Philippa Kaur

Canadian nationalism is very unlikely to get out of hand. But when even the politest people on Earth are wrapping themselves in the flag, you know that national pride is on the march. Donald Trump’s talk of making America’s northern neighbour into the 51st state has prompted Canadians to buy maple-leaf flags, cancel southbound travel plans and boo the American anthem at sporting events. It’s not exactly Nuremberg, but it is striking. More

“Track and field has failed to reach its potential for years,” says Michael Johnson, an American sprinter with four Olympic gold medals. A ranking of the 100 best-paid athletes in the world by Sportico, a trade publication, does not feature a single athletics star. Indeed, the journal estimates that the highest-profile track athlete, America’s Noah Lyles, may not have earned enough last year to make the top 1,000. More

WHO IS BETTER at the technology of the future: America or China? Speculation is at fever pitch. The world’s most famous artificial-intelligence company, OpenAI, is American. Models produced by DeepSeek, a Chinese competitor, are almost as good—and cheaper. More

“THE GOLDEN age of America begins right now,” intoned Donald Trump at the start of his inaugural address on January 20th. The business world bought the glittering talk, in anticipation of lower taxes, less red tape and buoyant American consumers. Between election day in November and the swearing-in, the Russell 3000 index, which covers most of America’s public companies, rose by 5%. The resulting $2.4trn in new shareholder value was equivalent to the entire Indian stockmarket with two Mexican bourses thrown in. America was first. No one came remotely close. More

Donald Trump wants minerals, and lots of them. America’s president is interested in Greenland for, among other things, its vast store of minerals and the largest deposits of rare earths outside China. In Ukraine he is eyeing the country’s apparently significant lithium resources. Noting Mr Trump’s interest, in February the Democratic Republic of Congo’s leaders offered America their mineral reserves. More

Donald Trump has promised to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods on April 2nd, dubbing it “Liberation Day”. The car industry got a preview of what is in store a week earlier, when on March 26th America’s president said he would charge hefty levies on imported cars and parts. The aim is to restore carmaking to America. But it will come at a high cost. Raised prices will hit sales and reduce choice for American consumers. Carmakers, meanwhile, will be “liberated” from large chunks of their profits. More

CENTRAL PARK bisects upper Manhattan, creating two neighbourhoods and, apparently, two reading cultures. On the Upper West Side, the New York Times is “a standout for us” in terms of driving book purchases, says Victoria Harty, assistant manager of the local branch of Barnes & Noble, America’s biggest bookstore chain. On the east side, meanwhile, customers prefer recommendations from the Washington Post and the Atlantic. More

If you are fed up with the other people on your team, remember this: it could be so much worse. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two American astronauts, returned to Earth on March 18th after a planned days-long mission to the International Space Station turned into a nine-month stay. At the SANAE IV research station in Antarctica, reports have emerged of assault, death threats and intimidation among a team of South African scientists who arrived there in February; they are due to leave the base only in December. Submariners on Britain’s nuclear-armed subs can be at sea for six months or more. More