South China Morning Post (May 9)
“Hong Kong must wake up to the dangers of US port and shipping threats “ While the world obsesses about Donald Trump’s tariffs, “a quieter but potentially more lasting confrontation is taking shape that could remake global trade infrastructure.” The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) recently “concluded an investigation into China’s shipbuilding and maritime sectors” and “its impact on the global trade architecture could be just as profound. If Hong Kong is “to remain a serious player on the international stage, we must respond with urgency, clarity and conviction” to measures that could include “per-voyage service fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-controlled vessels calling at US ports, as well as proposed tariffs on Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes and other key port equipment” while requiring that LNG carriers be US-built, “phasing out Chinese-made ships from the trade.”
Tags: China, Confrontation, Dangers, Global trade, Hong Kong, Infrastructure, Maritime, Per-voyage service fees, Port, Ship-to-shore cranes, Shipbuilding, Shipping threats, Tariffs, Trade Representative, Trump, U.S.
The Atlantic (November 24)
“To have any hope of meeting their commitments to holding global warming at bay, developing countries need at least $1 trillion a year in outside funding…. Failure to meet those commitments will result in more chaotic climate outcomes globally. Everyone agrees on this.” COP29 arrived at a “$300 billion failure” following “two weeks of grueling, demoralizing negotiations.” The deal spotlights just “how far the world is from facing climate change’s real dangers.”
Tags: $1 trillion, Chaotic, Commitments, COP29, Dangers, Demoralizing, Developing countries, Failure, Global warming, Outcomes, Outside funding
New York Times (June 19)
“China’s economic weakness holds benefits and dangers for the global economy. Consumer and producer prices have fallen for the past four months in China, putting a brake on inflation in the West by pushing down the cost of imports from China. But weak demand in China may exacerbate a global slowdown. “
Tags: Benefits, China, Consumer, Dangers, Demand, Global economy, Imports, Inflation, Producer prices, Weakness, West
Los Angeles Times (August 19)
“With more than a million acres burned fairly early in the fire season, California is entering uncharted territory as the record dry conditions that have fueled so much destruction will soon combine with seasonal winds that fire officials fear will bring unprecedented dangers.” Many experts fear for the *fire-prone state” as the *impending arrival of strong Santa Anas and Diablos — which typically move in around mid-September — could mark even more misery for weary residents and beleaguered fire crews.”
Tags: Beleaguered, Burned, California, Dangers, Destruction, Dry, Early, Fire crews, Fire officials, Fire season, Million acres, Misery, Seasonal winds, Uncharted, Unprecedented, Weary
New York Times (December 29)
“Three decades after a top climate scientist warned Congress of the dangers of global warming, greenhouse gas emissions keep rising and so do global temperatures.” We are “going nowhere fast on climate, year after year.”
Tags: Climate, Climate scientist, Congress, Dangers, Decades, Emissions Temperatures, Global warming, Greenhouse gas
Sydney Morning Herald (July 13)
“The Grenfell tower fire in London has opened the eyes of the world to the dangers of building with materials that do not conform to safety standards.” But this comes three years after Australia’s “own wake-up call…when fire ripped through Melbourne’s Lacrosse building.” Since then “all the solutions to the problem have been presented by expert bodies to the Senate inquiry,” yet not enough has been done. An “audit of apartment buildings undertaken by the Victorian Building Authority has shown that half contained non-compliant materials.” It is “time for governments to advance from talking and thinking to actually doing something.”
Tags: Dangers, Experts, Fire, Grenfell, Lacrosse building, London, Melbourne, Non-compliant materials, Safety standards
