North Korea and China resumed international passenger train service between their cities on Thursday, March 12, for the first time in six years. The daily service, suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes as the two nations appear to be aligning more closely, according to observers, following Pyongyang's military cooperation with Russia. A Chinese official described the resumption as a 'dynamic link strengthening the friendship between these two nations.'
A five-car passenger train departed from the Chinese border city of Dandong at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 12, scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang at 6:07 p.m. This marks the first cross-border passenger train service since 2020. The reopening of North Korea-China rail services comes as the two countries appear to be aligning more closely as they seek to repair relations frayed by Pyongyang's military cooperation with Russia, amid speculation that the United States may seek to reengage Pyongyang for talks. Last year, North Korea resumed direct flight and train services between Pyongyang and Moscow, Russia's capital.
The United States announced two new trade investigations on Wednesday that could lead to new tariffs on major trading partners. These probes will look into excess industrial capacity and imports made with forced labor. Jamieson Greer, a US trade official, stated that these investigations will focus on economies exhibiting structural excess capacity and production in various manufacturing sectors. Greer added that the EU has done "approximately zero percent" of a bilateral trade deal reached last July, and emphasized, "We need to protect American jobs" and "We need to make sure we have fair trade with our trading partners." The probe under Section 301 of the Trade Act would examine structural overcapacity in economies, with USTR calling out EU excess capacity and highlighting large US trade surpluses with Germany and Ireland as evidence. China's leading EV maker BYD is expanding abroad despite excess domestic capacity, and sectors such as automobiles and semiconductors were cited as examples of global overcapacity. Canada was kept outside the scope of the probe. Washington alleges Chinese authorities set up labor camps for ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in western Xinjiang, accusations Beijing denies. The Supreme Court ruled last month that US President Donald Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers.
Northern farmers in Moshav Liman are again under Hezbollah fire, leading to insecurity and disruption for residents. Northern farmers expressed their despair, stating, "We don’t see a future." Maya Yaacobi’s three daughters were playing in the backyard of her husband’s family farm, less than two miles from the border with Lebanon. Yaacobi clarified a visual, saying, "No, that’s actually smoke from the Iron Dome shooting out a rocket." One daughter examined ladybugs, another rode a bicycle, and the third toddled in the grass. The family’s five horses ambled in their pen. Moshav Liman lost a soldier, Or Demry, on Sunday. Yaacobi’s family was forced to leave Moshav Liman in 2023, which led to their avocado trees dying. Yaacobi is busy taking care of her daughters, who have no school or kindergarten as all educational activities are on hold per Home Front Command instructions. Yaacobi's family of six sleeps in their home’s protected room. Yaacobi also commented on her husband's military service, stating, "He hasn’t been called back up yet," and reflected on the ongoing challenges, saying, "I don’t know how we cope with it." Assif Cohen, Yaacobi's husband, is a member of the village’s emergency response team and fought in military reserves in Gaza and Lebanon for over 450 days.
Hadas Harlap, Moshav Liman’s community coordinator, spoke to Sigal Malachi at Malachi’s Plants and Nursery, trying to plan events for residents. Malachi’s Plants and Nursery is currently closed to customers. People in the community experience anxiety and panic attacks, and teenagers are unsure what to do. Some children are so frightened they don’t leave their family’s protected room; one mother begged her son to go outside for at least 15 minutes. Michal Schwartz volunteers with Magen David Adom in Nahariya. Schwartz runs FLOW, an exercise studio, on her family’s property, with a view of pastures and the Mediterranean Sea. Before October 7, Schwartz trained about 90 clients; since returning to Moshav Liman in April 2025, she has trained about 60 people. Clients are now scared to come to the studio despite a bomb shelter nearby. Yaniv, Schwartz's husband, was repairing the family restaurant, founded by his father Yonatan, where his late mother Esther was chef, which was damaged during the war. During the evacuation, Schwartz and her three children stayed on Kibbutz Beit Oren near Haifa, while her husband stayed behind as an emergency response team member and cared for their trees and farm. The children were lost during the evacuation and were just getting back to routine before the latest war began. Schwartz's family sleeps in the house but keeps shoes ready for running to the shelter. Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets, missiles, and drones into northern Israel for 14 months after the Hamas invasion.
