EU looks at legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China

The EU is considering legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China to insulate Europe from future hostile acts, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, says.He made his remarks as the European Commission unveiled a €3bn (£2.63bn) strategy to reduce its dependency on China for critical raw materials amid a global scramble caused by Beijing’s “weaponisation” of supplies of everything from chips to rare earths.The ReSourceEU programme will seek to de-risk and diversify the bloc’s supply chains for key commodities with a funding initiative to support 25-30 strategic projects in the sector.It will include new rules to stop scrap aluminium leaving the bloc, recycling of magnets used in car batteries and a new €2bn a year fund backed by the European Investment Bank to support industries diversifying away from cheap Chinese supplies

Historic Smithfield and Billingsgate markets find new home in Docklands

After almost eight centuries at the heart of life in the capital and a period where their future lay in doubt, the historic Smithfield and Billingsgate markets are to get a new home on a former industrial site in east London.The proposal by the City of London Corporation – the governing body that runs both sites as well as the Square Mile financial district – would relocate the markets to Newham’s Royal Docks.The announcement comes just over a year after the corporation voted to permanently close Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market when it pulled the plug on a planned £740m relocation to Dagenham, blaming rising costs.At the time, it said it was no longer planning to build a joint replacement location, a decision that would have spelled the end of centuries of meat and fish trading in the capital. Instead, it had offered financial support to the traders to help them find new premises

Amazon and the tightening grip of capitalism | Letters

Yanis Varoufakis argues that Amazon marks a shift to “technofeudalism”, claiming its ownership of digital infrastructure forces capitalists, governments and users to pay it economic rents (How Amazon turned our capitalist era of free markets into the age of technofeudalism, 27 November). This rests on an idealised view of capitalism. Early capitalism saw similar dynamics: the East India Company, backed by the British state, controlled trade routes, exploited resources and wielded political power, enabling it to charge above-market prices for commodities such as tea and spices.In Capital, Karl Marx noted that English landlords helped establish capitalism by dispossessing peasants and commodifying land. They earned monopoly rents from their exclusive control of this productive resource – a portion of surplus value originally created by exploited labour and first appropriated by industrial capitalists before being transferred to landowners

Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok

Hundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report.Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating 4.5bn views over a month-long period.According to AI Forensics, a Paris-based non-profit, some of these accounts attempt to game TikTok’s algorithm – which decides what content users see – by posting large amounts of content in the hope that it goes viral.One posted up to 70 times a day or at the same time of day, an indication of an automated account, and most of the accounts were launched at the beginning of the year

The Clippers’ chaotic unravelling leaves Chris Paul as its most painful casualty

Pull out your Los Angeles Clippers bingo cards. Anyone have the square marked “owner and star player accused of skirting the salary cap through improper means”? Go ahead and stamp that one. How about “losing 14 of 16 after a hopeful 3-2 start”? Mark it. And yes, you can fill in “other star averaging nearly 27 a night at age 36 – including a 50-piece against the Detroit Pistons, one of the league’s best teams”. The box reading “Clippers fans tearing out their hair at alarming rates and contemplating shameful, fairweather defections” is probably safe to cross off, pending review

Maro Itoje eyes World Cup glory after England dodge big guns in 2027 draw

Maro Itoje has set his sights on Rugby World Cup glory in Australia in 2027 after England were handed a potentially favourable path through the tournament when the draw was made in Sydney on Wednesday.England, who have risen to third in the world rankings after an 11-match winning streak, emerged on the other side of the draw from the reigning world champions, South Africa, the three-times winners New Zealand and France.England are in Pool F with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe at the expanded 24-team event with Italy, Australia, Ireland and Argentina possible opponents in the last 16 and beyond.“Our ambition is to do very well and win this tournament,” Itoje, the England captain, said. “But to do that we know we have to make sure we get our preparation right and the next two years leading to the World Cup is massive