First thing: Trump says the rare earths deal and tariff reduction are agreed upon with China

Good morning.

Donald Trump said that Washington and Beijing have settled their dispute over rare earths after crucial trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, a consensus had previously been reached during recent talks between the two sides’ trade teams in Kuala Lumpur, which included reducing the so-called “fentanyl tariff” imposed by Trump on Chinese goods, along with reciprocal measures by Beijing to suspend export controls.

After the talks in Busan, Trump told reporters that Xi Jinping had agreed to work “hard” to prevent fentanyl production. In return, Trump said he would reduce tariffs related to fentanyl from 20% to 10%, thus reducing overall tariffs from 57% to 47%.

• What else was agreed upon? Trump said that China would ease its restrictions on exports of rare earth elements, in an agreement that he said would last for a year before being negotiated annually, and would also buy American soybeans.

• Was the Taiwan issue discussed? No, while the issue of Ukraine was discussed, Trump said that the issue of Chinese consumption of Russian oil was not actually discussed.

Trump directs the Pentagon to… ‘match’ Russia and China test nuclear weapons

Trump directed the Pentagon to “immediately” match other nuclear powers in their nuclear weapons tests, specifically citing Russia and China.

In a message to Truth Social, Trump said: “Due to the testing programs being conducted by other countries, I have instructed the War Department to begin testing our nuclear weapons on an equal footing. This process will begin immediately.” The post came less than an hour before Trump met with Xi in South Korea on Thursday.

Revealed: ICE is violating its own policy by detaining people in secret rooms for days or weeks

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have increasingly kept people in temporary detention rooms for days or even weeks at a time in violation of federal policy. The Guardian investigation has found.

The rooms, which are often small concrete spaces without beds, are used to detain people after they are arrested but before they are transferred or released. In June, the agency changed its internal policies that previously prohibited it from detaining people in these rooms for more than 12 hours, raising the maximum to three days.

Some facilities have recorded dramatic increases in detention time since June, with one facility in New York seeing a nearly 600% rise on average. ICE detention facilities do not receive the same level of oversight as larger ICE detention centers.

• We are Multiple people detained together? Yes. The risk of people being sexually assaulted while in a detention room, whether by ICE agents or another detainee, rises the longer they are detained, a former ICE official said.

In other news…

Today’s statistic: In the first six months of 2025, there were more than 520 American plots, terrorist acts, and acts of violence.

There is strong evidence that political violence is on the rise in the United States: in the first six months of 2025, There were more than 520 plots and terrorist acts The targeted violence caused the death of 96 people and the injury of 329 others. This represents an increase of nearly 40% compared to the first six months of 2024, according to data from the University of Maryland Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

Don’t miss this: ‘Fraud has become the new agriculture’: Inside India’s cybercrime villages

For starters, the town of Jamtara in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand may not be anything special. But look closely and you’ll start to see pockets of obvious wealth. In India, the city has become known for one thing: running scams to steal money from strangers’ bank accounts. “I lived in fear of being ‘jamtara ed,'” Snigdha Poonam writes in this long read about how the region has become synonymous with digital fraud in the country.

Climate Check: Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after turning Jamaica into a ‘disaster area’

Hurricane Melissa – the most powerful hurricane to hit Jamaica since records began nearly two centuries ago – has struck Cuba after devastating parts of the neighboring country, with Jamaica’s prime minister declaring it a disaster area. Climate scientists say global warming has made extreme weather, including storms, more severe.

Last thing: Can anyone learn how to be cool?

After a study found that people around the world identify common traits when asked about “cool” people, Guardian writer Elle Hunt went on a mission: to see if she could learn how to be cool. “I usually wear Uniqlo clothes from head to toe. Affordable, yes, practical, sure — but nothing fancy,” she wrote. It traces the history of assets “Cool” and how it has changed over the past century.

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