Europe goes it alone on Ukraine defense
European leaders gathering in Brussels agree to a massive defense fund that will “buy European” only.
Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza as Hamas fires rockets back
The Israeli military expanded its ground offensive in Gaza, and killed at least 80 Palestinians in a new wave of strikes Thursday. Hamas fired its first rockets since Israel broke a recent ceasefire.
Weaponizing antisemitism makes students ‘less safe,’ says drafter of definition
Kenneth Stern, who drafted a widely used definition of antisemitism, says the Trump administration is using antisemitism claims to stifle speech and debate on the Middle East on college campuses.
Morning news brief
Fed holds rates steady due to uncertainty over impact of tariffs on the economy, federal judge declines to block DOGE takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace, Israel launches new ground offensive in Gaza.
Malaysia approves a new search for MH370 wreckage in the Indian Ocean
The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people. The plane headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
Canada says China executed four Canadians earlier this year
Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship.
Israel Launches a New Offensive in Gaza
The two month ceasefire in Gaza has come to an end with Israel conducting airstrikes, killing five Hamas officials along with over 400 others, including many children. The Israeli military has also restarted ground operations in Gaza, sending troops ba…
Trump is taking a hammer to traditional pillars of soft power
The argument for international aid is in part a moral one, but it’s also been about U.S. interests. As then-senator Marco Rubio put it in 2017: “I promise you it’s going to be a lot harder to recruit someone to anti-Americanism, anti-American terrorism if the United States of America was the reason why they’re even alive today.”
Now, as secretary of state, Rubio serves under a president who is deeply skeptical of the idea of international aid. “We’re giving billions and billions of dollars to countries that hate us,” President Trump said in a speech last month. His administration shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development. A federal judge said this week that move violated the constitution. What’s left of the agency has been folded into the State Department.
Trump has also moved to gut government-funded, editorially independent broadcasters like Voice of America, and attempted to effectively eliminate the congressionally-funded think tank the U.S. Institute of Peace.
This sort of soft power has been a pillar of American foreign policy. Is the Trump administration walking away from it?
We talk to former Democratic congressman and former secretary of agriculture, Dan Glickman, who sponsored the legislation that created the USIP.
And NPR’s Emily Feng reports on the legacy of Voice of America in China.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at [email protected].
Trump admin. cuts funding for program that tracked Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Rep. Greg Landsman, a lawmaker who signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking whether a database of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia had been deleted.
Israel has launched a new ground invasion into Gaza after breaking ceasefire
Israel’s military launched a new ground offensive in Gaza, sending troops into areas they retreated from during a two-month ceasefire. This comes a day after airstrikes killed more than 400 people.
Zelenskyy and Trump speak after Trump’s call with Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke for about an hour with President Trump on Wednesday, following Trump’s call on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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