📌 Markets Fall, Panama Canal ‘Threat,’ More

"Reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries took effect today including 104% duties on Chinese goods causing havoc.

President Donald Trump's punishing tariffs have shaken a global trading order that has persisted for decades, raised fears of recession and wiped trillions of dollars off the market value of major firms.

Global benchmark bonds, assets perceived as relatively safe, were also caught up in the market turmoil today, an unnerving turn towards forced selling that is sounding alarm bells for investors.

European shares fell today as the US tariffs kicked in and US stock futures pointed to more pain ahead, following a grim session for most of Asia. Chinese stocks bucked the trend, however, as state support propped up the ailing market.

China's top leaders plan to meet today to hammer out measures to boost the economy and stabilize capital markets, people with knowledge of the matter said.

German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said that its economy was at risk of another recession as a result of the trade tensions. Investment bank JP Morgan estimates there is a 60% chance of the world economy entering recession by year-end.

Some economists have warned that ultimately US consumers are likely to bear the brunt of the trade war, facing higher prices on everything from sneakers to wine.

China fired back at US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s calling China an ongoing “threat” to Panama Canal security.

“China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area,” Hegseth said. “That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign.”

Hegseth’s remarks triggered a fiery response from the Chinese government, which said: “Who represents the real threat to the Canal? People will make their own judgment.”

The Chinese embassy in Panama earlier said: “The US has carried out a sensationalistic campaign about the ‘theoretical Chinese threat’ in an attempt to sabotage Chinese-Panamanian cooperation, which is all just rooted in the United States’ own geopolitical interests.”

The China concern was provoked by a Hong Kong consortium holding a 25-year lease on ports at either end of the canal. The Panamanian government announced that the lease was being audited and concluded on Monday there were irregularities.

The Hong Kong consortium, however, has already announced that CK Hutchison would be selling its controlling stake in the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc, in effect putting the ports under US control once the sale is complete.

After a Chicago-sized iceberg broke off from Antarctica, a research vessel went to find specimens never seen before.

In the first oceanographical, biological, and geological study of the area in the Bellingshausen Sea, the team observed the deep seafloor for eight days using a remotely operated vehicle and found flourishing ecosystems at depths as great as 3,900 feet.

Large corals and sponges supporting an array of animal life, including icefish, giant sea spiders, and a rare giant phantom jellyfish, were found. “The communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years,” said expedition co-chief scientist Dr. Patricia Esquete.

Deep-sea ecosystems typically rely on nutrients from the surface slowly raining down to the seafloor. However, these Antarctic ecosystems have been covered by almost 500-foot-thick ice for centuries, completely cut off from surface nutrients.

Ocean currents also move nutrients, and the team hypothesizes that currents are a possible mechanism for sustaining life beneath the ice sheet. The team suspects several new species are among the biological samples collected.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has created a task force to help restore “transparency and accountability.”

Gabbard’s newly established Director’s Initiatives Group, or DIG, aims to execute President Donald Trump's executive orders designed to rebuild trust in the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, which Trump says was diminished through politically motivated investigations into his conduct.

In a news release, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the new initiative will start by “investigating weaponization, rooting out deep-seeded politicization, exposing unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence, and declassifying information that serves a public interest.”

Gabbard’s office did not return an email seeking comment on the kinds of documents being considered for declassification and why.

The task force will also lead assessments into the structure, resourcing and personnel of the intelligence community, including the CIA and National Security Agency, “to improve efficiency and eliminate wasteful spending.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday to block state laws aimed at reducing fossil fuels.

The move is the latest in a string of efforts by Trump's administration to pump up domestic energy output and push back against largely Democratic-led policies to curb carbon emissions. It came just hours after Trump, a Republican, issued orders to increase coal production.

The order directed the attorney general to identify state laws that address climate change, ESG initiatives, environmental justice and carbon emissions, and to take action to block them.

Trump specifically cited laws in New York and Vermont that fine fossil fuel companies for their contribution to climate change, California's cap-and-trade policy, and lawsuits by states that have sought to hold energy companies accountable for their role in global warming.

The two Democratic governors who co-chair the US Climate Alliance — and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico — said states could not be stripped of their authority and would not be deterred by the order. The Alliance is a group of 24 governors dedicated to climate action.

The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade group, praised the order. "We welcome President Trump's action to hold states like New York and California accountable for pursuing unconstitutional efforts that illegally penalize US oil and natural gas producers,” said Ryan Meyers, API senior vice president.

South Korea’s politicians are jockeying for position as the country’s presidential election edges toward June 3.

South Korea's main opposition party head Lee Jae-myung said on Wednesday he was stepping down as party leader, amid expectations that the current populist front-runner for the presidency in opinion polls would soon declare his run.

South Korea's labor minister, Kim Moon-soo, who has been among the ruling People Power Party members indicating an intention to run, also declared his candidacy.

The election follows former president Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment stemming from a December martial law declaration that was upheld. "I will be now starting new work," Lee, the Democratic Party leader, told a party leadership meeting carried live on his YouTube channel. He did not elaborate nor confirm he would be standing for the presidency.

Lee, 61, lost by the slimmest margin in the country's history when he ran against Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. Last year, he led his liberals to a landslide victory in a parliamentary election.

Uber released its annual "Lost & Found Index," which includes a live turtle, a urinal, and a 5-gallon bucket of beans.

The most commonly left-behind items were phones, keys and wallets, with New York City being named "the most forgetful city.”

Other items that made Uber’s list are a mannequin head with human hair, a chainsaw, a Ghostbusters ghost trap, fresh breast milk, a set of Shrek ears, 15 hookahs, a 100 red rose bouquet, Ozempic, 10 live lobsters, a Viking drinking horn, a taxidermied rabbit, and divorce papers.

Food-related items include 175 hamburger sliders, 108 eggs, 24 cans of corn, and a "bucket" of feta cheese.