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The US Army’s chief of staff has ideas on the force of the future

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RANDY GEORGE joined the US Army in 1988. It had overhauled itself after the trauma of Vietnam. It had written a new doctrine, known as AirLand Battle, to defeat the Soviet Union in a war in Europe. And a few years later it would smash the Iraqi army in the first Gulf war, a conflict in which General George, as he is today, served as a young lieutenant. He is now in charge of that same army, and wants to reinvent it for a new age—not once, but continuously.

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Economics

UK exports to the U.S. plunge by most on record as tariffs bite

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Container ships at Felixstowe port in Felixstowe, UK, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

U.K. goods exported to the U.S. dropped by £2 billion ($2.71 billion) in April, figures published by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday showed, marking the biggest monthly decrease since records began in 1997.

The value of Britain’s exports stateside was the lowest since February 2022 at £4.1 billion, with the ONS saying the shift was “likely linked to the implementation of tariffs on goods imported to the United States.” Cars, chemicals and metals exports all saw declines, the ONS said.

U.S. imports to the U.K. dipped by £400 million for the month to £4.7 billion, taking Washington back to a trade surplus in goods with the country for the first time since May 2024.

The U.K. and U.S. announced the outline of a trade deal at the start of May, but the agreement still imposed 10% blanket tariffs on British goods sent stateside and has not yet been fully implemented. U.S. President Donald’s Trump’s universal 25% duties on steel and aluminum are set to be slashed to zero for the U.K., while up to 100,000 British cars a year will be hit with a rate of 10% rather than 25%, but higher tariffs remain in force while final details of the deal are confirmed.

Trump has looked relatively favorably upon the U.K. during his second presidency while he has slammed other key trading partners such as the European Union. That’s in part because of his friendly relations with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but primarily because the U.K.-U.S. trade relationship in goods has historically been relatively balanced.

Overall, the U.K.’s trade deficit in goods rose by £4.4 billion to £60 billion in the three months to April, while its trade surplus in services dipped by £500 million to £48.5 billion.

That took the U.K.’s overall trade deficit to £11.5 billion from £6.6 billion.

U.K.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves leaves 10 Downing Street ahead of PMQs in the House of Commons in London, United Kingdom on June 11, 2025.

UK finance minister set on ‘renewing Britain’ as she unveils spending plans

The ONS noted in its release that monthly trade data could be “erratic” and that its next data set would account for the subsequently-agreed trade deal.

Figures also published by the ONS on Thursday showed the U.K. economy contracted by 0.3% in April, below the 0.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters. The U.K.’s dominant services sector was a weak point, shrinking 0.4%, while construction output increased by 0.9%.

It follows signs of a weakening U.K. labor market out earlier in the week, with job vacancies down 7.9%, and the employment rate rising to 4.6% from 4.5%. The rate of wage growth eased to 5.3% from 5.6%, with markets subsequently fully pricing in another half-percentage-point interest rate from the Bank of England before the end of the year.

Business sentiment remains on edge, due to tariffs and macroeconomic uncertainty, and because of government policies including a minimum wage hike, new worker protections and higher tax rates for employees.

Glut of imports undercutting our domestic market: UK Steel Director

Sanjay Raja, chief U.K. economist at Deutsche Bank, said the U.K. economy was “always on a collision course for a course correction after a super strong start to the year.”

Growth hit 0.7% in the first quarter, accelerating from 0.1% growth in the final quarter of 2024.

“While headwinds in April will likely soften in the coming months, they won’t dissipate fully. Despite the U.K.’s trade deal with the US, trade uncertainty is here to stay. The labor market continues to loosen too, which will weigh on household spending. And monetary policy remains restrictive, which will also drag on output,” Raja said in a note.

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Economics

The meaning of the protests in Los Angeles

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THE MOOD changed by the moment. On June 8th a woman hugged her two young daughters on a bridge overlooking the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. Vendors sold Mexican flags and protesters adjusted the rhythms of their chants. “Move ICE get out the way” morphed into “Donald Trump, let’s be clear, immigrants are welcome here”. It felt like a neighbourhood block party—if block parties encouraged graffiti. But chants turned to screams as police exploded flash-bang grenades to clear the road. The two young girls grimaced and hustled away. California Highway Patrol officers paced in riot gear, their less-lethal weapons aimed at the crowd. Some protesters lobbed bottles at police, who dodged the projectiles. Nearby, several Waymo driverless cars were set aflame.

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Economics

U.S. budget deficit hit $316 billion in May, with annual shortfall up 14% from a year ago

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury building is seen in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2023.

Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

The U.S. government drifted further into red ink during May, with a burgeoning debt and deficit issue getting worse, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

After running a short-lived surplus in April thanks to tax season receipts, the deficit totaled just over $316 billion for the month, taking the year-to-date total to $1.36 trillion.

The annual tally was 14% higher than a year ago, though the May 2025 total was 9% less than the May 2024 shortfall.

Surging financing costs were again a major contributor to fiscal issues, with interest on the $36.2 trillion debt topping $92 billion. Interest expenses on net exceeded all other outlays except for Medicare and Social Security. Debt financing is expected to run above $1.2 trillion for this fiscal year, totaling $776 billion through the first eight months of the fiscal year.

Tax revenue has not been the problem. Receipts rose 15% in May and are up 6% from a year ago. Expenditures increased 2% monthly and are up 8% from a year ago.

Tariff collections also helped offset some of the shortfall. Gross customs duties for the month totaled $23 billion, up from $6 from the same month a year ago. For the year, gross tariff collections have totaled $86 billion, up 59% from the same period in 2024.

However, yields have held higher — after dipping last summer into September, they turned up in direct opposition to Federal Reserve rate cuts, eased in the early part of the year, then moved higher again following President Donald Trump’s April 2 “liberation day” tariff announcement. The 10-year Treasury yield is virtually unchanged from a year ago around 4.4%.

In recent weeks, Wall Street leaders including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio have warned of turmoil that could come from the onerous debt burden. The deficit is currently running more than 6% of gross domestic product, virtually unheard of in peacetime U.S. economies.

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