# NuseReal
Your second place to come to for international news
Curated by Peter Hulm
Breaking news
Israel plans to retake Gaza City, escalating the war with Hamas and fueling worries for hostages (LINK) 8 August 2025
Germany halts military exports to Israel, urges ceasefire in Gaza (LINK) — ground.news: 17 media reports (LINK) 8 August 2025
Trump tariffs: Did Swiss gold refiners fuel the crisis? Their outsize role in gold refining is distorting trade data. (LINK) 8 August 2025
— The Trump administration has counted the billions of dollars of gold that passes through Switzerland every year in its tariff calculation. On the face of it, the Swiss make a fortune from refining gold from Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. More than 2,000 tons of gold are imported annually, much of it from intermediary banks in London, New York and elsewhere, and later reexported. Despite being the world's largest gold refining hub, Switzerland's gold sector is tiny, with just five major refiners employing around 1,500 people.
— The 39% tariff, which took effect on Thursday, hits luxury and consumer goods hardest, with watches, skin care and cosmetics products, precision instruments and chocolate expected to face large price rises in the US. Around 18% of Swiss exports crossed the Atlantic to the U.S. last year. Swiss products will soon be uncompetitive for US consumers versus similar goods produced in the EU or Britain, which clinched a 10% tariff deal.The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has argued that gold should be excluded from Washington's tariff calculation since refiners earn just a small fee for processing the metal. But on Thursday, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the US has imposed tariffs on one-kilo gold bars, citing a letter from US customs authorities.
Top Kremlin aide says agreement reached for Trump-Putin meeting 'in coming days' (LINK) 7 August 2025
Thailand and Cambodia to deploy ceasefire monitors despite deadlock over captured soldiers (LINK) 7 August 2025
Greenpeace sprays UN entrance in Geneva black during plastics conference (LINK) 7 August 2025
— Seven activists climbed onto the roof of the security building. The banners they unfurled read "Big oil pollutes indoors" and "The plastics treaty is not for sale".
Secretary General of the WHO Expert Group on Immunization (SAGE)criticises RFK decision to cancel funding for mRNA vaccines (LINK) 7 August 2025
Tedros says 400 WHO jobs phased out — half in Geneva (LINK) 7 August 2025
EPA cancels $7 billion Biden-era grant program to boost solar energy, including projects for nearly 1 million households in low-income communities (LINK) 7 August 2025
Trump says Intel's CEO with China ties must resign and sends its stock tumbling (LINK) 7 August 2025
— Trump made the post after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, and asked the board whether Tan had divested his interests in these companies to eliminate any conflicts of interest. Cotton specifically called out Tan's recent leadership of Cadence Design Systems in the letter. The tech company admitted in July to selling its products to China’s National University of Defense Technology in violation of U.S. export controls.
White House plans increase in federal law enforcement in DC over crime as Trump threatens to bring in National Guard on Thursday and Friday following an assault on a well-known former Department of Government Efficiency staffer over the weekend (LINK) 7 August 2025
France faces largest wildfire in 7 decades in Southeastern France's Aude department (LINK) 7 August 2025
— Since Tuesday, the fire has burned an area 1.5 times larger than Paris. One person has died, and three are missing. Dry, windy conditions are fueling the wildfire. The French Prime Minister François Bayroucalled it an unprecedented disaster. The blaze began in the village of Ribaute, near the Spanish border. It spread across the rural area of Corbières, which is famous for its mediaeval villages and vineyards. Greece, Italy and Türkiye have suffered from wildfires so far this summer, alongside southern Cyprus and Balkan countries such as Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Bulgaria.
Trump doubles reward to $50 million for arrest of Venezuela's president to face US drug charges (LINK) 7 August 2025
Trump officially signs order allowing crypto in 401(k) plans (LINK) 7 August 2025
Ukrainian drones strike train station in Russia's Volgograd Oblast, governor reports (LINK) 7 August 2025
Catchup: U.S. brokers meeting between UN and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (LINK) 6 August 2025
Switzerland facing 39% US tariff as Swiss president leaves Washington empty-handed (LINK) 6 August 2025
Trump moves to shut down NASA missions that measure carbon dioxide and plant health (LINK) 6 August 2025
Trump targets Asian-made crypto mining rigs with 100% chip tariff (LINK) 6 August 2025
Homeland Security removes age limits for ICE recruits to boost hiring for Trump deportations (LINK) 6 August 2025
— Currently, ICE applicants must be 21 years old and no older than 37 or 40, depending on what position they are applying for. In an interview with Fox & Friends, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said applicants could be as young as 18.
In reversal, Finance Minister Smotrich says Israel must allocate funds for Gaza aid to win the war: plans to budget $875 million for humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilian population (LINK) 6 August 2025
Catchup UN: Around 88% of aid trucks collected in Gaza since mid-May did not reach destinations due to looting or theft (LINK) 5 August 2025
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GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans nearly 500km away: it would "suppress the votes of Black and brown Austinites," Democrat says (LINK) 8 August 2025
— Central Texas' 37th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, will be consumed by four neighboring districts, three of which Republicans now hold. One of those portions stretches into rural Ector County, about 30 km away from the New Mexico border.
Turning geography into opportunity: New priorities for landlocked economies: regional cooperation, digital readiness and targeted reforms (LINK) 7 August 2025
— Awaza, Turkmenistan, hosted a United Nations summit this week focused on the future of landlocked developing countries. Representing 32 nations and more than 570 million people, the conference addressed the persistent barriers these economies face in trade, logistics and investment. Landlocked economies today face transport costs 50% above the global average and wait twice as long for imports. Though home to over 7% of the world's population, these countries still account for just 1.2% of global trade — a figure unchanged for over a decade. Internet use in landlocked developing countries has more than doubled since 2014, with mobile broadband now reaching 86% of the population. The ASYCUDA customs modernization programme, used in 66% of landlocked developing countries, has transformed customs systems by digitizing procedures, reducing clearance times by up to 90% and significantly boosting revenues. In Malawi alone, customs income rose by 42% and over 600 logistics workers — 40% of them women — were trained in the system, creating long-term national capacity.
US is auctioning a seized $325M Russian yacht with 8 state rooms, a helipad, a gym and a spa: first American sale of a seized Russian luxury ship since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine (LINK) 6 August 2025
The Trump Administration is promoting its anti-trans agenda globally at the United Nations (LINK) 5 August 2025
— U.S. delegates have objected to use of the word "gender" in U.N. documents during forums on topics as varied as women’s rights, science and technology, global health, toxic pollution and chemical waste.
Grist: Delegates are meeting in Geneva for a sixth — and potentially final — round of negotiations on a plastics pollution treaty (LINK) 5 August 2025
Almost 2 million Americans are collecting unemployment in highest figures since pandemic times (LINK) 8 August 2025
OpenAI beats Elon Musk's Grok in AI chess tournament (LINK) 8 August 2025
Unseasonal fires trigger above-trend $80 billion catastrophe losses in first half of 2025: unseasonal wildfires in California and large thunderstorms in the US led to the second costliest half-year ever (after the first half of 2011) (LINK) 7 August 2025
New urine test uses AI to diagnosis prostate cancer with 92% accuracy (LINK) 7 August 2025
Scientists spent 25 years studying 'super-agers': they have different personalities, memories and brain structures compared to most adults over the age of 80 (LINK) 7 August 2025
Scientists discover a viral cause of one of the world's most common cancers, skin cancer: beta-HPV hijacks DNA to directly drive cancer growth (LINK) 7 August 2025
The US Air Force wants to buy 2 Musk Cybertrucks for target practice because they may start showing up on the battlefield (LINK) 7 August 2025
— The contract stipulates that the Cybertrucks need only be towable, not functional, and their batteries must be removed.
European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) will return to Geneva, Switzerland, on 27–29 May 2026 (LINK) 6 August 2025
Switzerland not Viet Nam to host UNCTAD16 in Geneva 20-23 October 2025: "not possible to finalize the agreement with Viet Nam within the timeframe required to hold the conference in October 2025" (LINK)
— Geneva is the city where the 1st UN Conference on Trade and Development was held in 1964.
Swiss Pavilion during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan ("Designing Future Society for Our Lives": April 13 to October 13, 2025) includes The Geneva Public Portal to Anticipation: "From Heidi to High-Tech". (LINK)
— A first-of-its-kind interactive exhibition, designed to immerse the public in future scenarios generated by AI using data from the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar.
Updates to Global-Geneva articles
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