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Sudan: Trump’s cuts in USAid aid hit the hungry in Karthum, capital bombed and in the midst of famine


The harsh consequences of withdrawal are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war intersects with a staggering humanitarian catastrophe: Clashes between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces have already claimed more than 150,000 lives in two years. Almost 13 million people have been displaced and half of Sudan's 44 million people are on the brink of famine. On Trump's cuts to Usaid read here

 

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Dubai chocolate triggers pistachio shortage as TikToker goes crazy


Global fruit prices rise by a third as cream-filled viral bars are offered. The bars, a combination of pistachio cream, grated shortbread and milk chocolate, were a modest success after their launch in 2021 by Emirati boutique chocolate maker FIX, until a TikTok video turned them into a global phenomenon. The clip, released in December 2023, amassed more than 120 million views and fuelled a worldwide craze for pistachio chocolate, spawning a series of imitations. Because of the craze, prices of pistachio nuts have increased from $7.65 a pound a year ago to about $10.30 a pound now.

 

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Geopolitics and hybrid warfare now present in the world of food: Russian hackers use a wine tasting to launch a cyber attack on Europe


'Wine-tasting event' and 'Diplomatic dinner' were the subjects of e-mails sent by a leading European foreign ministry The cybercriminal group called APT29, but also known by the name Cozy Bear, which is linked to the Moscow government, is behind a new wave of phishing attacksagainst European diplomats, which once again aims to exploit their cultural inclination towards wine consumption in order to spread a new backdoor malware. The new attack is similar in modalities to last year's WineLoader campaign. It uses emails to invite recipients to wine tastings, in an attempt to induce them to click on malicious links, as revealed by Check Point Research researchers in a recently published report. However, this time there are two new elements: the target audience and the malware lurking in the back-end of the campaign... This campaign seems to focus on European diplomatic entities, including embassies of non-European countries located in Europe. The Red Prawn

 

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US: US buyers flock to Chinese apps for fear of duties


After the panic in supermarkets with consumers looking for items produced in Europe it is now the turn of Chinese non-food products to be found on e-commerce giants like Temu, Shein or Alibaba. "Together with DHgate, known as 'Dunhuang' in Chinese and nicknamed 'Little Yellow App' by some shoppers, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Taobao and Shein were among the most downloaded shopping apps in the US App Store.... Last week, DHgate released an open letter to merchants on its 'Tariff Escort Plan', pledging to provide traffic, subsidies, logistics and other support to merchants to help them reduce cost pressure and stabilise sales. The platform claims to now host more than 2.6 million registered suppliers producing an average of more than 30 million products online per year. It covers around 200 countries and regions, has more than 10 warehouses abroad and provides over 100 logistics routes. DHgate was founded in 2004 by Diane Wang Shutong, co-founder of joyo.com, one of China's first e-commerce platforms that was later acquired by Amazon.com Inc. Nicknamed the 'female Jack Ma', Wang previously worked for Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. before founding her own company. Of course everyone fears inflation and recession.

AlibabaAmazonE-CommerceInflationNon-food
 

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Carrefour boycotted in Tunisia and Morocco for its economic ties with Israel


Since the resumption of shelling by the Israeli army on Gaza on 18 March, the French retail giant has faced a boycott campaign, which has been widely followed in Tunisia and Morocco. In particular, the group is accused of its partnership with Israeli company Electra Consumer Products and its subsidiary Yenot Bitan, whose supermarkets are located in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Carrefour had to exit Oman and Jordan

Carrefour
 

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US-China trade war: US tripling of duties on small parcels deals further blow to Shein and Temu


E-commerce platforms were already facing the closure of the duty-free loophole for parcels from China. Analysts warn that ending de minimis exemptions will not only disrupt the business models of these low-cost retail platforms and other Chinese e-commerce operators, but will also slow down delivery times. Brittain Ladd, a US supply chain consultant who previously worked at Amazon and Dell, said that ports will be overloaded with parcels. She added that the Commerce Department has implemented a new software system to handle duty payments, but that there will still be delays because 'the volume of parcels to be processed is huge'. And Chinese sellers on e-commerce platforms are raising prices by up to 70 per cent for US consumers. On exemptions, customs, de minimis read: 'Where the world is going' temu, with questionable methods, conquering Europe

AmazonE-CommerceNon-food