Flagship

US job growth stronger than expected

US employers added more jobs in January than economists had expected, but growth was concentrated in just a few sectors. Outside of health care, hospitality, and government, the economy has been “consistently losing jobs,” ING analysts wrote. “This will do nothing to relieve the pressure on household finances,” meaning consumer sentiment will likely remain dim. Health care has consistently powered job growth, thanks to America’s aging population. US President Donald Trump touted Wednesday’s headline figure pointing to a steadying US labor market, and reiterated his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. But analysts say the report won’t be enough to pull policymakers off of their path of holding rates steady until at least the summer.

Trump muses on quitting USMCA

US President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing exiting the North American trade pact he signed during his first term. The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is up for review this year, and the US trade representative said the White House would hold separate talks with both countries, characterizing Mexico as “pragmatic” and Ottawa as “challenging.” Striking bilateral deals is “so 2018,” a Globe and Mail columnist argued, recalling Trump’s first-term threats to cut Canada out of a free-trade agreement: “That is precisely why we cannot afford to tune him out.” Even the whiff of a US departure from the three-way pact would rattle investors and business groups, Bloomberg wrote, given that it covers $2 trillion in goods and services.

Trump says US still seeking Iran nuclear deal

US President Donald Trump said he insisted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that nuclear talks with Iran would continue, despite Israeli skepticism about a diplomatic breakthrough. Israel is inclined to support US military action against Tehran, Axios noted, and while Trump has launched a military buildup in the Gulf, he signaled preference for a nuclear deal, saying the next round of negotiations could happen next week. His closed-door meeting with Netanyahu Wednesday came about after Israel grew concerned Washington could compromise on critical points, or that Iran could renege on commitments it makes now, The Wall Street Journal wrote: It comes at what may be an “inflection point,” as Tehran rebuilds its ballistic-missile program after Israeli attacks degraded it last year.

Indonesia joins Gaza peacekeeping force

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will attend the first meeting of Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” next week, officials said Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country gears up for a bigger role in global diplomacy. Jakarta is also readying to deploy up to 8,000 soldiers to Gaza, the first country to make such a pledge in support of Trump’s planned multinational peacekeeping force in the war-torn region. While other governments have been less willing to send troops, Prabowo — who is also set to sign a trade deal with Washington — has ambitions to raise Indonesia’s international profile, the Financial Times wrote. The former general has called for an independent Palestine, but some believe he is softening his stance toward Israel.

Bangladesh returns to the polls

Bangladesh votes Thursday in its first election since a Gen Z-led uprising toppled the country’s India-allied leader in 2024 — a vote with far-reaching geopolitical implications. The outcome, analysts said, will determine how the populous South Asian nation balances ties with India, China, and the US: Dhaka bolstered ties with China and Pakistan in the last year as relations with India deteriorated. To counter Beijing’s growing influence in Bangladesh, Washington plans to offer the next government alternatives to Chinese military systems, Reuters reported. The US also lowered tariffs on Bangladesh in a new trade deal this week, a move likely aimed at reducing Dhaka’s imports from China. Bangladesh may be “becoming a new ‘proxy war’ ground,’” Indian outlet The Week suggested.

US, China eye military AI uses

US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Security Agency warned that China is pursuing powerful chips to develop AI-powered weapons — just as the Pentagon also embraces advanced tech tools. The US and China last week opted out of a global declaration on governing the deployment of AI in warfare, as both superpowers look to private-sector firms to advance their ambitions on the battlefield. OpenAI this week granted the US military unfettered access to ChatGPT after months of internal deliberations, Semafor Tech Editor Reed Albergotti reported: Defense tech is a hot area, but the gulf between pro-military and anti-military sentiment is growing in Silicon Valley, “rankling everyone from top executives to AI researchers.”

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Companies face pushback on ICE ties

Businesses are facing swelling blowback over their ties to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. More than 1,400 employees at Salesforce are circulating a letter calling on CEO Marc Benioff to cancel all potential business with ICE, following reports the company was pitching its technology to the agency. Employees at Google and Palantir have raised similar concerns, while French tech giant Capgemini announced it will sell its US subsidiary, which has a contract with ICE. Collectively, the ICE criticism marks a resurgence for employee activism, similar to US President Donald Trump’s first term, albeit slightly more subdued amid a weaker labor market. Tech workers have also pushed back on their companies’ work with the Israeli military.

EU ill-prepared for war with Russia

Europe is not ready for war with Russia, a wargame suggested, with a relatively small incursion by Moscow’s forces likely to overwhelm forces in a crucial city in Lithuania. The Die Welt-organized simulation imagined a 15,000-strong force attacking Marijampolė, a key highway hub, with the US declining to invoke Article 5 and European capitals slow to respond. The game saw Russia establish domination over the Baltics within a couple of days, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some defense officials said that intelligence warnings could have helped avoid disaster in real life, but others cautioned that Europe still needs time to build up its defenses. A Sky News-backed wargame imagining a Russian attack on Britain found London’s preparations similarly lacking.

AI decodes Roman board game

The rules of an ancient Roman board game may have been decoded by AI. The stone tablet with an etched hexagonal playing area was discovered in the Netherlands around a century ago. Researchers used AI agents to play thousands of games using 100 different ancient and modern rulesets, and compared results to the levels of wear on the board. It was likely a “blocking” game, with players trying to prevent each other’s moves — imagine tic-tac-toe but less basic — and is the earliest known example of such a game, Scientific American reported. It’s not AI’s first archaeological outing: It was used to decipher papyrus scrolls burned in the eruption of Vesuvius, and discover hitherto unknown structures in Peru’s Nazca Lines.