Asia's markets recover as Trump suspends tariffs (except for China)

Today's news: in Hong Kong a social worker has been sentenced to three years and nine months for ‘rioting’ during the 2019 protests; Israeli attack kills at least 35 civilians in Gaza City, many missing; Indian minister Goyal criticises local start-ups, claiming they are too focused on entertainment apps; Demining of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan advances.

USA - CHINA - ASIA

Asian markets are recovering after Trump's about-turn, but US tariffs of 125% on China come into force. The decision by the US president to suspend for 90 days the heavy tariffs just imposed on dozens of countries brought relief to global stock markets, which had been put to the test. The turnaround came after the most volatile episode in the financial markets since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing announced an 84% tariff on goods imported from the USA.

SOUTH KOREA

The leader of the South Korean opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, who is leading in the opinion polls, has declared that he is running for the presidency, promising to correct inequality and stimulate economic growth. The presidential election will be held on 3 June, after the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law in December was confirmed on 4 April.

HONG KONG

A social worker and rights activist has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for taking part in a riot during the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Jackie Chen was one of the social workers who tried to mediate between the police and the demonstrators. She carried a megaphone and urged the police to exercise restraint, asking them not to fire non-lethal bullets during the protest on 31 August 2019.

GAZA

At least 35 people have been killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli attack on a residential complex in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to medical sources. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has stated that the death toll from yesterday's attack in the northern part of the Strip is expected to rise, while civil defence teams and residents frantically dig to try to find dozens of missing persons trapped under the rubble.

INDIA

The Indian Minister for Industry, Piyush Goyal, has caused a great debate by criticising local start-ups that concentrate on lifestyle apps, and instead inviting them to focus on advanced technological innovations such as AI (making a veiled reference to China). While praising the growth of the sector and defining India as the third start-up ecosystem in the world, he urged entrepreneurs and investors to be more ambitious, evolve and support innovation more in order to compete globally.

ARMENIA - AZERBAIJAN

In the Tavush border region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, landmine clearance is taking place in order to proceed with the demarcation and delimitation of the borders, as communicated by the Ministry of Defence in Yerevan, and to guarantee the necessary conditions for the signing of the peace agreement, ‘despite Baku's continuous false accusations’ about provocations by Armenian soldiers against Azerbaijani posts.

UZBEKISTAN

In the province of Urgut in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, 38-year-old F. K., a school principal, was tried for drug dealing together with an accomplice from the local school office, having been found in his possession with a load of over two kilos of opium that he claimed to have ‘found by chance, without making any profit’. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.

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