作者： root

Ebola outbreak in Congo kills dozens, may be hitting hundreds more, Africa’s CDC says

May 15, 2026 / 5:31 AM EDT / AP / CBS News

Kinshasa, Congo— Africa CDC, the continent’s top public health body, on Friday confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far.

The deaths and suspected cases have been recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare but severe, and often fatal.

“Four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, pending confirmation,” the agency said, referring to the capital of Ituri province, near the border with Uganda.

It said preliminary laboratory results have detected the Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.

A health worker sprays disinfectant on a colleague after working at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, in September 2018. AP Photo / Al-hadji Kudra Maliro

The latest outbreak comes around five months after Congo’s last Ebola outbreak was declared after 43 deaths.

Ituri is in a remote eastern part of Congo characterized by poor road networks and is more than 620 miles from the nation’s capital of Kinshasa.

Africa CDC said it’s concerned about the risk of further spread due to intense population movement, mining-related mobility in Mongwalu, insecurity in affected areas, gaps in contact listing and control challenges.

blob:https://www.cbsnews.com/d43a453f-9ff0-43d9-9afc-55b342979f4f

The proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan also raises concerns, it said.

The agency said it is convening an urgent high-level coordination meeting Friday with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, together with key partners including U.N. agencies and other countries.

“The meeting will focus on immediate response priorities, cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory support, infection prevention and control, risk communication, safe and dignified burials, and resource mobilization,” it said.

This is the 17th outbreak in Congo since the disease first emerged in the country in 1976. An Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people.

An earlier outbreak that swept across West Africa from 2014 to 2016 also killed more than 11,000 people.

The new outbreak will create more worry for the Central African country, which has been battling various armed groups in the east, including the M23 rebel group, which launched a rapid assault in January last year and has since occupied key cities.

Ituri in particular is also battling violence from the Allied Democratic Force, an ISIS-linked militant group which has killed dozens there and in other parts of the east.

Congo, Africa’s second-largest country by land area, often faces logistical challenges in responding to disease outbreaks. During last year’s outbreak, which lasted three months, the World Health Organization initially faced significant challenges in delivering vaccines due to limited access and scarce funds

What are prediction markets and why is the Trump administration on ​board?

2026-05-15T10:00:51.300Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/15/politics/prediction-markets-kalshi-polymarket-gambling-explained

A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

Billions of dollars are changing hands each week on prediction markets, sites whose popularity is exploding and that allow users to trade on real-world events like sports, politics and pop culture.

If it sounds like gambling, most US states say it is and are in the middle of a legal showdown with the federal government over how to regulate the industry. The Trump administration largely backs these companies at the same time the Trump family is hoping to cash in with its own stake in the industry.

And the potential for manipulation is clear. A special operations soldier was charged with allegedly using classified information to make over $400,000 on a series of well-timed bets, including that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would be out of power shortly before he was nabbed from Caracas by US special forces.

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I talked to CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen, who covers prediction markets, about how they work and what could happen to them in the future.

Our conversation, edited for length, is below.

What are these prediction markets, and how do they work?

COHEN: Prediction markets give you a chance to bet on almost anything, in the sense that markets will go up, typically around a yes-or-no question. Will something happen by X date? Will Trump say X, Y or Z? Will this person win an election? Will the Lakers win their game tonight? When will Taylor Swift’s next album come out? Anything.

The market is structured as an “event contract” where you take a position, yes or no, and you put your money behind it. If something has a 25% chance of happening, you can buy a share of “yes” for 25 cents, and get paid out the full $1 if you’re right. (Minus some fees.) You make money if you bet correctly; you lose your money if you were wrong.

COHEN:To most people, yeah, it seems pretty similar. But there is a colossal legal showdown right now between the federal government and the states over that exact question.

The federal government and companies like Kalshi and others argue that this is not gambling. They say these are financial markets. They say they are trading in something called a derivative swap. And that it serves the public interest to let people hedge risk through a market.

For the record, CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and we use Kalshi’s data to cover major political and cultural events. CNN employees are prohibited from using prediction markets.

Supporters argue that the purpose of these financial markets is rooted in the commodity trading that has existed for a very long time in this country, that farmers have used to hedge their risk for a bad crop season, corn futures, soybean futures, etc.

Technically and legally speaking, prediction markets are set up in the same way.

That’s the official line, from the Trump administration and the industry.

More than forty states — think about that: forty states! A massive coalition of some of the most liberal progressive states, like Oregon, Washington and California; and then more purple states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio and Iowa; all the way to serious conservative bastions like Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi — have filed briefs in court saying this is gambling.

I’m an Eagles fan. If you want to pull up the same Eagles/Cowboys game on DraftKings, but you’re in a state where it’s illegal because they don’t allow sports betting, you can just switch over to Kalshi and trade on that game on a prediction market. It’s pretty indistinguishable for the end user. That’s the position of the casino industry, obviously. That’s the position of 40 states, too. And it’s being litigated in court right now.

COHEN:Under Biden, the CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission) did try to ban prediction markets on sports and on elections, which are a very large chunk of the business.

The Biden administration’s argument was that with sports this is just straight-up sports betting, and already banned by federal regulations; the election stuff poses risks to the integrity of our democratic system; and that it just does not fall into the definition of what derivative swaps are meant to be.

Their argument was, essentially, the ability to hedge risk (like farmers with a bad corn season) is in the public interest. However, the number of LeBron James rebounds is not important to the national economy.

The Biden administration was promulgating a rule in 2024 that did not get across the finish line before the election. The Trump administration withdrew that proposed rule and has now gone on offense to protect these companies by suing the states that are trying to regulate them.

COHEN: There is an apparent financial conflict of interest here that has been flagged by ethics watchdogs and good government groups. I’ll explain why, but let me say upfront that there is no evidence at this point, publicly available, of anything improper that’s been going on to effectuate that conflict of interest.

Here’s the possible conflict number one: One of Donald Trump’s biggest sources of revenue right now is his social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group. And they have announced plans, in addition to Truth Social, that they want to launch Truth Predict. It’s not clear from the company’s latest public statements if this would be a new prediction-market exchange, or just a licensing deal with another company.

Secondly, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is a paid adviser to Kalshi. He is also an investor in Polymarket.

The better that these companies do, the better Donald Trump Jr. will do. And so there is overlap there, although I should note Donald Trump Jr. and his spokesman have told us many times that, number one, he doesn’t bet on prediction markets. And number two, he hasn’t interacted with any government officials on behalf of these companies as well.

COHEN:The companies argue that there is no house. That’s what differentiates them from casinos. In a casino you’re betting against the house – they make money when you lose, and sometimes they turn away big winners. But on prediction markets, it’s closer to trading on a financial market and Kalshi doesn’t make money if you win or lose. They just take fees off the volume. They say that they want you to win in ways that casinos don’t.

What’s the difference between Kalshi and Polymarket?

COHEN:These are the two juggernauts in the industry right now. But Kalshi and Polymarket are very different.

Sitting here today, Kalshi is approved by the CFTC to operate in the US and offer prediction markets. It was approved in 2020 under the first Trump administration, and the Biden administration didn’t try to take it away. Because they are CFTC-regulated, they have to follow federal law, which is why, if you go to Kalshi’s website right now, you will not find markets on which country Iran is going to strike next, or if the US is going to send ground troops to Iran. Federal law prohibits derivative markets or event contracts about wars and Kalshi insists that because they are registered in the US, they follow US law.

Polymarket is Kalshi’s biggest rival. Polymarket is also approved to operate in the US. The Trump administration cleared the way last year by doing two things:

Number one, they ended a criminal investigation into Polymarket that began under Biden. And then the CFTC approved Polymarket to offer exchanges and markets in the US last year.

However, Polymarket’s US website was invite-only for months, and they only opened it up to everyone this week. That means everything that went viral on Polymarket until this point — the Maduro bets, the Iran bets, all the possible insider trading that we’ve been buzzing about for months — that was all happening on Polymarket’s offshore site. Kalshi executives often note that Polymarket is incorporated in Panama, which is not known for having aggressive insider trading laws.

Technically, Americans are not allowed to use that offshore site.

COHEN: Most people, especially the young people that love these markets, they know how to use a VPN (virtual private network). If you can get through the geofencing, then you’re good to go. And that’s exactly what the special forces soldier who was accused of that Maduro trade allegedly did.

COHEN:The head of the CFTC — which is one of the lead investigative bodies for insider trading on these platforms — Mike Selig, he was appointed by the president last year and confirmed in December. He had his first public hearing since taking over a couple weeks ago and Democrats grilled him:

Would you go after insider trading if it was a Republican?

Would you go after insider trading if it was a member of the Trump family, like Don Jr., or if it was someone in the White House?

Selig said, at least at his hearing, there would be zero tolerance. We are cracking down. Please be patient. It takes time, but we are cracking down. And then one week later, we saw this first arrest.

COHEN: Many experts would say no. I’ve spoken to lawmakers and former officials; even the inspector general for the CFTC has said that this is a challenge. The agency right now is at the smallest size that it has ever been since Dodd-Frank, the banking and Wall Street reform law that beefed up the agency after the financial meltdown of the late 2000s.

COHEN: CFTC shrank by 25% last year, largely because of resignations and retirements. And the chairman — I interviewed him recently — he said that he is trying to fill some of those vacancies that were created by the DRP (deferred resignation plan, which offered eight months of pay for federal employees to voluntarily resign). There were also layoffs that one former CFTC official told me were “not exactly logical.” It is kind of wild that Selig is trying to fill positions that were vacated by DOGE. But he also insists that they are bringing in AI in ways that the last administration never did, so they can do more with less.

COHEN: You’re not gonna hear me advocate for insider trading. But some thought leaders have made that argument. The CEO of Polymarket has leaned into that previously, that it’s kind of cool that insiders will go to his platform and divulge information to the public. There’s a more libertarian-leaning school of thought with these prediction markets that corruption and graft is always going to exist, but this does it in a way that surfaces the information to the public.

Polymarket has moved a little bit away from that position. They announced some new safeguards last month to further restrict insider activity. The role of insiders is debated, but insider trading is a crime. If you have a duty of confidentiality to keep certain information secret and then you trade on it, that’s a crime.

But there’s also a lot of stuff where you don’t have a duty of confidentiality, and then you can trade. We reported recently about Kalshi suspending three politicians who were betting on their own campaigns.

That violates Kalshi’s rules, which prevent someone who has the ability to change an outcome from betting on the outcome. If you’re a candidate, you could bet that you’re going to drop out, and then drop out.

Is that illegal? The legal experts I spoke to said, if you’re the candidate, if you’re running for Congress, who do you have a duty of confidentiality toward? Yourself? It’s a legal gray area and probably wouldn’t be prosecuted.

That kind of reminds me of the Enhanced Games: It may be both wrong and honest

COHEN:That sounds incredibly dangerous, but people could argue it’s more honest than what Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds did.

But if Maduro woke up in the middle of the night when US forces were hovering over his compound in a helicopter and said, Oh my god, I’m about to get captured— and in those five minutes before they busted in, he pulled out his phone and bet all his money on Polymarket that he would be out as leader of Venezuela by the end of that month — that would be completely legal because it would be based off public observation, not private information. That would be completely legal. But troops on that helicopter couldn’t make the same bet because they had been sworn to keep the classified operation private.

Is there discussion about federal regulation, or is it ultimately going to be a court battle between the CFTC and states?

COHEN: The CFTC is currently in the process of writing new federal rules. But many people now are just assuming this issue is going to go to the Supreme Court probably next year or so.

In the meantime, lawmakers are starting to wake up, mostly Democrats, but some Republicans. There are some Republican and bipartisan bills in both the House and the Senate that would rein in this industry, whether any of those get the support of leadership and start getting attached to bills that are actually going to pass is TBD. But we’re starting to see lawmakers on both sides want to crack down. Not every bill is the same. Some of the bills would ban all sports bets from these platforms. Some of the bills would ban election-related bets. Some of the bills would stiffen the penalties for insider trading. Other bills would prohibit government officials and the executive branch and Congress from betting on markets about government actions or elections where they’re involved.

These aren’t just press releases coming from liberal Democrats who hate the administration. There are folks like Sen. John Curtis from Utah and Sen. Todd Young from Indiana — serious conservatives who have a problem with some of what’s going on. They’ve teamed up with Democrats to at least take that first step and announce legislation.

伊朗战争恐耗尽五角大楼运营资金

2026年5月15日 16:49 / 联合早报

五角大楼正在探讨节省开支的方法，包括推迟部队的训练和减少飞行员的飞行时数。 （路透社）

（华盛顿综合电）美国五角大楼说，除非国会通过新的战时开支法案，否则他们今年夏天可能面临运营资金耗尽的困境。此外，由于伊朗战争和美墨边境的军队部署，各军种将不得不削减训练演习和其他优先事项。

《华尔街日报》报道，美国海军司令考德尔本周告诉众议院拨款国防小组委员会成员，他必须在7月前后开始做出一些决策，调整训练、作战行动及认证评估等方面的工作。

美国官员说，美军上下正在探讨节省开支的方法，包括推迟部队的训练和减少飞行员的飞行时数。

美国代理审计长赫斯特星期二（5月12日）告诉国会，五角大楼至今已经花费约290亿美元（约370亿新元）在伊朗的战事，而且作战开支增加很快，不到两周内就增加约40亿美元。

这一估计除了作战开支，还有弹药支出及受损或被毁的飞机，不过，这不包括美国在中东各地基地的设施损坏。

面对议员们的追问，五角大楼官员没有给出何时提交补充拨款申请的细节。五角大楼3月向白宫提交一份2000亿美元的战争补充拨款方案，但不清楚白宫为何没有将这转交给国会。议员们曾经批评这项拨款申请的款额太大。

国防小组委员会资深成员、明尼苏达州民主党众议员麦科勒姆说，委员会最迟必须在6月11日之前收到拨款申请，到时也将审查五角大楼2027财年的1.5万亿美元的预算开支。

美国与伊朗4月中旬在巴基斯坦的和平谈判破裂，至今仍未取得进展。图为伊朗首都德黑兰街头反美海报。 （路透社）

伊朗媒体报道，美国正式拒绝伊朗提出的14点谈判方案。

《德黑兰时报》星期五（5月15日）报道这一消息，并指此举再次凸显美方的强硬立场，尤其在核问题方面。

报道说，德黑兰的提案包括两个阶段谈判，第一阶段要求在所有战线上停止战争；如果伊方条件得到满足，则将开始第二阶段涉及核问题的谈判。

伊朗战争恐耗尽五角大楼运营资金

2026年5月15日 16:49 / 联合早报

五角大楼正在探讨节省开支的方法，包括推迟部队的训练和减少飞行员的飞行时数。 （路透社）

（华盛顿综合电）美国五角大楼说，除非国会通过新的战时开支法案，否则他们今年夏天可能面临运营资金耗尽的困境。此外，由于伊朗战争和美墨边境的军队部署，各军种将不得不削减训练演习和其他优先事项。

《华尔街日报》报道，美国海军司令考德尔本周告诉众议院拨款国防小组委员会成员，他必须在7月前后开始做出一些决策，调整训练、作战行动及认证评估等方面的工作。

美国官员说，美军上下正在探讨节省开支的方法，包括推迟部队的训练和减少飞行员的飞行时数。

美国代理审计长赫斯特星期二（5月12日）告诉国会，五角大楼至今已经花费约290亿美元（约370亿新元）在伊朗的战事，而且作战开支增加很快，不到两周内就增加约40亿美元。

这一估计除了作战开支，还有弹药支出及受损或被毁的飞机，不过，这不包括美国在中东各地基地的设施损坏。

面对议员们的追问，五角大楼官员没有给出何时提交补充拨款申请的细节。五角大楼3月向白宫提交一份2000亿美元的战争补充拨款方案，但不清楚白宫为何没有将这转交给国会。议员们曾经批评这项拨款申请的款额太大。

国防小组委员会资深成员、明尼苏达州民主党众议员麦科勒姆说，委员会最迟必须在6月11日之前收到拨款申请，到时也将审查五角大楼2027财年的1.5万亿美元的预算开支。

No English content available

Trump leaves China, short on deliverables but with signs of a stabilized relationship

2026-05-15T08:55:07.410Z / CNN

By Betsy Klein, Simone McCarthy, Kristen Holmes

Updated 2 hr ago
Updated May 15, 2026, 5:03 AM ET
PUBLISHED May 15, 2026, 4:55 AM ET

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting during their visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, on Friday, May 15.

Evan Vucci/Reuters

Beijing—

President Donald Trump departed Beijing Friday afternoon local time without any immediate sign that the US and China have resolved thorny challenges dogging their fractious relationship, but with a freshly stabilized relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – for now.

The leaders covered a range of issues from Iran and Taiwan to trade, during two days that included intensive bilateral meetings. But there were also grand displays of soft diplomacy, marking the first Beijing meeting for the longtime rivals in nearly a decade.

Since Trump’s last visit in 2017, he has reimagined Washington’s role in the world, while Xi has tightened his grip on authority domestically and spurred China’s high-tech transformation.

“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle, and the relationship is a very strong one,” Trump said at the start of bilateral discussions Friday, offering no concrete details on the problems in question.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/15/politics/takeaways-trump-china-visit-xi-intl-hnk

President Trump arrives in Beijing for summit with Chinese President Xi

2:42 • Source: CNN

President Trump arrives in Beijing for summit with Chinese President Xi

2:42

Given how bad relations have been in recent years, the fact both leaders came away speaking of each other in warm terms and agreeing on the importance of their ties is evidence of a shift to stabilization at a time when a jittery world is desperately seeking geopolitical calm.

The US-Israeli war with Iran loomed over the whirlwind summit. There were questions of what, if any, behind-the-scenes support Xi might be willing to extend to help bring an end to the months-long conflict, which has thrown the global economy into turmoil without a clear endgame.

Details of the sweeping trade deals Trump promised ahead of the trip remain unclear, with big pronouncements from the president and some top officials, but any substantive announcements still absent and unconfirmed by China.

And amid concerns from experts and analysts that Xi was walking into the meeting with the upper hand, the Chinese leader offered his own flex on the issue of Taiwan.

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Trump and Xi at Zhongnanhai Garden on Friday

CCTV

But the visit also provided an opportunity to reset the tone of the fractious US-China relationship, Xi rolling out a literal and figurative red carpet that charmed and delighted his guest, a warm connection on display.

“I think it will go down as a very important moment in history. And maybe more than anything else, a great moment of respect,” Trump reflected during an interview with Fox News.

Iran war loomed over visit

Ahead of talks, expectations were high that the American president could push his Chinese counterpart to help resolve the Iran conflict.

China is a close diplomatic partner of Iran and the top purchaser of its oil – and has framed itself as proponent of peace throughout the war. The topic was part of the more than two hours of discussions between the two leaders Thursday, but Trump departed without a clear sign from Beijing that it’s willing to press Tehran to work with US demands.

Instead, comments from both sides so far suggest the summit hasn’t moved the needle.

Trump told Fox News that Xi offered to help resolve the conflict and pledged not to provide Iran with military equipment. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a separate interview with NBC News Thursday, said the US did not ask for China’s help resolving the conflict.

A readout released by the White House also said the two countries agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

It also said Xi “made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use,” and suggested China would buy more oil from the US.

A US-China energy deal may be in the works, one that sees Beijing – which imports large quantities of Iranian oil – purchase more US supplies. But whether the Trump-Xi talks will have any bearing on the conflict remains unclear, as Beijing appeared to largely have reiterated its existing position.

China has already repeatedly pledged to do what it can to facilitate peace negotiations. Xi last month called for the Strait of Hormuz to “maintain normal passage.” As a policy, China says it does not supply weapons to countries in conflict.

Beijing supports Iran’s stated commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, though it backs the country’s right to a peaceful nuclear program.

China also leaned into its own framing of the war in a statement released by its Foreign Ministry Friday morning, saying that it “should have never happened.” It also implied consistency in its message, adding China’s position was “very clear.”

Trump, meanwhile, seemed to accept limits to the pressure Beijing is likely to put on Iran.

“Look, he’s not coming in with guns … not coming in shooting,” he told Fox News when asked if Xi would influence the Iranians. “He’s been very good.”

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Pool

Taiwan friction, and a warning

For his part, Xi used the opportunity of having Trump in his home court to give an explicit warning on Taiwan – an issue Xi called the “most important” in US-China relations.

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability,” Xi said during his Thursday-morning meeting with Trump, according to a Chinese readout. “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

The language – which appears as unusually direct, though in step with Beijing’s expected rhetoric – stands out in tone from China’s otherwise upbeat assessment of the new era of “strategic stability” between the two countries touted by Xi.

That’s sure to be a deliberate choice to make one thing clear: Beijing wants to have a positive relationship, but only if the US can respect what China sees as its “red line” on Taiwan.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-ruling democracy as its own territory and has vowed to “reunify” with the island, by force if necessary. It has long decried the US’ robust unofficial relationship with Taipei and its arms sales to the island.

Despite concern from some observers that Xi would try to maneuver Trump to shift US positioning on Taiwan – or Trump would use the island as a bargaining chip – Rubio said America’s position on the issue is “unchanged.”

Speaking to NBC, the diplomat said the issue was raised and the two sides stated their positions, and then “moved on to the other topics.”

“We always respond by saying anything that would compel or force a change in what we have now would be problematic” he said. He added that the topic of arms sales “did not feature prominently” in discussions.

Trade and economic deals give Trump a win at home

Trump is returning to the White House with some economic wins that have, so far, proven short on substance in the absence of any formal announcements or confirmation from China.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the administration expects China to agree to buy “double-digit billion” worth of agricultural products from the US every year over the next three years, as a result of Trump’s trip.

However, on individual agricultural goods, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent indicated there would be no more purchases of soybeans during an interview with CNBC, stressing they were taken care of under October’s sales agreement with China.

Greer told Bloomberg News that China had also “reupped” the license for American beef exports. Over the past year, export permission for more than 400 US beef plants expired. Greer did not specify the number of licenses renewed.

President Trump also announced that his Chinese counterpart agreed to purchase 200 Boeing jets. Boeing’s CEO was part of the US delegation to China.

China has yet to confirm specific deals mentioned by the Trump team. In a readout, Beijing called for the countries to “expand exchanges and cooperation” in areas including the economy and trade, health, agriculture and tourism.

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Trump and Xi shaking hands in Beijing on Friday

CCTV

Pomp, circumstance, and a diplomatic odd couple

Trump, a former reality TV star, is keenly aware of optics and appreciates stagecraft as both a host in Washington and a guest abroad.

Xi understood his assignment.

He dispatched his vice president, Han Zheng, to meet Trump as he arrived in Beijing Wednesday evening local time. Han is widely seen as Xi’s envoy for diplomatic events and attended Trump’s 2025 inauguration, his presence this week signaling the importance with which China viewed Trump’s visit.

Asked if that moment was meaningful to him, Trump told Fox News he viewed it as a sign of respect.

“If I got out of a plane and nobody was there to greet me, I would say that wouldn’t be so cool because it’s really respect for our country. Our country is respected,” he said.

On Thursday, Trump was treated to a more elaborate welcome ceremony outside China’s Great Hall of the People, including military bands, a troop inspection, and a throng of schoolchildren waving flags and flowers. The US president appeared visibly delighted.

US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping inspect a guard of honor during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

“We were treated very well,” Trump reflected later that day.

The president also offered rare deference to his counterpart, exerting uncharacteristic restraint, for example, during a walk with Xi around the Temple of Heaven as reporters from the US press pool tried to pepper him with questions. Trump, who is often keen to engage, offered a brief pleasantry, ignoring shouted questions on Taiwan.

He also sipped from a champagne flute during a toast at a state banquet, the teetotaler extending a meaningful gesture to his host.

Ahead of a bilateral meeting at the Zhongnanhai complex on Friday, Xi guided his guest on a tour of his gardens and offered sweeping historical references conveying subtle meaning.

Few world leaders get to see the inside of the Chinese Communist Party’s secretive leadership compound, which used to be the imperial gardens. Xi made sure to note that he had invited Trump there as a way to reciprocate his own visit to Mar-a-Lago.

Taken together, China’s meticulous stagecraft had its intended effect of projecting stability onto the US-China relationship.

Throughout the visit, Trump expressed admiration for Xi and the way he conducts himself.

“He’s not going to respond too much – he’s a pretty cool guy. He’s not going to say, ‘That’s a good point,’” Trump said of Xi.

He added: “There’s no games, there’s no talking about how nice the weather is, let’s look at the stars, let’s look at the sun. No, he’s all – he’s all business, and I like that. That’s a good thing. No games.”

CNN’s John Liu in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

特朗普：罗斯福提供资金建立习近平母校清华大学

2026年5月15日 16:27 / 联合早报

美国总统特朗普星期四（5月14日）在中国国家主席习近平为他举行的国宴上致辞时回顾两国交往历史，称美国前总统罗斯福应中国驻美大使请求提供资金，建立了习近平的母校清华大学。 （路透社）

美国总统特朗普在中国国家主席习近平为他举行的国宴上致辞时回顾两国交往历史，称美国前总统罗斯福应中国驻美大使请求提供资金，建立了习近平的母校清华大学。

习近平星期四（5月14日）晚在人民大会堂金色大厅为特朗普举行欢迎宴会。特朗普在致辞时，回顾了从美国建国初期至今的中美关系历史，并称两国人民长期以来彼此尊重、相互欣赏。

据美国之音发布的致辞全文，特朗普提到，美国开国元勋富兰克林曾在他创办的殖民地报纸上刊登孔子的箴言，直到今天，孔子的雕像仍被镌刻在美国最高法院的建筑立面上；仰慕美国前总统华盛顿的中国人士曾赠送一块石碑，以纪念他，并用于装饰华盛顿纪念碑。

特朗普说：“几个世纪以来，这种相互敬重逐渐发展成为一种体现两国人民巨大才能与潜力的关系。中国工人帮助铺设了连接美国大西洋海岸与太平洋海岸的铁路。前往中国的美国人士则帮助传播识字教育和现代医学。而应中国驻美大使的请求，罗斯福总统提供资金，建立了习近平主席的母校清华大学。”

特朗普还提到，正如如今许多中国人喜爱篮球和牛仔裤一样，如今美国的中餐馆数量已经超过美国五大快餐连锁店的总和，“这可是相当惊人的数字”。

据清华大学官网介绍，清华大学的前身清华学堂始建于1911年，本是用美国退还的部分“庚子赔款”办的一所留美预备学校。

清华大学是习近平的母校。1975年至1979年，他在清华大学化工系基本有机合成专业学习。1979年，习近平从清华大学毕业后，进入中共中央军委办公厅担任时任国防部长的秘书。

2021年4月，在清华大学建校110周年校庆日来临之际，习近平曾到清华大学考察。他当时在师生代表座谈会上说，“清华大学诞生于国家和民族危难之际，成长于国家和民族奋进之中，发展于国家和民族振兴之时”。

How will Jerome Powell be remembered as he exits as Fed chair? Experts weigh in.

May 15, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / MoneyWatch / CBS News

After steering the Federal Reserve through a series of major economic shocks, from the pandemic to the highest inflation in 40 years, Jerome Powell will leave a legacy defined by managing crisis and an unwavering defense of the central bank’s historical independence.

As Powell steps down on Friday after eight years as Fed chair, more than a dozen economists interviewed by CBS News credited his measured, pragmatic leadership for helping guide the economy through a turbulent period.

Powell’s tenure may be best remembered for his commitment to the Fed’s independence as he faced legal threats and intense pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates.

“His enduring legacy will be that he protected the Fed’s independence at a time of unprecedented challenges,” said David Wessel, senior fellow in economic studies at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and the author of “In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic.”

Powell’s leadership assured “the American people that there was an adult of integrity in charge of the world’s most powerful economic institution,” Wessel added.

Under Powell’s leadership, the Fed performed “an admirable job of managing monetary policy through a tumultuous period, more or less achieving its dual mandate,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said.

But, he added, “Powell’s most significant achievement has come at the end of his tenure as chair, in his yeoman efforts to maintain the Fed’s independence.”

Powell will hand the chairmanship to Mr. Trump’s hand-picked successor, former Fed official Kevin Warsh. In an unusual step for a former Fed chair, Powell will remain as a Federal Reserve governor. His reason for staying on, Powell said in an April 29 press conference, is that the Fed remains “at risk” from legal challenges by the Trump administration. “The institution is being battered over these things,” he said.

Trump factor: From praise to withering criticism

When Mr. Trump nominated Powell to succeed Janet Yellen as Fed chair in February 2018, the president praised the former U.S. Treasury undersecretary as having “the wisdom and leadership to guide our economy.”

But Mr. Trump soon soured on Powell’s leadership after the Fed began hiking its benchmark interest rate in 2018 to prevent the economy from overheating. That tonal shift foreshadowed the president’s sharper attacks on Powell during his second term, when Mr. Trump would repeatedly denigrate the Fed official, calling him a “numbskull” and a “complete moron,” among other insults.

The 2020 pandemic would overshadow those concerns, as the U.S. plunged into a brief — but historically steep — recession during which unemployment soared to almost 15%. In March of that year, Powell oversaw two emergency meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which cut the benchmark rate to close to zero, helping stabilize the labor market during the crisis.

“Powell kept the economy resilient throughout the pandemic and, in combination with robust fiscal policy through COVID-era stimulus legislation, supported workers when they needed it most,” said Liz Pancotti, managing director of policy and advocacy at Groundworks, a progressive think tank.

Powell’s biggest misstep

The initial economic hit from the pandemic mutated into another critical challenge for Powell’s leadership — the fiercest inflation since the early 1980s. The surge in consumer prices would go on to wreak havoc on millions of Americans, change the political landscape and eventually mark what multiple economists described as Powell’s biggest mistake as Fed chair.

As prices were lifting off in 2021, Powell initially described the bout of inflation as “transitory,” viewing it as the result of temporary factors, such as snarled global supply chains, rather than deeper structural forces that typically drive price shocks, such as labor shortages or low borrowing rates.

Reluctant to tighten monetary policy and curb economic growth, Fed officials held off on raising interest rates until March 2022, when the Consumer Price Index had already soared to an annual rate of 8.5%.

That delay would prove a missed — and costly — opportunity for Powell, economists told CBS News.

“His record on inflation is very mixed, given that we’ve been overshooting the target for the last several consecutive years,” said Wall Street analyst Adam Crisafulli, head of investment research firm Vital Knowledge. “A series of macro shocks beyond the control of the Fed played a big role in driving inflation higher — COVID, COVID-era fiscal policy — Ukraine/Iran wars, tariffs — but history doesn’t tend to focus much on such nuance.

Powell’s hesitation in pushing for higher rates reflects the Fed’s emphasis on the employment side of its dual mandate, said Tim Duy, chief economist at SGH Macro Advisors. The mandate requires the central bank to balance stable prices with maximum employment.

Over the past five years, however, the Fed has struggled to achieve both goals simultaneously, Duy said.

“Inflation has remained above target for more than five years, while unemployment has stayed low for most of that period,” he said.

An improbably soft landing

With inflation in 2022 at a 40-year high and the labor market still suffering, economists grew increasingly concerned that the U.S. would tumble into a recession.

But Powell and other Fed officials engineered a so-called “soft landing,” in which the central bank raised interest rates high enough to tame inflation without causing a spike in unemployment. Given the Fed’s history of inadvertently triggering a recession by boosting borrowing costs too quickly, it was a significant accomplishment, economists said.

Rather than facing a painful slump, the economy continued to grow, the jobless rate declined to a 50-year low and inflation ebbed.

“Navigating the COVID-driven inflation shock without triggering a recession and maintaining — if not enhancing — the Fed’s inflation-fighting credibility is, in my view, Powell’s greatest success,” said Michael Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.

Despite the soft landing, U.S. inflation has yet to return to the Fed’s annual 2% target — a goal that Powell in his final press conference emphasized remains a central focus.

Trump 2.0

Powell, who was reappointed as Fed chair by President Joe Biden in 2022, faced more supply shocks during President Trump’s second term. The Trump administration’s wide-ranging tariffs raised concerns about their potential impact on inflation and broader economic growth.

Then the Iran war caused oil prices to soar, leading to the highest inflation rate in almost three years. The Consumer Price Index in April reached an annual rate of 3.8%, the highest since May 2023.

“Powell’s leadership of the FOMC will likely be remembered as pragmatic, disciplined and unusually adaptive during one of the most volatile macroeconomic periods in decades,” said Greg Daco, chief economist of EY-Parthenon. “That flexibility ultimately helped the Fed navigate extraordinary uncertainty while preserving its credibility and reinforcing the importance of institutional independence.

While dealing with these macroeconomic challenges, Powell has also contended with unprecedented attacks on the Fed’s independence from the Trump administration. Mr. Trump has called Powell a “lousy” Fed chair, criticized him for failing to cut interest rates and launched a series of legal attacks.

In January, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Powell over the Federal Reserve’s building renovations. Powell called the probe a pretext to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates, in accordance with Mr. Trump’s wishes.

While the Justice Department has since dropped the probe, Powell said last month that he would remain a Fed governor. In that role, he will serve as one of 12 voting members of the FOMC. And given his standing as a former Fed chair, Powell is likely to remain an influential voice on monetary policy issues, economists told CBS News.

“Powell’s ultimate story isn’t yet known,” Crisafulli said. “If he preserves monetary independence, that will be the opening line of his obituary — not the, at best, mixed track record of inflation during his tenure.”

AI加剧美国大学“成绩通胀” 应届求职绩点含金量下降

2026年5月15日 17:07 / 联合早报

成绩通胀问题在大学校园中已存在多年，如今AI风靡，评估学生作业质量变得更加困难，应届毕业生求职时的成绩指标含金量也不如从前。 （路透社）

成绩通胀问题在大学校园中已存在多年，如今AI风靡，评估学生作业质量变得更加困难，应届毕业生求职时的成绩指标含金量也不如从前。 （路透社）

（华盛顿讯）新研究表明，自从有了人工智能（AI）技术，大学生更容易获得A等成绩，但也让成绩对雇主来说变得不那么有参考价值。

美国《华尔街日报》报道，根据加州大学伯克利分校星期三（5月13日）发布的一篇论文，生成式AI机器人ChatGPT问世后，在以写作和编程等易受AI影响的大学课程中，A等成绩的比率增长幅度远超其他课程。

教授涉及AI课程的教师，给出的A等成绩增加约30%，A-和B+等成绩则有所减少。

论文作者奇里科夫指出，研究结果表明，学生依赖生成式AI是想在学业上取得更好的成绩，但不说明这些学生学到了更多知识；拿到A等，说明学生更能接触到先进科技，或更擅长使用这类技术，但不能衡量学生基础能力。

成绩通胀在大学校园中已存在多年，但AI使得评估学生作业质量变得更加困难，应届毕业生求职时的成绩指标含金量也不如从前。如今美国就业市场降温，雇主为了缩小应聘者筛选范围，纷纷提高入职门槛和平均绩点（GPA）要求。

在面向应届毕业生的求职网站Handshake上，很少有职位招聘要求应聘者提交GPA。不过，在有此要求的职位中，今年近20%岗位要求GPA达到3.5或更高，而2020年的占比仅有9%。

一些顶尖大学也开始担忧成绩通胀问题。耶鲁大学4月的一份报告直言：“成绩是为了传达学生学到什么。在耶鲁，正如许多同类院校一样，成绩已不再具备这一功能。”