Tariffs, Truce, Tension, and the People Caught in Between

The world isn’t slowing down: tariffs raise inflation fears, peace talks waver in Ukraine, and Sudan’s crisis deepens. Plus, a farewell to Mario Vargas Llosa.

Apr 20, 2025

Edit: The original version of this post mistakenly said that Canada’s next federal election was originally scheduled for October 2050, when it’s actually 2025. If Canada were going more than 25 years between elections, that would be a very different (and alarming) story and probably the main headline here. The text has been corrected.

This hasn’t been a quiet week in the news. The world is still reeling from the ripple effects of tariffs, while armed conflicts continue to deepen humanitarian suffering across multiple regions. I get it: staying engaged can feel like a lot. The sheer volume of headlines, crises, and developments makes it nearly impossible to hold space for everything. And, truthfully, I also sometimes need to step away from the noise.

Curating this newsletter and narrowing it down to just six stories each week isn’t easy. There’s always more I wish I could include. But the guiding ethos of The Decanter is to help you take stock of recent events without getting overwhelmed. I won’t always be able to bring you uplifting news, but I do promise to offer a thoughtful and balanced mix of the stories shaping our world.

Though I’m naturally drawn to politics and international affairs, I’ll also be more intentional about spotlighting developments in science, technology, culture, and sports. These stories matter just as much, and they’ll be showing up here more often.

Here’s what stood out this week:

Three Stories Everyone’s Talking About

1. Harvard Says No

Harvard is at the center of an escalating standoff. This week, the U.S. government sent a letter demanding sweeping changes to Harvard’s hiring and admissions practices, internal policies, and academics. Among the requirements was to hire external auditors to ensure “viewpoint diversity.”

The consequences for noncompliance? Losing federal research grants and tax-exempt status.

So far, Harvard has rejected the demands, calling them an unconstitutional overreach that would compromise academic freedom. By Friday, the government had frozen $2 billion in federal grants and halted a $60 million research contract.

Interested in more? NYT - U.S. Administration Will Freeze $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses Demands

2. Powell Stays Put, for Now

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is caught in a bind. His job is to balance inflation, which remains above the Fed’s 2% target, with economic growth and employment. However, newly imposed tariffs on nearly everything are pulling in opposite directions: likely to drive up prices while cooling global trade and slowing growth.

In public remarks, Powell acknowledged the challenge but emphasized a wait-and-see approach:

“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is signaling a clear preference for a more dovish approach, favoring lower interest rates to stimulate the economy, even at the risk of sparking more inflation.

The tension is real: if inflation and growth continue moving in opposite directions, the Fed may soon be forced to prioritize one over the other.

Interested in more? NYT - Powell Faces Pressure From the Markets and Administration Over Rates

3. Ukraine Talks on the Brink

The Secretary of State announced that the U.S. will walk away from peace negotiations with Russia unless there’s “substantive progress” in the coming days.

On Saturday, Russia proposed an “Easter truce,” offering a 30-hour ceasefire. Ukraine called it a manipulative ploy to regroup. Earlier in the week, a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 35 people, including children.

If the U.S. exits the talks, it could weaken NATO cohesion, where most allies continue to argue that sustained support for Kyiv is non-negotiable, and potentially prolong the conflict.

Interested in more? BBC - Zelensky says Russian attacks ongoing despite Putin announcing 'Easter truce'

Underreported, but Worth Your Attention

1. Sudan’s Crisis Deepens

While global attention is elsewhere, Sudan’s civil war is worsening. Earlier this week, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a devastating attack on the Zamzam displacement camp near Darfur. According to the UN, at least 300 civilians were killed and thousands forced to flee, as the camp, host to over 500,000 displaced people, was shelled.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF have been fighting since April 2023, in a conflict that followed the 2021 coup. Initially allies in ousting a transitional government, the two factions turned against each other in a violent power struggle. So far, the war has claimed over 150,000 lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN.

This is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and yet, it’s barely registering on front pages. With aid blocked and famine spreading, this crisis continues to deepen.

Interested in more? BBC - Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening

2. Canada Approaches the End of an Electoral Campaign

Canada is preparing for a snap federal election on April 28 amid rising political tensions with the U.S.

Mark Carney became prime minister and leader of the governing Liberal Party after Justin Trudeau announced his resignation in January. While Canadian law requires elections at least every five years (the next was originally scheduled for October 2025), an earlier election can be triggered by a prime minister’s request or a failed confidence vote in Parliament.

The Conservatives led polling throughout 2023 and early 2024. Meanwhile, at its lowest, Liberal support dropped to just above 20%. However, since Trudeau’s departure, the trend has reverted and the gap has narrowed. Recent polls suggest just over 40% of Canadians back the Liberals, with just under 40% supporting the Conservatives.

Canada uses a first-past-the-post system across 343 federal ridings. Under this system, the candidate with the most votes in each electoral district wins, even if they don’t secure an absolute majority. Voters do not elect the prime minister directly. Instead, the leader of the party with the most MPs typically forms the government. If no party wins a majority, a minority government must seek cross-party support to pass legislation.

Interested in more? BBC - Five takeaways from Canada party leaders' big TV debate

What to Watch Next Week

The IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings

Finance ministers and central bank governors will gather in Washington, D.C., for the annual spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Global inflation and the fallout from the widening trade conflict will dominate the agenda.

“We will also see markups to the inflation forecasts for some countries,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a preview speech this week. While a global recession is not currently forecasted, revised growth projections and urgent calls for policy coordination are expected.

Interested in more? BBC - No global recession despite US tariffs, says IMF

One Thing That Stuck With Me

In Memoriam: Mario Vargas Llosa (1936–2025)

On Sunday, April 13, Peruvian novelist, journalist, and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa died at 89 in Lima. A prominent figure of the Latin American Boom, Vargas Llosa leaves behind a vast literary legacy. His extensive work explored the topics of power, resistance, and the fragility of freedom.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 for his “cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.” A member of both the Royal Spanish Academy and the Académie Française, he was the first member of the latter to have never written a book in French. Over the course of his life, he received numerous literary honors in addition to the Nobel, including the Rómulo Gallegos Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.

For me, as for many Peruvians, Vargas Llosa was a staple on our bookshelves. I would stay up late reading Conversation in the Cathedral, The Feast of the Goat, and The Mischief of the Bad Girl, finishing each in just a few days. A Fish in the Water sparked my early interest in journalism.

One section from his Nobel lecture has stayed with me ever since:

“I carry Peru deep inside me because that is where I was born, grew up, was formed, and lived those experiences of childhood and youth that shaped my personality and forged my calling, and there I loved, hated, enjoyed, suffered, and dreamed. What happens there affects me more, moves and exasperates me more than what occurs elsewhere. I have not wished it or imposed it on myself; it simply is so.”

His words captured something we all carry: the places that made us, whether we still live there or not.

Interested in more? NYT - Farewell to the Last Writer of the Latin American Boom

That’s all for this week.

If there’s something you think I should be paying attention to or you just want to share a thought, feel free to reply to this email or leave a comment. I read everything, and your input helps me shape how this space grows.

The Decanter