Europe is caught between China and America
A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. Under threat from American tariffs and Chinese competition, Europe must consider the future of its already stagnant economy. How the European Union will balance trade with security remains unclear.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Loans issued from China's housing provident fund slow in 2024: report
BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - China issued more than 1.3 trillion yuan ($181 billion) in 2024 under the country's housing provident fund programme for individual mortgage loans, down 11.4% from the previous year, according to Reuters's calculations based on government reports. Last year, China issued over 2.3 million individual mortgage loans compared with almost 2.9 million in 2023, according to annual reports jointly issued by the Chinese finance ministry, housing ministry and the central bank. Contributions to the fund stood at 3.63 trillion yuan in 2024, marking an increase of 4.67% over the previous year, the annual report for 2024 issued on Thursday showed. ($1 = 7.1816 Chinese yuan)
Leader Live
4 hours ago
- Leader Live
Rangers on verge of appointing Russell Martin as new head coach
The 39-year-old former Southampton boss will be installed in the Ibrox hotseat in the next 48 hours, barring any last-minute hitches. The appointment of a new man at the helm is the latest in a series of major changes at the club. An American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises secured a majority shareholding on Friday and new sporting director Kevin Thelwell officially began work on Monday, when he said that the recruitment of a new head coach would come to a conclusion 'in the coming days'. Outgoing Real Madrid assistant manager Davide Ancelotti, son of Carlo Ancelotti, and Martin were the two frontrunners for the post, vacated by Philippe Clement in February, with former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson taking over to the end of the season, which ended trophyless. However, it is the former MK Dons and Swansea boss, who had a short loan spell as a player at Rangers in 2018, who will be tasked with wrestling the power back from the other side of the city where Celtic this season won their 13th William Hill Premiership title in 14 seasons and have a stranglehold on Scottish football. However, many Rangers fans have revealed some dismay at the notion of Martin's arrival. The former Scotland international brought Southampton up to the Premier League through the play-offs in 2024 but was sacked in December as they headed back towards the Championship with one win from their first 16 games. Chris Hughton, Martin's boss at Norwich, offered a glowing character reference, saying on talkSPORT: 'If I'm looking at Russell's managerial background, he is known of course, for playing a certain way, very expansive in the way that he wants to play, very much a passing game and progression through the thirds. 'But he's a strong personality also. He's had a few knockbacks in his football career so far. 'I think any knockbacks, he will look at very much as experience and look to improve in every aspect that he can. I saw him recently, and he was in good form and really looking forward to getting back into the game. 'I think he's had a few offers. So this is somebody that's still very respected in the game, and of course, the rollercoaster in management, there are always going to be ups and downs, but he's a very confident individual and very confident in what he wants to do on the football pitch. 'He was very much a leader in the changing room, vocal in the meetings that we had and, of course, he was my voice when it came to any sort of direction on the players. 'So no surprise to me that he eventually went into management. He always showed those characteristics. And he was somebody that, as he improved in his career as a player, is of course very much looking to improve the same way in management.'
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Elon Musk turns on Donald Trump in scathing tirade against 'big beautiful bill'
Donald Trump's administration is pushing a piece of legislation in the United States which will be central to its agenda and will mean tax breaks as well as spending cuts Elon Musk has continued his bitter attack on Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' of tax breaks and spending cuts saying no one 'should be able to stomach it'. In a rallying call to his followers on X he urged them to contact Congress members to 'kill the bill'. It came after Tuesday's attack where he called the bill a 'disgusting abomination' and his latest broadsides are set to further test his relationship with the president. The bill, at the centrepiece of Republicans' legislative agenda, has passed the House and is currently under debate in the Senate, would curtail subsidies that benefit Tesla, Musk's electric automaker. Musk's attack on the Trump administration follows Trump giving him a celebratory Oval Office farewell that marked the end of his work for the administration, where he spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency. But today he wrote or reposted comments criticizing the bill more than 25 times. In one post he stated: 'Call your Senator. Call your Congressman. Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.' And in another post he shared an iconic poster for the 2003 film Kill Bill starring Uma Thurman, who was a samurai-trained killer. Other messages saw him say: "Mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America! ENOUGH,' and that no one 'should be able to stomach it'. Musk has also called for a new piece of legislation to be drawn up. 'A new spending bill should be drafted that doesn't massively grow the deficit and increase the debt ceiling by 5 TRILLION DOLLARS,' he wrote. But Speaker Mike Johnson said that Musk was 'flat wrong' about his criticisms of the bill and its effect on the financial deficit in the US, while saying there isn't time for a new bill. He told reporters: 'I want Elon and all my friends to recognize the complexity of what we've accomplished here, this extraordinary piece of legislation, record number of savings, the record tax cuts for the American people, and all the other benefits in it." Today's tirade against the bill came after Musk expressed equally strong views in posts yesterday. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk posted on X. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." The tech billionaire followed his criticism with a threat aimed at Republicans. "In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people," he wrote in another X post. It's a sharp shift for Musk, the world's richest person who spent at least $250 million supporting Trump's campaign last year.
