Flagship

US prepares new China tariffs

The US is reportedly readying a sweeping new set of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, and other key sectors. The decision could be unveiled as early as next week, Bloomberg said, and underlines the bipartisan hardening of views towards trade with China: Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, argued in favor of raising tariffs on Beijing’s industries, writing in The American Conservative that “skeptics ignore the catastrophic cost” of adversaries manipulating their industries to undermine the US economy. Still, as tensions rise between the two powers, “it is in both countries’ interests to avoid conflict, and to identify areas for cooperation when and where we can,” the Harvard academic Joseph Nye — best known for popularizing the term “soft power” — wrote.

China-Hungary ties strengthen

Chinese leader Xi Jinping wrapped up his Europe tour by hailing deepening ties with Hungary, a sharp contrast with tense earlier discussions in Paris. Xi described Beijing’s relationship with Budapest as an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era,” a jargon-filled phrase that analysts nevertheless said was only outranked by China’s ties to Russia and North Korea. The upgraded relations are mutually beneficial: Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union Council in July, offering China a much-needed ally within a bloc that is increasingly hawkish towards trade with it, while Beijing — Budapest’s biggest foreign investor — is upping its investments into electric vehicle manufacturing in Hungary.

Ukraine drone hits deep into Russia

A Ukrainian drone hit a refinery nearly 750 miles into Russian territory, the deepest inside the country that Kyiv has yet struck and part of a persistent campaign to damage Russia’s energy infrastructure. The concerted effort — Ukraine has launched at least 20 attacks on Russian refineries since October — has destroyed more than a tenth of Russian oil-refining capacity and driven Russian oil production to its lowest level in months. The US has urged caution on Kyiv’s part, but “Washington’s criticism is misplaced,” three energy experts wrote in Foreign Affairs. By exclusively hitting refineries, they argued, Ukraine is placing more pressure on Russia to export its crude oil and is unlikely to push oil prices higher for the West.

The new scramble for Africa

Even as focus grows over US-China competition across Africa, a number of other nations, including Ukraine and India, are seeking to strengthen ties with the continent. Kyiv last month opened six new embassies in Africa, aims to open four more soon, and is stepping up food aid deliveries, all in an effort to blunt Russia’s own outreach to Africa: Moscow recently established a mission in Burkina Faso and has plans for three more embassies soon. Meanwhile, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken “deliberate decisions … to accord a higher priority to Africa,” a Mumbai-based think tank noted, most recently by pushing for the African Union’s entry into the G20 when it hosted the latter’s summit last year.

Europe pushes ahead on screen regs

European governments are discussing ever more stringent restrictions on children’s use of screens. France in particular is pushing ahead, with a report commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron recommending strict age limits on social media: Macron has given his government a month to translate the proposals “into action,” Politico reported, gradually allowing children to use networks from the age of 15. Several Asian countries have had age restrictions on screen tech for some time: Notably, China and South Korea banned under-16s from using the internet at night time. The Korean law, enacted in 2011, had unintended consequences, apparently increasing children’s time on the internet and not improving their sleep. It was overturned in 2021.

Apple sorry for creativity-crushing ad

Apple apologized for an advert showing a hydraulic press crushing toys, musical instruments, and art products to produce the new iPad. The ad was supposed to show the many uses of the new iPad Pro — “Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on social media — but caused a backlash, with the actor Hugh Grant saying it represented “the destruction of the human experience.” Apple said it had “missed the mark.” Creative industry workers are increasingly anxious about technology, as artificial intelligence threatens to change and possibly replace many jobs. Apple said it no longer planned to run the ad on TV, although Cook’s post, complete with video, remains up.

US invests in geothermal energy

The US military is upping its bets on geothermal energy. The Army and Navy recently signed deals with geothermal startups, and the Air Force has a number of exploratory projects underway. As Katie Brigham writes for Semafor, the goal is to render military bases self-sufficient, able to generate clean power if the traditional grid goes down due to extreme weather or enemy attack. For the startups, the opportunity is huge: The Department of Defense is the nation’s largest energy consumer, accounting for over 1% of total US electricity usage; the Army has a goal of installing a microgrid on every base by 2035; and the DOD overall aims to achieve net-zero emissions across all of its buildings, campuses, and installations by 2045.

Drought hits Costa Rica energy

Costa Rica will ration electricity after drought hit its hydropower generation output. Much of Central America saw reduced rainfall last year, driven by the El Niño climate phenomenon that also pushed global temperatures up: Water shortages forced neighboring Panama to reduce traffic through its eponymous canal. About 75% of Costa Rica’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric dams, AFP reported. Other Latin American countries have also been forced to limit services due to drought: Ecuador recently had to ration electricity, while Bogotá, Colombia, did the same with water. It’s the first time Costa Rica has rationed electricity since a drought in 2007.

Too much mental health awareness?

Mental health awareness campaigns may have the opposite effect of that intended. That’s the argument of two British psychologists, Lucy Foulkes and Jack Andrews, interviewed in The New York Times. They suggested that awareness campaigns can lead some young people to over-interpret normal low moods as symptoms of depression and anxiety. They also noted that some much-publicized methods of improving mental health, such as mindfulness, have not stood up to scientific scrutiny, despite being “already embedded in a lot of schools.” Other research also found that people who self-label as having depression were more likely to catastrophize and less able to put their troubles in perspective compared to people with similar symptoms but without the label.

New Lord of the Rings movie

Warner Bros appears to be going ahead with its threat to make more The Lord of the Rings movies. The studio said last year that it would make “multiple” films in JRR Tolkien’s universe, and on Thursday announced that The Hunt for Gollum is slated for 2026. It will be directed by Andy Serkis, who will also reprise his role as Gollum. There’s not much usable Tolkien material left, but clearly Warner Bros predicts that it can keep squeezing the IP for profit: Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in the originals, told GQ in 2023 that “a desire to make a lot of money” is “at the core” of the decision, although he added, perhaps more in hope than expectation, “but great art can come from commerce.”

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