China is preparing to lift sanctions on European lawmakers as it tries to revive an investment deal with the EU after losing most of its access to the US market in Donald Trump’s trade war.

A spokesperson for Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, confirmed the move, first reported by German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Beijing took the measures against several MEPs in 2021 after the EU placed sanctions on some Chinese entities because of alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The European parliament then refused to ratify an EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment that would have deepened trade ties between the two.

“The president will first inform group leaders once the Chinese authorities officially confirm that sanctions have been lifted. It has always been the European parliament’s intention to have the sanctions lifted and resume relations with China.”

Archive link

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/29055663

By Simon Hooper
Published date: 23 April 2025 13:51 BST

"Mark Etkind, co-organiser of a network of “#Holocaust survivors and descendants against the Gaza genocide”, whose members have regularly attended pro-#Palestinian protests in London, said it was imperative too for campaigners in the #UK to keep up pressure on the #British government to end its support for Israel and to halt arms exports to the country.

“There’s just an absolutely massive burden of responsibility on everyone, especially those of us with a Holocaust survivor background, to speak out. I can’t think of a better commemoration for the six million,” said Etkind."

Donald Trump said during a White House news conference that high tariffs on goods from China will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero”.

Trump’s remarks were in response to earlier comments on Tuesday by treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who said that the high tariffs were unsustainable and that he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The US president said that the final tariff rate with China would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” Trump said.

China’s government was yet to respond to the news, but has consistently criticised Trump’s tariffs. On China’s social media platform, Weibo, Trump’s remarks trended under various hashtags including “Trump admitted defeat”.

Trump has shown no public indications that he plans to pullback his baseline 10% tariff, even as he has insisted he’s looking for other nations to cut their own import taxes and remove any non-tariff barriers that the administration says have hindered exports from the US.

China on Monday warned other countries against making trade deals with the United States that could negatively impact China.

Archive link

Sharon Osbourne has urged US authorities to revoke work visas for Kneecap after the Irish language rap group used a performance at Coachella to denounce Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The TV presenter accused the band of hate speech and supporting terrorist organisations and said it should not be allowed to perform in the US. “I urge you to join me in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa,” she exhorted followers on X on Tuesday.

What is going on right now in India/Pakistan? I'm seeing all sorts of very concerning news and I hope any Indian, Pakistani or Kashmiri comrades here could help explain.

By all criteria, this a concentration camp. Not “concentration camp” as rhetorical inflation, or emotionally manipulative shorthand, or edgy metaphor—but as in: literally.

As in: detention without trial, state control, inhumane living conditions, forced labor, dehumanization, brutal violence, isolation from accountability, psychological torture, and—by every available logical extension—murder.

That last one we can’t yet verify in the strict evidentiary sense, but the circumstances suggest it like smoke suggests fire, and they are already trying to hide their actions and deny what is occurring.

Pro-Palestine protesters entered a BBC building in Belfast and the RTÉ campus in Dublin on Tuesday. Both protests voiced their criticism of the coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The BBC building in the city centre was put into lockdown for a short period when protesters made their way on to the premises.

“Officers attended the scene and spoke with the crowd who then left the building and moved their protest outside. “No damage was caused and the protesters have since moved on from this area.”

Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a 32-year-old Venezuelan immigrant legally residing in the United States, has apparently been disappeared to El Salvador’s notorious Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) after mistakenly turning onto the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, Michigan.

The bridge, one of North America’s busiest international crossings, links Detroit with Windsor, Ontario. Due to the complexity of nearby highways, even local residents occasionally take the wrong ramp. For Prada, this innocent mistake led to arrest, imprisonment, and deportation—culminating in his disappearance into a foreign prison.

By Max Blumenthal - April 21, 2025

cross-posted from: https://hcommons.social/users/adachika192/statuses/114379262831940354

Pope Francis' Special Connection and [daily] Calls to a Gaza Parish | TIME (2025-04-21)

https://time.com/7279098/pope-francis-catholic-parish-in-gaza-enduring-connection-phone-calls/
------

>> As Pope Francis is remembered for his outreach ... his relationship with the Holy Family parish in Gaza stands out. The Pope made daily calls to the tiny parish ..., starting the practice shortly after the onset of the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 7, 2023.

>> In a May 2024 interview with 60 Minutes, Pope Francis talked about how his calls to the parish in Gaza, occurring every evening at 7 p.m., were part of his daily routine. “They tell me about what happens there. It is very tough, ... I listen… and they tell me things. There is a lot of suffering.”

>> ... While he then missed some days when he was first announced as critically ill, as soon as he resumed certain work duties from his hospital bed, he returned to the check-in calls.

#ChristianSolidarity
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/29004856

Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem and Malak A Tantesh in Gaza Tue 22 Apr 2025 10.32 EDT

"The first time he spoke to #PopeFrancis during the pontiff’s nightly calls to the Holy Family Catholic church in #Gaza City, the congregant George Antone, 44, found himself at a loss for words.

It was October 2023, a few weeks after #Hamas ignited a devastating war in the Gaza Strip by attacking #Israel. The #Palestinian territory’s tiny Christian community had taken shelter in the strip’s three churches, but that didn’t mean they were safe. An #Israeli airstrike had just hit the Greek Orthodox church, killing 18 people; soon, snipers and bombs would also kill civilians at the Holy Family."

cross-posted from: https://hcommons.social/users/adachika192/statuses/114379262831940354

Pope Francis' Special Connection and [daily] Calls to a Gaza Parish | TIME (2025-04-21)

https://time.com/7279098/pope-francis-catholic-parish-in-gaza-enduring-connection-phone-calls/
------

>> As Pope Francis is remembered for his outreach ... his relationship with the Holy Family parish in Gaza stands out. The Pope made daily calls to the tiny parish ..., starting the practice shortly after the onset of the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 7, 2023.

>> In a May 2024 interview with 60 Minutes, Pope Francis talked about how his calls to the parish in Gaza, occurring every evening at 7 p.m., were part of his daily routine. “They tell me about what happens there. It is very tough, ... I listen… and they tell me things. There is a lot of suffering.”

>> ... While he then missed some days when he was first announced as critically ill, as soon as he resumed certain work duties from his hospital bed, he returned to the check-in calls.

#ChristianSolidarity
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel