The Dutch government is to put restrictions on the country’s “most advanced” microchip technology exports to protect national security, following a similar move by the US. It will include products by chip equipment maker ASML, a key firm in the global microchip supply chain. In response, China has launched a formal complaint against the move. It said it hoped the Netherlands would not “follow the abuse of export control measures by certain countries”. China has frequently called the US a “tech hegemony” in response to export controls imposed by Washington. Semiconductors, which power everything from mobile phones to military hardware, are at the centre of a bitter dispute between the US and China. A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, said the Dutch move aimed to deprive China of its right to develop. Dexter Roberts, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, told the BBC that the decision by the Netherlands was “a real step forward, a real victory for the US and also very bad news for China”. “US-China relations are already in a pretty bad place. This clearly will make things even worse.”(BBC)…[+]

The Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province has been killed in an explosion in his office. Mohammad Dawood Muzammil is the most senior official to be killed since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Violence has since decreased sharply, but prominent pro-Taliban figures and others have been killed in a string of attacks, many claimed by Islamic State. Local police said the cause of the latest blast was unclear. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter that the governor had been “martyred in an explosion by the enemies of Islam”. An investigation is under way, he added.

Muzammil is reported to have led the fight against Islamic State militants in his previous posting as governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar. He was moved to Balkh last October. Balkh police spokesperson Mohammed Asif Waziri said the explosion occurred “around 9am… inside the second floor of the governor’s office”. Police said at least one other person also died in the attack. A number of others are reported to have been injured.(BBC)…[+]

Protesters in Israel have blocked roads and attempted to stop the prime minister flying out the country amid nationwide demonstrations against controversial judicial reforms. Vehicles obstructed access roads to Ben Gurion airport, from where Benjamin Netanyahu is due to fly to Rome. The weeks-old protests are some of the biggest Israel has ever seen. Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy; the government says planned changes are better for the electorate. Thousands of protesters, many waving Israeli flags and carrying signs with slogans against the reforms, massed on main roads in Tel Aviv, causing major disruption to traffic. A line of police on horseback stood by as the demonstrators flowed past, with some chanting to the police: “We’re also here for you,” Haaretz newspaper reported. Meanwhile convoys of cars streamed towards the airport from early morning, causing gridlock at the entrance to try to block Mr Netanyahu from leaving for Rome. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin landed at the airport on Thursday and was reportedly forced to alter his schedule because of the protests.(BBC)…[+]