Hard Numbers: EU makes defense spending push, Trump freezes UPenn funds over trans athletes, Fed holds rates, Moscow seizes assets, Search for Flight MH370 continues
Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of European External Action Service, attends the special EU leaders meeting with the heads of state in Brussels and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels, Belgium, on March 6, 2025
150,000,000,000: The European Commission on Wednesday presented a White Paper proposing the borrowing of 150 billion euros to fund defense spending loans, aiming to bolster the continent’s security against mounting Russian threats and uncertainties around US support. “We really can do better. It’s time for us to take responsibility for the defense of Europe,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The defense funding push would be open to arms companies within the bloc, or those that sign security agreements with Brussels.
175,000,000: On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced a freeze of $175 million in federal funds to the University of Pennsylvania due to policies that allow transgender students to participate in sports. The day before, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military. Judge Ana Reyes said the policy is “soaked in animus,” while a spokesperson for the Department of Justice blamed the ruling on “an activist judge attempting to seize power at the expense of the American people.”
4.5: The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, in the target range of 4.25 to 4.5 %. But the Fed also signaled a willingness to cut borrowing costs by half a percentage point later this year, anticipating economic growth to slow to 1.7% and inflation to rise to 2.7%.
2,400,000,000,000: Moscow started seizing property soon after the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia’s Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov announced on Wednesday that the state has now taken control of assets valued at 2.4 trillion rubles ($28.7 billion). Krasnov, without giving specifics, defended the seizures of five strategic enterprises — four of which were “under foreign control”— because they either withdrew from Russia, failed to invest in infrastructure, or didn’t pay adequate taxes.
15,000: Malaysia’s cabinet approved a renewed search for the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared after departing Kuala Lumpur in March 2014. The effort will focus on a 15,000 sq. km area in the Southern Indian Ocean under a “no find, no fee” agreement with exploration firm Ocean Infinity. Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook announced a $70 million reward for the successful discovery of the wreckage.