The auto-parts supplier’s move comes as semiconductors become crucial for vehicle electrification and self-driving technologies
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Toyota-Affiliated Denso Makes Takeover Bid for Chip Maker Rohm
Wemby emotional after Spurs’ 25-point comeback over Clippers
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Michael C. Wright
Multiple Authors
SAN ANTONIO — As Spurs coach Mitch Johnson addressed reporters after a 116-112 win Friday over the Clippers, jubilation rumbled inside the team’s locker room a few feet behind him.
On the second night of a back-to-back set, San Antonio overcame a 25-point deficit, the club’s second-largest comeback in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98), to run its record since Feb. 1 to an NBA-best 14-1. That’s the team’s best mark in a 15-game span since the 2015-16 season, when the Spurs won a franchise-record 67 games, according to ESPN research.
“I’ve got zero left right now,” said Victor Wembanyama, who told ESPN during his postgame on-court interview that he was “about to pass out.”
“That was one of the best wins,” he added. “That was one of the best games, best parts of my career, my basketball life.”
Wembanyama scored a team-high 27 points, including the go-ahead bucket in which he hauled in a long pass in transition from De’Aaron Fox and dunked it in with 16 seconds remaining, sending the fans at Frost Bank Center into a frenzy.
“That was probably the last [fast break] I had in my body,” said Wembanyama, who also had 10 rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes.
Fox scored or assisted on 25 of San Antonio’s 35 fourth-quarter points and finished with 19 points and nine assists.
“This one felt good,” Fox said. “This one felt better than yesterday.”
Against the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday, Wembanyama and Fox scored 38 and 29 points, respectively, and became the first San Antonio teammates since 2018 to each score 20-plus points in the same half of a game, according to ESPN Research. The combined effort lifted the Spurs to a decisive victory that moved them to 6-1 against the No. 1 seeds in each conference.
After Friday’s victory, a visibly exhausted Wembanyama, wearing a hooded gray sweatshirt, called the conclusion of the team’s latest back-to-back “the best 30 hours of basketball” of his life.
“[My] favorite part is we faced some very different trials over these last two games and we’ve been able to answer the call in every single one of them,” he said.
Clippers center Brook Lopez, Johnson’s former college teammate at Stanford, made that more difficult for San Antonio. He scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half, leaving the Spurs with their largest halftime deficit of the season at 20 points.
By the 9:23 mark of the third quarter, the Clippers had extended their lead to 75-50.
“Hard-fought game last night [against Detroit], second night of a back-to-back, guys are banged up,” Johnson said. “The competitive response and the character the guys showed to really try to band together and fight through the mental, physical and emotional fatigue was commendable.”
Former Spur Kawhi Leonard, who was booed every time he touched the ball, scored a game-high 30 points with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Spurs rookie Carter Bryant drew praise after the game from Leonard, Johnson and Wembanyama. Bryant, 20, guarded Leonard down the stretch. His father, D’Cean, coached Leonard in high school as an assistant at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California.
“I used to be on the other end of the court when my dad was working Kawhi out, just mirroring what he was doing,” Bryant said. “I was 8, 9, 10 years old watching Kawhi go to San Diego State. He came up to me after the game. He was like, ‘Man, your little ass used to be running around on the court. I’m proud of you. Just keep going. Keep trusting the process.'”
San Antonio outscored the Clippers 66-37 over the final 21:20 of the second half. The fourth quarter featured seven lead changes. With 52.3 seconds left, Derrick Jones Jr. converted a three-point play to put the Clippers ahead 112-111 before Fox and Wembanyama connected for the go-ahead dunk.
Wembanyama produced his 16th game with four 3-point field goals and four blocks, the most in NBA history, according to ESPN Research. The Spurs plan to take Saturday off before resuming their homestand Sunday with a matchup against the physical Houston Rockets.
In the middle of finishing his postgame media availability, Wembanyama asked what time it was as he started calculating how much sleep he could get before the next outing.
“I’ll get two good nights of sleep,” Wembanyama said. “The good thing is I didn’t get any super sore points in my body. So I don’t have anything specific that needs to be covered. It’s just the whole system, which is the best. It means I’m healthy. Two good nights’ sleep, recovery, massage, whatever, cold contrast, hot and cold, all these things. I recover really quickly. So I’m not worried about two days from now.”
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Trump encourages Latin American leaders to use military action to help US fight cartels
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States and Latin American countries are banding together to combat violent cartels as his administration looks to demonstrate it remains committed to sharpening U.S. foreign policy focus on the Western Hemisphere.Trump encouraged regional leaders gathered at his Miami-area golf club to take military action against drug trafficking cartels and transnational gangs that he says pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security.“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Trump said. “We have to use our military. You have to use your military.” Citing the U.S.-led coalition that confronted the Islamic State group in the Middle East, the Republican president said that ”we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home.”The gathering, which the White House called the “Shield of the Americas” summit, came just two months after Trump ordered a U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolás Maduro, and take him and his wife to the United States to face drug conspiracy charges.Looming even larger is Trump’s decision to join with Israel to launch a war on Iran one week ago, a conflict that has left hundreds dead and unsettled the broader Middle East.Video below: Trump says ‘we’re doing very well in Iran’ during speech at ‘Shield of Americas’ summitTrump’s time with the Latin American leaders was limited: After, he was setting out for Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be on hand for the dignified transfer of the six U.S. troops killed in a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait, one day after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran.But with the summit, Trump aimed to turn attention to the Western Hemisphere. He has pledged to reassert U.S. dominance in the region and push back on what he sees as years of Chinese economic encroachment in America’s backyard.Trump also said the U.S. will turn its attention to Cuba after the war with Iran and suggested his administration would cut a deal with Havana, underscoring Washington’s increasingly aggressive stance against the island’s communist leadership. “Great change will soon be coming to Cuba,” he said, adding that “they’re very much at the end of the line.”Who was thereThe leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago joined the Republican president at Trump National Doral Miami, a golf resort where he is also set to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.The idea for a summit of leaders from across the hemisphere emerged from the ashes of what was to be the 10th edition of the Summit of the Americas, which was scrapped during the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela last year.Host Dominican Republic, pressured by the White House, had barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from attending the regional gathering. But after leftist leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to pull out in protest — and with no commitment from Trump to attend — the Dominican Republic’s president, Luis Abinader, decided at the last minute to postpone the event, citing “deep differences” in the region.The Shield of the Americas moniker was meant to speak to Trump’s vision for a “America First” foreign policy toward the region that leverages U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen across the area since the end of the Cold War.Notably missing at the event were the region’s two dominant powers — Brazil and Mexico — as well as Colombia, long the linchpin of U.S. anti-narcotics strategy in the region.Richard Feinberg, who helped plan the first Summit of Americas in 1994 while working at the National Security Council in the Clinton White House, said the contrast could not be starker.“The first Summit of the Americas, with 34 nations and a carefully negotiated comprehensive agenda for regional competitiveness, projected inclusion, consensus and optimism,” said Feinberg, now professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. “The hastily convened Shield of the Americas mini-summit conjures a crouched defensiveness, with only a dozen or so attendees huddled around a single dominant figure.”The challenge from ChinaSince returning to the White House, Trump has made countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere a top priority. His national security strategy promotes the “Trump Corollary” to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which had sought to ban European incursions in the Americas, by targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military cooperation and investment in the region’s resource industries.The first demonstration of the more muscular approach was Trump’s strong-arming of Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and review long-term port contracts held by a Hong Kong-based company amid U.S. threats to retake the Panama Canal.More recently, the U.S. capture of Maduro and Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil shipments to China — the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude before the raid — and bring into Washington’s orbit one of Beijing’s closest allies in the region. Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.But even leaders closely aligned with Trump have been reluctant to sever ties with China, said Evan Ellis, an expert on Chinese engagement in the region at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.For many countries, China’s trade-focused diplomacy fills a critical financial void in a region with major development challenges ranging from poverty reduction to infrastructure bottlenecks. In contrast, Trump has been slashing foreign assistance to the region while rewarding countries lined up behind his crackdown on immigration — a policy widely unpopular across the hemisphere.“The U.S. is offering the region tariffs, deportations and militarization whereas China is offering trade and investment,” said Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, who has written extensively about China’s economic diplomacy in the Americas. “Leaders in the region would do well to remain neutral and hedge, such that they can leverage increased U.S.-China rivalry to their own benefit.”Before the summit, Trump named Kristi Noem, whom he just removed as his homeland secretary, as his special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.Noem said Trump will announce “a big agreement” at the summit centered on “how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
DORAL, Fla. —
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States and Latin American countries are banding together to combat violent cartels as his administration looks to demonstrate it remains committed to sharpening U.S. foreign policy focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Trump encouraged regional leaders gathered at his Miami-area golf club to take military action against drug trafficking cartels and transnational gangs that he says pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security.
“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Trump said. “We have to use our military. You have to use your military.” Citing the U.S.-led coalition that confronted the Islamic State group in the Middle East, the Republican president said that ”we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home.”
The gathering, which the White House called the “Shield of the Americas” summit, came just two months after Trump ordered a U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolás Maduro, and take him and his wife to the United States to face drug conspiracy charges.
Looming even larger is Trump’s decision to join with Israel to launch a war on Iran one week ago, a conflict that has left hundreds dead and unsettled the broader Middle East.
Video below: Trump says ‘we’re doing very well in Iran’ during speech at ‘Shield of Americas’ summit
Trump’s time with the Latin American leaders was limited: After, he was setting out for Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be on hand for the dignified transfer of the six U.S. troops killed in a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait, one day after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran.
But with the summit, Trump aimed to turn attention to the Western Hemisphere. He has pledged to reassert U.S. dominance in the region and push back on what he sees as years of Chinese economic encroachment in America’s backyard.
Trump also said the U.S. will turn its attention to Cuba after the war with Iran and suggested his administration would cut a deal with Havana, underscoring Washington’s increasingly aggressive stance against the island’s communist leadership. “Great change will soon be coming to Cuba,” he said, adding that “they’re very much at the end of the line.”
Who was there
The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago joined the Republican president at Trump National Doral Miami, a golf resort where he is also set to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.
The idea for a summit of leaders from across the hemisphere emerged from the ashes of what was to be the 10th edition of the Summit of the Americas, which was scrapped during the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela last year.
Host Dominican Republic, pressured by the White House, had barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from attending the regional gathering. But after leftist leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to pull out in protest — and with no commitment from Trump to attend — the Dominican Republic’s president, Luis Abinader, decided at the last minute to postpone the event, citing “deep differences” in the region.
The Shield of the Americas moniker was meant to speak to Trump’s vision for a “America First” foreign policy toward the region that leverages U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen across the area since the end of the Cold War.
Notably missing at the event were the region’s two dominant powers — Brazil and Mexico — as well as Colombia, long the linchpin of U.S. anti-narcotics strategy in the region.
Richard Feinberg, who helped plan the first Summit of Americas in 1994 while working at the National Security Council in the Clinton White House, said the contrast could not be starker.
“The first Summit of the Americas, with 34 nations and a carefully negotiated comprehensive agenda for regional competitiveness, projected inclusion, consensus and optimism,” said Feinberg, now professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. “The hastily convened Shield of the Americas mini-summit conjures a crouched defensiveness, with only a dozen or so attendees huddled around a single dominant figure.”
The challenge from China
Since returning to the White House, Trump has made countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere a top priority. His national security strategy promotes the “Trump Corollary” to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which had sought to ban European incursions in the Americas, by targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military cooperation and investment in the region’s resource industries.
The first demonstration of the more muscular approach was Trump’s strong-arming of Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and review long-term port contracts held by a Hong Kong-based company amid U.S. threats to retake the Panama Canal.
More recently, the U.S. capture of Maduro and Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil shipments to China — the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude before the raid — and bring into Washington’s orbit one of Beijing’s closest allies in the region. Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But even leaders closely aligned with Trump have been reluctant to sever ties with China, said Evan Ellis, an expert on Chinese engagement in the region at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
For many countries, China’s trade-focused diplomacy fills a critical financial void in a region with major development challenges ranging from poverty reduction to infrastructure bottlenecks. In contrast, Trump has been slashing foreign assistance to the region while rewarding countries lined up behind his crackdown on immigration — a policy widely unpopular across the hemisphere.
“The U.S. is offering the region tariffs, deportations and militarization whereas China is offering trade and investment,” said Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, who has written extensively about China’s economic diplomacy in the Americas. “Leaders in the region would do well to remain neutral and hedge, such that they can leverage increased U.S.-China rivalry to their own benefit.”
Before the summit, Trump named Kristi Noem, whom he just removed as his homeland secretary, as his special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Noem said Trump will announce “a big agreement” at the summit centered on “how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
Here Are Country Music’s Most Volatile Marriages
Country music has always been about three chords and the truth, and sometimes the truth just isn’t pretty.
Some of your favorite country stars have lived the heartache they sing about in their songs through volatile marriages — some of which have splashed across the headlines.
Contentious marriages are the stuff of country music legend at times.
Which Country Stars Have Had the Most Volatile Marriages?
Do you know which all-time country music icon’s wife sewed him into a sheet and beat him with a broomstick?
Drugs, alcohol and infidelity played a large role in some of country music’s most difficult marriages.
READ MORE: These Country Stars Have Been Married the Most Times
One country singer claimed her equally famous spouse chased her around the house with a shotgun, while another alleged that her country singer husband threatened to bite her nose off in a heated argument.
Even those wild stories don’t take the cake, though.
One major country star’s wife actually shot him and came close to killing him — and let’s face it, that’s when it’s time to admit the honeymoon is over.
Another country star actually murdered his wife and received a life sentence.
Read on to see which country stars have had the most volatile marriages over the decades.
Country Music’s Most Volatile Marriages
Country music is all about three chords and the truth, and sometimes the truth isn’t pretty. Read on to see which country stars have had the most volatile marriages over the decades.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
See Country Music’s 15 Shortest Marriages
See country music’s shortest marriages, including one that only last four days!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
Aperol Maker Bets More Americans Will Warm to Italian-Style Drinking
Campari has significantly increased advertising in the U.S. and sales of Aperol are already on the rise there as American drinkers acquire a taste for the aperitif.
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Women’s Bracketology: Latest NCAA Tournament projections as Arizona State grabs final spot
When teams all around the bubble (Nebraska, Virginia, Stanford, Texas A&M, Utah, Mississippi State) go one-and-done in their conference tournaments, a couple of wins can be huge for a team’s March Madness chances. Arizona State (24-10) understood the assignment, with wins over Arizona and Iowa State that see the Sun Devils climbing back into the projected field of 68.
No power conference team with at least 24 wins has ever been left out of the NCAA Tournament. At the same time, 24-win power conference teams usually aren’t No. 51 in the NET. Crucially, the Sun Devils picked up their first Quad 1 win of the season against Iowa State, but the Cyclones are unlikely to be better than a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which isn’t quite a “signature” win in my book. Arizona State’s run in the Big 12 Tournament came to an end Friday with a loss against West Virginia.
Still, Arizona State has a 6-2 record in Quad 2 games and wins against all the Big 12 teams around the bubble except for BYU. It also has the WAB ranking of a team that should be just inside the field. That’s where I have them, as the last team in.
It’s been a remarkable season in Tempe, as coach Molly Miller has led a 14-win turnaround in her first season at the school. A trip to March Madness would be the icing on the cake.
Bracketology — March 7
Last four in
- Colorado (Next game: vs. West Virginia, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Nebraska
- South Dakota State (vs. South Dakota, 3:30 p.m. ET)
- Arizona State
First four out
- Virginia
- Richmond (vs. George Mason, 1:30 p.m. ET)
- BYU
- Stanford
Next four out
- Texas A&M
- Utah
- Mississippi State
- Kansas
What to Watch For
Could LSU grab the final No. 1 seed?
It seemed likely that Texas and Vanderbilt would play for the last No. 1 seed in the SEC Semifinals, but what would’ve been a must-watch game wasn’t to be, as Ole Miss thoroughly dominated Vanderbilt in the first half on Friday, leading 49-17 at the break and coasting to an 89-78 win.
That takes Vanderbilt out of the running and should mean that Texas ends as a No. 1 seed. For perspective, the Longhorns have the No. 3 WAB in the country, better than UConn and more than four full wins ahead of LSU. But seeing as how Vanderbilt jumped Texas earlier in the season after beating the Longhorns, if LSU can beat South Carolina and Texas en route to an SEC Tournament title, they will have at least a chance.
LSU certainly looked like a national title contender in its 34-point win over Oklahoma in the SEC Quarterfinals, the biggest margin of victory in an SEC Tournament full of blowouts thus far. If Iowa and Michigan win the Big Ten Tournament, they could also have an outside look at a No. 1 seed if Texas doesn’t prevail in Greenville.
North Carolina steals Michigan State’s hosting spot
The Tar Heels have been pushing for what looked like an unlikely top-four seed for two months now, and it’s finally paid off. After Minnesota, Maryland and Michigan State lost their opening games in the Big Ten Tournament, the door was open for UNC, and a win over Virginia Tech sent them through.
Michigan State now drops to a No. 5 seed while Minnesota and Maryland are safe for now but still potentially vulnerable to West Virginia, Notre Dame and Ole MIss depending on results over the next two days.
One- or two-bid leagues?
The Big 12 is the only remaining power conference with bubble implications. Colorado, which should now be in the field, gets West Virginia in the Big 12 Semifinals. Kansas State, the conference No. 12 seed, is just two wins away from becoming one of the unlikeliest bid-stealers of all time.
But if the Wildcats can’t get it done against TCU or in the final, all attention will shift to the mid-majors. Princeton winning the Ivy League Tournament would take Columbia out of the field and open up an at-large spot. The same would be true for South Dakota State winning the Summit League Tournament and taking out North Dakota State.
In the Atlantic 10, Rhode Island is an 11 seed while Richmond is the second team out. Both teams have a chance at an at-large and can be helped immensely by Princeton and South Dakota State.
Lastly, Fairfield has an outside chance of an at-large if they make it to the MAAC Championship and lose to Quinnipiac. A pair of Quad 1 road wins against Villanova and Richmond carry the Stags’ resume and mean they could potentially steal a bid from the at-large field.
Trump meets with Latin American leaders turning his attention to the Western Hemisphere
President Trump encouraged Latin American leaders to band together to combat violent cartels as his administration looks to demonstrate it is still committed to sharpening U.S. foreign policy focus on the Western Hemisphere, even as it deals with five-alarm crises around the globe.
The gathering, which the White House called the “Shield of the Americas” summit, came just two months after Trump ordered an audacious U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolás Maduro, and whisk him and his wife to the United States to face drug conspiracy charges.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Trump said the assembled leaders are united in “the conviction that we cannot and will not tolerate the lawlessness in our hemisphere any longer.”
He was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who was recently named Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas – Western Hemisphere, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were also in attendance.
Mr. Trump focused a portion of his remarks on the cartels running Mexico, saying that the “epicenter of cartel violence” stems from the country. He added that cartels fuel and orchestrate “a deep bloodshed and chaos” in the hemisphere, before signing a proclamation that the president said will establish an Americas counter-cartel coalition.
“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to use our military. You have to use your military.”
Rebecca Blackwell / AP 
Looming even larger is Mr. Trump’s decision to join with Israel to launch a war on Iran one week ago, a conflict that has left hundreds dead, convulsed global markets and unsettled the broader Middle East.
The president’s time with the Latin American leaders will be limited: He is set to fly to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be on hand for the dignified transfer of the six U.S. troops killed in a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait, one day after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran.
But with the summit, Mr. Trump was looking to turn attention to the Western Hemisphere, at least for a moment. He has pledged to reassert U.S. dominance in the region and push back on what he sees as years of Chinese economic encroachment in America’s backyard.
“Under previous leaders, we grew obsessed with every other theater and every other border in the world except our own,” Hegseth told regional leaders and defense ministers who gathered in Florida this week for talks on countering drug cartels. “These elites reduced our power and presence in this hemisphere, opting for a benign neglect that was anything but benign.”
Leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras and the Dominican Republic joined the gathering at the Republican president’s Trump National Doral Miami, a golf resort where he is also set to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.
The idea for a summit of like-minded conservatives from across the hemisphere emerged from the ashes of what was to be the 10th edition of the Summit of the Americas, which was scrapped during the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela last year.
Then-host Dominican Republic, pressured by the White House, had barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from attending the regional gathering. But after leftist leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to pull out in protest – and with no commitment from Mr. Trump to attend – the Dominican Republic’s president, Luis Abinader, decided at the last minute to postpone the event, citing “deep differences” in the region.
The Shield of the Americas moniker was meant to speak to Mr. Trump’s vision for a “America First” foreign policy toward the region that leverages U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen across the area since the end of the Cold War.
Notably missing at the event were the region’s two dominant powers – Brazil and Mexico – as well as Colombia, long the linchpin of U.S. anti-narcotics strategy in the region.
Richard Feinberg, who helped plan the first Summit of Americas in 1994 while working at the National Security Council in the Clinton White House, said the contrast could not be starker.
“The first Summit of the Americas, with 34 nations and a carefully negotiated comprehensive agenda for regional competitiveness, projected inclusion, consensus and optimism,” said Feinberg, now professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. “The hastily convened Shield of the Americas mini-summit conjures a crouched defensiveness, with only a dozen or so attendees huddled around a single dominant figure.”
Since returning to the White House, Mr. Trump has made countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere a top priority. His national security strategy promotes the “Trump Corollary” to the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which had sought to ban European incursions in the Americas, by targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military cooperation and investment in the region’s resource industries.
The first demonstration of the more muscular approach was Mr. Trump’s strong-arming of Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and review long-term port contracts held by a Hong Kong-based company amid U.S. threats to retake the Panama Canal.
More recently, the U.S. capture of Maduro and Mr. Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil shipments to China – the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude before the raid – and bring into Washington’s orbit one of Beijing’s closest allies in the region. Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But even leaders closely aligned with Mr. Trump have been reluctant to sever ties with China, said Evan Ellis, an expert on Chinese engagement in the region at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
For many countries, China’s trade-focused diplomacy fills a critical financial void in a region with major development challenges ranging from poverty reduction to infrastructure bottlenecks. In contrast, Mr. Trump has been slashing foreign assistance to the region while rewarding countries lined up behind his crackdown on immigration – a policy widely unpopular across the hemisphere.
“The U.S. is offering the region tariffs, deportations and militarization, whereas China is offering trade and investment,” said Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, who has written extensively about China’s economic diplomacy in the Americas. “Leaders in the region would do well to remain neutral and hedge, such that they can leverage increased U.S.-China rivalry to their own benefit.”
Calmer, Cool Saturday in New Mexico
Good morning! Some of the coldest air within more than a week has settled into Albuquerque. For the first time in about 11 days temperatures have fallen near the freezing point in the Duke City. Elsewhere temperatures are on the cooler side ranging from the teens, 20s, 30s and 40s in the Land of Enchantment. […]
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DAVE MUSTAINE Wants To Be An Actor In A Post-MEGADETH World
After more than four decades at the helm of Megadeth, frontman Dave Mustaine says the band’s farewell era is approaching – though fans shouldn’t expect a quick goodbye. In a recent interview with Kerrang!, Mustaine suggested a final tour could stretch anywhere from three to five years.
But while the end of Megadeth is in sight, Mustaine is already mapping out life beyond thrash metal – and Hollywood is calling.
Speaking to Classic Rock (via Guitar), Mustaine revealed he’s seriously considering pursuing acting once Megadeth winds down. “I wouldn’t mind studying acting,” he said, adding that although he’s appeared on screen before, he wants to properly refine his craft.
Mustaine‘s past credits include a villain role as Torchy Thompson on the 2001 TV series Black Scorpion, as well as voice work in the 2017 horror-musical Halloween Pussy Trap Kill Kill (no, I didn’t make that up). He’s also hosted game shows and made various sitcom and film appearances over the years.
“I’ve already done a ton of stuff on TV… so I’m very accustomed to being in front of the camera,” Mustaine explained. “I think that might be fun to do.”
In a move that may shock longtime fans, Mustaine even said he’d consider cutting his trademark red hair – under the right circumstances.
“If they asked me to cut my hair, I’d be willing to do it! But it would have to be for a guaranteed part – and a big part.”
Beyond acting, Mustaine also wants to focus on mentorship. The guitarist says he’s eager to share his knowledge with aspiring players of any age. “I really want to share my gift with younger musicians,” he said.
“Actually, it doesn’t even have to be a younger musician. If it’s somebody that’s a little bit older and they want to learn what it is that makes Dave tick, I don’t care about their date of birth, I just want to be able to share.”
Mustaine framed his musical ability as something bigger than himself. “I’ve been gifted. I wouldn’t be this good on my own.”
Speaking of Megadeth‘s farewell tour, you can check out all their previously-announced tour dates below. Get your tickets here.
3/4 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre
3/6 Québec City, QC Videotron Centre
4/23 Lima, Peru Costa 21
4/26 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/27 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/30 Buenos Aires, Argentina Tecnópolis
5/2 São Paulo, Brazil Espaco Unimed
5/4 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/5 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/8 Monterrey, Mexico Arena Monterrey
5/10 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/11 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/13 Guadalajara, Mexico Arena Guadalajara
5/17 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple
5/25 Valencia, Spain Roig Arena
5/27 A Coruña, Spain Coliseum
5/29 Bilbao, Spain Bizkaia Arena BEC
6/2 Hanover, Germany Heinz von Heiden Arena
6/4 Gdansk, Poland Mystic Festival
6/6 Maastricht, Netherlands South of Heaven
6/7 Gelsenkirchen, Germany Amphitheater
6/10 Hradec Králové, Czechia Rock For People – Park 360
6/11 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhal
6/14 Ferrara, Italy Ferrara Summer Festival – Piazza Ariostea
6/15 Zurich, Switzerland Halle 622
6/16 Vienna, Austria Gasometer
6/18 Dessel, Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting
6/23 Istanbul, Türkiye Kucukciftlik Park
6/26 Helsinki, Finland Suvilahti – TUSKA
6/28 Almaty, Kazakhstan Spartak Stadium
8/8 Sturgis, SD Sturgis Buffalo Chip
8/29 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
8/30 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
9/3 Montréal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
9/5 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/6 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/9 Boston, MA TD Garden
9/11 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
9/12 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
9/15 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
9/19 Shakopee, MN Mystic Lake Amphitheater
9/22 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
9/25 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/26 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/29 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
11/7 Auckland, New Zealand Spark Arena
11/11 Adelaide, Australia Entertainment Centre
11/13 Melbourne, Australia AAMI Park
11/15 Sydney, Australia Allianz Stadium
11/18 Brisbane, Australia Entertainment Centre
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