Letter 63: Talk Is Good, Action Is Better

It could almost have been a vacation. U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday to be whisked to a basketball game and a dinner of steamed buns atop a balcony overlooking the city’s Ming Dynasty Yu Garden. America’s top diplomat even took time to post on Instagram from Shanghai’s neo-classical Bund, where he lauded the students and business leaders “building bridges and ties between our countries” as the neon lights of the Lujiazui business district twinkled in the background.

Against the global backdrop of violent conflicts, withering financial conditions and increasingly extreme weather events, leaders of major institutions have needed to adapt and pursue meaning beyond creating profit, as top officers of four companies discussed Wednesday on the TIME100 Summit stage. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Tory Burch, Executive Chairman of Tory Burch and creator of the Tory Burch Foundation and member of this year’s TIME100, said when she considers leading her company for the past 20 years she “can’t believe she’s still standing.” “Being an entrepreneur today is, as I mentioned, whiplash.

(WASHINGTON) — Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Long sought by Ukrainian leaders, the new missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance — up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) — that it had with the mid-range version of the weapon that it received from the U.

Hamas released a video on Wednesday appearing to show that Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin is alive, providing the first significant evidence that he survived severe injuries sustained during his capture on October 7, 2023. The short video, which is undated, shows Goldberg-Polin sitting in a chair, part of his left arm missing after it was reportedly blown off during last year’s attack that ignited the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

King Charles III bestowed honors on his family members and nobles, including a new historically significant title for his daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton. The King appointed the Princess of Wales to be a Royal Companion of The Order of the Companions of Honour on Tuesday, St George’s Day. The order was founded by King George V in 1917 to recognize outstanding achievements and major contributions over a long period of time to the arts, sciences, medicine, and public service.

As India’s marathon election kicked off its first voting phase last Friday, April 19, unemployment was looming large in the minds of millions of voters—despite the country’s rapid economic growth. Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, economists have been quick to serve India on a silver platter as a powerful rival to China, particularly for its global manufacturing, investment, and growth capabilities.