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US and China agree trade deal

The US and China have signed a deal to end their trade war, according to US President Donald Trump. The world’s two biggest economies had battered each other with a series of economic measures in recent months, notably harsh US tariffs on imports and Chinese export controls on rare earths. Trump and his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick both said that an agreement was signed this week, although neither provided details. The trade war has hurt both countries: The US economy shrank at an annualized 0.5% rate in the first quarter, while Chinese manufacturers, notably automakers, have seen profits slump, The Hill reported. Lutnick said a further 10 deals with other major trading partners would follow: “We’re going to have deal after deal.”

China faces deflation

China faces economy-wide deflation, new data suggested, exacerbated by a bruising price war in the automotive industry. Industrial profits fell 9.1% in May, the sharpest fall in months, and “momentum is clearly rolling downhill,” FX Street reported. Deflation is a concern because it incentivizes consumers to delay purchases, slowing the economy. China’s electric vehicle companies are locked in a race to the bottom on prices, as oversupply and weak demand make it harder to shift inventory, and manufacturing overcapacity has created widespread gluts in other sectors: Mining saw first-quarter profits fall 29% year-on-year, while house prices have long been falling due to oversupply. Market consensus is that further stimulus is needed to bolster a fragile economic recovery, Reuters reported.

Win for US vaccine skeptics

A US advisory panel recommended against the use of flu vaccines containing a certain preservative despite scientific evidence showing it is safe. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr — a vaccine skeptic who has authored a book on the supposed dangers of the mercury-containing ingredient thimerosal — fired all experts on the panel two weeks ago and appointed new ones, at least half of whom harbor concerns about vaccines, The New York Times reported. The thimerosal decision will have little practical impact — few US vaccines, and none given to children, contain the compound. But scientists said that the move will further dent already falling public confidence in vaccines: “What this does is sow mistrust,” one told Nature.

Single-shot vaccine hopes

A new single-shot vaccine technology could eliminate the need for boosters and increase global immunization rates across various diseases, new research suggested. Most vaccines need boosters to strengthen the initial dose’s response. But this poses logistical challenges, especially for poorer countries, requiring at least twice as many visits to health providers as a single jab: More than 20 million children miss routine vaccinations each year. The new model uses degradable microcapsules which can be programmed to dissolve after a given time, releasing the second dose into the system when required; initial mouse trials with a malaria vaccine found it was almost as effective as the two-dose schedule.

Israel blocks Gaza aid deliveries

Israel blocked aid deliveries to northern Gaza after claiming goods were being stolen by Hamas. Although some aid is still entering from the south, food availability remains hugely insufficient, with virtually the entire population of the strip at risk of famine: A UN spokesperson this week called Gaza “the hungriest place on earth.” Israel’s moves have drawn condemnation domestically and abroad: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, one of the fiercest critics of the Israeli offensive, described the situation in Gaza as a “genocide.” Even when aid does get through, collecting it remains a life-risking endeavor for Gazans. Hundreds have been killed at distribution hubs, many of them shot by Israeli forces.

DRC, Rwanda to sign peace deal

The foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are due to sign a deal to end a deadly years-long conflict. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel militia launched an offensive three years ago on eastern DRC, capturing two key cities alongside prized mining operations, causing thousands of deaths and displacing millions. The US has pushed both sides to end the fighting as it seeks to secure a mining agreement with the DRC, which holds the biggest reserves of some minerals critical for batteries and green energy technology. However questions remain over whether a deal can hold: Even if Rwanda withdraws its troops, “the M23 rebels, who claim to act independently, may not follow,” The Economist wrote.

Anthropic to study AI econ impacts

Anthropic will launch a major study into the economic impacts of artificial intelligence. The AI startup’s CEO Dario Amodei is outspoken about the technology’s potentially serious effects. He recently said AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs and that it could handle almost all programming within a year: Much of Big Tech’s code is already AI-written. Anthropic’s Economic Futures Program plans to study how AI will affect the labor market and global economy, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reported. Some predictions of AI’s impact have been too bullish — “Godfather of AI” Geoff Hinton said in 2016 that radiologists would soon be obsolete, but the profession remains human-led. However, AI has become much more powerful since then.

Steve Inskeep has one of the most recognizable names and voices in the country, greeting millions of Americans every morning since the 2000s. This week, Ben and Max bring on the Morning Edition host to talk about NPR’s battle with the Trump administration, the role of public radio in an overcrowded media landscape, and why local journalism matters more than ever. They also discuss the conflict in Iran — a place that Steve has been to six times as a reporter — and whether Americans are less informed about global politics now than they were at the start of his career.

Listen to the latest episode of Mixed Signals now.

Haiti uses drones on gangs

Haiti said it had killed hundreds of gang members using surveillance drones fitted with explosives as the government battles to regain control of the country. Criminal groups have recently threatened to control the entirety of the capital — estimates suggest the gangs rule over all but a few pockets of Port-au-Prince — as well as its main port and airport. In response, the government has also resorted to deploying mercenaries — including from one controversial US firm — as well as enlisting foreign troops. The situation remains desperate for most of the population, with a record 5.7 million people experiencing food insecurity and millions more at risk, according to the UN.

Ireland’s weight-loss drug boom

The growth of weight-loss drugs has pushed Ireland, a country of only 5 million people, into the second-largest trade imbalance with the US of any nation. Ireland’s tax policies have made it a hub for US pharma giants. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in March drove those companies to scramble to export their goods to the US before the duties took effect — leading to $36 billion worth of hormones to make GLP-1 agonist drugs such as Ozempic to be imported from Ireland so far this year, pushing up the very trade imbalance Trump was keen to reduce, The Wall Street Journal reported. The export surge also boosted Ireland’s economic growth by 10%.

Squid dominated ancient oceans

Ancient oceans were likely dominated by predatory squid, a new fossil-hunting technique suggested. Soft-bodied creatures like squid leave few fossils, unlike their shelled relatives ammonites and belemnites, meaning little is known of their evolutionary history. Japanese scientists scanned and digitized large chunks of rock from 100-million-year-old seabeds and found that they were full of fossilized squid beaks, suggesting that squid far outnumbered ammonites and bony fish, thought to be the dominant marine animals of the time, and were just as large. Previously the oldest known squid fossils were 45 million years old, with some paleontologists believing they only arose after the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs.

• EU leaders gather in Brussels for a one-day summit focused on the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host his Austrian counterpart Christian Stocker in Berlin.
• The US Supreme Court will announce several major decisions, including on President Donald Trump’s push to limit birthright citizenship.

The age of the world’s oldest boomerang (with caveats). Fashioned from a mammoth tusk, the boomerang was found in Poland in 1985, and originally dated to around 18,000 years ago — but new analysis suggests it is more than twice as old. The ivory boomerang would likely have flown when thrown, but not have returned to its thrower. Skeptical readers might wonder why something that does not come from Australia and does not return is called a “boomerang” rather than a “stick,” but apparently its aerodynamic shape means it generates lift like an airplane wing, allowing it to fly greater distances and be used in hunting. Scientists told the BBC that it showed the remarkable ingenuity of ancient humans.

The Summer Portraits by Ludovico Einaudi. The Italian pianist-composer, now 70, is the world’s most popular classical musician; his success has gained him detractors, who sneer at his music as being a kind of easy listening, but nine billion annual streams suggest that they are outnumbered. His latest album, an exploration of boyhood holidays in his native Italy, is “nostalgic and personal,” according to The Arts Desk, with “an emotional candour and simplicity.” Listen to The Summer Portraits on Spotify.

Top Democrats kept a respectful distance from socialist Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday after his upset victory in New York City’s mayoral primary, with party leaders offering measured praise that avoided an endorsement, Semafor’s David Weigel reported.

“The relentless focus on affordability had great appeal all across the city of New York,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Morning Joe. Both Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have said they plan to meet with Mamdani in the coming days.