Marco Rubio pivots to America First diplomacy
It’s been a little more than a week since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Vice President JD Vance was in the meeting too. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat, sat on an Oval Office couch, mostly silent, as Trump and Vance berated the Ukrainian leader.
Along the way, the president and vice president made it clear just how much of the established global order they are ready to upend. An order that for most of his career, Rubio has defended, and worked to help hold up.
So what changed …and what do those changes mean?
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Hong Kong company sells its ports in Panama, says it’s business, not politics
Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings sold its Panama ports business to a group of investors led by BlackRock. What does this episode tell us about Hong Kong today?
The soundtrack to King Charles’ life features music from Kylie Minogue
King Charles III has admitted he is not impervious to a generational earworm like Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” after sharing a playlist that represents the soundtrack of his life.
The Dangerous Popularity of Skin Whitening Products in Nigeria
In many parts of the world skin whitening is a major industry, but women in Nigeria have a particular fondness for creams and lotions that promise to lighten their skin. By one estimate, over 77% of women in the country have used such products. We go t…
Syria imposes curfew after its worst clashes since the Assad regime ouster
Syria’s new government sent in security reinforcements and imposed curfews on a coastal area after major clashes with fighters loyal to the deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Monthly jobs report to be released. And, the White House to host a crypto event
The Labor Department will release the monthly jobs report card today, which is expected to show solid growth. But that’s not the whole picture. And, the White House will host a cryptocurrency summit.
Georgia factory resumes peanut paste production for starving children overseas
Lifesaving peanut paste for malnourished children is being produced again at a Georgia factory after the Trump administration reversed course on a canceled USAID contract.
Unexploded WWII bomb in Paris halts Eurostar travel to London
The French transport minister said traffic would be ”strongly disrupted” throughout the day with only limited service resuming in the afternoon, and urged travelers to postpone their trips.
The European Union Decides to Rearm
Leaders of the European Union have voted to approve a plan to dramatically increase defense spending. The move is a reaction to the U.S. reducing its support for Ukraine in the war against Russia’s invasion. We go to Brussels to understand the ramifications.
And we hear what the series of recent developments in the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine could mean for peace talks with Russia.
When it comes to the economy, it’s all about uncertainty
Like a lot of economists, Mark Zandi, with Moody’s Analytics, thinks President Trump’s across-the-board tariffs are a bad idea. Saying, “Tariffs, broad-based tariffs, are a real problem for the economy.”
But Zandi says – it’s not just the tariffs themselves that are the problem, it’s the uncertainty created by Trump’s rollout.
Trump threatened 25% Tariffs on Canada and Mexico would start in February. They were paused at the 11th hour, only to eventually go into effect this week.
On Thursday Trump announced the new tariffs would be paused for most products, but potentially only until April 2.
Meanwhile tariffs on China snapped into place in February, and then doubled, to 20%.What happens next is anyone’s guess.
Businesses have been optimistic about the economy under Trump. His chaotic tariff rollout threatens that.
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Email us at [email protected].
Democracy-promoting organization sues the Trump administration over withheld funds
President Ronald Reagan laid the rhetorical foundations for the National Endowment for Democracy in a 1982 speech to the British Parliament. Support for its creation in Congress was bipartisan.
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