World

April 7 (UPI) — South Korea’s government on Monday said it will provide up to $68.12 billion in emergency liquidity and other market stabilization measures for local companies hit by U.S. tariffs and amid tumbling stocks.

Last week, President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on South Korean goods. A 10% baseline tariff on 180 trading partners took effect Saturday, and the reciprocal duties for the so-called “worst” offenders will be imposed Wednesday.

Kim Byoung-hwan, chief of the Financial Services Commission, told the heads of the top five financial holding firms about the plans in Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“Uncertainties are running high across the domestic economy, industries and financial markets due to the tariff policy,” Kim said. “Financial holding companies and policy finance institutions should take the lead in stabilizing the market and play a more active role in providing financial support to businesses and other sectors.”

They include companies that manufacture semiconductors, secondary batteries, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and robotics, the Korean Times reported.

Also, he said FCS will make “all-out” efforts to smoothly implement market stabilization measures to inject liquidity any time.

Since Trump’s tariffs announcement Wednesday, worldwide stock markets have plunged.

That includes a 5.5% decline by the Korean Composite Stock Price Index to 2,328.20, the fourth day in a row of losses. The market was halted for five minutes in a circuit-breaker procedure during the opening after heavy drops.

The index is at the lowest level since October 2023.

Losing companies outnumbered winners 862-68.

“Volatility in the Korean stock markets heightened on the Trump administration’s stronger-than-expected tariff policies,” Park Seok-joong, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, said.

“None of the Korean export industries will be able to evade the influence of the U.S. tariff scheme.”

Many large-cap stocks were at their lows for the year.

Big declines were seen at companies that export to the United States.

Hyundai Motor, the top automaker in South Korea, sank 6.62%.

Hanwha Aerospace, a major defense firm, skidded 8.55%.

Samsung Electronics lost 5.17% and its biotech division dropped 5.71%.

Steel giant POSCO Holdings slumped 6.59%.

Among shipbuilders, Hanwha Ocean declined 9.81% and HD Hyundai Heavy went down 8.17%.

“Especially in times like these, the financial sector must fulfill its core function – ensuring stable markets and uninterrupted financial intermediation,” Kim said. “We expect financial holding companies and policy institutions to take the lead in supporting both market stability and capital access for businesses.”

South Korea’s currency dropped 2.3% to 1,467.8 won against the U.S. dollar, its biggest single-day decline, 2.3%, against U.S. currency since March 19, 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Korean Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo plans to visit Washington on Tuesday for tariff negotiations with U.S. administration officials, Seoul’s trade ministry said.

“We are in a severe situation where Korean companies exporting to or operating in the U.S. are expected to suffer difficulties due to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2, as well as duties on steel, aluminum, cars and auto parts,” Cheong said in a press release.

“The government will put in all-out efforts in negotiations with the U.S. to minimize the impact of Washington’s trade policies on Korean businesses and industries,” he added.

Shoppers stroll in downtown Shanghai on Monday beneath a giant screen displaying market data. Stock prices on the city’s main SSE Composite Index dropped sharply during the day, in step with the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, as fears over U.S. President Donald Trump’s impending tariffs reached fever pitch. Photo by Alex Plavevski/EPA-EFE

Over in Frankfurt, Germany’s main Xetra DAX index was down more than 1,350 points, around 6.6%, while France’s CAC 40 was off by 6% and the wider Stoxx 50, the eurozone’s blue-chip index, was down 6.2%, losing more than 300 points.

The falls in Europe followed a Monday session in Asia that saw shares in freefall, particularly in Greater China and Singapore, where markets had been closed since Thursday due to a public holiday and the weekend.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Hang Seng Index ended down more than 3,000 points, shaving more than 13% off its value, Taiwan’s TAIEX index in Taipei dropped by 9.7%, its largest ever intraday loss, shedding more than 2,000 points, China’s main Shanghai Composite Index plunged 3,097 points, ending the day down 7.43%, while Singapore’s Straights Times Index went on a roller coaster ride before closing out the session down 7.46%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index nose-dived for a third straight day shedding nearly 8% of its value, freefalling for the first 30 minutes after the start of trade at 9 a.m. local time in Tokyo before stabilizing to end at 31,136.58 points. Korea’s main KOSPI index lost 5.57% with prices of shares of around 70% of the 200 firms that make up the index ending the day in the red.

Ahead of new tariffs as high as 49% coming into effect Wednesday, U.S. billionaire investor Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Holdings, warned Trump was declaring “global economic war,” urging him to call a “90-day time out” to allow time to resolve the trade imbalances he wanted addressed.

“Other nations have taken advantage of the U.S. by protecting their home industries at the expense of millions of our jobs and economic growth in our country. But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital,” Ackman wrote in a post on X.

“The president has an opportunity to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country. If, on the other hand, on April 9 we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocketbooks, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate.”

Following massive back-to-back losses across the three major U.S. indices on Thursday and Friday, futures trading ahead of Monday’s open showed U.S.-listed firms were in for another tumultuous session with futures on the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ down 1.9%, 1.7% and 2% as investors desert the market in favor of “safe” investments.

However, Trump remained adamant he would not be swayed by the turmoil on the markets, telling reporters on Air Force One en route back to Washington late Sunday that while he didn’t want “anything to go down, sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Iwo Jima on Monday to kick off a tour of memorial sites to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE

The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in February of 1945, which saw an estimated 21,900 Japanese and 7,000 U.S. soldiers killed over the monthlong conflict.

The imperial couple were expected to visit the Tenzan Ireihi monument, which was built to remember the more than 20,000 Japanese people who died on the island during the battle in the final stages of World War II, and the Islander Peace Cemetery Park, built to memorialize islanders who died after being enlisted as civilian workers for the now-defunct Imperial Japanese military.

The pair are also to appear at the Chinkon no Oka memorial facility, built by the Tokyo municipal government for both the Japanese and U.S. war dead.

The visit to Ioto follows a March 29 ceremony in which Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Japanese defense ministers and a delegation from the U.S. attended a ceremony to mark 80 years since the battle.

Both the Emperor and Empress are also scheduled to visit Okinawa in June, where the Battle of Okinawa saw the deaths of about a quarter of the population, before their next stop of Hiroshima that same month and then Nagasaki in September.

It will be their first trips as emperor and empress to the two cities that were struck by atomic weapons in the last year of World War II.

Pope Francis greets and blesses the faithful from the balcony of the Gemelli hospital in Rome, Italy in March. He spent more than five weeks in the hospital for bilateral pneumonia. File Photo by Ettore Ferrari/EPA-EFE

Francis, 88, appeared in a wheelchair with an oxygen cannula under his nose while he spoke briefly and waved to the crowd. He appeared after a Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and Healthcare Workers, the Vatican said.

It was his first public appearance since being released from the hospital March 23 when he appeared briefly at a hospital window and offered a blessing to onlookers.

The pope received treatment at Gemelli hospital in Rome for more than a month because of double pneumonia brought on by a severe respiratory illness.

Francis was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14. During his 5 week stay, doctors said the pontiff’s “life was in danger” on at least two occasions as a result of the pneumonia.

Since his release, he has continued to receive supplemental oxygen by nasal cannula during the day and high-flow oxygen at night as needed.

The pope is susceptible to respiratory problems, largely because he had a portion of one of his lungs removed at the age of 21.

At the time of his release from the hospital, the Vatican said the pope would need at least two months of rest at his residence before making any public appearances, so his presence at the St. Peter’s Square Sunday was a surprise.

The Vatican said Friday that Francis’ condition was improving and that he is “in good spirits” as he resumed some of his official duties and work.

New global tariffs imposed by the US will have ‘profound’ economic consequences, the British prime minister warns.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the introduction of sweeping global tariffs by the United States has created a “new world” governed by “deals and alliances” rather than rules.

Starmer made the remarks in an opinion piece published in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper as countries around the world braced for further fallout from US President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime, which sent markets plummeting at the end of last week.

“The world as we knew it has gone. Old assumptions can no longer be taken for granted,” Starmer wrote.

Trump’s 10 percent baseline import tax on goods from around the world kicked in on Saturday. While the United Kingdom has got off relatively lightly with the 10 percent tariff, many nations face even higher levies in the coming days.

“This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” the US president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”

Starmer disagreed. “Nobody wins from a trade war,” he said, describing “profound ” economic consequences from Trump’s trade offensive and signalling that “all options remain on the table” in responding to the tariffs.

End of globalisation

On Sunday, Darren Jones, chief secretary to the UK Treasury, said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that “globalisation as we’ve known it for the last number of decades” had in effect come to an end.

UK ministers had been reluctant to criticise the Trump administration in the wake of the tariffs as officials have been in talks with the US in recent weeks in the hope of securing a trade deal with Washington.

Starmer insisted in his opinion piece that a trade deal will be struck with the US only “if it is right for British business and the security of working people”, insisting that he would “continue to make the case for free and open trade”.

Trump’s 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods is set to kick in next week, triggering Beijing’s announcement of a 34-percent levy on US products from Thursday.

The European Union and Japan are also among about 60 US trading partners set to face higher rates on Wednesday, raising fears of recessions in some of the world’s leading economies.

Trump’s announcement of the tariffs on Wednesday has sent countries scrambling for a response. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced on Saturday that he would suspend all tariffs on goods imported from the US after being hit with an 18-percent levy.

On Sunday, Indonesian Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a statement that his country, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, would not retaliate against Trump’s 32-percent tariff, which is to take effect on Wednesday.

“The approach was taken by considering the long-term interest of bilateral trade relation, as well as to maintain the investment climate and national economic stability,” he said, adding that Jakarta will support potentially impacted sectors, such as the apparel and footwear industry.

The new levies mark “the most sweeping tariff hike since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the 1930 law best remembered for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression”, said the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, DC.

1 of 2 | The Palestine Red Crescent Society on Saturday released a video it says shows 14 aid workers shot dead by Israeli soldiers last month. Screenshot courtesy of the Palestine Red Crescent Society

The PRCS says the video was taken by a paramedic in one of the vehicles and was later recovered from his body which was found under a pile of sand in a mass grave near the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

After the vehicles stop, video goes mostly dark around the 2-minute mark, while audio continues. Voices shouting and what appear to be gunshots can then be heard through the remainder of it.

“The Palestine Red Crescent Society has obtained a video from the family of a martyred EMT, found on his mobile phone after his body was recovered from a mass grave in Gaza. He was among 15 ambulance and relief team members targeted by Israeli forces on March 23,” the PRCS said on X.

“The footage clearly shows that the ambulances and fire trucks they were using were visibly marked, with flashing emergency lights on at the time they were attacked. This video unequivocally refutes the occupation’s claims that Israeli forces did not randomly target ambulances, and that some vehicles had approached “suspiciously without lights or emergency markings.”

Israeli officials earlier in the week said they would launch a military-led investigation into the events of March 23.

“Several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals. IDF troops then opened fire at the suspected vehicles,” the Israel Defense Forces said at the time.

Of the 14 bodies recovered, eight were found to be PRCS aid workers while five were civil defense members. The remaining victim worked for a United Nations agency, according to the PRCS.

The news comes as tensions continue to escalate in Gaza, where around 60 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas militants.

At least 15 people were killed earlier in the week as Israeli forces expand their miiltary operation aimed at capturing large areas of Gaza.

Earlier in the week, the Times of Israel reported Hamas was entertaining a proposal to release all remaining hostages in exchange for a ceasefire to the IDF operation in the Palestinian enclave.

“After we verified the auction on the internet, we decided to file a complaint,” Sorrentino said in a video recording. “I fear that Satan has a hand in it.”

Acutis loved playing video games from his home in Milan, Italy, before dying of cancer at age 15, but he’s about to be canonized as the first “video-gamer” saint.

Leukemia claimed Acutis’ life in 2006, and he was buried in Assisi. His canonization is scheduled for April 27 in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

Sorrentino said he does not know if the relics advertised for sale on the internet are fake or genuine but asked local police in Perugia, Italy, to investigate the auction.

“We have asked for their seizure,” Sorrentino said. “Even if it were all invented, if there was a deception, we would be in the presence of not only a scam but also an insult to religious sentiment.”

The archbishop said strands of hair and bone fragments are common relics of saints and those who are to be canonized as saints that Catholics use as devotional items.

The church encourages worshipers to pray in front of such relics, but canon law bans their sale, Sorrentino explained.

Bishops and those who own such relics are allowed to give them away, but never in exchange for money.

Despite the church’s ban on their sale, the “business of relics trading is prevalent,” Sorrentino said.

He said internet marketplaces exist for selling relics from particular saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi.

Such marketplaces are “impossible to accept,” Sorrentino said.

Acutis was a noted proponent of the Catholic Church and created a website dedicated to “Eucharistic miracles,” according to Vatican News.

Filmmaker Edmundo Reyes is making a documentary of Acutis’ life called, “The Boy from Milan.”

“The beautiful thing about the documentary is that it portrays Carlo closer to his essence: his love for the Eucharist, his love for the poor and seeing Christ in all the people in need,” Reyes told Vatican News.

Scotland will face Switzerland in the final of the men’s World Curling Championship on Sunday – live on the BBC – after beating hosts Canada in a tense semi-final.

Bruce Mouat’s rink, who reached the last four by beating defending champions Sweden 8-7 earlier on Saturday, followed that with a 7-4 win against the Canadians.

The Scots had been the only nation to beat Canada in the round robin in Moose Jaw, and they led 5-4 in the knockout tie after the hosts blanked the ninth end.

The Olympic silver medallists took two in the last end, despite Canada having the hammer, to guarantee a world medal of at least the same colour in Sunday’s final (22:00 BST).

Team Mouat, seeking a fourth medal at world level, have already clinched an Olympic place for Great Britain for Milan-Cortina in 2026.

Anticipating Trump’s tariffs action on Thursday, Jaguar Land Rover officials prepared its response ahead of Trump’s tariffs announcement.

“Our luxury brands have global appeal and our business is resilient [and] accustomed to changing market conditions,” Jaguar-Land Rover said Wednesday in a statement.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new U.S. trading terms,” the company said.

The United States is Jaguar Land Rover’s second-largest export market behind the European Union.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government will continue negotiating a trade deal with the United States, but “there will be an economic impact” in the meantime.

“We will continue to negotiate a deal in our interests,” Starmer said Thursday in a post on X.

“Decisions will be guided only by our national interests and what is best for the security of working people,” Starmer said. “We will go further and faster on the changes we’ve promised to make our economy more resilient.”

Trump on Saturday said the United States had begun an “economic revolution” that it will win. Many nations “have treated us unsustainably badly,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

“We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer,” Trump said. “We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before.”

He said more than $5 trillion in new business investments in the United States have been announced and “the end result will be historic.”

Trump on Thursday announced a minimum 10% universal tariff on goods imported into the United States with many nations and industries subject to much higher tariffs.

The 25% tariff on imported vehicles and parts is part of the. federal policy that Trump said his administration will use to negotiate better trade deals with the United States’ global trading partners.

As a film student in the mid-2000s, Mexican writer-director Isaac Ezban watched Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece “Pan’s Labyrinth” in awe. That Del Toro juxtaposed luminous elements fit for a fairy tale with unflinching violence prompted an epiphany for Ezban.

The then-emerging filmmaker thought to himself: Are you allowed to do that in a movie?

“In an interview, Del Toro talked about the contrast between beauty and brutality, and that really stuck with me,” Ezban told De Los during a recent Zoom conversation. “It’s something I’ve tried to do in my work, and this movie is the one that reflects that contrast the most.”

Ezban is referring to his latest genre effort, a tonally unpredictable zombie movie titled “Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse,” which hits theaters across the country on Friday,

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, three young brothers fend for themselves in an isolated home tucked away in a forest.

The youngest, Benjamin (Mateo Ortega Casillas), believes their parents will eventually return to join them, but Salvador (Farid Escalante Correa), the teenage sibling whose firm hand has kept the boys alive, knows the harsher truth. Beyond the illusion of safety they’ve procured, rabid undead creatures and religious fanatics lurk.

Historically, there have been few examples of zombie films made in Mexico, even if the horror genre at large has always proven widely popular with Mexican audiences.

“Mexicans aren’t as fond of gore or guts, which zombie films often lend themselves to,” Ezban offers as a reason for the lack of homegrown iterations. ”What Mexicans love are paranormal stories, demonic possessions, exorcisms, witchcraft, haunted houses.”

With his 2022 film “Mal de ojo” (Evil Eye), which is streaming on Vix, Ezban tapped into that taste for the supernatural with a story inspired by folktales about witches.

But while otherworldly horror films are more commercially viable in Mexico, with “Párvulos,” the director took a chance on the zombie subgenre as a vehicle to explore his fascination with narratives where young protagonists mature after a difficult ordeal.

“Coming-of-age tropes and horror go hand in hand, because horror is always about discovering another world, and coming-of-age stories are indeed also about discovering a new world,” he explains.

Despite what anybody might think, Ezban assures me that “Párvulos” was conceived long before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world in 2020. Even though the notion of a deadly disease and the consequences of an untested vaccine only serve as the setup, those aspects of the story have garnered the most attention.

“My intention was to include it just as a little hint. The story isn’t about that,” he says, “but it’s very interesting that that’s always been the first question from the press and what the distributor decided to include in the trailer. That’s what causes controversy in the reviews.”

“Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse. “

(Firebook Entertainment)

Ezban wrote the first treatment for “Párvulos” in 2016. It would take five years to secure financing, and two more years to finally shoot the picture in 2023. In that time span, Ezban directed two other movies: his English-language debut, “Parallel,” and “Mal de ojo.” He also had two children, and, of course, a real pandemic occurred, further delaying his plans.

“I truly believe that projects you are passionate about should be fought for until they happen,” he says about seeing “Párvulos” come to fruition through every setback.

Over the course of those years, the screenplay for “Párvulos” would become infused with Ezban’s interactions with his children Naomi and Alexander. The dialogue he wrote for Benjamin in the final version of the script feels more naturalistic, he thinks, because it was directly referencing his daughter and son’s behaviors and reactions.

Aside from Del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Devil’s Backbone,” Ezban also cites as key references the Austrian psychological horror flick “Goodnight Mommy,” as well as George A. Romero’s “Day of the Dead” and the Spanish found-footage zombie saga “Rec.”

Played by actors Norma Flores and Horacio F. Lazo, whose physicality earned them the parts, the two main zombies in “Párvulos” required 3 ½ hours of makeup each day. The result makes them look terrifying but still human, which is particularly important when they interact with the children in some of the more strangely lighthearted scenes.

“The film is a roller coaster, which has divided audiences,” Ezban admits. “Some people love the first half and don’t like it when it suddenly takes on a more comic tone. Others, on the other hand, love that part and don’t like the serious tone at the end. I’ve always had this love for cinema that isn’t rigidly tied to one genre.”

This amalgamation of tones is a “flirtation with the bizarre,” as Ezban describes it. “Depending on the sensitivity and openness of the viewer, it can sometimes be grotesque, or it can be funny,” he adds about a disturbing dinner scene laced with comic relief.

Aesthetically, “Párvulos” also takes inventive swings. After watching Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation,” a period piece about slavery starring Will Smith, the director decided on a desaturated look for the film that would reflect the emotional state of the kids’ reality.

“Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse.”

(Firebook Entertainment)

“We’re talking about an oppressed world, a world without hope, a world without joy, and therefore, a world without color,” Ezban says. “Hope is always in the past. Things like the family photo you see, the book they read, their drawings, the movie they watch on TV.”

Though he originally intended to shoot “Párvulos” in Guadalajara, budget issues pushed him to look at other options, eventually settling on locations near Mexico City, namely La Marquesa National Park. There, the production found the ideal house, which belongs to a retired pilot who divides his time between the forest and the country’s bustling capital.

Accustomed to the challenges of realizing his ambitious ideas with humble means, the Mexican director was introduced to a different industry when he made the 2018 sci-fi thriller “Parallel,” about a mirror that works as an interdimensional portal, in Vancouver.

“Even though we make a lot of films in Mexico and there are great crews here, there’s a different discipline over there,” he says. “It was a pleasure to learn in the big leagues.”

Following the success of his first two features, “The Incident” and “The Similars,” Ezban landed representation in the U.S., which allowed him to pitch himself to direct English-language projects. The screenplay for the sci-fi thriller “Parallel” caught Ezban’s eye for its originality among more generic prospects and became his first crossover venture.

To complete “Parallel,” Ezban spent four months living in Los Angeles during the postproduction process, which revealed to him trials he hadn’t experienced before.

Stills from Parvulos: Children of the Apocalypse. (Firebook Entertainment)

(Firebook Entertainment)

“During filming, [the producers] never interfered — not with my vision, nor with my casting decisions,” he says. “But in postproduction, I did have to experience how editing a studio film works — all the test screenings and focus groups, which can be complicated for a director. But in the end, the film ended up just the way I wanted it.”

Now, having dipped his feet in the English-language market, Ezban plans to develop projects both in Mexico and abroad. “I like to have one foot there and one foot here and see what happens first,” he adds. The U.S. release of “Párvulos” will hopefully help that goal.

While this is best reviewed movie yet and has amassed more than 30 awards at film festivals, when the film opened in Mexico last November it went up against Hollywood behemoths such as “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” which hindered its box-office potential.

Though Ezban’s early films were theatrically distributed in the U.S., “Párvulos” marks his widest release stateside with about 200 screens across the country at multiplex chains like AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas. The film’s distributor, Firebook Entertainment, seems to be strategically targeting areas with high concentrations of Latino residents.

In California alone, the film will play in South Gate, Norwalk, Riverside, Long Beach, Torrance, San Bernardino among several other cities.

“I know a release in Mexico is very different from one in the United States, because there are so many screens here — in Mexico there are only 5,000 screens — but I’m excited to see how we do,” he concludes.

A little over a year ago, while trying to secure votes to pass a $1.2-trillion spending package, House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly told the fiscal conservative members of his party to vote for the bill in part because it banned flying Pride flags over U.S. embassies. Johnson’s tactics were not a surprise. Before running for Congress, Johnson worked as an attorney for an anti-LGBTQ+ organization and on more than one occasion had argued in court against legalizing same-sex marriage. Still, it was rather telling that with a government shutdown deadline looming, Johnson was not able to rally his troops around the bill’s merit but rather their dislike of rainbow flags.

When President Biden signed the spending bill with the ban, he promised Americans that his administration would work around the clock to find a way to lift the ban. Five months later, Biden dropped out of the race, and today the moratorium on Pride flags is still in place. Not sure how much money the country is saving from the policy, but I do know the message that it sends to the rest of the world can’t be worth it.

The United Nations Refugee Agency believes there are more than 44 million refugees around the world. That’s triple the number of people fleeing conflict or persecution from just a decade ago. The nations contributing the most refugees are Afghanistan and Syria, with 6.4 million each, followed by Venezuela (6.1 million) and Ukraine (6 million).

In Afghanistan, death is the maximum sentence for being queer, while in Syria it’s punishable by up to three years in prison. In Venezuela, being LGBTQ+ isn’t a crime, but police still harass the community by raiding bars. In Ukraine, members of the LGBTQ+ community can serve in the military to fight in its war with Russia, but same-sex relationships are not legally recognized. That means if the love of your life died in battle, the government would not even have to notify you. They’re just gone and it’s up to the surviving partner to figure out if their loved one is buried and if so, where.

The 19th-century American poet Emma Lazarus said she wrote the sonnet “The New Colossus” to raise money for the construction of the Statue of Liberty because she believed the statue would serve as a welcome sign for new immigrants arriving in the New York harbor.

“A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles,” Lazarus wrote shortly after the Civil War in 1883. Between 1880 and 1920, more than 20 million immigrants — mostly from Europe — made their way to the U.S.

During that four-decade stretch, it wasn’t just heterosexuals coming to our shores in search of a better life. And it’s not only heterosexuals among the estimated 44 million refugees around the world. This is why until last year, the Pride flag flew over U.S. embassies during June, to let the desperate souls fleeing persecution know that they would find comfort in the arms of the Mother of Exiles. Now that is no longer true — not because of a strategic foreign policy decision but because some members of Congress — like Johnson — simply don’t like queer people. Strange behavior from a political party that claims it doesn’t like identity politics.

Last month, Russian-born tennis player Daria Kasatkina announced she had defected from her home country and become an Australian citizen because she is openly queer. She said that as an out athlete, she “didn’t have much choice.”

Last year, while Republicans were trying to de-gay the flagpoles of our embassies, the world also learned that Russia’s Supreme Court declared the rainbow flag was forbidden in its country. If Ukraine falls, what rights its LGBTQ+ residents have will most likely fall with it.

Kasatkina’s decision to leave her home country made her a political refugee. Now she’s in the land Down Under.

The United States used to be the kind of country that welcomed the persecuted, but I guess she didn’t see us as the best option. Hard to blame her.

@LZGranderson

Lebanon’s newly appointed Central Bank governor, Karim Souaid, speaks during a handover ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE

Lebanon has been requested, particularly by the United States, to fight financing terrorism and money laundering in exchange for helping it get out of its acute financial and economic crisis.

Washington’s main concern is to prevent Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, from using the country’s banking system and cash economy to rebuild itself.

Souaid was appointed last week by the government to replace Riad Salameh, the former Central bank governor who stepped down last year after remaining in his post for three decades.

Salameh was arrested last September, becoming the first high-ranking official to be put behind bars on corruption and embezzlement charges since the 2019 financial crisis that led to the collapse of the country.

Souaid’s appointment came as Lebanon was still trying to reverse its economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the world since the mid-19th century.

Tackling one of the crisis’s most shaky issues, the new central bank governor said depositors’ bank savings were protected by the Lebanese law and the Constitution.

“Therefore, we should work on returning all deposits gradually,” Souaid said during the official handover ceremony with Wissam Mansouri, who served as acting central bank governor since July 2023.

Souaid said the Lebanese banks, Central Bank and the Lebanese state should shoulder their responsibilities in returning deposits, adding that the “priority” must be to first pay the small depositors whom he described as “the weakest circle.”

Depositors have been struggling to secure their rights after the banks deprived them of their life savings since the crisis began in 2019 by imposing their own rules in the absence of any government measure to regulate the financial sector.

The crisis, which the World Bank described as Lebanon’s “deliberate depression” orchestrated by the country’s corrupt ruling elite that had exploited state resources for decades, led to financial losses estimated at some $72 billion.

According to a policy paper published by Lebanese economic expert Toufic Gaspard in 2022, total bank deposits were the equivalent of $169 billion just a month before the October 2019 financial crisis. The banking collapse, Gaspard said, practically wiped out the wealth accumulated in banks by three generations.

Souaid said all private banks should increase their capital by injecting fresh funds gradually, and the ones that “are unable or do not wish to increase their capitals should merge with other banks or they will be liquidated.”

He also pledged to ensure the Central Bank’s independence and to preserve it from “political pressures and the influence of the banking sector” in order to prevent conflicts of interest.

Mansouri, the outgoing acting central bank governor, said that “the historical decision” that the Central Bank adopted to stop funding the government led to an increase in its foreign reserves by $2.2 billion since August 2023.

He said Central Bank foreign reserves reached $10.727 billion by the end of last March.

Lebanese officials have done little to adopt well-needed reforms as requested by the international community to release long-promised financial assistance and funds.

The new government, headed by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, pledged to speed the reforms and secure the necessary funds to revive the economy and most importantly recover from Israel’s 14-month destructive war with Hezbollah.

According to the World Bank, Lebanon needs $11 billion for reconstruction and recovery from Israel’s recent war.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on most countries, including 20% on goods from the European Union, which includes Belgium. They go into effect at midnight Saturday.

After the foreign ministers meeting, Rubio spoke to reporters about tariffs and other topics.

“We can’t be a country that doesn’t make things,” Rubio said. “We have to be able to make things to provide jobs for Americans. … It’s that simple.

“So the president has concluded that the current status of global trade is bad for Americans and good for a bunch of other people, and he’s going to reset it. And he’s absolutely right to do it.”

He noted worldwide “economics are not crashing. Their markets are a reaction to a dramatic change in the global order in terms of trade.

“Businesses around the world, including in trade and global trade, they just need to know what the rules are. Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules.”

He added: “Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States. … We have to get back to a time when we’re a country that can make things, and to do that we have to reset the global order of trade.”

The session with reporters touched on nations’ financial commitment to NATO, Trump’s desire to take over Greenland, the war in Ukraine, a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and deportations from the United States.

Rubio said the United States is committed to the 27-member NATO, which formed in 1949.

On Thursday, he said “the United States is as active in NATO as it ever has been,” and noted Trump also supports NATO though he had threatened to leave.

To assist NATO, Rubio has asked the allies to chip in with 5% of their gross domestic product for military spending.

“We think that’s what allies need to be spending for NATO to face the threats that itself has identified and articulated,” Rubio said, “The good news is everyone generally, with a couple exceptions, are spending more on defense today than they were three, four or five years ago.”

The current NATO target is 2%. The United States was third at 3.4% behind No. 1 Poland at 4.1% and Estonia at 3.4%.

Belgium, where NATO is headquartered and which is a charter member, is one of the lowest spenders at 1.3% in 2024, according to NATO.

Rubio spoke with Belgium’s prime minister about a number of issues.

In a one-paragraph note, Rubio’s spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said the two leaders “discussed shared priorities including NATO spending, China, and counternarcotics. They also reviewed ongoing coordination to enhance stability and security in Europe and around the world.”

The prime minister posted on X that “I expressed our country’s hope that the unfortunate trade dispute between the U.S. and Europe may soon end. Let us maintain and strengthen the Transatlantic partnership and free trade relations which have kept the Western world secure and prosperous throughout recent history.”

On Thursday, De Wever said the United States was “not exactly building a great reputation in Europe.”

De Weaver posted his experience on X, writing “our country has long tradition of working together with the U.S. We continue to share important priorities, for instance, when it comes to strengthening the defense capacity of NATO, a long list of geopolitical challenges and the international fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.”

In 1832, Belgium established diplomatic relationships with the United States after declaring its independence from the Netherlands in 1830.

On X, Rubio described his meeting with Belgium’s prime minister but didn’t mention tariffs.

“We support NATO,” Rubio wrote. “NATO members need to increase their defense spending. I spoke with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Weaver about that today. We also talking about our commitment to ending the war in Ukraine.”

In 2023, U.S. exports to Belgium totaled $28.6 billion, while Belgium sent $21.87 billion in goods to the U.S.

JOHANNESBURG — If you have ever bought a pair of jeans from an American brand like Levi’s or Wrangler, chances are they were manufactured at a factory in the small southern African nation of Lesotho.

Textile manufacturing is one of Lesotho’s key industries, exporting some 75% of its output to the United States.

This is expected to change after President Trump slapped a 50% tariff on imports from Lesotho, the highest among all countries. According to Trump, Lesotho charges a 99% tariff on U.S. goods, but the government said it doesn’t know how the U.S. administration calculated that figure. Government officials did not say Thursday what Lesotho’s tariffs on U.S. goods are.

Here is what the high tariffs mean for Lesotho:

A country ‘nobody has ever heard of’

Trump made fun of Lesotho in a speech in March, calling it a nation that “nobody has ever heard of.” Lesotho’s foreign minister reminded him that the U.S. has a diplomatic mission there.

Last year, the landlocked kingdom bordered on all sides by South Africa with a population of 2.3 million people, celebrated 200 years of the founding of the Basotho nation and 58 years of independence from British rule.

Its picturesque scenery and mountainous views draw visitors from Africa and across the world, and during winter, Lesotho becomes one of the most sought-after skiing destinations.

What are Lesotho’s exports and the economy?

Lesotho does not pay tariffs on exports to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland since it is a member of regional economic blocs such as the Southern African Customs Union. Main exports include clothing, diamonds, water, power, wool and mohair.

The new tariffs announced by Trump mean that American consumers will pay more for goods made in Lesotho, making them less competitive in the U.S market.

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in 2024, U.S.-Lesotho bilateral trade stood at $240.1 million. Apart from clothing, Lesotho’s exports also include diamonds and other goods.

Classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, nearly half of Lesotho’s 2.3 million population live below the poverty line, while a quarter are unemployed.

How has Lesotho reacted to tariffs?

Lesotho’s Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile said his country will be on the prowl for new markets and use the Africa Continental Free Trade Area to increase exports to favorable destinations in Africa.

The government would also urgently send a delegation to the U.S. to negotiate a workable arrangement. Shelile said he’s concerned about the possible closure of textile factories, which employ about 12,000 people in Lesotho.

Gumede and Magome write for the Associated Press.

“The legislation passed by parliament will boost transparency and also safeguard people’s rights,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X.

Waqf properties are donated for the benefit of Muslim communities and include mosques, orphanages, graveyards and madrassas or religious schools.

Opponents of the Waqf amendment bill say it will allow more government control, in part by allowing non-Muslims to be on Waqf boards that adminster the donated properties trusts.

According to legal website LiveLaw MP Asaduddin Owaisi Friday challenged the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in India’s Supreme Court.

The legal petition said in part that the bill “charts a new course of diluting the protections to waqfs undermining the rights of the minority communities in its properties and expanding the interference of the State over waqf administration.”

According to Indian Minister for Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju the Waqf amendment bill “is about transparency, not interference” and is intended to guard against misuse.

According to critics of the Modi government local officials from Modi’s party have bulldozed Muslim properties after alleging encroachment in defiance of court orders.

Right-wing groups have claimed several mosques asserting they were at one time Hindu worship sites.

“I am requesting the government: At least do not snatch away our places of worship, do not run bulldozers over our homes, and let us be at peace in our graves,” Muslim MP Imran Pratapgarhi said.

In India, Waqfs manage nearly a million acres across more than 800,000 properties that were worth over $14 billion in 2006.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump unveiled his new global tariff plan, imposing a 10% tariff on all imports, and targeting dozens more countries with additional tariffs on what he called his “Day of Liberation”.

So, with Trump’s economic plan set in motion – what will be the fallout? And what will happen next?

This week on UpFront, Redi Tlhabi discusses with economist and author, Ha-Joon Chang, Trump’s new tariffs and their global implications.

The world’s most beautiful airport landings have been revealed and you have probably never heard of the one that scored the top spot — and it is in the middle of the ocean

The world’s most beautiful airport landings have been revealed and you have probably never heard of the one that scored the top spot.

According to eye-tracking research, Australia’s Lord Howe Island Airport has the most beautiful landing in the world.

New research conducted by the experts at travel insurance provider AllClear, used eye-tracking technology to discover which airport has the best view for passengers as they land. And the remote Australian Island Airport was crowned world’s most scenic. The small island airport, which only has domestic flights from within Australia, has a runway that is nestled between lush green mountains and the turquoise waters of the Tasman Sea.

In addition to only being accessed by domestic flights, the island only welcomes 400 visitors at any one time. It takes two hours to get to the island from Australia’s east coast. The island is also a World Heritage-listed site, with its natural surroundings offering the ideal environment for scenic day hikes and snorkelling a the world’s southernmost coral reef. Visitor’s can also hand-feed fish at Ned’s Beach, and wander along white-sand beaches.

For those who like amazing viewpoints, head for a hike up Mount Gower, the island’s highest mountain, standing 875 metres tall. The Mount Gower hike is a challenging eight hour return trek, complete with rope-assisted climbs and drops. Hikers will traverse around 14km across the mountain, encountering some of the island’s rarest plants and wildlife along the way. Once at the top of Gower’s peak, hikers can enjoy breathtaking views of the island surrounded by enticing blue waters.

Letitia Smith, head of communications at AllClear comments: “Many people think flying to their holiday is simply about getting from A to B, but some landings are experiences in themselves – beautiful moments that stay with you long after touchdown.

“Of course, even the most beautiful journeys can come with unexpected delays or medical emergencies, so it’s always wise to make sure your travel insurance is in place before you board the airplane, even better if you purchase it as soon as you book your trip.”

The Australian Island was followed by another destination in Oceania, but this time in New Zealand, at Queenstown Airport. With flights heading to this airport, passengers descend between towering snow-capped mountains and over Lake Wakatipu, making it the perfect introduction to the Kiwi scenery.

In third, was the famously challenging descent into Funchal Airport in Madeira. The landing is made difficult due to often high winds, a tricky right-hand turn and the high mountains and ocean surrounding the infamously short runway. It’s this scenery though that makes it such a stunning arrival.

Three other European airports make the top 15 list, including London City Airport in the UK, Innsbruck Airport in Austria and Nice’s airport in the South of France. The landing at London City Airport is particularly notable as it provides a cityscape descent, where you can spot landmarks like The Shard, Tower Bridge and the London Eye.