Trump Calls Zelenskyy Talks ‘Early Step’ to Peace

Aug 20, 2025 -- Today’s top stories: Trump Calls Zelenskyy Talks ‘Early Step’ to Peace, SoftBank to Invest $2B in Intel, S&P Reaffirms U.S. Credit Rating, and Google, Kairos to Build Nuclear Plant.

Views

101

By CommonWealth Magazine
web only
2025-08-20

調整字體尺寸

Trump Describes Zelenskyy Talks as Early Step Toward Peace, Rules Out U.S. Troops

U.S. President Donald Trump called his White House discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders “a very good, early step” toward ending the nearly four-year war with Russia. He said he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about arranging a direct meeting with Zelenskyy.

Trump ruled out deploying U.S. troops to Ukraine, while adding that Kyiv’s NATO membership and recovery of Crimea remain “impossible.” Talks on security guarantees and possible peace negotiations are still under way.

Reference Sources

Japan's SoftBank to Take $2 Billion Stake in Computer Chip Maker Intel

Japanese technology giant Softbank Group has agreed to invest $2Bn in U.S. chipmaker Intel, in a move expected to give it a 2% stake in the business.

The investment will allow Intel to continue building on its vision of advanced technologies for cloud computing, digital transformation and next-generation infrastructure.

The investment comes amid reports that the U.S. government is also considering taking a 10% stake in Intel, in a deal that could see the U.S. government become the chipmaker's largest Stakeholder.

The government is also considering converting some or all of Intel's grants from the 2022 U.S. Chips and Science Act into equity in the company.

Reference Sources

S&P affirms US credit rating as Trump tariffs boost government revenues

S&P Global has affirmed its "Aa+" credit rating on the U.S., stating that the revenue from President Donald Trump's tariffs will offset the fiscal hit from his recent tax-cut and spending bill.

Trump signed the massive package of tax-cut and spending bill, dubbed the "one big beautiful bill act", into law in July.

The bill, which delivered new tax breaks, also made Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent. "Amid the rise in effective tariff rates, we expect meaningful tariff revenue to generally offset weaker fiscal outcomes that might otherwise be associated with the recent fiscal legislation, which contains both cuts and increases in tax and spending," S&P said in a statement. "At this time, it appears that meaningful tariff revenue has the potential to offset the deficit-raising aspects of the recent budget legislation." The U.S. reported a $21 billion jump in customs duty collections from Trump's tariffs in July, but the government budget deficit still grew nearly 20% in the same month to $291 billion.

The decision offers a glimmer of good news for Trump, who has pushed back against arguments that his historic programme of tariffs will damage the U.S. economy.

Although the S&P analysts did not contradict that view, they stressed that as Trump embarks on a bold programme of tax cuts and spending, tariffs will help soften the blow.

Reference Sources

Google and Kairos Power to deploy advanced nuclear plant in Tennessee Valley Authority by 2030

(Source: Getty Images)

Google, Kairos power, and the Tennessee Valley Authority have announced that they will deploy an advanced nuclear plant connected to the Tennessee Valley Authority's electric grid by 2030.

The reactor, Hermes 2, will supply up to 50 MW of power to Google's data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama.

This is the first deployment under an agreement that Google and Kairos signed last year to launch the startup's nuclear technology at a commercial scale.

The reactor's output is equivalent to the consumption of about 36,000 homes, and the electricity will help power Google's data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama.

The Tennessee reactor is the first to be deployed as part of Google's corporate agreement, announced last year, to buy nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors.

The companies said that Kairos's small modular reactors will not initially provide direct electricity to Google's data centers, but would give Google energy attribution certificates showing that it had added an equivalent amount of clean energy to offset power from dirtier sources like natural gas.

The agreements will make TVA the first U.S. utility to agree to buy electricity from an advanced generation IV reactor, signalling confidence in the potential of the new type of plants.

Reference Sources

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.

Have you read?

Uploaded by Ian Huang