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Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, called for a renewed US‑Canada partnership in a New York speech, framing it as a way to “help make America great again” and to boost Canada’s strategic autonomy ahead of the USMCA review.Carney Proposes a “True Partnership” in New York SpeechSpeaking in New York on Thursday, Carney said the two nations need a “true partnership” that re‑imagines cooperation in sectors under intense global competition. He argued that diversification away from the United States must be balanced with deeper collaboration on shared challenges.Trade Numbers Highlight Canada’s Strategic ValueCarney backed his call with striking statistics that underscore Canada’s importance to the U.S. economy:Canadian aluminium exports to the U.S. equal the energy output of 10 Hoover dams.Canada supplies 99% of U.S. natural‑gas imports, 85% of electricity imports and 60% of crude‑oil imports.Canada is the United States’ biggest customer for automobiles, outpacing China, Japan and Germany combined.Canada holds vast reserves of potash, nickel, copper and uranium, critical for food security, defence and AI‑driven energy demand.Implications for North American Trade and GeopoliticsThe speech signals a shift from confrontational rhetoric—exemplified by former President Donald Trump’s trade war and talk of annexation—to a strategic alignment that could reshape North‑American supply chains. By positioning Canada as a reliable source of critical minerals and energy, Carney aims to reduce U.S. vulnerability to “weaponised integration” and to counteract the “American hegemony” narrative he raised at Davos.What the Next USMCA Review Could Mean for Bilateral TiesThe mandatory USMCA review in July will test whether the proposed partnership can translate into concrete policy changes. If Canada’s proposals on aluminium, steel, automotive integration and critical minerals are embraced, the agreement could evolve into a deeper economic bloc, strengthening both nations’ competitiveness against China and other global rivals. Conversely, a failure to reach consensus may reignite tariff disputes and weaken the “strategic autonomy” Carney seeks.

New Coalition Takes Shape Amid Drone ControversyLatvia’s parliament has confirmed a fresh governing alliance after the previous cabinet fell apart over disagreements on anti‑drone defenses. The vote marks a decisive step toward stabilising a nation that has been rattled by several wayward Ukrainian drones crossing its borders.Parliament Votes 66‑34 to Install Andris Kulbergs as Prime MinisterBy a margin of 66 deputies out of a 100‑seat assembly, lawmakers endorsed Andris Kulbergs, a 47‑year‑old centrist, as Latvia’s next prime minister. He will lead the country until the scheduled parliamentary elections on October 3. The new cabinet retains outgoing foreign minister Baiba Braze and appoints Colonel Raivis Melnis as defence minister.Numbers Behind the Power Shift: Seats, Votes, and Demographics66 votes in favour, 34 against.Latvia’s population: roughly 1.8 million people.The coalition comprises four parties, giving it a “healthy majority” in the Saeima.Previous prime minister Evika Silina resigned in mid‑May after losing coalition support.Implications for Latvia’s Security and EU/NATO AlignmentThe new government has pledged to reinforce military and border security, a stance echoed by political scientist Nils Muiznieks who noted a “broad consensus on foreign‑policy priorities.” With NATO and EU membership, Latvia is likely to maintain strong solidarity with Ukraine, especially as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered expert assistance for air‑defence upgrades.What Lies Ahead: Policy Priorities and Regional StabilityAnalysts expect the coalition to focus on:Accelerating anti‑drone and air‑defence capabilities.Ensuring economic and energy security amid regional tensions.Deepening cooperation with NATO allies and the EU.Preparing for the upcoming elections while maintaining a pro‑Ukraine stance.

The Lead Anthropic has released Opus 4.8, the newest version of its most advanced publicly available model, with a new 'dynamic workflow' tool. The model is available everywhere at standard pricing. The Event Details Opus 4.8 comes just 41 days after Opus 4.7 was released, a much faster upgrade cycle than normal for Anthropic. The new model features best-in-class benchmark results and improved handling of bad or uncertain data. Anthropic's early testers found that Opus 4.8 is "more likely to flag uncertainties about its work and less likely to make unsupported claims." The Data Analysis Opus 4.8 is available at standard pricing. The model comes with a new 'dynamic workflow' tool, available in research preview. Anthropic's most advanced Mythos model is still in development, with a tentative preview last month. The Impact Analysis The fast turnaround for Opus 4.8 may be in response to the chilly reception of Opus 4.7 and increasing pressure from competitors like OpenAI's Codex and Google's Gemini Flash model. The new model's ability to handle uncertain data and flag issues with inputs and outputs could give it an edge in the market. The Prediction Anthropic hinted that the Mythos preview period might soon end, once necessary safeguards are complete. The company expects to bring Mythos-class models to all its customers in the coming weeks. With Opus 4.8 and the dynamic workflow tool, Anthropic is positioning itself to compete with other major players in the AI market.

The LeadThe United States has escalated its threats against Oman, warning that it would "aggressively" impose sanctions if the Gulf ally helps Iran establish a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz. This intensifies President Donald Trump's recent threats against Oman, including a warning to "blow them up" if they don't comply with US demands regarding the strategic waterway.US Treasury's Aggressive StanceUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Thursday that Washington will "not tolerate" either country imposing fees on commercial ships in the strategic waterway. "Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized," Bessent said in a social media post."All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tehran's days of terrorizing the region and the world are over."Global Energy Security at RiskAbout 20 percent of the world's oil flowed through Hormuz before the conflict, making the Iranian blockade a major strain on global energy supplies. The closure has sent oil prices soaring and threatens economic stability worldwide. The strait's critical importance to global energy markets makes any disruption a matter of international concern.Regional Power Dynamics ShiftThe statement comes less than 24 hours after President Trump threatened to bomb Oman, a key US ally known for its neutrality and mediation efforts in regional crises. This unprecedented threat against a close security and economic partner signals a significant shift in US foreign policy in the Middle East.While Iran has suggested joint Iranian-Omani management of the Hormuz Strait, Oman has not explicitly stated it is seeking control over the waterway, parts of which flow through its territory.Future Outlook for Hormuz StraitThe US and Iran have been indirectly negotiating to reach an agreement for a comprehensive end to the war, with control over the Hormuz Strait emerging as a major point of disagreement. Trump has stressed that the strait must remain a free passageway for international commerce.Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, countered that Tehran will not allow Hormuz to be a source of insecurity for the country, stating that "the powers that have used this passage against Iran's security must be held accountable." The standoff continues as both nations dig in on their positions regarding control of this vital waterway.

The Lead Barcelona has completed the signing of Anthony Gordon from Newcastle for £70m, a move that brings a direct and intense playing style to their attack. The 25-year-old England winger is known for his turbo-charged talent and ability to terrorize defenses. Gordon's Playing Style Gordon is a versatile right-footed forward who is arguably at his best on the left but capable of playing across the frontline. He is aggressive and direct, reveling in accelerating into space behind defenders and pressing relentlessly from the front with rare intensity. His playing style is not without risk, as he often forces defenders into taking gambles they would prefer to avoid. The Data Analysis In 26 league games for Newcastle, Gordon contributed six goals, three of them penalties, and only two assists. However, in the Champions League, he scored 10 times in 12 appearances and contributed two assists. His performance in the Champions League has drawn praise from top managers, including José Mourinho. The Impact Analysis Gordon's signing is part of Hansi Flick's plan to keep Madrid firmly in their place. His arrival brings unpredictability to Barcelona's attack, and his ability to interchange positions with other forwards could make their attacking trio more formidable. However, Gordon's inconsistency and sometimes selfish play may pose a risk for Flick. The Prediction If Gordon can refine aspects of his game and diplomatic skills at the Camp Nou, he could become a key player for Barcelona. Meanwhile, Newcastle seems poised for an even more dramatic reinvention, with their sporting director pursuing several new signings to strengthen their squad.

The Plan for World Cup Glory As co-hosts, Canada enter the World Cup with high expectations, despite never winning a match at a previous tournament. Since a Concacaf Nations League semi-final defeat to Mexico in March 2025 the team have lost one of 15 matches at the time of writing, a run that has included some excellent opponents such as Colombia, Ecuador, Ukraine and the USA, whom they have defeated twice in the past two years, including their first win on US soil in 57 years. The coach, Jesse Marsch, has maintained a consistent 4-4-2 with the emphasis on pressing from the front and pace in wide positions. "Some teams press to win the ball back, we press to punish and think about scoring immediately when we recover the ball," said Marsch, who is American, but has captured the hearts of many Canadians since he took the job in May 2024 and guided the team to the semi-finals of the Copa América. Canada's World Cup Schedule 12 June v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Toronto (3pm local, 8pm BST) 18 June v Qatar, Vancouver (3pm local, 11pm BST) 24 June v Switzerland, Vancouver (noon local, 8pm BST) Success at that tournament, and subsequently in friendlies, is based on a defensive structure Marsch worked on immediately when taking the job and playing against the Netherlands and France in his first two matches in charge. Nine clean sheets in 13 matches before the pre-tournament friendlies is even more impressive considering Moïse Bombito, their star centre-back from Nice, and Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies did not play in any of those matches because of injury. The Coach's Vision Jesse Marsch's first venture into international management has been a successful one, but not one he found easy to adjust to. "From the moment I worked with this group of players in the first camp, I knew I was going to fall in love with these guys," he says. "They are a unique group of really good people, who are very talented, and when I said goodbye to them it was different from what I was used to as a head coach in the club game." Marsch has enjoyed those gaps in his schedule, using time to visit Canadian players across the world and spending a lot of time in the country at the provincial level to help bring a more united approach to the way the game is developed and governed. Star Player's Return Questioned The captain, Alphonso Davies, has not played for Canada since tearing his ACL against USA in the Nations League third-place match last March. Whether to play him at left-back or on the wing has been one of the biggest questions for years, but under Marsch the Bayern Munich man has predominantly been used at the back and has been excellent. However, another injury setback, against Paris St-Germain in the Champions League semi-final second leg – his third in the past three months – has put his participation for the opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in doubt. He has started 12 of 29 internationals in the Marsch-era at the time of writing. One to Watch Few players have received more work and attention from his national coach than the midfielder Ismaël Koné, who was dropped during the Copa América as he struggled to make an impact. Since then he has been excellent for Sassuolo in Serie A and has turned into a dynamic box-to-box midfielder for Marsch, learning valuable lessons defensively in Italy, where his discipline and tactical concentration has improved significantly. Expected to start next to the excellent Stephen Eustáquio in a key double-pivot tandem for Canada. Unsung Hero Norwich's Ali Ahmed has become a favourite of Marsch's because of his selfless work on the pitch. Ahmed is asked to lead the press on the left wing, often cutting inside to increase the midfield numbers and bring intensity and energy off the ball. One of the reasons Marsch has not deployed Davies further forward is because he views his team without the ball more than with it and in that vision the former Vancouver Whitecaps man is crucial. Probable Starting XI Canada's likely formation for the World Cup matches will be based on the 4-4-2 system that Marsch has consistently employed, with specific attention to defensive structure and pressing from the front. Fan Expectations Canada is ready to host the world, but the attention is more on this team than other games happening in the country. Being the only side to start on the east coast and move directly to the west coast allows fans in Toronto and Vancouver to watch their team in the group stages. The supporters group The Voyageurs will lead the noise with their flags and chants of "Ooh, Ahh Canada". Canada is known for its cosmopolitan population and cultural diversity, with people from all over the world, and should benefit from playing three group opponents with relatively diverse fan bases.

The US Strikes on Bandar Abbas The United States has carried out strikes near Bandar Abbas, the second attack in less than a week on Iran’s strategically important port city, escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz despite a fragile ceasefire that has been in place between Washington and Tehran since April 8. Details of the Attack Reuters and The Associated Press, quoting unnamed US officials, reported that US forces shot down four Iranian drones and struck a ground control station for drones on Wednesday in Bandar Abbas. The strikes followed explosions in Bandar Abbas on Tuesday. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Washington of violating the ceasefire through “aggressive acts” in Hormozgan province, where the port city is located. Significance of Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas, home to key Iranian naval forces, occupies one of the most strategically sensitive positions in the Gulf. Its location on the Strait of Hormuz has made it central to both Iran’s military position and the wider confrontation with the US. Bandar Abbas lies on Iran’s southern coast, on the northern side of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea. The city had a population of more than 526,000 people at the time of Iran’s 2016 census. Military Significance Bandar Abbas is the headquarters of both Iran’s conventional navy and the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The conventional navy has used it as its base since 1977 when Iran moved much of its fleet from Khorramshahr at the western edge of Iran’s Gulf coastline, to Bandar Abbas, transforming the city into the country’s main southern naval command centre. According to the Middle East Institute, the IRGC navy later relocated its headquarters from Tehran to Bandar Abbas to improve operational control along the Strait of Hormuz. Economic Importance The Strait of Hormuz is not just a military chokepoint but also an economic lifeline. Analysts estimated that more than 90 percent of Iranian crude shipments transit through the strait. That makes Bandar Abbas and nearby Gulf infrastructure critical to government revenues, including the trade networks that help Iran circumvent sanctions, particularly by exporting oil to China. Impact on Peace Negotiations Diplomatic and military operations are unfolding simultaneously as Iran and the US have exchanged a volley of proposals and counterproposals for peace since the ceasefire began. “This is unfolding on parallel tracks. There is a military track and a negotiating track all unfolding at the same time,” said Samir Puri, a visiting lecturer in war studies at King’s College London. “The negotiators can only present the leverage they have from the field of battle.

Apple's AI-Powered Siri App Set to Rival ChatGPT Apple is planning to unveil a new AI-powered Siri app at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, according to leaked renders published by Bloomberg. The app is designed to rival popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The New Siri App Features The new Siri app will feature a rebuilt AI model that uses Google's Gemini AI technology under the hood for added intelligence. The app will allow users to search, launch apps, start messages, ask about the weather, add calendar appointments, search their notes, and trigger app shortcuts. Results will be displayed in a formatted text in a card-style interface that emerges from the iPhone's Dynamic Island. The Data Analysis 2.5 billion: Apple's install base across all devices 900 million: Weekly active users of ChatGPT The Impact Analysis Apple's approach to AI is similar to its earlier multibillion-dollar partnership with Google that made Google the default search engine on iPhone. By partnering with outside companies for AI technology, Apple can leverage its scale and unmatched runway to introduce AI to people who haven't yet adopted standalone AI tools. The Prediction With its massive install base and reputation for prioritizing user privacy, Apple is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the AI market. The new Siri app and AI-powered features are expected to be a major part of Apple's strategy to compete with popular AI chatbots and establish itself as a leader in the AI space.

The Rise of Recursive Self-Improvement in AIThe word "recursion" is the latest buzzword in AI circles. Two separate startups have taken on the name, and many more have started referencing recursive self-improvement (RSI) in their roadmaps. Like AGI before it, RSI has become a three-letter byword for a cataclysmic AI takeoff – even if there's still a little disagreement about what it exactly means.In basic terms, RSI refers to an AI system that can continuously upgrade itself. Once AI systems can manage the upgrade cycle better than humans, the process can become a closed loop, limited only by the compute power they can access, and humans are no longer necessary or even helpful.Scary or not, that's a vision that a lot of AI labs are eager to chase.Key Players Pursuing Recursive SystemsEarlier this month, well-known AI researcher Richard Socher launched the aptly named Recursive Superintelligence with RSI as an explicit goal. "Our main focus is to build truly recursive, self-improving superintelligence at scale," Socher told TechCrunch at launch, "which means that the entire process of ideation, implementation, and validation of research ideas would be automatic."A number of other prominent researchers are already chasing that same goal, hoping for a breakthrough that will make recursive self-improvement possible.One of the most prominent is Andrej Karpathy, a legendary figure from Tesla and OpenAI, who is using agent swarms to train LLMs on simple tasks for a project he calls Auto-Research. Karpathy has been unusually open about the project, tweeting about milestones regularly and making the building blocks available through a public GitHub repo. So far, the work has mostly been confined to making minor improvements on a GPT-2 scale model — as Karpathy noted in March, "It's not novel, ground-breaking 'research' (yet)" — but it's been enough to convince lots of other researchers to follow the RSI dream. And with Karpathy now working on pre-training at Anthropic, he will have plenty of opportunity to apply the idea at a larger scale.Adaption — founded by Cohere and Google alum Sara Hooker — recently launched a similar tool called AutoScientist in an effort to automate frontier training. Like Karpathy's auto-researchers, the system trains agents to make incremental improvements — but for Adaption, the goal is to make it easier to train a full-scale frontier model. If those same researchers start to push the frontier forward, the system could quickly spiral into something very much like RSI.Disarray founder Doris Xin drew more specific RSI interest when her self-trained machine learning agent took home 28 medals in a recent Kaggle competition, beating out many human-trained agents. As she sees it, the major challenge is reliability."I would argue, given infinite compute and infinite time horizon, we are already there," Xin told me. "I want to make an argument that this is not a creative endeavor, really. It's just a lot of meat-and-potatoes engineering."The Current State of Self-Improving AIThere's also plenty of evidence that the AI industry isn't very close to recursive systems in any meaningful way — and is still grappling with talking to a wary public about its progress. So Google CEO Sundar Pichai basically admitted in a recent podcast interview."It's a continuum, and we are all definitely making progress," Pichai said. "But in the way people describe RSI, that would represent a next level of acceleration and would have a lot of implications, but we aren't quite there yet."But the continuum includes an awful lot of self-improving AI systems.In January, one of Anthropic's lead programmers for Claude Code estimated that "close to 100%" of his team's code was written by the tool — a frank admission that Claude Code was literally writing itself.Just because engineers are using an AI tool doesn't mean the tool can replace them — but Anthropic seems to be getting close to replacing engineers too. In a recent survey tied to the Mythos preview, five out of 18 Anthropic engineers believed that, with harness improvements, this version of Mythos could soon substitute for an L4 engineer — a midlevel programmer who can take on involved projects without supervision.Still, there were some of the same weaknesses you might expect."Some of Claude's major reported weaknesses compared to an L4 include: self-managing week-long ambiguous tasks, understanding org priorities, taste, verification, instruction-following, and epistemics," the report reads.In other words, its weaknesses are everything involved with self-direction, which is the cornerstone for RSI. But sure, for everything else, Claude is ready to step right in.Expert Perspectives on RSI TimelinesJust like the AGI term before it, the AI industry also can't tell us how far away it is from showcasing a meaningful recursive system. When Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology assembled a group of experts to study RSI last year, the group found a major split in assessments — some expecting an imminent "superintelligence" style explosion while others expected slower progress and an eventual plateau. But all agreed that recursion made the future especially difficult to predict.Helen Toner, director of CSET and a former board member at OpenAI, told TechCrunch that simply using AI tools to do AI research isn't enough to qualify as RSI. "They're just using AI for as much as they can," Toner told TechCrunch. "And I think that is different from the classic definition of RSI, which is really that there are no humans needed."Toner pointed to a recent post by METR's Ajeya Cotra, which distinguishes different milestones on the path to the AI research takeover. One step, which Cotra calls "adequacy," would come when the system can still perform research after all humans are removed — even if the resulting research isn't as valuable or efficient. "Parity" comes when an AI-only system is as good at research as a human-only system. "Supremacy," the final stage, comes when an AI-only system outperforms a collaborative system between humans and AI.Ultimately, Cotra concludes that AI is very close to the adequacy threshold of being able to produce some work on its own — similar to the incremental changes made by Karpathy's Auto-Research system. "I wouldn't be totally shocked if you told me this milestone had already passed, and I expect it to happen in the next couple years," Cotra wrote.She was less clear on when parity will come, but once it does, she thinks it would "massively accelerate the pace of AI progress, leading to AI research supremacy within another year."The Challenges Ahead for Recursive AIWith so much of AI built on scaling laws, there's a strong tendency to think RSI will follow the same curve. Toner thinks that many of those pursuing AI research and development via RSI "think of it as a pretty smooth ladder, where you can just keep scaling up."But even if AI researchers are able to make incremental improvements like Karpathy's auto-researchers, there will be larger challenges in handing off the whole process of research. Toner put it in terms of the history of computing, which has seen human beings handing off more and more of the process while still directing things from the top."We went from machine languages to assembly language and compiled languages; you're getting further and further from the guts of the computer," Toner said. "But the human is still, in some intuitive sense, running the show."Moving beyond that paradigm will take significant challenges, both in engineering and alignment. But even with the massive investments happening, there's no infinite compute available — and the basic trade-off between human labor and machine intelligence will be hard to overcome.The Future of Recursive Self-ImprovementAs for a total recursive AI system of apocalyptic visions? The only thing researchers essentially agree on is that, like AGI, it's not here yet.