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Visite d’Etat de M. XI Jinping, Président de la République populaire de Chine, en France en presence de Ursula Von der Leyen
HARD NUMBERS: China lifts EU sanctions, Harvard reports on discrimination, Turkish police continue crackdown, Argentines scoop up dollars, Plastics kill
5: China lifted sanctions on five European Union lawmakers on Wednesday as Beijing seeks to balance the growing trade war with the United States by warming ties with Europe. The sanctions were originally imposed on members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights in relation to European condemnations of human rights abuses against Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang.
500: Two Harvard University reports on anti-Muslim and antisemitic sentiment on campus released Monday stretched to over 500 pages cumulatively, noting that sizable minorities of Muslims (47%) and Jews (15%) did not feel physically safe. The reports, which were commissioned before the Trump administration took office, also showed that 92% of Muslims and 61% of Jews feared professional and academic repercussions for expressing political beliefs.
18: Turkish police have arrested 18 municipal employees in Istanbul as part of a growing crackdown against city Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was imprisoned last month. Imamoğlu is widely considered the only opposition figure able to go toe-to-toe with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next presidential election, but legal obstacles may effectively bar him from running. The municipal employees were among a group of 52 detained over the weekend, and are accused of taking bribes and participating in criminal conspiracy.
1 billion: Argentines deposited $1 billion in US dollars into their bank accounts over the last eight business after the government lifted restrictions on buying US currency following five years of strict controls. The dollar’s relative value has been sliding under the Trump administration and hit a three-year low last week after the president repeatedly criticized the chair of the Federal Reserve.
350,000: What stretchy inanimate thing killed 350,000 people in 2018? One word. Are you listening? Plastics. More specifically, chemicals that are added to the plastics that we encounter in everyday items like food packaging, lotions, and shampoos. A new study suggests that these “phthalates,” as they’re called, contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths from heart disease, especially in emerging economies where middle-class consumption has grown rapidly in recent decades.
A member of the Syrian security forces gestures next to a vehicle at the entrance of the Druze town of Jaramana, following deadly clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad, which angered Sunni gunmen southeast of Damascus, Syria, on April 29, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Sectarian clashes hit Damascus, Will India attack Pakistan?, Trump eases auto-tariffs, Germany creates coalition government, Malnutrition soars in Gaza, Cuba jails top dissident again
10: At least 10 people were killed in sectarian clashes outside Damascus late Monday. The firefight erupted between pro-government Sunni fighters and gunmen belonging to the Druze minority after a Druze cleric was blamed for an audio recording that insulted the Prophet Muhammad. Containing sectarian violence is a top concern for the post-Assad government as it seeks to rebuild the war-torn country. In response to the violence and threats against the Druze minority, Israel conducted what it called a “warning operation” on Wednesday, targeting an armed group in Syria’s Damascus province.
24-36: Pakistan’s information minister claimed on Tuesday that the country has “credible intelligence” that India may launch a military strike within 24 to 36 hours. The warning follows India’s accusation that Pakistan-backed militants were responsible for an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last week that killed 26 tourists — a charge Islamabad denies.
2: Donald Trump on Monday reduced the tariff burden on US-based car manufacturers by ensuring that the 25% levies on vehicles and parts don’t pile on top of existing duties, such as those on imported steel and aluminum. He also provided tariff rebates on foreign parts to automakers operating in the US for a two-year period, giving them more time to shift their supply chains.
84: In Germany’s parliament late Tuesday, 84% of Social Democratic Party members strongly supported the party’s proposal to join a coalition government with the Christian Democratic bloc. Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right party that won the February election, is set to be officially appointed chancellor next week. His main priority? Reviving Germany’s struggling economy.
10,000: Roughly 10,000 cases of acute malnutrition have been registered among children in Gaza so far this year, according to a new UN report. Overall, about 60,000 children there are chronically underfed. Israel has blocked all aid deliveries to the enclave since March 2, saying that Hamas hijacks humanitarian convoys. Dozens of local and internationally run community kitchens have run out of supplies and been forced to close in recent weeks.
3: On Tuesday, after just three months of freedom, Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrerwas arrested again on charges that he had violated his parole agreement. Ferrer, one of the few high-profile opponents of the island’s communist dictatorship, was released earlier this year as part of a Vatican-brokered deal. The Castro regime continues to wield significant influence in Cuba, even amid a crippling economic crisis that has driven more than a fifth of the population abroad since 2022.
Making plastic industry sustainable is corporate self-interest
Plastics are essential for Asia, but for Ian Bremmer the way the industry works right now is incompatible with the region's targets to fight climate change. Very soon, though, he predicts there will be "immense gravitational pull" to do things differently. Once the way Asian companies use plastics now becomes outdated, he says, it's only a matter of time before they change out of their own self-interest. Bremmer spoke during the second of a two-part Sustainability Leaders Summit livestream conversation sponsored by Suntory.
"We just don't have time to mess around" on plastics pollution
Plastic pollution has caused a lot of damage to the environment — including a staggering loss of biodiversity that will soon affect humans. For Climate Bonds Initiative CEO Sean Kidney, the critical way to reverse this trend is to switch all production to biodegradable right now. "It's got to be everything, and we've got to do it fast. We just don't have time to mess around. There's been a lot of talk, a lot of talk for 10 years, not enough action. Whew. Time to change."
Some Asian countries leading on recycling plastics
Asia produces half of the world's plastic and consumes more than 40 percent of it — yet doesn't recycle as much as other regions. But things are getting better. Eurasia Group climate & sustainability expert Colleen King shares examples from Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia — all of which show that Asia can do a lot more on sustainable plastics without the consumer pressure that's driving change in the West. King spoke during the second of a two-part Sustainability Leaders Summit livestream conversation sponsored by Suntory.
Focus on applying existing tech to recycle plastics — Suntory CEO Tak Niinami
Single-use plastics have become a big pollution problem in Asia — which technology can help solve. Suntory CEO Tak Niinami hopes that not only new but also existing tech that hasn't been applied yet can really be a game-changer on plastics recycling in Asia, where there's no one-size-fits-all solution for all countries. Niinami spoke during the second of a two-part Sustainability Leaders Summit livestream conversation sponsored by Suntory.
To save the oceans, refuse & raise awareness about single-use plastics, says Hannah Testa
We always hear about the "three Rs" — reduce, reuse, and recycle — of sustainable waste management. But when it comes to single-use plastics, climate activist Hannah Testa likes to add two more: refuse and raise awareness. What's more, she says it's crucial to connect the problem with climate by showing the damage that single-use plastic waste is doing to the oceans, the world's biggest carbon sink and whose health is a good temperature check on the entire planet.
Testa spoke during the second of a two-part Sustainability Leaders Summit livestream conversation sponsored by Suntory.