U.S. said it made ‘progress’ toward a deal with ChinaTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said yesterday that the U.S. had made “substantial progress” in talks with China after a weekend of meetings in Geneva, and that more details would be announced today.Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative who joined Bessent for the talks, suggested that some form of a “deal” addressed U.S. national security concerns about China’s trade practices. He did not say whether the two nations had agreed to drop any of their punishing tariffs.China’s vice premier for economic policy, He Lifeng, described the talks as “candid, in-depth and constructive”…
Author: usaeverydaylife
A U.S.-funded charter plane carrying dozens of white South Africans who claim to have been victims of discrimination in their home country left Johannesburg on Sunday, heading for the United States, where the Trump administration is welcoming them as refugees.The departure of the white South Africans, who say they have been denied jobs and have been targeted by violence because of their race, was a remarkable development in President Trump’s redefining of U.S. foreign policy.Mr. Trump has halted virtually all refugee admissions for people fleeing famine and war from places like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. But he…
The cardinals electing a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church left the Sistine Chapel exhausted and hungry.A meditation to start the conclave had dragged on and pushed their first vote deep into Wednesday evening. It had resulted in an inconclusive tally, with three main contenders. Keeping their vow of secrecy, they returned to Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse where they were sequestered without their phones, and started talking.Over dinner, as one gluten-free cardinal picked over vegetables and others shrugged at the simple fare, they weighed their choices. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, the Italian who ran the Vatican under…
A Social Security Administration office in Washington, D.C., on March 26. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly aiming to reform and downsize the agency.Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty ImagesThe Social Security Administration is under new leadership, after financial services executive Frank Bisignano was sworn in as commissioner this week.Bisignano’s confirmation follows a host of changes at the federal agency during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, many of them through the Department of Government Efficiency.For the approximate 73 million beneficiaries who rely on monthly Social Security checks, those changes may affect how they receive services…
The spark for the recent conflict between India and Pakistan was a terrorist attack on the Indian side of Kashmir on April 22. India pointed to its neighbor’s history of sheltering terrorist groups and initiated a cross-border military campaign.It quickly escalated into four nights of clashes in which the two countries hit deeper into each other’s territory than at any time in half a century, and that was unprecedented in how the use of new-generation technology created a dizzying escalation in the skies.While the damage on both sides will take weeks and months to tally, particularly in a space of…
Trade deal progress dominated last week’s stock market and promises to be influential in the week ahead. In Switzerland this weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent started a dialogue over tariffs with Chinese officials. On Sunday, Bessent said the talks were productive and more details would be forthcoming at a Monday briefing. The Treasury secretary said President Donald Trump has been “fully informed” on what was discussed. Trump on Saturday called the China talks a “total reset. On Friday, a day after announcing at the White House a trade with the UK, he posted on social media that 80% tariffs on…
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One for travel back to Washington, D.C., at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. May 4, 2025. Leah Millis | ReutersPresident Donald Trump is preparing to accept a luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar, which he will use as Air Force One, four sources familiar with the planning confirmed to NBC News.The plane, a Boeing 747-8 jet, is set to be transferred to Trump’s presidential library foundation at the conclusion of his second White House term, two sources confirmed to NBC.The administration will retrofit the plane so…
The Colombian government said on Saturday that it had granted asylum to Ricardo Martinelli, a former president of Panama who had been sheltering for more than a year in the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama City to evade a prison sentence for money laundering.Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had granted Mr. Martinelli asylum and arranged for him to travel by diplomatic car from the Nicaraguan embassy to a local airport to catch a flight to Colombia.Mr. Martinelli, 73, a businessman who led Panama from 2009 to 2014, said on social media late Saturday that he had arrived…
Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, and Carrie Coon in ‘The White Lotus’ on HBO. Courtesy: Fabio Lovino | HBOMedia companies are staring down widespread economic uncertainty as their annual pitch to advertisers and marketers kicks off.This week legacy entertainment giants including Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery will stage presentations to ad buyers about why they should commit money to their upcoming slates of sports, entertainment and news programming. Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are crowding the field holding their second annual Upfronts. Paramount Global held its presentations with advertisers and agencies last week.This year the stakes are high as chief…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled “The Annual Testimony of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the International Financial System,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 7, 2025. Nathan Howard | ReutersTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that trade talks with China officials in Geneva over the weekend were “productive.”He said the talks yielded “a great deal” of productivity and that he would give more details in a complete briefing on Monday morning.Bessent also said that he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer both spoke to President…
