply to the engineering programs at the University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University. But his online activity suggests his attention was elsewhere. He began to more frequently use an encrypted email service called Mailfence and a virtual private network called Mullvad. Both would shield his online life from anyone who might pry.
An analysis by CBS News of Crooks' internet routines shows he developed an increasing interest in news, explosives and ammo, and secrecy. The records include nearly a year of Crooks' activity on his college's wireless internet network. They show hundreds of visits to websites ranging from his academic email account and discussion boards, to his bank, news sites, gaming platforms, social media, weapons blogs and Steelers fan sites.
Logs of Crooks' on-campus internet activity, which CBS News obtained through a public records request, indicate that in the last months of his life, he became increasingly rigid about secrecy, shrouding his activities through encrypted services.
Two particular days -- Dec. 6, 2023, and Jan. 24, 2024 -- stand out. On Dec. 6, 2023, Crooks checked various news sites and the White House website's archives from Mr. Trump's first administration, followed by visits to firearms websites. The following month, on Jan. 24, Crooks showed the single largest number of internet requests in the logs, at 1,364. He started to consistently use the VPN after that day.
On some days, he left little trace of his activity, choosing instead to first turn on Mullvad. Virtual private networks, known as VPNs, route a user's web traffic through encrypted tunnels, hiding their activity from prying eyes, such as a college's web tracking security software. While Crooks was using Mullvad, his browsing history was effectively sealed off.
Mullvad CEO Jan Jonsson told CBS News that the VPN service used by Crooks was designed to "provide anonymity, censorship circumvention and surveillance protection."
"This sadly also means that if somebody abuses the service for nefarious purposes, we cannot block that individual user and unfortunately can't provide any additional information about them," Jonsson said.
In December 2023, a month before Crooks' final semester started, his life began to split in two. He was focused on his college applications, and at the same time fixated on mass violence. One day, he emailed himself to review his personal statement for his application; on another, he emailed customer service to complain that the explosive fuel he ordered had not yet shipped. Investigators later concluded he would have been able to engineer bombs in his bedroom without his parents knowing.
Around this time, some in Crooks' life did notice erratic behavior.
Crooks' father told investigators that, in retrospect, he spotted signs of his son's declining mental health, according to excerpts of a Pennsylvania State Police report. Those excerpts were first made public in December by a House of Representatives task force on the attempted assassination.
"Crooks' father explained that within the last year he observed several instances of his son dancing in his bedroom throughout the night," a Pennsylvania investigator wrote. "He would occasionally see Crooks talking to himself with his hands moving, which he expressed as uncommon and had become more prevalent after he had finished his last semester."
Radcliffe noticed similar changes when he bumped into Crooks on campus.
"He would always move his legs around a lot, and he would kind of talk pretty fast," Radcliffe recalled.
Crooks graduated from community college in May 2024. On June 14, less than a month before the assassination attempt, he sent one last email from his community college account.
It was to the registrar. Crooks wanted to know when he'd receive his diploma.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.
"In the coming days, we will increase the political and military pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to bring back our hostages and achieve victory. We will land more and painful blows on Hamas – soon," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. He didn't give details.
The first Israeli strike in Rafah killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. The woman was pregnant and the doctors saved the baby, the hospital said. The second strike killed 17 children and two women from an extended family.
"These children were sleeping. What did they do? What was their fault?" asked one relative, Umm Kareem. Another relative, Umm Mohammad, said the oldest killed, an 80-year-old aunt, was taken out "in pieces." Small children were zipped into body bags.
Mohammed al-Beheiri said his daughter, Rasha, and her six children, the youngest 18 months old, were among those killed. A woman and three children were still under the rubble.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, at least two-thirds of them children and women. It has devastated Gaza's two largest cities and left a swath of destruction. Around 80 percent of the territory's population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.
The $26 billion aid package approved by the House of Representatives on Saturday includes around $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine. The Senate could pass the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
The conflict, now in its seventh month, has sparked regional unrest pitting Israel and the U.S. against Iran and allied militant groups across the Middle East. Israel and Iran traded fire directly this month, raising fears of all-out war between the longtime foes.
Tensions have also spiked in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli troops killed two Palestinians who the military says attacked a checkpoint with a knife and a gun near the southern West Bank town of Hebron early Sunday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the two killed were 18 and 19, from the same family. No Israeli forces were wounded, the army said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it had recovered 14 bodies from an Israeli raid in the Nur Shams urban refugee camp in the West Bank that began late Thursday. Those killed include three militants from the Islamic Jihad group and a 15-year-old boy. The military said it killed 14 militants in the camp and arrested eight suspects. Ten Israeli soldiers and one border police officer were wounded.
In a separate incident in the West Bank, an Israeli man was wounded in an explosion Sunday, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. A video circulating online shows a man approaching a Palestinian flag planted in a field. When he kicks it, it appears to trigger an explosive device.
At least 469 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Most have been killed during Israeli military raids, which often trigger gunbattles, or in violent protests.
The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for new elections to replace Netanyahu and a deal with Hamas to release the hostages. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.
The war has killed at least 34,097 Palestinians and wounded another 76,980, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count. It says the real toll is likely higher as many bodies are stuck beneath the rubble or in areas that medics cannot reach.
Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants fight in dense, residential neighborhoods. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. The military says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence.
The church at Ntarama, a 45-minute drive south of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, is a red-brick building about 20 metres long by 5 metres wide. Inside are features seen in Catholic churches around the world: pews for congregation members, an altar, stained-glass windows and a cross adorning the entrance. Then there are the scars of the unimaginable: piles of blood-stained clothing hanging along the walls and glass cabinets containing more than 260 human skulls, many fractured or shattered, some with rusted weapons still penetrating them. Nearby, wooden sticks and roughly carved clubs lean against the altar.
Ntarama is the site of one of the many massacres that occurred during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — one of the worst atrocities of the late twentieth century. Starting on 7 April that year, in 100 days of horrifying violence, members of the Hutu ethnic group systematically killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi — or more than one million, according to the Rwandan government and other sources. The killers ranged from militias to ordinary citizens, with neighbours turning on neighbours. Many moderate Hutu and some of the Twa minority group were also killed.
More than 5,000 Tutsi were murdered at Ntarama, among them babies, children and pregnant women, many of whom were raped before they were killed, says Evode Ngombwa, site manager at the Ntarama Genocide Memorial, one of six sites in Rwanda that commemorate the atrocity. “People used money to bribe the perpetrators so that they could choose the way of being eliminated. Instead of killing them with machetes, they could choose to be shot,” says Ngombwa as he walks me through the church. With more remains being found each year, about 6,000 people are now buried there in mass graves.
This month, Rwanda and the world begin commemorations to mark 30 years since the start of this atrocity. The genocide is now one of the most studied of its kind. Researchers from social and political scientists to mental-health specialists, geneticists and neuroscientists have investigated the event and its aftermath in a way that hadn’t been possible for previous atrocities.
This work is especially important now in light of violent crises in several parts of the world, including in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although there is debate about whether these conflicts meet the definition of genocide, some share similar characteristics. Research conducted into atrocities such as the genocide in Rwanda can help to inform responses and longer-term approaches to healing.
Despite the difficulties of these studies, researchers say that they are working towards developing a theory of genocide and the conditions that spur mass violence. They are providing guidance for first responders, as well as those involved in peacebuilding and supporting survivors of other systematic mass murders and of war. Some of their approaches have been used in other conflicts. And the research on Rwanda is offering lessons for how scholars can improve studies of similar events.
“Genocide studies are important,” says Phil Clark, an international-politics researcher at SOAS, part of the University of London, who has studied Rwanda for more than two decades. “If we can start to understand why and how genocides happen, and especially if we can compare genocides across the world, we should ideally be able to build a general theory of how these terrible events are even possible.”
One of the lessons emerging from Rwanda is the importance of involving — and supporting — local researchers, whose work, language skills and access to traumatized communities can be essential for understanding the roots of violence and the best techniques for reconciliation. This can be difficult — in Rwanda’s case because the genocide wiped out almost its entire academic community. Now, through programmes aimed at elevating local scholars’ voices, their work is finally reaching a wider audience.
Criminal gangs, wielding more power than Haiti's state security forces, have launched violent attacks on prisons and the airport serving Port-au-Prince, the country's capital. This has led to the closure of businesses and schools, forcing an estimated 15,000 people from their homes. The situation has escalated to a point where the U.N.'s top human rights official has deemed it "beyond untenable," with over 1,190 people killed since the start of 2024 alone. Efforts to send international help have so far been unsuccessful.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has urgently called for the deployment of a multinational security force to support Haiti's struggling police and military, citing the lack of a realistic alternative to protect lives.
Recent developments include a surge in violence on Feb. 29, as Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya to seek U.N.-backed support against the gangs. Upon his absence, prominent gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier announced the alliance of his group, G9, with other gangs to pressure Henry to resign.
Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, acting as Haiti's prime minister in Henry's absence, declared a state of emergency on March 3, imposing an evening curfew to regain control of the situation. Despite mounting pressure, Henry has not been able to return to Haiti, landing instead in Puerto Rico after being denied entry to the Dominican Republic.
Haiti's long-standing instability stems from government corruption and violent political unrest. The nation has faced challenges exacerbated by powerful earthquakes in 2010 and 2021, which claimed thousands of lives and crippled infrastructure. The current crisis intensified in 2021 with the assassination of then-Prime Minister Jovenel Moïse, leading to Henry's appointment amidst economic and political turmoil.
Gangs in Haiti, estimated at 200 with 23 main factions in Port-au-Prince, have expanded their control to about 80% of the capital. They have grown more powerful due to smuggled firearms and ransom payments, surpassing the state's weakening authority. Recent reports indicate the gangs' acquisition of high-caliber weapons has transformed the country's violence landscape, posing significant challenges to security forces.
The situation in Haiti remains critical, with urgent international intervention needed to address the escalating violence and instability.
The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution which aimed to establish an immediate cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The resolution, backed by Arab nations and supported by a majority of Security Council members, faced strong opposition from the U.S., citing concerns about its potential impact on negotiations for the release of hostages held in Israel.
This marks the third time the U.S. has used its veto power to block a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, highlighting its steadfast support for Israel amid growing international pressure. The vote in the Security Council saw 13 members in favor of the resolution, with the United Kingdom abstaining.
Algeria's U.N. ambassador condemned the U.S. veto, stating that it implies an endorsement of the violence inflicted upon Palestinians. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield defended the decision, expressing the need for a resolution that would support ongoing negotiations for a temporary humanitarian cease-fire linked to the release of hostages.
The proposed U.S. resolution marks a departure from previous stances, as it includes the term "cease-fire" and emphasizes the release of hostages as a condition for the temporary halt in hostilities. However, its potential adoption remains uncertain, with Russia and China expected to challenge it.
The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with reports of increasing civilian casualties and urgent humanitarian needs. Aid organizations have criticized the U.S. for obstructing efforts to achieve a cease-fire, emphasizing the critical importance of immediate assistance for the suffering population.
Despite diplomatic efforts, the conflict shows no signs of abating, with Israel's military ordering evacuations in Gaza City amid ongoing violence. The World Food Program has suspended deliveries in certain areas due to safety concerns, highlighting the dire humanitarian situation faced by Gaza's population.
The U.S. veto has sparked widespread condemnation, with critics accusing Washington of prioritizing political interests over humanitarian concerns. As the conflict persists, calls for an end to the fighting and increased humanitarian support for Gaza continue to grow louder on the international stage.
An appeals court in Chile has ruled that the investigation into the death of Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, days after the country's 1973 military coup, should be reopened. The court stated that new steps could help clarify what killed the poet, who was best known for his love poems and accumulated dozens of prizes, including the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature.
The ruling comes after a request by Neruda's nephew, Rodolfo Reyes, to reopen the case and investigate causes other than cancer, which was listed on his death certificate. Reyes cited forensic experts from Canada, Denmark, and Chile who found evidence suggesting Neruda was poisoned. According to Reyes, forensic tests indicated a presence of "a great quantity of Cloristridium botulinum, which is incompatible with human life," a toxin that can cause nervous system paralysis and death.
The official position has long been that Neruda died of complications from prostate cancer, but his driver has argued for decades that he was poisoned. Previous international forensic experts rejected the official cause of death as cachexia, or weakness and wasting of the body due to chronic illness, but they did not determine what did kill Neruda.
The appeals court in Santiago unanimously revoked a judge's resolution from December that rejected the request to reopen the case. The new procedures include a calligraphic analysis of the death certificate, a meta-analysis of test results from foreign agencies, and subpoenas for statements from Chile's documentation project and an expert on Clostridium botulinum.
Neruda, a Communist Party member and friend of Chile's President Salvador Allende, planned to go into exile in Mexico, where he would have been an influential voice against the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. However, he died a day before his planned departure, on September 23, 1973, in a clinic in Santiago. Suspicions that the dictatorship had a hand in his death have persisted, and Neruda's body was exhumed in 2013 for further investigation.
Chile's government stated in 2015 that it was "highly probable that a third party" was responsible for Neruda's death. In 2017, authorities reported the discovery of fragments of Clostridium botulinum bacteria in his skeletal remains and teeth. Neruda was reburied in his favorite home overlooking the Pacific Coast, but questions surrounding his death continue to linger, prompting the recent ruling to reopen the investigation.
In a historic decision, Estonia has become the first central European nation, as well as the first ex-Soviet country, to legalize same-sex marriage. The Estonian parliament approved amendments to its Family Law Act on Tuesday, allowing marriages between any two individuals, regardless of their sex, effective from January 1, 2024.
The newly passed legislation not only legalizes same-sex marriages but also permits same-sex couples to adopt children. Prior to this amendment, unmarried couples in Estonia were not eligible for adoption.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas expressed her pride in the decision, stating that it does not take anything away from anyone but grants something important to many. She sees it as a testament to Estonian society's caring and respectful nature towards one another.
A recent survey by the Estonian Human Rights Centre showed that over half of Estonians, 53%, support marriage equality. This move places Estonia among 30 other countries that have legalized gay marriage, as reported by the Pew Research Center. Andorra, another European nation, had also legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year.
Previously, Estonia recognized same-sex relationships through the Registered Partnership Act, which provided certain rights related to health, assets, and decision-making for partners. With the new amendment, individuals in registered partnerships will have the option to convert their status to marriage easily.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the worldwide celebrations, congratulating Estonia on its progressive legislation and expressing the United States' support for LGBTQI+ communities everywhere.
This landmark decision marks a significant step towards ensuring equal rights for all Estonians and reflects the country's commitment to fostering an inclusive and respectful society.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent visit to China marked a significant moment in the strained relationship between the two countries. The meeting with President Xi Jinping aimed to address mounting geopolitical tensions and find common ground on crucial issues.
The US and China have a history of rivalry, but during the Trump administration, it escalated into a full-blown trade war with sanctions, tariffs, and aggressive posturing from both sides. Even under the Biden administration, tensions persisted, evident in China's show of force when Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and the US response to China's spy balloon incident.
Despite the past hostilities, both nations seem willing to consider their economic interests and national security concerns. Although details of the discussions between Blinken and Xi remain scarce, there were indications of progress. China faced export restrictions on certain semiconductor chips, impacting its tech manufacturing sector and trade with countries like Taiwan and South Korea.
The trade war initially aimed to reduce the US trade deficit with China, but it actually grew to $383 billion by 2022. Furthermore, the US administration's efforts to bolster domestic manufacturing while contemplating "decoupling" and "de-risking" strategies acknowledge the interdependence of the US and Chinese economies.
Blinken's successful visit could pave the way for another meeting between President Biden and Xi. The two leaders had a face-to-face discussion during a G20 summit last year, addressing issues such as China's forced labor camps and its relationship with Russia amid the Ukraine conflict. Though differences persist, both sides are engaging in dialogue.
While the future remains uncertain, Blinken expressed hope for further interactions with Xi in the coming months, suggesting that efforts to mend the US-China relationship are ongoing.
In a recent referendum, the majority of Swiss citizens voiced support for a bill targeting new climate measures to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions. According to final results from public broadcaster SRF, 59.1% of voters favored the bill, with 40.9% against.
The drive for the referendum arose from a campaign by scientists and environmentalists concerned about the rapid melting of Switzerland's glaciers. Campaigners initially proposed more ambitious measures but later aligned with a government plan mandating "net zero" emissions by 2050. Over 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.357 billion) were earmarked to assist companies and homeowners in transitioning away from fossil fuels.
The nationalist Swiss People's Party, instigators of the referendum, argued the proposed measures would escalate electricity prices. Supporters contended that Switzerland, already witnessing the impact of rising temperatures on its glaciers, must address the looming threat of global warming.
Urs Bieri of the GFS Bern Institute acknowledged the victory for supporters but highlighted dissent over concerns about associated costs. Greenpeace Switzerland expressed satisfaction with the result, emphasizing the legal anchoring of the goal to achieve net zero emissions. Georg Klingler, a climate and energy expert at Greenpeace Switzerland, emphasized the citizens' commitment to limiting global warming and preserving vital natural resources.
The referendum result comes against the backdrop of Swiss glaciers experiencing record melting, losing over 6% of their volume last year. This significant loss alarmed scientists who assert that a 2% reduction would have once been deemed extreme.
Experts like Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at the Swiss Institute for Technology in Zurich, are leveraging social media to spotlight these changes. Posting dramatic snapshots of retreating glaciers and rockslides caused by melting permafrost, they underscore the transformations unfolding in the Alps.
Amid these developments, Huss, in a recent Twitter post, urged collective action to forestall the worst consequences of climate change. The Swiss populace's endorsement of the climate bill reflects a broader recognition of the urgent need to address environmental challenges and underscores the nation's commitment to a sustainable future.