United States

On the surface, today's monthly budget statement was disappointing: in March the US Treasury brought in total receipts of $216 billion, below the $228 billion last March, versus outlays of a record $392 billion, resulting in a deficit of $176 billion, more than the $167 billion expected, and $68 billion more than the previous year. For the fiscal year through March 31, the total US budget deficit was $527 billion, compared to $459 billion on year ago.

Authored by Lou Kerner via HackerNoon.com,

I first wrote about the increasing domination Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon (aka FAMGA) in January of this year. It was not a particularly widely read piece. But every day since then, I’ve become surer of the simple, but profoundly impactful, realization that:

1. The most valuable companies in the U.S. are increasingly tech companies.

In a striking development involving the rapidly changing North Korean geopolitical situation, moments ago Voice of America reporter Steve Herman stated that according to US government and other sources, North Korea has "apparently placed a nuclear device in a tunnel and it could be detonated Saturday AM Korea time."

US gov’t and other sources say #DPRK has apparently placed a nuclear device in a tunnel and it could be detonated Saturday AM #Korea time.

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 12, 2017

After warnings yesterday, and on the heels of a "very good call" with President Trump, China has escalated its threats to North Korea over its nuclear tests. In another Global Times op-ed, China warns "if the North makes another provocative move this month, the Chinese society will be willing to adopt severe restrictive measures that have never been seen before..."

Well that was awkward. Very clear differences were evident as Russia's Lavrov and USA's Tillerson parroted each other's national perspectives in their opening statements:

Lavrov began with a statement: