NASHVILLE (AP) – The shooter behind the 2023 Nashville elementary school attack in the United States (US) that killed six people, including three children, had been obsessively planning it for years while hiding mental health issues from family and doctors, a police report released revealed.
The nearly 50-page investigative case summary includes long-sought-after details of The Covenant School shooting and underscores the elaborate lengths the shooter took to research and plan a massacre at the institution without provoking interference from mental health providers.
The prospect of releasing the shooter’s writings sparked a legal battle. Some of the documents have been leaked, and while Wednesday’s report closes the Nashville Police probe into the March 2023 shooting, the fight over what else should be released – concerning that attack and others – is ongoing.
Early in the investigation, police suggested the shooter had written a “manifesto” detailing motives and intentions. Instead, the 28-year-old shooter, Audrey Hale, left behind “a series of notebooks, art composition books, and media files” documenting plans and preparation for the attack, as well as life events and other motivations, police determined. Hale, who once attended Covenant, was killed by police.
Hale wanted to kill at least 40 people, hoping to inspire books, documentaries and movies, have the weapons placed in museums and his bedroom preserved as a memorial, police found. The report acknowledges but dismisses speculation that Hale’s mental health providers could be criminally culpable for not intervening.
File photo shows children from The Covenant School holding hands as they are taken to a reunification site in the United States. PHOTO: AP
The report said Hale’s parents and therapist had been concerned about his mental health for years. Psychological assessments conducted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2019 and 2021 concluded Hale wasn’t suffering from psychosis and recommended outpatient treatment.
“She had enough experience with the mental healthcare system to understand which topics to avoid with her providers and how to manipulate them into believing her documented issues with homicidal and suicidal ideations were well in her past,” it said. Police found that as Hale’s parents and therapists became more concerned, Hale became more manipulative.
At one point Hale planned to kill his mother to prevent discovery, despite a “strong emotional attachment” to her, the report said.
Hale avoided using credit or debit cards on expenses related to the attack, knowing his mother could access the accounts.
Hale also frequently removed attack-related material from his computer and mobile phone so his mother wouldn’t find it, police wrote.
Hale selected The Covenant School for a few reasons, police said. He felt he would not be overpowered by the staff and students there. He figured he would gain notoriety for attacking a school. And, he had happy memories of attending the school.
“Hale often remarked her time at The Covenant was the happiest she was during her childhood education,” police wrote.
AP – The conviction of one of the most powerful figures of the European far right for embezzling European Union (EU) Parliament funds has sent shockwaves around the continent and beyond. But Marine Le Pen’s case is just one example of transparency problems that have plagued the legislature.
From Budapest to Washington, Le Pen’s political allies cried foul over this week’s French court-mandated five-year ban on seeking political office that could block her chances of securing France’s presidency in 2027.
The longtime leader of the National Rally party and former EU lawmaker is one of 24 people convicted in the ruling in Paris for redirecting millions of euros earmarked for EU political work to serve the party’s domestic interests. The party employed staffers who were declared as EU parliamentary assistants but instead had other duties, including Le Pen’s bodyguard.
Transparency advocates said the case underlines broader issues related to lack of oversight of spending at the EU legislature affecting members across the political spectrum.
WHAT EU PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANTS DO AND WHAT RULES APPLY
The EU Parliament’s 720 lawmakers benefit from a pot worth around USD250 million a year to pay their assistants for political work like administration, speech-writing, or studying and drafting legal proposals. Critics have long warned that the fund is ripe for financial and political abuse. Lawmakers have often been probed by the EU anti-fraud office, OLAF.
Some parliamentarians have no assistants. Most have around five or six. At the time Le Pen was implicated, some members had dozens.
Her 29-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella – who could replace her on the French presidential ballot in 2027 – has three assistants. Some carry out parliamentary work in the Belgian and EU capital Brussels or the French city Strasbourg, where the legislature convenes. Others work in a Parliament member’s home country.
Only two rules seem to apply: Family members cannot be hired, and assistants should focus on EU business and not work against the legislature’s interest. But the assembly has no clear system for enforcing the rules.
WHAT LE PEN’S ALLIES SAY
Le Pen and her allies seek to frame her as the martyr of a politically motivated trial. Even her opponents have questioned whether it was right for the Paris court to potentially bar her from running to become the next French president. An appeals trial is expected next year that could uphold the ban, overturn it or reinforce it ahead of the 2027 election. “This is not an isolated case of MEPs misusing their allowances,” campaigner from the EU office of advocacy group Transparency International Nick Aiossa told The Associated Press. “The only exceptional thing about this case is perhaps the sheer scope of the embezzlement scheme and that ultimately there was justice and accountability at the end of the process.”
Aiossa said the convictions handed down to National Rally members and associates – many of whom were also barred from running for office – did not appear to be ‘lawfare’ as Le Pen’s allies allege.
“I think what we see is an independent judiciary ruling on a very extensive, almost decades-long investigation into pretty latent embezzlement,” he said.
HOW THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT POLICES ITSELF
The European Parliament relies on national judiciaries, principally in Belgium, and EU agency OLAF to investigate irregularities. OLAF cannot prosecute, only investigate and issue recommendations for action. In 2023, OLAF issued five recommendations linked to the EU Parliament.
Once the ball passes to member states, prosecution is rare.
Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. PHOTO: AP
WARSAW (AP) – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his centrist political party was the target of a cyberattack, and suggested that it could have been interference from the east ahead of Poland’s presidential election next month.
Tusk announced on the X platform that his Civic Platform party’s computer system was targeted.
“Foreign interference in elections begins. Services point to eastern trace,” Tusk said.
Head of Tusk’s office Jan Grabiec told the Polish state news agency PAP that the cyberattack consisted of an attempt to take control of computers of employees of the Civic Platform office and the election staff over about a dozen hours.
Asked if Tusk was pointing the finger, Grabiec said that would be for Poland’s secret services to comment on.
Poland is weeks away from the first round of a presidential election, scheduled for May 18.
The frontrunner is the Civic Platform candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who like Tusk is a pro-European Union centrist. He has been polling around 35 per cent.
His main contenders include a conservative backed by the Law and Justice party, Karol Nawrocki, who is second in most polls at a bit over 20 per cent, and a co-leader of the far-right Confederation party, Sławomir Mentzen, who has been polling around 20 per cent.
If no candidate wins outright with at least 50 per cent of the vote on May 18, a runoff will be held on June 1.
ATHENS (AP) – At least seven people have died, including two children, after a boat carrying migrants from Turkiye to a nearby Greek island capsized, Greece’s coast guard said yesterday.
A search and rescue operation off the northern coast of the island of Lesbos recovered the bodies. The coast guard said 23 people have been rescued.
Reporting on what appeared to be the same sinking, Turkiye’s state-run media said the incident was attended by the Turkish coast guard after a rubber dinghy sank in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish mainland and Lesbos.
Those rescued were taken to a hospital and the search continued, Anadolu news agency said.
Weather in the area was reported to be good, and it was unclear what had caused the boat to overturn early yesterday morning.
There was no immediate information on the total number of people who had been on the boat, their nationalities, or the type of vessel they had been using.
A sea and land search and rescue operation was continuing, with three coast guard vessels, an air force helicopter and a nearby boat searching for potential further victims.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies.
Many are unseaworthy or set out in bad weather, and fatal accidents have been common.
The Greek government has cracked down with increased patrols at sea, and many smuggling rings have shifted their operations south, using larger boats to transport people from the northern coast of Africa to southern Greece.
File photo of a dinghy transporting refugees and migrants travelling towards Greece’s Lesbos island. PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL (AFP) – South Korean game publisher Krafton released early access to its life simulation game InZOI, hoping its powerful lifelike graphics will unseat the decades-long dominance of The Sims hit franchise.
Krafton, the developer of battle royale PUBG: Battlegrounds, says it offers a fresh take on the concept using striking visuals – with InZOI shooting to the top of wishlists on the online Steam platform.
“What stood out the most when I played InZOI was just how visually stunning it is,” said YouTuber known for playing The Sims Kim Rail, a game whose last instalment debuted nearly a decade ago.
“The game’s character is rendered with such precision that they look almost like a real person,” Kim said. “After decorating interiors, taking a screenshot makes it look like a magazine photo due to the high visual quality”.
The Sims, a spin-off from the popular SimCity franchise, takes players inside individual homes, allowing them to customise everything from furniture to relationships.
Over 25 years, The Sims and its three sequels have sold more than 200 million copies, and Electronic Arts is now planning a multi-player version. But InZOI producer and director Kim Hyung-jun said they offered something new.
“I believe InZOI offers something that The Sims does not, and that users will find a different kind of enjoyment in that,” he said.
ABOVE & BELOW: A view of the city in ‘InZOI’; and the visuals of the characters in the game. PHOTO: STEAMPHOTO: STEAMPHOTO: STEAMPHOTO: STEAMPHOTO: STEAMABOVE & BELOW: Photos show in-game shots from life simulation game ‘InZOI’. PHOTO: STEAMPHOTO: STEAM
InZOI topped the best-selling games chart by revenue on Steam just 40 minutes after their launch last week, while Krafton stocks in Seoul rose six per cent.
InZOI producer Kim, an avid player of The Sims, said it was an “honour” to be compared to the game.
The Sims is a philosophical work that offers diverse interpretations of life,” he said. “At times, it felt like a miniature version of real life, and I was often amazed by how thoughtfully the developers portrayed various aspects”. But Kim told AFP he wanted to focus more on how the “relationships” are portrayed in his game.
“For instance, if a player gets into a fight somewhere, the news spreads, and they may receive criticism or support through social media. We’ve built a system where one event leads to another,” he said.
It also has a unique twist from its home nation, drawing on maps including one from South Korea – and a possible career path that allows players to become a K-pop idol.
“Tapping into the global interest in K-culture, the game features detailed recreations of Korean streetscapes, convenience stores, karaoke rooms, and traditional restaurants, allowing players to explore and engage with uniquely Korean settings,” said Kim Jung-tae, a gaming professor at Dongyang University.
It “lets players experience a wide range of everyday Korean life”, he added.
InZOI uses “Unreal Engine 5” developed by Epic Games, the first for a life simulation title, which supports detailed customisation options for characters, including features such as eye bags and iris size. But the impressive graphics come at a cost.
The recommended systems for InZOI include an Intel i7 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3070 – a significant leap from The Sims 4, which runs on the more modest requirements of an Intel i5 and a GTX 650. Content creators suggest the challenge will be to woo the huge numbers of players of The Sims, who are used to more moderate graphics but also lower computer specs.
“The game’s success is expected to hinge on the stability of its live service and the developers’ ability to consistently deliver new content,” said Kim, the professor.
Krafton said the ambition to challenge a leader like The Sims came from the global success of PUBG, a combat survival game whose mobile version surpassed one billion downloads and recorded 50 million daily active users.
“Even within the company, no one truly expected that success,” InZOI producer Kim Hyung-jun said. “Back then, the idea of creating something like that in Korea was an unusual challenge”. So, despite Krafton having “limited understanding” of the life simulation genre, the company backed the idea, he said, adding that thankfully early release responses were “more enthusiastic ” than they had expected. But, compared to The Sims, Kim accepts his game still has “a long way to go”.
The Sims 4 has been in service for 10 years, while InZOI has only been in development for two. I’d say it’s about 20 per cent complete in comparison,” said Kim.
“I don’t view the comparison negatively. Just as everyone lives a unique life, The Sims and InZOI are separate ‘lives’, each with their value and appeal”.
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syria accused Israel yesterday of mounting a deadly destabilisation campaign after a wave of strikes hit military targets, including an airport, and ground incursions left 13 people dead.
Israel said it responded to fire from gunmen during an operation in southern Syria and warned interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa that he would face severe consequences if its security was threatened.
Israel has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Syrian military assets since rebels toppled long-time strongman Bashar al-Assad in November. It has also carried out ground incursions into southern Syria in a bid to keep the forces of the new government back from the border.
Authorities in the southern province of Daraa said nine civilians were killed and several wounded in Israeli shelling near the city of Nawa.
The provincial government said the bombardment came amid Israel’s deepest ground incursion into southern Syria so far.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead were local gunmen who were killed “while attempting to confront Israeli forces“.
According to the Israeli military, its forces were conducting operations in the Tasil area, near Nawa, “seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure” when “several gunmen fired at our forces”.
They “responded by firing at them and eliminated several armed terrorists from the ground and from the air”, a spokesperson said. There were no Israeli casualties.
“The IDF (military) will not allow the existence of a military threat in Syria and will act against it,” the spokesperson added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in February that southern Syria be completely demilitarised and said his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new government near Israeli territory.
In December, Netanyahu ordered troops to enter the United Nations-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces along the 1974 armistice line on the Golan Heights.
On Wednesday, Israel hit targets across Syria including in the Damascus area. The Syrian foreign ministry said the strikes resulted in the “near-total destruction” of a military airport in the central province of Hama and wounded dozens of civilians and soldiers.
“This unjustified escalation is a deliberate attempt to destabilise Syria and exacerbate the suffering of its people,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz hit back with a warning to Sharaa in which he pointedly referred to the president by the nom de guerre he used as an rebel commander. “I warn Syrian leader Jolani: If you allow hostile forces to enter Syria and threaten Israeli security interests, you will pay a heavy price,” he said.
“The air force’s activity yesterday near the airports in T4, Hama and the Damascus area sends a clear message and serves as a warning for the future,” he added. The Israeli military said its forces “struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian bases of Hama and T4, along with additional remaining military infrastructure sites in the area of Damascus”.
Israel has said it wants to prevent advanced weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers extremists.
File photo shows a woman walking past damaged apartment buildings in Daraya, Syria. PHOTO: AP
AP – Jason Statham cosplays as a construction labourer when A Working Man begins. He’s making sure the rebar is spaced correctly and the concrete is correctly mixed. But we all know where his real strengths are: Beating up people, ferociously.
Soon enough – faster than this one-time springboard diving champion used to hit the water – Statham will be doing what he does best in an action movie made by millionaires that hopes to tap into blue-collar chic.
Statham plays a sort of hero-laying-low in director and co-writer David Ayer’s latest collab – they previously teamed up on The Beekeeper – with the addition of a co-writer who knows a thing or two about lone-wolf underdogs – Sylvester Stallone.
When the 19-year-old daughter of his boss is snatched during a night out with girlfriends in Chicago, they turn to Statham, a former anti-terrorist commando for the United Kingdom’s Royal Marines, which at least explains the British accent.
But he can’t help them – he’s given up that old life. “I’m a different person now,” he says.
It’s not who I am anymore.” Admittedly, he says this shortly after fighting off a gang messing with one of his workers, attacking them with a bucket of nails, an axe and a bag of gravel.
He’s a widower and a single father saving up money to fight – legally this time – for more custody by sleeping in his Ram truck. His in-laws want to limit his visitation, alleging he suffers from PTSD, a very cynical use by the movie-makers of a popcorn flick with a body count north of a hundred. “I hurt, too,” he tells his daughter. A visit to an old military buddy – David Harbour, superb – helps change his mind. “God help them,” said Harbour’s character after the decision is made. He knows what’s in store for anyone getting in the way of Statham’s oddly named Levon Cade (scramble the letters and you get Novel Aced, go figure).
So begins Statham’s version of Taken mixed with a blue-collar version of John Wick. Our construction worker-turned-vigilante is reassuring to the family of the missing teen. “I’m gonna bring her home. I promise,” he vows. We soon plunge into an underworld of Russian mobsters, designer drugs, human trafficking, corrupt cops and a vicious biker gang run by a guy who sits on a throne of motorcycle parts. People are waterboarded, shot, stabbed, smashed with animal skulls, blown up by grenades and burned with hot coffee.
“All of this is for a girl?” asks one incredulous Russian mob boss, who is tied and dangled over his own swimming pool as Statham tortures him while munching on some toast he’s made in his fancy kitchen.
Shall we talk about the rich now? The upper-level mobsters wear cravats, bow ties and hold gold-tipped walking sticks. The drug dealers wear buffoonish designer duds, “do business” in restaurant banquets and all have attache cases with stacks of banded money, like it’s still the ’80s.. The big finale takes place in a tucked-away farm casino with fancy-dressed fat cats.
This is in contrast to Statham, an orange safety vest kind of guy with a soldier’s moral compass. He at one point throws into the air enough dollar bills to buy a Lamborghini. But he’s not doing it the money, even though he needs it. He’s there for the girl. A Working Man fetishises its blue-collar ethic at a time when extremely wealthy Americans have taken key roles in the second Donald Trump administration and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is slicing at government jobs (veterans are increasingly facing the burden). Trump himself donned an orange vest when he cosplayed a garbage man on the campaign trail.
Everyone loves the working class these days.Anyway, we’re not here for a lesson, we’re here for some ultra-violence. A Working Man does it well, especially a struggle in the confined space of a moving van.
The plot gets a little stretched over two hours – including a ludicrous motorcycle chase scene when enough bullets are fired at Statham as were expended in the Battle of Fallujah – but a bright moment is having the snatched teen (a very good Arianna Rivas, someone to watch) step into her own power.
A Working Man is exactly what you expect when you unleash Statham on a noble mission. “You killed your way into this,” he’s told by his buddy. “You’re gonna have to kill your way out of it.” In other words, let Statham work, man. – Mark Kennedy
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show scenes from the movie. PHOTO: APPHOTO: APPHOTO: APPHOTO: APPHOTO: APJason Statham. PHOTO: AP
AP – Sweeping new tariffs announced recently by United States (US) President Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further negotiations to make trade rules fairer.
But responses were measured, highlighting a lack of appetite among key trading partners for an outright trade war with the world’s biggest economy.
Trump said the import taxes, ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent, would do to US trading partners what they have long done to the US. He maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the US.
“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”
Trump’s announcement of a new 20 per cent tariff on the European Union (EU) drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy”.
“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said.
Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said while visiting Uzbekistan, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the US but also was prepared to respond with countermeasures.
President Donald Trump shows an executive order on the reciprocal tariffs at the White House in Washington, DC, United States. PHOTO: AFP & XINHUAA labourer carries a sack of potatoes at a market in Jalandhar, India. PHOTO: AFP & XINHUAA shopper at the meat section in a supermarket in Sydney, Australia. PHOTO: AFP & XINHUA
NOBODY WANTS A TRADE WAR
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the United Kingdom government would react with “cool and calm heads”.
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact,” he said, telling business leaders in London that he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal with Washington.
“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” Starmer said.
Japan, America’s closest ally in Asia, plans to closely analyse the US tariffs and their impact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, while refraining from talk of retaliation. But he said the moves would have a big impact on relations with the US.
Italy’s conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni said the higher tariffs would benefit neither side.
“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the US, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favour of other global players,” Meloni said in a Facebook post.
Brazil, hit with a 10-per-cent tariff, said it was considering appealing to the World Trade Organization. Its congress unanimously passed a bill to allow retaliation for any tariffs on Brazilian goods.
BLOW TO THE WORLD ECONOMY
Financial markets were jolted, with US stock futures down by as much as three per cent yesterday and a 2.8-per-cent drop in Tokyo’s benchmark leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than USD2 a barrel.
“The magnitude of the rollout – both in scale and speed – wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
While the longer-term ramifications could encompass a dismantling of supply chains built up over decades, a more immediate concern is the higher risk of recession.
“The (average) US tariff rate on all imports is now around 22 per cent, from 2.5 per cent in 2024. That rate was last seen around 1910,” Fitch Ratings’ Head of US Economic Research Olu Sonola said in a report.
“This is a game changer, not only for the US economy but for the global economy. Many countries will likely end up in a recession. You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time,” Sonola said.
The burden falls heaviest on Asia-Pacific nations, with the highest tariffs for impoverished, financially precarious countries like Laos at a 48-per-cent tariff, Cambodia at 49 per cent and Myanmar at 44 per cent.
MINIMISE DAMAGE
Asian countries that are among the biggest exporters to the US pledged to act fast to support automakers and other businesses likely to be affected.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told officials to work with business groups to analyse the impact of the new 25 per cent tariff to “minimise damage”, the trade ministry said.
China’s commerce ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. With earlier rounds of tariffs China reacted by imposing higher duties on US exports of farm products, while limiting exports of minerals used for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles.
“China urges the US to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” it said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would wait to see how Trump’s announcement will affect Mexico, which like Canada was spared for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the US, though previously announced 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports took effect yesterday.
“It’s not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, I’m going to impose tariffs on you,” she said on Wednesday morning. “Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.”
Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25 per cent tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The EU, in response to the steel and aluminium tariffs, has imposed taxes on EUR26 billion worth (USD28 billion) of US goods.
NO BASIS IN LOGIC
Some countries took issue with the White House’s calculations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.
“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10 per cent,” said Albanese. The US and Australia have a free trade agreement and the US has a USD2-to-USD1 trade surplus with Australia. “This is not the act of a friend.”
Trump said the US bought USD3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept US beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw US beef was for biosecurity reasons.
A 29-per-cent tariff imposed on the tiny South Pacific outpost of Norfolk Island came as a shock. The Australian territory has a population of around 2,000 people and the economy revolves around tourism.
“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the US,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP yesterday.
XINHUA – China’s manufacturing sector has seen growing innovation capabilities, according to an industrial index released by the China Center for Information Industry Development.
A report by the centre, which is affiliated to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, reveals that the innovation index for the country’s leading manufacturing enterprises had consistently increased, with an annualised average growth rate of 11.6 per cent during the 2013-2023 period.
The manufacturing innovation index comprises five first-tier indicators covering innovation resources, innovation output, innovation collaboration, innovation performance and innovation environment, as well as another 17 sub-indicators that track data such as the proportion of large firms that have set up specialised research and development centres and their number of invention patents.
The report said the impact from Chinese firms’ innovation has been steadily growing, and collaboration in innovation has also experienced rapid growth.
It advised further efforts to promote cooperation among industries, colleges and research institutions, and to optimise the environment for innovation.
China’s industrial production experienced accelerated growth in 2024, driven by the country’s continued efforts to optimise and upgrade its industrial structure. Its manufacturing industry has also maintained the top position globally in terms of scale for 15 consecutive years.
There has been a more upbeat sentiment recently following the release of data early this week, which showed the nation’s manufacturing sector continues to expand in March as business production accelerated amid sustained economic recovery.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in March, up 0.3 percentage points from February. A PMI reading above 50 reflects expansion.
An automated production site at the final assembly workshop of Chang’an Auto Digital Intelligence Factory in China. PHOTO: XINHUA
AP – Tesla sales fell 13 per cent in the first three months of the year, another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying car company is struggling to attract buyers.
The leading electric vehicle (EV) maker has faced a growing backlash from Musk’s embrace of right-wing politics and his role in the Trump administration. Opponents have staged protests at Tesla showrooms in the United States (US) and in Europe, where the sales declines have been steeper.
Tesla’s line-up is ageing, and some consumers may have held off from buying its bestselling Model Y while waiting for an updated version. The Austin, Texas, company also faces fierce competition from other EV makers offering vastly improved models, including those of China’s BYD.
Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 globally in the January to March quarter. The figure was down from sales of 387,000 in the same period a year ago.
The decline came despite deep discounts, zero financing and other incentives and could be a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.Dan Ives of Wedbush said Wall Street financial analysts knew the first quarter was likely bad, but turned out even worse than expected. He called the sales results a “disaster on every metric”.
“The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla…there is no debate,” he said.
Musk has been President Donald Trump’s point man in his effort to cut government spending. As criticism of Musk mounted and Tesla’s sales and stock price slumped, Trump last month held an extraordinary press conference outside the White House in which he praised Tesla, blasted boycotts against the company and bought a Tesla himself while TV cameras rolled.
Tesla investors have complained Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency has diverted his focus from running Tesla. On Tuesday, New York City’s comptroller overseeing pension funds holding Tesla stock called for a lawsuit accusing a distracted Musk of “driving Tesla off a financial cliff”.
Officers from Ottawa Police Service at a Tesla Service and Showroom centre in Canada. PHOTO: AP
