FIVE MINUTE DAILY

Xi Jinping arrives for his first U.S. state visit in 11 years, with Chinese automakers and a rare earths truce hanging over talks with Trump. Meanwhile, refiners warn a diesel export crackdown could raise pump prices, the 10-year Treasury yield hits 5.11%, and renters fall further behind.

Unlock a focused set of AI strategies built to streamline your work and maximize impact. This guide delivers the practical tactics and tools marketers need to start seeing results right away:

Stay ahead of the curve with these top strategies AI helped develop for marketers, built for real-world results.

Download the Free Report

Chinese leader Xi Jinping was due in the US Wednesday evening for his first state visit in 11 years, opening two days of high-stakes talks with President Trump. Hanging over the pomp, auto industry groups are warning Trump against letting Chinese carmakers build in the US, after he said he might be "OK" with it.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the two sides are still negotiating an extension of a rare earths truce, though American officials complain Beijing has not held up its end. China's delegation could include BYD founder Wang Chuanfu, while GM's Mary Barra and Elon Musk are expected at the state dinner.

President Trump is weighing curbs on US diesel exports as fuel prices climb ahead of the November midterms, telling reporters at the UN, "I've said let's not send out the diesel." Shares of refiners Valero, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 fell Wednesday after Politico reported a plan for a 90-day ban.

The American Petroleum Institute said restrictions would "compound the problem," and one industry executive told CNBC a ban could add 30 cents a gallon. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who warned last week that a ban means "more expensive gasoline right away," said the administration is weighing restrictions rather than an outright ban.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly heard arguments Wednesday but did not rule on the White House ban on three outlets, which President Trump barred from the grounds starting Friday. The outlets call it viewpoint discrimination and a "blatant violation" of the First Amendment, and are seeking a restraining order.

Kelly, a 2017 Trump nominee who restored a CNN reporter's access in a similar 2018 case, noted he must follow precedent requiring due process before press passes are pulled. Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik countered that "access to the White House is a privilege, not a right."

A Russian military helicopter briefly crossed into Polish airspace from Russia's Kaliningrad exclave for 42 seconds Wednesday, sending jets scrambling as Warsaw said Moscow was again testing its air defenses.

Congo is running short of health workers as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record hits 7,773 cases and 3,759 deaths, with North Kivu cases up 73% in three weeks.

Italy's Senate gave final approval to legislation paving a return to nuclear power, nearly four decades after Chernobyl led Italians to abandon it, though new reactors remain years away.

The FBI is investigating a hacking group's claim that it stole sensitive data on almost all agents and job applicants, an unverified boast that left the FBIJobs.gov portal offline Wednesday afternoon.

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a criminal sexual act against former production assistant Miriam Haley, his second sentence in the case after New York's top court overturned his 2020 conviction.

Grail's Galleri multi-cancer blood test faced a panel of FDA advisers Wednesday, with approval potentially opening Medicare and insurer coverage for a test that now costs $700 or more out of pocket.

The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 5.11%, a level last seen in 2007, after a hot business report stoked inflation worries and knocked the S&P 500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq 1.1%.

McDonald's shares fell nearly 5% Wednesday after it unveiled an $8.5 billion modernization push, betting on automation, hand-breaded chicken and more protein for customers, including roughly 30 million Americans on GLP-1 drugs.

Disney+ and Hulu are raising prices again, with ad-free plans jumping 13% to $21.49 a month, the fourth US increase in four years, starting now for new subscribers.

Markets move. Headlines catastrophise. But somewhere inside the noise is the story that matters — the opportunity, not the fear. 

The Daily Upside was built by Wall Street insiders to find it — global business and finance, reported without the alarm.

Join 1M readers →

Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that poorly managed AI could endanger humanity, urging governments to set safeguards and keep its power out of any one company's or country's hands.

The largest map of brain gene activity yet drew on 6.3 million cells from nearly 1,500 donors, revealing a second wave of prefrontal cortex remodeling around age 65 with clues to Alzheimer's.

A clock built on lutetium atoms would need more than 260 billion years to lose a single second, making the Singapore team's device four times more accurate than the previous record holder.

The Ravens and Cowboys meet Sunday in Brazil for the NFL's first game in Rio, and Lamar Jackson says he isn't dwelling on Maracanã's grass after local soccer players complained about the surface.

Indiana linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt can face Northwestern Friday after a judge granted a preliminary injunction giving them and 90-plus athletes a fifth year; the NCAA is expected to appeal.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald called Sean Payton to apologize for a viral video in which he said Denver wrongly accused Seattle of cheating before the 2024 season opener.

Fulton Sheen, the TV bishop who beat Lucille Ball for a 1953 Emmy, will be beatified today in St. Louis, leaving the "Life Is Worth Living" host one miracle shy of sainthood.

YouTube will stay Coachella's exclusive free streaming home through 2030 under a new extension, announced after this year's festival became its most-watched Coachella livestream ever.

France's literary scene is in uproar after a little-known group accused Thélyson Orélien of using AI to write his Prix du Roman Fnac-winning debut novel, a charge the Canadian-Haitian author denies.

What it is: More American renters are coming up short each month, and the squeeze has climbed the income ladder. A new Urban Institute report found that one in five middle-income renters could not pay their full rent on time at some point in 2025, up from about 14% the year before.

The detail: The institute defines middle income as $31,300 to $62,600 for a single adult, or $53,300 to $106,600 for a family of three. Nearly 22% of that group missed a full payment at least once, the sharpest jump of any bracket.

Lower-income renters rose to nearly 28%, from around 24% in 2019, and even the top earners ticked up to about 7%. Homeowners, by contrast, have held steady on mortgage payments for seven years, so the strain is specific to renters.

Why it matters: A missed payment is often a choice made in real time between rent and a child's medicine or dinner, said co-author Samantha Batko, and it can end in eviction. Slightly more than 20% of renters also struggled with gas, oil or electricity bills. With higher rates now hitting credit cards and car loans, economists say younger, lower-income households feel it first.

What to watch: Whether late payments start turning into eviction filings this fall, and whether the share of stretched middle-income renters keeps rising in next year's survey. Batko called the jump "a big and important shift" that reflects affordability pressures across the country.

Ever get to the end of your workday and wonder what happened in the business world while you were busy building your empire? We got you! Max's CEO Report is the short, easy-to-read end-of-business-day recap CEOs & Founders rely on to stay ahead.

Get The Report You Need, Here!

Former Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri booted a 33-yard field goal at 11,317 feet in the Swiss Alps, a Guinness altitude record doubling as a promo for the Patriots' Munich game.

A flock of runaway sheep wandered over to Vermont's brand-new Burlington High School, prompting the district to note that everyone seems to want a look at the new building.

Ontario police closed a highway lane to free a raccoon stuck in a sewer grate on a Highway 403 ramp, and "Rocky" left the scene on foot, apparently unhurt.

Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the federal court system (1789) · Gold prices crash in the "Black Friday" panic (1869) · Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower the first national monument (1906) · USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched (1960) · "60 Minutes" debuts on CBS (1968) · Nirvana releases "Nevermind" (1991)

"A kind of a magazine for television." — Harry Reasoner, "60 Minutes" co-host, describing the show on its first broadcast, 1968

Thanks for reading Five Minute Daily — share it with a friend and subscribe to get tomorrow’s briefing.

—The Five Minute Daily Team