🌎 Tariff Truce

US and China reach long-awaited trade deal

Maybe we should start hosting all trade talks in Geneva. Yesterday, the US and China unexpectedly agreed to substantially reduce tariffs on each other for 90 days, defusing the trade war between the two countries and providing solace to businesses worldwide.

Tariff Truce

Investors and exporters took a sigh of relief Monday morning after the trade war that threatened to raise US inflation and upend the Chinese economy came to a pause.

The temporary truce between the world’s two largest economies includes both sides lowering their tariffs by 115%, while retaining a 10% additional tariff, according to the White House (see official report).

• The US will reduce its tariff on China to 30% during the pause, while China will cut its tariffs to 10%.

• The 30% rate imposed by the US is due to China’s alleged role in the fentanyl crisis sweeping the US, which was a hot topic in the weekend’s talks.

According to a joint statement released by both nations (see here), the US and China will continue to hold talks during the 90-day pause with the goal of reaching a broader agreement later on. The deal will go into effect on Wednesday.

This is just the first step: US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said that both parties are seeking a “a long-lasting and durable trade deal,” signaling that difficult negotiations are still on the horizon.

Bring on the bull market

Markets rallied yesterday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up 3% and S&P 500 futures not far behind, showing investors newly found optimism amid the surprise agreement.

• The US Dollar Index surged over 1% despite recent declines due to economic uncertainty.

• The US 10-year yield rose to 4.457%, its highest since the post-tariff turmoil rattled markets last month.

While future meetings are yet to be planned, investors can still celebrate the joint statement, which highlights “the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship,” indicating each side’s determination for a broader agreement.

Looking ahead: With tariffs on hold, companies that delayed purchases may rush to restock, pushing analysts to warn against a potential demand shock.

India and Pakistan tensions calm after US-led ceasefire

As tensions lower, the death toll rises. India and Pakistan agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire on Saturday, marking a major de-escalation in their conflict. While some violations occurred on Sunday, the truce holds steady as of writing.

A deadly clash

With guns finally silent after days of conflict, India and Pakistan both declared victory following their worst standoff in 50 years. As the fragile truce takes hold, the full scope of the damage will take weeks to finalize.

• Through most of last week, both sides exchanged gunfire, artillery strikes, and aerial attacks.

• The ceasefire ended four straight days of air fighting. The clash began on May 7 and is believed to have been one of the largest dogfights since World War II.

How did this begin? Violence between India and Pakistan intensified following a deadly terrorist attack on April 22 in the resort town of Pahalgam, where four gunmen killed 26 people, primarily Indian tourists (see previous article). India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which it swiftly denied.

Climbing consequences

On Sunday, the head of India’s military operations claimed its air strikes killed over 100 Pakistani militants earlier this week, while a Pakistan official said its army killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (see map).

• Civilian casualties mounted as artillery shelling increased along the border, but the total death toll remains uncertain.

Looking ahead: In his first public comments since the ceasefire, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country “will be monitoring every step of Pakistan,” and it will “retaliate on its own terms” if there is a future attack.

Your Netflix homepage is about to look a lot different

The last thing Netflix needs is short-form video content. Last week, Netflix announced its homepage is getting a makeover, marking the streaming giant’s biggest aesthetic change in over 12 years… and it’s coming sooner than you think.

Big changes

In an effort to streamline your browsing experience, Netflix $NFLX ( ▼ 0.24% ) is taking cues from other streaming platforms and social media apps and integrating them into its own platform.

Starting on Monday, TV viewers will see a redesigned homepage that will focus on fewer titles at a time, presenting each with a short video preview that automatically plays, similar to YouTube. But that’s not all:

• The platform is rolling out a faster recommendation algorithm that reacts instantly to your latest searches so the app feels more personalized and fluid, much like TikTok’s dynamic feed.

• Nearly half of Netflix’s users log in without a viewing plan, and Netflix’s redesign is meant to help them find something faster, per Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim.

Don’t forget about the phones: Coming soon to mobile devices, Netflix will unveil a vertical, TikTok-like feed showcasing bite-sized content previews, along with a beta chatbot powered by OpenAI to help guide users to shows and films they might enjoy.

Help Us Keep NextGen News Running

Learn something new today? If you find value in what we do and enjoy getting non-biased, fact-based, independent reporting, it would mean the world if you would consider supporting us.

We don’t have deep-pocketed sponsors or shadowy billionaires funding us (unlike other media outlets). Instead, we rely on readers like you to keep the lights on and the news flowing into your inbox.

Support us! If you’d like to keep independent media alive, please consider donating to our Ko-Fi below, even $1 is greatly appreciated.

P.S. All you have to do is click this image right here 👇

iPhone app transactions just got a lot easier

Say goodbye to a 30% fee. Last week, a judge ordered Apple to stop charging a 27% fee to developers who bypass the App Store’s payment system, leaving iOS developers scrambling to update their apps.

What’s changed?

Thanks to a recent court decision, services that once dodged in-app purchases can now drop links straight into their platforms, making it way easier for US users to pay without going in circles.

Some platforms have made big changes already, since they don’t have to worry about going against Apple’s terms of service:

• Kindle added a new “Get Book” feature that lets users jump straight from the app to Amazon’s 1-Click checkout, making impulse buys smoother than ever.

• Patreon has introduced external payment links and says its creators likely won’t need to switch to Apple’s in-app system by November—a shift that could’ve forced them to raise prices by 30%.

• Spotify started showing subscription pricing within its app and now includes direct links to its website, including a promotion for a three-month free trial.

According to estimates by Morgan Stanley, Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 1.38% ) made $11 billion from US app commissions last year alone, and could stand to lose as much as $2 billion after the ruling.

Looking ahead: Now that the tech giant is required to allow apps to collect payments directly, without taking commission, other countries are likely to follow suit, as many of the regulators that pressed Apple came from outside the US.

The UAE is getting its own Disney theme park

I’m sensing some irony here. Disney announced last week it plans to build its seventh theme park location in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in collaboration with entertainment company Miral.

A new entertainment hub

Around one-third of the world’s population lives within a four-hour flight of the UAE, and roughly 120 million people fly to or through the country annually, making it the ideal spot to place a bunch of your favorite characters.

• The new resort will be built on Yas Island, a 9.7-square-mile entertainment hub that drew 38 million visitors last year.

• Yas Island is already home to attractions like SeaWorld and Warner Bros. World, with a Harry Potter-themed park on the way.

Considering Disney’s latest earnings call, the park should be another cash cow for the company. Disney’s US parks saw a 13% bump in operating profits last quarter, and the company plans to pour $60 billion into its parks and cruise experiences worldwide by 2033.

Passive income

While the location will bear Disney’s widely recognized name and brand—and mark the company’s first location in the Middle East—it won’t be doing much else:

• Miral will be handling the park’s construction and day-to-day operations once it’s built. In fact, Disney won’t even own the park.

• Disney will simply provide creative oversight and help Miral run operations behind the scenes.

So what does Disney stand to gain? The company isn’t investing a cent into the project, but when the park opens, the entertainment behemoth will get royalties until it’s demolished. Currently, there is no finish date, but it is presumed to take around seven years to develop and build.

FAST FACTS
Catch up on this week’s weird news

Divine Dollars: Online prediction markets saw over $40 million wagered on the papal election. Most bettors were blindsided when Cardinal Prevost was elected, given less than a 1% chance. However, one lucky soul turned $526 into $52,000, a true miracle payout.

Paper, Please! Fans of The Office, get ready… NBC is rolling out The Paper, a new spinoff set in the same universe that documents a failing local newsroom. They should’ve just put a camera in my house and called it good.

Pony Payment: Junior Alvarado, the jockey for Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, was fined over $60,000 for repeatedly striking the horse with his riding crop during the race.

Cancer Catcher: In a big step forward for women’s health, the FDA has greenlit the first at-home cervical cancer screening, thanks to a startup called Teal Health.

Privacy Payment: Google agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle data privacy allegations, almost a year after the state was awarded $1.4 billion from Meta, after the company misused Texans’ biometric data.