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China exports skyrocket over 12% in March as trade war drives businesses to frontload shipments

Qingdao Port
© CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesQingdao Port
China's exports jumped more than expected in March as businesses frontloaded outbound shipments to avoid prohibitive U.S. tariffs, while imports extended declines as sluggish domestic demand persisted.

Exports jumped 12.4% last month in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, according to data released by customs authority on Monday, significantly outpacing Reuters' poll estimates of a 4.4% growth and marking the biggest jump since October last year.

Imports fell 4.3% in March from a year earlier, compared with economists' expectations of a 2% decline.

In the first two months of the year, China's exports had slowed more than expected, growing just 2.3% year on year, marking the slowest rise since April 2024. Imports clocked a steeper-than-expected decline of 8.4% from a year ago, their sharpest fall since mid-2023.

Eye 2

Shooter kills two at Florida State University, used sheriff deputy mom's weapon in killing: police

Phoenix Ikner
© Phoenix Ikner/InstagramPhoenix Ikner, 20, opened fire at Florida State University in Tallahassee on Thursday, police said
Two people were killed, and six others were injured, in a shooting at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday in Tallahassee, authorities said.

The shooting began at around 11:50 a.m. During a press conference later that afternoon, authorities identified the suspected shooter as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a student at the school.

Ikner was taken to an area hospital after being "neutralized" by authorities. Police also said his mother is a sheriff's deputy with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, and said Ikner used his mother's weapon in the killing.

The suspect's mother, Jessica Ikner, has been an officer for over 18 years and authorities said she has done a "tremendous job" in her position.

Car Black

Odometers Rolled Forward

Odometer
© ericpetersautos.com
Allegations have surfaced about Tesla designing its odometers to read faster - to accrue mileage faster - in order (per the allegations) to get the cars past warranty faster. So that Tesla does not have to pay for warranty covered repairs.

A class-action lawsuit - Hinton v. Tesla - has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The chief plaintiff, Nyree Hinton, claims that rather than registering actual miles driven, Tesla vehicles register odometer readings based on "predictive algorithms" tied to energy consumption. Hinton claims the odometer in his 2020 Model Y read "at least 15 percent fast," according to an MSNB news story about the lawsuit. He claims that his daily drive of
X Post on Mileage
© ericpetersautos.com
about 20 miles often accrued 70 miles of driving on the odometer, resulting in his Model Y accruing more than 50,000 miles sooner than it otherwise would have and being out-of-warranty sooner than it would have, leaving him to foot a $10,000 bill for repairs that would have been covered under warranty.

If the allegations are true, it's pretty bad - for Tesla. The possibility of not just a wholesale recall/buyback scenario looms but also catastrophic reputational damage that may not be fixable. Tesla is already on the outs with its core buyer demographic for political reasons; it may soon be on the outs for more traditional reasons. No one likes being gypped. The word is apt because this probably isn't a case of something inadvertent but rather, deliberate. As in purposeful fraud.

And in more than just one way.

Cross

Record number of adult baptisms in France shows surge among youth

notre dame reopening ceremony
© Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Notre-Dame de Paris
France's Catholic Church will welcome more than 10,384 adult catechumens at Easter this year, marking a 45% increase from 2024 figures, according to data released by the French Bishops' Conference.

The French report reveals the highest numbers ever recorded since the survey began over 20 years ago. Even more striking is the demographic shift — young adults now constitute the largest segment of converts.

"The great challenge that presents itself to us now is to make disciples," wrote Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon in his assessment of the findings.

"We must not simply imagine some procedures for 'after' baptism, but our entire parish communities must become aware of their collective mission."

Comment: One wonders about the correlation between baptism rates dramatically going up and the rise of populist political groups in Europe.


NPC

UK Police being forced to undergo training to accept their 'white privilege'

police UK
One of Britain's largest police forces is mandating "equity training" for officers, focusing on "white privilege", "micro-aggressions" and the distinction between "non-racist versus anti-racist."

The Telegraph reports that Thames Valley Police is putting officers through the training despite a tribunal last year finding that the force positively discriminated against white officers.

As we highlighted, the force appointed an Asian detective inspector without considering white officers for promotions.

Comment: Equality and diversity training is so 2020.


Bulb

Power slowly being restored to Puerto Rico after sudden islandwide blackout

peurto rico blackout power outage
© Jose Jimenez / Getty ImagesCars drive along the Ramon Baldorioty de Castro highway affected by a massive blackout across all of Puerto Rico April 16, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
LUMA Energy said the blackout was triggered by a protection system failure and vegetation on a transmission line.

Approximately 47% of customers in Puerto Rico have had their power restored after an islandwide outage Wednesday that affected 1.4 million.

Power company LUMA said more than 689,000 customers have had power as of 8:45 a.m. Thursday.

The blackout that hit around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday also left more than 300,000 people without water, snarled traffic and caused businesses to close, all during Holy Week.

It was the second sweeping power outage to rock the island in less than four months, with the last one unfolding on New Year's Eve.

Cross

UK Catholics set to exceed Anglicans for first time since Reformation due to younger churchgoers

henry VIII eighth king england anglican church
© Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesCirca 1540, A portrait of King Henry VIII (1491 - 1547), an engraving by T A Dean from a painting by Holbein.
Catholics are on course to outnumber Anglicans in Britain, with the growth spearheaded by younger churchgoers who outnumber their Anglican brethren by more than two to one, a report by the Bible Society reveals.

A "quiet revival" in UK Catholicism appears to be occurring, especially among those age groups referred to as Generation Z and younger Millennials, reports The Times of London, while noting that Catholics are rapidly catching up with Anglican numbers across all age groups.

It means that Catholicism could soon overtake Anglicanism to become the country's largest denomination of worshippers for the first time since the English Reformation initiated by King Henry VIII in 1527. Anglicans could even slip into third place behind Pentecostals among churchgoers aged under 35 years of age.

"Our report does not challenge the well-established fact that fewer people in England and Wales are choosing to identify as Christian," Dr Rhiannon McAleer, director of research at the Bible Society, said. "However, it is the first large-scale study to concentrate not on self-declared Christian identity but on actual Christian practice. By this measurement, the Church is in an exciting period of growth and change."

Comment: In times of uncertainty, people gravitate towards institutions with clear behavioral expectations, a moral exoskeleton so to speak, whether for good or ill. Even the craziest LGBTQ++GJXF groups have codes they enforce. Fortunately this impulse seems to be weighted towards long-standing, traditional institutions.

Those lost, confused and searching could do worse than the Christian faith.


Bizarro Earth

While the Anthonys get to go home to their ankle-braceleted son, the Metcalf family is mourning the loss of their beloved son and brother.

Austin Metcalf karmelo anthony
Austin Metcalf was stabbed to death by Karmelo Anthony at a Frisco, Texas high school track meet, April 2, 2025
There once was a time when bringing a deadly weapon to a school-sanctioned event would get a kid and maybe even his parents charged and convicted for failing to prevent or stop such recklessness.

The parents of 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, who brought a knife to a multi-school track meet in Frisco, Texas, and allegedly used it to fatally stab another student, however, aren't on the hook for his actions. Far from it. Instead, Anthony's family successfully fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars off of his alleged crime and the claim that "the narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful."

Texas law prohibits knives with blades more than 5 1/2 inches long at high school or UIL events. It's unclear exactly what type of knife Anthony allegedly used to stab Austin Metcalf. The blade was reportedly long enough and strong enough to fatally pierce the heart of a track athlete with one movement, which suggests it could have exceeded the prohibited length.

Gavel

JK Rowling celebrates after UK Supreme Court rules that trans women are not legally women

Marion Calder and Susan Smith
© APMarion Calder and Susan Smith from For Women Scotland, celebrate outside the Supreme Court to challenge gender recognition laws, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
"Harry Potter" author JK Rowling cheered the United Kingdom's supreme court ruling that found transgender women are not legally women — posting pictures of champagne glasses in celebration and praising the women who championed the case.

"Think I might be having a cigar later," Rowling, 59, wrote on X Wednesday, hours after the ruling was handed down.

"It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they've protected the rights of women and girls across the UK," Rowling wrote. "I'm so proud to know you."

The ruling found that the terms "woman" and "sex" included in the nation's 2010 Equality Act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex" — and not to the social definition of gender, which can be adopted by the individual.

It was brought to the court by a group of Scottish activists after the requirements for the country's parliament were adjusted to require 50% of its representation be women — but allowed transgender women with Gender Recognition Certificates legally calling them women to qualify.

Comment: JK Rowling has been trying for years to restore sanity in the UK. This must be a very satisfying victory for her and for all women in the UK.

Previously:


NPC

Police chief says he wants to 'discriminate against white job applicants' so he can hire more ethnic minority officers

uk police
A police chief has said he wants to discriminate against white job applicants and hire more ethnic minority officers.

Chief Constable John Robins of West Yorkshire Police has consistently pushed to reform laws across the country in order to boost the number of ethnic minorities in his force.

Mr Robins, who has been an officer for West Yorkshire Police since 1990, was appointed as its chief in 2019 and has overseen the dramatic new changes to its recruitment policy in recent years.

The force, which is currently putting applications from white Brits on hold, said it is accepting them 'all year round' from 'under-represented groups' such as black and Asian candidates.

One whistleblower who revealed the change in the hiring process said candidates from different backgrounds were being split into tiers, according to The Telegraph.