Author: potus

Scholars and political commentators should occasionally look back on their forecasts and consider what they got wrong. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Tom Friedman, Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Janan Ganesh, Fareed Zakaria, Glenn Greenwald, Ian Bremmer, Anne Applebaum, and other prominent pundits did an annual retrospective on what they had misunderstood or misread over the previous year? None of us are infallible, and if you believe Philip Tetlock, even knowledgeable experts have trouble anticipating the future. Reflecting on our own errors is always instructive and doing so publicly helps everyone learn from our mistakes. I’ve performed this kind of self-criticism…

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Ukrainian delegation set to meet with America’s top diplomat in Saudi Arabia about ending the 3-year war with Russia will propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners, two senior Ukrainian officials said Monday.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about Tuesday’s meeting, also told The Associated Press that the Ukrainian delegation is ready during the talks to sign an agreement with the United States on access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals — a deal…

Mark Carney, a former central banker, swept to the leadership of Canada’s Liberal Party on Sunday and will become prime minister at a critical moment for the country, which is facing threats to its economy and sovereignty from President Trump.Mr. Carney, who has never been elected to public office, was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global financial crisis and governor of the Bank of England during Brexit. He was also a successful banker in the private sector, amassing a significant personal fortune. He dominated the Liberals’ leadership race, securing a decisive win. But because the party…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday in a case from Colorado to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children.The conservative-led court is taking up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.The justices also have heard arguments in a Tennessee case over whether state bans on treating transgender minors violate the Constitution. But they have yet to issue a decision.Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the…

Nuuk, Greenland – Greenland’s most popular social media influencer announced her political bid just weeks ahead of Tuesday’s elections as she felt the winds of change blowing across the vast Arctic island. “This is truly a historic moment. I feel like we are finally voting on independence. This has primarily happened because the US is showing greater interest in Greenland,” Qupanuk Olsen, the 39-year-old running with the pro-independence opposition party Naleraq in the parliamentary vote, told Al Jazeera. “It’s a huge wake-up call.” Usually, she spends her time updating her hundreds of thousands of social media followers about everyday life…

China anunció el sábado aranceles de hasta el 100 por ciento sobre la canola, la carne de cerdo y otros alimentos procedentes de Canadá, en represalia por la decisión canadiense del pasado agosto de cobrar fuertes impuestos a las importaciones de vehículos eléctricos, acero y aluminio chinos.Los aranceles chinos, que entran en vigor el 20 de marzo, fueron también una clara advertencia a Canadá —e, indirectamente, a México— para que no coopere con Estados Unidos en materia comercial. El gobierno del presidente Donald Trump, al igual que el gobierno de Joe Biden antes que él, ha estado exigiendo que Canadá…

Abraham Lincoln suggested the United States was “the last, best hope of Earth.” Ronald Reagan celebrated it as a “shining city on a hill.” George W. Bush argued that the nation was “the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.”But to President Trump, America is the all-powerful player in a series of high-stakes transactions.“You don’t have the cards right now,” he lectured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in their extraordinary Oval Office showdown.Mr. Trump is radically different from his Republican predecessors in countless ways. But rarely is the contrast starker than in his approach to American leadership in…

The Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang warns US-South Korean exercises threaten “conflict”.North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles as South Korea and the United States initiated military drills. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that North Korea’s fifth launch event this year fired several missiles off the west coast into the sea. The launch came as South Korea and the US began their annual Freedom Shield joint exercises. The drills are scheduled to last until March 20. That drew condemnation from nuclear-armed Pyongyang, which issued a statement calling the exercises a “dangerous provocative act” that increases the risk…

JABLEH, Syria (AP) — Syria’s interim government signed a deal Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army.The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.The deal was signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.The deal to be implemented by the end…

In Trump’s idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system.The desire to recreate that era is fueled by Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his admiration for the nation’s 25th president, William McKinley.Though Trump’s early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent — with him imposing them, then pulling many back — he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism. There have even been suggestions that higher import tariffs on the country’s foreign trading partners could…