In the pantheon of global tech gatherings, few have grown as quickly or at the scale of Web Summit. The conference, which began in Dublin in 2009 before moving its annual flagship edition to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, in 2016, has become a prime fixture of the conference circuit—so much so that conference organizers warned…
The leaders of the United States and China, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, appeared to set their trade war aside at a meeting this week in South Korea. Officials suggest their agreement could evolve into a strategic reset for the countries—though many analysts believe tensions over trade and other issues will persist. Is China deliberately…
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping used their first meeting since Trump returned to office to agree to a temporary truce on their trade tensions, stopping short of a full agreement but dialing back some of their harshest mutual countermeasures. It leaves the U.S.-China trade relationship only slightly worse than it was…
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. efforts to diversify trade in Asia, Argentina’s surprise midterm election results, and Jamaica bracing for a Category 5 hurricane. A Budding Friendship This week is all about trade policy for U.S. President Donald Trump. After a whirlwind weekend at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…
The current trade confrontation between the United States and China may look like a repeat of the episode from earlier this year: Washington has rolled out sky-high tariffs, while China has clamped down on the supply of rare earths. Many observers, reportedly including Chinese President Xi Jinping, expect the outcome will be the same, too:…
The tenuous trade truce between Washington and Beijing has collapsed. What lies ahead is less a conventional trade war and more of a sustained struggle in which both powers codify coercion into their economic statecraft and increasingly weaponize interdependence as a source of leverage. In this new, emerging phase, confrontation will no longer be perceived…
When Maleshoane Rakojoana was furloughed from her job at a Lesotho clothing factory nearly three months ago, it turned her whole family’s life upside down. No longer able to afford the rent, they had to leave the capital, Maseru, and move in with relatives, miles away from where her children go to school. Because Rakojoana…
U.S. President Donald Trump has given Russian President Vladimir Putin a lot of rope over the past eight and a half years, but his patience now appears to be rapidly diminishing as he grows frustrated with Putin’s refusal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump cut short a 50-day deadline that he had given Russia…
Last week, U.S. chip designer Nvidia announced that it would resume sales of one of its best-selling artificial intelligence chips to China after obtaining the go-ahead from the U.S. government. In April, the Trump administration had blocked exports of the chip, known as the H20, but after months of lobbying from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang,…
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at how Japan’s election results could hamper U.S. trade talks, Israeli forces attacking Gaza’s main humanitarian aid hub, and a deadly plane crash in Bangladesh. Election Defeat Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed on Monday to remain at his post despite his ruling coalition suffering a devastating…