Good morning, curious minds!
Today’s menu includes a tumultuous trade war raising the price of your morning latte, dynamite tours in Bolivia, AI misfires that practically embrace the KKK, and more. Grab your coffee (while it’s still affordable), and let’s explore together!
You'll Know First:
• The Target boycott begins today; it couldn't come at a worse time for the company.
• U.S. storms are causing blizzard-like conditions and could spark more tornadoes.
• Arsenal breaks Champions League record with seven goals against PSV, Real Madrid beats rival Atlético.
Your roadmap to today’s key stories:
President Trump's sweeping tariffs are shaking global trade. They are taxing goods from Canada, Mexico, and China as high as 25%, causing consumer price inflation, factory slowdowns, and potential shortages. The truth is that importers actually pay for the taxes, and they often pass them along to consumers as higher prices.
Source: Census Bureau / AP
Big-ticket items like cars and tech gadgets may see steep markups, but U.S. automakers have a one-month reprieve. It looks like this "trade war" is quickly becoming an expensive reality for all parties involved, as Canada and others are planning tariffs.
Artificial Outrage
In the world of AI, two different stories have taken us on a roller-coaster ride. On the same day, reinforcement learning (which powers things like robot hands and Google's Go champion) won the Turing Award. At the same time, the LA Times' new AI experiment was unwittingly sympathetic to the KKK.
Patrick Soon-Shiong’s "Insights" feature whitewashed one of America's oldest hate groups—and the paper's owner was blindsided hours later. This raises a growing debate: When AI attempts to "balance" historical facts with contrarian talking points, shouldn't human editorial judgment remain foremost?
The beauty of The Core shines through once again, separating you from algorithms. 😍
Island for Sale
The Pacific island nation of Nauru, just 8 square miles wide, is selling passports for $105,000 a pop to fund a massive relocation effort. With its phosphate wealth gone, Nauru wants to raise enough money to move 90% of its 12,500 citizens to higher ground through "golden passports."
It's a desperate tactic to cover basic survival costs when debt and shrinking global aid can't cover them.
Bomb Voyage
With its 13,000-foot altitude, Bolivia's Potosí lures curious tourists with a promise few places can match: You can legally buy dynamite at the local market—just $2 a stick—and set it off inside the centuries-old mines.
Labyrinthine tunnels tell stories of forced labor under Spanish rule, and devilish statues protect you. Known as “The Mountain That Eats Men,” miners still die from accidents and lung diseases. Cerro Rico once bankrolled empires, but today, it stands rickety and hollow, a sobering testament both to human grit and the cost of digging for gold.
💬 Beyond the Core
Moon Key: Here's the video of Blue Ghost's nail-biting descent to the moon.
Ben 10: There's a rumor mill churning. Ben Affleck and Jen... once more?
Size Matters: Using this map, you can see how big countries actually are.
💡 Core Wisdom
“
No one can figure out your worth but you.
— Pearl Bailey
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📸 Lens to Life
Take a look at the AP's best sports photos of the year.
🧮 Core Count: 99
Minutes of Trump's speech to Congress, which broke the record for the longest presidential address.
🗓️ Flashback:
1479 - The Treaty of Alcaçovas assigns Portugal's Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for its claims in West Africa.
1836 - In the Battle of the Alamo, Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders after 13 days of fighting, killing 182-257 Texans.
1857 - The US Supreme Court ruled that African Americans could not become US citizens based on the Dred Scott Decision.
1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table of the elements to the Russian Chemical Society.
1899 - Felix Hoffmann patents “Aspirin" (acetylsalicylic acid) at the German company Bayer.
1964 - Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to Muhammad Ali.
I'm glad we could get together here. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Fatih Taskiran
