World

BRUSSELS — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday welcomed US President Donald Trump's decision to pause planned tariff increases as an "important step towards stabilising the global economy".

"Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function," the European Commission president said in a statement.

"The European Union remains committed to constructive negotiations with the United States," she said, reiterating the bloc's offer of a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods.

The EU was hit with a 20 per cent rate as part of Trump's universal tariffs and the commission has been preparing its response, although Brussels has made it clear it would prefer to avoid retaliation.

Trump announced the punishing tariffs last week, throwing global markets into chaos until he announced on Wednesday that he was halting the measures for almost all nations for 90 days.

The 27-nation EU is among dozens of countries including Japan, but not China, that now face a baseline tariff rate of 10 per cent.

The bloc also remains subject to previously enacted US tariffs on steel and aluminium, to which it retaliated on Wednesday, and on the auto sector.

Trump's aggressive trade moves and hostile rhetoric against the EU have focused minds in Brussels, with leaders now scrambling to establish closer trade ties with other nations including India.

"Europe continues to focus on diversifying its trade partnerships, engaging with countries that account for 87 per cent of global trade," von der Leyen said.

The EU will also bolster its own single market and remove barriers, she added.

SYDNEY — Papua New Guinea will "immediately" lift a ban on forest carbon credit schemes, the Pacific nation's climate minister told AFP on Thursday, opening up its vast wilderness to offset global emissions.

The island of New Guinea is cloaked in the world's third-largest rainforest belt, helping the planet breathe by sucking in carbon dioxide gas and turning it into oxygen.

Foreign companies have in recent years snapped up tracts of forest in an attempt to sell carbon credits, pledging to protect trees that would otherwise fall prey to logging or land clearing.

But a string of mismanagement scandals forced Papua New Guinea to temporarily shut down this "voluntary" carbon market in March 2022.

Environment Minister Simo Kilepa told AFP that, with new safeguards now in place, this three-year moratorium would "be lifted immediately".

"Papua New Guinea is uplifting the moratorium on voluntary carbon markets," Kilepa said.

"We now have carbon market regulations in place and... guidelines to administer and regulate the carbon market."

Papua New Guinea has ambitions to become a "key player in international carbon markets", officials from the national climate body told a briefing last week.

Carbon credit schemes are seen as a crucial tool in halting the destruction of Papua New Guinea's steamy rainforests, which are thought to shelter around seven percent of global biodiversity.

Before the 2022 moratorium, foreign-backed syndicates were able to sign carbon credit deals directly with village elders.

In essence, they paid landowners so that tracts of rainforest would not be cleared for crops, sold for mining, or chopped down and turned into logs.

By protecting jungle that would have disappeared, these companies generated carbon credits they could sell on international markets.

 'Carbon cowboys' 

The scale of some proposals was immense,  one carbon trading scheme to be based on Papua New Guinea's northern coast would have ranked among the biggest in the world, according to Carbon Market Watch.

But Papua New Guinea's carbon market was mired in controversy, with one regional governor alleging some foreign firms were little more than "carbon cowboys" out to make quick cash.

An investigation by Australian national broadcaster ABC alleged logging was still taking place in rainforests set aside for carbon credits.

And some landowners complained the lucrative promises of their foreign partners went largely unfulfilled.

"Attempts to establish projects have resulted in land disputes and the emergence of 'Carbon Cowboys'," wrote Australian environmental consultants Sustineo.

Carbon credit schemes around the world have been marred by a litany of similar complaints.

No common set of rules governs these trades, and many projects have been accused of selling essentially worthless credits.

Governments often force heavy polluters to offset emissions through mandatory carbon credit schemes.

But firms, charities and individuals can also choose to buy credits on so-called voluntary carbon markets.

Papua New Guinea's voluntary scheme falls under an international framework known as REDD, or reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

Papua New Guinea has been hammering out a bilateral deal which could see it produce carbon credits for city-state Singapore.

In 2023, Papua New Guinea signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai-based firm Blue Carbon, which has been securing swaths of land across Africa for carbon credits.

PARIS — France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview broadcast Wednesday.

"We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months," Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.

"Our aim is to chair this conference with Saudi Arabia in June, where we could finalise this movement of mutual recognition by several parties," he added.

"I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do," he added.

Such recognition would allow France "to be clear in our fight against those who deny Israel's right to exist -- which is the case with Iran -- and to commit ourselves to collective security in the region," he added.

France has long championed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including after the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militants Hamas on Israel.

But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonising Israel which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denounced French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that Paris could recognise a Palestinian state by June, saying it would be a "prize" for terrorism.

"A unilateral recognition of a fictional Palestinian state, by any country, in the reality that we all know, will be a prize for terror and a boost for Hamas," Saar said on X late on Wednesday.

"These kind of actions will not bring peace, security and stability in our region closer -- but the opposite: they only push them further away."

Nearly 150 countries recognise a Palestinian state. In May 2024, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced recognition, followed by Slovenia in June, moves partly fuelled by condemnation of Israel's bombing of Gaza that followed the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

'No one will invest a cent' 

France's recognition of Palestinian statehood "would be a step in the right direction in line with safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the two state solution," Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahintold AFP.

Nearly 150 countries recognise a Palestinian state. In May 2024, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced recognition, followed by Slovenia in June, in moves partly fuelled by condemnation of Israel's bombing of Gaza that followed the October 7 attacks.

But France would be the most significant European power to recognise a Palestinian state, a move the United States has also long resisted.

In Egypt, Macron held summit talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II and also made clear he was strongly opposed to any displacement or annexation in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

US President Donald Trump has suggested turning Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East" with the Palestinians moving elsewhere -- a suggestion that has sparked bitter condemnation.

Macron responded that the Gaza Strip was "not a real estate project."

"Simplistic thinking sometimes doesn't help," he added, and, in a message to Trump said: "Perhaps it would be wonderful if one day it developed in an extraordinary way, but our responsibility is to save lives, restore peace, and negotiate a political framework."

"If all this doesn't exist, no one will invest. Today, no one will invest a cent in Gaza," he said.

BERLIN — Germany's next leader, the conservative Friedrich Merz, vowed Wednesday to "move the country forward again" by boosting the economy and defence as he presented a deal to launch his coalition government by early next month.

Merz is set to take over as leader of Europe's top economy just as US President Donald Trump has sparked global trade turmoil and raised deep fears about future transatlantic security ties.

Asked at a press conference if he had a message for Trump, Merz said in English that the country would meet its defence obligations and rebuild its economic competitiveness.

"Germany is back on track," he added.

Following the February election victory of his CDU/CSU alliance, Merz quickly struck a deal to forge a 

new government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of the now caretaker Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"The coalition agreement is a signal of a new beginning... for our country," said Merz, whose party won the elections with 28.5 per cent of the vote.

'Europe can rely on Germany' 

In their 144-page coalition contract, the two big centrist parties pledged to "significantly" boost defence spending amid growing concerns about US commitment to European security under Trump.

The parties also said Germany would continue to support Ukraine as the United States looks to encourage a deal to end the war started by Russia's invasion over three years ago.

"We will provide comprehensive support to Ukraine so that it can effectively defend itself against the Russian aggressor and assert itself in negotiations," the agreement said.

Presenting the deal, Merz pledged that Germany would "reform and invest to keep Germany stable, make it safer and make it economically stronger again", adding that "Europe can rely on Germany".

He also pledged that his government would "largely end irregular migration" and promised a "repatriation offensive" after an election campaign marked by a bitter debate on migration and a surge in support for the far-right AfD.

The swift conclusion of the talks -- a process that has in past years dragged on for months in Germany -- is the result of "extraordinary external pressure", said political scientist Wolfgang Schroeder of Kassel University.

"The pressure is coming from Trump, the pressure is coming from the AfD, the pressure is coming from (Merz's) own ranks," he told news channel NTV.

'Power vacuum' 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second in February's election with a record 20 percent of the vote.

Support for the party has since continued to rise, with one survey by the Ipsos polling firm released Wednesday rating it as Germany's most popular party on 25 percent -- ahead of the CDU/CSU on 24 percent.

Renate Koecher, head of the Allensbach Institute, said the rise of the AfD had been fuelled by Germany's political paralysis at a time of acute global and domestic crises.

"Problems are growing but at the same time we have no government capable of acting," Koecher told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

"The economy is facing increasing difficulties and decisions are being made in the US that Europe, with Germany in a leading role, should be able to respond to quickly," she said.

"And in this situation, we have a power vacuum. This fuels the unease among the population."

Germany held general elections on February 23 after the collapse of Scholz's three-way coalition on 

November 6, the day Trump was re-elected to the White House.

'No coincidence' 

After the vote, Merz announced ambitious plans to boost spending on defence and infrastructure and pushed a vote through the previous parliament to soften Germany's strict debt rules.

But this has exposed him to internal party criticism and accusations from the AfD that he has broken campaign pledges and caved in to key demands of the SPD.

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, said Wednesday that it was "no coincidence" her party had become the "strongest political force in our country" on the same day the coalition deal was presented.

Weidel said the conservatives had "fooled and lied to the people with false election promises".

"The CDU/CSU and SPD have already lost their majority in the newly elected Bundestag before they have even been sworn in," she said.

Under the coalition deal, the conservatives are set to take over the foreign and economy ministries, while the SPD will get finance and defence, with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius widely expected to retain his position.

While the SPD plans to ask its members to sign off on the final deal, the CDU plans only to seek the approval of senior party figures.

BEIJING — China announced Wednesday massive retaliatory tariffs on US goods, sharply escalating a trade war started by President Donald Trump and fuelling fresh panic in global markets.

Trump's latest salvo of tariffs came into effect on dozens of trading partners earlier Wednesday, including punishing duties of 104 per cent on imports of Chinese products.

Beijing originally planned to respond with a 34 per cent tariff on imports of US products from 1601 GMT Wednesday, but the finance ministry said it would now raise the toll to 84 per cent after Trump dramatically hiked his own duties on imports from China.

"The tariff escalation against China by the United States simply piles mistakes on top of mistakes (and) severely infringes on China's legitimate rights and interests," the ministry said.

Washington's moves "severely damage the multilateral rules-based trade system", it added.

In a separate statement, Beijing's commerce ministry said it would blacklist six American artificial intelligence firms, including Shield AI and Sierra Nevada Corp.

Trump did not immediately react to the Chinese counterattack but he called on companies to start relocating to the United States to avoid tariffs.

"This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing," the US president said on his Truth Social platform.

He urged: "DON'T WAIT, DO IT NOW!"

Trump believes his policy will revive America's lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.

But many business experts and economists question how quickly -- if ever -- this can take place and warn it could reignite inflation.

Recession fears 

The escalating trade war has wiped off trillions of dollars in market value since last week as investors fear that the trade war will spark a recession.

After some respite on Tuesday, stock markets were in panic mode again, with Tokyo's Nikkei index closing almost four per cent lower on Wednesday.

Paris and Frankfurt sank four per cent in afternoon trading while London was down 3.5 per cent. US equities were expected to open with more losses.

The Bank of England warned of risks to "UK financial stability" from increased geopolitical tensions, including the fallout from the US tariffs.

Italy is preparing to cut its 2025 growth forecast in half, to 0.6 per cent from 1.2, a government source said, while Spain is also set to downgrade its outlook.

Central banks in India and New Zealand cut interest rates to boost their economies in the face of tariffs.

Oil prices fell below $60 a barrel, their lowest level in four years.

Government bond yields — essentially the interest countries pay to borrow money — rose in the United States, Japan and Britain, among other countries.

 Drug makers next? 

Trump has said his government was working on "tailored deals" with trading partners, with the White House saying it would prioritise allies such as Japan and South Korea, which were hit with tariffs of 24 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

His top trade official, Jamieson Greer, told the Senate that Argentina, Vietnam and Israel were among those who had offered to reduce their tariffs. Vietnamese goods were hit with one of the highest tariffs, at 46 per cent.

Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night that countries were "dying" to make a deal.

"I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass," he said.

The European Union, whose goods were hit with a 20 per cent tariff, is working on response that could be presented next week.

A Chinese government white paper released on Wednesday emphasised that the Beijing and Washington could still resolve their differences "through equal-footed dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation".

Trump on Tuesday said the United States was "taking in almost $2 billion a day" from global tariffs.

He also said the United States would announce a major tariff on pharmaceuticals "very shortly", prompting a sell-off in shares of pharmaceutical companies.

Residents in Beijing expressed fears over the escalating trade war.

"I hope that everyone can sit down and reconcile and talk, and then put things out step by step, rather than irrationally escalate them," Yu Yan, a lawyer, told AFP.

In the United States, consumers also voiced worries over rising prices.

At a supermarket in New York, mother-of-two Anastasia Nevin told AFP she was "just trying to get by. It's tough", adding that she was in "survival mode".

SANTO DOMINGO — Rescuers rushed to find survivors on Wednesday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of more than 110 people killed in the disaster.

Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort, now limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble over a day after the roof caved in.

Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight Tuesday, was one of those killed, his manager said.

Relatives of clubgoers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.

"We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble," Rodolfo Espinal told AFP on Tuesday, as he waited for information on his loved ones.

About 300 rescue workers combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors, supported by personnel from Puerto Rico and Israel, Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center, said on Wednesday.

Also among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.

Dotel, who was 51 years old, was rescued alive but later died of his injuries, local media reported.

A black-and-white photo of Dotel and images of the Dominican flag were projected onto the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday's game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.

"Peace to his soul," the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote in separate social media posts paying tribute to the two ex-players.

Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck at around 12:44 am (0444 GMT) Tuesday. The club has capacity for about 1,700 people.

Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to eyewitness reports.

Perez's daughter Zulinka told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.

Also among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, according to President Luis Abinader.

He declared three days of national mourning.

The death toll had reached 113 by Wednesday morning, said Mendez of the Emergency Operations Center.

"No people have been found alive since 3:00 pm (Tuesday)," he said earlier.

'We are desperate' 

Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son.

"At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table," she said.

"A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out," Pena recounted. "The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake."

Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news.

"We are desperate," Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. "They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything."

Helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club's roof once was.

Authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood.

 'Devastated' 

Artists paid tribute to Rubby Perez on social media, with former colleague Wilfrido Vargas saying he was "devastated."

"The friend and idol of our genre has left us," Vargas wrote.

"Maestro, what a great pain he leaves us," wrote Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon.

The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours.

Its last post before Monday's event invited fans to come and "enjoy his (Perez's) greatest hits and dance in the country's best nightclub."

The club issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was working "fully and transparently" with authorities.

The Jet Set collapse was one of the biggest tragedies the Caribbean nation and top tourist destination has faced in recent years.

In 2023, around 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion linked to a plastics company in San Cristobal, near Santo Domingo.

And in 2005, more than 130 prisoners in the east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between inmates.

Tourism generates about 15 per cent of GDP in the country, with millions of annual visitors attracted by its music, nightlife, Caribbean beaches and the colonial architecture of the capital.

SANTO DOMINGO — Rescuers rushed to find survivors on Wednesday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of more than 110 people killed in the disaster.

Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort, now limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble over a day after the roof caved in.

Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight Tuesday, was one of those killed, his manager said.

Relatives of clubgoers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.

"We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble," Rodolfo Espinal told AFP on Tuesday, as he waited for information on his loved ones.

About 300 rescue workers combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors, supported by personnel from Puerto Rico and Israel, Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center, said on Wednesday.

Also among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.

Dotel, who was 51 years old, was rescued alive but later died of his injuries, local media reported.

A black-and-white photo of Dotel and images of the Dominican flag were projected onto the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday's game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.

"Peace to his soul," the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote in separate social media posts paying tribute to the two ex-players.

Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck at around 12:44 am (0444 GMT) Tuesday. The club has capacity for about 1,700 people.

Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to eyewitness reports.

Perez's daughter Zulinka told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.

Also among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, according to President Luis Abinader.

He declared three days of national mourning.

The death toll had reached 113 by Wednesday morning, said Mendez of the Emergency Operations Center.

"No people have been found alive since 3:00 pm (Tuesday)," he said earlier.

'We are desperate' 

Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son.

"At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table," she said.

"A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out," Pena recounted. "The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake."

Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news.

"We are desperate," Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. "They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything."

Helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club's roof once was.

Authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood.

'Devastated' 

Artists paid tribute to Rubby Perez on social media, with former colleague Wilfrido Vargas saying he was "devastated."

"The friend and idol of our genre has left us," Vargas wrote.

"Maestro, what a great pain he leaves us," wrote Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon.

The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours.

Its last post before Monday's event invited fans to come and "enjoy his (Perez's) greatest hits and dance in the country's best nightclub."

The club issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was working "fully and transparently" with authorities.

The Jet Set collapse was one of the biggest tragedies the Caribbean nation and top tourist destination has faced in recent years.

In 2023, around 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion linked to a plastics company in San Cristobal, near Santo Domingo.

And in 2005, more than 130 prisoners in the east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between inmates.

Tourism generates about 15 per cent of GDP in the country, with millions of annual visitors attracted by its music, nightlife, Caribbean beaches and the colonial architecture of the capital.