US and China reach a deal to slash sky-high tariffs for now, with a 90-day pause
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials say they have called a 90-day truce in their trade war, rolling back most of their recent tariff hikes. The two countries said Monday that they plan more talks on resolving trade disputes. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says that the U.S. has agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods to 30%. And China has agreed to lower its 125% rate on U.S. goods to 10%. Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the reductions at a news conference in Geneva. The deal creates time to reach a more substantive agreement. But tariffs are still higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors are uncertain about whether the truce will last.
Dow jumps 995 and S&P 500 climbs 2.9% following a 90-day truce in the US-China trade war
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are leaping after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. The S&P 500 jumped 2.9% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 995 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 3.9%. Hopes for an economy less encumbered by tariffs also sent crude oil prices higher. The U.S. dollar strengthened against other currencies, and Treasury yields jumped on expectations the Federal Reserve won’t have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy. Analysts warned conditions could still quickly change, as has so often happened in President Donald Trump’s trade wars.
Israeli-American hostage released by Hamas in goodwill gesture toward Trump administration
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli-American soldier held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip has been released by Hamas in a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration. The deal could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that 21-year-old Edan Alexander was turned over to the Red Cross and then to Israeli forces. Alexander’s extended family gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the release. They cheered and chanted his name when the military said he was free. His release was the first since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March, unleashing fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds.
Who is Edan Alexander, the Israeli-American hostage released by Hamas?
JERUSALEM (AP) — Edan Alexander was 19 when Hamas militants stormed the Israeli military base where the American-Israeli from New Jersey was a soldier and dragged him into the Gaza Strip. Hamas released him on Monday. Alexander had been the last living American hostage in Gaza. His release came ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the region this week. The militant group called it a goodwill gesture aimed at reviving mediated efforts to end the 19-month war. Alexander was among 251 people taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Fifty-eight remain in Gaza. Around a third are believed to be alive.
Trump signs executive order setting 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower prescription drug costs
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. The Republican president’s order Monday calls on the health department to broker new price tags for drugs. If deals are not reached, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be tasked with developing a rule tying the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. The nation’s pharmaceutical lobby calls Trump’s order a “bad deal” for American patients. Drugmakers argue threats to their profits could impact research to develop new drugs.
Defense concedes that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had violent outbursts, but says it wasn’t sex trafficking
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal prosecutor says the public knew Sean “Diddy” Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but that behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line for years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson made the claim Monday during opening statements in Combs’ sex trafficking trial in Manhattan. One of Combs’ lawyers, though, said the trial is a misguided overreach by prosecutors, who are trying to turn consenting sex between adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case. Combs pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted of all charges.
Modi says India has only paused military action after it and Pakistan stop firing at each other
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India has only “paused its military action” and will “retaliate on its own terms” if there is any future terror attack on the country. They were his first public comments since Saturday’s understanding between India and Pakistan to stop all military actions in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Indian and Pakistani authorities said there was no firing reported overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries. It was the first time in recent days they were not shooting at each other. The hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals after a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir had threatened regional peace.
Pope Leo XIV urges release of imprisoned journalists, affirms gift of free speech and press
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press.” He spoke in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff. Leo received a standing ovation as he entered the Vatican auditorium for his first meeting with representatives of the general public. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary, elected in a 24-hour conclave last week, called for journalists to use words for peace, to reject war and to give voice to the voiceless.
Russian drones attack Ukraine after the Kremlin turns down a ceasefire proposal but promises talks
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force says Russia launched more than 100 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks. The Kremlin has effectively rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in the more than three-year war. But Moscow reiterated that it would take part in possible peace talks later this week without preconditions. There was no direct response from the Kremlin on Monday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s challenge for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to meet him for face-to-face peace talks in Turkey on Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday refused to say who might travel to Istanbul from the Russian side. The United States and European governments are making a concerted push to stop the fighting.
The NBA draft lottery: 14 ping-pong balls, and the right to pick No. 1 overall on the line
Sometime around 6 p.m. EDT Monday, locked inside a secure room with no way of communicating with the outside world, team executives and others will watch 14 ping-pong balls start to bounce inside a machine. The balls will be numbered, 1 through 14. One will be drawn, then a second, then a third, then a fourth. And with that, the people inside that room will find out, an hour or so before the rest of the world, which team won the No. 1 pick in next month’s NBA draft. The NBA draft lottery is Monday night in Chicago, with the winner getting the chance to pick No. 1 overall.