Chief-Exec.com

China warns EU over ‘Made in Europe’ plan, vows countermeasures
Beijing slammed on Monday an EU plan aimed to bolster the bloc's industries against fierce competition from China, vowing countermeasures if it is enacted. The EU unveiled in March new "Made in Europe" rules for companies trying to access public funds in strategic sectors, including cars, green tech and steel, obliging firms to meet minimum thresholds for EU-made parts. The proposal, held up for months by wrangling over the measures, is a key part of a European Union drive to regain its competitive edge, reduce its industrial decline and stave off hundreds of thousands of job losses. Beijing's commerce ministry said on Monday that it had submitted comments to the European Commission on Friday, expressing China's "serious concerns" regarding the act it called "systemic discrimination". France 24, April 27

China blocks Meta’s $2bn purchase of Manus
China has blocked Meta’s $2bn acquisition of artificial intelligence platform Manus, after regulators reviewed whether the deal violated Beijing’s investment rules. Chinese regulators said in a statement on Monday they had told the parties involved to cancel the acquisition. Manus was founded in China but last year moved its headquarters and core team to Singapore and was subsequently bought by Meta. Since then Chinese regulators have mobilised across multiple agencies to review the transaction, drawing in bodies including the National Development and Reform Commission, the commerce ministry and China’s antitrust watchdog, the FT reported this month. Officials had been examining the deal using a range of tools, from export control rules to foreign investment and competition laws, the people said. In March, Beijing restricted two co-founders of Manus from leaving the country as the deal was reviewed. Financial Times, April 27

Large UK companies in the dark about how their data is used overseas by AI
Most large UK companies are not aware of how their sensitive data is used when it is processed by AI systems overseas, according to research that highlights risks from the rapidly advancing technology. The survey of senior technology and data leaders at UK companies with revenues above £100mn found 61 per cent lack a full understanding of how data is handled abroad, adding it is a problem mainly for corporate boards. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to the survey by research group Harbr Data said data is transferred out of the UK through AI systems at least weekly, with a third reporting daily flows. In less serious cases, a lack of clarity over where and how data is processed could create regulatory and compliance risks, particularly regarding data privacy and residency rules, as well as security. More seriously, it could result in data leaks or malicious use. “People seem to have very little idea of how the data governance works,” said Matthew Hodgson, chief executive and co-founder of Element, a UK secure communications platform. Financial Times, April 27

People in UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago, study finds
People in the UK are spending fewer years in good health than a decade ago, prompting concern that the population’s health is “going backwards”. The sharp decline in Britain’s healthy life expectancy, the amount of time someone spends free of illness or disability, is in sharp contrast to its recent rise in most other rich countries globally. The UK population’s health is poor, getting worse and not undergoing the same steady improvement seen in countries such as Japan, Norway and Spain, according to a new analysis of healthy life expectancy in 21 countries by the Health Foundation thinktank. It went up by an average of four-tenths of a year across the 20 other comparable countries. Healthy life expectancy for men in the UK has fallen from 62.9 years in the 2012-14 period to 60.7 years in 2022-24 and from 63.7 to 60.9 years for women over the same timeframe, it found. It means that the proportion of life a man spends in good health is down from 79% to 77% and, for a woman, from 77% to 73%, the analysis by the Office for National Statistics showed. The Guardian, April 27

UK's biggest ever environmental pollution claim reaches High Court
One of the UK's largest chicken producers and a water company will be in the High Court on Monday accused of polluting the rivers Wye, Lugg and Usk. More than 4,500 people who live or work near the rivers along the Welsh-English border have signed up to take part in what's being seen as a landmark case against Avara Foods and Welsh Water. Their lawyers say it's the biggest case ever brought in the UK over environmental pollution in terms of the number of claimants and its geographical spread. Avara, which dominates chicken farming in the area, and Welsh Water, have respectively called the claims "misconceived" and "misguided". The River Wye is one of the UK's longest and most celebrated rivers. But in recent years those living nearby have complained that it regularly turns green in the summer and has become smelly and slimy. The group's legal claim blames the spreading of chicken manure on farmers' fields, and also sewage spills. It demands that action be taken to improve the state of the rivers, and compensation be paid to those whose lives and businesses have been affected. BBC news, April 27

Sabastian Sawe wins London Marathon in first sub-two-hour time
Sabastian Sawe’s marathon world record defied analogy but was undoubtedly one of sport’s most astonishing reality checks. The parameters of the impossible had been stretched in one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. The 31-year-old Kenyan has rocketed from star turn in a niche area to the owner of one of the most remarkable feats in pan-sporting history. That it will earn him a million dollars in bonuses from his sponsors and the London Marathon seemed almost irrelevant. “A day to remember,” he said, with some understatement. The Times, April 26

Donald Trump says Israel and Lebanon will extend ceasefire by 3 weeks
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, US President Donald Trump said. In a Truth Social post late on Thursday, Trump said that a meeting in Washington with representatives from Israel and Lebanon “went very well!” The move to extend the ceasefire comes after the countries agreed a 10-day truce on April 16, removing one obstacle to securing a permanent end to the war between the US and Iran. Fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group and Iran’s most important proxy, erupted after the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran at the end of February. In his Truth Social post, Trump added that he expected to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun for talks at the White House “in the near future”. Financial Times, April 24

Polish PM questions whether US is ‘loyal’ to Europe’s defence
Poland’s prime minister questioned whether the US would be “loyal” to its Nato commitment to defend Europe in the event of a Russian attack, and urged the EU to become a “real alliance” in protecting the continent. Donald Tusk told the FT that Europe’s “biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our [Nato] treaties,” as he warned that Russia could attack an alliance member in “months”. The unusual intervention from a Polish leader reflects growing uncertainty in Europe after President Donald Trump’s threats and oscillating commitment to the continent’s defence. “For the whole eastern flank, my neighbours … the question is if Nato is still an organisation ready, politically and also logistically, to react, for example against Russia if they try to attack,” he said. Tusk noted that some members of the US-led defence alliance “pretend[ed] that nothing happened” when about 20 Russian drones breached Poland’s airspace last year. Financial Times, April 24

First ever talks to ditch fossil fuels as UN deadlock deepens
A large group of countries, including some major oil producers, are meeting on Friday to plan something UN climate summits have failed to agree on - a complete move away from fossil fuels. Around 60 nations are gathering in Santa Marta, Colombia, as the world warms rapidly, mainly from the use of coal, oil and gas. Countries attending account for roughly a fifth of global fossil fuel supply - including Colombia, Australia and Nigeria - but major powers including the US, China and India are not part of the talks. Progress at the annual UN COP climate meetings has slowed as decisions depend on the consent of all, giving large fossil producers an effective veto. BBC news, April 24

Hundreds of alleged MS-13 members tried at mass hearing in El Salvador mega-jail
Hundreds of alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang members sat chained, shaved and mute as they were accused of murder and torture during a mass trial at El Salvador's notorious CECOT jail, AFP reporters witnessed on Thursday. Seated in neat columns of plastic chairs in the prison's main hall, some 220 defendants are accused of collectively carrying out more than 29,000 murders. "We burned her genitals and buttocks" one witness said over the loudspeaker, testifying in a mass trial El Salvador's president has compared to those of Nazi leaders at Nuremberg. Among those on trial are about 20 alleged leaders and dozens of lieutenants, many with tattooed faces, heads, hands and necks. Hundreds more defendants appeared remotely. Human rights groups have criticised the mass trials, warning that innocent people would inevitably be caught up in the process. France 24, April 24

Call to ban sharing of medical data after UK Biobank breach
Ministers are facing calls to ban the sharing of British citizens’ personal information with China after a huge data breach involving the private medical data of half a million people. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers who had given their DNA and healthcare records to the UK Biobank were informed on Thursday that their details had been put up for sale on a Chinese website. The breach occurred after the Biobank, a database of British medical records which has led to a series of breakthroughs in recent years, allowed its entire contents to be downloaded by Chinese research partners. While the data was anonymised it was discovered for sale in three separate listings on the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba. Three Chinese research institutions were identified as the source of the information. Their access has been revoked. The Times, April 23

Trump says he will ‘probably put a big tariff on the UK’ if it doesn’t drop digital services tax
Donald Trump has threatened to impose “a big tariff” on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms. The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2 per cent levy on the revenues of several big US tech companies. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, the US president said: “We’ve been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful. If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.” The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500m ($673m), with more than £25m of the revenues from UK users. While it raises more than most of the targeted businesses pay in UK corporation tax, Amazon, Google and Apple pass the tax on to the bills of the third-party businesses and sellers that use their sites. Last year, Tax Justice UK estimated that the tax would generate £4.4bn-£5.2bn between 2024 and 2029. The Guardian, April 24