Flagship

USAID to be slashed

Washington reportedly plans to slash USAID’s staff from more than 10,000 to less than 300, leaving a huge gap in global humanitarian aid. The US spends less than 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid, but contributes nearly 40% of global humanitarian assistance. The Trump administration has centered foreign aid in its bid to curtail spending, sparking fears for millions of recipients who depend on American assistance through programs from food to health care and clean water. Other nations are unlikely to bridge the gap: Europe is grappling with moribund economic growth and is focusing on raising defense spending not aid, while China’s youth unemployment and property market crises likely limit its ability to step up.

Panama and US in war of words

Panama’s president is set to speak with his US counterpart Donald Trump today after accusing Washington of a “simply intolerable falsehood” in an escalating dispute over the Panama Canal. The US said it had negotiated for American government vessels to traverse the waterway for free, a claim swiftly denied by canal authorities. The row underscored questions over concessions the Trump administration claimed to have won after pressuring neighbors and allies: The White House has trumpeted drugs and immigration efforts being made by Canada and Mexico to win 30-day tariff reprieves, but analysts said both countries were largely going ahead with previously announced plans.

Netanyahu vows to restart war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would resume the war in Gaza. A six-week truce was agreed last month, but at a press conference with US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding demand for total victory, saying “Hamas will continue the battle to destroy Israel.” The peace process has been thrown into turmoil by Trump’s recent suggestion that the US could “take over” Gaza, two Middle East analysts wrote for Semafor. The comment was “widely understood on the Arab Street… as endorsing ethnic cleansing,” said Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas. But, Al Arabiya’s Hadley Gamble wrote, it threw down a gauntlet to Arab states: “Trump is telling the Middle East to take care of its own problems.”

Good news for the dollar

The dollar looks likely to strengthen in the coming months. US jobs data due out today is expected to “send a comforting signal about the health of the economy,” an EY economist wrote, while the widening gulf between US interest rates and those of other wealthy economies will further boost the currency: Whereas central banks in India and the UK this week lowered rates amid slowing growth, most traders expect at most two Federal Reserve cuts this year. New US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, told Bloomberg that Washington’s “strong-dollar policy is completely intact,” even though the currency’s rising value hurts US exports, a major issue as President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies put trade increasingly in focus.

Amazon boosts AI spending

Amazon will invest $100 billion in infrastructure this year, mostly in artificial intelligence, undermining suggestions that demand for computing power would fall after Chinese firm DeepSeek revealed a low-cost AI model. The 29% hike in spending comes as other Big Tech firms boost AI investment, and supports the argument that “falling technology costs actually lead to greater spending on technology,” a phenomenon known as Jevon’s paradox, The Information argued. Both Amazon and Microsoft said they were unable to keep pace with demand for AI products. In further evidence that DeepSeek’s success has not slowed investment in AI, France and the UAE announced they would spend up to $50 billion on building Europe’s largest data center dedicated to AI, in France.

Honeywell announces breakup

US industrial conglomerate Honeywell said it would split into three companies as it seeks to placate nervous shareholders, in a move freighted with symbolism. The firm is one of the last American manufacturing giants, covering aerospace, automation, and materials, harking back to an era when corporate leaders believed that “with scale came power,” as The Associated Press put it. But as Semafor’s Liz Hoffman noted, “conglomerates have gone out of fashion with investors who want companies to focus on what they do best.” GE, which followed a similar path, has seen its newly created entities rise in value as a result of its split, and Honeywell investors are hoping for similar growth.

African leaders meet over DRC crisis

African leaders will meet today to try and resolve the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as fears of a regional conflict grow. Almost 3,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after a rebel alliance led by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia took control of a key city in the eastern DRC. The rebels have stated their goal is to take control of the entire country of 100 million. The clashes have led to the deaths of foreign troops deployed to DRC, sparking barbs between the presidents of Rwanda and South Africa. “It is time to end this crisis,” the UN secretary-general said. “The stakes are too high.”

Semafor’s 2025 World Economy Summit will bring together US Cabinet officials, global finance ministers, central bankers, and over 200 CEOs of the world’s largest companies. The three-day summit will take place April 23–25, 2025, in Washington, DC, and will be the first of its kind since the new US administration took office.

Featuring on-the-record conversations with top executives, including Alex Chriss, President and CEO, PayPal; Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, Nasdaq; Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Chairman, Infosys; Raj Subramaniam, President and CEO, FedEx Corporation; Scott Kirby, CEO, United Airlines; and Jenny Johnson, President and CEO, Franklin Templeton, the discussions will explore innovative solutions for expanding the global economy.

Apr. 23-25, 2025 | Washington, DC | Join Waitlist

Syria may let Russia keep its bases

Russia could keep its military bases in Syria despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Damascus’ new defense minister said. Moscow used its air and naval bases along Syria’s Mediterranean coast during the country’s bloody civil war to bomb rebel fighters — with Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra among them. But, he told The Washington Post, “in politics, there are no permanent enemies” and that he would allow Russia to maintain the bases if it benefited Syria. Abu Qasra faces “the monumental task of rebuilding a fractured army,” the Post noted, and is taking a pragmatic approach: He said that Russia’s attitude to the new government had “improved significantly.”

Ozzy, Barenboim face Parkinson’s

Two musical greats of very different genres are winding down their careers because they suffer from Parkinson’s. Daniel Barenboim, the Argentine-Israeli conductor, said this week he had the degenerative disease, but planned to complete “as many of my professional commitments as possible.” He had previously said he had a “serious neurological condition” and resigned from some positions. Meanwhile Ozzy Osbourne, the pioneering metal singer and one-time bat eater, will reunite with his band Black Sabbath for the first time in 20 years for his final gig: He told his radio show that “I can’t walk, but… for all my complaining, I’m still alive.” However, his wife said his voice remains “as good as it’s ever been.”

Soccer’s minnows gain global attention

The global success of the Premier League is attracting investors into English soccer’s lower divisions. Smaller teams are increasingly being bought by big-spending foreign owners: Two Hollywood stars bought Wrexham AFC, leading it to rise to the third tier, where it is vying for promotion alongside Birmingham FC, Huddersfield Town, and Wycombe Wanderers, owned by a New York hedge fund, a US businessman, and a Kazakh billionaire respectively. All four have spent sums until recently available only to a tiny elite of English teams. The top tier of English soccer is not a closed shop: Investors can buy teams outside the Premier League and, with luck and good management, play their way in.

• US President Donald Trump is due to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Washington, DC.
• Poland hosts a meeting of the European Commission president and her de facto cabinet.
• The Asian Winter Games 2025 open in Harbin, China.

The number of guns that are smuggled into Mexico from the US every year. Around 70% of the weapons traced from crime scenes in Mexico between 2014 and 2018 originated in the US. In response, the Mexican government has begun a series of lawsuits against gun manufacturers that it says turn a blind eye to smugglers. If Washington is serious about stopping the flow of fentanyl and the rise in violence that pushes thousands to migrate to the US, it’s going to “need to stop the flow of guns to Mexico,” an attorney representing the Latin American nation told The Wall Street Journal.

Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Marley would have celebrated his 80th birthday this week had he not died in 1981, aged 36. In 2020 The Guardian recommended new listeners begin with his 1977 album Exodus, which “holds a central place” in the Wailers’ canon: It is “an immaculate album… the product of trauma, dislocation and exile, all crucially crowned by hope.” Listen to Exodus on Spotify.

President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is having an identity crisis: Does “America First” mean avoiding overseas engagements — or pursuing them when they further US interests?

Semafor’s Kadia Goba spoke to Republican lawmakers about Trump’s expansive foreign policy as he floats US control of Greenland, the Panama Canal, Canada, and Gaza, though only a few in the GOP publicly acknowledged the tension. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., posted on X after Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza that “I thought we voted for America First.”