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Xi Jinping left Washington with only a two-month trade-truce extension, while the Senate rejected an Iran war powers resolution by a single vote. Elsewhere, a judge reversed Trump’s press ban, the Supreme Court blocked Missouri’s new congressional map, and inflation and jobs data loom next week.

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Xi Jinping's Washington visit was, in the BBC's words, all pomp and little progress, with marching bands, flyovers and an honor guard. Xi offered a gift of pandas and a new student exchange program during Thursday's ceremonies.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the yearlong trade truce that has kept tariffs lower would be extended another two months. Analysts saw far dimmer prospects for progress on the Iran war, Ukraine and rules for artificial intelligence.

President Trump used his speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to defend his Iran policy and cast himself as a peacemaker. Trump said his choice on Iran came down to a deal with the U.S. or moving to "annihilate the Islamic republic."

He also touted the invasion of Venezuela as a win for U.S. control over oil, telling delegates "to the victor belong the spoils." NPR noted the remark contradicted decades of U.S. rhetoric separating foreign intervention from resources.

Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were locked out starting Saturday, a day after Trump accused the outlets of publishing lies about him. Four other TV networks paused broadcasts of the president in solidarity, and the White House launched its own channel, Trump TV.

Late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily lifted the ban, finding the outlets were likely to win on due process grounds. Reporters from all three outlets were back inside the White House by Thursday.

The Senate voted 49-50 on Thursday to defeat a resolution removing U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, in a vote forced by Democrats. Four Republicans backed the measure, while Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman was the lone member of his party voting no.

A separate House war powers resolution drew 220 votes last week, including a record seven Republicans. At least 19 U.S. service members have been killed since fighting broke out in February, according to the Pentagon.

For the third time, the Supreme Court on Friday blocked a Missouri congressional map aimed at netting Republicans another House seat. Justices warned that changing districts now would cause "electoral chaos," with absentee ballots already in the mail.

Missouri must use its 2022 and 2024 districts, halting a plan that could have helped oust Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. Opponents had already forced the map onto November's ballot through a citizen petition drive.

Wall Street heads into a week of important updates on inflation, jobs and consumer confidence, starting with the Conference Board's survey on Tuesday. Wednesday brings the PCE inflation index for August, followed by September's employment report on Friday.

Baseball's playoffs start with one of its classic rivalries, as the Yankees host the Red Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series on Tuesday. Boston climbed from last place in June to clinch a spot, while New York took the season series 7-6.

Christa Pike faces lethal injection in Tennessee on Wednesday for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, after years of failed appeals. She would be the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years, though her lawyers are still seeking a last-minute reprieve.

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This week underscored how quickly institutional checks can collide with presidential power. Courts pushed back on the White House press ban and Missouri’s congressional map, while Congress came within a single Senate vote of forcing an end to U.S. involvement in the Iran war.

Foreign policy offered fewer clear turning points. Xi Jinping’s state visit produced an extension of the U.S.-China trade truce but little visible progress on Iran, Ukraine or AI, while Trump used the U.N. stage to defend his approach to Tehran and frame recent U.S. actions abroad as victories.

Those disputes are moving directly into the midterm environment. Missouri must revert to its previous congressional districts, ballots are already moving in some places, and lawmakers are increasingly putting themselves on the record over a war that has killed at least 19 U.S. service members since February.

Next week shifts some attention back to the economy, with inflation, employment and consumer-confidence data offering a fresh read on household conditions. Baseball’s postseason also begins with Red Sox-Yankees, while Tennessee prepares for an execution that would be the state’s first involving a woman in more than two centuries.

A letter a 10-year-old hid inside an Essex home's stairs resurfaced during renovations 44 years later, and Facebook users tracked down its author, now a teacher, within an hour.

Whipsnade Zoo's 483-foot chalk hillside lion will be lit every Wednesday through winter, outlined in 2,330 bulbs for the Zoological Society of London's 200th anniversary.

Watton's 347-year-old clock, silent for a decade, is set to chime again after the Norfolk town's council pledged to restore it, though no one has said when.

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Lancaster, Pa., serves as the U.S. capital for one day after Congress flees Philadelphia (1777) · Jean-François Champollion announces he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone's hieroglyphs (1822) · Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin (1940) · Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published (1962) · The Taliban capture Kabul and declare an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996)

"In nature nothing exists alone." — Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring" (1962)

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—The Five Minute Daily Team