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A potentially devastating new round of tariffs looming over the European Unions trade relationship with the U.S. will be pushed back for at least a month as negotiations continue. President Trump on Friday announced plans for a 50% tariff on EU goods, expressing frustration with the 27-country bloc and repeating his talking points about the trade deficit between the U.S. and the EU. After a call over the weekend with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump agreed to a new deadline of July 9 to give the U.S. and EU time to hash out a deal. I agreed to the extensionJuly 9, 2025it was my privilege to do so, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Trumps cooperative comments were a tone shift from his Friday mood toward the bloc, when he described the talks as going nowhere and slammed the EU for being difficult to deal with. Von der Leyen reiterated that the EU needs until July to sort out the details of a new trade dealand to talk its way out of Trumps threatened 50% tariff, which would devastate existing trade norms between the global powers. The EU and U.S. share the worlds most consequential and close trade relationship, Von der Leyen said on X. Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively. On Friday, Trump also rounded on Apple, threatening to implement a 25% tariff if the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker doesnt bring its manufacturing stateside. The passing attack was enough to prompt a dip in Apples shares as investors fretted over the high price tag of a hypothetical U.S.-made iPhone and the logistic impossibility of the company relocating its vast production operation, which is largely based in China. The fresh trade threats against the EU are just the latest turn on Trumps trade roller-coaster ride, which has thrown global alliances into chaos, upended markets, and raised a new round of red flags that U.S. consumers may again be facing higher prices on everyday goods.
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No Mow May encourages homeowners to stash the lawn mower each spring and let flowers and grass grow for pollinators and water retention. And if your neighbor’s lawn already looks like a wildflower field most of the time, it could be more intentional than passersby might assume.The movement has expanded to “Let It Bloom June” and the fall version: “Leave the leaves.” Conservation and horticulture groups say year-round low-mowing while selectively leaving native plants to grow can save huge amounts of drinking water and lead to lasting and impactful ecological changes.When Amanda Beltramini Healan moved into her Nashville ranch house in 2016, the yard had been manicured for sale: a walnut tree, roses from a home improvement store and short grass. So she experimented, first with a 10-by-10-foot patch where she dug up the grass and sowed native seeds. Then she planted goldenrods in the culvert near the street, and let more of her yard grow tall without mowing.Local authorities apparently didn’t appreciate her natural look: “I got a letter from the city saying that I had to mow it,” she said.But then, a friend told her about No Mow Month signs, provided by the Cumberland River Compact, a local water conservation nonprofit. Soon she was signaling to the city that she’s no derelict, but a participant in an international movement.These days, every month is No Mow May in parts of her property. While she keeps the growth shorter near the culvert and street, her backyard is filled with native grasses and plants up to her knees or waist. There’s a decomposing tree trunk where scores of skinks and bugs live, birds nest under her carport and she regularly finds fawns sleeping in the safety of the high grasses.“I have a lot of insects and bugs and that’s protein, so the birds and the bird’s nests are everywhere. Cardinals and wrens and cowbirds and robins,” she said. “I wake up to them, especially during spring migration right now. It’s just a cacophony in the morning and in the evening, especially when the mulberries come in.”The movement is popularized by groups such as Plantlife, a conservation organization based in England.American lawns, based on English and French traditions, are increasingly seen as a wasteful monoculture that encourages an overuse of pesticides, fertilizer and water. Outdoor spraying and irrigation account for over 30% of a U.S. household’s total water consumption, and can be twice that in drier climates, according to the EPA.Some criticize No Mow campaigns as a fad that could invite invasive plants to spread unchecked without helping pollinators much, if only done for a month.A guide outlining No Mow pros, cons and limitations, written by consumer horticulture extension specialist Aaron Steil at Iowa State University, says reducing mowing to every two weeks and replacing turf with plants that pollinate all year long can offer more benefits without risking a citation or complaints.The No Mow effort does encourage people to think more about biodiversity in their yards, and many local nature organizations advise provide guidance on picking noninvasive plants that fit each region’s climate and precipitation levels.Reducing mowing encourages longer-rooted native grasses and flowers to grow, which breaks up compacted soil and improves drainage, “meaning that when it rains, more water is going to be captured and stored in lawns versus being generated as a runoff and entering into our stormwater system,” said Jason Sprouls, urban waters program manager for the Cumberland River Compact.Beltramini Healan isn’t just letting just anything grow she learned which plants are invasive, non-native or not beneficial to the ecosystem and carefully prunes and weeds so the keepers have room to thrive.Nashville homeowner Brandon Griffith said he was just tired of mowing when he decided years ago wait and see what comes up. Then he consciously added flowering plants to attract bees and bugs. Now he sees so many insects and pollinators all over his garden that the neighbors’ kids come over to look for butterflies.It’s about giving them the time “to come out of their larva or their egg stage and be able to grow,” said Griffith. He said he’s never heard a complaint in fact, some of his neighbors also stopped mowing for a month each spring. His four-year-old son catches lizards, digs for worms and hunts for bugs in the yard.“I just enjoy coming out and walking around,” said Griffith. “And looking at it, it’s kind of peaceful. It’s kinda relaxing.”__This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Amanda Beltramini Healan’s name and to correct that Aaron Steil works at Iowa State University, not the University of Iowa. Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press
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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Summer officially starts in a few weeks, but Ive already ordered and preordered the books that will keep me company on airplanes and trips to the beach. The first Modern CEO reading list was heavy on buzzworthy titles. Last years edition was a bit more dutiful, highlighting three works that explored the complexities of capitalism. This year, Im diving into the lives of the ultrarich, whose impact on culture, society, and policy continues to rise. The Haves and the Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich by Evan Osnos Thanks in part to social media, consumptionof luxury goods, five-star resorts, rare wines, and the likeis increasingly conspicuous. One place where the ultrarich can avoid prying eyes? Aboard their superyachts. As Evan Osnos, a staff writer and podcast host at The New Yorker, writes of such floating mansions: These shrines to excess capital exist in a conditional state of visibility: they are meant to be unmistakable to a slender stratum of societyand all but unseen by everyone else. Osnoss collection of essays promises to shed light on the excesses but also on how the rich amass and keep their wealth and the power that it affords. Personal History: A Memoir by Katharine Graham and Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein One of the biggest business stories of the yearWarren Buffetts announcement that he will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathawayand the ongoing struggles of The Washington Post under Jeff Bezos (a superyacht owner), are prompting me to reread two great books on my bookshelf. Personal History is Grahams candid memoir of the personal and professional hurdles she had to overcome en route to becoming CEO of The Washington Post Company and one of the most admired executives in media. Lowensteins masterful portrait of Buffett is part biography, part investing tutorial. Graham and Buffett were longtime friends, and Lowenstein seems to credit Graham with leavening some of Buffetts thrifty instincts. Stories of Buffetts frugalityhis primary residence is a home he bought in Omaha in 1958 for $31,500will surely be a good palate cleanser after the Osnos book. Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altmans OpenAI by Karen Hao Hao, an Atlantic contributor, is one of the leading journalists covering artificial intelligence (AI), and her book promises to be an unflinching look at the potential and perils of OpenAI CEO Sam Altmans ambitions for generative AI, which seem to mirror the move fast and break things ethos of many tech companies. Luckily for readers, Hao seems willing to explore the unintended consequences of unfettered AI expansion, including the environmental impacts of water- and energy-hungry data centers. So Far Gone by Jess Walter Walters latest bookmy one fiction pickhas many of the things I love in novel: a road trip, multigenerational conflict, and a gruff former journalist as the protagonist. In So Far Gone, Rhys Kinnick sets off to rescue his daughter and grandchildren from a radical militia group. Its a world Walter knows well: As a journalist for the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review, Walter covered the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge in Northern Idaho, which is credited with fueling the anti-government militia movement. Challenging stuff, but an early review from Ann Patchett confirms why I love Walters writing: Jess Walter managed to build such a warm, funny, loving novel out of so many horrible parts. What are you reading this summer? Whats on your summer reading list? Please send the name, author, and a sentence or two about why youd recommend it to modern leaders to stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Ill publish a bonus newsletter with reader suggestions before the official start of summer. Read more: summer reading roundup 24 books to read this summer, according to The Atlantic The Economists latest beach friendly reads The 15 books USA Today says you should read this summer
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