“Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur resigned Wednesday evening after national auditors accused his ministry of spending irregularities and a scandal involving undelivered ammunition for Ukraine. The center-right politician, who has served as minister since 2022, said he would step down one day after after reports emerged that his ministry had awarded a €70 million artillery contract to an Indian company with no record of ammunition sales. Estonia took the case to the European Court of Arbitration after the shells were not delivered. … Pevkur faced calls to resign after Estonia’s national audit office last month found ‘serious problems’ in the use of funds and accounting of assets in the defense ministry. The watchdog made similar claims last year.” (09/03/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“This month, there will be over 400 Chinese officials in New Delhi—more than double the previous delegation in 2019—to discuss the future of Sino–Indian relations. For China, those relations have never been more favorable; India’s position on the world stage has declined, though not in ways caused by China, making the prospect of resumed and increased trade between the two nations increasingly likely.” (09/03/26)
“Congress and the Trump administration are not at blame for investing too little in America’s military; they are at fault for taking on too many national security projects. To quote a favorite line from the Rolling Stones, ‘You can’t always get what you want.'” (09/03/26)
“Brendan Greeley’s new book ‘The Almighty Dollar’ traces the dollar’s 500-year journey from a European silver coin to the shaky foundation of American financial power.” (09/03/26)
“Gloria Steinem, the American writer, lecturer, activist and organizer who fought for gender equality and women’s civil and reproductive rights for more than five decades, has died, her foundation said. She was 92 years old. The co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine championed the feminist movement from the late 1960s onwards and inspired generations of women. … Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 with former U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm and writer Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ ushered in the second wave of feminism. Among other groups, she also created the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice, and the Ms. Foundation for Women.” (09/03/26)
