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US markets rise despite Fed probe

US markets climbed Monday despite the Trump administration’s escalated attacks on the Federal Reserve. Several former policymakers and Fed chiefs came out against the federal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell, calling it an “unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence.” But with Powell’s term ending in May, traders don’t expect the probe to impact immediate interest rate decisions. There’s “too many good things” happening short term to spark a selloff, one strategist said. Still, the investigation sends a warning to Powell’s successor that Trump “intends to take control of the central bank, no matter what the law or the courts say,” The Wall Street Journal’s chief economics commentator wrote.

Iran’s options appear limited

President Donald Trump on Monday said any country doing business with Iran would face 25% US tariffs, after Tehran said it was prepared for either “war” or dialogue with Washington. Following mass anti-government protests, Iran enacted an internet blackout and promoted pro-government rallies, but the regime’s options appear increasingly limited as Trump also weighs military action over reports of hundreds of protesters being killed. Geopolitically weakened, Iran can’t expect its ally Russia to come to its aid, beyond shipping helicopters and harboring fleeing leaders, Carnegie Politika wrote. And while China denounced “interference” in Iran, an influential Chinese nationalist blog wrote the country shouldn’t “take the bullet” for its embattled partner, arguing Tehran hasn’t proven its value to Beijing.

Germany, India vow closer security ties

Germany and India vowed to strengthen economic and security ties on Monday, as both look to reduce their dependence on China and hedge against US-driven uncertainty. New Delhi is “reorienting its partnerships” amid high US tariffs, The Economic Times wrote, and Europe is the “most viable counterweight” to Washington’s economic pressure. Germany’s chancellor, who met the Indian prime minister in Gujarat, said the EU and India could sign a landmark free trade agreement this month. The world’s third- and fifth-largest economies have not traditionally had close defense ties, but geopolitical shifts are changing that calculus, too: Germany is building up its defense base as Russia’s threat grows, and Berlin is eager to weaken New Delhi’s defense ties with Moscow.

Alphabet joins $4 trillion club

Google’s parent company hit a $4 trillion market valuation on Monday after Apple picked Google’s Gemini to power its AI products. Alphabet joins Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple in the $4 trillion club — all reached the milestone in the last six months, fueled by the AI boom and enthusiasm over tech stocks. Gemini will be used to revamp Siri, a move that bolsters Google’s position in its competition with OpenAI, which previously struck its own partnership to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones. Apple has faced criticism over its AI efforts, especially its long-delayed overhaul of Siri, with the company instead opting to roll out “a subtle, sometimes invisible, occasionally resented form of AI,” TechCrunch wrote.

Meta hires ex-Trump adviser for AI buildout

Meta on Monday tapped a former Donald Trump adviser as its president and vice chair as the tech giant pours more capital into its AI ambitions. Dina Powell McCormick, a Goldman Sachs veteran who cultivated ties with Middle East sovereign wealth funds, is set to oversee Meta’s $600 billion infrastructure buildout over the next decade. Her appointment suggests Meta could follow other tech companies, including Nvidia and OpenAI, in pursuing AI-related partnerships and investments in the Gulf. The hire — hailed by the US president — also reflects the rightward pivot of Mark Zuckerberg, who was early to warm to Trump and reorient Meta’s policies toward more conservative and centrist causes.

Tensions between US grids and Big Tech

US electrical grids, unable to keep up with growing demand, are urging Big Tech firms to build their own power sources alongside new data centers. The AI-led data center boom means hundreds of gigawatts of additional sources are required, but municipalities cannot bring new power online that fast, and aging grids could not handle them if they did, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some operators have proposed giving new data centers access to power only if they agree to disconnect from the grid at times of high demand, something AI firms resist, saying facilities need to run constantly. An alternative option is a “bring your own generation” model, only permitting new installations if tech companies come with purpose-built power.

‘Are You Dead?’ tops China app list

China’s new No. 1 paid app poses a simple question to users that speaks to deeper social concerns. Are You Dead? has gone viral in recent days as people young and old who live alone have embraced the tool as an effective way to check in with loved ones. China is set to have 200 million one-person households by the end of the decade, according to state media: Fertility rates are dropping, marriages are declining, and life expectancy is lengthening. Young people in particular are facing a worsening job and social landscape, a Chinese business outlet wrote, and the app’s popularity shows that they “crave a signal of being seen and understood, a warm embrace from society.”

Murders fall in London

London saw its lowest murder rate on record last year, countering a right-wing narrative that the city is dangerous. In 2025, 97 people were murdered, 1.1 per 100,000 inhabitants; for comparison, New York City, which has seen a huge decline in violent crime since the 1990s, has a homicide rate of 2.8/100,000. London’s police commissioner said it was “an extraordinarily safe global city,” expressing frustration with the “crazily polarized debate” fueled by comments from tech billionaire Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump suggesting rampant lawlessness in the capital. Polls show that Londoners broadly feel safe in their town, although property theft, particularly phone snatching and shoplifting, has leapt up in recent years.

Far right romanticizes Rhodesia

Nostalgia for the colonial-era white-minority ruled state of Rhodesia — now Zimbabwe — is spreading online among the far right and finding favor among some US tech founders. In recent posts, Elon Musk and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale have portrayed Rhodesia as a cautionary tale for the US: The former British colony waged a bloody civil war to prevent Black-majority rule, backed by apartheid South Africa, and only gained international recognition when it became Zimbabwe under the first government of Robert Mugabe. Its history is gaining renewed currency as pro-Rhodesia memes and merch circulate widely online in hard-right circles — rhetoric that carries a bloody recent history. An American styling himself “The Last Rhodesian” murdered nine Black churchgoers in 2015.

Roman villa uncovered in Wales

A huge Roman villa was discovered under a deer park in Wales. The fourth-century dwelling was a “really impressive and prestigious” building, an archaeologist told the BBC. It is also extraordinarily well preserved: The land was used as an abbey and as a deer park for centuries, and so has never been plowed; the villa’s remains are just three feet below the surface. The find shows that Wales, at the far west of the empire’s reach, wasn’t “some sort of borderland” but contained buildings “as sophisticated and as high status” as the rest of Roman Britain, with the villa at the center of a busy local economy. The find could be “Port Talbot’s Pompeii,” the archeologist said.