Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
Trump to impose tariffs on more than 80 countriesPresident Trump is pushing ahead with his plans to transform the landscape of global trade, despite numerous legal challenges. At midnight tonight, the U.S. will impose a new batch of tariffs, ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, on more than 80 countries — replacing a global 10 percent tariff that expires at the same time. Over the past 17 months, the Trump administration has cycled through trade law after trade law as it tries to build a system to shield the U.S. economy from foreign competition. Trump implemented the expiring 10 percent tariff in February, after the Supreme Court struck down duties he imposed last year. The new tariffs will be issued under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs on foreign countries that engage in unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices. In particular, the administration has cited countries’ failure to block the importation of goods made by forced labor into their own countries, arguing that the U.S., which enforces such a ban, is left disadvantaged. In other Trump administration news:
Trump’s new demand puts Saudi nuclear deal in doubtA day after the U.S. signed a major nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, Trump added a new condition that could potentially upend the entire deal. In a social media post, the president said the arrangement would only go forward if the Saudi leaders agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. The demand could create a major roadblock because the Saudi government has made clear it has no intention of recognizing Israel without creating a pathway toward the creation of a Palestinian state. Not surprisingly, Israeli officials welcomed Trump’s new condition. Across the world, the nuclear agreement has faced criticism over the possibility that it could allow the Saudis to enrich their own nuclear material. Trump asserted today that the deal would not allow that, contradicting officials in his own government.
Oil hits $100 a barrelThe price of oil hit $100 a barrel today for the first time since May, after Iran’s Houthi allies claimed to have struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. Trump threatened to inflict “major military punishment” on both Iran and the Houthis if they attacked any more ships. Some investors are betting that the heightened oil prices will be short-lived, but neither the U.S. nor Iran has signaled much appetite for a return to negotiations. In Washington today, a narrow bipartisan majority of the House voted a second time to direct Trump to end the war in Iran. For more in the Middle East: Chaos broke out today at the border between Iraq and Iran.
Could A.I. do your job?Several companies have recently cut jobs after determining that A.I. tools could perform work once assigned to humans. But we wanted to know just how good the current generation of A.I. bots are at performing typical office work. So my colleagues conducted an experiment. They gave an A.I. tool full access to a laptop and asked it to complete a series of tasks. Here’s how it went. For more: If you use chatbots, you might be surprised what they know about you. Our personal tech columnist shows how to find out. More top news
Listen to these famous voicesPerhaps no genre benefits more from an author-narrated audiobook than the celebrity memoir. There’s something enchanting, almost intimate, about hearing a famous person’s life story in their own, instantly recognizable voice. It’s like being in the front row at a one-person show. My colleague Elisabeth Egan, a writer for our Book Review, recommended some of her favorite celebrity audiobooks. Check out her picks.
It’s like the Olympics for mathEvery four years, the prestigious Fields Medals are awarded to some of the most accomplished mathematicians under the age of 40. This year’s prizes were handed out today to Hong Wang, Jacob Tsimerman, John Pardon and Yu Deng. They each have spent their careers working on problems that seem almost impossibly complex. But it’s always fun to read about what the some of the world’s sharpest minds are spending their time on. Pardon focused on theoretical loops; Wang delivered a proof about a spinning pencil.
Dinner table topics
Cook: Try this vivid kale sauce pasta. Watch “Hadestown.” The soulful Broadway musical translates well onscreen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
