President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced new defense and economic agreements aimed at countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific during their meeting in Washington yesterday. The leaders unveiled an $8.5 billion rare-earth deal to boost US supplies after China placed export restrictions on Washington. Meanwhile, Trump reaffirmed strong US backing for AUKUS, pledging to move “full steam ahead” on helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Canberra, meanwhile, has been expanding its military capabilities and signing defense pacts with Pacific Island nations to push back against Beijing’s regional dominance.
For the first time since the waning days of the USSR, a Kazakh grain shipment has crossed Azerbaijan en route to Armenia. It’s OK if you didn’t just leap out of your chair with delirious joy. But remember: Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at war for most of the past 40 years, largely over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian separatist enclave within Azerbaijan. Two years ago, the Azeris retook the area. Two months ago, the Trump Administration brokered a peace deal. Obstacles remain – the Azeris still want Armenia to scrap constitutional references to Nagorno-Karabakh. But the grain train suggests peace is slowly taking root, in a way that could transform the South Caucasus more broadly.
US officials are increasingly concerned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could end the ceasefire in Gaza, per a New York Times report. Seeking to firm up the deal, US Vice President JD Vance is in Israel today to meet with the country’s leaders, a rare foray to the Middle East for the man who has often focused on retaining the MAGA coalition rather than any specific policy areas. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump again warned Hamas against violating the agreement. Further complicating matters, the threat of clashes with Hamas is making countries reluctant to send soldiers to Gaza to act as peacekeeping forces, a crucial part of the ceasefire deal signed last week.
Is the AI jobs apocalypse upon us? On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down the confusing indicators in today’s labor market and how both efficiency gains as well as displacement from AI will affect the global workforce.
Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.
Nigel Farage, the far-right UK leader, reportedly told donors that he plans to join forces with the center-right Conservative Party ahead of the next election. Right-wing groups in other parts of Western Europe have largely avoided making such an alliance.
Nearly four years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the push to end the war is intensifying. The past few weeks produced not one but two proposals.