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Trade tensions are easing, but energy costs are creating fresh pressure at home and abroad. Today’s edition tracks a consequential shift in U.S.-China commerce, a major test for the world’s most powerful rocket and the forces pushing holiday flights to decade-high prices. Also, Washington rethinks auto rules, AI moves closer to acting on our behalf, and a turbulent weekend reshapes politics, sports and entertainment.

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The Trump administration plans to release new fuel economy standards Monday that would relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social that the less stringent mileage requirements would "take the waste out of building cars in America" and save families "thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the changes would be announced Monday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projected in December that the standards would set the fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 under Biden-era rules. Trump has already relaxed tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that miss mileage standards and ended credits of up to $7,500 for electric vehicles. Gas averaged $4.47 a gallon Sunday, up from $4.09 a month earlier.

President Trump asked Xi Jinping whether he would like to buy American arms, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said Sunday. Perdue said Trump has justified the pending US arms sale to Taiwan to Xi by describing it as one of many sales Washington makes around the world. "He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point," Perdue said. He did not specify when.

The remarks follow questions from lawmakers in both parties about delayed weapons orders to Taiwan. After a May summit in Beijing, the US paused a record $14 billion package, and Trump described arms sales to the island as a "very good negotiating chip" with China. US law binds Washington to provide Taiwan the means to defend itself, though it does not recognize the island as a country. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun declined Monday to confirm Perdue's account.

The United States and China released reciprocal lists Monday of about $30 billion in goods each that will see tariff cuts, filling in the detail four days after Xi's state visit to Washington. China's list runs to 1,619 categories of American goods, from agricultural commodities and personal care products to timber, medical equipment and coal. The US list covers 77 categories of Chinese goods, among them fireworks, tableware, glass and wooden Christmas ornaments and soccer balls.

Tariff rates on more than 90% of the products would fall to "most-favored-nation" levels, China's commerce ministry said, effectively eliminating country-specific tariffs. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the lists focused on "nonsensitive goods on each side that could benefit from more favorable tariff treatment." Chips, electric vehicles and batteries were left out. The scale is modest against the trade itself: US exports to China ran about $68 billion through the first seven months of this year, and Chinese exports to the US about $270 billion through the first eight.

Protesters camped overnight in Madrid's Puerta del Sol after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home of seven decades, demanding stronger tenant protections.

South Korea demanded an apology from Kyiv after Zelenskyy revealed a secret prisoner-of-war transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers, citing a nondisclosure deal Ukraine denies making.

Serbia's president resigned Sunday to run for prime minister, Aleksandar Vučić, stepping down after nearly two years of student-led protests and corruption allegations, ahead of an Oct. 25 vote.

Eleven teenagers were wounded in a late-night shootout at a Macon, Georgia, skatepark, where the sheriff said rival groups exchanged words, brandished guns and opened fire.

A Florida pastor who allegedly aspired to lead Haiti faces trial in Miami, charged in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and has pleaded not guilty.

Hurricane Nolo strengthened into a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, and forecasters expect life-threatening surf and rip currents on Hawaii's south-facing shores.

President Trump said he's weighing "very seriously" a ban on U.S. diesel exports, with diesel near $6.50 a gallon, though Morgan Stanley warns the move could push gasoline prices higher.

American Airlines expects the latest jet-fuel jump to add $1 billion to fourth-quarter fuel costs, as holiday airfares hit a decade high and United cuts December flights.

Walmart's chief executive says prices are not personalized, John Furner writing that digital shelf labels will not set prices by income, shopping history or a customer's willingness to pay.

B2B customer issues move across teams and systems, not through a single chat window. A new Harvard Business Review Analytic Services briefing paper, sponsored by Front, breaks down where AI tools fall short in B2B service and what to ask before you invest.

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SpaceX plans to launch Starship Monday in its first attempt at orbit, carrying 26 Starlink V3 satellites from Starbase, Texas, after 13 suborbital test flights.

Washington and Beijing agreed to launch a new dialogue on artificial intelligence plus a channel for AI incidents, with further talks set for late November, China said.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found two new species of sea spiders in the Salish Sea, the first found there in more than 100 years.

Tyler Loop drilled a 56-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Ravens past Dallas 34-31 in Rio de Janeiro, after a Cowboys touchback left Baltimore just seven seconds.

Bo Nix notched his 10th fourth-quarter comeback since 2024 as Denver scored 30 points in the second half to erase a 16-0 hole and beat the Rams 30-26 Sunday night.

The Houston Astros clinched the AL West at 81-81 as the Rangers lost 6-4 in Minnesota, leaving Texas, the 2023 champion, out of October for a third straight year.

Baltimore won 34-31 in Rio, Lamar Jackson hitting Zay Flowers for 27 yards and calling a timeout with a second left to set up Tyler Loop's 56-yarder.

Taylor Swift broke her tie with Beyoncé for the most VMA wins, taking video of the year for "The Fate of Ophelia," as Madonna took top artist.

Florence Pugh leads Netflix's "East of Eden," a seven-episode Steinbeck adaptation by Elia Kazan's granddaughter Zoe, among this week's new streaming picks premiering Thursday.

"Avengers: Endgame" retook the box office seven years on, the rerelease with new end-credits scenes grossing $26 million domestically and $60 million overseas.

What it is: Travelers shopping for Thanksgiving and Christmas flights are facing the highest airfares in a decade, according to Hopper, which pegged recent domestic round-trips at $402 for Thanksgiving and $452 for Christmas, up 31% and 23% from last year.

The detail: Jet fuel is the driver, and it has whipsawed since the Iran war began in late February. The Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index plunged from $4.88 a gallon in early April to $2.70 in June, then climbed back to $4.53 on Sept. 17. IATA expects fuel to eat nearly a third of airline operating costs this year, up from about a quarter in 2025.

Fares never followed it down. The average ticket rose from $405 in late 2025 to $436 in the April-June quarter, and August airfares ran 23% above a year earlier, according to the Labor Department.

Why it matters: Airlines plan schedules and sell seats months ahead, so they can't charge more for tickets already sold when fuel spikes. About 35% of United's fourth-quarter tickets were booked before the latest jump. At American, every penny per gallon adds roughly $10 million to the quarterly fuel bill, and the recent run-up will add about $1 billion to fourth-quarter fuel costs.

What to watch: American, United and Southwest are trimming less profitable routes, and United has warned of more cuts in 2027 if fuel stays expensive. Columbia Business School's Brett House puts the odds of fares coming down over the next few months at "very low."

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Neil Patrick Harris and Julianne Hough will star in Broadway's first "Damn Yankees" revival since 1994, the baseball musical opening March 24.

The stump of the Sycamore Gap tree, felled illegally three years ago today, is sprouting a thick ring of shoots.

A nor'easter pounding Nantucket's south shore exposed timbers from a shipwreck that may date to 1884, right where fragments surfaced in 2022.

William the Conqueror lands at Pevensey (1066) · French and American forces begin the siege of Yorktown (1781) · US Army pilots land in Seattle, completing the first flight around the world (1924) · Alexander Fleming notices mold killing bacteria in a petri dish (1928) · Rabin and Arafat sign the Oslo II accord at the White House (1995) · SpaceX's Falcon 1 becomes the first privately built rocket to reach orbit (2008)

"One sometimes finds what one is not looking for." — Alexander Fleming, on the discovery of penicillin

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—The Five Minute Daily Team