slashnews - Independent News and Global Voices

Dutch Chip Ruling and Pakistani Mineral Feud Signal Rising Tech Protectionism

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 22:48:11 GMT

Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands: In the sterile laboratories of Nijmegen, engineers at Nexperia continue to develop the power semiconductors that drive the global energy transition, yet the corporate structure above them remains in a state of geopolitical paralysis. For the staff at this Dutch fla...

Trump's Gaza Peace Plan: A Congo-Style Takeover or Strategic Mirage?

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 22:47:03 GMT

Gaza City, Gaza Strip: In the rubble-strewn streets where 10,000 decaying corpses lie unburied and 92% of residential buildings stand damaged or destroyed, a new UN resolution has sparked both despair and debate. The Security Council's Resolution 2803, endorsed in late 2025, has effectively placed t...

Mediterranean and Caribbean Tensions Escalate as Global Powers Clash Over Energy, Sovereignty, and Strategic Influence

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Crete/Puerto Rico, December 2025 The geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean and Caribbean regions has become increasingly volatile as major global powers-the United States, Russia, and China-intensify their competition for strategic influence, energy resources, and regional dominance. Recent...

Google’s Custom AI Chips Reshape Industry, Challenge Nvidia Dominance

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 11:23:09 GMT

Mountain View, California, United States: In the sprawling data centres that power the modern internet, a quiet revolution is underway. For years, the rhythmic hum of servers equipped with Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) formed the unchallenged soundtrack to the artificial intelligence boo...

Trump's Somali Protection Termination Sparks Legal and Community Concerns

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 21:00:56 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, United States: In the heart of America's largest Somali community, families who fled decades of civil war now face renewed uncertainty after President Donald Trump announced he would "immediately" terminate their temporary legal protections. The decision, announced via social...

China Defies Trump Tariffs as Goldman Sachs Predicts 6% Growth Surge

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:58:23 GMT

TOKYO, Japan: As American households brace for the inflationary impact of renewed trade barriers, Chinese exporters continue to defy expectations, with mainland exports projected to expand 8% this year despite US tariffs that briefly exceeded 100% before settling at 30%. The resilience of China's $1...

Ukraine Faces Trump Peace Ultimatum as War Fronts Crumble

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 10:00:21 GMT

Kyiv, Ukraine: In the shadow-draped corridors of Ukraine’s presidential administration, officials speak in hushed, urgent tones. A 21-point peace plan delivered by Washington has created a palpable countdown, with a late-November deadline that could reshape the nation’s future. For many Ukrainians, ...

Gaza partition plan emerges as ceasefire violations continue

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 14:43:43 GMT

GAZA CITY, Palestine: The charred remains of a vehicle in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood stand as testament to the fragility of a ceasefire that was meant to bring respite to Palestinians after two years of devastating conflict. An Israeli airstrike on Saturday killed at least four people and wound...

Dutch Retreat on Nexperia Signals Accelerating Chip Decoupling

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 13:20:01 GMT

Nijmegen, Netherlands: In the quiet corridors of Nexperia's headquarters, a tense standoff between European sovereignty ambitions and Chinese technological dominance has exposed the fragility of global semiconductor supply chains. The Dutch government's decision to suspend its intervention in the Ch...

China Prepares Substantial Countermeasures Against Japan Over Taiwan Remarks

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 11:31:46 GMT

Beijing, China: In the corridors of power in Beijing, senior officials work late into the night drafting responses to what they describe as the most serious diplomatic provocation from Japan since the Second World War. The atmosphere is tense, with Chinese citizens receiving official warnings to avo...

Ukraine's Dual Crisis: Russian Missiles and Corruption Scandals Threaten Zelensky's Leadership

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 20:48:04 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine: In the predawn darkness of Friday morning, a 10-year-old boy lay injured in a Kyiv hospital, his childhood interrupted by the shriek of incoming Russian drones. His mother, clutching his small hand, whispered prayers as doctors worked to stabilise him. Across the city, a pregnant woma...

China Accelerates AI Air Warfare as US Pursues Golden Dome Defence

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:26:20 GMT

Beijing, China: In a quiet hangar somewhere in China's vast military complex, engineers monitor screens showing real-time footage of a J-20 stealth fighter flying in formation with a GJ-11 stealth attack drone. The video, released to mark the People's Liberation Army Air Force's 76th anniversary, re...

AI Datacentre Boom Sparks Global Regulatory Response Amid $1.4 Trillion Investment

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 13:17:20 GMT

LONDON, United Kingdom: As OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reveals his company faces $1.4 trillion in datacentre commitments over the next eight years, governments worldwide are scrambling to regulate the explosive growth of artificial intelligence infrastructure that promises to reshape economies while raisi...

SoftBank's $5.8 Billion Nvidia Exit Sparks AI Bubble Fears

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:35:55 GMT

Tokyo, Japan: Masayoshi Son's sudden departure from Nvidia has sent shockwaves through global markets, with SoftBank Group shares plunging as much as 10% after the Japanese conglomerate revealed it sold its entire stake in the US chip giant for $5.83 billion. The capital will be used to fund SoftBan...

China's Technological Dominance Reshapes Global Energy and AI Markets

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 13:27:22 GMT

Beijing, China. In the sprawling AI computing hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen, researchers work around the clock, optimising algorithms on domestic hardware while their counterparts in Beijing coordinate a national venture capital fund worth US$138 billion. This coordinated effort represents China's s...

Turkish-American Relations Strained as Ankara Faces Strategic Dilemma

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 11:16:41 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey: Rahmi Turan, a veteran columnist for the Turkish newspaper Sözcü, recalls the words attributed to Henry Kissinger with growing unease: "To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal." For Turan and many in Turkey's expert circles, this sentiment captures th...

Gaza Ceasefire Hangs in Balance as US Mediates Fighter Standoff, Israel Blocks Turkish Troops

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 02:57:05 GMT

For more than 150 Hamas fighters trapped in Rafah's underground tunnels, the fragile ceasefire has become a waiting game of survival. Cut off from their command and surrounded by Israeli forces, they represent the most immediate threat to the US-brokered truce that took effect in October. "The en...

Iraq at the Crossroads: Sovereignty, Sanctions, and the Spectre of Wider War

Sat, 08 Nov 2025 00:08:21 GMT

A Nation Trapped Between Giants Two decades after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq stands on a precarious precipice. It is simultaneously grappling with a debilitating internal political crisis and being squeezed by an escalating geopolitical confrontation that thre...

Dutch government invoked a Cold War-era law on Nexperia

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:29:58 GMT

The Dutch government invoked a Cold War-era law (Goods Availability Act) on September 30, 2025, to seize control of Nexperia, citing "serious governance shortcomings" that threatened crucial technological knowledge. Nexperia, owned by China's Wingtech since 2019, produces essential semiconductors fo...

Systematic Destruction of Gaza: Israel's Genocide Unfolding in Real Time

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 22:07:27 GMT

As the world’s attention wavers, Israel’s military continues its relentless assault on Gaza, turning the besieged enclave into a graveyard for tens of thousands of Palestinians. With 22,000 aid trucks deliberately blocked at the border, starvation has become another weapon of war. The international ...

US Implements Sweeping New Tariff Regime Effective 1st August 2025

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 17:13:55 GMT

In a bold move set to reshape global trade dynamics, the United States has announced comprehensive modifications to its reciprocal tariff rates, effective from 1st August 2025. The new measures, signed into effect by President Donald J. Trump through Executive Order 14257, represent the most signifi...

World War Tariff: Trump’s Trade Offensive Engulfs EU and India – Who’s Next?

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 01:49:14 GMT

The world is witnessing an unprecedented escalation in trade hostilities as US President Donald Trump entrenches his aggressive tariff policies, targeting key economic partners. Fresh from imposing a 15% blanket tariff on most EU exports, the Trump administration has now turned its sights on India, ...

Token Lockdown: Why AI Tools Are Getting More Expensive - And Worse

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:09:35 GMT

The landscape of generative AI has undergone a dramatic transformation since its early days, when platforms like ChatGPT and Claude offered near-unrestricted access to their capabilities. Users could experiment freely, pushing the boundaries of what these models could do without worrying about stric...

A Nation's Roar: Lionesses Make History with Back-to-Back Euro Glory

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 19:52:19 GMT

In a thrilling UEFA Women's Euro 2025 final, England's Lionesses made history, becoming the first English side to win a major tournament on foreign soil. The reigning champions successfully defended their title with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Spain, following a 1-1 draw in Basel, Switz...

AI Model Pricing Deep Dive: A Technical Analysis of OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and DeepSeek

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 14:50:28 GMT

The rapid evolution of large language models has created a competitive landscape where pricing structures vary significantly across providers. This analysis examines the cost architectures of leading AI platforms, focusing on token-based pricing, performance trade-offs, and optimal use cases.

Israel's Starvation Policy Claims 122 Lives in Gaza, Mostly Children

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 10:49:22 GMT

At least 122 Palestinians, including more than 80 children, have died from starvation in Gaza as Israel's blockade and military offensive continue, according to Al Jazeera reports. Two infants were among the latest victims of the deepening humanitarian crisis. The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza...

AI Coding Assistants Cause Catastrophic Data Loss in Twin Failures

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:26:22 GMT

In July 2025, two major incidents involving AI coding assistants made headlines when Google's Gemini CLI and Replit's AI coding service experienced catastrophic failures resulting in significant data loss. These cases reveal fundamental flaws in how current AI systems verif...

Israel's Deliberate Starvation of Palestinians: A Weapon of War and International Complicity

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 14:09:50 GMT

The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels, with mounting evidence that Israel is systematically starving Palestinian civilians as a deliberate strategy of war. Over 111 deaths from starvation - including 80 children - have been reported, while international powe...

The Open-Source Powerhouse Rivaling Proprietary Giants: Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 01:38:06 GMT

In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-powered coding assistants, Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct emerges as a groundbreaking open-source model that challenges proprietary giants like Claude 4 and OpenAI CodeX. Developed by the Qwen team, this model is not only free to use but also offers performanc...

Israel-Gaza Conflict Escalates: 60 Killed as Hamas Seeks Truce to Avert Famine

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 22:29:39 GMT

According to reports from Al Jazeera on July 22, 2025, Israeli strikes have killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza within a 24-hour period. This marks one of the deadliest days in recent weeks of the ongoing conflict. Hamas officials have stated they are actively working to negotiate a truce agreem...

England Reach Euro 2025 Final After Dramatic Extra-Time Win Over Italy

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 21:48:31 GMT

In a night of high drama at the Stade de Genève, England's Lionesses produced another remarkable comeback to defeat Italy 2-1 after extra time and book their place in the Euro 2025 final. The match, played before a crowd of 26,539, saw England recover from a first-half deficit to secure victory w...

Meta and Lavender

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 06:45:55 GMT

A little-discussed detail in the Lavender AI article is that Israel is killing people based on being in the same Whatsapp group ^[1] as a suspected militant ^[2]. Where are they getting this data? Is WhatsApp sharing it? Lavender is Israel's system of "pre-crime" ^{[3]

US and UK Unprovoked Strikes Escalate Yemen Crisis, Defying International Law
Sun, 28 Jan 2024 21:21:21 GMT
On January 11, after weeks of procrastination, US and UK forces launched a series of more than sixty air strikes against positions of the Ansar Allah movement, known as the Houthis, in Yemen. Officially intended to deter the Houthis from continuing their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, these and...

Israel War on Palestinian Bedouin Communities in West Bank
Sat, 27 Jan 2024 21:21:21 GMT
Abu Najeh al-Omari is an 80-year-old Palestinian man.

He spends most of his time crying and bemoaning that he and his family were forced to leave their Bedouin community east of Ramallah.

“We dream about it day and night,” he told The Palestine Chronicle.

Several months ago, a group of ill...

The Forde Report Lays Bare the Lie at the Heart of the Media’s War on Corbyn
Fri, 29 Jul 2022 18:51:46 GMT
For all the nuanced language of the long-awaited Forde report, there is one key finding that lays bare a carefully constructed lie. It was a lie that implicated not just the right of the Labour party but a great swathe of Britain’s political and media class. And it was a lie that underpinned much of...

In Ukraine, Rival Worldviews Have Led to Unnecessary War
Tue, 08 Mar 2022 20:13:19 GMT
Whatever way one looks at it, Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine has backfired. Geopolitically, the invasion unified and empowered Nato while increasing public support for the alliance across Europe. Militarily, the faltering attempt to seize Kyiv proved that regime change will require a pe...

Libya’s new PM to unveil transitional government
Fri, 05 Mar 2021 18:46:31 GMT
Libya’s Prime Minister-designate Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is set to name a transitional government on Thursday tasked with unifying the war-torn nation and leading it to elections in December.

Dbeibah, himself selected earlier this month in a UN-sponsored process, will deliver his lineup to Libya’s pr...

Security forces break up Hong Kong rally for China's ethnic Uighurs
Sun, 22 Dec 2019 16:59:25 GMT
Hong Kong riot police broke up a solidarity rally for China's Uighurs on Sunday – with one officer drawing a pistol – as the city's pro-democracy movement likened their plight to that of the oppressed Muslim minority. More than 1,000 people rallied peacefully in support of China's ethnic Uighurs, wa...

Opinion: East African Community unity hangs in the balance
Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:10:02 GMT
The regional passport is a key element of the EAC's vision of free movement and free trade across the region. It will be used by citizens of the six EAC member countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) where it will replace national passports. This flagship project to prom...

Occupied Palestine: Israel reduces Gaza fishing zone in reprisal for protests
Sat, 06 Oct 2018 17:09:52 GMT
Tel Aviv: Israel’s defense minister on Saturday ordered a reduction of the fishing zone along the Gaza Strip’s coastline, in retaliation for clashes along the border fence with the Palestinian enclave.

The fishing zone will be reduced to six nautical miles (11 kilometers) from nine nautical miles...

Istanbul to host over 1K businesspeople from 49 African countries at Turkish-African forum
Sat, 06 Oct 2018 00:06:21 GMT
Turkey is set to welcome over 30 ministers and more than 1,000 businesspeople from 49 African countries at the 2nd Turkey-Africa Economy and Business Forum in Istanbul.

During the event, which will be held on Oct. 10-11, about 3,000 bilateral business meetings are expected, as well as the signing...

Different Reasons To Get Sent to a Chinese Concentration Camp
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 12:01:33 GMT
There is a crisis in Xinjiang. The details are murky. The Communist Party of China has little incentive to reveal the inner workings of the vast system of surveillance and terror it has built to control the 12 million Uighur and Kazakh citizens of China’s westernmost region. From the party’s perspec...

Escape from Xinjiang: Muslim Uighurs speak of China persecution
Mon, 10 Sep 2018 11:41:25 GMT
Istanbul, Turkey - In April 2017, Tarim, a 48-year-old businessman from Urumqi, the capital of China's Muslim Xinjiang region, received a phone call from the police summoning him to their offices in Aksu prefecture, 900km to the southwest.

Tarim knew at once that he was in trouble and devised a g...

Aung San Suu Kyi must be held accountable for the Rohingya genocide
Sun, 09 Sep 2018 18:31:23 GMT
The scrupulously conservative UN has finally issued a report calling for the military leadership in Myanmar, including the Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, to be investigated and prosecuted on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for the ‘clearance operations’ against the R...

The Troubled History of the Two-State Solution
Sun, 09 Sep 2018 18:01:26 GMT
Since 30 March, when ‘Great March of Return’ protests began in the occupied Gaza Strip, the Israeli army’s brutal crackdown on Palestinian demonstrators has prompted condemnation worldwide. On 14 May, Israeli snipers positioned across the other side of a fortified fence killed 60 Palestinians and in...

Ahed Tamimi and the power of Palestinian women
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 02:39:01 GMT
Ahed Tamimi, the 17-year-old Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank, is an icon of a rebellious young generation of Palestinians which has demonstrated it has little tolerance for Israel's persistent violations of their rights and freedoms. After spending eight months i...

In China’s Far West, Companies Cash in on Surveillance Program That Targets Muslims
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 21:57:40 GMT
In the far western region of Xinjiang, China has created one of the world’s most sophisticated and intrusive state surveillance systems to target the predominantly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority. Part of what Beijing calls its anti-terrorism campaign, the system includes mandatory facial-recognition ...

The ‘Great March of Return’ has Exposed Israel’s Brutality and Apartheid
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 12:30:06 GMT
Politicians’ mealy-mouthed condemnations and crocodile tears are the order of the day. Instead, people should answer the call from Gaza for solidarity protests, writes Kevin Squires.

These words were spoken by Razan Al-Najjar, a 21-year-old Palestinian medical student and paramedic volunteering o...

War of words between US and European allies after G7 fallout
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:33:21 GMT
The United States and its Western allies have swung into a war of words and threats, risking a diplomatic and trade crisis, after US President Donald Trump abruptly rejected a previously agreed joint statement in the wake of a fractious Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada.

Minutes after the pub...

Tariq Ramadan and France's Islamophobia
Sun, 10 Jun 2018 21:21:48 GMT
Professor Tariq Ramadan's case and the solitary confinement he faces in a French prison sheds some light on the differentiated treatment Muslim subjects receive in the legal system of the Western states. In this article, I am not defending or making any arguments for the charges levied against profe...}