Entertainment
US, China talks sketch out rare earths, tariff pause for Trump and Xi to consider
- Chinese official says “preliminary consensus” reached.
- US official expects China to delay rare earths curbs for a year.
- Donald Trump optimistic about deal when he meets Xi Jinping.
Top Chinese and US economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1.
Bessent also said that he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licencing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered.
Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings.
Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.
“I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” Bessent told reporters after he and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person discussions since May.
Bessent said he anticipates that a tariff truce with China will be extended beyond its November 10 expiration date, and that China will revive substantial purchases of US soybeans after buying none in September while favouring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.
US soybean farmers “will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years” once the deal’s terms are announced, Bessent told the ABC programme “This Week.”
Greer told the “Fox News Sunday” programme that both sides agreed to pause some punitive actions and found “a path forward where we can have more access to rare earths from China, we can try to balance out our trade deficit with sales from the United States.”
Trump expects a deal, Chinese suggest caution
China’s Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a “preliminary consensus” and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.
“The US position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights,” Li said through an interpreter. “We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.”
Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in Thursday’s face-to-face with Xi in South Korea.
After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying: “I think we’re going to have a deal with China”.
Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China’s expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.
China controls more than 90% of the world’s supply for the materials, which are essential for high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. The export controls and Trump’s threatened retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce under which China and the US reduced tariffs that had quickly escalated to triple-digit rates on each side.
The US and Chinese officials said that, in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the US fentanyl crisis, US port entrance fees, and the transfer of TikTok to US ownership control.
Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme that the two sides have to iron out details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to “consummate the transaction” in South Korea.
Talking points with Xi include soybeans, Taiwan
On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.
“We’ve agreed to meet. We’re going to meet them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the US, in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.
Among Trump’s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of US soybeans, concerns around Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Trump also said he will seek China’s help in US dealings with Moscow, as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on.
Tensions between the world’s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the United States and China from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs, and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.
China’s expanded controls of rare earths exports have caused a global shortage. That has prompted the United States to consider a block on software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report.
Anne Hathaway has already established that she is a massive Taylor Swift fan, but in one of her latest interviews she looked back at what started it all.
The 43-year-old actress, who enthusiastically attended the pop superstar’s Eras Tour shows, shared that despite always being a fan, Anti-Hero was the one song which turned her into a Swiftie.
“I always really, really liked Taylor, but that was the song where I was like, oh no, wait, she’s taking hold of my brain. And then I got much deeper into her music. And then once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You’re just like, Oh, she’s a genius,” the One Day star noted.
Hathaway continued speaking of Swift’s discography, saying, “All of her eras ‘speak to each other.’ To have a retrospective like that at the age that she is, and to realize that she had a vision that didn’t exist in the world, and she literally made the space that she wanted for herself.”
The Devil Wears Prada actress made a wave with her comments, on social media, as other Swifties agreed with her, while many also expressed their shock at the choice.
“Well yes Anne!!!! I knew you would understand,” one fan wrote on X, while another added, “It’s takes time to understand that Taylor is a genius. And once you figure that out, there is no going back.”
A third chimed in and wrote, “‘and then once you see it, you can’t unsee it’ yep pretty much sums up what being a swiftie is.”
While another said, “omg finally justice for anti-hero, it takes a legend to recognise that.”
Royal family members hold their breath as new drama is set to unfold from Sarah Ferguson’s side.
After losing her royal titles and perks, Fergie has been lying low in order to keep away from further controversy.
Most recently, she was photographed in Austria at a luxury ski resort.
But the sources have been claiming that she will not keep quiet; instead, she tells her side of the story, which could be disastrous for King Charles and his family.
According to Woman’s Day, the former Duchess of York has been offered $2.45million for a tell-all interview by an American journalist.
“Sarah’s come out of shock and is now furious at what’s happened to her life. She wants to sit down and tell her side of her association with Epstein – and what she knew in hindsight about Andrew’s association. And she’s got a LOT to tell,” an insider shared.
Beatrice and Eugenie’s mother’s revelations would be dangerous and could put the monarchy at tough spot.
“She and Andrew had an open arrangement, so if she goes down, they all go down,” the source said.
It has been claimed that Sarah Ferguson is going to become the “real thorn in the crown” for the King and the Prince of Wales.
Not only that, she might exposed more details about her former husband Andrew’s ties with Epstein.
- IBO conducted on reported presence of India-backed militants: ISPR.
- Says weapons and ammunition also recovered from killed terrorists.
- Sanitisation operation continues to eliminate any other militants.
Security forces and law enforcement agencies neutralised at least 22 India-sponsored terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on April 21, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.
According to the military’s media wing, the joint operation was conducted in response to the reported presence of India-backed militants, also known as Fitna al-Khawarij.
It added that during the operation, the terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing out of panic and in an attempt to avoid capture. As a result, a 10-year-old innocent child was martyred.
The ISPR added that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed India-sponsored terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.
“Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji found in the area,” the ISPR said, adding that the relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision “Azm-e-Istehkam” will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.
“Such sacrifices of our innocent civilians further strengthen our resolve.”
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in cross-border militant activity, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, both of which share a border with Afghanistan, since the Afghan Taliban took control in 2021.
In response to the escalating attacks, Pakistan launched “Operation Ghazab lil-Haq,” during which approximately 796 Afghan Taliban fighters and allied militants were killed, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
More than 1,000 Afghan Taliban fighters and terrorists were also injured during the Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. The minister had said that 286 posts of the Afghan Taliban regime had been destroyed and 44 captured.
In October 2025, the two countries were also involved in border clashes after Afghan Taliban fighters and allied militants carried out unprovoked assaults on Pakistan’s border positions.
The ensuing fighting resulted in the deaths of over 200 Taliban and affiliated militants, while 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in the line of duty.
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