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BRUSSELS — The European Union has reached deals with a dozen close trading partners for smaller reductions in tariff-free steel import quotas, while China and other countries will bear the brunt of cuts under a new market access regime.

The new steel quotas will reduce overall tariff-free quotas by 47 percent while tariffs on imports above those quotas will double to 50 percent from Wednesday. The measure seeks to shelter the European steel industry from global overcapacity, while inflicting less pain on countries that have free-trade deals with the EU.

The quota allocations, which followed months of secretive negotiations at the World Trade Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, were closely held and only disclosed when the implementing regulation was published in the EU’s Official Journal on Tuesday.

Overall, the EU will import 18.3 million metric tons without tariffs, with half going to its preferential trade partners and the other half distributed more broadly. China, the world’s largest steel producer, faces some of the biggest cuts as it has no trade deal with the EU. It will only get a tariff-free allocation of 800,000 tons, down from 2.4 million tons previously — a fall of two-thirds.

The decision comes a day after Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao visited Brussels for talks with EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič at which the two agreed to set up a new Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism that aims to manage deepening trade frictions.

Šefčovič, in a statement , said the EU was “providing market participants with predictability through clear and transparent quota distribution rules, while applying a fair and objective methodology.” He also sought to fend off potential objections from countries that turned down a deal by saying the quota allocations complied with World Trade Organization rules.

The quota reductions were not directed against China, a senior EU official reiterated.

“I do want to dispel the idea that this is only about China. The non-market part is driven more by China, but the structural nature of overcapacity is also present in other countries,” the official told a briefing, speaking on condition of anonymity as is customary in Brussels.

Pain for Ukraine

Given the scale of the cuts, nobody was going to come away happy, with the EU executive only offering to soften the blow for FTA partners if they signed up to a waiver of their right to challenge them either bilaterally or at the WTO. Thirteen countries took the deal and will finalize terms and political formalities in the coming months.

The EU reached agreements in principle on market access with most of the free-trade partners it negotiated with, a senior official said. These included Turkey, India, Korea, Indonesia, Egypt, Brazil, the U.K., Switzerland, North Macedonia, South Africa, Argentina, Ukraine and Singapore.

For the U.K., the reduction in access to the EU market worked out at a reduction of less than a quarter from last year’s volumes. Both Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle and the U.K. steel industry called for further talks with Brussels to get a better deal.

FTA partners that took the deal will see their historical tariff-free volumes cut by one-third on average, compared with two-thirds for non-FTA partners such as China. Free-trade partners that declined the deal will fall in between, with their tariff-free quotas cut by half. Japan and Vietnam are expected to fall into this category after turning down a deal.

Ukraine was also hit hard by the EU measure as it was granted only 1 million tons, less than half of what it exported to the bloc last year.

That number is derived from the lower volumes the country exported to Europe from 2022 to 2024, the reference period used by Brussels to calculate the quotas. Ukraine’s exports actually surged last year to 2.2 million tonnes, meaning its steelmakers are bound to lose market share.

Lead lawmaker on the file, Swedish liberal Karin Karlsbro, said Tuesday’s conditions confirmed her worst fears on Ukraine.

“This decision will have immense consequences for the Ukrainian steel industry and the country’s economy, ultimately affecting Ukraine’s resilience and ability to finance its fight for existence,” said Karlsbro, who plans to speak with Šefčovič on Thursday.

Pain for Ukraine

Ukraine will still be able to access a pool of residual quotas that are open to the countries that did a deal with the EU. The eventual tariff-free exports might therefore end up higher.

But for Kyiv, the real discussion is a different one: EU membership.

Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka said Kyiv views “the current arrangement as a starting point,” and that the final deal “should take into account Ukraine’s path towards EU accession, the logic of deeper economic integration, and the perspective of full access to the EU internal market.”

Ukraine was given some preferential treatment by the EU, a second senior official explained. That’s because the reference period, which overlaps with the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, could not be adjusted. But Ukraine did receive some bilateral quotas in categories for which it formally did not qualify because its share of supplies was below a 5 percent threshold.

The first official said the EU was not looking to grant other industries similar protection but rather that it remains open to working together with other economies to address global steel overcapacity.

“Call it a club, call it an alliance, call it whatever you like: The idea that we come together with like-minded partners on this global challenge of overcapacity,” they said. “In an ideal world, there is fair competition and a level playing field. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to live in an ideal world.”

This article has been updated.

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Every new anime season brings another wave of adaptations. Hit manga become television events, light novels become the next isekai obsession, and video games like Death Stranding and Sekiro continue making the leap to animation. Original anime, meanwhile, have quietly become something of a rarity, especially on the scale of a prestige production. WIT Studio is no different. Producing anime of the biggest franchises in the medium, including Vinland Saga , Attack on Titan , and even the upcoming One Piece remake , the studio can similarly fall prey to the industry’s obsession with adaptations. But its next project looks like something entirely new.

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Spotify has the upper hand out of all the best music streaming services because of its hyper-personalized feed and social features, but its app design isn’t the greatest.

I’m not the first power user to call out the platform for its stuffy and, at times, unorganized layout. The ‘Your Library’ section, for example, is a cluster of your recent activity, which you can only rearrange using the filters at the top of the screen — full customization is out of the question.

After using Spotify alongside Apple Music , there’s no comparison — the latter packs a simple and concise interface, with a bright and sleek finish, and there’s Spotify could certainly take a page out of Apple Music’s book on the organization front. However, one user has, at least, found a hidden setting that allows you to switch from Spotify’s dark color scheme to a brighter one similar to Apple Music's.

A Reddit post shared by u/Hot_Perspective (see below) shows two images of the Spotify mobile app with inverted colors enabled, which essentially replaces Spotify’s dark appearance with a ‘light mode’ one consisting of an all-white background reminiscent of Apple Music’s interface.

Do you know u can use Spotify in light mode in iOS it looks pretty 😍 from r/truespotify

The thing to note here is that it’s not actually controlled via the Spotify app; it’s all done through iOS or Android settings — and it’s simple to enable.

If you’re using an iPhone, open Settings and head to Accessibility, then tap Per-App Settings. From there, you’ll need to tap Add App and search for Spotify. Once you’ve added Spotify select Smart Invert and enable the toggle. Android users can enable this feature also by heading to Settings and tapping Accessibility, then Text and Display. Find Color Inversion and toggle it on.

What an eyesore

If you haven’t yet come across this tool, it’s a stark difference from Spotify’s traditional dark-theme interface to say the least.

While it flips the dark in-app color scheme on its head, it’s smart enough to know not to invert album and playlist covers, so not every part of the Spotify app is inverted — which I think is quite clever. But despite its accessibility benefits, it hasn’t been a huge hit with music fans, myself included.

For one, it doesn’t solve the issue of the cluttered and unorganized interface, it just adds funky colors to the app. That aside, it’s frighteningly bright, I’d say even brighter than the average smartphone display setting — the meme replies in the Reddit thread have cracked me up (see the countless reaction images).

Comment from r/truespotify

I can’t exactly explain it, but there’s something very 'uncanny valley' about Spotify with inverted colors. It sort of looks like Apple Music, but I know it’s not. I even lost my muscle memory while trying to navigate it — it threw me off that much.

As we all know, Spotify loves a good visual, and most songs on the platform display a short looping video in the playback section of the app, but inverted colors interfere with this, making visuals look like X-rays. But even if you like how it looks, it has a knock-on effect for both iOS and Android smartphones.

(Image credit: Future) Because Android doesn’t allow this tool to be enabled for individual apps, you’ll have to put up with inverted colors across your entire system, which is quite a strain on the eyes. While iOS allows you to enable inverted colors for separate apps, you need to have the system-wide Light Mode setting turned on for it to work. This means that if you’re like me and prefer to use Dark Mode in apps like Instagram and iMessages, you’ll have to sacrifice this — it’s an all-or-nothing situation.

I think it’s appropriate to say that, overall, it doesn’t sit well with a lot of subscribers. It does, however, remind us that while Spotify has yet to fix a few layout issues, at least the platform has a solid brand identity.

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TV mogul Taylor Sheridan is no fan of studio notes, nor does he appreciate any interference in his famously solitary writing process. Sheridan has created several hit shows during his time at Paramount, which ended recently when he signed a deal with NBCUniversal. He's still overseeing several new seasons of his running hits, which he has created on his own terms. In an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast (via Deadline), Sheridan said that his process isn't democratic as he criticized studio executives for sticking their noses in matters they don't understand. He also took a potshot at the writing in Marvel movies — a broad term that typically refers to studio blockbusters that are a part of large franchises — and said that he, on the other hand, values the fundamental rules of storytelling.

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The FIFA World Cup 2026 is well underway, with the group stages already generating huge amounts of action for fans across the world.

It’s been widely highlighted how this is the biggest edition of the tournament so far, with an expanded roster of 48 teams doing battle in 16 venues across three countries. But with such a sprawling reach, the technology needed to power such a crucial tournament has never been more important - and that’s where Lenovo comes in.

As FIFA’s official technology partner, Lenovo has provided the technical expertise to keep the tournament running , and power some of the most exciting new innovations such as AI Refcam - I went to find out more.

An unprecedented challenge

“We were given a challenge which is unprecedented for the game,” Ken Wong - EVP and President, SSG, Lenovo, tells me in Miami.

“For anyone that is going to be a single point of contact for such a complex project, there will be a lot of questions…but after two weeks of operations, I think we have delivered what we promised.”

Wong highlights how the technology being built and delivered to FIFA is actually Lenovo’s own in-house hybrid platform and delivery platforms, so the company was confident about the capabilities it could provide - and then, Wong says, hand it over to FIFA, “to make magic happen.”

As Wong notes, “keeping the lights on is a given”, and Lenovo has deployed more than 350 engineers to World Cup sites, including the stadiums and its Technology Command Center in Miami, with the company providing around 17,000 devices to ensure a resolute and powerful backbone for all the tournament’s operations.

The technology has (at least at the time of writing) been one of the biggest success stories of the World Cup 2026, with fans around the world praising the immersiveness of the Refcam and realistic VAR avatars.

“It's not only about technology - without outcome it is meaningless,” Wong notes, with the company looking to provide a fan experience “like never before”.

“Our role is to make sure based on our understanding of the technology in the platform - how we can maximize the flexibility and outcome for our customer? Now it's up to FIFA to use it.”

(Image credit: Oner SAN / AFP via Getty Images) The "power of AI"

I ask Wong if the World Cup 2026 can be a good use case for responsible AI deployment, boosting everything from the fan experience to broadcast quality to more effective ground logistics and operations.

“Customers are often so focused on, do I have the most powerful model - but more and more, when AI is moving from POC to production and scale, the more people understand the importance of data,” he says.

Any complex operation that involves a massive amount of data can be a vital learning experience, Wong says - naming building or facilities operations all the way up to smart city oversight as possible use cases which can be extrapolated from the World Cup use case.

Lenovo has even established sports as one of its focus verticals , with the company also partnering with the likes of Formula 1, the Olympics, NHL, Serie A and more.

“We have confidence that we can provide a great outcome, for other organizations within the sports industry, be it a stadium or fans experience, or a whole federation,” he adds.

So with the tournament still underway at the time of writing, Lenovo might be hoping, paradoxically, that its technology stays out of the headlines for the time being - as that will mean everything is working smoothly, with no errors or controversies.

“We are the technology backbone of FIFA,” Wong notes, “our AI is powering the World Cup! To me, the real meaning is that we're part of the great game, but also it is proven now that Lenovo technology can be applied to the most complex operation in the world.”