The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter. It shrank 0.3% from January through March, its first drop in three years. It was slowed by a surge in imports, affecting gross domestic output, as companies in the United States tried to bring in foreign goods before the imposition of massive tariffs. The surge in imports is likely to reverse in the second quarter, removing a weight on GDP as forecasts predict April-June growth will rebound to a 2% gain. Consumer spending also slowed sharply. – The Associated Press

China’s manufacturing sector contracted too. Factories slowed more than expected in April, an early sign 145% US tariffs on most Chinese goods are biting. New orders, production, employment, and other key activity – measured by the purchasing managers’ index – fell to a 16-month low, data released Wednesday shows. A sub-index for new export orders fell to the lowest level since December 2022. Global banks cut forecasts for China’s GDP growth for 2025 on average from 5% to about 4%. – Staff

A federal court freed a detainee in Vermont. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford released on bail Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student who faces deportation after leading campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. A Columbia University student and a lawful permanent resident, Mr. Mahdawi had been in prison for two weeks after being arrested after his naturalization interview.

The Trump administration is attempting to deport numerous lawful residents who’ve criticized Israel. As in those cases, the government is arguing Mr. Mahdawi’s continued presence in the U.S. would “potentially undermine” its foreign policy goals, including negotiating peace in Gaza. The immigration case against him will continue. “I am at peace,” Mr. Mahdawi told NPR. “I have faith that justice will prevail.” – Staff

Ukraine agreed to a mineral deal. Officials there said Wednesday that Kyiv is ready to sign an agreement that would give the U.S. access to its valuable rare earth minerals, needed for technology from smartphones to electric vehicle batteries. Kyiv hopes the deal will ensure continued American support in its war with Russia. The U.S. said in February it wanted rare earths access as a condition of that. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Trump administration was ready to ink the deal. – AP

Harvard showed where it failed some students. Two internal reports this week outlined prejudice toward Muslim and Jewish students. The school is in the midst of a legal battle with the Trump administration, including over charges that Harvard failed to protect Jewish students, that resulted in the canceling of grants. But these reports, produced by two task forces established by Harvard last year, detail “searing” accounts of bigotry and evidence of a “charged” campus environment. Leadership is preparing next steps, wrote President Alan Garber. Across the U.S., antisemitism and Islamophobia surged in the past year. – Staff

Work on a National Climate Assessment was halted. Researchers developing it were dismissed this week by the U.S. administration, which said the project was to be reevaluated. Mandated by Congress since 1990, the scientific assessments have been generated every four years. The move reflects a concern among some in the administration that climate science has become alarmist and biased. Critics of the stoppage defended the validity of the reports. Reviewed by relevant agencies, the impact reports are widely considered to be the preeminent tool for informing, for example, preparation for extreme weather events. – Staff

In Illinois, the biggest soybean-producing state in the U.S., farmers face a difficult calculus this year. Soybean prices are at a four-year low. The new tariffs on China, a critical export market, may add further downward pressure on the value of the crop. The spring planting season is testing the strength of support for President Donald Trump’s policies among a steadfast constituency.

The country of Jordan has fashioned itself as a bulwark of peace in the Middle East. But the discovery of a militant cell operating in the capital, Amman, has cast uncertainty. The Hashemite Kingdom is now confronting the ramifications of outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood, its largest political movement.

The rebel movement that overran the Congolese city of Goma, on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, four months ago faces a new challenge. Residents now expect the rebels to govern. As the two African states draft a peace deal this week, M23 guerrilla fighters are trying to recast themselves as capable public stewards, restoring basic utilities and reopening schools.

Court battles over recent deportations of migrants to El Salvador and other Latin American destinations have put focus on contempt – one of the few constitutional tools that judges have to compel compliance with their rulings. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has threatened to yield it against the Trump administration. What is this legal mechanism and how does it work?

When the new National Medal of Honor Museum opened in Arlington, Texas, in late March, 31 of the 61 living recipients of the United States’ highest military honor were present. Chris Cassidy, the former astronaut and retired Navy SEAL who leads the museum’s foundation, discusses the nature and substance of grace under fire.

As the European Union scrambles to respond to unsettling geopolitical conditions, three of the bloc’s smaller member states by the Baltic Sea – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – are already leading by example.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the three have been unwavering in their financial, moral, and military support for their southern neighbor. They have committed about 1.7% of gross domestic product to that cause. (The United States and the United Kingdom have provided 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.)

In addition, the three governments have resolutely strengthened their defenses, doing so well before the Trump administration’s tougher demands for NATO allies in Europe to increase their military spending. In February, the Baltics also completely disconnected from the Russian electricity supply system.

Their resolve has influenced nearby countries that also share a land border, a strategic waterway, or both with Russia. Nordic nations are frankly discussing increasing defense budgets to finance military aid for Ukraine. Support for Ukraine among Danes, Swedes, and Finns is sky-high. And Germany asked the EU to activate a clause that would allow it to rapidly increase defense spending.

What accounts for the forward-looking action by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania? For many of their citizens, it is their shared history with Ukraine in their own long struggles to break free from Moscow.

In 1989, the people of the three nations joined hands – literally, in a 430-mile-long human chain – to protest Soviet rule. Dubbed the Baltic Way, this unified expression of nonviolent resistance helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union two years later.

That same commitment to democratic ideals and national sovereignty shines a beacon for Europe today.

Two former Baltic prime ministers now hold key positions in the EU: Estonia’s Kaja Kallas is vice president and head of foreign affairs; Lithuania’s Andrius Kubilius heads the defense portfolio.

The Baltic nations’ 7.5 million citizens still feel pressure from Moscow. Russia continues to target them with overt threats and covert disinformation campaigns. It is not only empathy and self-preservation that drive the emphasis on strengthening both Ukraine and Europe; the Baltic people have long stood against oppression and for sovereignty. 

As Lithuanian analyst and writer Inga Samoškaitė wrote last year, the 1989 protest “did not create this commitment to freedom; it made visible what was already there.” Perhaps the current demands on the EU will do the same for Europe.