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What’s on tap: 

• Culture for anti-ageing

• FDA Commissioner out

• How common is your name?

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Today’s Big Story

Trump and Xi Meet in Beijing

• President Trump departed for Beijing on Tuesday for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first in-person meeting since October. He was accompanied by a delegation of American business titans, including Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook, and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon. Trade, Iran, and Taiwan are all on the agenda. Experts say China arrives confident, having concluded it won the 2025 trade war.

• Iran will be an inescapable topic. China accounts for roughly 90% of Iran's exported oil and controls significant leverage over Tehran. Trump said Xi has been "very respectful" over the Strait of Hormuz disruption, but the Treasury issued new sanctions on China-based businesses tied to Iran just before the trip, prompting Beijing to vow to protect those firms.

• Taiwan could define the summit. Trump said Monday he would discuss with Xi whether the US will continue selling weapons to the island — a question experts say will signal US commitment to allies across Asia and Europe. Taiwan produces most of the world's semiconductors, making its stability central to the global economy.

Today’s Quick Hits

• FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after less than a year on the job, becoming the fourth high-profile Trump administration departure this year. A source said Makary quit rather than defend the FDA's approval of fruit-flavored vapes at congressional testimony Wednesday — a decision he opposed. Trump named food regulator Kyle Diamantas, a lawyer without a medical degree, as acting commissioner. (More)

• Grocery prices rose 0.7% in April, the biggest one-month jump in nearly four years, as the Iran war drives up food costs. Fresh vegetable prices are running 44% higher than three months ago on an annualized basis, coffee is up 22%, and beef is surging due to record-low cattle numbers. Overall grocery prices are up 2.9% over the past year, with inflation now at 3.8%, outpacing wage growth. (More)

• Cindy Burbank won Nebraska's Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, potentially setting up a one-on-one race between independent Dan Osborn and Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts in the fall. Burbank said she'll drop out if polling shows she can't win in November. Osborn lost to a different GOP senator by 7 points in 2024 despite Trump carrying Nebraska by 20. Democrats haven't won a Nebraska Senate seat since 2006. (More)

• Regularly engaging with arts and culture, such as reading, listening to music, or visiting museums, may slow biological aging as much as exercise, according to a new University College London study. Researchers analyzed DNA changes in 3,556 UK adults and found weekly arts engagement was linked to aging 4% more slowly, matching the benefit of weekly exercise. Effects were strongest in adults 40 and older. (More)

• FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen at a Senate budget hearing Tuesday, calling Atlantic magazine's allegations that he drinks on the job "unequivocally, categorically false." Patel, who has sued the magazine for $250 million, fired back by accusing Van Hollen of drinking margaritas on a taxpayer-funded trip to El Salvador. Republicans praised Patel while Democrats pressed him on travel costs and mass agent firings. (More)

• French President Emmanuel Macron drew criticism after grabbing a microphone at an Africa summit in Kenya on Monday to scold attendees for talking over speakers. The backlash compounded earlier outrage over his claim to be a "true Pan-Africanist" — a term tied to resistance to colonialism. Macron was in Kenya to announce a $27 billion investment and pitch France as a partner rather than a former colonial power. (More)

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