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Win for Mark Carney: Despite Trade Turmoil, Canada’s Economy Is Expected to Grow and Deficit to Fall (New York Times)
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada presented a budget update this week showing that his government’s deficit would be less than projected last fall and that the country’s economy would most likely grow over the coming year despite several key industries being buffeted by President Trump’s tariffs.
The update underscored Carney's broad push to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States by expanding trade with other countries and cutting government spending in some areas to expand military spending and large infrastructure projects like pipelines and nuclear power reactors, the New York Times reports.
No Deal, No Relief: Trump Rejects Iran's Offer, Says Blockade Stays Until Nuclear Deal (Axios)
President Trump told Axios
he's going to keep Iran
under a naval blockade until the regime agrees to a deal that addresses US concerns about its nuclear program.
Trump said he saw the blockade as "somewhat more effective than the bombing," and said he had yet to order any kinetic action as of Tuesday night. He did post an AI-generated meme of himself holding a gun with a warning to Iran and the tagline, "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY."
For now, Trump sees continuing the blockade as his primary source of leverage, but he would consider military action if Iran still won't cave.
War Impact Meter #1: US Gas Prices Climb Further as Effects of War Reverberate (New York Times)
Oil prices surged to a new wartime high on Wednesday as the disruption to Persian Gulf energy supplies persisted. The effects are being felt far beyond the region, with the average price of US gasoline also at a record high since the start of the war in Iran.
The main international oil price, known as Brent crude, jumped nearly 8%, largely because investors were worried that the impasse in US-Iran talks could last for a while. That could keep Persian Gulf energy products from reaching the rest of the world for weeks or, in a worst-case scenario, months, the New York Times reports.
War Impact Meter #2: US Has Spent $25 Billion on Iran Conflict So Far, Pentagon Says (Bloomberg)
Pentagon officials said the Iran war had cost $25 billion so far, offering the estimate in a contentious congressional hearing that saw Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth trade barbs with Democrats over the administration’s handling of the conflict.
Hegseth told the House Armed Services Committee that the cost was worth it to make sure Iran didn’t obtain a nuclear weapon, even as Democrats said the figure underestimated the huge cost to US taxpayers.
Democratic lawmakers cast the conflict as a costly war of choice that Trump blundered into without a clear plan. Hegseth lashed out at them even before the questioning began, striking a defiant tone with the lawmakers whose support he’ll need to approve the budget request.
Redistricting Ruling: Supreme Court Curbs Use of Race in Drawing Voting Districts (Bloomberg)
The US Supreme Court limited the use of the Voting Rights Act to create predominantly Black or Hispanic election districts in a major constitutional ruling that buttresses Republican efforts to keep control of the House in this year’s midterms and beyond.
Voting 6-3 along ideological lines, the justices on Wednesday rejected a Louisiana congressional map that was drawn with a second majority-Black district after a lower court found an earlier map to be discriminatory. Writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito called the district an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
The ruling undercuts what had been the most significant remaining part of the Voting Rights Act, a law passed in 1965 to address rampant discrimination against Black voters. Although the court didn’t strike down the law or explicitly overrule any precedents, the majority set up a demanding new test for those seeking to create heavily minority districts.
No Fed Exit Yet: Jerome Powell Says He’ll Stay at Federal Reserve as Governor With ‘Low Profile’ (Bloomberg)
France's Green Push: Fossil-Fuel Exit Plan Unveiled by France at Colombia Climate Summit (Bloomberg)
France announced on Tuesday a national roadmap for phasing out oil, gas and coal during Colombia’s Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference, a first-of-its-kind summit being held in the coastal city of Santa Marta.
“We are very proud to be one of the first countries to publish a road map” for the transition, Benoît Faraco, France’s special envoy for climate negotiations, said during the plenary. “We have a clear objective to end fossil fuels with clear dates: 2030 for coal, 2045 for oil and 2050 for gas.”
The Santa Marta conference has drawn more than 50 countries but notably excludes major emitters such as China, the US and India. Its outcomes are expected to feed into a global roadmap process led by Brazil ahead of the United Nations’ COP31 climate negotiations later this year, to be held in Turkey.
Future of Photos: Apple Readies Photo-Editing Overhaul With New AI Tools in iOS 27 (Bloomberg)
Apple is planning a major overhaul of the built-in photo-editing features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, leaning heavily on artificial intelligence to better compete with Android devices.
The features will allow users to extend, enhance and reframe images using on-device AI models, with processing typically taking a few seconds.
Today
in Music Icons: The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters (New York Times)
More than 250 music insiders and six New York Times critics weighed in on who defines the new American songbook. Here, in an unranked list, are the artists the critics chose.
Some highlights include
Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson, Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliott, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, and Bruce Springsteen.
Box
Office Moonwalk: ‘Michael’ Surges to $97 Million Opening, Shattering Record for Music Biopics (Associated Press)
“Michael,” the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with $97 million in US and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, shattering a record debut for music biopics.
A highly authorized portrayal of the King of Pop, co-produced by the Jackson estate, Lionsgate’s “Michael” far surpassed previous biopic top performers like “Straight Outta Compton” (a $60.2 million debut in 2015) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($51 million in 2018).
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