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President Donald Trump is hosting a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday. Trump has accused the country's government of allowing a “genocide” to take place against its minority white farmers. Ramaphosa pushed for the meeting with Trump in an attempt to salvage his country's relationship with the United States.

Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia has died aged 75, his family said in a statement posted to his account on social media platform X on Tuesday following his cancer diagnosis last year.

President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with congressional Republicans as they aim to reach an agreement on a sweeping tax-cut bill, with their narrow majority divided over the scope of spending cuts. The bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's signature first-term legislative achievement, while adding tax breaks on income from tips and overtime pay that were part of his 2024 campaign pledge.

Secretaries Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are testifying before Senate committees on Tuesday regarding their departments' budget requests for fiscal year 2026.

President Donald Trump said he plans to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the morning of May 19, followed by calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO allies, to broker a cease-fire in the Russia–Ukraine war. Trump’s remarks come on the heels of the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv since 2022, which were held in Istanbul on May 16 but which failed to produce a cease-fire.

Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone. In a post on social media platform X on Monday morning, Biden posted a photo of himself and his wife, Jill Biden, and wrote: “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

As Harvard and the Trump administration continue their funding feud, we examine what’s at stake. The administration says the university is politically biased and wants Harvard to fundamentally change its hiring practices, admissions processes, student and faculty composition, and more. Over $2.2 billion in federal funding is set to be terminated, and the esteemed university’s tax-exempt status is on the chopping block. Harvard is suing the Trump administration to halt the funding freeze. What are the implications of this clash at the highest levels of academia? Here to discuss are Manhattan Institute Fellow Colin Wright and Professor Emeritus at Golden Gate University School of Law and UC San Francisco Law, Timothy Alan Simon.

House Republicans failed Friday to push their big package of tax breaks and spending cuts through the Budget Committee, as a handful of conservatives joined all Democrats in a stunning vote against it.

President Donald Trump departed Abu Dhabi on Friday following his tour of the Gulf region. Trump said on Friday the United Arab Emirates and the United States had agreed to create a path for the Gulf country to buy some of the most advanced artificial intelligence semiconductors from U.S. companies. Trump wrapped his Gulf tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE with a pledge by Abu Dhabi to hike the value of its energy investments in the U.S. to $440 billion in the next decade.

New Jersey rail engineers walked off the job after marathon contract talks stalled, setting off a strike at a transit system that serves some 350,000 rail passengers a day, including tens of thousands of commuters into New York City. At a Friday press conference, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy blamed the work stoppage on the union and said, "It did not have to come to this.”

President Donald Trump landed in United Arab Emirates, and was received by UAE president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Before arriving in the UAE, President Trump visited Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, delivering a speech to nearly 2,000 soldiers. Trump thanked the troops for making America “incredibly proud.” The base played a pivotal role during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, serving as the primary logistical and operational hub for evacuating tens of thousands of people.

The Supreme Court hears oral arguments on May 15 over President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship and whether federal judges went too far in their decisions to block his directive nationwide. It’s the first major hearing of Trump’s second term and could offer insight into how the justices view the ongoing legal challenges to his agenda. So far, federal judges have blocked a long list of the president’s second-term policies while provoking criticism from Republicans alleging they abused their authority.

Agreements signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday will "generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion," the White House said in a fact sheet summarizing some of the deals' details. The agreements include a $96 billion deal with Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X airplanes with GE Aerospace engines, the fact sheet said.

It was markup day for the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee on May 13—one day after Republicans released the full text of their long-awaited tax legislation—as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle engaged in testy exchanges. The committee pushed the bill forward overnight, passing it along party lines with a 26–19 vote.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial will enter its third day on Wednesday with his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura expected to resume testifying about how the rapper and hip-hop mogul made her a central figure in his alleged sex trafficking.

President Donald Trump secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to invest in the United States after the oil power accorded him a gala welcome at the start of a tour of Gulf states. The U.S. agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to a White House fact sheet that called it "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done.

The U.S. annual inflation rate eased to its lowest level in more than four years, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs started stretching throughout the U.S. economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the annual inflation rate declined to 2.3 percent in April, from 2.4 percent in March. This represented the third consecutive monthly slowdown and the lowest reading since February 2021.

UnitedHealth Group on Tuesday suspended its 2025 forecast, just weeks after lowering its outlook, and announced the surprise exit of CEO Andrew Witty, sending its shares down 8 percent premarket. Stephen Hemsley, who served as CEO from 2006–2017, will take over from Witty. The announcement also pulled down shares of other health insurers such as Humana, CVS, and Elevance between 1 percent and 3 percent.

An Israeli-American soldier held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip was released Monday. The Israeli military confirmed that Edan Alexander had been turned over to the Red Cross and was being brought to Israeli forces. Alexander is the last known living American hostage held in Gaza.

Wall Street's main indexes were set to open sharply higher on Monday as the United States and China reached a deal to reduce tariffs, signaling a truce in a punishing trade war that had kept markets on edge for weeks. The U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April this year to 30% from 145% and Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%, the two countries said on Monday. The new measures are effective for 90 days.

President Donald Trump will visit the Middle East from May 13 to 16, with scheduled stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The trip marks his first major foreign trip of his second term, following a recent visit to the Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral two weeks ago. Trump is expected to announce a series of major investment deals aimed at attracting Gulf money into key U.S. sectors such as defense, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). His meetings will also focus on pressing regional issues, including the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.

All eyes are on Switzerland this weekend, as high-stakes trade talks between the United States and China continue behind closed doors.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with China’s vice premier amid ongoing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.