La terra trema a Taiwan 🗞️ Rassegna del 04/04/2024

Israele

(New York Times) World Central Kitchen sent ships with hundreds of tons of food back to Cyprus.

• Another aid group, American Near East Refugee Aid, or Anera, which said it had operated in the Palestinian territories for more than 55 years, also announced that it was suspending its work in Gaza. 
• Michael Capponi, the founder of Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit aid group, said he was reconsidering his plans to travel to Gaza next week. Some staff members “basically want to pack up and go home now,” he said.
• Countries including the United States, France, Jordan and Egypt have increased their use of airdrops to get aid into Gaza, and the World Central Kitchen ships were part of a multinational plan to create a maritime route that would deliver aid from Cyprus. As part of the effort to increase maritime shipments, the United States military is building a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast, but that will take weeks.
• The United Nations says that the only effective way to ramp up aid sufficiently is by truck.

(Reuters) Protesters seeking hostages' release smear paint in Israeli parliament

• A group of Israelis demanding their government do more to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protested in parliament on Wednesday with some smearing paint on the partition between the visitors' gallery and the plenum.
• The protest followed three days of anti-government demonstrations in Jerusalem when thousands took to the streets calling for more action to free the hostages and new elections to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ucraina

(Reuters) NATO to plan long-term Ukraine aid, mulls 100-bln euro fund

• NATO allies agreed on Wednesday to initiate planning on long term military support for Ukraine, but a proposal by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to do so via a 100 billion euro ($107 billion) five-year fund drew mixed responses.
• Stoltenberg's proposal would also give the Western alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.
• Under the plans, NATO would take over some coordination work from a U.S.-led ad-hoc coalition known as the Ramstein group - a move designed in part to guard against any cut in U.S. support if Donald Trump returns to the White House, diplomats said.
• Meanwhile, Russia said NATO had returned to a Cold War mindset as the alliance marks its 75th anniversary this week.

(Reuters) Finland signs Ukraine security deal, Zelenskiy warns of Russia troop plans

• Finland's president on Wednesday signed a 10-year security deal with Ukraine in Kyiv where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he believed Russia planned to mobilise 300,000 new troops for its war by June.
• The pact signed by President Alexander Stubb and Zelenskiy made Finland the eighth NATO member this year to commit to long-term security cooperation and defence backing for Kyiv as it battles to hold back Russian forces.
• Stubb said Finland would also send 188 million euros ($203 million) in additional military aid, including air defences and heavy-calibre ammunition. That sum took Finland's overall defence contribution to around 2 billion euros during the war.

Europa

UE/Cina:

(Reuters) EU investigates Chinese bidders over Romania solar tender

• The European Union has opened two investigations into whether two Chinese bidders benefited excessively from subsidies in their offers in a public tender for a solar power park in Romania, the European Commision said on Wednesday.
• The first investigated consortium is composed of Romania's ENEVO Group and a subsidiary of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co (601012.SS), opens new tab. The second involves subsidiaries of Chinese state-owned Shanghai Electric Group Co. (601727.SS)
• These are the second and third investigations under the EU foreign subsidies regulation, which has allowed the European Commission since July 2023 to assess whether subsidies allow companies to submit overly advantageous offers.
• The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said it was gravely concerned by the investigations and said the regulation was seriously distorting the level playing field for Chinese companies operating in the EU. The Commission said it was justified in opening in-depth investigations since there were sufficient indications that both Chinese firms had been granted foreign subsidies that distorted the EU single market.

Germania:

(CNN) Germans celebrate as recreational cannabis use becomes legal

• Crowds gathered in Germany overnight to celebrate the legalization of cannabis starting from Monday
• There was music and dancing at the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, where attendees waved placards and blew clouds of smoke into the air.
• One person could be seen cycling through the crowd dragging an artwork of a giant cannabis leaf on a trailer behind their bike, while another ceremoniously rolled a joint in front of television cameras.
• Last month, Germany’s lower house of parliament voted to legalize cannabis for limited recreational use following a controversial national debate about the pros and cons of allowing easier access to the drug.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

USA:

(Associated Press) Democrats eye Florida’s abortion vote as chance to flip the state. History says it’ll be a challenge

• Despite Florida’s reputation as a newly bona fide red state, Democrats have new hope that a ballot question seeking to preserve abortion rights will put the state back in play as the nation’s largest presidential election swing state.
• On Monday, the state Supreme Court energized abortion rights proponents with two rulings: one that paves the way for a six-week abortion ban and another that will give voters the opportunity to repeal the ban as they also cast their vote for president.
• But while it’s true the battle over abortion has translated into electoral success for abortion rights advocates in other states, this is Florida, and Democrats have a history of turning opportunity into disappointment, leaving it to be determined whether the issue could flip Florida back blue as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump head toward a rematch.
• The abortion debate didn’t stop Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis from winning reelection by a landslide in 2022, even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. DeSantis signed new abortion restrictions and Democrats correctly warned he would further strip away rights to the procedure.

Africa

Uganda:

(Reuters) Ugandan court upholds anti-LGBTQ law but says some rights infringed

• Uganda's constitutional court on Wednesday refused to annul or suspend an anti-LGBTQ law that includes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, but voided some provisions it said are inconsistent with certain fundamental human rights.
• The legislation, adopted in May last year, is among the world's harshest anti-gay laws and has drawn condemnation from rights campaigners and sanctions from Western nations.
• However, the court struck down certain sections it said were "inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion".
• The portions of the act that were voided criminalised the letting of premises for use for homosexual acts and failure to report homosexual acts.