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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Whether John Maynard Keynes said, “When the facts change, I change my mind" is often disputed, but the witticism has never seemed more apt. German chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz, long a fiscal hawk as the leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), recently made an about-turn on the virtues of higher deficit spending after being briefed on the country’s dwindling growth prospects and witnessing geopolitical gyrations in the US, which seems keen to patch up with Russia, potentially leaving its European allies in the lurch.

Vice President JD Vance will travel to India later this month, joined by Second Lady Usha Vance. According to a Politico report citing three sources familiar with the plans, «Vice President JD Vance will travel to India later this month alongside Second Lady Usha Vance.» This will be Vance’s second foreign visit since assuming office. His first trip took him to France and Germany, where he made his global debut as vice president. While the upcoming trip is another step in his diplomatic engagements, for Usha Vance, it holds personal significance—it will be her first visit to India as Second Lady. Her parents emigrated from India to the United States, making this trip a homecoming of sorts.

In an annual report released on Tuesday, Eva Hoegl said that despite a recruitment drive launched in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, personnel numbers in the armed forces had dipped to 181,200 in 2024 from 181,540 a year prior, while the average age had risen to 34 from 32. That pushes the Bundeswehr's goal of increasing the number of personnel to over 200,000, a target postponed from 2025 to 2031 two years ago, further out of reach. Increased spending allowed Germany to reach the NATO defence spending target of 2% of gross domestic product for the first time in 2024, but around 82% of a 100-billion-euro special defence fund agreed in 2022 to overhaul the country's creaky military has already been spent, according to the report. Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) — in negotiations to form a coalition after a snap election last month — are seeking to overhaul borrowing rules in order to revamp the military and revive economic growth.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. At the first cabinet meeting of his second term in office, US President Donald Trump declared his intention to impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all imports from the European Union.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) recently launched an investigation into whether to invest in cryptocurrency or other digital assets. 

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Imagine logging into your insurance account, only to find a stranger’s policy details displayed instead. To make matters worse, imagine the stranger being mistakenly listed as your spouse.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. American defense companies have increased their dominance of the global arms trade, buoyed by European nations snapping up U.S. jet fighters and missiles.

Greenland in 2019, the world dismissed it as another outlandish remark. But as his administration returned to power in 2025, the joke had turned into a serious policy objective. Greenland is no longer just a remote Arctic island – it is a strategic, economic, and military prize that Washington is determined to secure.

Trump administration is boosting a powerful force in global affairs: anti-Americanism. Canadians have taken to booing the American national anthem and Panamanians to burning US flags. The British tabloids have tarred and feathered Vice President JD Vance for insulting British troops. A carnival float in Dusseldorf, Germany, displayed giant puppets of Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shaking hands while squeezing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy between them into a bloodied pulp. A sign on the float read “Hitler-Stalin Pact 2.0.” Back at home, the Washington Post has published a guide on how to navigate hostility abroad (“dress neutrally, not patriotically”). There has never been a better time to be anti-American. Trump embodies everything critics of the US have always warned about, multiplied several times over. Yankee arrogance? He and Vance, in the Oval Office, shamelessly bullied the leader of a nation victimized by the Russian president’s aggression. Yankee imperialism? Trump bragged to a cheering Congress that he will take over Greenland “one way or another.” Yankee incompetence? His tariffs are destabilizing global stock markets and downgrading his own economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. To borrow from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, the only constant in Donald Trump’s second presidency so far is change—in tariffs. Tariff rates and exemptions are constantly evolving in response to market reactions, diplomatic efforts, trade negotiations and domestic lobbying.

global trade war led investors to safe havens, lifting the yen and the Swiss franc. Markets have been fixated on simmering trade tensions across the world as U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on top trading partners only to delay some of them for a month amid growing signs and fears of the U.S. economy slowing down.

Only 10 of more than 280 scheduled flights went as planned early Sunday, the airport said. Many service desks sat empty as would-be passengers lined up to seek information about the cancellations. The surprise walkout, which reportedly took place with only about a half-hour advance notice, came before a broader series of preannounced strikes across 13 airports in Germany on Monday, organized by the ver.di union.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The fires went on for three relentless days in the summer of 2021, scorching over 13,000 hectares of western Sardinia. Residents “saw their whole world go up in flames around them," says Carlo Poddi, a forestry expert on the island.

That was the reaction of many who witnessed the televised spat between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office last week. Beyond the memes and the jokes, it was the clearest sign that there is a new world order in the making. Of new friendships being forged, old ones being discarded. Some existing alliances slayed it for eight decades after World War II. But it is in the nature of relationships that things turn. The Soviet Union and the US had fought as allies against Germany, Japan and Italy up until 1945. It didn’t take long for that relationship to become salty, resulting in the Cold War.

Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that India is poised to navigate global challenges effectively, even as tensions rise over tariff impositions by US President Donald Trump. Out of al the geopolitical shifts, India will come out in better conditions. The reason is the pragmatism with which we are approaching this. We are looking by seeing what is good for the country," said Ashwini Vaishnaw. «In the first 60 years of independence we did about 20,000 kms of railway tracks and in the last 10 years we have done 45,000 kms. In the last 11 years, we have constructed 34,000km of new railway tracks. That’s more than the entire network of Germany. That’s the pace at which we are working,» added Vaishnaw during the fireside chat.

«The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises — if implemented — swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,» the ministers said in a joint statement. The plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders on Tuesday, has been rejected by Israel and by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a «Middle East Riviera».

Donald Trump's tariffs. Despite a gain on Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 marked its worst week in six months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite on Thursday ended down more than 10% from its December all-time closing high, confirming it has been in a correction for several months. Investors were grappling with dramatic policy change around the world. Trump's back-and-forth implementation of fresh tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China exacerbated broad concerns about the economy. Markets were also shaken by Germany's surprise spending plans, which drove a selloff in the benchmark German Bund.

Here's all you need to know about the week ahead in world markets from Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Karin Strohecker, Dhara Ranasinghe and Alun John in London.

Donald Trump's push to boost American production and exports, ToI reported. However, across-the-board duty reductions may not necessarily translate into higher US shipments to India, as companies are likely to source goods from more competitive markets like China or Southeast Asia. Despite the tariff debates, American brands such as Harley-Davidson and Tesla do not currently manufacture vehicles in the US for export to India. Harley-Davidson, a brand often associated with US presidents, imports its motorcycles from Thailand, while Tesla—on the verge of entering the Indian market—plans to ship its electric vehicles from Germany after Indian authorities discouraged imports from China. Locational advantages, lower freight costs, and economies of scale make it more profitable for companies to manufacture in other countries rather than the US. Many firms also take advantage of India's free trade agreements to ship goods at zero duty.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Group Chairman, Inditrade Capital, says post correction, some of the larger banks, particularly SBI, is looking very good for somebody willing to build a long-term portfolio, Apart from that, one can look at some of the down-and-out banks which took a hit because of multiple reasons, particularly asset quality issues on the microfinance book. IndusInd Bank is one bank which I will definitely recommend from a little aggressive investors’ point of view. It is a good time to start buying into IndusInd Bank as well. Among pharma companies, one can go for domestic focused pharma companies like Mankind Pharma and pharma companies having significant manufacturing facilities in the US like Piramal Pharma. The other stock Bandyopadhyay likes is a defence PSU. There is a significant opportunity for Bharat Electronics (BEL) to perform and outperform. This correction should be taken as an opportunity to accumulate this stock. Some of the markers seem to be reversing. Crude is on our side and now RBI also is pumping in a whole lot of liquidity in the system. Do you think that is enough to turn around the markets? Sudip Bandyopadhyay: Well, it may not be enough in the long term, but the short-term market is very much excited.

China unlocked more stimulus on Wednesday and promised greater efforts to cushion the impact of an escalating U.S. trade war. Hours earlier, Germany's likely next government agreed on the biggest overhaul to fiscal policy since the country's reunification.