Good morning. It's Tuesday, May 13, and we're covering a temporary freeze on most US-China tariffs, a new migraine drug that eases early symptoms, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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The US and China agreed to a 90-day pause on most tariffs yesterday, easing tensions in the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, the US will reduce its tariff on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will lower its tariff on American imports from 125% to 10%. The deal aims to allow further negotiations, with President Donald Trump expected to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.
The 30% rate includes a 20% duty imposed earlier this year, targeting Chinese efforts to curb fentanyl shipments, along with a 10% baseline tariff applied to most countries. Tariffs from Trump’s first term—affecting more than $300B in Chinese goods—will remain in place, as will targeted tariffs on steel, aluminum, and autos. China also agreed to ease some nontariff barriers, including easing restrictions on rare earth material permits to the US.
The deal, described as an “executive agreement” rather than a formal treaty, does not require Senate approval. US stock markets rose on the news (S&P 500 +3.3%, Dow +2.8%, Nasdaq +4.4%). |
President Donald Trump is in Saudi Arabia today, the first of three stops on his Middle East trip. The visit marks Trump’s first overseas trip of his second term, excluding a visit to Italy earlier this month to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral.
Trump prioritized Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip last term as well, breaking with past presidents who prioritized trips in Europe or North America (see history). In his first term, Trump’s interest in the Middle East helped lead the Abraham Accords. This visit, Trump will emphasize economic ties. A US-Saudi investment summit will reportedly include top executives from Nvidia, Palantir, Citigroup, Blackstone, and Uber. Trump visits Qatar tomorrow, followed by the United Arab Emirates Thursday.
Trump ultimately hopes to announce large-scale US-Gulf trade and investment deals. Saudi Arabia has so far pledged $600B in US investments over four years, while the UAE has committed to a $1.4T investment over the next decade. |
A new clinical trial has found the migraine drug ubrogepant can reduce nonheadache symptoms—such as fatigue, brain fog, and light sensitivity—that occur in the hours before a migraine attack begins. The findings, released yesterday, suggest ubrogepant (which blocks pain-related receptors in the brain) may be the first acute treatment to help manage the run-up to migraines.
Migraines (see overview) are intense headaches often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light or sound, affecting roughly 14% to 15% of the world's population. Many experience early warning signs, known as "prodrome" symptoms, like mood changes, neck pain, or food cravings, hours before the headache starts. Watch what happens to the brain during a migraine here.
In the trial, researchers studied 438 adults ages 18 to 75 with at least a one-year history of migraines. Compared to a placebo, participants who took ubrogepant during the prodrome phase reported faster and greater relief, including improved concentration within one hour, reduced light sensitivity after two, less fatigue and neck pain after three, and decreased dizziness and sound sensitivity between four and 24 hours. |
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In partnership with SmartAsset |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> The 78th Cannes Film Festival kicks off today in France; see preview of the most anticipated films (More) | Limited series Madonna biopic in development at Netflix (More) |
> "The Office" spinoff "The Paper" sets September premiere at Peacock (More) | "Wicked" stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande to perform live at a special in November ahead of release of the film's sequel (More) |
> The Dallas Mavericks win NBA Draft Lottery for first time, will get top pick in 2025 draft (More) | NBA legend Michael Jordan tapped as special contributor for NBC's NBA coverage starting this fall (More) |
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> Weight loss drug Zepbound outperforms rival Wegovy in first head-to-head clinical trial, with Zepbound averaging about 20% drop in weight over 72 weeks compared to just under 14% with Wegovy (More) | How semaglutides work (More) |
> Saudi Arabia launches government-backed AI firm Humain to provide a range of data infrastructure capabilities, including Arabic-based large language models; company to be funded from country's $925B Public Investment Fund (More) |
> The parasite E. histolytica kills human cells, wearing their components on its outer membrane to avoid detection by the immune system; amoeba is responsible for 50 million infections and about 70,000 deaths per year (More) |
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In partnership with hear.com |
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> Perplexity AI reportedly in talks to raise $500M at $14B valuation; AI search engine also plans to release own web browser, Comet, to compete with Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari (More) | Online education firm Chegg to lay off 22% of workforce as students turn to AI-powered tools for assistance (More) |
> Treasury Department reports the US collected record $16.3B in customs duties in April, above $8.7B collected during March and more than double the $7.1B a year ago; comes after the US imposed 10% global tariffs on imports last month (More) |
> Bitcoin mining company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. set to go public on Nasdaq through all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining (More) | Coinbase shares rise in after-hours trading as crypto exchange set to join S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial (More) |
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> Nearly 60 white South Africans arrive at Virginia's Dulles International Airport on a private charter plane; group is the first to arrive in the US following federal directive to fast-track Afrikaners' refugee claims (More) | Who are the Afrikaners? (More) |
> President Donald Trump signs executive order directing pharmaceutical companies to lower drug costs to prices in other high-income countries; companies have one month to comply with the order or risk incurring steep limits on earnings (More) |
> Hamas releases American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living US hostage in Gaza; release comes as Hamas pursues ceasefire deal with Israel, including resumption of humanitarian aid (More) | See latest updates (More) |
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> History of Happiness
NYT Magazine | Kwame Anthony Appiah. Happiness today may seem shallow, but the idea was once tied to communal flourishing. See how humans' concept of happiness has evolved over the centuries. (Read)
> Inside the Colosseum
Deconstructed | Staff. The Colosseum, completed under Rome's Emperor Titus, was the largest amphitheater ever built. Explore the arena through 3D reanimation and see how it was built with trapdoors and intricate underground tunnels, and designed to hold massive amounts of water for sweeping naval battles. (Watch) |
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*Disclosure: "Journal of Retirement Study Winter" (2020). The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of your future results. Please follow the link to see the methodologies employed in the Journal of Retirement study. |
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