It’s been hard to keep up with, let alone predict US policy for the last few months. Yesterday’s surprise announcement of a 90-day pause on US tariffs was no exception. 

While global stock markets have shot back up in response, economics professor Martin Jacob knows this rebound won’t last, as history shows that constant “radical uncertainty” is very bad for business. It makes companies hesitant, delays big decisions and stymies investment for a long time after the storm passes.

While plummeting share values may have dictated yesterday’s stay of execution, Trump’s reasoning is often anyone’s guess. However, his flexing of geopolitical muscle may well be an end in itself rather than a part of some larger strategy.

Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy, at Sciences Po, picks apart Trump’s motivation for the latest round of sweeping import tariffs. He argues that the blunt, simple measures are a “media stunt” as much as an economic policy, a show of decisive force that harks back to the harsh protectionism of the late 19th century. If the first half of the 20th century is anything to go by, it might not end well.

Hungary has also been thumbing the nose at the international community by hosting a visit from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza. Viktor Orbán has since announced Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC altogether. While not a surprising move, it has, in the words of UCL lecturer Michal Ovadek, placed Hungary “in the company of countries that wear their noncompliance with international law as a badge of honour”.

It turns out bonobos, our closest living relatives, are capable of much more complex communication than previously thought. A new study by Mélissa Berthet, at the University of Zurich, has found that bonobos combine calls to produce “compositional” syntax, instead of just isolated sounds. It’s a fascinating discovery in its own right, but it also has huge implications for evolutionary history, chief among them the possibility that language might predate the human species itself.