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Today — 30 April 2025News

Trump celebrates 'revolution of common sense' after 100 days in office

30 April 2025 at 09:50
Watch: Trump’s first 100 days… in just 2 minutes

US President Donald Trump has celebrated the 100th day of his second term in office with a campaign-style speech, touting his achievements and targeting political foes.

Hailing what he called a "revolution of common sense", he told a crowd of supporters in Michigan that he was using his presidency to deliver "profound change".

The Republican mocked his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, and aimed fresh criticism at the US Federal Reserve's chairman, while dismissing opinion polls that show his own popularity slipping.

Trump has delivered a dramatic fall in the number of migrants crossing illegally into the US, but the economy is a political vulnerability as he wages an international trade war.

"We've just gotten started, you haven't seen anything yet," Trump told the crowd on Tuesday in a suburb of Detroit.

Speaking at the hub of America's automative industry, Trump said car firms were "lining up" to open new manufacturing plants in the Midwestern state.

But earlier in the day he softened a key element of his economic plan - tariffs on the import of foreign cars and car parts - after US car-makers warned of the danger of rising prices.

At his rally, Trump also said opinion polls indicating his popularity had slipped were "fake".

According to Gallup, Trump is the only post-World War Two president to have less than half the public's support after 100 days in office, with an approval rating of 44%.

But the majority of Republican voters still firmly back the president. And the rival Democratic Party is also struggling in polling.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said Trump's first 100 days were a "colossal failure".

"Trump is to blame for the fact that life is more expensive, it's harder to retire, and a 'Trump recession' is at our doorstep," the DNC said.

Trump conducted his own informal poll in Tuesday's remarks, asking the crowd for their favourite Biden nicknames. He also mocked his Democratic predecessor's mental agility and even how he appears in a swim suit, while continuing to insist he was the real victor of the 2020 election, which he lost.

Other targets of his ire included Jerome Powell, head of the US central bank, whom the president said was not doing a good job.

Trump touted progress on immigration – encounters at the southern border have plummeted to just over 7,000, down from 140,000 in March of last year.

On Tuesday the White House also said almost 65,700 immigrants had been deported in his term so far, although that is a slower pace than in the last fiscal year when US authorities deported more than 270,000.

A chart showing a large spike in arrests at the US border starting in 2021, reaching a peak of over 200,000, which reduced to just 7,181 in March 2025

Part of the way through his speech Trump screened a video of deportees being expelled from the US and sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador.

His immigration crackdown has faced a flurry of legal challenges, as has his effort to end the automatic granting of citizenship to anyone born on US soil.

During Tuesday's speech he insisted egg prices had declined 87%, a claim contradicted by the latest government price figures.

Inflation, energy prices and mortgage rates have fallen since Trump took office, although unemployment has risen slightly, consumer sentiment has sagged and the stock market was plunged into turmoil by the tariffs.

A chart showing stocks down around 9 percent since Trump's first day in office

Before the speech, Joe DeMonaco, who owns a carpentry business in Michigan, said Trump's patchwork of on-again, off-again import taxes were starting to increase prices, which he will have to pass on to his customers.

"I was hoping... he would approach things a little bit differently seeing that he's a little seasoned coming into a second term," Mr DeMonaco told the BBC. "But we're just treading water and seeing if things get better from here."

But it's clear that Trump's most steadfast supporters stand by him.

"I'm just thrilled," said Teresa Breckinridge, owner of the Silver Skillet Diner in Atlanta, Georgia.

"He's handling things wherever he can, multiple times a day, and he's reporting back to the people… I think the tariffs will end up definitely being in our favour."

Border crossings, egg prices and jobs - Trump's speech fact-checked

30 April 2025 at 14:50
Getty Images President Trump with his hand held out as he speaks on stage in front of a crowd at a rally in Michigan Getty Images

President Trump used a rally in Michigan to mark what he claimed had been "the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country, according to many, many people".

He highlighted his efforts to tackle illegal immigration, to bring back jobs to the US and end what he called "the inflation nightmare".

BBC Verify has looked into some of the main claims from his speech.

Are petrol prices down 'by a lot'?

Trump said "gasoline prices are down by a lot" since he took office.

On 29 April, the average price for a gallon of "regular" gas - or petrol - across the US was $3.16 (£2.36), according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

That is slightly up from the $3.125 (£2.33) recorded by the AAA on the day Trump entered the White House.

In his speech, he added that gas prices had "just hit $1.98 in a lot of states".

This is a claim he has made several times but we cannot find evidence of prices this low.

As of 29 April, no state had an average gas price lower than $2.67 (£1.99), according to the AAA.

Are egg prices down 87%?

The US president also spoke about the cost of eggs - a concern for many US consumers due to an ongoing bird flu outbreak - and said: "Since I took office, the cost of eggs is down 87%."

This claim is false.

The average national price for consumers of a dozen large Grade A eggs when Trump entered office in January was about $4.95 (£3.70).

This rose to a record high of around $6.23 (£4.65) per dozen in March - according to the latest available figures.

The White House has pointed to wholesale egg prices as evidence of improvement.

Wholesale prices have gone down since Trump took office - but by about 52% - from $6.55 (£4.89) for a dozen large white eggs in January to $3.15 (£2.34) in the past week, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Are border crossings the lowest on record?

Trump spoke at length about his efforts to tackle illegal immigration - a key campaign issue in last year's election.

He said: "For two months in a row, we have set all time records for the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded."

This claim is backed up by the latest monthly figures on "encounters" of illegal migrants recorded by officials at the US-Mexico border.

In March, there were 7,181 encounters of migrants there and in February there were 8,346.

These are the the lowest numbers since these monthly records began in 2000.

Getty Images A member of the US Marine Corps installing concertina wire along the US-Mexico border wall in San Diego, CaliforniaGetty Images
Illegal immigration was a key campaign issue

By comparison, there were about 140,000 encounters at this border in each of those months last year under President Biden.

His term saw record numbers of border crossings which then fell towards the end of his presidency.

The Migration Policy Institute think tank has studied monthly averages of annual figures available before 2000 and says this year's illegal border crossings are the lowest since the late 1960s, rather than the lowest for "all time".

Has Doge saved $150bn?

President Trump praised Elon Musk's work at the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) saying: "They've saved over $150bn on waste, fraud and abuse".

Doge, an advisory body, publishes a running total of its estimated savings on its website - it was $160bn the last time the site was updated on 20 April.

However, less than 40% of this figure is broken down into individual savings - which include cancelling government contracts, grants and leases.

Analysis by BBC Verify found only about half of these itemised savings had a link to a document or other form of evidence.

A chart comparing the initial pledges made by Elon Musk with current claimed Doge savings - listed is $2 trillion initial pledged, $1 trillion revised pledge, $160 billion current estimated savings, $61.5 billion in itemised savings, $32.5 billion savings with a receipt attached

Doge says it is working to upload all receipts in a "digestible and transparent manner".

Federal contract experts we spoke to also raised questions about Doge's biggest claimed savings and said some had been overstated.

How many jobs has the Trump administration created?

Trump said: "In three months we have created 350,000 jobs."

This claim is backed up by official figures.

During Trump's first two full months in office up until March (the latest available data) 345,000 jobs have been added, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, over the same period last year 468,000 jobs were added under President Biden.

Trump also said: "For the first time in recent memory, job gains for native-born Americans now exceed job gains for foreign workers."

It is true that during President Trump's first two full months in office more jobs have been created for native-born workers than foreign-born workers.

This also happened between February and April last year under President Biden.

Additional reporting by Gerry Georgieva and Tom Edgington

BBC Verify logo

Shops could be forced to accept cash in future, MPs warn

30 April 2025 at 07:06
BBC Signs showing prices on a fruit and veg stall, including £1.50 each for celeriac, with a couple shopping in the background.BBC

Shops and services may have to be forced to accept cash in the future to help protect vulnerable people who rely on it, MPs have said.

A Treasury Committee report into cash acceptance stopped short of recommending a change in the law, but said the government had to improve its monitoring of the issue.

"There may come a time in the future where it becomes necessary for HM Treasury to mandate cash acceptance if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented for those who need physical cash," the report said.

Some countries, such as Australia or parts of the EU, are planning requirements to accept cash for essential services in some circumstances.

Poverty premium

In evidence to the inquiry, a government minister said there were no plans to make cash acceptance mandatory.

Shops and services can currently accept whichever form of payment they want.

With an increasing number going card-only, the committee said prices would rise for essential goods and services in the remaining outlets that accepted cash.

That would create a poverty premium for those who wanted to use cash to budget, as well as for vulnerable groups such as people with learning difficulties and the elderly.

"A sizeable minority depend on being able to use cash," said Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the influential Treasury Committee.

She said the report should be a "wake-up call" about the risks of ignoring those affected by the falling use of banknotes and coins.

Dame Meg Hillier holding a purse and chatting with a greengrocer at Darlington's Victorian Covered Market who is wearing a green work tunic and gloves.
Dame Meg Hillier was one of the MPs on the committee who visited Darlington's Victorian Covered Market as part of the inquiry

The committee called on the government to "vastly improve" monitoring and reporting of cash acceptance levels.

Otherwise it warned it risked people being excluded from leisure centres, theatres or public transport. It also heard evidence about frustrated motorists unable to pay by cash in car parks.

"The government is in the dark on how widely cash is being accepted and that is completely unsustainable," said Dame Meg.

There was particular concern for victims of domestic and economic abuse who need cash to avoid being traced through card transactions or to gain financial independence from abusive partners.

'Cash or card, madam?'

Tom Cresswell stands at The Fruit Machine fruit and veg stall with punnets of strawberries in front of him, and a sign saying they are priced at £4 a box.

The committee's report is one of the most significant developments in the debate over the future of notes and coins since the Access to Cash Review, published in 2019 which called for urgent action on the viability of cash.

Among this latest report's findings is a conclusion that for some businesses, such as market stallholders, cash remains fundamental to the preservation of their trade.

There has been a market in Epsom, Surrey, for centuries - but it is only in recent years that traders have seen the majority of shoppers switch to electronic payments.

Chris Ilsley stands at his plant stall at Epsom market with cut flowers ready to sell behind him.

Chris Ilsley has been running his plant stall - CI Plants - on the market for 13 years.

When he started it was 100% cash, now it is 70% to 80% card payments.

Speaking surrounded by geraniums, he said he was happy to take any form of payment, although card was slightly easier albeit slower to process.

"We'll take anything," the 47-year-old said. "I prefer the older generation to use card and put their purse away [for safety]."

Over at The Fruit Machine greengrocer stall, Tom Cresswell also has a long line of customers, and he said most paid by card.

"The youngsters don't ever pay by cash; they pay with their phones and their watches," the 52-year-old said.

"The older gentlemen tend to use cash. Whatever is easier for the customer."

The report comes as the Post Office announced a renewed deal with banks to ensure customers can access basic banking services at post office counters.

The deal, which runs until the end of 2030 allows customers of 30 banks and building societies to use their local post office to withdraw and deposit cash, make balance queries and deposit cheques.

Some campaigners have called for cash acceptance to be enforced by the law now.

Ron Delnevo, from the Payments Choice Alliance, said he was disappointed about the "procrastinating approach" of the committee.

The Treasury said the government was committed to seeing 350 banking hubs in place.

"We welcome businesses who do want to continue accepting cash and new rules introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority support this by helping them to make deposits," a spokesman said.

Trial begins for Australian woman accused of cooking fatal mushroom lunch

30 April 2025 at 15:33
Paul Tyquin A court sketch of Erin PattersonPaul Tyquin
Erin Patterson is facing three counts of murder, and one of attempted murder

An Australian woman accused of cooking a fatal mushroom meal admits to picking wild funghi, lying to police and disposing of evidence, but will argue the "tragedy" was a "terrible accident".

The Supreme Court trial of Erin Patterson, 50, began in the small Victorian town of Morwell on Wednesday and is expected to last six weeks.

She is charged with the murder of three relatives and the attempted murder of another, with the case centring on a beef wellington lunch at her house in July 2023.

Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty and her defence team says she "panicked" after unintentionally serving poison to family members she loved.

Three people died in hospital in the days after the meal, including Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

A single lunch guest survived - local pastor Ian Wilkinson - after weeks of treatment in hospital.

The fact that the lunch of beef wellington, mash potatoes and green beans contained death cap mushrooms and caused the guests' illnesses is not in contention, the court heard.

"The overarching issue is whether she intended to kill or cause very serious injury," Judge Christopher Beale said.

Opening the trial on Wednesday, prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said this case was "originally thought to be a mass food poisoning event".

But she alleges Ms Patterson "deliberately poisoned" her guests "with murderous intent", after after inviting them for lunch "on the pretence she'd been diagnosed with cancer".

Dr Rogers said the jury would hear evidence that Ms Patterson had travelled to a location, near her home in Leongatha, where death cap mushroom sightings had been logged on a naturalist website.

And in the days after the lunch, she took a number of steps to "conceal" what she had done, the prosecution alleged.

There'd be evidence that she lied to investigators about the source of the mushrooms in the dish - saying they'd come from an Asian grocery in Melbourne and she'd never foraged wild ones. And she made a trip to a local dump to dispose of a food dehydrator prosecutors say she used to prepare the toxic meal.

"You might be wondering, 'What is the motive?'" Dr Rogers said to the jury, "You might still be wondering this at the end of this trial."

The prosecution will not be suggesting a specific motive, she explained.

"You do not have to be satisfied what the motive was, or even that there was one."

What the jury could expect to hear, she said, was testimony from a range of witnesses, including: Mr Wilkinson, Ms Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson, medical staff who treated the lunch guests, and police who investigated.

However the defence, in opening their case, reminded the jury they had not heard any actual evidence yet and needed to keep an open mind.

Barrister Colin Mandy says while the prosecution will try to cast Ms Patterson's behaviour after the lunch as "incriminating", jurors should consider how someone might react in that situation.

"Might people say or do things that are not well thought out... and might make them look bad?"

"The defence case is that she panicked because she was overwhelmed by the fact that these four people had become so ill because of the food she had served them. Three people died."

He said Ms Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests.

"She didn't intend to cause anyone any harm on that day... what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident."

Xi's real test is not Trump's trade war

30 April 2025 at 13:40
BBC A treated split image, showing a digital display with the figures of the stock market above China's President Xi Jinping 
BBC

If you say the name Donald Trump in the halls of wholesale markets and trade fairs in China, you'll hear a faint chuckle.

The US president and his 145% tariffs have not instilled fear in many Chinese traders.

Instead, they have inspired an army of online Chinese nationalists to create mocking memes in a series of viral videos and reels – some of which include an AI-generated President Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and tech mogul Elon Musk toiling on footwear and iPhone assembly lines.

China is not behaving like a nation facing the prospect of economic pain and President Xi Jinping has made it clear that Beijing will not back down.

"For more than 70 years, China has always relied on self-reliance and hard work for development… it has never relied on anyone's gifts and is unafraid of any unreasonable suppression," he said this month.

His confidence may come in part because China is far less dependent than it was 10 years ago on exports to the US. But the truth is Trump's brinkmanship and tariff hikes are pushing on pressure points that already exist within China's own struggling economy. With a housing crisis, increasing job insecurity and an ageing population, Chinese people are simply not spending as much as their government would like.

Xi came to power in 2012 with a dream of a rejuvenated China. That is now being severely tested – and not just by US tariffs. Now, the question is whether or not Trump's tariffs will dampen Xi's economic dreams, or can he turn the obstacles that exist into opportunities?

Xi's domestic challenges

With a population of 1.4 billion, China has, in theory, a huge domestic market. But there's a problem. They don't appear willing to spend money while the country's economic outlook is uncertain.

This has not been prompted by the trade war – but by the collapse of the housing market. Many Chinese families invested their life savings in their homes, only to watch prices plummet in the last five years.

Housing developers continued to build even as the property market crumbled. It's thought that China's entire population would not fill all the empty apartments across the country.

The former deputy head of China's statistics bureau, He Keng, admitted two years ago that the most "extreme estimate" is that there are now enough vacant homes for 3 billion people.

Getty Images A view of a complex of unfinished apartment buildings in Xinzheng City in Zhengzhou
Getty Images
China now has far more housing than it needs

Travel round Chinese provinces and you see they are littered with empty projects – lines of towering concrete shells that have been labelled "ghost cities". Others have been fitted out, the gardens have been landscaped, curtains frame the windows, and they appear filled with the promise of a new home. But only at night, when you see no lights, can you tell that the apartments are empty. There just aren't enough buyers to match this level of construction.

The government acted five years ago to restrict the amount of money developers could borrow. But the damage to house prices and, in turn, consumer confidence in China, has been done and analysts have projected a 2.5% decline in home prices this year, according to a Reuters poll in February.

And it's not just house prices that worry middle-class Chinese families.

They are concerned about whether the government can offer them a pension – over the next decade, about 300 million people, who are currently aged 50 to 60, are set to leave the Chinese workforce. According to a 2019 estimate by the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the government pension fund could run out of money by 2035.

There are also fears about whether their sons, daughters and grandchildren can get a job as millions of college graduates are struggling to find work. More than one in five people between the ages of 16 and 24 in urban areas are jobless in China, according to official data published in August 2023. The government has not released youth unemployment figures since then.

EPA - EFE/REX/Shutterstock A screen on a pedestrian bridge shows financial data in Shanghai, ChinaEPA - EFE/REX/Shutterstock
China's domestic market does not appear to be in a position to make up for the potential economic impact of new tariffs

The problem is that China cannot simply flip a switch and move from selling goods to the US to selling them to local buyers.

"Given the downward pressure on the economy, it is unlikely domestic spending can be significantly expanded in the short term," says Prof Nie Huihua at Renmin University.

"Replacing exports with internal demand will take time."

According to Prof Zhao Minghao, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, "China does not have high expectations for talks with the Trump administration… The real battleground is in the adjustment of China's domestic policies, such as boosting domestic demand."

To revive a slowing economy, the government has announced billions in childcare subsidies, increased wages and better paid leave. It has also introduced a $41bn programme offering discounts on items such as consumer electronics and electric vehicles (EVs) to encourage more people to spend. But Prof Zhang Jun, the Dean of Economics at Fudan University, believes this is not "sustainable".

"We need a long-term mechanism," he says. "We need to start increasing residents' disposable income."

This is urgent for Xi. The dream of prosperity he sold when he took power 13 years ago has not become reality.

A political test for Xi

Xi is also aware that China has a disheartened younger generation worried about their future. That could spell bigger trouble for the Communist Party: protests or unrest.

A report by Freedom House's China Dissent Monitor claims that protests driven by financial grievances saw a steep increase in the last few months.

All protests are quickly subdued and censored on social media, so it is unlikely to pose a real threat to Xi for now.

"Only when the country does well and the nation does well can every person do well," Xi said in 2012.

This promise was made when China's economic rise looked unstoppable. It now looks uncertain.

Getty Images Chinese President Xi JinpingGetty Images
Political unrest caused by financial grievances is on the rise in China, according to a new report

Where the country has made huge strides over the past decade is in areas such as consumer electronics, batteries, EVs and artificial intelligence as part of a pivot to advanced manufacturing.

It has rivalled US tech dominance with the chatbot DeepSeek and BYD, which beat Tesla last year to become the world's largest EV maker.

Yet Trump's tariffs threaten to throw a spanner in the works.

The restrictions on the sale of key chips to China, including the most recent move tightening exports from US chip giant Nvidia, for instance, are aimed at curbing Xi's ambitions for tech supremacy.

Despite that, Xi knows that Chinese manufacturers are at a decades-long advantage, so that US manufacturers are struggling to find the same scale of infrastructure and skilled labour elsewhere.

Turning a challenge into an opportunity

President Xi is also trying to use this crisis as a catalyst for further change and to find more new markets for China.

"In the short term, some Chinese exporters will be greatly impacted," says Prof Zhang. "But Chinese companies will take the initiative to adjust the destination of exports to overcome difficulties. Exporters are waiting and looking for new customers."

Donald Trump's first term in office was China's cue to look elsewhere for buyers. It has expanded its ties across South East Asia, Latin America and Africa – and a Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative shored up ties with the so-called Global South.

China is reaping the rewards from that diversification. More than 145 countries do more trade with China than they do with the US, according to the Lowy Institute.

In 2001, only 30 countries chose Beijing as their lead trade partner over Washington.

Geopolitical gains

As Trump targets both friend and foe, some believe Xi can further upend the current US-led world order and portray his country as a stable, alternative global trade partner and leader.

The Chinese leader chose South East Asia for his first trip abroad after the tariff announcement, sensing his neighbours would be getting jittery about Trump's tariffs.

Around a quarter of Chinese exports are now manufactured or shipped through a second country including Vietnam and Cambodia.

Recent US actions may also present a chance for Xi to positively shape China's role in the world.

"Trump's coercive tariff policy is an opportunity for Chinese diplomacy," says Prof Zhang.

Getty Images China's President Xi Jinping waving upon his departure at Phnom Penh International Airport
Getty Images
Xi visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia on a tour of South East Asia in April

China will have to tread carefully. Some countries will be nervous that products being manufactured for the US could end up flooding into their markets.

Trump's tariffs in 2016 sent a glut of cheap Chinese imports, originally intended for the US, into South East Asia, hurting many local manufacturers.

According to Prof Huihua, "about 20% of China's exports go to the US - if these exports were to flood any regional market or country, it could lead to dumping and vicious competition, thereby triggering new trade frictions".

Getty Images President Donald Trump holds up a chart about tariffs while speaking into a microphone Getty Images
Trump has placed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods

There are barriers to Xi presenting himself as the arbiter of free trade in the world.

China has subjected other nations to trade restrictions in recent years.

In 2020, after the Australian government called for a global inquiry into the origins and early handling of the Covid pandemic, which Beijing argued was a political manoeuvre against them, China placed tariffs on Australian wine and barley and imposed biosecurity measures on some beef and timber and bans on coal, cotton and lobster. Some Australian exports of certain goods to China fell to nearly zero.

Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said earlier this month that his nation will not be "holding China's hand" as Washington escalated its trade war with Beijing.

China's past actions may impede Xi's current global outreach and many countries may be unwilling to choose between Beijing and Washington.

Getty Images Aerial view of shipping containers sitting stacked at Shanghai Port 
Getty Images
The real battleground of the current trade war might be China's domestic economy

Even with all the various difficulties, Xi is betting that Beijing will be able to withstand any economic pain longer than Washington in this great power competition.

And it does appear that Trump has blinked first, last week hinting at a potential U-turn on tariffs, saying that the taxes he has so far imposed on Chinese imports would "come down substantially, but it won't be zero".

Meanwhile, Chinese social media is back in action.

"Trump has chickened out," was one of the top trending search topics on the Chinese social media platform Weibo after the US president softened his approach to tariffs.

Even if or when talks do happen, China is playing a longer game.

The last trade war forced it to diversify its export market away from the US towards other markets – especially in the Global South.

This trade war has China looking in the mirror to see its own flaws – and whether it can fix them will be up to policies made in Beijing, not Washington.

Top picture credit: Getty Images

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Chris Mason: Anger and indifference collide in unpredictable local elections

30 April 2025 at 14:20
BBC Composite image showing a dog at a polling stationBBC

If last year's general election was all consuming and everywhere, this year's local elections, in truth, are neither.

That is not to denigrate for a moment how much they matter in the places where they are happening, nor the extent to which they will mould the mood of national politics in their aftermath.

But the reality is there are not many contests this year, not least because some have been postponed because of an imminent shake-up in local government structures in some places.

So there is a very good chance you are reading this in a part of the country without any contests.

And there is a good chance too, given what I hear from the political parties, that your heart might not be pulsating in ecstasy even if the community centre down the road is morphing into a polling station tomorrow.

I detect a curious paradox right now: anger confronts an expectation of widespread indifference.

Turnout in local elections that do not coincide with a general election are almost always shrivelled.

But what I pick up anecdotally – I've just spent the last few days in Lincolnshire, reporting on the race to be the county's first directly elected mayor – matches what the research group More in Common has picked up in focus groups.

The group's UK Director, Luke Tryl, diagnoses a "despondency or misery about the state of Britain that doesn't feel sustainable".

Put that sentiment, reduced turnout and a splintering of party support in all sorts of directions into the mixer and what you end up with is a wildly unpredictable politics where the margins between victory and defeat could be very narrow indeed.

Or to put it more bluntly: if not many votes in total then go in lots of different directions, two things are likely: the gap between the winner and the runners-up might be rather limited, and the share of the vote needed to win could be very small.

And winning on a small share of the vote raises immediate questions about your mandate.

The elections analyst Sir John Curtice argues in the Telegraph that "the mainstream is dead", five parties have a chance of making real inroads in these contests and what stands out now is that both Labour and the Conservatives are struggling, rather than the conventional dynamic of one being up while the other is down.

The Conservatives have spent weeks talking up how down they feel about these elections.

And senior Labour folk too are cranking up the gloom in the conversations I have with them.

Which then leaves us with Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and an often overlooked element of local English democracy – independents.

This is a huge moment for Reform.

One of the standout trends in British politics since the general election last year has been the party's rising support in the opinion polls.

What Thursday will test is the extent to which that translates into real votes in real elections.

The party's talk is big – they say they can win the next general election. The next few days will give us a sense of how or whether, albeit up to four years out from choosing the next government, that is a plausible claim.

When you wake up on Friday morning. if, unlike political nerds, you have actually been to bed, the headlines that will greet you will be about Reform.

That is because a lot of the contests where there is an expectation that they could win are being counted overnight.

There is the parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby near Liverpool and the race to be Lincolnshire's first mayor, for a start.

Later in the day on Friday, the emphasis will shift somewhat, as local authorities particularly but not exclusively in the south of England do their counting, and the Liberal Democrats will be looking to make extensive gains against the Conservatives in particular and we will be able to assess if the Green Party's collection of councillors has grown again.

It is only by Friday teatime that we will have a rounded picture of how all of the parties and the independents contesting these elections have fared.

And then the debate on what it all means will begin.

A purple banner reading "More on local elections 2025" with a multi-coloured pyramid on the right-hand-side

Government is not taking climate seriously, advisers claim

30 April 2025 at 08:54
Getty Images A woman fans herself as she crosses London Bridge from the City of London in the evening sun on the hottest day of the year so far on the 30th of July 2024, London, United KingdomGetty Images

The government has made very little progress in preparing the UK for the growing threats posed by rising temperatures since coming to power, its climate watchdog has warned.

In a highly critical report, the independent Climate Change Committee says progress is "either too slow, has stalled, or is heading in the wrong direction".

From hospitals and care homes to food and water supplies, this could leave the UK vulnerable to serious economic and health impacts in the decades ahead, the CCC warns.

In response, the government pointed to its investment in flood defences, but acknowledged more work was needed.

Floods Minister Emma Hardy told BBC News that preparing for the changing climate was "something we're really committed to".

"We are putting £2.65bn into upgrading, maintaining and building new flood defences.

"But we absolutely know, of course, there's more that needs to be done."

Fuelled by climate change, the UK's weather extremes are intensifying, from the 40C heat of July 2022 to England's wettest 18 months on record between October 2022 to March 2024.

Such events are only likely to become more severe and happen more often, as the planet continues to get hotter due to humanity's emissions of planet-warming gases.

Better preparation can limit the damage by making the country more resilient, but the CCC says this is not happening at anywhere near the required pace.

"We are seeing climate impact happening faster and more intensely and increasing [but] government just doesn't yet seem to be taking it seriously," Baroness Brown, chair of the Adaptation Committee at the CCC, told BBC News.

"The manifesto said it was going to address this issue of resilience and yet, so far, it's done nothing," she added.

"We've heard some warm words… but nothing has come out yet."

None of the 46 areas assessed were found to be making "good" progress in adapting to climate change. Only three had "good" plans and policies in place for the future.

These are mostly unchanged from the CCC's last report in 2023.

Health is one of the areas that remains most poorly prepared.

The CCC points to the rising number of deaths linked to extreme heat and hospitals themselves being vulnerable to hot weather.

Baroness Brown highlights the case of Guy's and St Thomas', the biggest hospital trust in London, which was hit by a failure to its data centres during the extreme heat of July 2022.

This meant it was unable to operate its appointments system at a time of intense demand, and it had to move to paper appointments.

"We lost thousands of crucial appointments for people for critical tests," she said.

"We're trying to improve the NHS. Unless we take into account that it has to be resilient to the climate, we're going backwards."

Flooding is another challenging area. Plans and policies to ensure places are resilient to river and coastal flooding are found to have worsened since the CCC's previous report.

The ancient town of Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire is a case in point. It's been flooded repeatedly in the last four years, most recently in November 2024.

Watch: 'Everyone get back!' - Video captures moment Tenbury Wells floods

Polly Pearce described how her charity shop flooded.

"It was so quick... [like] a tsunami," she said.

"[The water] came up as high as the panelling right up on the wall... we had all our Christmas stuff ready but lost it."

The main street is studded with empty shops, many reportedly put out of business by the cost of repeated floods.

Shop owners say insurance companies either won't insure their properties or that the premiums are now so high many shop keepers say they simply can't afford it.

And the Environment Agency has said it can't afford the £25m-£30m cost of flood protection for the town.

The government says it is committed to helping residents, however, and that work to improve the flood resilience of properties will begin in the summer.

The CCC notes progress in some other areas of climate adaptation, such as plans to identify risks to businesses and financial institutions.

'A huge mistake'

At the heart of these discussions is the question of cost.

But putting off efforts to prepare the UK for the changing climate in an attempt to save cash would be "a huge mistake" and could increase economic damage in the long run, Baroness Brown said.

"We are very worried about their spending review," she added, in an unusually strong plea from the Committee.

"This is not a tomorrow problem; it's a today problem. If we don't address it today, it becomes a disaster tomorrow."

A freedom of information request submitted by the BBC found there are just 18 members of staff working fully on climate adaptation at the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).

That's just 0.3% of Defra's nearly 6,600 full-time-equivalent core staff.

Defra said some of these employees also worked on climate adaptation part-time, and the figures don't include those working in other parts of government.

Additional reporting by Miho Tanaka

Thin, green banner promoting the Future Earth newsletter with text saying, “The world’s biggest climate news in your inbox every week”. There is also a graphic of an iceberg overlaid with a green circular pattern.

Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.

William and Kate share Scottish island wedding anniversary picture

30 April 2025 at 08:25
Getty Images William and Kate sitting next to each other and smiling while talking to someone off camera - William has a dark suit and red tie on, while Kate has a dark blue jacket on. Flowers sit in front of the couple.Getty Images
The royal couple will mark their anniversary at a self-catering cottage on Mull after a day of official engagements.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are spending their 14th wedding anniversary in Scotland on the Isle of Mull.

William and Kate will tour the island over two days and visit community halls that their Royal Foundation is helping to refurbish.

The couple, who married at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011, will stay at a self-catering cottage on Mull following official engagements.

William and Kate, known by their Scottish titles the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, met while studying at the University of St Andrews.

The island on Scotland's west coast is part of lands once ruled by the Lord of the Isles - one of a number of Scottish titles William inherited from his father when Charles became King.

Getty Images Landscape aerial view looking down on the colourful seafront houses on the isle of Mull with sea and mainland on the horizon behind.Getty Images
William and Kate will tour the Island of Mull over two days

The visit will begin with a tour of Aros Hall, home to a community fridge saving food from landfill, a charity shop and a children's indoor play area.

Later they will visit the nearby harbour to chat to makers and creators at Tobermory Producers Market.

They will end their day by travelling to a combined croft and restaurant on the west coast of Mull, touring some of its 50 acres of land, seeing the Hebridean sheep farmed on site, and helping select garden produce for the menu.

William and Kate will also spend time privately at Pennyghael Community Hall and on the island of Iona after taking the public ferry from Mull and meeting those who use and run the service.

The visit aims to highlight the importance of communities and protecting and championing the natural environment.

Getty Images Banjo Beale - a bearded man with dark hair and glasses, dressed in a black suit and tie, - holds n award in one had while smiling happily for the camera.Getty Images
Banjo Beale will work with islanders to refurbish the community halls.

The Royal Foundation's Community Impact Programme is providing undisclosed grants for the renovation of facilities at Aros Hall in Tobermory, where popular BBC children's TV series Balamory was filmed.

Communal spaces will also be updated and roof repairs undertaken at Pennyghael Community Hall.

Interior designer Banjo Beale, presenter of the BBC's Designing The Hebrides programme and a Mull resident, will work with islanders to ensure community-owned centres in Mull's main town of Tobermory and the village of Pennyghael reflect the area's culture.

He said: "It's an absolute joy to be working with the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales to redesign and preserve these vital community spaces.

"Together, we're not just restoring old walls - we're reimagining what's possible when community and creativity come together. I'm excited to breathe new life into beloved buildings and celebrate the island's warmth, resilience and quiet magic."

Carney and Trump agree to meet in 'near future' in first call since election

30 April 2025 at 06:05
AFP via Getty Images Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media upon arriving at his office on Parliament Hill April 29. 
He is smiling and waving, and wearing a dark blue suit and white shirt. AFP via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to congratulate him on his victory in the country's general election and the two have agreed meet in the near future.

The two countries were expected to enter talks about a new economic and security relationship after Monday's vote.

Trump's trade tariffs and repeated comments undermining Canada's sovereignty overshadowed the race, which ended with Carney's Liberals projected to win a minority government, according to public broadcaster CBC.

That result will make Carney's pressing tasks of negotiating with his US counterpart and tackling a range of domestic issues more of a challenge, as he'll need to wrangle support from other political parties.

In their first call since the election, Trump congratulated Carney on his victory, according to the prime minister's office on Tuesday.

The office also said the two leaders had "agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment".

The Liberals will need to rely on their support to pass legislation through the House of Commons.

They also face possible defeat in any vote of confidence in the chamber.

Results map

The Liberals are most likely to find willing partners with the diminished left-wing New Democrats, who have in the past supported the Liberals, and the Bloc Québécois.

The Liberals are projected to have won 169 seats, three short of the 172 needed for a majority in Canada's House of Commons.

It still marks a historic turnaround for a party that had seemed on course for collapse just months ago.

Carney, a former central banker for Canada and the UK, will continue as prime minister, having stepped into the role last month following his unpopular predecessor Justin Trudeau's resignation.

One issue where it may be easy for the Liberals to find support in the House is in passing legislation to help workers and industries affected by US tariffs - something all parties swung behind on the campaign trail.

On Tuesday morning, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet suggested Carney could benefit from at least a period of stability in the House.

Blanchet urged a "truce" among parties while Canada negotiated trade with the US, saying it was clear Canadians wanted political stability in unstable times.

He said it wasn't time for other parties to "threaten to overthrow the government anytime soon" and didn't see any scenario "other than collaboration for a period of slightly over a year".

The leader of the sovereigntist party, which only runs candidates in Quebec, did urge Carney to avoid pressing the province on certain issues, noting that collaboration goes both ways.

On Tuesday, the White House commented on Carney's win, with deputy press secretary Anna Kelly saying: "The election does not affect President Trump's plan to make Canada America's cherished 51st state."

In an interview with the BBC, Carney said that Canada deserves "respect" from the US and he will only allow a Canada-US trade and security partnership "on our terms".

Carney has told the BBC that a 51st state scenario was "never, ever going to happen".

Meanwhile, new US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said in a video statement that he is "committed to making progress in this great relationship".

Carney has also promised action on a range of domestic issues, including tackling the country's housing crisis and tax cuts for lower- and middle-income Canadians.

The prime minister also needs to prepare for the G7 summit in June, which Canada is hosting in the province of Alberta.

In Monday's election, both the Liberals and the Conservatives saw a significant rise in their share of the national vote compared with four years ago.

The Conservative Party came in second, on track to win 144 seats, and will form Official Opposition.

Increased support for Canada's two largest parties has come at the expense of smaller parties, particularly the NDP, whose share of the popular vote is down by around 12 percentage points.

Voter turnout for the election was 67%.

Both Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh lost their seats, with Singh announcing he will step down as leader of the left-wing party.

Fifty years after the war, Vietnam faces a new US threat - tariffs

30 April 2025 at 06:07
BBC/ Lulu Luo Tung Linh smiles in a hat and with the red and yellow Vietnamese on her cheek. Behind her people are wlaking on the streetBBC/ Lulu Luo
Tung Linh, a 20-year-old Vietnamese college student, says she is excited for Vietnam's future

On a searing afternoon in Vietnam, Tung Linh declared she "basically knows nothing" about the bloody, decades-long war that pitted her country's Communist-run North against the United States-backed South.

"My grandparents fought in the war and because of that today we can look at the sky and see an airplane and we don't feel scared, like they did," says the 20-year-old college student.

Stuck to her right cheek was a little yellow star on a red rectangle - the Vietnamese flag. Like her, the capital, Ho Chi Minh, was gearing up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, when the Communists triumphed.

Today's Vietnam is a remarkably different country than the one American troops withdrew from in defeat – it's enterprising, it's growing fast and it's getting richer.

Its authoritarian Communist leadership has embraced capitalism. They aspire to follow in China's footsteps, and have ploughed money and effort into becoming a reliable manufacturing hub, even an alternative to China.

But that is a risky ambition during US President Donald Trump's trade war – it's partly why he is threatening a 46% levy against the South East Asian nation. That could shatter the country's economic potential.

Vietnam was a French colony, a Chinese vassal and for 20 years, the proxy battlefield in America's bloody struggle to stop China spreading communism across South East Asia.

But it cannot escape its geography. Nestled beneath China's wide rump, it is once again on the frontline in a new American battle –which hopes to stem Beijing's rise as an economic superpower.

Vietnam is a young country in a hurry. The median age is 33, considerably younger than Thailand or China (40), and far younger than Japan (50).

"I want to do a job that will bring more success to Vietnam," said Linh in fluent English. She is studying economics and marketing. "And yes, success for me too," she admits, with a smile, when prodded.

It's a dream that suits the bustling she city she lives in – now a sprawling metropolis of 10 million people, the Vietnamese capital has the same choking traffic, glass-clad skyscrapers, five-star hotels, restaurants and seedy massage parlours as any Asian mega city.

You would be hard put to find traces of the socialist ideology that led to the city's capture in 1975, when it was the capital of South Vietnam. The victors renamed it city Ho Chi Minh, after the revolutionary father of North Vietnam. But to locals, it is still Saigon.

And when it fell on this day 50 years ago, South Vietnam ceased to exist as North Vietnamese tanks smashed through the tall iron gates of the presidential compound and raised the red flag with a yellow star over the presidential palace.

America's ally, the southern regime, was vanquished. Its last president had fled the previous day. More than two decades of bitter conflict was over.

The victory had come at enormous cost. An estimated three million dead and millions more injured. Between 1968 and 1975, a greater tonnage of bombs was dropped on this slender piece of land than in all theatres in World War Two.

BBC/ Lulu Luo A street seller on a motorbike carrying scores of red caps to sell.BBC/ Lulu Luo
Vietnam's bustling capital Ho Chi Minh City...
BBC/ Lulu Luo A night shot of Ho Chi Minh CityBBC/ Lulu Luo
...carries signs of Vietnam's ambitious economic agenda

But few here want talk about the war even as they celebrate the anniversary of their "reunification".

Linh and her friends screamed in delight as a truck carrying soldiers drove past. The shy idols waved back – they were on their way to the barracks after rehearsals for the anniversary parade.

"I am excited because this is the day when we reunited, when we became one country again," Linh said.

Her answer sounded a little rehearsed, not least because of the government-appointed minder who accompanied the BBC throughout. But her enthusiasm for her future – and her country's - is not uncommon.

A little further down the road, 18-year-old Minh, who did not want to share her last name, told us she was studying to be a lawyer so she could "become successful". With a laugh, she added: "And rich!"

When we asked about how young people feel about Americans, the minder winced visibly and tried to stop her answering.

"We're not angry," she says. "We don't hate them. That was the past. Now we want to trade with America. You know globalisation? We want to learn from America."

Vietnam's new leaders appears to have the same ambition. In January the country's new Communist party chief, To Lam, embarked on a program to slash bureaucracy that could impress Elon Musk, who has been overseeing the Trump administration's controversial cost-cutting team.

The country's 63 provinces and municipalities are being reduced to 34, and government ministries and agencies cut from 30 to 17. This year, 100,000 government employees are being laid off, according to official estimates.

BBC/ Lulu Luo Minh in a blue denim shirt with a flag sticker on her cheek, wearing two earrings in her ear. Another girl in a white top stands to the sideBBC/ Lulu Luo
Vietnam's ambitions are mirrored in its young people, like 18-year-old Minh

The ambition is huge. So far only one country in South East Asia, Singapore, has managed to escape the "middle-income trap", where economic growth slows before countries become rich. Vietnam, whose economy is growing at a steady 5%, intends to be the second. It has flung its doors wide open to investment – and is welcoming back those it once drove from its shores.

After the 1975 victory around two million southern Vietnamese fled the country. Many were ethnic Chinese. They packed on to flimsy boats and set out across the South China Sea. They became known as "the boat people". Today their descendants make up a diaspora of nearly six million stretching from the United States and Canada to France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.

"Since 2017, I have promoted many Taiwanese companies to invest in Vietnam, and I myself am an advisor to several large electronics companies that I brought here," said Lisa Wu, who was born in Saigon but spent three decades in Taiwan. Now she is back.

"The most attractive thing is that the Vietnamese government is very supportive. The electronics industry is expanding out of China and a lot will choose Vietnam."

It's no coincidence this shift began around 2017, when Trump declared his first trade war against China.

Two young businesswomen from southern China, who did not want to share their names, tell us they have spent the last two years setting up a shoe factory here: "Now it's ready to go."

They plan to export to the US. They are concerned about the possibility of higher tariffs for Vietnam - it currently faces a 10% levy, like most of the world – but "it's a lot better here than China", they say with a laugh. Chinese imports to the US face a range of tariffs that go up to 245% for some goods.

BBC/ Lulu Luo School children rehearsing for the anniversary parade  BBC/ Lulu Luo
Vietnam is celebraring 50 years of independence, and of the end of the war

Still, Vietnam is feeling the impact, Ms Wu said. "I had several factories preparing to begin operations here this May. But because of the policy change, all have stopped and everyone is waiting."

Vietnam is again being asked to choose – America or China. But it's not a choice it can or will make because it needs both.

Less than two weeks ago, they rolled out the red carpet to welcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Hanoi. Warm words were spoken of fraternal friendship and support. But relations with their big communist neighbour are trickier than they may appear. For years, Vietnam has walked a tightrope between Washington and Beijing – the latter's expansive ambitions can be a threat to neighbours, especially growing economies that are keen to woo US businesses.

As Vietnam insists on "looking forward", it appears to have almost forgotten the men and women who fought in the jungles and through the hell of American bombs.

But even they say there must be no return to the past. "I used to have a scar here," says Le Thanh Gian, pointing to his right hand, where a bullet had once lodged.

"There are still some pieces of shrapnel in my body that couldn't be removed. There were battles where it seemed like we would all be killed. But some of us survived while others fell."

But he says he bears no anger anymore.

"We must have peace. We have already made a lot of progress. People's lives are more prosperous and fulfilled. Now we must work together with the Americans for the future."

After the Arrests and Bullets, Trump Takes on Second Term With a New Fervor

30 April 2025 at 17:03
Having escaped prison and death, President Trump has returned to power seeking vindication and vengeance — and done more in his first 100 days to change the trajectory of the country than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

© Al Drago for The New York Times

President Trump has acted like a man on a mission in the opening chapter of this new term, moving with almost messianic fervor to transform America from top to bottom and exact retribution against enemies at the same time.

Why Trump Sees Himself as a Man of Destiny

In the opening chapter of this new term, President Trump has moved with almost messianic fervor to transform America from top to bottom and exact retribution against enemies at the same time. Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent of The New York Times, surveys Mr. Trump’s first 100 days.

Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows

30 April 2025 at 17:01
Reducing federal support for research and development could cause long-run economic damage and reduce government revenue.

© Joanna Kulesza for The New York Times

The Trump administration in recent months has sought to cancel or freeze billions of dollars in grants to scientists.

After Nudge From Trump, Senate Sets Fast Pace in Confirming His Ambassadors

30 April 2025 at 17:03
Republicans have raced to approve the president’s picks to serve as top diplomats around the globe, in some cases with solid backing from Democrats.

© Nicole Craine for The New York Times

David Perdue, the former senator from Georgia and businessman, was confirmed this week as the U.S. ambassador to China.

‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ at the Met Explores the History of Black Dandyism

The guest curator of a new Met exhibition on Black style offers an annotated early look at a Dapper Dan jacket, André Leon Talley’s luggage and more.

© Photographs by Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

U.K. Joins U.S. in Strike Against Houthis in Yemen

30 April 2025 at 17:52
There was no immediate comment from the American military about the joint operation, the first since President Trump took office.

© Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A building in northern Yemen that was hit in a previous strike. In March, President Trump ordered an intensified campaign — known as “Operation Rough Rider” — against Houthi targets in the country.

Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Religious Charter School in Oklahoma

30 April 2025 at 17:03
The justices have allowed vouchers for religious schools and required equal treatment in tuition programs. But direct government payments to religious public schools pose a new test.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

The dispute is the third major case dealing with religion to be argued before the Supreme Court in the space of about a month.

How Francis Challenged and Embraced Africa’s Rising Catholic Population

30 April 2025 at 17:02
Nowhere in the world is the Roman Catholic Church growing faster than in Africa, a continent Francis showered with attention.

© Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

Sunday service at a Roman Catholic church in Juba, South Sudan, last year. About a fifth of Africa’s population, roughly 280 million people, are Catholic.

N.Y.C. Panel Eyes Ways to Ease Housing Crisis and Improve Voter Turnout

30 April 2025 at 15:00
The panel, known as the Charter Revision Commission, may introduce ballot initiatives to limit lawmakers’ power to block housing development, among other changes.

© Karsten Moran for The New York Times

The Charter Revision Commission, which Mayor Eric Adams created in December, was asked to propose changes to city rules to combat the housing crisis.

5th Straight Rent Increase Is Likely for a Million N.Y.C. Apartments

30 April 2025 at 15:00
The city’s Rent Guidelines Board appears likely to vote in favor of rent increases for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments as landlords say they face rising costs.

© Karsten Moran for The New York Times

The Rent Guidelines Board has approved increases for rent-stabilized units for each of the past four years.

Macron Surprises a Provincial Bar

30 April 2025 at 17:02
The French president, often seen as remote, wants to get closer to the French people.

© Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

The bar in Thouars, France, where President Emmanuel Macron made an unannounced visit and bought a round of coffee for everyone.

关税对峙之际 美国参议院投票通过戴维·珀杜出任美国驻华大使

By: 陈美华
30 April 2025 at 17:36

美联社报道,当地时间4月29日,美国参议院确认前参议员戴维·珀杜(David Perdue)为驻华大使,而此时美国和中国正陷入关税对峙,这可能会重新定义世界两大经济体之间的外交关系。

路透社报道,参院最终以67票对29票通过了确认特朗普总统提名的候选人议案,珀杜于2015年至2021年担任佐治亚州共和党美国参议员,此前在香港居住了40年,担任国际企业高管。去年,珀杜在一篇文章中谴责中国国家主席习近平是“现代皇帝”,并称北京想要“摧毁资本主义和民主”以及美国主导的世界秩序。

美联社报道,在本月的确认听证会上,这位前企业高层称美中关系是“21世纪最重要的外交挑战”。珀杜说:“我们对华态度应该是细致入微、不带党派色彩和有战略性的。”他还表示,华盛顿和北京应该“寻求我们利益一致的领域,以发展更好、更安全的工作关系。”

中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆30日下午在例行记者会上应询回应说,在中美关系和经贸问题上,中方的立场是一贯的、明确的。

© AP FILE

美国参议院投票通过确认前参议员戴维·珀杜(David Perdue)为驻华大使。

被特朗普怒斥“敌对政治行为” 亚马逊紧急否认列出关税成本

30 April 2025 at 17:17
德才
2025-04-30T09:03:37.498Z
白宫发言人莱维特在记者会上表示,考虑到路透社在2021年的一则报道称,亚马逊曾与一家中国宣传机构合作,(打算在产品页面上列出新关税成本的)消息并不令人意外。

(德国之声中文网)据路透社报道,亚马逊在周二(4月29日)表示,旗下专注于超低价商品的“Amazon Haul”部门曾考虑过这一做法,但其主要网站从未有过类似的计划,也从未在亚马逊的任何平台上实际实施过。稍后,亚马逊在第二份声明中补充称,该想法未获批准,也“从未发生过”。

此前,美国新闻网站Punchbowl News早些时候援引知情人士消息称,亚马逊计划在每件商品旁注明由特朗普政府引入的关税在价格中所占的比例。

白宫发言人莱维特在引用Punchbowl News的相关报道时表示,总统将这一计划视为“一种敌对的政治行为”。美国政府消息人士透露,特朗普曾亲自致电亚马逊首席执行官贝索斯,对此事表示不满。特朗普在面对媒体时表示,贝索斯“非常友好”,并“非常迅速地解决了这个问题”,还称“他做了正确的事”。

目前贝索斯本人尚未对此做出回应。这位亿万富翁曾作为嘉宾出席特朗普的总统就职典礼。

白宫发言人莱维特在记者会上表示,考虑到路透社在2021年的一则报道称,亚马逊曾与一家中国宣传机构合作,(打算在产品页面上列出新关税成本的)消息并不令人意外。

白宫随后在社交媒体的贴文中附上了路透社报道的链接。莱维特借用“购买美国货”(buy American)这一口号表示:“这就是为什么美国人应该购买美国制造的商品的另一个原因。”

在莱维特发表上述言论后,亚马逊股价在美国盘前交易中下跌了2.2%。但在亚马逊发布声明后,股价几乎完全回升。特朗普总统此前已对进口商品征收了异常高额的关税,其中包括对中国商品加征145%的附加税。

虽然许多专家认为这些关税成本最终会直接或间接转嫁给美国消费者,但特朗普对此予以否认。

(路透社)

DW中文有Instagram!欢迎搜寻dw.chinese,看更多深入浅出的图文与影音报道。

© 2025年德国之声版权声明:本文所有内容受到著作权法保护,如无德国之声特别授权,不得擅自使用。任何不当行为都将导致追偿,并受到刑事追究。

六神磊磊读金庸|群众被两个董小姐搞得团团转

30 April 2025 at 16:51

file

和格十三老师撞题了,她真的,我哭死。昨天半夜没写完,大家凑合看吧。

两位董小姐,一个董明珠,一个董袭莹。

一个是最近离奇“间谍论”的高管,一个是最近医院八卦新闻的主角之一。完全不搭噶的两个人,但假如连起来看,就会觉得分外耐人寻味。其交汇点是一个词:海归。

董明珠反海归,董袭莹就是海归。

董明珠竭力向底层拱火,说海归是外人,是别有用心的人;而董袭莹在医学界的一路开挂则说明,有一些海归恰恰是“自己人”、“天龙人”。

只有吃瓜群众被耍得团团乱转,找不着北:

你们到底是回来窃取机密的,还是来继承家产的?

到底你们是外人,还是我们是外人?

CDT 档案卡
标题:群众被两个董小姐搞得团团转
作者:帅呆的sixgod
发表日期:2025.4.30
来源:微信公众号“六神磊磊读金庸”
主题归类:董明珠
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这里面有一种很强的矛盾感和撕裂感。

董明珠说绝不招留学生,因为海归里有“间谍”。这番言论,在下沉的舆论场里一度引发大片叫好,点燃了许多人心中抵制留子、防火防盗的热情。

仿佛完全忘了她提携的王自如是海外高层次人才“孔雀计划”获奖者。

如果只看下沉用户的叫好,你会以为社会已保守到墙角,海外学生已无容身之地。

然而,在普通人看不到的地方,还有董袭莹。

家族背景深厚的她,从海外经济学本科迅速成为知名医院“风云人物”,一众大佬刷脸护航,履历中种种弯道超车,三年规陪都减到只需一年。唯一失手是怀了肖飞这大坑货的娃。

而她的通关券之一,恰恰就是哥伦比亚大学巴纳德学院的留学身份。

两个董小姐的事放一起,会形成一种撕裂。它会让人觉得非常怪异和不适,有一种逻辑脱榫、不能自洽的怪异。

好比说,桃花岛号召抵制外来学生,你非常认同,天天走访普查,结果回头一看,人家女婿耶律齐当了丐帮帮主了。

郭大小姐告诉你,抵制外来学生,主要是指杨过。耶律齐大爷那么优秀,必须重用嘛。

你是不是就会有点混乱?

也是琢磨了好一阵,才明白了这里面的逻辑。

董明珠的事和董袭莹的事,一个发生在言论的前台,一个发生在利益分配的后台;一个是故意给人看给人听的,一个是普通人看不见听不见的。

前台是刻意迎合,后台是默默输送;前台是意识上的日趋保守,后台是利益上的不断固化。

说白了,“海归”这玩意不过就好比一张牌,花色不变,但它的含义是可以变换的。

它可以是董明珠们手中的一块红布,也可以是董袭莹们手中的一张内部通行证。

它可以暗戳戳地指外人,也可以不动声色地标识自己人。当需要你亢奋喝彩、要引起你对外的反感和戒惧时,它是一张牌;当它要成为阶层繁殖、利益输送的默契和借口时,它就是另一张牌。

类似扑克里的2,可以很小,也可以很大,全看玩斗地主还是炸金花。

当你在前面恨完了,董小姐在后面吃完了,最后留下来供大众针对、宣泄的,是更多小杨过这样没有资源、压根无法复制董袭莹路线的无辜留子。 

有人说,董明珠一类高管抛出“间谍论”,只是因为他们个人观念保守,就当个笑话看就完了。

这话也对也不对。

诚然,很多一些类似的管理人士,因为教育背景、工作性质、长期惯性等原因,他们确实是非常保守的,甚至是迂腐的,对世界的理解非常刻板。

但那并不是完全的真相。真相是,在管理对象面前,他们可以是极度保守的;但在利益面前,他们就可以是极度开放开通的。

压根没有那么多条条框框,没有那么多食古不化的老脑筋。土和洋都不是问题,茅台和爱马仕都不是问题,学外语不是问题,孩子上哈佛上耶鲁都不嫌弃。

岳不群那么保守,口口声声“以气驭剑”,严禁学旁门左道,结果你看在《辟邪剑谱》面前他保守不保守?零件说嘎就嘎,激进得很。

这些人“反海归”的实质,就是把你的流量和上升空间一起拿走。董大姐拿走流量,董小姐拿走上升空间。

你则得到满满的自豪。

然后躺上手术台,麻醉完,肖飞大夫出去了,哄董小姐去了,你的人生闭环。

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