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tariffs-tradewar · 2 months ago

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China retaliates with additional 84% tariffs on US goods

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1 views Apr 9, 2025Beijing is not backing down in the face of Washington's latest tariffs. In an escalation of a trade war between the world's biggest economies, China has imposed an additional 84% levy on the US, starting tomorrow. Despite growing concerns of a global recession, US President Donald Trump has insisted that the tariffs are making America money. Tan Si Hui reports from Beijing and Kate Fisher reports from Washington DC.

Transcript

0:00are Beijing not backing down in the face

0:02of Washington's latest tariffs imposing

0:04an additional 84% levy on the US

0:07starting from tomorrow in an escalation

0:10of a trade war between the world's two

0:12largest economies Jazars US President

0:14Donald Trump's latest country specific

0:16tariffs came into effect Reciprocal

0:19levies target 60 countries which

0:22Washington considers quote the worst

0:24offenders for what it calls unfair trade

0:28practices The hardest hit as China slept

0:30with a hefty 104% levy Beijing had

0:34refused to walk back its threat to

0:36impose retaliatory tariffs and that

0:38prompted Mr Trump to effectively double

0:41that figure overnight Despite concerns

0:43the growing trade war will trigger a

0:46global recession The US leader insisting

0:48that tariffs are making America money

0:52We're making two billion billion This

0:56isn't 35 million That's peanuts $2

0:59billion a day and then they say gee they

1:03don't know you know this is only the

1:04enemy can be talking this way in

1:06addition we have a lot of countries

1:08coming to see us they want to make a

1:09deal

1:11but retaliation by China setting Wall

1:13Street up for a sharply lower open

1:16tonight the D futures and the S&P 500

1:19both down around 2.3% and the Nasdaq 100

1:24about 2.1% Stocks in Europe also

1:27tumbling while in Asia the Nikkay closed

1:29the session almost 4% in the

1:32red and we're joined by Tanuishi reports

1:35live from Beijing and Kate Fisher in

1:37Washington DC I start with you Suhi Uh

1:41China retaliating there with its 84%

1:44tariffs and that's after stressing that

1:46it was prepared to resolve these

1:48disputes through dialogue Is dialogue

1:52still on the table

1:56Well I spoke with some analysts and they

1:59say it appears to be that Chinese

2:01political elites have met in an

2:03extraordinary meeting to decide to hit

2:06back hard on these US tariffs But it

2:09still remains to be seen as whether it's

2:10a negotiation technique And so the

2:13announcement the bombshell announcement

2:15was made at about 7:00 p.m on state

2:16media on CCTV Prior to that bombshell

2:20announcement the announcer the anchor

2:23had outlined the white paper that was

2:25issued earlier today and it said that uh

2:28the US and it is hope that the US and

2:31China will move towards each other

2:32calling for equal dialogue and

2:34consultation So it seems to be that

2:36dialogue is likely still on the table

2:39But analysts I spoke with say in

2:42principle they say China is open to

2:44dialogue but only if it believes it

2:47won't lose out So it's going to be a

2:48wait and see to see if US will back down

2:51and the US will also be looking to see

2:54if China will back down Um but they say

2:57that this tit for tat war will continue

2:59for a while and it depends on who blinks

3:02first and who is able to bear more pain

3:05Now beyond that uh let's take a look at

3:08some of the announcements China has also

3:10added 12 US entities in the export

3:12control list adding six US firms to a

3:15so-called unreliable entity list

3:18prohibiting them from engaging in import

3:20and export activities related to China

3:23and from making new investments in China

3:25And this comes just as China expressed

3:28grave concern to the World Trade

3:31Organization about reckless tariffs by

3:33the Trump administration All right

3:36Subway you're saying uh any talks

3:38depends on who will blink first and that

3:40is also in that consideration who is

3:43likely who can take more pain The pain

3:46for China will be on locals and domestic

3:49businesses How will this tariff fallout

3:50affect Chinese locals and Chinese

3:55businesses So China mostly imports

3:58agricultural products from the US such

4:01as soy beans and seed oil So we can

4:03expect Chinese farmers to take a huge

4:06hit from this additional tariffs But

4:09analysts I spoke with say businesses and

4:11consumers may not be hit as hard as the

4:14farmers as they can look inwards and

4:16look towards pivot towards domestic or

4:20partner friendly alternatives And we

4:22spoke with some Chinese nationals and

4:24this is something that they agreed

4:29with for

5:01Well Chinese President Cinping in his

5:04first public speech since the escalation

5:06of the trade war has called on China to

5:09strengthen strategic bonds with

5:12neighboring countries and even asking to

5:15have new possibly open new bilateral

5:18cooperation with neighboring countries

5:20and so far we have seen China trying to

5:22shore up trade relations with Japan and

5:25South Korea Now beyond the region beyond

5:28Asia China is also talking to the

5:31European Union with the EU calling for

5:33negotiated resolution in the face of a

5:36US tariffs Observers are also saying

5:38that the Chinese are likely to watch for

5:41the trade negotiation between US and

5:43Japan and uh if Japan succeeds this

5:48could be a template for other countries

5:50to follow uh but economists and

5:52observers are saying that this is a

5:54pivotal moment in history and especially

5:57as both cont countries contribute to a

6:00large amount of global economy

6:02accounting for 40% of the global economy

6:05Thanks Tan Sui there reporting live from

6:07Beijing Let's head to Washington DC

6:09where Kate Fisher is standing by Kate we

6:12heard from Suhi there uh China's

6:14response imposing those tariffs on

6:18Washington Mr Trump seems to believe

6:21that China might be prepared to cut a

6:24deal In that earlier we heard a sound

6:26bite from the US president in which he

6:28said many countries are getting in line

6:31to make deals with the United

6:37States Yeah that's right He is keen to

6:40stress that you know the likes of Japan

6:43South Korea Vietnam all trying to cut an

6:46individual deal with him and his team

6:49But so far the big one China is

6:52remaining resolute and of course he is

6:54desperate for the Chinese to come and

6:57make a deal and that's why he's talking

6:59about it But so far uh they are not

7:02budging He was speaking to uh Republican

7:05members of Congress last night here in

7:08Washington and trying to say to them

7:10look don't panic I've got this This is

7:13why people voted for me I can do this Uh

7:16I'm going to make deals with these

7:17individual countries Uh you know stop

7:20trying to interfere because there have

7:22been some Republican members of Congress

7:25who've joined up with Democrats to try

7:28uh to introduce bipartisan legislation

7:30to rest trade policy control back from

7:34the White House into Congress uh but

7:36Donald Trump standing firm and saying

7:39that these countries are coming to him

7:41for tailormade deals but crucially the

7:44big ones China being the biggest and the

7:46European Union are not yet coming uh to

7:49try to make a deal they are retaliating

7:53uh Mr Trump uh in that same fundraising

7:58event he mentioned saying I know and I

8:00quote him what the hell I'm doing was

8:02stressing that he is he is on top of

8:05matters but suggestions reports coming

8:07out that Mr Trump might have had he

8:09listened to a senior adviser in the

8:11white house imposed even higher tariffs

8:14than he has in fact

8:19done Yeah And I think this sort of shows

8:22that there has been um some big

8:25discussions within his team There is a

8:28real trade talk Peter Navaro I think is

8:31the man that you are alluding to there

8:33who was trying to push for 25% baseline

8:37tariffs Of course Donald Trump announced

8:3910% baseline tariffs uh across the globe

8:42Uh Peter Navaro pushing for that higher

8:44amount And I think uh the slightly uh

8:47less hawkish trade advisers were hoping

8:49for more of these tailormade negoti to

8:52to kind of use these tariffs as a way of

8:54opening negotiations Peter Navaro

8:56pushing for that harder one Uh Donald

8:59Trump of course that appeals to him

9:01because he has held long held this

9:03belief for decades that uh that tariffs

9:06are the way to make America great again

9:09and that they needed to be introduced to

9:11reorder uh the global economy in the

9:15US's favor So it appears that he has

9:17listened to an extent to Peter Navaro uh

9:19but not gone quite that far And it's

9:22interesting that this is also the trade

9:24adviser that's having this very public

9:26feud with Elon Musk another of Donald

9:28Trump's closest allies Uh this very

9:31public social media feud where Elon Musk

9:34called Peter Navaro a because of

9:36course these tariffs are hurting his

9:39businesses and he does not agree with

9:41how far Peter Navaro wants to push these

9:43tariffs So um I think it's a

9:45representation of the fact that there is

9:47some degree of uh you know negotiations

9:50within the Trump team themselves but the

9:53fact is that Donald Trump believes in

9:55these tariffs and is listening at least

9:58partially to some of these hawkish

10:00members of his team on trade policy Well

10:02things like Kate Fisher they're

10:03reporting our to us from Washington

#Youtube

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newstfionline · 2 months ago

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Monday, March 31, 2025

Trump and Tariffs Enter the Scene Only Days Into Canada’s Election Campaign (NYT) On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election campaign had brought him to the bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, over which $300 million worth of auto parts cross daily. He unveiled a series of promises of programs for workers and auto-related industries that would be rolled out if President Trump imposed tariffs on products from the Canadian auto industry. Among them was a proposed fund of 2 billion Canadian dollars to reshape the industry for a future without the U.S. market. The stakes are high. Cars and auto parts are the country’s second-biggest export by value and an employer, directly and indirectly, of about 500,000 people, accounting for 10 percent of manufacturing gross domestic product. But what Mr. Carney, nor anyone else in the Canadian government, knew at that time was that a few hours later the program would no longer be something for an emergency situation. Mr. Trump, without first informing Canada, announced that he was imposing 25 percent tariffs effective April 2 on all imports of cars and auto parts, with no exemption for Canada.

Trump says military force not off the table for Greenland after Danish FM scolds his administration (AP) The Danish foreign minister on Saturday scolded the Trump administration for its “tone” in criticizing Denmark and Greenland, saying his country is already investing more into Arctic security and remains open to more cooperation with the U.S. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made the remarks in a video posted to social media after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the strategic island. “Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course we are open to criticism,” Rasmussen said speaking in English. “But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.” In Saturday’s interview, Trump allowed that “I think there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force.” “This is world peace, this is international security,” he said, but added: “I don’t take anything off the table.” Trump also said “I don’t care” when asked in the NBC interview what message it would send to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is trying to solidify his hold on Ukrainian territory three years after his invasion.

Mexico bans junk food sales in schools in its latest salvo against child obesity (AP) A government-sponsored junk food ban in schools across Mexico took effect on Saturday, officials said, as the country tries to tackle one of the world’s worst obesity and diabetes epidemics. The health guidelines, first published last fall, take a direct shot at salty and sweet processed products that have become a staple for generations of Mexican schoolchildren, such as sugary fruit drinks, packaged chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts. Announcing that the ban had become law, Mexico’s Education Ministry posted on X: “Farewell, junk food!” It encouraged parents to support the government’s crusade by cooking healthy meals for their kids. “One of the core principles of the new Mexican school system is healthy living,” said Mario Delgado, the public health secretary.

Martinique’s water woes drive anger at French rule (Reuters) In Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean, tourists flock to crystalline waterfalls nestling in the tropical rainforests. But the water that comes out of Christelle Marie-Sainte’s tap at home runs yellow. “I don’t drink the tap water,” she said, outside a supermarket where she was buying locally-bottled Lafort water. A relatively low-cost brand, Lafort is double the price of an equivalent product in parts of Paris. Anger at Martinique’s prices and poor services erupted in months of protests and unrest late last year that saw dozens of businesses targeted and burned. The protests have largely given way to a movement that has won concessions from Paris, including a promise last week of government-backed legislation to tackle grocery prices, which official data shows are on average 40% higher than on the mainland. More than 80% of the food on Martinique is imported, mostly from France. Around half the households are “water poor” under U.N. guidelines, spending more than 3% of income on water bills, according to a 2017 report by France’s sustainable development body. Tap water costs on average 28% more per cubic metre than in mainland France, government data shows.

Heathrow Is a Wake-Up Call for Utilities (Bloomberg) The electrical grid is the world’s biggest machine, and it’s remarkable that it rarely breaks down. When it does, it can have spectacular impacts, as the shutdown of London’s Heathrow airport last week clearly showed. One electrical transformer exploded, and the airport went dark. The backdrop to Heathrow’s charred transformer is the aging of electrical grids in Western countries. In the US, for example, a government report published last year found that more than 70% of grid equipment is over 25 years old. Upgrading grids for 21st century demands in one go would require trillions of dollars of investments. Turns out that not upgrading is expensive too. The transformer that shut down Heathrow was worth a few million dollars; one estimate puts the shutdown’s damage to the airline industry at more than $70 million. After hundreds of thousands of passengers were stranded, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed that it will never happen again. Utilities around the world are listening.

Pope’s willingness to show his frailty provides an example to young and old alike (AP) Pope Francis’ frailty was on full view as he left Rome’s Gemelli hospital last Sunday after five weeks battling pneumonia that nearly killed him. He could barely lift his arms to bless the crowd. His eyes were sunken, face bloated. And he visibly gasped for breath as he was wheeled back inside from the balcony. Throughout history, the powerful have concealed their weaknesses. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, the most photographed figure of his era, took pains to hide his lame arm. Franklin Delano Roosevelt concealed the use of a wheelchair. More recently, former President Biden shook off concerns about his cognitive abilities. By contrast, Francis, a spiritual and not political leader, has never been shy about showing his weakness. For many, his willingness to be seen in all his infirmity serves as an example to young and old alike that fragility is part of the human condition—and should be embraced.

2 people killed and dozens wounded in Russian attack on Kharkiv (AP) Russian drones hit a military hospital, shopping center, apartment blocks and other buildings in Kharkiv late Saturday, killing two people and wounding 35 others, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s General Staff denounced the “deliberate, targeted shelling” of the military hospital. Among the casualties were “servicemen who were undergoing treatment,” it said. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 111 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Sunday. It said 65 of them were intercepted and another 35 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Turkey’s Opposition Is Energized (NYT) Turkey’s largest opposition party is organizing rallies, urging boycotts of pro-government businesses and standing by its presidential candidate—even if he will have to campaign from jail. At universities, students have formed councils to direct protests and spread the word, sharing tips for dealing with the riot police and tear gas. Their efforts—part of the largest wave of political protest in Turkey in more than a decade—were catalyzed by the government’s March 19 arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top political rival. They have been met with equally vast measures by Mr. Erdogan’s government to quash them. But instead of cowing opposition supporters, the crackdown seems to be energizing them. “Everybody in the forums and meetings says this is not only about Imamoglu,” said Irem Tacyildiz, 24, an economics student at Middle East Technical University in the capital, Ankara, who has participated in protests. “The fire is already lit.” But it remains unclear to what extent the nascent protest movement can sustain its momentum and succeed in persuading or forcing the government to change course.

Myanmar Earthquake Toll Surpasses 1,600 Dead Amid Search for Survivors (NYT) The official death toll of the earthquake that shattered central Myanmar surpassed 1,600 people, the country’s military leaders said on Saturday, as desperate rescue workers raced to find survivors and began grappling with a monumental disaster in a nation already racked by civil war. The powerful earthquake struck on Friday near Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, and volunteer emergency workers there combed through the ruins of apartments, monasteries and mosques in search of anyone left alive. Stepping over downed power lines and buckled roads, crews toiled as the repressive military authorities kept a watchful eye. The death toll is expected to rise steeply, although Myanmar’s military junta, which overthrew an elected government in 2021, has sought to restrict what information leaves the country. Preliminary modeling by the U.S. Geological Survey suggested the number of deaths could be more than 10,000. The earthquake has raised questions about whether Myanmar’s military rulers can manage to stay in power, having already lost ground to rebels amid a bloody civil war that has left nearly 20 million of the country’s roughly 54 million people without enough food or shelter even before the quake, according to U.N. officials.

‘Eid of sadness’: Palestinians in Gaza mark Muslim holiday with dwindling food and no end to war (AP) Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had little to celebrate on Sunday as they began marking a normally festive Muslim holiday with rapidly dwindling food supplies and no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday killed at least 19 people, mostly women and children, health officials said. Many held prayers outside demolished mosques on the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. It’s supposed to be a joyous occasion, when families gather for feasts and purchase new clothes for children—but most of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians are just trying to survive. “It’s the Eid of sadness,” Adel al-Shaer said after attending outdoor prayers in the central town of Deir al-Balah. “We lost our loved ones, our children, our lives, and our futures. We lost our students, our schools, and our institutions. We lost everything.”

Do you eat a meal in 20 minutes or less? It might be time to slow down (AP) Experts tend to focus on the kinds of foods you can eat to improve your health. But the speed at which you devour your dinner matters just as much. “It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to communicate to the brain via a whole host of hormonal signals that it’s full,” said Leslie Heinberg, at the Center for Behavioral Health at the Cleveland Clinic. “So when people eat rapidly, they can miss these signals and it’s very easy to eat beyond the point of fullness.” Some previous studies have suggested that people who eat quickly have the highest risk of obesity, while the slowest eaters were the least likely to be obese. (Inhaling your food also risks annoying your slower-paced dining companions or the person who took the time to cook your meal.)

#headlines #news

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myweddingsandevents · 11 months ago

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Global rush for farmland could trigger world war, documentary argues

BY SAUL ELBEIN - 06/14/24 5:30 AM ET

House Republicans want a funnelUnmute

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A global network of powerful entities, fueled in part by Wall Street, is buying up land and water around the world.

This global land rush has led to wrecked wells and lost farms from Arizona to Zambia — and it risks sowing the seeds for future global conflict, according to “The Grab,” a new documentary out today from Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of “Blackfish.”

The film follows a seven-year investigation by producer and journalist Nathan Halverson of The Center for Investigative Reporting as he peels back the layers of a deceptively simple question: Why did a state-backed Chinese corporation buy America’s biggest pork producer in 2013?

“The Grab” hits U.S. markets at a fraught time for food policy: Congress remains deadlocked over the farm bill, and critics on both left and right are raising concerns over the impact of corporate consolidation on U.S. agriculture as farms grow ever bigger and more specialized.

Republicans in the House and Senate have proposed freezing food aid at current funding levels to direct tens of billions of dollars in additional subsidies to high-income farmers of rice, cotton and peanuts — crops of which significant percentages are exported to the wider world.

“The Grab” digs into some of the forces driving the consolidation and food exports — and their potential consequences.

When countries like China import food, Halverson notes in the film, they’re often doing so “as a proxy for water,” which the world’s most populous nation is running short of amid population movements and climate change.

The combination of those potential shortages and a rising — and increasingly carnivorous — middle class in China and elsewhere have combined to create a global push to buy up fertile land in places where it is still plentiful.

One critical focus of this push is Africa. Halverson interviewed Brig Siachitema, an activist in the Zambian town of Serenje, where he says foreign investors have been buying up the ancestral land of villagers and kicking them off it.

“What we are seeing is really a new scramble for Africa,” Siachitema says in the interview. “The only difference is, before they were scrambling for minerals. This time around, they are scrambling for land.”

That includes the United States. In 2015, Halverson broke the story that Saudi-owned alfalfa farms were sucking down the groundwater of Arizona to grow feed for cattle — something the kingdom grew itself until it depleted its own groundwater.

For residents of La Paz County, Ariz., for example, that lost groundwater left wells nonfunctional. Landowner Wayne Wade first noticed a problem when the water level in his well went below his pump “and the pump burned up and melted the casing,” Wade tells Halverson in “The Grab.”

“Everybody knows the problem, but no one knows how to correct it,” Wade adds. “You just take and take and take, and pretty soon there isn’t anything to take.”

“And I think that’s something that sort of every Zambian villager in Serenje will feel — similarly to every Trump-voting farmer in Arizona,” she added.

In part, “The Grab” argues that power is being exercised over individual landowners by a convoluted and opaque network of sovereign wealth funds, national governments and Wall Street.

When Halverson tried to uncover the identities of the white farmers kicking the Zambians off their land, he found “a Russian doll of LLCs within LLCs that could be owned by anyone,” he says in the film. He found the story is often similarly murky in the U.S.

Late in the movie, he presents La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin, a staunch critic of the Saudi alfalfa farm, with evidence that the Arizona State Retirement System — her own pension fund — is invested in the project that is draining the aquifer beneath the county.

In the U.S., Halverson says in the film, “it’s a fight against the same corporations that are taking food globally.” Rather than fighting to protect U.S. land and food from other multinational corporations, “the governments are working for the corporations.”

But the power involved in the land rush scales up to the geopolitical level as well, driven ultimately by the titanic shifts happening within China — a country once so poor that “in 1980, [it] was a country of basically forced vegetarians,” Halverson told The Hill.

Over the back half of the 20th century, he noted, China “did something absolutely amazing”: It pulled 400 million people out of poverty, such that its middle class is larger than the entire U.S. population.

“That’s a huge win for the world — but the unintended consequence is they’re eating diets more like Western diets. Which means more meat,” he said. As part of his reporting, he came across a WikiLeaks cable from an executive at Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, following a tour of China.

“He said straight up: If [all countries] ate as much meat as America, the world would have run out of water in the year 2000,” Halverson said of the cable’s contents.

Now, he said, the government of China — like that of India, or Brazil, or Saudi Arabia — “wants to make sure their people have enough. And if you add climate change on top of that, then what you’re talking about is, increased droughts, increased flooding, more variability in an increasingly tighter global food system.”

That goal leads to a paradox, “The Grab” shows. As experts interviewed in the film emphasize, there are enough calories worldwide to feed a growing global population, even with climate change, and even in 2050. But they say the race to lock down resources, and governments’ panic over the unrest caused by spiking food prices, risks scaling up to a war between great powers.

“I’ll tell you, as a practical matter,” former CIA analyst Robert Mitchell tells Halverson in the film, “while the policymakers are debating, whoever needs water and has guns will go get it.”

Water is a hidden factor in a wide array of geopolitical conflicts. In the Jordan Valley in the Israel-occupied West Bank, for instance, human rights groups have documented that the majority of water goes to a network of Israeli settlements, as Palestinian farms go dry. In the ongoing conflict in Gaza, meanwhile, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights has accused Israel of using access to water “as a weapon of war.”

Water also may have played a significant role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the “breadbasket of Europe” — which came after a decade of calls by Russian officials for major food-producing countries wield more power in markets. Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years pushed for a global grain cartel modeled on OPEC.

“Food that has become the second oil — and much more powerful than oil,” the head of Russian meat company Miratorg tells Halverson. In the future, food “will give political strength to Russia, much more than weapons,” he said.

“The Grab” charts how in the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the government in Kyiv dammed the principal canal supplying 85 percent of the region’s water — forcing Russia to spend billions of dollars in shipping in water to the peninsula’s cities and slashing the amount of irrigated land in the region by as much as 90 percent.

Halverson stopped short of saying that Crimean water was the cause of the invasion — although he noted that one of the first things Russian troops did after the invasion was blow the dam and reopen the canal.

“But we’re pushing back on the idea that this was just Putin puffing up his chest,” he told The Hill. “The only way [Russia was] going to turn that water back on was by going into that part of Ukraine.”

So as Russian troops massed on the border of Ukraine in 2022, “while a lot of people were naysaying the invasion, we were watching it very closely, because we were tracking it through that resource grab,” he said.

The subsequent war in Ukraine has killed half a million people and released a vast plume of planet-heating carbon dioxide — and it could be just the beginning of a new era of open warfare over access to farmland and water, Cowperthwaite contends. She told The Hill that the war in Eastern Europe pushed a potential conflict from the film that was still at a level of “brinksmanship” — but that could, from a geopolitical perspective, be even worse.

In Northeast Africa, she noted, Egypt and Ethiopia are at odds over the latter’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which could potentially block the Blue Nile, the tributary that supplies 85 percent of the river’s flow.

Negotiations to guarantee Egyptians’ supplies in the case of a drought — which would force Ethiopia to open the dam, and let its own water out, to supply its neighbor — have repeatedly broken down.

As part of the reporting by the filmmakers that ended up cut, Cowperthwaite told The Hill, they captured “the head folks in Egypt on a hot mic saying, ‘Well, you know, we may have to take apart that [dam] — we may have to go to war.’ And Ethiopia says, ‘Well, we haven’t lost a war yet.’”TAGS

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dehydratedonionsupplierinind · 1 year ago

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Apart from that here you will also get various ranges of dry vegetables that comes to you at a most affordable cost which both suits your budget as well as fills all your needs as well.

Well, here you will get a series of dehydrated vegetables like ginger flakes, tomato flakes, carrot flakes, beet flakes, potato flakes to name a few. So based on your requirements you can search from the website by exploring from the list of products given there.

In this case if you have anything to ask then you can directly interact with our team who will guide you in step-by-step manner to buy any dehydrated vegetables based on your requirements. All these has helped us emerge as one of the leading suppliers and manufacturer of all kinds of dehydrated vegetables that comes to you at a much cheaper price compare to competition.

So, visit our official website and browse through our various ranges of dehydrated products and place your order online based on your overall requirements that perfectly suits your budget as well a meet all your expectations and requirements.

#onion supplier #dehydrated onion supplier in india #dehydrated onion exporter #dehydrated vegetables #dehydrated product #dry vegetables

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luckytreeapricotzine · 1 year ago

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The Growing Demand for Raw Peanuts in the UK: An Overview

Did you know that peanuts are the 13th most vital food crop on a global scale? This humble legume holds extraordinary global significance. From agricultural fields to dinner tables, peanuts are known for their adaptability.

When it comes to the agricultural landscape of Europe, one distinctive trend stands out: the rapid ascension of the United Kingdom's peanut market. It has become evident that the UK has emerged as the fastest-growing market within the European region. This rise shows shifting consumer preferences, culinary trends, and the evolving significance of peanuts in the European market.

In this blog, we will learn more about the boost in the UK's peanut market with respect to the region's culinary and economic landscape.

Examining Peanut Industry Growth Across the UK

Beyond their cracking shells lies a nut with paramount economic importance. Starting off with the import trends, the United Kingdom imported a staggering 137,000 tonnes of raw peanuts in 2022. The country holds a steadfast position as the third-largest importer of groundnuts in Europe.

Over the period from 2018 to 2022, the UK witnessed a 5.6% increase in value and a 1.4% rise in quantity. The groundnut market is primed for bright prospects, with anticipated annual volume growth of approximately 1.5%.

The overall consumption of groundnuts in the United Kingdom is projected to reach approximately 127,000 tonnes. The country is also one of the biggest end markets as they only re-export around 10,000 tonnes of groundnut products. Unlike other countries, the country's focus remains on fulfilling domestic demand and utilising groundnuts within its market, contributing to its distinct position in the regional groundnut landscape.

Celebrating Peanuts for Health and Flavor

Peanuts have mostly found their place as go-to snacks in both salted and unsalted variations. Peanuts, ranked as the 4th most crucial source of edible oil, also play a pivotal role in nutrition, offering remarkable health benefits. Rich in vitamin B3, peanuts contribute to memory enhancement.

Peanuts also stand out as an excellent protein source, perfectly aligning with the flexitarian or vegetarian approach, offering a nutritious and versatile alternative to meat. As a substantial quarter of British consumers are identifying as vegans or vegetarians, peanuts have firmly established their position in the dietary landscape.

Creating a Responsible Peanut Industry

In an era marked by environmental consciousness, the peanut industry acknowledges the imperative to adopt sustainable practices.

Groundnut importers in the UK are increasingly attuned to the environmental impact of their supply chains. Importers are encouraged to engage with suppliers who follow fair labour practices, ensuring the welfare of workers involved in the groundnut production process.

As consumer interest in the origins of their food intensifies, consumers are seeking traceability to ensure that the peanuts align with ethical and sustainable principles.

Wrapping Up

Elevate your culinary experience with the richness of peanuts in classic British dishes. Take a moment and appreciate the crunch it brings to your palate.

Agrocrops, one of the largest peanut exporters, proudly dominates the UK market with 55 years of excellence. Explore the variety of top-notch peanuts they offer today!

#Raw peanut #peanut exporters

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kidlit-queen-competition · 2 years ago

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Train fact: the longest* train ever

like all things to do with railways, you can get pretty granular and pedantic with this one, so this is likely to also be the longest post ever. Sorry, but actual facts (and pretty pictures) under the cut!

The longest passenger train in regular service is Australia's 'Ghan, a luxury tourist train that runs between Adelaide and Darwin, and averages 774 m/2,539ft in length. that's twice as long as the Empire State building is tall.

(id in alt)

The reason I say "in regular service" is because the longest passenger train EVER was run by the Rhaetian Railway in Switzerland, to celebrate 175 years of Swiss railways, and that was more than twice that long at 1,910m/6266.4ft. Almost an entire Kentucky Derby worth of train! It had to go incredibly slowly, maxing out at 35km/h, to avoid overloading the electric systems of the railway and local power grids.

youtube

[Video desc: a youtube video from CBS news of the recordbreaking passenger train. The train is made up of several red electric trains coupled together, and moves through alpine landscapes of mountainds and coniferous forest. It is so long that it is visible only in coils, like a snake. Some shots show the train leaving one tunnel while entering another, or driving under a viaduct while the tail end crosses it, and several shots show people watching and taking photographs.]

But, the thing with passenger trains is that they have a lot of rules and regulations applied to them that freight doesn't have to follow. So freight trains get HYUGE.

The average American freight train (I consider the USA to be freight trains' natural habitat because there is a whole bunch of wide open space for for them to crawl around) is 5400 feet long, and the standard in Europe is around 3000ft. That's a 10-20 minute walk at average adult walking speed, just to go from end to end. You know when you stop at a level crossing, and a train goes by, and it seems like it's going by forever? That was probably one of these.

But the average frieght train is peanuts to mining trains. Trains came from the mines, and they still dominate there. The biggest trains in the world are consists of ore and coal, run by tiny crews from extraction point to export. This has always been true.

For example, the Datong–Qinhuangdao railway in China runs coal trains daily that are 2.614 km/8576 ft long. That's more than 1.5 miles, or three times as long as the burj khalifa is tall. And that's the standard for that line.

(id in alt)

But that doesn't break any records.

The longest production train, running regularly, is the Sishen–Saldanha railway line's maganese/iron ore train. These trains are four kilometers long. 4,000 meters, almost half the height of the highest peak on earth, in wagons full of metals. Too long to be seen in a single photograph- the one below was stitched together from four separate pictures, taken from the air:

(id in alt)

and that's still not the record!

The record for longest frieght train is held by BHP, an Australian mining company. It was made for the record, but the capacity is still there. This train ran on june 21st 2011, and was 682 wagons long, over seven kilometers. Almost twice the length of the Sishen–Saldanha's, and a quarter the height of Olympus mons. If you stood this train on its end, it would be taller than Mt Denali. If you started at the front of the lead locomotive, and ran as fast as you physically could, you wouldn't reach the last wagon for an hour.

There are entire branch lines shorter than this train.

Unfortunately, there are no good photos, because nobody in space had time for railfanning that day, but there are plenty of pictures of other BHP trains!

(id in alt)

#mod note #bhp #trains #Sishen–Saldanha railway line #Datong–Qinhuangdao railway #the ghan #Rhaetian Railway #irl trains #train facts!

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allthebrazilianpolitics · 3 years ago

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Brazil consolidates as China's main supplier of agriculture produce

A new agreement to facilitate exports from the Brazilian agribusiness sector to China has been described by market experts in Sao Paulo as crucial to inaugurating the “biggest era of market openness in the last ten years” between the two countries.

Agronomist Helen Jacintho said that with the new agreement, China is opening up its market for products such as soybean meal (a long standing resquest from Brazil), concentrated soy protein, corn, peanuts, and citrus pulp.

“Excellent news, which consolidate our position as a trustworthy global food producer,” wrote Jacintho in Forbes magazine.

According to Ricardo Arioli, president of the National Commission for Cereals, Fibers, and Oilseeds from CNA (Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil), the agreement contemplates products of great interest to Brazil in terms of output and export capacity, plus givng priority to other second-line produce, such as corn, sorghum, and sesame.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #china #chinese politics #economy #farming #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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dhanrajenterprise · 1 year ago

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#groundnut inshell exporter from india #groundnut inshell supplier #grountnut inshell #groundnut inshell exporter to china #peanut kernel exporter #indian peanut kernel with red shelled #peanut exporter in india #biggest peanut exporter #groundnut exporter from india #groundnut exporter in india #shelled peanuts exporter #peanut without shell bold 50/60 #indian origin raw shelled peanuts 40/50 #china peanut inshell exporter #bold java peanut exporter #peanut supplier in gujarat

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arinzeture · 2 years ago

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Facts About Senegal That makes It Special🇸🇳🇸🇳

1. Senegal is a country in West Africa known for it's vibrant culture with over 20 ethnic groups.

2. The capital of Senegal is Dakar, which is the political and economic capital of Senegal and holds over 30 percent of Senegal's total population.

3. Senegal has a Pink Lake.The lake contains high concentrations of salt and bacteria that can only survive under a particular condition and gives off a pink colour when absorbing sunlight, the uniqueness of the Pink Lake has attracted a lot of Tourists to the country.

4. Senegal boasts of beautiful colonial architecture, secluded beaches blessed with world famous surf breaks,and wildlife.

5. Senegal's biggest export are peanuts and fish.

6. In 2026, Senegal will be the first African country to host the Olympics.

7. One of Africa's most famous dish jollof rice originated from the Wolof tribe of Senegal during the 14th-16th century.

8. The Senegalese flag has green,yellow and red vertical stripes with a central green star. These are Pan-African colours with green(along with the stars)representing hope and the country's major religion(Islam),yellow representing the riches and wealth obtained through labour and red representing the struggle for Independence, Life and Socialism.

Guys let's get our YouTube channel (YT: Historical Africa) to 70k subscribers. Kindly click on the link to subscribe. 🙏 https://youtube.com/c/HistoricalAfrica

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more-than-a-princess · 2 years ago

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Does Sonia have any favorite flavors when it comes to sweets and treats?

Unprompted headcanon asks - Accepting!

I hope I don't sound like a broken record (especially if you've followed this blog for awhile), but I'll start here and give further explanations: Sonia's favorite sweet is chocolate. Chocolate is an ingredient, a snack, a dessert, and a way of life in Novoselic. Wine and chocolate are some of the country's biggest exports, and in Dangan.ronpa canon, they are said to have the best chocolate in the world (Sonia often carries a square or two in her purse. For emergencies. It's excellent therapy!). A life without chocolate, for most Novosonians, is not a life worth living. They do not believe in cutting it out of a diet (unless you're allergic or something).

That said, Sonia was raised to eat both traditionally and seasonally. Novoselic is bordered by France, Italy, (the right half of) Switzerland, and Germany, so much of the country's national cuisine comes from there. Things like berries in the spring and summer, apples in the fall and winter (apple strudel is a favorite), cream and cheese-based desserts, nut flavors like almonds and hazelnuts (she loves her mont blancs!) and of course, the likes of cakes, cookies, and ice cream/gelato are all very popular. Chocolate fondue is another popular dessert, often served at home, in restaurants, and in fondue cafes throughout the country.

With Japanese immigrants moving into Novoselic right around the end of World War II, they brought traditional flavors with them, so it's not uncommon to see the likes of green tea, red bean, black sesame, cherry blossom, etc. fused with more European style fare.

What there's considerably less of, or at least less of that they don't make it as Sonia's favorite flavors, would be the likes of citrus and tropical fruit flavors: lemon is less of a sweet dessert and more for cooking, and she didn't grow up with a lot of more warm-weather types of sweets/desserts (ice cream aside).

The better question to ask are the sweets and flavors Sonia doesn't like: most coffee things that don't have enough sweetness to balance out the bitterness, sour desserts (lemons and limes, any sort of sour candy like Sour Patch Kids, Airheads, etc), plum-flavored anything (she hates plums. Hates. Them.), and whatever Americans keep passing off as chocolate.

aka. Chocolate that tastes more like straight sugar than actual chocolate. In Novoselic, no matter who you are, you tend to buy the best chocolate you can afford and you savor the experience enjoying it. So the likes of cheap chocolate where it's more sugar than anything else? Absolutely disgusting to Sonia. American hot chocolate is equally gross, but she's very unimpressed by the likes of Hershey's, M&Ms/Mars, Nestle, Swiss Miss, etc. She'll politely accept such things but she will not enjoy eating them.

However, she will make an exception for one specific American sweet: anything with peanut butter, especially peanut butter cups. She's sure the Americans are onto something absolutely delicious with that. It goes wonderfully with chocolate-hazelnut spread!

#more-than-a-princess answered #more-than-a-princess headcanons #orderbourne #(Thank you for the ask!)#(My girl just really likes sweets and desserts okay)#(Just stay away from anything too sour or bitter. Or plums. Or most cheap American candy)#(Unless you want to cause chaos and disappointment for her)

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adhishupadhyaya · 3 years ago

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India to be Defense Export king?

India has started their journey towards becoming a 5 trillion economy by 2025. In these 6 to 7 years India has really never looked back in doing developments to build and become superpower ahead of China and America. India to be Defense Export king

The momentum is there and it is the make in India thing which has given all the boost. Lets speak about the defense exports which were peanuts in the past but now if you look India really has an upper hand. India aims to take the defense exports to 5 billion US dollars by 2025 and I think this will be much likely achievable. India’s defense exports have increased from 1521 crore in 2016 to 8500 crore in 2020. This proves that India has a huge potential to become the biggest exported of defense goods to different countries around the world. India to be Defense Export king

Recently you must have seen the news that India has cracked the deal for Brahmos missile to Philippines The supersonic missile has been developed jointly with Russia, with several versions planned in the future including a lighter longer-range system that can be launched from aircraft and submarines. India to be Defense Export king

These missiles have been promoted to various neighborhood countries like UAE. This deal with Philippines costed a whooping 374.9 million dollars which is huge thing for India and hopefully this will be the start where India will be at the top in few years time. We have trusted India and will trust India these exports will continue to fill India pockets and give a remarkable boost to the economy. #Make in India. India to be Defense Export king yes it will be.

For more such interesting blogs please visit adhishupadhyaya.com

#makeinindia #madeinindia #narendramodi #rajnathsingh #future

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antoine-roquentin · 4 years ago

Link

There is mounting worry in Ankara that the incoming Joe Biden administration will be less indulgent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bellicosity, which has seen Turkey mount three separate incursions against the Syrian Kurds since 2016, send troops and Syrian mercenaries to Libya and Azerbaijan, and lock horns with Greece in Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean waters. The biggest concern is that, unlike President Donald Trump, Biden will not shield Turkey from sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missiles and for Turkish state lender Halkbank’s paramount role in facilitating Iran’s multibillion-dollar illicit oil for gold trade.

“The calculation is that making nice with Israel will win them favor with the Biden team,” said a Western official speaking not for attribution. “It’s like Lucy and the football; it works each time,” he said, referring to a recurring theme in the world-famous cartoon strip “Peanuts.”...

In a further climb down, Ankara has now reached out to Saudi Arabia. Erdogan spoke to Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Nov. 21 ahead of a G20 summit chaired by Saudi Arabia. Turkish officials quoted by Middle East Eye said Erdogan sought his help to end an unofficial boycott of Turkish goods that is beginning to take a toll. Turkey’s exports to the kingdom fell 15% in September compared with the same period last year, the third straight month of decline, Bloomberg reported.

Relations between the two countries took a nosedive following the gruesome Oct. 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey led a noisy campaign to expose Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s alleged role in the affair. Last week a Turkish court added six new defendants to the 20 Saudis who are being tried in absentia — including two close aides of the prince — for their alleged participation in killing and then dismembering Khashoggi.

Erdogan had spurned Salman's entreaties to bury the story in the days following Khashoggi’s death. The prince's global image has been sullied beyond repair, with the United Nations and the CIA pointing to his complicity. Yet he remains stronger than ever with many Saudis rallying behind their prince in the face of what they see as a global conspiracy.

Turkey’s goal was to prevent the prince’s accession to the throne, reckons Ali Shihabi, a New York-based expert on the Middle East and the co-author of “The Saudi Kingdom: Between the Jihadi Hammer and the Iranian Anvil.”

“What the Khashoggi affair exposed beyond all was Erdogan’s lack of understanding of how the Saudi succession works,” Shihabi told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. Moreover, the notion that any wedge could be driven between the king and his son was never realistic.

While the Saudis are open to bringing relations to a “level of cordiality,” Shihabi contended, the steady drip of incriminating evidence against the crown prince through the international media “left a very bad taste.”

"I don’t see that mistrust of Erdogan disappearing any time soon. Not before Erdogan moderates his regional fantasies,” Shihabi predicted.

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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676

Themed surveys are the shit y’all. There should definitely be more of these.

General

Where is your country? My country is in Asia – specifically in Southeast Asia, which I recently learned a lot of people outside Asia aren’t aware of. We’re situated just right below China and we neighbor Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia. How big is your country? It’s moderately large, but when you consider how many we are, we are an extremely small country. What is the population of your country? 109 million. I’m not sure if this is still updated, but we’re around the 12th most populated country in the world. Compare that with how we’re only the 77th in terms of size. How would you describe the landscape? We are an archipelago, which means our country is essentially a collection of thousands of little islands – 7,107 in total. Side note: this means it’s always been extremely hard to make an attempt to be ‘united’ as a nation, due to the fact that we are literally separated from one another. But besides that, yeah we’re made up of a lot of islands which means going from one province to another typically requires you to travel via plane, boat, or ferry. Aside from the tiny islands that we have, our country has three main islands, of which the small ones are a part of – Luzon (which is where Manila is and where I live), Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is also part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which means we have a number of active volcanoes and that we are prone to hurricanes – and we do get them, badly, every year. We also have a number of mountain ranges consisting mostly of tropical rainforests; these ranges, while beautiful, make traveling from province to province quite a challenge. Which part of your country do most people live in? Oh Manila, without a doubt. Most people, especially from the provinces, want to move to Manila because it’s the economic hub and everyone has an ideal image of it bearing opportunity for them. Unfortunately it is never what it seems and Manila is instead filled with the urban poor, some homeless and some living in shanties or illegal settlements. A lot also live in the cities surrounding Manila in a region we call Metro Manila (or, officially, the National Capital Region) to have closer access to Manila, and also because these cities have proven to give them a better life as well.

Tell me about the main industries there. The main economy is agriculture, but since then we’ve been making a shift to manufacturing and the service industries. While the shift looks good on paper, it has since meant that our farmers have been neglected and they remain extremely poor despite the effort they put into their work. Our biggest exports are sugar, coconuts, rice, bananas I think?, pineapples, and mangoes. Tourism is also an important industry and unfortunately we’ve been hit hard by the coronavirus. Nevertheless, significant tourist spots include Boracay, Puerto Galera, Palawan, Siargao, Baler, Vigan, La Union, and Baguio. Lastly – while it’s not an ‘industry’ per se, millions upon millions of Filipinos also try their luck abroad as OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) for better opportunity and higher pay. As a result, their remittances to the country is one of the biggest things that contribute to our economy every year, because these OFWs are usually the breadwinners and thus send money to their families, which obviously end up pouring into the national economy. What agricultural products are produced by your country? I’ve already mentioned them, but we’re essentially powerhouses in producing rice, sugar, coconuts, corn, rubber, several fruits such as pineapples and bananas, and a type of material called abaca.

Food and drink

What traditional dishes are served in your country? Which is your favorite? What’s the recipe? We have many, considering PH has a very rich native culture. A lot of our dishes have been inspired by Spanish and Chinese culture, such as lechon (whole roasted pig) and afritada (meat and veggies in tomato sauce) for Spanish cuisine; and siopao (a bread-like dumpling), siomai (our version of Chinese dumplings), and pancit (noodles) for Chinese cuisine. But besides those, we also have come up with our own such as dinuguan (pork blood stew), sisig (chopped pig’s cheek skin, ears, and liver), and sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth). My personal favorite is kare-kare , which is oxtail and vegetables in peanut sauce. I dunno how to cook it but both my grandmothers have the best recipes.

What drinks is your country famous for? We’re not particularly known for our drinks as much as for our food, but we do have sago’t gulaman and taho. Fruit shakes are also widely popular, and so is coconut juice. We also produce several variants of coffee, such as barako and arabica.

What alcoholic drinks are produced in your country?Again, not really internationally renowned for drinks but Filipinos LOVE their beer. Popular favorites include San Miguel Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, and Red Horse. Tuba and lambanog are notable local alcoholic drinks but tbh they’re so native and mostly consumed in the province that as a city girl, I don’t even know what they’re made of, and I mostly read of them in books lmao.

Are there any stories behind traditional foods? Not really. But essentially, Filipinos have historically lived in the wild, with some provinces more remote than others; and a lot of people are generally poor. That means it’s in our blood to have to make do with what we have, which is why a lot of our dishes are composed of things that may be conceived as weird by others, such as duck embryo, chicken intestines, or pig’s cheeks. We’re not ‘uncultured’ or ‘disgusting,’ we’re only from a different culture with very different origins than that of the West.

Political

What is the political system in your country? I just know we live in a democracy, but the official system name for our government is apparently a unitary presidential constitutional republic; thanks, Wikipedia.

Who is in power at the moment? Unfortunately we currently have a garbage of a President, and an internationally notorious one at that – Rodrigo Duterte.

How is your country dealing with the current financial crisis? I honestly don’t know how to answer this. The Philippines has never been one of the top dogs when it comes to global economy, and as far as I know we’ve always played it safe when it comes to this, so we don’t really get seriously hit when financial crises happen.

What can you say about the leaders of your country? Miserable. Most of our senators did not deserve a seat, but there they are. As it stands, we have a TV host, a boxer (Manny Pacquiao, no less), a former police chief, and an actor in the Senate. A number of personalities in the entertainment industry have also found careers in politics. This means a lot of the things that are urgent and need lots of rational decision-making are always handled poorly and haphazardly. A lot of politicians are known to be corrupt, stealing millions of money and spending more than they earn – but they always get away with it, the ones who are supposed to be the watchdogs of corruption are also their allies. The genuinely good politicians are always overpowered, silenced, arrested, killed, ostracized – and lose elections.

The elections system is just as sad. Most, if not all, candidates, appeal to emotion and literally exploit the poor by using them as talent in their commercials to show the other poor people watching TV that they are on their side – and because the poor don’t have access to education and don’t know any better, they end up voting for them, even though these candidates don’t actually give a single fuck about the poor. Many spend hundreds upon millions for TV and radio ads for 30-second spots. Election violence, vote buying, and ghost voting are widespread.

Cities

How would you describe the capital city and any other main cities? Manila is a sad shell of what it used to be. Look up photos of Manila in the 50s and 60s, and you’d see it looks no different than the streets of Los Angeles or New York. Today it’s neglected, overpopulated, congested, and resided by people who were once filled with hopes and dreams about Manila. There’s a side of Manila that is beautiful and pretty wealthy – the part along Manila Bay – but this side is only riddled with Chinese businessmen, most of whom treat Filipinos like shit. Quezon City, Makati, and Ortigas are the economic and financial hubs surrounding Manila and for the most part these cities are known as the hip places and it’s where the youth and adults hang out. It’s where the malls, bars, restaurants are, and these cities are the ones shrouded in Western influence; but because people do flock to these places, the cost of living is extremely high from parking fees to condominiums. The major city in Visayas is Cebu and in Mindanao, Davao; but given that I’ve only been to Cebu once, and Davao never, I can’t say much about them. What special attractions can be found in each city? Manila has Rizal Park and tons of museums but the city itself isn’t a favorite among foreign tourists; these people usually go to our beaches like Boracay and Palawan, or the cities that offer a more local scenery, like Baler, Bohol, and Ilocos.

Sports and games

What is the most popular sport in your country? How do you play it? Basketball, FOR SURE. Every barangay or municipality has their own basketball court – literally. Filipinos are just basically obsessed with it whether it’s the NBA, the PBA, or basketball even at the collegiate level. Are there any sports or games unique to your country? Very few. We’ve mostly gotten eaten up by Western culture and patronize sports such as basketball, boxing, and volleyball. The only traditional sport I know of is arnis, which even I know very little about except for the fact that it’s a martial art that involves sticks. When is the best time to watch them? I’ve never watched a game of arnis. And I generally don’t watch sports, so I’m not the best person to answer this lmao. How well does your country do in international competitions? I don’t follow a lot but we’ve made our mark here and there. Obviously Manny Pacquiao is a boxing legend, but we also have Hidilyn Diaz for weightlifting, Efren Reyes for billiards, Paeng Nepomuceno for bowling, Carlos Yulo for gymnastics, and Lydia de Vega for track. Are there any sports that foreign visitors practice in your country? I don’t think so. Is football (soccer) popular in your country? If so, which are the best teams? Not really.

Weather

Is the weather very different in different parts of the country? No. It’s mainly tropical, with extremely humid summers and it’s moderately cold by the end of the year. Only cities with high elevation, like Baguio and Sagada, get EXTREMELY cold during the Ber months, which makes them popular vacation spots during Christmas haha. Sometimes the temperature will dip down to 10 or 9 degrees Celsius, which is a huge deal here.

Can you describe the seasons? We don’t have the conventional ‘seasons’ y’all have. We have two main ones – warm and wet. Wet is just the season with typhoons, warm is either summer, or a period with no typhoons. Pretty straightforward.

What is the best time to visit? It depends on where you’re going. Going to Baguio, for example, is the best during the colder months (October to December) to really maximize the colder weather. Going to the beaches is ideal in April to June.

Language

What languages are spoken in your country? Nearly 200, but official languages are Filipino and English. What language do you usually hear on the streets? Filipino. But it depends where I am, too. In wealthier cities, I’ll hear English more. How many people speak English in your country? A good number; I’d say 60-70% can understand or speak basic English. Those who can speak it conversationally comprise a smaller amount. Some still live in pretty remote areas and thus have no concept of English.

Customs

Is there a particular national costume? Can you describe it? Yeah, for the woman we have baro’t saya, and for the men we have the barong Tagalog. Just Google them lmao.

Are there any special local dances? What are they like? Several ones, like tinikling (a dance where you have your feet play with bamboo poles routinely beat together or tapped by two other people) and cariñosa, a romantic dance. But due to the Western influence here, people are more prone to get into hip-hop or contemporary dance more. Are the people generally friendly? Without a doubt, yes. Filipinos are extremely known for their hospitality. If a tourist were to knock on our door right now we would definitely let him in, make him dinner, and my mom would probably ask me to give my bedroom to him for the night. What are some special customs or traditions in your country?

We have the mano po, which is when younger individuals would greet their seniors/superiors by taking the older person’s right hand with their right hand, and placing the back of the older person’s right hand it onto their forehead. It’s a significant sign of respect and to avoid doing it is extremely impolite.

We also have the concept of community spirit, or bayanihan. Basically, if one is in need, everyone in the same community steps up and helps. The quinetessential example for this is when one has to move their hut to a new location (Filipinos before were nomadic), all the neighbors swoop in to help lift the hut and carry it all the way to the new place.

Courtship was an important step in traditional society, and the man would do a harana, or serenade the woman while playing the guitar, in front of her house while she looks out her window.

Noche Buena is the traditional midnight meal (kinda like our version of Thanksgiving) that we have by the end of Christmas Eve to usher in Christmas Day

Po and opo are filler words used to denote respect, and is always affixed to the end of sentences when speaking with elders. It’s not required, but of course you’ll look like a disrespectful asshole if you don’t use it with older people.

History

What can you tell me about the history of your country?

Pre-colonial Philippines was rich and vibrant, and one that would be considered pretty fucking progressive even today – transgender people were welcome, women were of a higher social status than men, among others.

This all changed when the Spaniards came and tl;dr ruined everything for us. They wiped out our folk religions, literature, songs, legends, epics, and everything good that we had going. Friars abused us physically, sexually, and economically; everyone was forced to convert to Catholicism; early newspapers were shut down; forced labor was imposed; anyone who disagreed with their rule was killed.

After 333 years we were sold to the US for $20 million. Americans gave us the modern education system, a modern government system, a richer literature, religious freedom, and of course, the English language. But they also brought us colonial mentality and materialism, which persists to this day. Americans were also racist towards us and the only reason we have international schools today is because these were actually started up by American soldiers so that their’ kids would have schools that didn’t have native Filipinos in them.

By WWII, Japan destroyed the Philippines, leaving us to start from scratch. They bombed Manila, raped our women and young girls and made them sex slaves, brutally murdered everybody else who weren’t women and young girls, stole everything from us, and established a puppet government in Manila to bully us further. The only reason they gave us independence was because US had dropped atomic bombs onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they had no choice but to surrender.

Three colonizers has left us pretty traumatized, something we’ve never truly recovered from to this day. Our political system is shaky, our sense of identity is lost, we’ve never been truly ‘united’ as a nation, and the Catholic penetration has made us a widely conservative, pro-life, anti-LGBT country.

Did your country gain independence from another country? If so, when and how did this happen? See above.

#survey #surveys #bruh i feel like i just wrote a research paper #I TOOK 3 HOURS ANSWERING THIS #but it was very fun

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