Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning.
Chapter 2: Why are countries hesitant to support Trump's military call in the Middle East?
Trump calls on allies to support him in the Middle East, but gets the diplomatic cold shoulder. We have a situation which we did not provoke, which we don't cause at all. This war started without any consultations before. The Fed grapples with attacks at home and economic uncertainty abroad. The Wall Street Journal unpacks its upcoming interest rate decision.
And The Washington Post explains how the cash-only market for weight loss drugs exploded. It's Tuesday, March 17th. I'm Cecilia Ley, and this is Apple News Today. As the global energy crisis deepens, President Trump on Monday called on other countries to send military support in an effort to reopen one of the world's most important routes for oil shipping.
We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on this rate far more than ours. You know, we get less than 1% of our oil from this rate. And some countries get much more. Japan gets 95%. China gets 90%. Many of the Europeans get quite a bit. South Korea gets 35%. So we want them to come and help us with the straight. But few were persuaded by Trump's argument.
The British prime minister and the German defense minister delivered similar messages to their citizens, the majority of whom are skeptical of the war. while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies.
Chapter 3: What recent developments occurred with the Federal Reserve and Jerome Powell?
We will not be drawn into the wider war. There will be no military participation and we can't be at every place to support a war which we didn't start. Australia, Japan, and Italy have also been unwilling to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Some European countries, though, have agreed that oil needs to get moving again, and France in particular has offered indirect military support, which wouldn't put them into open conflict with Iran. But for the most part, the reluctance to be drawn into the war was clear, and Trump appeared frustrated by his NATO allies in particular. I always said when in need, they won't protect us.
Now, this is a need.
Chapter 4: How has the cash-only market for GLP-1s affected drug prices?
Need would be one of the big boys. But I will say that we built the greatest military in the world and we protect people. And if we need their mind boats or if we need anything, any piece of apparatus that they may have because of a situation that they have, they should be jumping to help us because we've helped them for years.
The German leader Friedrich Merz said that NATO was a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. The cool reception follows months of tensions, threats, and tariffs and reflects a mutual suspicion between the White House and traditional allies of the U.S., But the rest of the world can't escape the consequences of the straits' closure.
European nations are feeling the pain of higher gas prices more than Americans, and governments across the continent are under pressure to provide massive subsidies to offset rising bills. Speaking to Bloomberg, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, who has a strong rapport with Trump, offered a much more conciliatory tone when asked how NATO members should respond to Trump's call.
We obviously have to take everything that the President of the United States says seriously. I think those countries that have the capacity and the will to help the United States will do that and should do that. Another major player in all this is China.
Trump has been pushing for their support with little success, and on Monday postponed this month's major summit between him and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. China is Iran's biggest buyer of oil, which you might think would make Xi just as keen to get the strait open.
But Bloomberg reports that Beijing's strategic forward planning and substantial oil stockpiles have softened the blow, at least for now. Meanwhile, there were more attacks from both sides of the war. Iran fired a new wave of missiles into Israel and the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, while U.S.-Israeli strikes targeted electrical infrastructure in Tehran.
Tomorrow, the Federal Reserve will conclude a two-day meeting and deliver its interest rate decision. Amid ongoing global economic uncertainty, the agency appears likely to hold steady and keep interest rates unchanged. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has become something of an expert in driving in the fog, as he once put it. This week is no exception.
His committee must decide interest rates without knowing how the war in the Middle East could push gas prices higher, which would make their main job of keeping inflation under control much harder. It's Powell's second-to-last interest rate decision before his term ends in May, and after almost eight years as Fed chair, he might be ready for a break.
This past year, President Trump has exerted extraordinary pressure on Powell to cut interest rates in a way that has jeopardized the independence of the Federal Reserve. The Department of Justice had subpoenaed the agency in an unprecedented probe over a testimony that Powell gave to Congress about his headquarters' renovation costs. The Fed went to court and successfully quashed these subpoenas.
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Chapter 5: What caused Cuba's energy grid collapse and its implications?
But senators on the banking committee, including Republican Tom Tillis, have raised concerns about confirming anyone while Powell is still under investigation.
In particular, Tom Tillis, a retiring Republican of North Carolina, repeated his view after the subpoenas were thrown out that he would not advance any Fed nomination, including Warsh, who he had recently met with, until the Justice Department ended this whole thing. Appealing the decision could only prolong the standoff over the next few weeks.
somebody is going to have to back down, or Kevin Warsh may not be confirmed when Powell's term expires on May 15th. The popularity of the weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s has created an unexpected side effect. Not something medical, but rather a marketplace side effect.
Chapter 6: What legal challenges are impacting RFK Jr.'s vaccine policies?
Millions of Americans who hunt for cheaper alternatives to name brands like Wicovi and Zetbound are discovering a shopping experience that feels more like finding a good deal online than it does a traditional doctor's visit. A cash market has developed because insurance really does not cover these drugs very adequately for weight loss.
Christopher Rowland is a health care reporter for The Washington Post. He explained that insurance often covers parts of the drug's costs if they are prescribed for diabetes or heart issues. But they've been reluctant to cover them for weight loss, in part because of their popularity and the need for long-term use. That has created a few things.
One is competition to catch those dollars from consumers who are shopping on the internet with their cash.
Chapter 7: How is the world preparing for the upcoming FIFA Men's World Cup?
It's also a transparent market, so you can actually shop around and see actual prices, which is not normal in the insurance space. Major manufacturers have responded to the changing marketplace. They've offered their drugs at cash prices lower than the list prices, which are used to negotiate with insurance companies.
They've also signed onto the White House's direct-to-consumer drug website called TrumpRx, which allows patients to search and buy drugs with cash or at discounted rates. One such shopper is Ashley Harden, a grandmother living in rural Louisiana who pays $177 in cash each month for her GLP-1. She doesn't have insurance, but yet she wants to access the health benefits of using a weight loss drug.
And so she took to the internet and searched. What she found was a drug that's a copy of Wegovi, and it's made by a compounding pharmacy. A compounding pharmacy is a producer that mixes drug ingredients to make personalized and copycat medications at much lower prices.
Compounders have proliferated in the weight loss craze, and they've partnered with telehealth companies like Hims and Hers, which markets through social media ads and TV commercials. From 2022 to early 2025, GLP-1 drugs were in such high demand that compounding pharmacies were allowed to sell versions of them under FDA rules for drugs in short supply.
Well, now the shortage is over and the FDA is now telling these compounders they need to dial back their marketing of compounded weight loss drugs. But it's a little bit about the genies out of the bottle. Recently, the FDA sent letters to telehealth companies asking them not to market compounded drugs in a way that misrepresents them as being the same as branded versions.
But already, Roland says that this has been a novel and massive disruption. Because of the cash pricing, because of the competition, because the manufacturers of the brand name drugs can't keep up with demand, it's really been very disruptive and it's creating a very consumer-oriented marketplace, which is highly unusual for the pharmaceutical industry.
Just last week, HIMS and HERS unveiled a new partnership with Novo Nordisk. In response to concerns from the FDA, the company said it would no longer advertise compounded GLP-1s. And finally, a few other stories we're following. Cuba's national power grid collapsed on Monday, leaving 10 million people without electricity.
Trump had cut off Cuba's main oil supply from Venezuela, a move that came shortly after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He had also threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells oil to the island nation. As a result, Cuba has only received two shipments of oil this year.
The entire country is dependent on oil imports from other countries, but officials say they are in talks with the U.S. on a deal to ease the crisis. A federal judge has halted several of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's efforts to remake the nation's vaccine policy. For now, the ruling reverses all decisions made by Kennedy's vaccine advisory panel.
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