China has committed to purchasing at least $17 billion of US agricultural products in 2026, 2027 and 2028, the White House said in a fact sheet released on Sunday.

The commitment was made during meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, the White House said.

The $17 billion figure does not include the soybean purchase commitments China made in October 2025, the White House said.

There has been a marked reduction in US agricultural exports to China after last year’s rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs sharply curtailed trade, which fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, according to US Department of Agriculture data.

China has dramatically scaled back its reliance on US farm goods since Trump’s first term, sourcing roughly 20% of its soybeans from the US in 2024, the year before he returned to office, down ⁠from 41% in 2016.

China will work with US regulators to lift suspensions of US beef facilities and resume imports of poultry from US states determined to be free of avian influenza, the White House said.

Confirming earlier statements from the Chinese government, the White House also said on Sunday that the world’s two largest economies would establish a US-China Board of Trade and the US-China Board of Investment.

The boards will resolve concerns over market access for agricultural products and expand trade “under a reciprocal tariff-reduction framework,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement last week.

Saudi Arabia, Oman, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday announced the sighting of Zil Hajj moon, and Eid ul Adha will be celebrated in these countries on May 27.

As per the announcement, Arafat Day will fall on May 26 and Eid ul Adha will be celebrated on May 27.

The hajj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, involves a series of rituals in Makkah and its surroundings in western Saudi Arabia that take several days to complete.

One of the five pillars of Islam, it must be performed at least once by all Muslims who have the means to do so.

After travelling from all parts of the globe to Islam’s holiest city, the pilgrims will first perform the “tawaf” — circling seven times around the Holy Kaaba.

They will then head towards Mina, a valley surrounded by craggy mountains several kilometres (miles) outside Makkah, where they will spend the night in air-conditioned tents.

Eid ul Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” commemorates the Qur’anic story of Prophet Ibrahim’s (PBUH) willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to Allah, a test of faith that was divinely interrupted and replaced with a ram.

Additionally, the occasion is celebrated with prayers, family gatherings, and charitable acts, including the ritual sacrifice of livestock, with the meat distributed to relatives, friends, and the underprivileged.

• Streeting calls for “proper contest” to replace premier.
• In resignation letter, Streeting said he “lost confidence” in Starmer.
• Expert describes Streeting’s opposition as “acute political sense”.
  

Britain’s former health minister Wes Streeting until he quit his post earlier this week, has become the first MP to confirm publicly he will bid to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer as leader of the ruling Labour Party.

Widely credited as one of the party’s best communicators, the ebullient 43-year-old hails from a working-class background and the right flank of the centre-left party.

A fixture on the airwaves during the 2024 general election, his profile has grown further helming the government department responsible for the cherished but beleaguered National Health Service (NHS) in England.

Rumours have swirled for months he was eyeing a leadership challenge amid Starmer’s protracted political struggles, earning the scorn of some Labour colleagues unconvinced by the wisdom of a contest or Streeting’s credentials.

In his resignation letter, Streeting said he had “lost confidence” in Starmer’s leadership, arguing he lacked vision and a sense of direction.

In a speech Saturday, he called for a “proper contest” to replace the premier and announced “I’ll be standing”— though he was yet to formally trigger that contest.

A direct-speaking, polished media performer to his plaudits, a disloyal right-leaning opportunist to critics, the baby-faced politician increasingly divides opinion within Labour’s ranks while his popularity nationwide is largely untested.

“He has got a very acute political sense and an ability to communicate,” Steven Fielding, a contemporary British politics expert at the University of Nottingham told AFP.

“But there are certain questions about his politics and how well they fit with at least where the Labour Party is today, and in terms of how different he might be to Keir Starmer.”

‘Authentic working class’

Streeting’s pro-market, anti-Brexit outlook and other centrist stances could prove problematic with Labour members charged with choosing a new leader — who automatically becomes prime minister given the party won the last election.

Born to teen parents and raised on a municipal East London housing complex, Streeting frequently highlights his humble upbringing.

He has spoken about his maternal grandmother giving birth in a London prison, while his grandfather was an armed robber who knew notorious London gangsters the Kray Brothers.

“My family … are very, very far removed from the Westminster bubble,” he told a podcast last year.

After attending a state-funded school and Cambridge University, he entered politics through the centrist think tank Progress, founded in the 1990s by allies of ex-prime minister Tony Blair.

Elected an MP for an east London seat in 2015, he was a critic of the party’s leftward shift under then-leader Jeremy Corbyn and only entered the shadow cabinet once Starmer had replaced Corbyn.

As health secretary he has reversed the tide on ballooning hospital appointment waiting lists, but has had a fractious relationship with some sectors, including striking junior doctors.

“He’s had the opportunity to be a big public service reformer and he hasn’t really done it,” an ex-senior Labour adviser told AFP.

However, public policy professor Patrick Diamond of Queen Mary, University of London, said Streeting “appears to offer much of what Labour is currently lacking as a political party”.

He possesses “an authentic working-class background and an ability to connect with voters”.

‘Unexpectedly fascinating’

Others note his approval ratings are unimpressive. A YouGov tracker shows he is disliked by 30% of respondents and popular with just 12% — placing him 52nd among British politicians.

Streeting is openly gay and an Anglican, telling a Christian publication “my faith made it very difficult to accept my sexuality”.

He is known in political circles as an extrovert, belting out Robbie Williams’ “Angels” on karaoke with the words “I’m loving Starmer instead” at one Labour party conference.

Last September, he said the mere notion of challenging Starmer was “disrespectful”.

“A lot of people are quite angry with him over what’s happened over the last few days,” the former Labour advisor said, accusing Streeting of an “over-eagerness” for power which “may be his undoing”.

“The problem with Wes is he’s always appeared to want it too much,” he added.

Streeting penned a 2023 memoir — “One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up” — which one The Guardian critic said “pulls off the very rare trick of being both a little bit boring and unexpectedly fascinating”.

Critics say the fact he wrote it before the age of 40 shows his naked ambition.

Meanwhile, Streeting has faced blowback over his longstanding links to Labour grandee Peter Mandelson, now a toxic figure sacked as US ambassador over his association with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He has denied being close friends with Mandelson.