World
Dutch curb on microchip tech exports for China could become EU-wide
The choice taken by the Dutch authorities to limit exports of superior microchip expertise to China is perhaps expanded to a European Union-wide scope, says Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Fee Vice-President in control of commerce relations.
“The way in which export controls operate within the EU, it is a nationwide resolution. However there’s a risk additionally to convey this resolution (to) the EU stage. The Dutch authorities have indicated they’ve this curiosity,” Dombrovskis stated on Friday morning forward of a casual assembly of commerce ministers in Stockholm.
“There are going to be discussions with related member states, which even have superior semiconductor manufacturing, whether or not to increase the applying of those export controls broader.”
The Dutch curb has been the supply of hypothesis for months however was solely made official on Wednesday in a authorities letter addressed to the nation’s parliament.
The Netherlands is residence to ASML, a world agency specialised within the refined machines wanted to provide the microchips that energy smartphones, PCs, automobiles and billions of on a regular basis home equipment.
ASML is the one firm on the earth in a position to manufacture excessive ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine, an equipment of maximum complexity and precision that’s used to assemble essentially the most superior model of semiconductors.
These EUV machines are as massive as a small bus and command a price ticket of €150 million apiece. Multinationals like TSMC, Intel and Samsung make use of ASML-made machines to mass-produce microchips.
Headquartered within the city of Veldhoven, ASML is at the moment Europe’s largest tech firm by way of market capitalisation, offering the whole bloc with a aggressive edge on a world scale.
This superiority has thrust ASML – and, by extension, the Netherlands – into the very forefront of the geopolitical rift between the USA and China, because the White Home actively rallies Western allies to take a more durable stance on Beijing and block the commerce of cutting-edge provides.
Months of lobbying paid off on Wednesday when Dutch International Commerce Minister Liesje Schreinemacher formally introduced “extra nationwide export management measures” for the expertise required to manufacture superior semiconductors.
Schreinemacher didn’t explicitly point out both China or ASML however spoke of a “geopolitical context” that referred to as for strict export guidelines “within the pursuits of nationwide and worldwide safety.”
The letter, a translated model of which was shared with Euronews, listed three “strategic objectives” to argue the choice: to stop Dutch items from getting used for “undesirable” functions, to keep away from long-term dependencies on international suppliers, and to protect Dutch management within the subject.
“The federal government doesn’t view this export management framework in isolation, however as a part of a broader effort designed to profit the semiconductor worth chain,” the letter reads.
In accordance with Schreinemacher, the Netherlands has held “shut consultations” with the European Fee and fellow member states to clarify the choice and “achieve assist for it.”
“Within the months forward, the federal government will proceed these efforts with a view to establishing the nationwide management record within the EU panorama as successfully as doable,” the letter says.
Rising tech dangers
On Friday morning, Dombrovskis adopted up on the letter and opened the door for the Dutch resolution to accumulate a larger European dimension, though he didn’t specify how this could work in follow.
Dombrovskis, nevertheless, did point out China by identify, in addition to Taiwan, the island that’s at the moment the world’s largest provider of microchips and that Beijing considers to be a breakaway province.
“Trying on the present geopolitical context of various rising applied sciences, we have to deal with the brand new dangers rising with them,” Dombrovskis informed reporters.
“We’re additionally taking a broader have a look at how we may have a stronger European framework for export controls (and) a extra coordinated and streamlined system on the EU stage as a result of at the moment, it’s extremely a lot a member state-driven and any resolution making is backside up.”
Below a 2021 regulation, the EU established a typical record of dual-use objects whose exports have to be meticulously monitored by member states.
Twin-use objects confer with merchandise that may be employed for army and civilian functions. Most of the merchandise at the moment listed relate to the manufacturing of nuclear, chemical and organic weapons.
Particular person international locations are entitled so as to add extra export controls on key merchandise which they take into account warrant nearer surveillance, just like the Netherlands has performed with lithography programs.
Export controls should not technically a ban: the federal government is free to determine if it grants a licence export to a selected firm for a selected product meant to be despatched to a selected nation.
Member states, subsequently, function on a case-by-case foundation. Correct export bans are performed by means of the EU’s sanctions regime, as is the case with Russia.
The Dutch authorities nonetheless must translate Wednesday’s announcement into laws, a course of that would take months earlier than any commerce is definitely restricted.
In a response assertion, ASML stated it will want to use for export licences for essentially the most superior variations of its deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography programs.
Its internationally coveted EUV instruments “have already been restricted since 2019,” the corporate stated.
“Based mostly on at the moment’s announcement, our expectation of the Dutch authorities’s licensing coverage, and the present market state of affairs, we don’t anticipate these measures to have a cloth impact on our monetary outlook that we now have printed for 2023 or for our longer-term eventualities.”
From Beijing, China’s International Affairs Ministry has urged the Netherlands to “adhere to market rules” and “respect the spirit of contract,” whereas issuing a stark rebuke towards the White Home.
“Lately, the US, in an try and deprive China of its proper to improvement and preserve its hegemony, has overstretched the idea of nationwide safety, politicized and instrumentalised commerce and tech points, and coerced or courted some international locations to undertake export restrictions towards China,” a spokesperson from the ministry stated the day after the Dutch letter turned public.
“Such bullying acts critically violate market rules and the worldwide commerce order.”
This text has been up to date to incorporate new reactions.
World
Jay-Z’s Accuser Can Remain Anonymous, Judge Criticizes His Lawyer’s ‘Relentless’ Filings
The woman accusing Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 can proceed anonymously (“at least for now”) in her lawsuit against the rappers, a judge ruled Thursday.
New York Judge Analisa Torres also condemned the legal team representing Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) for the “relentless filing of combative motions containing inflammatory language and ad hominem attacks [on accuser’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee],” according to a court order obtained by Variety. “Since Carter’s attorney first appeared in this case seventeen days ago, he has submitted a litany of letters and motions attempting to impugn the character of Plaintiff’s lawyer [Buzbee].”
Judge Torres continues, calling the complaints “inappropriate, a waste of judicial resources, and a tactic unlikely to benefit his client [Jay-Z].”
Jane Doe, who filed her original lawsuit against Combs in October, and re-filed it with Carter’s name in early December, will remain anonymous at this early stage of the litigation. She could still be required by the court to reveal her identity.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Carter, recently asked the judge to dismiss the entertainer from the woman’s lawsuit. He cited a report from NBC News that revealed the accuser had admitted to some “inconsistencies and outright impossibilities” in her allegations. His team has also issued public statements referring to Buzbee as a “1-800 lawyer” who is “in the pursuit of money and fame.”
Judge Torres denied Carter’s request to dismiss the case. Representatives for Carter did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
In the last few weeks, Buzbee issued his own lawsuit against Roc Nation, the entertainment company owned by Carter, claiming they are using “shadowy operatives” to bribe his former clients into filing “frivolous” complaints against him. Carter has also sued Buzbee for defamation.
Jane Doe, who alleges she was 13 when Combs and Carter raped her in 2000, says she encountered the pair at an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards.
Carter responded to the allegation almost immediately. “You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same,” Carter wrote in a letter addressing Buzbee. “I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”
Combs has been held in a Brooklyn jail since September. He will remain there until his trial is scheduled to begin in May.
World
China unveils world's largest amphibious warship
China has launched the first of its new line of amphibious assault ships and its biggest warship yet, strengthening what is already the world’s largest navy.
The Sichuan, a type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, was put into the water at a launch and naming ceremony on Friday.
With a full load displacement of 40,000 tons, the warship ranks among the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, featuring a dual-island superstructure and full-length flight deck, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.
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China Bugle, an news outlet associated with the PLAN’s news media center, reported the ship will play a key role in transforming and developing the Chinese navy and enhancing its combat capabilities in the far seas.
The Sichuan is capable of launching fighter jets and unmanned drones from an electromagnetic catapult. It is designed to carry ground troops in landing craft with air support.
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The ship also features “arrester technology” that Chinese researchers boast will allow fighter jets to land on its deck, similar to an aircraft carrier.
China launched its first amphibious assault ship, a type 075 class warship called the Hainan, in 2019.
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The PLANmi has been working on modernizing its forces for more than a decade, with the aim of being able to operate globally rather than being restricted to waters near the Chinese mainland. China first managed to launch fighter jets with the new electromagnetic technology on its homemade aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which launched two years ago.
The Sichuan will now undergo additional tests at sea.
China has the largest navy in the world and is consistently trying to upgrade its fleet. Recently, researchers found that the country is working on designing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which would allow it to deploy its ships in distant waters without needing a base to refuel.
The U.S. Navy currently has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers deployed in strategic locations globally, including in the Asia-Pacific.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Health worker displaced by Israeli attacks in Gaza dies of ‘extreme cold’
Many people in Gaza lack adequate shelter and are malnourished after more than a year of Israeli attacks and blockades.
A Palestinian healthcare worker has died due to “extreme” weather conditions, according to a statement by the enclave’s Ministry of Health, as severe cold compounds the hardship faced by people displaced by Israel’s relentless attacks.
The body of Al-Hakim Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who worked at the European Gaza Hospital, was found inside his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the ministry said on Friday.
“This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that displaced citizens are experiencing, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in tents,” the ministry said.
The ministry said earlier that four Palestinian babies have died in tents in recent days amid the cold weather and widespread malnutrition.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that the number of casualties in vulnerable groups is increasing due to worsening weather conditions.
“For 14 months now, people here have been lacking basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions – even in summer,” he said.
“Now in winter, the temperature has dropped very low, [and] people in tent camps feel the cold as being [colder] than the actual levels.”
He said that mothers often lack the strength or ability to breastfeed as they are malnourished and unwell.
“The conditions are worse for vulnerable groups like babies and, in the absence of [humanitarian aid], it is natural that deaths will happen.”
The vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since war broke out with the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, with many people living in tents that offer little protection from the cold, rain and flooding.
The United Nations and other organisations have repeatedly decried the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as Israeli attacks and blockades severely curtail access to food, water, medicine and other supplies.
A leading United States government organisation monitoring food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel’s “near-total blockade,” after the US asked for its retraction, US officials told The Associated Press.
The move follows public criticism of the report from the US ambassador to Israel.
The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) had warned that a “famine scenario” was unfolding in northern Gaza where Israel launched a renewed offensive in early October.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the director of Gaza’s Health Ministry told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in north Gaza, and forced the 350 people there to evacuate, including all the patients and staff. He said contact with the hospital had been lost.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 45,436 Palestinians and wounded 108,038 since October 7, 2023, according to figures released on Friday by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.
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