We know you have been eagerly awaiting an update on the ant situation in the Gentleman’s Cove we built in our backyard. You, of course, recall, we fought a losing battle against the ants in early May until we resorted to calling in professional reinforcements who arrived wielding heavy anti-ant artillery. It did not work. When we returned from Kentucky in late May there were more ants than ever marching throughout the structure. We fought them on our own with vinegar and store bought poison like an outmatched ragtag citizens militia against a large tyrannical force.
But we also called in the mercenaries once more and again a man with a dangling cross earring looking very much like Bill Murray’s character in Caddyshack arrived and said this time he really meant business. He sprayed what he claimed was an even more poisonous substance in the Gentleman’s Cove and all around the outside of the building and told us this should really do it. We waited the prescribed time period so that we wouldn’t breathe in the poison ourself and timidly opened the door to the structure. And indeed we saw many dead creatures: flies, spiders and a variety of unidentified insects and even a few ants. But most of the ants marched around uninhibited, quite busy and seemingly uncaring of poison or any other human efforts against them. We waited nearly a week and called the professionals again saying the ants were immune to the company’s tactics. We told them we were sure these were mutant ants and perhaps city, state and federal authorities should be alerted. The company anti-ant colonel who had answered the phone told us to wait another week.
We feel a little like the sheriff in Jaws calling for the closure of the beach or a character in a horror movie warning the man in the hockey mask is not dead. You, too, likely take our warnings lightly. But when the ants come for you and your loved ones remember our canary gentleman’s cove in the coal mine. We don’t warn but herald India’s record solar installations, call attention to war crimes in Darfur and point to the Global South’s tariffs on China. It’s this week’s International Need to Know, named to the Olympic team of international information and data.
Without further ado, here’s what you need to know.
India Installs Record Amount of Solar
Not many people realize it but climate change emissions have been falling in the U.S. and Europe for a while now. That’s good but the real game is in China, India and other countries where emissions continue to grow and where emissions are much higher. Yes, the U.S. historically was the big emitter but we can’t change the past so we need to deal with the present and future and that means helping other countries tread the path Europe and the U.S. are now on. But there’s good news on this front too. According to Mercom India Research, “India installed over 10 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the first quarter of calendar year 2024, the highest amount to date for a quarter. This is a 400 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2023.” One reason for the surge in installations is falling costs, “the average cost of large-scale solar projects fell 7 percent QoQ and 28 percent YoY.” We expect solar to continue to be built at a rapid pace in India, China and other countries because it’s cheaper than other sources of electricity generation. As almost always, things are generally better than you realize.
War Crimes In Darfur?
Nobody wants to hear it but there are a lot of good things happening around the world even beyond record solar installations in India, including reductions in poverty, technological breakthroughs and possible cures of a host of diseases. But there are problems, too, including possible war crimes and not just in places that are receiving prominent coverage, as worrisome as those might be. There are also possible war crimes taking place in al-Fashir, a city in the Darfur region in the west of Sudan. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is investigating these possible crimes. According to Reuters, “His investigators had seen credible allegations of what looked like ethnically-motivated attacks against the civilian population, widespread use of rape and attacks against hospitals.” This is part of the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Wars, atrocities and authoritarian regimes are an area where the world could stand to use more improvement. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for human behavioral ugliness.
China Corner: Tariffs: Not Just The U.S. and E.U.
Like rambunctious college students at a kegger, countries are getting drunk on tariffs, hoisting them like Solo cups and making toasts to unfair trade competition, specifically China’s transgressions. And it’s not just recent U.S. tariffs on a variety of goods from China or the E.U. looking at doing the same. Countries around the globe are increasingly worried about China’s trying to be the everything store, a sort of Amazon for world manufacturing. China claims it is the leader of the Global South but in just the last week alone, Brazil placed a 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods valued under $50 to protect its textile industry and Turkey imposed a 40 percent tariff on Chinese automobiles. Earlier this year, Mexico placed tariffs on a swathe of Chinese goods. China for a decade, through its Made In China and Dual Circulation policies, has aimed to be the place that builds everything and buys nothing. The world is starting to treat this situation like an anti-trust case. The economic collateral from this necessary battle will be substantial.
