Le Journal
Insolite & Divers
Chinese-owned Temu catches up with Amazon in global cross-border e-commerce
In a seismic shift for the global retail landscape, Temu, the budget shopping platform owned by PDD Holdings, has caught up with Amazon.com in cross-border market share globally. The platform, which launched in 2022, saw its share surge from less than 1 per cent then to 24 per cent last year, on par with American giant Amazon, according to a survey published by International Post Corporation (IPC), an association of…
Insolite & Divers
Japan’s Tsushima Maru sinking: will recovery of artefacts end silence on WWII tragedy?
More than 80 years after her mother narrowly survived the sinking of the steamer Tsushima Maru, Tsugiko Taira says the wreck still carries profound meaning and believes artefacts recovered from the seabed could give new voice to one of the worst civilian maritime tragedies of World War II. Her comments come as the Japanese government weighs whether to retrieve items from the deep-sea site for possible public…
Insolite & Divers
Eleuthera and Harbour Island – the Bahamas Taylor Swift slips away to
If you’re looking for a lengthy debate about the merits of authentic cuisine, ask a Bahamian about their grandmother’s recipe for guava duff. The national dessert of the Bahamas, the duff is a steamed, doughy dumpling furrowed with fresh mashed guava (canned fruit is not acceptable, we are told), served piping hot and swimming in rum-spiked butter sauce. After listening to our waitress wax lyrical, we had to order…
Insolite & Divers
Italy uncovers 2,000-year-old basilica designed by Vitruvius, the ‘father of architecture’
Italian officials on Monday hailed the discovery of a more than 2,000-year-old public building attributed to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect and engineer known as the “father of architecture”. “It is a sensational finding … something that our grandchildren will be talking about,” Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli told a press conference. Vitruvius, who lived in the 1st century BC, is celebrated for…
Chinese automotive suppliers speed up localisation to increase global market share
Insolite & Divers
Chinese automotive suppliers speed up localisation to increase global market share
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) supply chain vendors are adding another dimension to their go-global drive: designing batteries and lidar sensors for models by international marques that cater to overseas drivers. As leading players like BYD secure mega deals with major carmakers like Ford, Chinese automotive suppliers that once trailed their global peers are now stamping their authority on the EV sector. Chinese vendors were enjoying an overwhelming advantage over their international rivals in...
Insolite & Divers
Syrian deal unravels as sides clash and Isis prisoners escape
A day after a sweeping deal was announced between the Syrian government and the country’s main Kurdish-led force, the agreement appeared to be falling apart on Monday. After new outbreaks of clashes Monday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces issued a statement calling for “all of our youth” to “join the ranks of the resistance”. “Just as our comrades in 2014 forged a historic resistance in Kobani and turned it…
Insolite & Divers
In Chinese astrology, why are benefactors and networking so important?
Are your loved ones in luck this year? See our predictions for all the zodiac signs in the Year of the Horse. In my years of interviewing fortune-tellers and feng shui masters for Lunar New Year content, the term “benefactor” – 貴人 or guiren in Chinese – comes up time and again. While I feel that is the best translation for what literally means a “precious” or “noble” person, it seems there is a lack of appreciation…
China-EU compromise over EVs bodes well for trade and overall ties
Insolite & Divers
China-EU compromise over EVs bodes well for trade and overall ties
China and the European Union have reached a trade compromise over Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). Whether that will translate into broader bargaining over other contentious industrial sectors, such as rare earths and semiconductors, remains to be seen. But after years of dispute, the rare agreement over such a significant industry for China may help to ease tensions and normalise trade. China and the EU are two of the world’s largest trading partners with many common economic and trade...
Insolite & Divers
Hong Kong must tackle the ‘demoralising impact’ of unaffordable housing
Owning a home has long been an elusive dream for many young people in Hong Kong, but an alarming new study shows how much harder it now is to climb the housing ladder. Authorities should carefully review the research and redouble efforts to reverse the trend before it does more damage to society. The University of Hong Kong Business School study found the proportion of subsidised homeowners aged 30 to 39 had nearly…
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Allies tepid on joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ as countries study invitations
Key allies reacted coolly on Monday to US President Donald Trump’s invite to pay US$1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” for resolving international conflicts, with analysts likening it to a pay-to-play version of the UN Security Council. The White House has asked various world leaders to sit on the board, chaired by Trump himself, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian premier…
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Insolite & Divers
Poverty rates have plunged, but can we all live like the Swiss by 2100?
In 1900, most people lived without electricity, antibiotics or universal education. Today, life expectancy is decades longer, literacy and access to medicine are near universal in many regions, and hundreds of millions have entered the global middle class. This progress was built through science, industry, public health, education and the hard work of ordinary people who believed tomorrow could be better. The…
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Spain seeks answers to deadly high-speed train collision
The death toll from a high-speed train collision in southern Spain rose to 40 on Monday as the government vowed a full investigation into its causes. The crash late on Sunday is Spain’s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela. The latest happened when a train operated by rail company Iryo…