World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

April 1, 2024

Turkey’s main opposition party swept to unexpected victories in local elections. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) secured control of the country’s biggest cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, by defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) party. The results are a blow to Mr Erdogan, who had hoped to use this election to consolidate power and introduce a new constitution, probably designed to give him at least another term.

Israel’s armed forces announced that they had concluded a two-week operation around al-Shifa hospital. Much of the hospital, which was Gaza City’s largest, has been destroyed. Israel claims Hamas was using it as a base. On Sunday tens of thousands of Israelis took part in protests in Jerusalem, calling for the resignation of Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and an early election.

Chinese manufacturing activity grew in March, the first rise in six months. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, published on Monday, was 50.8, compared with 49.1 in February (anything over 50 denotes expansion). Data from other Asian economies, however, was gloomier. In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, factory activity contracted in March amid slowing domestic demand.

Ma Ying-jeou, a former president of Taiwan, began an 11-day visit to China, during which he is widely expected to meet with the country’s president, Xi Jinping. Mr Ma’s party, the Kuomintang, favours closer relations with China’s government. The trip marks his second visit to the mainland: last year, he became the first former leader of Taiwan to travel there.

OpenAI is reportedly planning to open its first Asian office in Japan later this month. According to Bloomberg, the artificial-intelligence start-up will also launch Japanese-language services. Last week reports emerged that OpenAI and Microsoft, its biggest investor, are working to launch a data-centre project that would cost $100bn and host a supercomputer called “Stargate”.

Eight Chinese nationals were found dead along a route used by illegal migrants to enter America. They are believed to have been on a boat that set off from Mexico last week before capsizing. The bodies of seven women and a man were discovered on a beach in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. More than 6m migrants have entered America illegally since 2021.

Donald Trump marked Easter Sunday by lashing out against his legal and political opponents in all-caps on Truth Social, his social-media platform. The former president said “crooked and corrupt prosecutors” were “doing everything possible to interfere with the presidential election”. Joe Biden struck a more temperate tone, vowing to “work for peace, security, and dignity for all people”.

Nepal moves closer to China

Nepal’s foreign policy has long been defined by its relationship with India. The two countries share an open border and a similar culture. But over the past decade, that bond has weakened as Nepal has been wooed by another giant neighbour: China.

Monday marks the end of the latest round of the courtship. Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Nepal’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, completes a week-long visit to China. The trip has included talks on kickstarting the Belt and Road Initiative in the Himalayan country. Nepal signed up to China’s foreign-policy infrastructure programme in 2017, but projects have yet to get started.

Tellingly the trip is Mr Shreshta’s first foreign visit since being appointed in a government reshuffle last month. The destination was no doubt influenced by the new ruling coalition’s leftist parties, which favour China over India. Ties between those two heavyweights are already cold; Nepal could make them even frostier.

The race to replace TikTok

If TikTok is banned in America on national-security grounds, an upstart will be waiting to take advantage. Monday sees the launch of a social-media platform, inspired by a popular meme revealing that men spend improbable amounts of time thinking about the Roman empire. Paying users of HicHoc will be known as senators; those who opt for the ad-funded version will be called plebs. HicHoc’s Rome screen will show a feed of user-generated content, according to its chief executive, Max Imus.

Mr Imus says that he hopes the platform will be a place for serious-minded debate about the Gracchi brothers’ land reforms. But he admits that, in testing, the most-viewed video on the platform was a young woman lip-syncing to the tune of “No Roman No Cry”. HicHoc will not have the field to itself for long. On April 1st next year another classically themed social-media service will launch: look out for Ten Centurion.

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