u/LlawEreint

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stressed the importance of "opening other horizons" at a time when both Mexico and the European Union are grappling with US President Donald Trump's tariff offensive.

The updated agreement to be signed by Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the eighth EU-Mexico Summit removes most remaining barriers to trade and investment.

It facilitates trade in auto parts, a sector particularly affected by Trump's tariffs.

"Mexico wants to reduce its dependence on its northern neighbor, but also on Asian, or rather, Chinese, supply chains, and in Europe we are pursuing the same objectives," an EU official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

• Turkey dumped $13.98B in US Treasuries in March, an 89% liquidation in one month, as the lira came under intense pressure from the Iran war
• China cut holdings by $41B to $652B, their lowest since 2008, while Japan sold $48B as foreign holdings fell $139B in March alone
• The $139B March decline was the largest monthly drop since September 2022, with only the UK buying, adding $30B to a record $927B

A surge in cashless payments since the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the euro zone's reliance on U.S. firms, which ‌handle nearly two thirds of card payments in the bloc. Companies such as PayPal (PYPL.O), opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab have also expanded.

European policymakers have made payments sovereignty a strategic priority, as a fragmenting global order raises the risk of access to payments systems being weaponised and new forms of money challenge the euro's role.

The ECB is looking to introduce a digital euro by 2029 - essentially an online wallet guaranteed by the ECB but operated by private companies including banks.

European banks, however, have ​expressed concerns that a digital euro would see customers transfer some cash from banks to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet, and are exploring different options.

The ⁠US opening of ​a larger diplomatic hub in Greenland on Thursday was met by demonstrators opposed to President ​Donald Trump's ambition for greater influence in the Arctic island, while local government ministers shied away from the event. Moving from a wooden cabin on the outskirts of Nuuk to ​a much larger ‌downtown office, the new United States consulate has become a ⁠focal point for Greenlanders unhappy with Trump's stated desire to control the island.

Two senior systems engineers at the Ministry of Defence have broken cover to warn that Palantir, the US AI surveillance firm with at least £670m in UK government contracts, poses “a national security threat to the UK.”

The insiders, speaking to The Nerve, a new investigative outlet founded by former Guardian journalists, say ministerial assurances that data remains under British ownership are “ignorant” and miss the point entirely.

“We are on their border, we are a democratic nation, we stand for the rule of law, we are a threat to everything that MAGA and the extreme right in the United States stands for and believes in, and we will continue to hold the line.

This is the beginning of yet another onslaught by MAGA to threaten and intimidate us. Hold the line.

We don’t bend. We don’t break. And we will never kiss that gangsters ring.”

“A jump in the cost of gasoline and groceries pushed the consumer price index (CPI), showing the rate prices rose by in the past 12 months, to 3.8%.”

But the world is also dragged down by U.S. economic and military aggression. For example:

UK: 3% - https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices

South Korea 2.6% - https://tradingeconomics.com/south-korea/inflation-cpi

Canada: 2.8% - https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/price-indexes/cpi/

Is China the only country strong enough to stand in defiance of U.S. economic aggression ? What if we all stood together?

From the article:

A new study from North Dakota State University says China’s retaliatory tariffs are causing greater losses for U.S. agricultural exports than the previous trade war.

The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) – the world’s most important mathematics conference and the venue for awarding the prestigious Fields Medal – is facing worldwide opposition because the US is hosting this year’s event in Philadelphia in July.

More than 2,300 mathematicians from at least 76 countries have signed an online petition to “move the 2026 ICM out of the US” and “commit not to participate in the ICM if it is to be held in the US”.

A United States attack on Cuba would “trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences”, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warns.

And he insists the Trump administration is attempting to manufacture a pretext to do exactly that.

“I was not aware of the relationship,” Ambassador Hoekstra told PressProgress about the apparent collaboration between an Alberta separatist group called the Centurion Project and a Michigan-based right-wing political group called 10xVotes.

Supermarkets across several European Union countries are reporting a marked decline in consumer demand for American-made products.

While local and European goods continue to sell out after the weekend, shelves stocked with U.S. imports — such as soft drinks, breakfast cereals, ketchup, and snack foods — remain noticeably full.

According to a study by The Reputation Institute, Canada has been named the most loved country in the world.
In second and third place are Norway and Sweden, while Switzerland and Australia round out the top 5.

“The Reputation Institute issues a yearly report of the countries with the ‘best reputations’ worldwide. Effective governments, an appealing environment and an advanced economy were the main categories for the survey. Questions to respondents range from how a country is admired to their trust and overall sentiments towards that country.”

Cuba is alleging that the US is looking for a pretext to invade it, and accuses the Trump administration of fabricating a case to justify the economic sanctions strangling the communist nation. This comes in the wake of a US media report based on classified intelligence claiming Havana acquired hundreds of drones and could use them to target Guantanamo Bay.

The whole world wants to consume Canadian:

Record $289B raised in 2025, but geopolitical risk reshapes where global capital wants to go.

Canada has claimed the top spot as the world's most attractive infrastructure investment market for the first time, displacing the United States in the latest Infrastructure Pulse survey compiled by Alvarez & Marsal in partnership with the Global Infrastructure Investor Association.

Cuban officials say the island has completely run out of diesel, crude and fuel oil amid the ongoing U.S. blockade.