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President Donald Trump meets with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron.
What We’re Watching: US-EU nail down the details of trade deal, IAEA sounds the alarm on Iran, China challenges Dalai Lama
US, EU publishes fine print of the trade deal
More details have emerged on the terms of the trade deal between the United States and European Union, which was first announced last month. European pharmaceuticals will now face a 15% tariff – US President Donald Trump had threatened a rate of “25% or higher.” There will also be 15% duties on EU automobiles, down from 27.5%, provided Brussels passes legislation to reduce its own 10% duties on car imports. The US could also cut rates on metals, up to a certain quota. In return, the EU pledged to invest heavily in American energy and AI chips, and to grant preferential market access for several US agricultural products. In a blow to wine aficionados, the EU wasn’t able to nab lower rates for its alcohol products. Quel cauchemar!
IAEA in the dark on Iran’s uranium
International Atomic Energy Agency officials head to Washington next week amid mounting concern over Iran’s unmonitored stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium. Inspectors have been shut out since June’s US & Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, leaving the agency unable to verify the fate of 409 kilograms of enriched uranium. Tehran cites radiological hazards to block access to key sites, while signaling limited cooperation elsewhere. With talks stalled and a UN sanctions deadline looming, diplomats say the IAEA’s understanding of Iran’s nuclear program is rapidly deteriorating – giving Iran an opening to potentially race to a bomb in the absence of international oversight.
In message to Dalai Lama, Xi visits Tibet
Not two months after the Dalai Lama declared that his office – and not China – would pick his successor, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday made only his second official visit to the autonomous, Himalayan region that his country officially annexed 60 years ago. The fact that the 72-year-old Xi went to the area, despite the health hazards of going to such high altitude, suggests he wanted to buttress his authority there – China’s leaders claim they have power over the Buddhist spiritual leader’s succession plans. His visit to Tibet led every major news bulletin in China, and also coincided with the recent announcement that China would build the world’s biggest dam there (read more on that here).
The Dalai Lama at the start of his 90th birthday celebrations in his exile in northern India.
What We’re Watching: Dalai Lama’s succession plans, Big Beautiful Bill in the House, Israel-Hamas ceasefire under review
Who will be the next Dalai Lama?
As the Dalai Lama approaches his 90th birthday, he is meeting with top Buddhist figures this week to lay out succession plans that could draw a sharp response from China. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, fled his native Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and became the global face of a campaign for Tibetan independence. While China wants to install a successor who will accept Beijing’s control of both Tibet and Taiwan, the Dalai Lama’s latest statement emphasized his office’s “sole authority” over the selection process.
Is the US House ready to pass Trump’s signature legislation?
Following Senate passage on Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has returned to the House where lawmakers are scrambling to reach the floor for a possible vote later today. If all members of the House are present — following a cancelled recess, storms in the Washington area this morning have made travel to the Capitol challenging — Republicans can afford just three “no” votes from their members. Some House Republicans already say they would vote against the bill in its current form, likely delaying eventual passage until after Trump’s July 4 deadline.
Israel and Hamas are not yet committed to Gaza ceasefire
On Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE” in Gaza and warned Hamas that its leaders had better say yes. As of late this morning, both Israel and Hamas remain publicly uncommitted to Trump’s terms. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the White House next week.TOKYO, Japan - The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama (C), attends a memorial at Gokokuji temple in Tokyo on April 29, 2011, for the victims of the March 11 quake and tsunami in Japan.
The Dalai Lama is coming to America. Will Biden meet him?
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso arrives in the United States on June 20 for surgery – his first trip outside India since 2018. The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists is reportedly having a procedure on his knees, but his visit compounds the delicate choices now facing the White House.
Joe Biden made a campaign promise to meet with the Dalai Lama, and with just months remaining in his first term, this might be the only good chance he gets. That said, the president is in the midst of a delicate stabilization process with China, which conquered Tibet in 1950 and forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India in 1959. Beijing has long considered the Dalai Lama a threat to the regime and has attempted to punish countries that give him an audience.
“A meeting between Biden and his Holiness, under any circumstance, would be seen as violating a diplomatic taboo by Beijing,” says Dominic Chiu, senior analyst at Eurasia Group.
“The current communication channels and working groups established between Beijing and Washington to manage bilateral relations would be completely ineffective in managing such a scenario.”
Biden, in other words, might be wise to give the Dalai Lama a wide berth.
Dalai Lama discharged from hospital after chest infection, doing 'very well now': Spokesman
NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Dalai Lama was discharged from a New Delhi hospital on Friday (April 12), his personal spokesman said, three days after being admitted with what an aide called a "light cough".
Dalai Lama 'doing much better', should leave hospital in few days: Spokesman
NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Dalai Lama has been admitted to hospital in New Delhi for treatment but is "doing much better" and should be released soon, his close aide told AFP on Wednesday (April 10).
Dalai Lama, 83, hospitalised with chest infection
MUMBAI (REUTERS) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was admitted to a New Delhi hospital on Tuesday (April 9) with chest infection, an aide said, adding that the 83-year-old Buddhist monk was stable.