6/2 to 6/8, 2025

Gangs backed by foreign spies shake the UK, a judge saves AmeriCorps grants, and Coco Gauff wins the French Open at 21. Tom Felton returns as Draco Malfoy on Broadway, and Taylor Swift makes a rare wedding appearance with Travis Kelce.

Welcome back to This Week Basically, hosted as always by yours truly, Robyn Davies. Let’s get into it.

First up. Tensions between the U.S. and China may be cooling — slightly. After weeks of mounting pressure, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a rare phone call on Thursday, their first known conversation since January 17th. The discussion focused exclusively on trade, particularly the global supply of rare earth minerals — critical components in everything from electric motors to defense systems.
Trump had ramped up rhetoric earlier in the week, calling Xi “VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH” in a social media post. But Thursday’s call hinted at progress: both sides agreed to resume trade talks, and Trump suggested that China may ease its recent halt on mineral exports, though details remain unclear.
The standoff had been making American companies nervous, especially those reliant on Chinese industrial materials. For now, the conversation signals a potential thaw. Xi even invited Trump to visit China, but no other global issues, like Ukraine or Iran, were reportedly discussed.

Seven African countries have landed on President Trump’s new travel ban list; and across the continent, the reaction is a mix of frustration and confusion. The updated ban, announced Wednesday night and set to take effect Monday, targets Equatorial Guinea, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan.
For many Africans, travel to the U.S. was already a challenge, with high visa fees and frequent rejections. Now, there’s uncertainty: how did each country end up on the list, will families be separated, and what can governments do to change it?
Sierra Leone wasn’t formally banned but was flagged as a country where visitors often overstay visas. Some in the country suspect a deeper reason: its reputation as a transit point for narcotics. Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba defended his record, saying that since taking office in 2023, Sierra Leone has complied fully with U.S. deportation requests.
For many across the continent, though, the message feels clear — and unwelcome.

A federal judge just pressed pause on the Trump administration’s fast-moving plan to dismantle AmeriCorps. On Thursday, the court blocked the termination of grants and programs across 24 Democratic-led states, temporarily preserving a vital network of public service work.
Back in April, the administration fired nearly 85% of AmeriCorps employees, axed over a thousand grants, and shut down its residential National Civilian Community Corps, abruptly recalling about 750 volunteers. The overhaul was led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, applying the same rapid-fire playbook used to gut other federally funded institutions like the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Judge Deborah Boardman ruled the suspension left states scrambling to fill the gap AmeriCorps once covered, from public health to veteran services to education support. While her decision restores funding and programming for now, it doesn’t bring back the agency’s gutted workforce, a reminder that the future of national service is still very much on the line.

The U.K. is sounding the alarm over what officials are calling an “extraordinary” threat level — not from terrorism, but from foreign spy operations. In a packed courthouse in London, six men are on trial for torching a business that was sending satellite gear to Ukraine. Just down the hall, another case involves a plot to attack Iranian journalists living in Britain. And last month? Six Bulgarians were sentenced for running a Russian spy ring out of a guesthouse on the east coast.
National security adviser Jonathan Hall says Britain has become a staging ground for foreign plots, primarily from Russia and Iran. While espionage doesn’t always grab headlines the way terror attacks do, Hall warns it’s no less dangerous and perhaps harder for the public to grasp.
One major shift: countries like Russia and Iran are now outsourcing violence to criminal gangs, since diplomatic expulsions have thinned the ranks of undercover agents. According to Hall, local criminals are being paid to carry out espionage, intimidation, even violence, with mixed success. Some cases, like the Bulgarian ring, have exposed spy tactics due to sloppy security.
In a recent review, Hall pushed for new laws allowing the U.K. to seize passports, alert the public to foreign spy activity, and go after those targeting victims abroad. Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, President Trump has said little about similar threats in the U.S., even as officials track what they say are Iranian plots and Russian influence efforts south of the border.

Russia unleashed one of its largest attacks of the war on May 30th, bombarding Ukraine with waves of drones and missiles in a nighttime assault that stretched five hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Moscow launched over 400 drones and decoys, nearly 40 cruise missiles, and six ballistic missiles from land, sea, and air. The strikes killed at least four people and damaged infrastructure across the country — with Kyiv taking the brunt.
Moscow claimed the massive assault was retaliation for Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russian strategic bomber bases. It was the second-largest drone attack of the war, following another record-setting barrage just days earlier.
Russia’s Defense Ministry called it a response to what it labeled “terrorist acts” by Ukraine. President Putin reportedly told President Trump he would retaliate during a recent call. And retaliate he did. The call, and the strikes that followed, have further dashed hopes for a cease-fire. In comments at the Oval Office, President Trump downplayed the chances of brokering peace, comparing Russia and Ukraine to “two fighting children” who might need to just fight it out before being separated.

Tom Felton, best known as Draco Malfoy from the “Harry Potter” films, is stepping back into his iconic role — this time on Broadway. Starting this November, Felton will play Draco for a 26-week run in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Felton says it’s a full-circle moment, since he’ll be playing Draco at the same age as the character in the play, now a father sending his own child to Hogwarts. The story is set 19 years after the original series ended, showing Draco alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione as adults shaping the next generation of wizards.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were spotted together at a family wedding in Tennessee. Swift wore a strapless blue floral dress by Mar-karian as they attended the wedding of Kelce’s cousin, Tanner Corum, who married Samantha Peck.

And finally, this Saturday, Coco Gauff made history by winning the 2025 French Open. At just 21 years old, she secured her first Roland-Garros (Gare ose) title and her second Grand Slam championship overall. This victory also marks a milestone — she’s the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams back in 2015. Gauff defeated world number one Aryna (Arena) Sabalenka in the final and gave a heartfelt speech afterward. She said, “I didn’t think honestly that I could do it. But I’m gonna quote Tyler, The Creator right here. He said, ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying.’ I’d like to leave that with you guys. I think I was lying to myself and I definitely could do it. Shout out to Tyler.”
A huge moment for Gauff, and for American tennis.

And that is it for the week. Thank you as always for tuning in. Until next time, I’m Robyn Davies, and this is This Week Basically.