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President Trump kicked off a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing — his first China visit since 2017. Xi offered to help broker a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump invited Xi to the White House on September 24. Xi also issued a pointed warning on Taiwan, saying mishandling the issue would lead to "clashes and even conflicts."
The April CPI came in at 3.8% annually — the hottest reading since May 2023 — driven overwhelmingly by energy costs as the Iran conflict strains global oil markets. Gasoline surged 15.6% in the month, pushing the national average past $4.50 a gallon, the highest since July 2022. Core inflation also edged above expectations at 2.8%, adding to pressure on the Fed.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth testified before House and Senate appropriations subcommittees on the administration's unprecedented $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense budget request — a roughly 44% increase over current levels. Hegseth called it a "generational down payment" on military readiness. Democrats have vowed to block the request, calling for a rebalancing with domestic spending.
With the midterms approaching, Democrats have built an early lead buoyed by strong fundraising and recruiting wins, with betting markets giving them an 82-85% chance of retaking the House. Republicans maintain a narrow 51% edge in Senate odds, but rising gas prices and inflation are complicating the GOP's economic messaging. Both parties are essentially tied on voter trust when it comes to the economy.
A Honduras-flagged vessel anchored off the UAE's Fujairah oil terminal was boarded by "unauthorized personnel" and is being towed toward Iranian waters, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations center. In a separate incident, a cargo ship near Oman sank after being attacked. The seizures come as Trump pushes China to help reopen the strategic waterway.
Israeli and Lebanese delegations opened their third round of U.S.-brokered negotiations in Washington on Thursday, with the current ceasefire set to expire. Lebanon is seeking a one-month extension and pressing the U.S. to pressure Israel to halt strikes and home demolitions in southern Lebanon. The talks are the most significant direct engagement between the two countries since 1993.
Kuwait says it arrested four alleged IRGC operatives who attempted to infiltrate Bubiyan Island — a strategic territory near shipping lanes with a Chinese-funded port under construction. Kuwaiti forces clashed with the group on May 1, wounding two infiltrators and one Kuwaiti service member. Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the charges, claiming the detainees were on a "routine maritime patrol" whose navigation system malfunctioned.
Perseverance discovered a shiny metallic rock nicknamed "Phippsaksla" that stands out sharply from the flat Martian terrain around it. NASA's SuperCam instrument detected unusually high levels of iron and nickel — a chemical signature consistent with meteorites formed deep inside ancient asteroids, not native Martian rock. If confirmed, it would be the first meteorite identified by Perseverance in its four years on the planet.
Researchers have developed a breakthrough coating for blood-contacting medical devices that mimics the lining of natural blood vessels, creating a "soft barrier" that attracts a key blood protein to prevent dangerous clotting. The technology could improve the safety of everything from stents to dialysis machines. The research was published in the journal Nature Materials.
A hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius has killed three passengers and infected at least 11 after the ship departed Argentina in April bound for Antarctica. Patient zero has been identified as a 70-year-old Dutch ornithologist who went birdwatching at a landfill near Ushuaia. The Andes strain involved is rare in that it spreads human-to-human, and cases have now surfaced across multiple countries as passengers dispersed.