Strategic Autonomy: Can Europe Break Free from the US?

Aug 20, 2026 | Europe is reassessing its place in a rapidly destabilizing world.

A stark warning from Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney — that reliance on the United States has become a “weakness” — is now echoing across Europe, where leaders are confronting growing uncertainty about Washington’s long-term commitments.

At a key meeting in Poland, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk discussed deeper defense cooperation, including nuclear deterrence coordination and joint military projects.

The push reflects a broader debate over “strategic autonomy” — Europe’s ability to defend itself and act independently on the global stage — as tensions with Russia persist and divisions widen over conflicts such as the war involving Iran.

But how realistic is Europe’s ambition to become a true geopolitical power? And can it reduce its dependence on the United States without weakening its own security?

We speak to Steven Everts, director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies.

Tim Cook Will Step Down as Apple C.E.O.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The longtime leader of the iPhone maker will be replaced by John Ternus, the company’s head of hardware engineering.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said on Monday that he would step down after nearly 15 years running an operation that rode the wild popularity of the iPhone to become one of the most influential and valuable companies in the world.

Mr. Cook, 65, will move into a new role as Apple’s executive chairman in September and be succeeded in the company’s corner office by John Ternus, the 50-year-old head of Apple’s hardware engineering.

The retirement of Mr. Cook will end one of the most successful management runs in the history of American business. During his tenure, Apple’s annual profit quadrupled to more than $110 billion, while its value ballooned more than tenfold to $4 trillion.

Mr. Cook replaced the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs shortly before Mr. Jobs’s death in 2011, having earned a reputation for perfecting the nuts and bolts of a global consumer electronics business. Apple has since defined how a modern technology company operates, with products assembled in a supply chain that stretches from the giant operations that Mr. Cook helped create in China to India and Brazil and a popular retail business that operates on five continents. » | Kalley Huang and Tripp Mickle | Reporting from San Francisco | Monday, April 20, 2026

The Insider Trading Suspicions Looming Over Trump's Presidency | BBC News

Apr 20, 2026 | Throughout US President Donald Trump's second term in office, traders have been betting millions of dollars just before he makes major announcements.

The BBC has found a consistent pattern of spikes in trades and finical markets just hours, or sometimes minutes, before the president's most significant market-moving statements were made public.

Some analysts say it bears the hallmarks of illegal insider trading, whereby bets are made by people based on information that is not available to the general public.

While others say that some traders have become more adept at anticipating the president's interventions.

Steve Rosenberg: Who Are the Kremlin's Friends in the West?

Apr 20, 2026 | One Russian paper today claims “Life has become four times more joyous.” Another reports the country’s economic reserves are “largely exhausted.” Plus: “a new drop in the approval rating of the [Russian] authorities.” And who are the Kremlin’s friends in the West?

Iran War: Trump Threatens to ‘Blow Up Whole Country’

Apr 19, 2026 | Iranian state media has just announced a team from Iran will not be taking part in the new round of peace talks in Pakistan.

President Trump said he was sending a delegation to Islamabad for the talks on Monday night, and warned every power plant and every bridge in Iran would be knocked out if the regime does not agree to his terms.

‘You Don’t Own Iran’: Lula Goes Nuclear on Trump In Explosive Speech; ‘Don’t Lie to Destroy Nations’

Apr 19, 2026 | Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered a powerful and highly critical speech, directly targeting global powers and accusing world leaders, including Donald Trump, of spreading false narratives to justify wars and interventions. Speaking at an international summit in Barcelona, Lula strongly condemned past conflicts including the Iran war, Gaza genocide, and military interventions in the Middle East. He called for an end to what he described as the use of misinformation to destroy nations and demanded greater respect for international institutions like the United Nations. His remarks also highlighted how regions such as Latin America and the Arab world are often misrepresented in global discourse. The speech has sparked intense debate across diplomatic circles, marking one of Lula’s most forceful public interventions on global politics.

Kuba-Krise: Spanien, Mexiko und Brasilien schlagen Alarm

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Nach monatelanger Ölblockade der USA verschärft sich die Krise in Kuba. Spanien, Mexiko und Brasilien drängen auf eine Lösung.

In einer gemeinsamen Erklärung haben Spanien, Mexiko und Brasilien ihre Besorgnis über die schwere humanitäre Krise in Kuba zum Ausdruck gebracht. Die drei Länder fordern einen respektvollen Dialog, um eine dauerhafte Lösung zu finden und die Selbstbestimmung des kubanischen Volkes zu gewährleisten, wie die Nachrichtenagentur AFP berichtet.

Die Regierungen von Spanien, Mexiko und Brasilien zeigten sich besorgt über die „dramatische Situation“ in Kuba, wie aus einer am Samstag veröffentlichten Erklärung des mexikanischen Außenministeriums hervorgeht. Die Karibikinsel leidet unter einer schweren wirtschaftlichen und humanitären Krise, die durch eine Ölblockade der USA unter Präsident Donald Trump weiter verschärft wurde, so AFP. » | Lea Brüggemann | Sonntag, 19. April 2026

À LIRE AUSSI :

L'Espagne, le Mexique et le Brésil appellent à un dialogue respectueux avec Cuba : Les États-Unis, opposés au pouvoir communiste à Cuba depuis qu’il a été établi en 1959, ont accentué en janvier leur pression économique sur le pays des Caraïbes de 9,6 millions d’habitants. »

Navidi: Straße von Hormus nicht wirklich offen | ntv

Apr 18, 2026 | Für die Zeit der Waffenruhe im Libanon hebt der Iran die Blockade der Straße von Hormus auf. Doch die Öffnung hat Einschränkungen: "Es ist freier", aber "nicht wirklich frei", erklärt Sandra Navidi. Trotz vorsichtigem Optimismus warnt die USA-Expertin vor Szenarien, die "zum Teil katastrophal" ausfallen könnten.

Iran’s Military Says It Has Reimposed ‘Strict Control’ of Strait of Hormuz

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The military said it would keep the vital waterway under its control until the U.S. ended its blockade of Iranian ports. The statement added to the uncertainty over access to the strait.

Iran said Saturday that it had reasserted control over the Strait of Hormuz because the United States was maintaining a naval blockade, just hours after Iranian officials and President Trump had said that the critical waterway was open, raising hopes for an end to the six-week war.

The announcement added more confusion to the status of transit through the strait, where Iran had choked global energy supplies by menacing nearby ships during the war with the United States and Israel. Iran’s military, in a statement carried by government media, said it was now “under strict control” unless the United States ended its own blockade of Iranian ports.

A day earlier, Iran’s foreign minister called the strait “completely open.” At the same time, however, Iranian officials had insisted ships would still need Iranian permission and must travel an Iranian-designated route.

Nonetheless, Mr. Trump framed the Iranian announcement as a breakthrough and presented the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as all but concluded. He immediately added, however, that the American naval blockade of Iran’s ports would remain in place until a deal was reached to end the war.

The president has often made overly optimistic claims about the war, which began in late February. Although Mr. Trump expressed confidence late Friday about the negotiations with Iran that he said would be happening over the weekend, no new face-to-face talks were announced as of Saturday morning.

Mr. Trump also claimed in a phone interview with CBS that Iran had “agreed to everything.” But Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, quickly denied Iran had agreed to any of their adversaries’ core demands.

The announcement of the strait’s reopening brought immediate relief to energy markets on Friday, sending international oil prices tumbling to around $90 a barrel.

Hopes for an end to the war were boosted by the 10-day cease-fire in Lebanon that went into effect on Friday. The deal prompted celebrations in Lebanon as thousands of displaced families made their way home, and there was heavy traffic again Saturday morning as people continued to head south.

Iran had demanded the truce with the United States extend to Lebanon as a condition for a broader deal. Mr. Trump and U.S. officials worked to make that happen, even as they denied they were trying to meet Iran’s conditions. Iran War Live Updates » | Aaron Boxerman, John Yoon, Ashley Ahn, Pranav Baskar and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad | Saturday, April 18, 2026

The Impossible Promise: Are We Witnessing the Return of Fascism?

THE GUARDIAN: Some of today’s far right is openly violent and undemocratic – and even in its less extreme forms, far-right populism is a profound threat. But that doesn’t mean it is just a re-run of history

…

EXTRACT:

Fascism emerged in the 20th century, amid societies that were scarred by the violence of the first world war and the instability, hunger and mass unemployment that trailed in its wake and where a growing workers’ movement threatened to wrest power from trad¬itional governing elites. In response to a feeling of national humiliation or betrayal, fascism promised national rebirth through the violent cleansing of enemies at home, and imperial conquest abroad, in return for abandoning democracy. Its base lay among the frustrated lower middle classes, but it rapidly gained cross-class support. Its supporters were organised into parties with uniformed paramilitary wings. They operated in what Paxton called an “uneasy but effective collaboration” with traditional governing elites, for whom fascism was a way to maintain order and crush the left. (Those elites were wrong: they saw fascism as their attack dog, but it ate them alive.)

Read the whole article, ‘The Long Read’, jere.

Iron Will: Australia’s Richest Person Counts the Cost as Court Orders She Share Mining Millions with Rival Family

THE GUARDIAN: Gina Rinehart, who’s been called Australia’s ‘female Donald Trump’, has long fought claims from the family of her father’s business partner – as well as her own children

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has political connections in the Trump White House and Australia’s parliament. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Australia’s richest person is reeling after a landmark court decision found her company must pay royalties worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a rival mining dynasty.

Gina Rinehart, a multibillionaire with political connections in both the White House and the Australian parliament, has been described by members of the US conservative movement as “a female Donald Trump”. The 72-year-old, who inherited her father’s iron ore empire in Australia’s Pilbara region, has fought multiple claims against the family company Hancock Prospecting that were first launched in 2010.

On Wednesday, in the Western Australian supreme court, Justice Jennifer Smith found that Wright Prospecting was entitled to its claim for a half share of royalties coming from one of the region’s largest projects – Hope Downs.

Hope Downs is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting and exports about 45m tonnes of iron ore annually from Australia’s north-west each year.

But Hancock Prospecting had a partial victory, with the court rejecting Wright Prospecting’s claim for an equity stake in other mining assets.

The dispute harks back to a business partnership struck in the 1950s by mining prospectors Lang Hancock and Peter Wright. The pair had been school friends and together established a company called Hanwright which was responsible for pegging out vast tenements of iron ore-rich deposits in the region’s Hamersley Range. » | Sarah Martin | Saturday, April 18, 2026

Full Story Posdcast HERE.

More Than Half of Britons Support Rejoining EU 10 Years On from Brexit Vote

THE GUARDIAN: Experts say Labour’s ‘halfway house’ approach risks losing support from progressives and ‘red wall’ voters

Support for rejoining the EU rather than simply rejoining the single market is growing among British voters, with more than 80% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green party supporters favouring this option, according to research mapping voter attitudes 10 years after the Brexit referendum.

Labour’s “muted” approach to the issue means it risks losing support among progressive voters and in “red wall” constituencies, experts have said as part of research by Best for Britain.

While 61% of all voters supported the government’s current approach to EU relations, only 19% did so “strongly”, the research showed.

A full return to the EU was supported by 53% of all voters with support at 83% among Labour voters, 84% Liberal Democrat and 82% Green, the polling found.

Of Conservative and Reform voters, 39% and 18% backed the policy respectively, Best for Britain found. » | Lisa O’Carroll | Friday, April 17, 2026

Stocks Extend ‘Astonishing’ Rally as Middle East Tensions Ease Further

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The S&P 500’s rise on Friday caps a striking three-week streak, powered by investors’ optimism about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and strong corporate earnings.

The stock market continued its record-setting rally on Friday, after Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz had reopened to commercial shipping, bolstering investors’ optimism that the conflict in the Middle East was nearing an end.

The S&P 500, which set a record high on Wednesday, rose an additional 1.2 percent on Friday, notching its best streak of daily gains so far this year.

Already this month, the S&P 500 has climbed almost 10 percent, which would be the best monthly gain since 2020 when markets were rebounding from the pandemic-induced sell-off. The index is nearly 4 percent higher than it was before the United States and Israel started attacking Iran on Feb. 28.

The Nasdaq Composite index, which is filled with technology stocks, has staged an even more ferocious rally. The index posted its 13th consecutive day of gains, its best run since 1992. » | Joe Rennison | Friday, April 17, 2026

Brazil Is One Step Ahead of Rising Oil Prices, Thanks to Sugarcane

Apr 14, 2026 | Brazil's ethanol industry, born out of an oil crisis in the 1970s and rooted in decades of sugarcane cultivation, is experiencing a new moment in the spotlight as rising oil prices driven by Middle East conflict once again highlight the value of energy independence.

All gasoline sold in the country contains 30 percent ethanol, and most Brazilian cars run on flex-fuel engines, a locally developed technology that lets drivers choose between gasoline and ethanol at the pump. The industry's backers say consumers have saved more than 40 billion dollars over the past three decades thanks to that flexibility.

Now, the next chapter is taking shape: Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, including BYD, are working to integrate Brazil's flex-fuel system into hybrid EVs, with the first ethanol-compatible hybrid set to launch in the coming weeks. Advocates argue ethanol and electrification are not rivals but partners in reducing fossil fuel dependence, pointing to both the environmental and economic benefits of a fuel that Brazil produces domestically.

More than 40 years after launching one of the world's most ambitious biofuel programs, Brazil finds itself ahead of the curve once again. Paulo Cabral reports from São Paulo.

Trump Can’t Dictate What Private Companies Do: Why We Should ‘Call His Bluff’ | Lord Vaizey

Apr 16, 2026 | “We live in a world where the Danish sent troops and blood banks to Greenland at the prospect of a possible invasion, so please can we start telling it like it is.”

We should “call Trump’s bluff”, says Times Radio’s Lord Vaizey as US-UK tensions persist.

Steve Rosenberg: In Russia, Botox Booming. But Economic Situation "Worse Than Forecast," Russian Papers Warn

Apr 17, 2026 | Today’s Russian papers report on Russia’s economic problems: “Managed cooling has turned into accelerating decline”; “economic situation worse than forecast”; “in a few months the IT industry may be in ruins.” But Botox foot injections are booming.

Stocks Approach Record High as Wall St. Looks Beyond War

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Investors appear to be treating an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as a foregone conclusion.

The S&P 500 approached a fresh record high on Wednesday, reflecting investors’ optimism that a peace deal would be reached before the war in Iran could inflict significant damage on corporate America, even as a spike in oil prices has led to a gloomier economic outlook.

In early afternoon trading, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent, putting the widely watched index on track to end the day above its previous peak, reached in January. The index had already erased its losses during the war in Iran and now sits nearly 2 percent higher than it was before the fighting began in late February.

Investors have been embracing signals in recent days that the United States and Iran could restart talks that ended last weekend in Pakistan without a deal but with comments from President Trump that he believed the war was nearing an end.

The mere posture toward peace has helped to placate the stock market. Since the cease-fire took hold last week, investors have noted a shift in tone by the Trump administration that reflects a desire to end the conflict soon. » | Joe Rennison | Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Krieg als „Geschäftsmodell“: Tod und Eskalation – wie die Trump Familie persönlich profitiert

Apr 15, 2026 | Der Irankrieg eskaliert, während Donald Trumps Vermögen wächst. Jede Äußerung von Trump beeinflusst Öl-, Rüstungs- und Kryptomärkte. Auffällig ist, dass Trumps Familie dort mitzumischen scheint, mit Investitionen, die direkt von seinen Entscheidungen profitieren. Dabei geht es nicht mehr nur um Geld, sondern um Menschenleben, die Nahrungsmittelversorgung von Millionen und die wirtschaftliche Existenz ganzer Länder. Diese Kolumne zeigt, wie der US-Präsident Politik zu seiner persönlichen Gelddruckmaschine gemacht hat – und was das über die amerikanische Werteordnung verrät.

Wunderbar ausgedrückt! Danke schön! — © Mark Alexander

How Hungary’s Election Result Could Change Europe | The Economist

Apr 13, 2026 | How could Hungary’s election result reshape Europe? Matt Steinglass, The Economist’s Europe editor and Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, discuss how Viktor Orban was ousted after 16 years in power, by Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition, and what the resounding result means for Hungary’s economy, democracy and its relationship with Vladimir Putin and the EU.

Steve Rosenberg: How Are Russian Newspapers Reacting to Viktor Orbán's Defeat?

Apr 12, 2026 | Here’s a look at what this morning’s Russian papers are saying about the Hungarian election and the defeat of Viktor Orbán. Plus, reports of “layoffs, production cuts” in Russia.