The US and China agreed to lower tariffs on roughly $30 billion in "non-sensitive" goods following a three-day Washington summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Beijing also committing to buy American coal. Trump made clear the détente stops at artificial intelligence, saying the US "is not going to be putting on brakes" and that America leads China "by a lot." The deal lands just weeks before the November 3 midterms, with cost-of-living the dominant voter issue.
Trump said Saturday he has approved new federal fuel economy standards, completing one of the largest rollbacks yet of Biden-era rules designed to force automakers toward electric vehicles. The administration frames it as restoring consumer choice and cutting sticker prices; critics say it locks in higher fuel consumption just as pump prices bite. The timing is notable with gasoline up sharply year over year.
Final September consumer sentiment fell as surging fuel costs and midterm uncertainty dimmed the outlook, with the year-ahead expectations gauge sinking to its lowest level since 2022. Gasoline ran about 27% above year-ago levels in August and diesel hit a record, driven by the Iran war and strikes on Russian refining. Polling keeps putting gas and grocery prices at the top of the midterm issue list.
After New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's pardon torpedoed the original test case, the administration has brought a fresh petition asking the Supreme Court to decide whether criminal aliens in removal proceedings get bond hearings. The new case centers on a Dominican national with drug trafficking and domestic violence charges. The Second Circuit has held that detention beyond a certain point triggers a hearing where the government must justify continued custody.
Trump turned down a truce proposal Tehran claimed could have reopened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within a week, saying Iran "outsmarted themselves" and that the regime is "losing so badly" under the US blockade of Iranian ports. A senior Iranian military spokesman escalated rhetoric further, saying Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu would remain targets "whether they are in power or not." Gulf states also demanded an international response to fresh Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.
An estimated 800,000 people filled the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde on Saturday for a Mass led by Pope Leo XIV, who rode the cleared avenue in an honor normally reserved for French presidents on Bastille Day. The crowd rivaled France's 1998 and 2018 World Cup celebrations, and the site itself was where Revolutionary France ran its guillotine. It's the first official papal visit to France in 18 years, running through September 28 with stops in Lourdes and Metz.
The UN General Assembly has drawn over 100 heads of state with the Iran war and Ukraine dominating the agenda, and Trump returning to the rostrum on an "America First" footing. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy told delegates Russia is fielding foreign nationals in its war and urged countries not to let Putin pull them in. Finnish President Alexander Stubb backed Trump's peace efforts and said Helsinki won't be intimidated by Moscow.
Newcastle University researchers exposed colon cancer cells to blood serum drawn from 30 adults immediately after a 10-to-12 minute high-intensity cycling session, and the cells repaired DNA damage faster while showing gene activity linked to slower growth. Scientists credit "exerkines" — molecules released into the bloodstream during exertion — acting as chemical messengers. It's lab work, not a treatment, but the effective dose is remarkably small.
Divers off the Norfolk coast are documenting marine-encrusted flint and stone structures rising from the seabed, believed to be the lost settlement of Shipden. Some walls still stand eight to ten courses of stone high after centuries underwater. The survey gives archaeologists a rare intact look at how coastal erosion erased an entire English town.
Rapper Nicki Minaj used a Saturday interview to push young voters toward Republicans in the November 3 midterms while reaffirming her support for Trump. Her pitch was less about policy than participation — that young people shouldn't assume their voices don't count. With turnout among under-30 voters a live question for both parties, a pop star with tens of millions of followers saying it out loud is not nothing.
