Top economic officials from the United States and China convened in Kuala Lumpur on October 25, 2025, for crucial trade talks. The discussions aim to prevent an escalation of the ongoing trade war and pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week at the APEC summit in South Korea.
New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty to federal bank fraud and false statements charges in a Virginia court. The charges stem from a 2020 mortgage for a Norfolk home, which prosecutors allege she misrepresented as a secondary residence. James claims the indictment is political retribution, with a trial set for January 26, 2026.
The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his wife, son, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti. The sanctions, announced on October 24, 2025, accuse Petro of allowing drug cartels to flourish and significantly increasing cocaine production, leading to an unprecedented escalation in tensions between Washington and Bogotá.
An ongoing U.S. government shutdown, now in its 24th day, jeopardizes food assistance for over 40 million Americans, including SNAP and WIC recipients. At least 25 states are preparing to suspend benefits starting November 1, prompting states to seek emergency measures and advocates to urge the use of federal contingency funds.
President Donald Trump has terminated all trade negotiations with Canada, citing a Canadian television advertisement that used former President Ronald Reagan's words to criticize U.S. tariffs. Trump labeled the ad 'fake' and 'egregious behavior,' accusing Canada of attempting to influence U.S. court decisions.
President Donald Trump has canceled plans to deploy federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area, following conversations with Mayor Daniel Lurie and prominent Silicon Valley executives like Marc Benioff and Jensen Huang. The decision comes amidst local opposition to the proposed immigration enforcement and crime crackdown.
Former President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. The pardon, announced on October 23, 2025, follows Zhao's four-month prison sentence and has sparked debate regarding its implications for the crypto industry and U.S. financial regulations.
President Donald Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon for Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Zhao had previously pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and served a four-month prison sentence. The White House justified the pardon by citing a 'war on cryptocurrency' by the previous administration.
Protests erupted in New York City's Chinatown on October 21, 2025, after ICE conducted raids on Canal Street targeting vendors of counterfeit goods. The operation, involving multiple federal agencies, led to several arrests and clashes between agents and demonstrators, drawing widespread condemnation from local officials.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, on October 22, 2025. The move, targeting their subsidiaries as well, aims to pressure Moscow into a ceasefire in Ukraine, citing President Putin's lack of commitment to peace and renewed Russian attacks. Oil prices surged following the announcement.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced the deployment of the California National Guard and the allocation of up to $80 million in state funds to bolster food banks. This action comes in response to anticipated delays in SNAP benefits, affecting approximately 5.5 million Californians, due to an ongoing federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025.
President Donald Trump has publicly refuted a Wall Street Journal report claiming his administration approved Ukraine's use of long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia. Trump labeled the story 'fake news' on Truth Social, asserting the U.S. has 'nothing to do with those missiles' or their deployment, following a report detailing alleged policy shifts regarding Western-supplied weaponry like Storm Shadow missiles.
A North Dakota judge has upheld the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, ruling that the law does not violate the state's constitution. The decision, issued by District Judge Jackson J. Lofgren, allows the prohibition on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for transgender youth to remain in effect.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a new record close of 46,924.74 on October 21, 2025, gaining 218.16 points or 0.5%. The milestone was driven by robust corporate earnings from industrial giants like 3M and Coca-Cola, signaling strong investor confidence in blue-chip stocks, despite a mixed broader market performance.
Warner Bros. Discovery is reviewing 'strategic alternatives,' including a possible sale of the entire company or its divisions, following unsolicited interest from multiple parties. This comes as the media giant had previously planned to split into two separate entities by mid-2026.
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered web browser designed to offer a more personalized and intelligent browsing experience. Released on October 21, 2025, Atlas aims to compete directly with Google Chrome by integrating advanced ChatGPT features for task automation, contextual assistance, and memory, initially available on macOS.
Demolition work has commenced on a section of the White House East Wing to facilitate the construction of President Donald Trump's new 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The project, estimated at $250 million and privately funded, is proceeding despite lacking formal construction approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
A divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled on October 20, 2025, that the Trump administration can deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. The decision overturned a lower court's block on federalizing the Guard, though a separate order preventing deployment remained in effect.
A widespread Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage on October 20 caused significant disruption to popular global applications including Snapchat, WhatsApp, Signal, and Zoom. The incident, primarily affecting the US-EAST-1 region, stemmed from a DNS resolution failure impacting DynamoDB and network load balancers, leading to a 15-hour service interruption for millions of users.
President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a Critical Minerals Framework at the White House on October 20, 2025. The deal aims to secure supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths, with an $8.5 billion project pipeline and significant investments to reduce reliance on adversaries.
