ICYMI: News Round-Up for May 12-17, 2024

Here are just a few of the news events that took place over the past week:

1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 40,000 points for the first time ever. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit fresh highs on the heels of positive inflation numbers in the U.S.
2. An unusually strong solar storm sent a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) towards Earth earlier in the week, causing the North Lights to be visible in population centers that rarely experience them. The sun is currently at the peak of an 11-year activity cycle – a point known as "solar maximum".
3. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in critical condition after a failed assassination attempt. The provocative leader was shot by a 71-year-old in a small mining town in Slovakia while meeting with supporters. Rico has undergone surgery and is expected to survive.
4. Amid a renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, President Putin demoted his Defence Minister. This move marks the most significant military shake-up since the invasion began in 2022. Last year, Ukraine also dismissed its Defence Minister after corruption scandals.
5. In an effort to boost manufacturing in the U.S., the Biden Administration announced dramatic tariff increases on a number products coming in from China, including electric vehicles, solar cells, and semiconductors. These increases build on actions taken during the Trump Administration in 2019. Not surprisingly, the response from China has been defensive, with the country's commerce ministry saying the actions would "severely affect the atmosphere for bilateral cooperation".
6. El Salvador's national "Bitcoin Office" announced that the country has made millions of dollars since 2021 by mining bitcoin using geothermal energy from the country's Tecapa volcano. El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin legal tender back in 2021, reportedly has a BTC portfolio worth over $370 million.
7. French police were deployed to the Pacific territory of New Caledonia where a state of emergency has been declared amid rioting. Protests were in response to changes to the election process that would allow more French residents to vote – a move critics suggest will dilute the influence of native people in the territory. Hundreds have been injured and arrested so far.