A US congressional hearing urged faster innovation to counter China's tech growth, with lawmakers criticizing Trump administration policies and highlighting concerns over R&D spending and scientist emigration. Calls were made for legislation supporting AI, robotics, quantum computing, and semiconductors.
The National Science Foundation will halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368m deep-sea system collecting vital ocean data. The reversal follows outcry from lawmakers and scientists concerned about losing climate and weather forecasting information.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Iran-based Amin Exchange and 19 vessels involved in shipping Iranian oil and petrochemicals. The exchange facilitated billions in transactions, enabling Iran to evade sanctions and access the international financial system.
The White House is considering conducting a military operation in Cuba for regime change, though diplomatic solutions remain the priority, Politico reported citing Trump administration sources. Washington is pressuring Havana to implement economic reforms including privatizing state businesses, allowing foreign investment, improving internet access, and purchasing American energy. The US has signaled that some top Cuban officials would need to step down, even as full regime change may be delayed pending completion of a potential military operation against Iran.
The Donald Trump administration’s strategic interest in rare earths is pushing the US towards more pragmatic diplomacy as it seeks to rebuild critical mineral supply chains that pivot away from China, according to observers. The shift has yielded cooperation on resource projects even when broader political ties are strained, they added, saying it highlighted Washington’s eagerness to secure alternative supplies even though Beijing’s dominance in the supply chain appeared too strong to break...
The CLARITY Act has stalled in Senate Banking deliberations, threatening comprehensive crypto market rules. Galaxy Research gives it roughly 50-50 odds of passage this year. The stall creates an unintended experiment: if exchanges can operate in the unsettled regulatory perimeter around stablecoin rewards, the market could generate empirical data on whether exchange-funded inducements actually drain bank deposits—a debate currently fought with projections ranging from $2.1 billion to $6.6 trillion. The stablecoin market stands at over $320 billion against $19.1 trillion in US commercial bank deposits.
