Flagship

US tariff carveout for electronics

US President Donald Trump’s decision to exempt some electronics from tariffs offered a welcome reprieve to Silicon Valley, but the relief could be brief. The carveout, which applies to all countries including China, signaled a further softening of Trump’s aggressive trade agenda after he hit pause on nearly all “Liberation Day” duty hikes last week. The exemption could lift investor sentiment toward companies like Apple and Nvidia, which have been two of Wall Street’s biggest losers amid the tariff chaos: Both rely on overseas production, and Apple is particularly unlikely to shift its manufacturing to the US, experts said. Trump’s plans remain inscrutable: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday said the electronics exception was temporary, teasing new “semiconductor tariffs” coming in the next few weeks.

Americans downbeat about economy

Inflation-weary Americans are increasingly downbeat about the future of the US economy. Nearly half of the respondents to a new CBS News poll thought tariffs will increase prices in the long term, while a growing number predict a recession will occur in the next year; the survey was conducted late last week, meaning it captures sentiment even after US President Donald Trump paused most of his new tariff hikes. Many economists also believe a recession remains a real possibility. And while Trump’s exemption for electronics represents a deescalation, it also compounds the uncertainty for businesses: “Why would anyone anywhere build a new factory under these conditions?” The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson mused.

Xi visits countries hit by Trump tariffs

Chinese leader Xi Jinping begins a visit to Southeast Asia on Monday, in an effort to strengthen Beijing’s regional economic ties following US President Donald Trump’s tariff salvo. With stops planned in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia, Xi is expected to cast China as a reliable trading partner, in contrast to the unpredictability of Trump’s Washington. But the three smaller nations must perform a diplomatic balancing act: Officials are likely wary of cozying up to China while pursuing trade deals with Trump, and they want to protect their domestic economics from a glut of cheap Chinese goods suddenly shut out from the US market. Even amid the chaos, no Southeast Asian country “has given up yet on its relationship with America,” The Economist wrote.

Russia strikes civilians as peace talks stall

A Russian missile strike Sunday killed dozens in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, Kyiv said, in what appeared to be the deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilians this year. The strike, which hit crowds celebrating Palm Sunday, came just days after US envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg in an effort to rekindle peace talks: Ukrainian officials said it marked the latest indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in negotiating a truce. US President Donald Trump urged Moscow to “get moving” on ending the war, with negotiations apparently mired in a stalemate. That may be Putin’s strategy; one Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that the Russian leader is “clearly playing with Trump.”

US, Iran plan more nuclear talks

The US and Iran are set to hold a second round of nuclear talks this week after an initial meeting over the weekend that both sides described as productive. The negotiations in Oman on Saturday, the highest-level discussion between Washington and Tehran in years, displayed “an effort to avoid what neither side wants, another war in the Middle East,” The New York Times wrote. The next meeting could see progress on short-term agreements, like Iran pausing uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from some “maximum pressure” sanctions. Tehran is motivated to sustain the forward momentum, The Wall Street Journal wrote: The Iranian economy is hobbled by international restrictions, and public discontent is rising. “Money is like ice, it melts very fast,” one Shiraz resident said.

How some lawyers are responding to Trump

Law firms that have found themselves in US President Donald Trump’s crosshairs should sue the government rather than capitulate and settle, a prominent attorney argued. In Trump’s second term, he has sought to censure certain firms that he perceives as antagonistic to him or his causes; some companies have folded, offering pro bono work to the White House. But settling “demonstrates cynicism not only about a firm’s clients, but also about the justice system,” Adam Unikowsky — whose own firm fought a Trump executive order targeting it — argued in his legal newsletter. “How can citizens not be cynical when they see these highly sophisticated and successful firms, ostensibly devoted to protecting the rule of law… folding instantly?”

Meta wants its AI to be like Grok

Meta wants its Llama 4 artificial intelligence model to be more like Elon Musk’s Grok. While researchers have long warned about the risk of discrimination by large language models, Meta says its AI has a left-leaning political bias, and it has been tweaked to make sure it can “articulate both sides of a contentious issue.” The problem, Meta said, lies in Llama’s training data, but experts told 404 Media that the company hasn’t disclosed what data it trained on, or what issues need “unbiased” treatment. Meta’s concern isn’t coming out of nowhere, New York magazine noted: It, like many other companies, wants to signal to the Trump administration that it isn’t too “woke.”

Jon Clifton, CEO, Gallup; Joseph Hinrichs, President and CEO, CSX; Diane Hoskins, Global Co-Chair, Gensler; Rep. Darin LaHood, (R) Illinois; D.G. MacPherson, Chairman and CEO, W.W. Grainger; Tony Sarsam, CEO, SpartanNash and more, will join the What Works for the Global Workforce session at the 2025 World Economy Summit. As talent retention, recruitment, and workplace culture evolve in response to economic and technological shifts, this session explores how employers, workers, and policymakers can create win-win dynamics that meet the needs of a changing labor landscape.

April 25, 2025 | Washington, DC | Learn More

UK more skeptical of China investment

The UK government moved to take control of the country’s last major steel mill Saturday, in a bid to stop its Chinese owners from shutting it down. The new legislation appeared to mark a step toward nationalizing the plant. The Labour-led government insisted that UK national security was at risk after British Steel’s owner, Jingye Group, canceled orders for the materials it needs to run the mill’s furnaces, signaling an imminent shutdown. That would leave the UK reliant on foreign — mostly Chinese — steel imports amid rising global tensions, including the potential for a future military conflict where steel is at a premium. Officials said they will now take a more skeptical approach to Chinese investment in sensitive sectors.

Australia has a housing problem

Housing prices could be the deciding factor in Australia’s upcoming election. The cost of buying a home has climbed 39% in five years — it takes the average person about 10 years just to save the deposit, the BBC reported. Rents are also higher than before, while wages have not kept pace. Australia’s population has grown rapidly, but there aren’t enough homes to accommodate it, while planning laws make it hard to build in places people want to live, like Melbourne and Sydney. Both major parties have promised to build more houses, and the conservative Liberal-National Coalition has also promised to cut migration. Australia is not alone: Housing costs have outstripped inflation in much of the world, leading to widespread protests in European cities.

Biggest brain map ever

Scientists created the biggest mammalian brain map ever — detailing just a cubic millimeter, or 0.2%, of a mouse brain. The 3D diagram captures more than 2.5 miles of wiring between more than 200,000 cells. It also maps neuronal activity on top of the wiring, an achievement that one scientist told Nature “really gives you an awe about the sense of complexity in the brain,” comparable to “looking up at the stars of night.” The work has already offered insights into how neurons form connections, and how the brain stores visual memories. The researchers hope eventually to chart the other 99.8% of the animal’s brain, something that one scientist said is both “totally doable, and I think it’s worth doing.”

April 14:

• The US Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against Meta goes to trial in Washington.
• Blue Origin launches its first rocket crewed solely by women, including Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez.
• Singapore is expected to ease its monetary policy.

During the 1970s, when many Americans considered graffiti a sign of urban blight, collector Martin Wong began amassing graffiti art, including pieces by Keith Haring and Lady Pink. Wong donated the collection to the Museum of the City of New York before his death in the 1990s, and it is now on display as part of a special exhibition. Wong’s collection celebrates the “intimacies of downtown New York at that time,” Hyperallergic’s editor-in-chief said on a recent podcast about the exhibition. Among the most exciting pieces are the 60 or so “black books,” curator Sean Corcoran said: These artist sketchbooks are essentially journals, giving a glimpse into the lives of some of New York’s most famous graffiti artists.

The Trump administration has been turbulent for many CEOs, including Booz Allen Hamilton boss Horacio Rozanski: Cost-cutting measures led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have put almost all of the company’s roughly $11 billion of annual sales in question.

One of DC’s biggest contractors, Booz Allen is now racing to salvage its relationship with the federal government, the source of 98% of its revenues, Semafor’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson writes. One reason why the White House should leave his contracts intact, Rozanski said: “Our stuff works and it saves money.”