US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping capped a state visit to Washington on Friday with pomp and pageantry but no real breakthroughs. Trump said he discussed the Iran war with Xi during his two-day visit, with both men confirming they will meet twice more before the end of the year.     

The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled the Trump administration can use a controversial new federal database that would ostensibly verify voter citizenship in November’s elections. Critics argue the administration is exaggerating the threat of non-citizen voters – an extreme rarity in US elections – to implement policies that would disenfranchise likely Democratic voters.

President Donald Trump rolled out an unusually lavish welcome for Chinese President Xi Jinping, praising their personal friendship throughout a White House state dinner and other ceremonial events. While both leaders said they held frank discussions behind closed doors, the visit produced no major breakthroughs, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers who argued the pageantry overshadowed pressing issues including Iran, Taiwan, AI and trade.

Argentina’s poverty rate rose to 32.3% in the first half of 2026 from 28.2% in the previous six months, official data showed on Thursday, as incomes lagged rising prices. Extreme poverty climbed to 7.5% from 6.3%. Among children aged 14 and under, 44.5% were poor.

It is for the United States to choose whether to end its war in Iran as Tehran does not wish to continue fighting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday. Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN Wednesday, for which he travelled to New York, telling the world that Iran would not "bend at the knee" to Washington Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.