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For decades, Latin America and the Caribbean have been under the protection and leadership of the United States. However, that is changing as America turns inward to focus on its own domestic issues. This has created a power vacuum that China seeks to fill, gaining new support, power, and influence in the Western Hemisphere (Barbados Today, May 17, 2025).

Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is wasting no time advancing Germany. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that European nations increase their defense spending to 5 percent of their GDP (Deutsche Welle, May 18, 2025). Germany’s new foreign minister accepted the challenge on behalf of his nation, meaning that Germany will increase defense spending from about €90 billion to more than €160 billion.

A December 2024 TechCrunch article titled “What are AI ‘world models,’ and why do they matter?” addresses a technology poised to significantly advance artificial intelligence. These “world model” systems aim to train AI by simulating real-world actions and their consequences, enabling machines to predict outcomes with increasing accuracy. Will these efforts create technological “prophets” able to foretell the future?

Although the microscope was invented in the late 1500s, it was not until the invention of the electron microscope in the 1930s that scientists could finally look within the cell. To Charles Darwin, the cell appeared to be a tiny, simple blob of gelatin. Today however, the cell is called “the inner universe” by some microbiologists due to its incredible complexity (Physics-Astronomy.com, April 9, 2023).

Today, tattoos are seen everywhere—nearly a third of American adults have at least one—and people spend vast sums of money for these artistic decorations. Currently, people spend $2.2 billion annually on the tattoo fad, and this number is expected to rise to $4 billion by 2032  (New York Times, August 16, 2024).