Flagship

Iran says no high-level US talks planned

Iran contradicted the US’ assertion that the countries plan to hold high-level talks in Qatar on Tuesday to shore up their shaky ceasefire. The conflicting statements were the latest sign that “there seems to be little common ground — including what kind of talks are even taking place,” Politico wrote. Iran has looked to reassert leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting a France-backed plan to demine the waterway, saying Tehran would exclusively clear mines. But the regime faces an “expiration date on this weapon of mass disruption,” an expert told Foreign Policy, as countries increasingly find ways to circumvent Hormuz, likely forcing Iranian officials to exert pressure on Washington for sanctions relief.

China’s advantages from Iran energy crisis

China is emerging from the Iran war energy crisis with clear economic and geopolitical advantages, a new report argued. China’s oil stockpiles and deep push into renewables helped shield the country from the worst of the disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz’s closure, unlike several Asian economies, which had to enact emergency fuel rations and work-from-home orders. China’s relative insulation from supply and price shocks will “deepen economic dependencies” that Beijing could leverage for geopolitical advantage as it presents itself as “the stable global partner of choice,” The Asia Group wrote. Countries are buying more clean tech from China as a result of the war, and “even some US partners will have incentives to hedge back” toward Beijing.

Supreme Court expands Trump power

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted President Donald Trump the power to fire leaders of independent agencies — but affirmed the independence of the Federal Reserve. The two separate rulings amounted to a setback in Trump’s pressure campaign of the central bank, with the court curtailing his attempts to oust a Fed governor. But the justices expanded presidential power over other independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, ushering in a “drastic change to the government’s structure,” The New York Times wrote, and transforming Trump into “the most powerful figure to govern the United States in generations,” a legal expert argued in Vox. One dissenting justice warned that allowing Trump to fire independent regulators “promises to unleash only chaos.”

Planned VW layoffs add to Berlin’s woes

German politicians vowed Monday to prevent Volkswagen from cutting 100,000 jobs, as Berlin confronts the scale of the country’s industrial woes. The automaker’s reported planned layoffs and factory closures could amount to one of the biggest corporate reductions in history. It shows the “growing desperation” of Germany’s automotive sector, under pressure from Chinese competitors and US tariffs, Politico wrote. But the plans could hit hurdles since state politicians and labor union representatives together make up a majority of VW’s supervisory board. The prospective cuts are the latest blow to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, which is broadly unpopular amid an ascendant far right.

Burnham vows to ‘rewire’ Britain

The UK’s likely next prime minister pledged to redistribute political clout across the country, setting up a “No. 10 North” in Manchester. In a major policy speech outlining his goals, former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham on Monday promised “the biggest change in our lifetimes to the way the country is run,” leading to a “rewired Britain.” The idea of decentralizing fiscal power away from London is an unusual one for an incoming leader, but economists argue the UK has been held back by the concentration of economic activity in the capital. Burnham argues Greater Manchester, which has been granted more power in the last decade and achieved greater growth, is a case study in how devolution can work.

Russia’s fiscal discipline erodes

Moscow pushed through legislation allowing it to borrow more money, a rare belt-loosening from the fiscally conservative Kremlin that implies that the Russian system is eroding, a scholar argued. President Vladimir Putin has long boasted that Russia has the lowest public debt among G20 nations, but the Ukraine war has pushed defense spending to unsustainable levels and the federal deficit to 2.6% of GDP, Carnegie’s Alexandra Prokopenko wrote in the Financial Times. Putin’s “juggling act” of funding the war while limiting inflation and protecting growth is starting to fail, Prokopenko argued. Ukrainian attacks on energy and export infrastructure are also hurting the economy: Cities in occupied Crimea were left without power after drone strikes hit an electricity substation.

Yen weakens against dollar, rattling Japan

The yen fell to its weakest level against the US dollar since 1986, raising the prospect of renewed intervention from Japanese authorities. The currency slid as investors turned to the dollar on expectations that the US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates this year; Japan faces other structural pressures like a persistent trade deficits and reliance on imported energy. The currency’s weakness is boosting Japanese exporters’ profits and lifting the stock market, but it also raises import costs and threatens to fuel inflation. “Japan needs to step in again,” a Bloomberg strategist said. “Otherwise, this is a market clearly keen on testing pain points.”

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Comcast spinning off NBCUniversal

Comcast said Monday it plans to spin off NBCUniversal into a separate company, splitting its well-known media properties from its broadband arm. The broadcast giant became one of the largest US conglomerates by owning both on-screen media — like NBC News and Universal Pictures — and the pipelines that delivered it. But “this version of the conglomerate doesn’t work in the Trump era,” Semafor’s Rohan Goswami wrote, as the Trump administration has repeatedly targeted media companies on political and regulatory grounds. “There’s no upside to owning the pipes and the studio.” Bucking that trend: Corporate America is awaiting a merger of CBS and CNN following Paramount Skydance’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Spy chief warns of Iran-backed terrorism

The Iran war has raised the threat of Tehran-backed terrorism abroad, Australia’s spy chief said. In a recent speech, Mike Burgess detailed past antisemitic attacks in Australia carried out by Iran-aligned actors, and warned that active groups in Europe could expand their networks to other regions. Plausibly deniable hybrid warfare is on the rise: Russian sabotage operations increased fourfold between 2023 and 2024, one analysis found, and rose further last year, while UK intelligence warned of increasing cybersecurity risks from Chinese government-linked hacking groups. Western governments are responding. Canberra expelled Iran’s ambassador in 2025, the EU designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization this year, and NATO set up the “Baltic Sentry” group to defend underwater infrastructure.