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Trump administration lowers fuel economy standards at significant environmental cost

The Trump administration released new fuel economy standards Monday that relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.

Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. The change furthers President Donald Trump's promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.

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Surging oil prices drag US futures lower as Trump rejects Iranian proposal

Surging crude prices are dragging on U.S. futures after President Donald Trump rejectedIran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran had offered to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear program if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

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Trump asked China's president if he wants to buy US arms, ambassador says

President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he'd be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump's ambassador to China said on Sunday.

David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday" days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn't specify when the offer was made.

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US and China release each $30 billion product lists for tariff cuts after Trump-Xi meeting

The United States and China released Monday reciprocal lists of products worth about $30 billion each that will see tariff cuts, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade.

The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Donald Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the U.S. since 2015. The U.S. had already reduced tariffs against China after Trump's tariffs reached as high as 145% at one point last year, as tensions between the two countries eased.

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US Treasury chief claims successes in isolating Iran

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he had sent envoys around the world to pressure countries to economically isolate Iran, hailing new restrictions targeting the country's airlines and banks.

"At my direction, teams were dispatched across the globe to engage with countries and demand action against the Iranian regime," he said on X. "These efforts are delivering results."

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Iraq seeks exemption from US ban on Iran airlines

The Iraqi government said Saturday it was holding talks with the United States to secure an exemption from then ban on Iranian airlines, which has disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.

All Iraqi airports enforced the ban this week, resulting in major disruption at the airport of the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights to Iraq.

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Argentina's poverty rate rises above 30% under President Milei, reversing recent decline

Argentina's poverty rate jumped to 32.3% in the first half of 2026, official data showed Thursday, as incomes failed to keep pace with the rising cost of basic goods, a setback for libertarian President Javier Milei little more than a year before he seeks reelection.

The national statistics agency, known as INDEC, reported that the share of Argentines living below the poverty line jumped four percentage points from 28.2% in the second half of 2025. Extreme poverty, or indigence, rose from 6.3% to 7.5%.

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Yemen tells UN that Houthi rebels' moves on key strait threaten global economy

Yemen's internationally recognized government pressed world leaders anew Thursday for help defeating the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, saying that their new perch along one of the world's busiest waterways presents an international economic risk.

The Houthis — who have controlled Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north for over a decade — stormed down Yemen's coast this month and seized the crucial port city of Mokha and key Red Sea islands. That gives them better surveillance of ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the sea's southern end. About 12% of the world's trade usually passes through the waterway.

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Starbucks to shutter 250 stores in North America this week in 2nd wave of closings

Starbucks plans to close 250 North American stores later this week.

It is the second big round of store closures under Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who joined the company in 2024. Last September, Starbucks closed 627 stores in North America and Europe.

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Europe uses subsidies, taxes and policy pauses to offset pain of high fuel prices

Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are driving governments across Europe to craft subsidies, taxes and policy revisions that might shield their economies, companies and increasingly aggrieved citizens from record gasoline and diesel prices.

Countries around the world have intervened to limit the economic impact of diminished energy supplies and soaring fuel prices since the start of the Iran war, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Seven of the 10 nations working most actively to contain the economic damage are in the European Union, the OECD said in a report published Wednesday.

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