Flagship

Trump threatens Insurrection Act

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to deploy the military in the state of Minnesota to quell widespread protests over an immigration crackdown. Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act — days after a federal agent fatally shot a US citizen in Minneapolis, and hours after another immigration officer wounded a man — reflects the president’s emboldened push for military intervention both at home and abroad. From Venezuela to Minnesota to Iran, Trump is remaking “the borders of American state power, collapsing the foreign and the domestic in a single domain of impunity,” Equator magazine argued, by redirecting legal authority and institutional power to assert dominance.

Machado meets Trump at White House

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House Thursday didn’t appear to shift the US president’s approach to Caracas’ leadership. Machado said she gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize as she pushes for a democratic transition in Venezuela, but the White House “made clear it was a courtesy meeting,” The Wall Street Journal wrote. Trump has pursued a two-track strategy of outreach to the opposition, while also pressuring — and at times praising — Caracas’ interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez. Both she and Machado are fighting to convince Trump… that they are the right people to lead,” El País wrote. The power struggle comes as US forces on Thursday seized another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.

Canada, China pledge closer ties

Canada and China pledged to expand energy ties on the first day of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing. The countries are “at a new starting point” after years of tension, China’s premier said. Carney, who meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday, is pursuing a balancing act, though, as he seeks to diversify Ottawa’s export markets in the face of US protectionism without antagonizing Washington. Beijing’s warm reception for Carney also reflects Xi’s attempts to court US allies that have been spurned by US President Donald Trump, analysts noted: The UK and Germany’s leaders are poised to visit China in the coming weeks. But China’s massive trade surpluses with Western economies could hinder its efforts to pull them away from Washington.

India’s exports hold up despite tariffs

India’s exports narrowly ticked up in December while its shipments to the US fell just 1% despite steep US tariffs, new data showed. India’s trade deficit widened but remains “under control,” as the country pivoted to China and Africa to diversify trading partners, an ING researcher wrote, noting that electronics have especially bolstered India’s exports. While some local media hailed the figures as proof that “the fear of Trump’s tariffs has dissipated,” an Indian economics professor argued the data masks deeper vulnerabilities: Regional economic divisions are quickly emerging, as the country’s South and West manufacture high-tech exports, while the North produces low-value agricultural goods and remains disconnected from global supply chains.

US jobless claims fall

US jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than a month, keeping the cooling labor market on solid footing. Consumers, however, remain downbeat and expect unemployment to rise this year. Beyond the headline numbers, the manufacturing sector has emerged as especially vulnerable, experts noted: Manufacturing jobs have declined every month since President Donald Trump launched his 2025 tariff salvo, which the White House said would herald an onshore factory renaissance. “Global supply chains took years to develop,” a Cato Institute economist wrote. “They’ll take even longer to reorganize [if] they don’t break altogether.”

China probes travel giant

China’s antitrust watchdog opened a probe into travel giant Trip.com, part of Beijing’s campaign to stamp out aggressive competition that drives down prices. The investigation is a “warning shot” to businesses accused of abusing their strong market positions, Trivium China analysts wrote. Trip.com, whose shares plummeted Thursday, has fielded allegations of lowering hotel prices to undercut rivals; China’s food delivery platforms that waged a race-to-the-bottom price war are facing similar scrutiny. The probes don’t signal a return to the era of tech crackdowns that shook investor confidence five years ago, a Reuters columnist noted, partly because they’re not driven by founders falling out of grace with Beijing. “That makes China’s antitrust regime more predictable.”

CEOs to keep spending on AI

Global CEOs expect spending on AI to double in 2026, as they remain confident about their investments paying off, a survey found. A BCG poll of 2,360 business leaders found that 94% of CEOs plan to continue investing in AI even if there are no immediate returns on their outlay in 2026. Their optimism is largely driven by the rapid development of AI agents — tech that can take autonomous action on a user’s behalf — the report said. The findings were not uniform, however: CEOs in India and China were more bullish on their AI investments than their counterparts in the US, UK, and Europe, many of whom said they were partly investing in AI to “avoid falling behind.”

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Big Tech scoops up commodity interests

Amazon is buying the US’ first new copper output in more than a decade to support its data center buildout, part of a wider Big Tech trend of acquiring energy and commodity interests higher in the supply chain. The AI boom is spurring demand for copper and other precious metals globally, and suppliers are eager to cash in: Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled mining company will invest $110 billion in production over the next 10 years, its CEO told Semafor. Tech companies are also looking for creative ways to power their data centers. Microsoft pledged to cover energy and water costs for its facilities, Alphabet bought an energy infrastructure company, and Meta agreed to purchase power directly from nuclear power firms.

Wind and solar surge in Uzbekistan

An acute water shortage in Uzbekistan has crippled hydropower production but pushed the country toward wind and solar. The country saw significant declines in river inflows and reservoir levels, leading to a 20% drop in hydropower production last year. But total renewable energy rose 29% in 2025, the energy ministry said, as solar and wind generation more than doubled compared to the previous year; hydropower’s share of the energy mix fell from 10% in 2024 to 7.3% last year. The country plans