Japan to the USA on car tariffs: exemption or proportional response

Today's news: Washington removes Afghanistan from the list of countries that present threats to national security; Moscow announces the imminent start of work on the bridge with North Korea; Four disabled children die of food poisoning in a public institution in Lucknow; China has lost a quarter of its glaciers since 1960;  Historic milestone for a 19-year-old Filipino tennis player.

JAPAN-UNITED STATES

The Japanese government has asked the United States to exempt Tokyo from the 25% additional tariffs on cars produced outside the country announced yesterday, calling the latest move by its closest ally ‘extremely regrettable’. ‘We must consider the measures to be taken to respond appropriately. All possible options are on the table,’ said Prime Minister Shigero Ishiba. Cars and their components accounted for a large part of Japan's total exports to the United States in 2024. According to data provided by Tokyo, Japanese car manufacturers have made direct investments in the United States to the value of approximately 61.6 billion dollars and have created approximately 2.3 million jobs.

AFGHANISTAN-UNITED STATES

The US National Intelligence Agency recently published its annual assessment, omitting Afghanistan from the list of threats to national security. Last year's report repeatedly highlighted Afghanistan and the Taliban. While highlighting terrorist threats, including the presence of Al-Qaeda in Iran, Somalia and Syria, the report does not mention Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a base for these groups. This omission is significant, considering that the United Nations Security Council has confirmed that Al-Qaeda and ISIS continue to operate in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.

RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA

Russia and North Korea will soon begin the construction of a road bridge over the Tumen River between the two countries, as stated by the Russian ambassador in Pyongyang to the state news agency RIA. The bridge was agreed upon during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024, when the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.

INDIA

Four disabled children aged between 12 and 17 have died and many others have fallen ill, presumably due to food poisoning, at a government rehabilitation centre in Para in the Lucknow area of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday evening, more than 20 young people living in the centre suddenly fell ill and were taken to Lokbandhu hospital.

CHINA

The area of glaciers in China has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with the complete disappearance of 7,000 small glaciers and intensifying glacial retreat in recent years, according to official data published in March. According to a UNESCO report, glaciers worldwide are disappearing faster than ever, with the greatest loss of glacial mass ever recorded in the last three years.

PHILIPPINES

By beating number 2 in the rankings Iga Swiatek in the Miami tournament, 19-year-old Filipino tennis player Alex Eala achieved a historic milestone for Filipino sport by reaching the semi-finals of a professional tournament for the first time. Thanks to this success, the Manila athlete will enter the top 100 tennis players in the world.

KYRGYZSTAN

In Kyrgyzstan the repression of those critical of the government continues, and in Bishkek the well-known journalist and activist Kanyšaj Mamyrkulova has been arrested; the Ministry of the Interior considers her posts on social networks to be ‘incitement to mass disorder’. Dozens of journalists and humanitarian activists have intervened to ask for her release.

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