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Washington and Beijing left their hardest disputes for another day, while fresh pressure emerged across digital finance, housing and European manufacturing.

Scientists are also pushing the limits of commercial aviation, baseball’s postseason picture is sharpening, and an American fast-food giant is testing a new way to compete.

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Trump and Xi Jinping exchanged toasts at a White House state dinner on Thursday. Xi said the two countries should keep AI "under human control" and act "as responsible major countries"; Trump toasted a future of "harmony, peace and success." Earlier in the day, Xi urged Trump to take the "correct position" on Taiwan, with a US weapons package for the island still paused.

The trade truce that paused the tariff war was extended to January, a few months rather than the year Beijing had sought, and no announcements were made on tariffs, rare earths or Taiwan. Xi arrived with a gift of pandas and a student exchange program; Trump gave him a bald eagle sculpture he says he helped design.

CNN and MS NOW reporters were denied entry on Thursday evening, hours after a federal judge ordered the White House to restore their access. Reporters from the banned outlets were let back onto the grounds that morning, then turned away when they came to cover guests arriving for Xi.

The overnight ruling found the ban likely unconstitutional and restored access for 14 days, rejecting the argument that the outlets published false information and threatened national security. Trump barred all three last week, accusing them of fake news.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco must return roughly 650,000 ballots he seized in February while investigating unfounded claims of voting improprieties in a November 2025 special election on congressional redistricting.

The court called the seizure "unlawful," holding that state law keeps ballots with election officials even during a criminal investigation. The measure Bianco was scrutinizing passed statewide and carried his own county by about 80,000 votes. Bianco, a Republican, emailed supporters that he would continue his inquiry.

A powerful blast collapsed a building in Athens' Plaka district near the Acropolis on Friday morning, injuring at least two people, with local media reporting a suspected gas leak.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned Iran's top diplomat that the UK will not tolerate hostile activity on its soil, after intelligence tied Iran or its proxies to an attack on Jewish ambulances.

Pope Leo XIV landed in France for four days, with 600,000 expected at a Mass on the Concorde stretching up the Champs-Élysées.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill asked her hand-picked lieutenant governor to resign by Friday, after an investigation found Dale Caldwell behaved inappropriately around women; his lawyer disputes the findings.

Two University of Mississippi students died this week, and investigators found packages of kratom at the scenes, though no link is confirmed.

The CEO of Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics was charged with hiding Russian control of the firm; its forensics software reportedly serves the Secret Service and Homeland Security Investigations.

KFC opened a test restaurant in McKinney, Texas, serving its first US breakfast as it tries to win back ground from Raising Cane's.

Ford's Dagenham plant is betting on military vehicles as European carmakers hunt for work, with output halved to about 45,000 engines a year.

Aliko Dangote is funding a $660m fuel pipeline from Djibouti to Ethiopia, cutting delivery to Addis Ababa from five days to one.

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Crypto exchange Bitget suspects North Korean hackers in a breach affecting about $352 million in digital assets; its CEO says the breach is contained, but withdrawals remain suspended.

Roughly 10-15% of patients on GLP-1 drugs barely lose weight, and researchers cannot say why, though women and those on hormone therapy do better.

NASA's X-59 flies with an anteater's nose and a cockpit so far back the pilot uses a camera to see, an attempt to soften sonic booms enough to fly supersonic over land.

Michael Penix Jr. returned from ACL surgery, going 18-of-25 for 256 yards as the Atlanta Falcons routed the Green Bay Packers 35-14 at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.

The Milwaukee Brewers reached 100 wins for the first time in franchise history, beating the Phillies 5-1 behind Jackson Chourio's 25th homer and stalling Philadelphia's playoff push.

Lucas Spence homered three times as Houston beat the A's 7-5, pulling Houston within a game of .500 at 79-80.

The NFL fined Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for their "people's elbow" celebration; Chase says it just signals a first down and he would love to appeal.

Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian's Asian art museum, their first public meeting in nearly a decade.

Macklemore announced a "Free Palestine" tour with proceeds going to aid groups, a week after being dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour.

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a Swansea drug dealer in Prime's Kill Jackie, using her own accent on screen for the first time.

What it is: A 30-second spot running on Fox News and Newsmax opens with images of Trump, declares "America will never be a communist country," and touts the "largest tax cuts in history." Near the end, a line of small text reads "paid for by the U.S. government." AdImpact, which tracks ad spending, puts the buy at $14,000.

The detail: The White House calls the spot "educational and unapologetically patriotic," describing a series of public service announcements "about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending." It did not say which agency paid.

The ad never tells viewers how to vote. It does echo the messaging Trump and other Republicans used at the party's convention in Dallas this month, six weeks before the midterms.

Why it matters: Federal money is not supposed to fund political campaigning, and the line is usually policed by whether a message advocates for a candidate. Rep. Jamie Raskin says government employees working on the video violates the Hatch Act and "numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns."

Republicans objected too. Senator Thom Tillis called it "inappropriate," saying "using taxpayer dollars, it feels like Viktor Orban." Senator John Kennedy said he doesn't "like to see politicians use public money to pay for their own campaign ads."

What to watch: Whether an agency claims the spot, whether more air in the run-up to November, and whether the Office of Special Counsel takes up the Hatch Act question.

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Yodeling fans in Graz, Austria have moved practice into an underground garage, since its echoes are, as one teacher put it, "not too dissimilar to the high mountains."

Flyers center Trevor Zegras drew a penalty for tucking his jersey into his pants, earning a preseason minor for "improperly wearing the equipment" after an earlier warning.

Thousands of South Africans fired up grills in a Pretoria stadium to break the cookout record, which needs 2,221 people grilling at once for five minutes.

Harold II defeats Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge (1066) · Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean (1513) · Congress passes twelve amendments, including the Bill of Rights (1789) · US Army troops escort the integration of Little Rock's Central High School (1957) · PSA Flight 182 crashes in San Diego, killing 144 (1978)

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." — First Amendment, ratified 1791

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