The United States and Switzerland announced a framework trade agreement on Friday that includes Washington slashing its tariffs on imported Swiss products to 15% from 39% and a pledge by Swiss companies to invest $200 billion in the U.S. by the end of 2028.
The United States and Switzerland, joined by Liechtenstein, aim to conclude negotiations to finalize their trade deal by the first quarter of 2026, the White House said in a statement.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the agreement tears down longstanding trade barriers and opens new markets for American goods. He welcomed &#8220;massive Swiss investment to help reduce our deficit in pharmaceuticals and other key sectors&#8221; that will generate thousands of jobs across the U.S.
At least $67 billion of the $200 billion in pledged Swiss investments in the United States will come in 2026, the White House said in a statement.
The total includes prior U.S. investment commitments including $50 billion from drugmaker Roche and $23 billion from Novartis along with pledges from engineering group ABB railway equipment maker Stadler.
In addition to pharmaceuticals &#8211; Switzerland&#8217;s largest export to the U.S. &#8211; the investments in U.S. production will target medical devices, aerospace and gold manufacturing, the White House said.
&#8220;This agreement puts Switzerland on an equal footing with the European Union and brings the tariff level down from 39% to 15%,&#8221; Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said in announcing the deal, which affects about 40% of Switzerland&#8217;s exports.
&#8220;Of course, we would prefer (the $200 billion) to be invested in Switzerland,&#8221; Parmelin added. &#8220;And that’s why the Federal Council in parallel is doing everything to see how we can reduce costs for our businesses.&#8221;
The lower tariff rate is likely to be activated within &#8220;days, weeks,&#8221; as soon as the U.S. customs processing systems can be adjusted, said Helene Budliger Artieda, director of Switzerland&#8217;s  State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
The deal guarantees a 15% tariff ceiling for Swiss pharmaceutical producers, limiting the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s forthcoming Section 232 national security duties for the sector, which could reach 100% on certain patented drugs.
Parmelin said the 15% cap would also apply to other future Section 232 duties, including semiconductors, putting key sectors on the same footing as the EU.
&#8220;The risk of much higher sector-specific tariffs is therefore ruled out,&#8221; Parmelin added.
A Swiss government statement said the tariff agreement will reduce Swiss import duties on U.S. industrial products, fish and seafood and agricultural products &#8220;that Switzerland considers non-sensitive.&#8221;
Switzerland will grant the U.S. duty-free bilateral tariff quotas on 500 tons of beef, 1,000 tons of bison meat and 1,500 tons of poultry meat, the government said.
The White House statement said Switzerland agreed to remove a range of tariffs across agricultural and industrial  sectors including certain fresh and dried nuts, fruits, seafood and chemicals.
The White House also said Switzerland will recognize U.S. motor vehicle safety standards, a step toward addressing Trump&#8217;s frequent complaint that European countries do not buy American-made cars and trucks.
Swiss industrial groups welcomed the deal, saying it would put them on a level playing field with competitors from the European Union, which agreed to a 15% tariff on EU exports to the U.S.
&#8220;For the industrial sector, which was subject to a 39% tariff since August 1, this is good news. For the first time, we have the same conditions in the U.S. market as our European competitors,&#8221; said Nicola Tettamanti, president of Swissmechanic, which represents small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Switzerland&#8217;s machinery, precision instruments, watchmaking, and food sectors, which export to the U.S., would see the most relief, said Hans Gersbach, a director of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich.
KOF forecasts Swiss economic growth of 0.9% in 2026, but this would exceed 1% with the lower tariff rate, he added.
Switzerland had a $38.3 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. This rose to $55.7 billion in 2025 through July, reflecting primarily the front-loading of U.S. imports from Switzerland during the first quarter, before Trump imposed his &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; tariffs in early April.
Nadia Gharbi, an economist at Swiss bank Pictet, said the tariff reduction removed the main downside risks for the country&#8217;s economy and represents a clearly positive development for Swiss industries and for the overall growth outlook.
&#8220;Under the previous tariff regime, Switzerland suffered a significant loss of competitiveness — not only because of the strength of the Swiss franc, but also because neighboring European economies were subject to tariffs of only around 15%,&#8221; she said.
Swiss industry on Friday reported a 14% fall in exports to the U.S. during the three months through September, technology industry association Swissmem said, while machine tool makers saw shipments slump 43%.
(Reporting by John Revill in Zurich; Additional reporting by Dave Graham in Zurich, Emma Farge and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva, Miranda Murray in Berlin, and Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Writing by David Lawder and John Revill, Editing by Rod Nickel and Matthew Lewis)

Donald Trump

Switzerland Wins Tariff Rate Cut To 15%, Pledges $200 Billion In U.S. Investments

Global Politics

Politics

Switzerland

Tariffs

World

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it halved a requirement that U.S. airlines reduce domestic flights at 40 major airports from 6% to 3% starting Saturday to address air traffic control safety concerns after the end of the government shutdown.
Airlines have been pushing for the FAA to end the required cuts entirely and were largely not in compliance with the FAA order that required the 6% cut on Friday. It remains to be seen if they will be in compliance with the 3% order.
&#8220;The 3% reduction will remain in place while the FAA monitors system performance throughout the weekend and evaluates whether normal operations can resume,&#8221; the FAA said.
Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said airlines canceled just 2% of overall flights Friday, down from 3.5% on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, air traffic controllers and other FAA employees began receiving back pay equal to about 70% of what they are owed excluding overtime.
Airlines have been privately making the case to the FAA that it is time to end the cuts and some said earlier they plan to cut few or no flights on Saturday, officials told Reuters.
The FAA opted on Wednesday to ease those required cancellations after disruptions due to air traffic control absences declined dramatically as Congress voted to reopen the government after a 43-day shutdown. The FAA had initially planned to hike the cuts to 8% on Thursday and 10% on Friday.
Separately, a group of House Democrats led by Representative Rick Larsen, the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, asked the administration on Friday to turn over the specific safety data and how it compares to the last six months.
United Airlines said it had canceled 134 flights for Friday, or almost 3% of its flights, after cancelling 222 flights on Thursday.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown led to them working without pay.
Air traffic absences led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays since October 1, when the 43-day shutdown began.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Nick Zieminski, William Maclean)

Duffy Warns Of Worsening US Flight Delays As Paychecks Run Out

FAA Halves Flight Cuts To 3% After Shutdown Chaos Comes To An End

Air Travel

Congress

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

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UPS and FedEx said on Friday they have grounded their combined fleet of more than 50 McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes following a crash in Louisville, Kentucky this week that killed at least 14 people.
A UPS MD-11 crashed late on Tuesday, erupting into a fireball moments after takeoff from Louisville&#8217;s international airport. The death toll from the crash, the cause of which is still under investigation, has risen to 14, according to a post on X by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg on Friday.
UPS and FedEx, the world&#8217;s largest cargo carriers, said in separate statements that they grounded the aircraft &#8220;out of an abundance of caution.&#8221;
FedEx said it operates 28 MD-11s and, according to a UPS factsheet, UPS had 27 in its fleet prior to the crash.
&#8220;We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer,&#8221; UPS said in its statement.
Boeing, which acquired the MD-11 program through its 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas, said in an emailed statement it recommended that UPS and FedEx suspend flight operations of the MD-11 freighter.
&#8220;This recommendation was made in an abundance of caution and we will continue coordinating with the FAA on this matter,&#8221; a Boeing spokesperson said.
Production of the MD-11 planes ended in 2000, and passenger service officially ended in 2014.
FedEx, which has a total fleet of 700 aircraft, said it was &#8220;immediately implementing contingency plans&#8221; to avoid disruptions. UPS said that its MD-11s account for only 9% of its fleet.
Still, any potential disruptions could have far-reaching consequences as FedEx and UPS are the workhorses for transferring goods around the world for major retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, and Target, as well as for manufacturers and businesses.
UPS is the No. 1 air cargo service provider for the U.S. Postal Service, transporting Priority and other speedy mail products.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading the probe into the crash of the 34-year-old MD-11 freighter at the Louisville airport. The plane reached about 100 feet (30.5 meters) above ground level before plunging in flames off the runway and destroying two nearby businesses.
One of the plane&#8217;s three engines detached from the left wing as it rolled down the Louisville airport runway.
On Friday, U.S. safety investigators said that as a warning bell sounded in the cockpit, three UPS pilots had tried to wrestle control of the plane just before it crashed.
While UPS flight 2976 began uneventfully, a repeating bell was heard on the aircraft&#8217;s cockpit voice recorder just 37 seconds after the crew called for takeoff thrust, NTSB member Todd Inman told reporters.
NTSB anticipates issuing a preliminary investigation report into the crash in about 30 days.
The last UPS cargo plane to crash was in August 2013, when an Airbus aircraft went down on a landing approach to the international airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing both crew members.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru and Joe Brock in Los Angeles; Editing by William Mallard, Thomas Derpinghaus and Himani Sarkar)

UPS Plane

UPS And FedEx Ground MD-11 Fleets After Deadly Louisville Crash

FedEx

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U.S. airlines and travelers slogged through a second day of flight cuts across the country on Saturday as the government shutdown was expected to drive more cancellations in the days to come.
The Federal Aviation Administration instructed airlines to cut 4% of flights on Saturday at 40 major airports because of the shutdown. The cuts will rise to 6% on Tuesday and then to 10% by November 14.
The cuts, which began at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT) on Friday, include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers &#8211; American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.
Airlines will cut fewer flights on Saturday than Friday because of lower overall volume. United will cut 168 flights, down from 184 Friday, while Southwest will cancel just under 100 flights, down from 120.
During the record 39-day government shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay, leading to increased absenteeism. Many air traffic controllers were notified on Thursday that they would receive no compensation for a second pay period next week.
The Trump administration has ramped up pressure on Congressional Democrats to agree to a Republican plan to fund the federal government, which would allow it to reopen.
Raising the specter of dramatic air-travel disruptions is one such effort. Democrats contend Republicans are to blame for the shutdown because they refuse to negotiate over extending health insurance subsidies.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said it was possible that he could require 20% cuts in air traffic if things get worse and more controllers do not show up for work.
&#8220;I assess the data,&#8221; Duffy said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to make decisions based on what we see in the airspace.&#8221;
Separate from the cancellations, absences of air traffic controllers on Friday forced the FAA to delay hundreds of flights at 10 airports including Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and Newark. More than 5,600 flights were delayed Friday.
Earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said 20% to 40% of controllers were not showing up for work on any given day.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

U.S. Hit With Second Day Of Flight Cuts As Shutdown Drags On

The U.S. is investigating meatpacking companies, the attorney general said on Friday, after President Donald Trump accused the companies of using price manipulation and collusion to drive up beef prices.
The probe shows the Trump administration is seeking to tackle high food prices that have outpaced inflation. The Department of Justice is already probing whether egg producers conspired to inflate the price of eggs.
Beef prices set records in 2025 after a years-long drought burned up pasture lands and hiked feeding costs for cattle, forcing ranchers to slash the nation&#8217;s herd to the smallest level in nearly 75 years. Consumer demand has remained generally strong despite high prices.
&#8220;I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation,&#8221; Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without naming companies.
Ranchers have long complained about consolidation in the packing industry, where Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Company slaughter about 80% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that are made into steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat.
Cargill declined to comment. Spokespeople for the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
&#8220;This entire industry is highly concentrated and well beyond the level that&#8217;s normally considered a harm to the economy,&#8221; said Bill Bullard, CEO of cattle producers&#8217; group R-CALF USA.
JBS USA is owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, while Brazil&#8217;s Marfrig Global Foods SA holds a controlling stake in National Beef Packing Company.
The administration of former President Joe Biden also blamed meatpacking companies for rising food prices.
Tyson, Cargill and JBS have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits accusing the companies of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply. They have denied wrongdoing.
The DOJ has already begun an investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who leads the DOJ&#8217;s antitrust division, are working together on the probe, Bondi said.
The antitrust division has both civil and criminal investigative authority, and can issue subpoenas for documents and witness testimony in its investigations into suspected anticompetitive conduct.
Slater, a former economic adviser to Vice President JD Vance, has said the DOJ&#8217;s antitrust division will focus on &#8220;pocketbook issues&#8221; facing consumers, such as food, housing and transportation.
Bipartisan calls for antitrust enforcement in the packing industry have mounted in recent years.
At a hearing in June, Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, and Cory Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, called for antitrust enforcement in the sector.
&#8220;We need transparency, accountability, and a fair market that rewards those who actually raise and produce our beef — not the corporate middlemen gaming the system,&#8221; Rollins said in a post on X.
Trump recently angered ranchers by urging them to lower cattle prices and suggesting the country could increase low-tariff imports of Argentine beef to lower U.S. beef prices. Economists said increased imports from Argentina would not meaningfully reduce grocery store prices for U.S. consumers.
In August, Trump implemented a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods that has slowed imports of a major source of beef that was mixed with U.S. hamburger meat, further tightening supplies.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Bhargav Acharya in Toronto, Tom Polansek in Chicago and Jody Godoy in New York; editing by Chris Sanders, Costas Pitas, Rod Nickel)

Beef

Justice Dept Probes Meatpackers Over ‘Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing’ Driving Up Prices

Agriculture

Department of Justice

Executive

Food

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Saturday took aim at Beijing over an increase in &#8220;destabilising actions&#8221; in the South China Sea and committed to support Southeast Asian countries with technology to help them respond jointly to Chinese threats.
On a second day in Kuala Lumpur packed with meetings that included multilateral talks with allies Australia, Japan and the Philippines, Hegseth proposed to ASEAN defence ministers the building of shared maritime domain awareness and said China had shown a lack of respect and threatened their territorial sovereignty.
&#8220;You live it on the threats we all face from China&#8217;s aggression and course of actions in the South China Sea and elsewhere,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;We need to develop our joint capabilities to respond, and this includes being able to monitor maritime conduct and develop the tools that allow us to respond quickly &#8230; ensuring that whoever is on the receiving end of aggression and provocation is then, therefore, by definition, not alone.&#8221;
&#8220;No one can innovate and scale like the United States of America, and we&#8217;re eager to share those capabilities with allies and partners,&#8221; Hegseth added.
Hegseth&#8217;s remarks came a day after the armed forces of Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the U.S. held a drill in the South China Sea, a patrol that a Chinese military spokesperson said &#8220;seriously undermined peace and stability.&#8221;
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea via a line on its maps that overlaps with parts of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
China has deployed an armada of coast guard vessels hundreds of kilometers off its mainland that has repeatedly clashed with vessels of the Philippines and been accused of disrupting energy activities of Malaysia and Vietnam.
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Beijing denies acting aggressively and says its coast guard has operated professionally in defending Chinese territory from incursions.
On Friday, its Defense Minister Dong Jun said it was necessary for China and ASEAN to work together to &#8220;pool Eastern strength&#8221; and safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Hegseth&#8217;s visit to Southeast Asia came soon after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media that he had asked the U.S. military to &#8220;start testing our Nuclear Weapons,&#8221; after a halt for 33 years, a move that appeared to be a message to rival nuclear powers China and Russia.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump meant nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
Asked by reporters what kind of testing Trump was referring to, Hegseth said his department would comment later, adding: &#8220;We have very capable nuclear capabilities, and testing them is only prudent.&#8221;
In addressing the defense ministers&#8217; forum, Hegseth touted Washington&#8217;s peace credentials and said the U.S. was dedicated to building a military &#8220;unmatched in global power,&#8221; while stressing its commitment to allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
He said U.S. dialogue with China was important and the opportunity to talk to his Chinese counterpart on Friday was of value, but warned Beijing&#8217;s actions must be watched closely.
&#8220;We seek peace. We do not seek conflict, but we must ensure that China is not seeking to dominate you or anybody else,&#8221; Hegseth told ASEAN counterparts.
(Reporting by Danial Azhar and Mandy Leong. Writing by Martin Petty. Editing by Mark Potter)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Testifies In Senate Hearing

Hegseth Says U.S. Ready To Share Tools To Help Allies Counter ‘Aggressive’ China

Communist China

Nuclear Weapons

Pete Hegseth

GENEVA (Reuters) -Hurricane Melissa was expected to bring catastrophe as it makes landfall in Jamaica with storm surges, flash floods and landslides in the worst storm to hit the Caribbean island this century, a U.N. weather official said on Tuesday.
The Category 5 storm, the strongest possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale, will bring wind gusts of over 186 miles per hour and widespread devastation to the island, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations.
&#8220;It’s a catastrophic situation expected in Jamaica,&#8221; the World Meteorological Organization&#8217;s tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan told a Geneva press briefing. &#8220;For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure.&#8221;
Storm surges of up to four meters were expected, she said, with rainfall set to exceed 70 cm (2.3 ft), causing &#8220;catastrophic flash flooding and landslides,&#8221; she said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the storm to hit Jamaica early on Tuesday, and then cross eastern Cuba to move over the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos by Wednesday.
STORM INTENSIFIED ON APPROACH
Melissa&#8217;s slow movement over unusually tepid Caribbean water had contributed to its ballooning size and strength, NHC forecasters said, threatening Jamaica with days of never-before-seen catastrophic winds and rain.
The International Federation of the Red Cross said up to 1.5 million in Jamaica were expected to be directly affected by the storm.
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&#8220;Today will be very difficult for tens of thousands, if not millions of people in Jamaica,&#8221; IFRC&#8217;s Necephor Mghendi said via video link from Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.
&#8220;Roofs will be tested, flood waters will rise, isolation will become a harsh reality for many.&#8221;
To enable swift relief distribution, essential items — tarpaulins, hygiene kits, blankets and safe drinking water — had been pre-positioned in Red Cross branches on the island, he said, with over 800 shelters set up for evacuees.
&#8216;A DIRE SITUATION UNFOLDING IN SLOW MOTION&#8217;
On Monday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal.
He warned of damage to farmlands, homes and infrastructure on the island, which is roughly the size of Connecticut and whose main airports sit close to sea level.
&#8220;There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,&#8221; he said.
Holness said his government was as prepared as can be, with an emergency response budget of $33 million and insurance and credit provisions for damage a little larger than that sustained from last year&#8217;s devastating Hurricane Beryl.
Beryl was the earliest and fastest Atlantic hurricane on record to reach Category 5, but scientists warn that storms are becoming stronger faster as a result of climate change warming ocean waters.
&#8220;Slow-moving major hurricanes often go down in history as some of the deadliest and most destructive storms on record,&#8221; said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter. &#8220;This is a dire situation unfolding in slow motion.&#8221;
&#8216;WE CAN&#8217;T MOVE&#8217;
Damian Anderson, a teacher from Hagley Gap, a town nestled in Jamaica&#8217;s Blue Mountains, said on Monday impassable roads had already cut off his community.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t move,&#8221; Anderson, 47, said. &#8220;We&#8217;re scared. We&#8217;ve never seen a multi-day event like this before.&#8221;
Nearby Haiti and the Dominican Republic have faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities said.
“Melissa will continue to track towards South Cuba and then the Bahamas, bringing again, a lot of rain and destructive wind as well as storm surges,” said the WMO&#8217;s Fontan.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis ordered evacuations for people in the southern and eastern parts of the archipelago.
In Cuba, authorities said they had evacuated upwards of 500,000 people from areas vulnerable to winds and flooding.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, Zahra Burton in Kingston, Dave Sherwood in Havana and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; editing by Kirsti Knolle, Ros Russell and Bernadette Baum)

Hurricane Melissa approaches, in Jamaica

STORM OF THE CENTURY: Hurricane Melissa Set To Slam Jamaica With Record-Breaking Power

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KINGSTON/HAVANA — Hurricane Melissa began lashing Jamaica with violent gusts on Monday as the U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded it to a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 165 mph, the largest on record to slam into the Caribbean island.
Cuba, the eastern Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos also lie in the expected path of the storm, which will make its way north and east towards Bermuda later this week.
The hurricane is expected to stay well offshore of the United States, bringing only rough surf and minor coastal flooding to the U.S. East Coast.
On Monday at midday (1600 GMT), Melissa was still 145 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 330 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, according to the NHC in Miami.
The hurricane was creeping west at just 3 mph, the center said, but would likely make a north-northeastward turn through Jamaica late on Monday and into Tuesday.
The storm&#8217;s slow movement over unusually tepid Caribbean water had contributed to its ballooning size and strength, the center&#8217;s forecasters said, threatening Jamaica with days of never-before-seen catastrophic winds and as much as 3 feet of rain.
&#8220;This will result in extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities,&#8221; the NHC said.
Nearby Haiti and the Dominican Republic have already faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities in those island nations said.
Damian Anderson, a teacher from Hagley Gap, a town nestled in Jamaica&#8217;s soaring Blue Mountains, said impassable roads had already cut off his community.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t move,&#8221; Anderson, 47, said. &#8220;We&#8217;re scared. We&#8217;ve never seen a multi-day event like this before.&#8221;
Jamaica has seen many large hurricanes in the past, including Category 4 Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, but a direct hit from a Category 5 would be unprecedented, said Evan Thompson, of Jamaica&#8217;s Meteorological Service.
Category 5 is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph.
Much of the eastern half of Cuba also battened down ahead of the storm&#8217;s expected landfall late on Tuesday.
Cuban authorities said they had evacuated upwards of 500,000 people living in coastal and mountainous areas vulnerable to heavy winds and flooding.
More than 250,000 people were brought to shelters around Santiago de Cuba, the island&#8217;s second-largest city, which lies square in the crosshairs of the hurricane&#8217;s predicted path.
On Monday, authorities cancelled schools, buses, and trains until further notice across eastern Cuba ahead of the storm&#8217;s arrival.
The hurricane was not expected to directly impact the capital of Havana.
(Reporting by Zahra Burton in Kingston and Dave Sherwood in Havana; writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Nia Williams)

Hurricane Melissa Begins to Pummel Jamaica As ‘Catastrophic’ Category 5 Storm Ahead Of Landfall

Category 5

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Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump&#8217;s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1. Bessent also said he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licensing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered.
Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings.
Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.
&#8220;I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,&#8221; Bessent told reporters after he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person discussions since May.
Bessent said he anticipates that a tariff truce with China will be extended beyond its November 10 expiration date, and that China will revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans after buying none in September while favoring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.
U.S. soybean farmers &#8220;will feel very good about what&#8217;s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years&#8221; once the deal&#8217;s terms are announced, Bessent told the ABC program &#8220;This Week.&#8221;
Greer told the &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; program that both sides agreed to pause some punitive actions and found &#8220;a path forward where we can have more access to rare earths from China, we can try to balance out our trade deficit with sales from the United States.&#8221;
China&#8217;s Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a &#8220;preliminary consensus&#8221; and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.
&#8220;The U.S. position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights,&#8221; Li said through an interpreter. &#8220;We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.&#8221;
Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in Thursday&#8217;s face-to-face with Xi in South Korea.
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After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying: &#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to have a deal with China.&#8221;
Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China&#8217;s expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.
China controls more than 90% of the world&#8217;s supply of the materials, which are essential for high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. The export controls and Trump&#8217;s threatened retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce under which China and the U.S. reduced tariffs that had quickly escalated to triple-digit rates on each side.
The U.S. and Chinese officials said that, in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the U.S. fentanyl crisis, U.S. port entrance fees and the transfer of TikTok to U.S. ownership control.
Bessent told NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; program that the two sides have to iron out details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to &#8220;consummate the transaction&#8221; in South Korea.
On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve agreed to meet. We&#8217;re going to meet them later in China, and we&#8217;re going to meet in the U.S., in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,&#8221; Trump said.
Among Trump&#8217;s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans, concerns around democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
The detention of the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has become the most high-profile example of China&#8217;s crackdown on rights in Hong Kong.
Trump also said he will seek China&#8217;s help in U.S. dealings with Moscow, as Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine grinds on.
Tensions between the world&#8217;s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the United States and China from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.
China&#8217;s expanded controls of rare earths exports have caused a global shortage. That has prompted the United States to consider a block on software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok and David Lawder; Writing by David Lawder, Mei Mei Chu, Yukun Zhang and John Mair; Editing by Tom Hogue, Will Dunham, Ros Russell and Edmund Klamann)

U.S. And China Sketch Out Rare Earths, Tariff Pause For Trump And Xi To Consider

Free Trade

Xi Jinping

Ukraine&#8217;s President Volodymyr Zelensky called for new strong sanctions against Russia and its allies after Russian drones killed three and injured 31, including six children, in an overnight air attack on Kyiv.
The attack destroyed two high-rise apartment buildings and Kyiv&#8217;s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app that seven of the injured, including two children, were taken to city hospitals.
Debris from destroyed Russian air weapons fell onto a nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv&#8217;s leafy Desnianskyi district, sparking a fire that engulfed several storeys, the mayor said.
&#8220;Every Russian strike is an attempt to inflict as much damage as possible on ordinary life,&#8221; Zelensky said on Telegram.
&#8220;Of course, additional tariff and sanctions restrictions are needed against Russia and all those helping it stay afloat,&#8221; he said.
Ukraine&#8217;s state emergency service said 13 people were rescued from the building&#8217;s upper floors.
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Kyiv and its surrounding region were under air-raid alerts for about 1-1/2 hours before the air force called them off at around 0030 GMT.
Ukrainian military officials said on Telegram that Russia had launched 101 drones on Ukraine overnight, 90 of which were downed.
Zelensky said Russia has used nearly 1,200 attack drones, more than 1,360 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles of different types against Ukraine over the past seven days.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes on each other&#8217;s territory. But thousands, mostly Ukrainians, have been killed in the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Ukraine

Russian Attack On Kyiv Kills 3, Injures 31, Including 3 Children

Kyiv

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Volodymyr Zelensky

U.S. airports reported more than 20 incidents of air traffic controller shortages on Saturday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, in the latest sign of the government shutdown&#8217;s impact.
Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work even if they are not being paid during the shutdown, which started on October 1 as lawmakers deadlocked over the federal budget.
The Trump administration has warned that flight disruptions will increase as controllers miss their first full paycheck on Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday had 22 &#8220;triggers&#8221; that indicated shortages of air traffic controllers, Duffy told Fox News&#8217; &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; program. He called that figure &#8220;one of the highest that we&#8217;ve seen in the system&#8221; since October 1.
&#8220;That&#8217;s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin,&#8221; Duffy said.
The state of air safety has been closely watched for signs of an increase in delays or cancellations, as observers look for anything that shows the shutdown is making life harder for Americans, which in turn could pressure lawmakers to break the deadlock.
According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, there were more than 5,300 U.S. flight delays on Saturday and more than 2,500 by 12 p.m. ET on Sunday. Delays have often been above average since the shutdown began.
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With no end in sight for the federal shutdown, Duffy predicted more traffic controller shortages that would lead to more flight delays and cancellations over the next few days.
The FAA said air traffic control staffing issues had already been reported on Sunday for Chicago and Newark flights. The agency issued a ground stop at Los Angeles International Airport due to traffic controller staffing shortages at around 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT).
By noon ET on Sunday, the agency had recorded shortfalls in air traffic controllers at six U.S. airports.
Air traffic controllers received a paycheck two weeks ago at 90% of their regular pay. But Tuesday&#8217;s payday would have been for their first pay period solely for work in October.
Controllers facing the prospect of missing a federal paycheck are looking for other sources of income, Duffy said.
&#8220;They&#8217;re taking second jobs, they&#8217;re out there looking,&#8221; he said.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending wait times at some airport check points. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington.
Duffy and other Republicans have criticized Democrats for opposing a &#8220;clean&#8221; short-term funding bill with no strings attached.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and David Shepardson; Editing by Sergio Non and Nia Williams)

US-AVIATION-FAA-TRAVEL

Concerning Air Traffic Controller Shortage Emerging, Transportation Secretary Says

Airplane

Sean Duffy

The United States signed a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian partners on Sunday, looking to address trade imbalances and diversify supply chains amid tighter export curbs on rare earths by China.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in Kuala Lumpur to attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, signed reciprocal trade deals with his Malaysian and Cambodian counterparts, as well as a framework trade pact with Thailand that will see the countries work to address tariff and non-tariff barriers.
The United States would maintain a tariff rate of 19% on exports from all three countries under the deals, with the levy to be reduced to zero for some goods, according to joint statements released by the White House.
Washington also announced a similar framework deal with Vietnam, which has been levied with a tariff rate of 20% on its exports to the United States.
Vietnam, which recorded a trade surplus of $123 billion with the United States last year, has pledged to vastly boost its purchases of U.S. products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries.
Trump on Sunday inked two separate U.S. deals with Thailand and Malaysia seeking cooperation to diversify critical minerals supply chains, amid competing efforts from Beijing in the rapidly growing sector.
Reuters reported exclusively this month that China was in talks with Kuala Lumpur on rare earths processing, with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional expected to partner with a Chinese firm to build a refinery in Malaysia.
China, the world&#8217;s top miner and processor of rare earths, has imposed increasingly stringent export controls on its refining technology, sending global manufacturers scrambling to secure alternative supplies for critical minerals used widely in semiconductor chips, electric vehicles and military equipment.
Malaysia agreed on Sunday to refrain from banning or imposing quotas on exports to the U.S. of critical minerals or rare earth elements, the countries said in a statement.
The statement however did not specify whether Malaysia&#8217;s pledge applied to raw or processed rare earths.
Malaysia, which has an estimated 16.1 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, has banned the export of raw rare earths to prevent the loss of resources as it looks to develop its downstream sector.
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The agreements were inked after Trump oversaw the signing of an enhanced ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, following deadly border clashes between the neighbours earlier this year.
Under the deals, the four Southeast Asian countries pledged to remove trade barriers and provide preferential market access to various U.S. goods.
The deals also include commitments in digital trade, services and investments as well as promises by the Southeast Asian countries to protect labour rights and strengthen environmental protections.
Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam further agreed to accept vehicles built to U.S. motor vehicle safety and emissions standards, according to the statements.
Malaysia, a majority Muslim country recognized as a global leader in halal certification, agreed to streamline requirements for U.S. products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Its trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told reporters that Malaysia had also secured tariff exemptions for aerospace equipment and pharmaceutical products as well as commodities such as palm oil, cacao and rubber.
Thailand said it would eliminate tariff barriers on approximately 99% of goods, and relax foreign ownership restrictions for U.S. investment in its telecommunications sector, both countries said in a statement.
They also took note of several forthcoming commercial deals between Thai and U.S. companies, including the purchases of agriculture products such as feed corn and soybean meal worth an estimated $2.6 billion per year.
Thailand has also committed to purchases of 80 U.S. aircraft totalling $18.8 billion and energy goods including liquefied natural gas and crude oil of around $5.4 billion annually, the statement said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Danial Azhar, Orathai Sriring, Khanh Vu and Mikhail Flores; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; editing by David Stanway and Mark Heinrich)

Trump Signs Slew Of Trade, Critical Minerals Deals On Southeast Asia Tour

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