Canada will lower tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to the preferential most-favored-nation rate of 6.1% (down from 100%), in exchange for China reducing duties on Canadian canola and other agricultural products. The move was announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney during his state visit to Beijing with President Xi Jinping. The deal signals a strategic reset in bilateral ties and has prompted U.S. concerns over the impacts it could have on American auto workers. This is an economically hostile act, but in fairness it is totally legitimate decision for the leadership in Canada to make no matter the opinion of their neighbors to the south.

South Africa has opened an investigation into whether its military ignored President Cyril Ramaphosa's instructions limiting Iranian warships to observer status during recent BRICS-led naval drills off Cape Town (involving China as leader, Russia, Iran as new BRICS member, and the UAE). During the drills two Iranian warships participated actively, with the U.S. condemning the involvement as unconscionable amid Iran's domestic crackdowns and criticizing South Africa's ties with Tehran as anti-American. Iran will continue to be a quagmire for this alliance because although the alliance is comfortable with political systems western powers have long frowned upon, the recent behavior by the Iranian government is truly troubling from any perspective.

Ethiopian police seized 56,000 rounds of ammunition allegedly supplied by Eritrea to the Fano rebel group waging an insurgency in Amhara since 2023, along with arresting two suspects. This police action heightens tensions between former Tigray war allies, with Eritrea rejecting the claims as baseless pretexts for conflict. Ethiopia is currently at a crossroads and how this unfolds will have implications not only for Ethiopia and Ethiopians but for the entire region of East Africa.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with interim President Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas to discuss intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and preventing Venezuela from serving as a haven for U.S. adversaries like narcotraffickers. This is the highest-level U.S. visit since the military seizure of Nicolás Maduro nearly two weeks prior supports the interim government for short-term stability, while coinciding with U.S. seizure of the sixth Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean. There doesn't appear to be too much turbulence on the ground in Venezuela currently, at least not at scale, so despite the deplorable nature of this imperial act of regime change, this perhaps will not lead to sustained conflict.

A federal court has ruled that the Department of Energy's cancellation of billions in clean energy grants was unlawful, citing violations of constitutional principles through targeted impacts on projects in specific states. The decision vacated terminations for seven grants. The case itself stemmed from lawsuits by environmental and local government groups, and preserves over $7.5 billion in funding for solar, efficiency, and related initiatives. This is an interesting case, I wonder if it will stand or be appealed by the federal government and overturned by a higher court.

The U.S. Senate approved an appropriations package significantly increasing support for major scientific institutions, including $8.75 billion for the National Science Foundation (well above proposed cuts), stable funding for NASA, and boosts for NIST and NOAA. The measure rejects President Trump's deep proposed reductions (e.g., 57% to NSF, 50% to NASA's science program), maintaining the ability for institutions to continue to conduct research in AI, quantum, and other fields while ensuring continuity for thousands of awards and jobs through fiscal year 2026. The country undoubtedly has to cut spending but it doesn't seem to me that there is anything but good that comes from ensuring public institutions have the support they need for scientific inquiry.

The Nevada U.S. Attorney’s Office has launched a Public Corruption Strike Force, the first of its kind in the state. It will be staffed by experienced federal prosecutors to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting government integrity, including bribery, election offenses, and misconduct at federal, state, and local levels in areas like Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City. The initiative emphasizes collaboration across agencies and a commitment to holding public officials accountable. Corruption is perhaps the most fundamental problem government must tackle and if upending corruption requires the creation of a new task force I guess so be it.

Arizona's GOP-led legislature passed HB 2153 and SB 1106 to implement major tax relief aligning with federal changes, including eliminating state income tax on tips and overtime, increasing the child tax credit by 25%, adding childcare deductions, and providing up to $12,000 in retirement income relief for seniors (retroactive to 2025). The bills promise over $1 billion in cuts over three years for families and businesses, though they face a likely veto from Governor Katie Hobbs, who argues they favor the wealthy and corporations without funding offsets. Cutting taxes is always a tricky endeavor, it seems that it's quite difficult to design tax schemes that aren't easily taken advantage of by large capital interests. Perhaps the work is on the front end to ensure politicians are incentivized to create tax schemes that work for their constituents and perhaps work at the expense of capital.

Homelessness in Oregon increased 35% between 2023 and 2025, with 27,119 people counted homeless in the January 2025 point-in-time survey (including more than 10,600 sheltered, up from 7,106 in 2023, but 60% still unsheltered). Shelter capacity has increased in recent years, yet challenges in addressing root causes have led to the problem becoming more intense. I try to routinely highlight the struggles that the country is facing with homelessness because it is truly one of the most troubling and difficult political and social challenges of our time.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson signed two executive orders to fast-track emergency shelters and affordable housing (using city land and partnerships with urgency ahead of events like the World Cup) and to improve public transit. The directives are designed to provide housing stability for those in crisis and meet mobility needs amid ongoing pressures added to city life due to the prominent homeless population. Seattle has long been wrestling with this issue but it will be interesting to see how solutions from a socialist mayoral regime differ from previous efforts to deal with the situation.