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Forget saving the planet, clean energy interests sharpen a different message

Saving the planet is so 2024. Clean energy leaders across the globe are now tailoring their messages to emphasize the greener side of green: wealth-building. It's an idea that sells far better in the new world of nationalism and tycoon leaders.

Messaging from the U.S. renewable energy industry and the United Nations on climate change has typically focused on the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of environmental and human health. To bolster the argument, they cite record-shattering heat around the world, the frequent climate disasters costing billions of dollars and the human toll of it all.

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Trump once again slaps taxes on foreign steel and aluminum

President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it's because he did pretty much the same thing during his first term.

Trump's original metals tariffs gave America's struggling steel and aluminum producers some relief from intense global competition, allowing them to charge higher prices. In anticipation of the new tariffs, shares of steel and aluminum producers climbed Monday. Nucor rose 5.6%, Cleveland-Cliffs jumped 17.9% and Alcoa ticked up 2.2%.

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EU vows countermeasures to US tariffs

U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum "will not go unanswered," European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger tough countermeasures from the 27-nation bloc. It means iconic U.S. industries like bourbon, jeans and motorcycles should beware.

"The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests," von der Leyen said in a statement in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum the previous day.

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Ukraine offers rare earth deal to Trump for more US military aid

Ukraine has offered to strike a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump for continued American military aid in exchange for developing Ukraine's mineral industry, which could provide a valuable source of the rare earth elements that are essential for many kinds of technology.

Trump said that he wanted such a deal earlier this month, and it was initially proposed last fall by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as part of his plan to strengthen Kyiv's hand in future negotiations with Moscow.

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Iran loosens import restrictions on foreign cars and iPhones

All architecture student Amirhossein Azizi wanted for his 19th birthday was the latest iPhone — and for Iran's cash-strapped theocracy, it was just the gift they needed as well.

Just buying a top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max in Iran's capital cost him on the day 1.6 billion rials ($1,880). An additional 450 million rials ($530) is required for import fees and registration on government-managed mobile phone networks.

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Baltic nations count final hours to ending electricity ties to Russia

Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus — and turn to their European Union allies.

The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow's EU relations.

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Mexican border cities in limbo as tariff threats spark fears of recession

As soon as the sun glints over miles of border fence dividing the United States and Mexico, the engines of cargo trucks packed with auto and computer parts roar to life along border bridges and bleary-eyed workers file into factories to assemble a multitude of products geared toward the U.S. market.

For more than half a century, this daily rhythm has helped fuel the heartbeat of a transnational machine that generated more than $800 billion in trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2024 alone.

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Iran says US 'maximum pressure' will fail as currency plunges to record low

Iran's rial currency plunged Wednesday to record low of 850,000 to $1 after U.S. President Donald Trump's order to restart 'maximum pressure' campaign.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Trump's reimposition of a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran will end in "failure" as it did during his first term.

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What is USAID and why Trump and Musk want to end it?

Dozens of senior officials put on leave. Thousands of contractors laid off. A freeze put on billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to other countries.

Over the last two weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has made significant changes to the U.S. agency charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas that has left aid organizations agonizing over whether they can continue with programs such as nutritional assistance for malnourished infants and children.

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EU and Moldova agree on energy security plan to wean country off Russian supplies

The European Union and Moldova on Tuesday agreed on an energy security plan aimed at weaning the country off its dependence on Russian supplies and integrating it into the 27-nation bloc's network.

The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, said that Moldova would receive 250 million euros ($258 million) this year — 40% of it by mid-April — after Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom cut supplies on Jan. 1.

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