Spain-Portugal Power Outage Ends as DHL Resumes High-Value US Shipments

DHL US shipments return marks a significant change in global logistics as the company resumes high-value deliveries to the United States. After a brief suspension, DHL US shipments return has been eagerly anticipated by businesses relying on efficient logistics services.

In a statement made by the DHL on Monday, the company said it has since been working to enhance its clearance capacity and that the industry also had a constructive dialogue with US authorities, including the Department of Commerce, to optimize customs regulations. This return of DHL US shipments is crucial for businesses and consumers who rely on timely deliveries.

“Adjustments to US customs regulations will allow DHL to resume accepting B2C shipments with a declared value exceeding $800 into the US,” the company said. The resumption is effective immediately.

However, the earlier suspension of certain DHL deliveries to the US is not the only disruption affecting the Americans. Hong Kong’s postal service on April 16, also said it will stop handling packages coming from or going to the US, citing the US President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate “de minimis”.

Power restored after Spain portugal outage

Spain’s grid operator on Tuesday morning, said that power had been supplied to 99% of the country after Spain and Portugal experienced a 12 hours power outage on Monday with the authorities still not certain of what caused the blackout.

The two country (spain ajnd portugal) were were under a state of emergency after electricity supply was lost across the entire Iberian Peninsula and in part of France on Monday, bringing businesses to a standstill, and traffic lights not to fucnction due to the outage which caused chaos on roads and in airports.

The outage took out the lighting and power sockets, causing subway systems to suddenly fail and causing traffic piled up on the roads in Madrid.

Portugal head of grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN),João Faria Conceição, said the country was badly affected because it imports electricity from Spain in the morning, because the neighboring nation is one hour ahead and the electricity produced by its solar plants is cheaper than producing it internally, during those hours.

As electricity has now been restored to 99% of the country, the transport minister warned that some trains would either not operate, or would run at a reduced capacity – including the high-speed rail network.

China reject Trump’s claim on resolving tariff war

The Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday has rejected President Trump’s claim about China calling the United States to resolve the tariff war. This was announced in a statement from the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejecting Trump’s claim in an interview with Time magazine last week, saying that Xi had called him, as the world’s two largest economies remain locked in a dispute over sky-high trade levies.

Last week, President Trump has repeatedly referred to Xi as a friend and said that his administration is talking with Chinese officials to strike a trade deal. However, President Trump did not specify the call with the Chinese leader or when it took place which was all denied by the Chinese government.

On Friday, hours before Trump’s interview with Time was published, China’s Foreign Ministry urged the US not to mislead the public on trade negotiations between the two sides.

“As far as I know, there has been no recent phone call between the two heads of state,” Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference. “I want to reiterate that China and the United States leader, Trump are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue.”

Trump’s apparent willingness to deescalate the trade war has been brushed off by Beijing, which has instead demanded the US remove all 145% tariffs that were imposed on China since he returned to White House.

Meta launches a standalone AI app to compete with OpenAI and Google

Facebook parent company, Meta, on Tuesday launched a separate app for its Meta AI assistant, similar to those offered by Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google.

The Meta standalone app comes as the company looks to boost its AI assistant’s usage, apart from being available within the company’s family of platforms – WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. 

This also signals Mark Zuckerberg’s move to strengthen the company’s position in the competitive AI landscape, taking on major rivals such as OpenAI and Google.

The Meta’s latest large language model app is designed to provide more personalized responses based on context and other user-specific elements related to the user’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The new AI app will also integrate with Meta’s AI glasses and merge with the existing companion app, the company said.

According to a Reuters report in February, the company will start testing a paid subscription for the AI chatbot’s advanced versions in the second quarter.

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