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China said Monday it “firmly rejects” US claims that it had violated a sweeping tariffs deal, as tensions between the two economic superpowers showed signs of ratcheting back up.Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva.But top Washington officials last week accused China of violating the deal, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying Beijing was “slow-rolling” the agreement in comments to “Fox News Sunday”.China hit back Monday, saying Washington “has made bogus charges and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts”. “China firmly rejects these unreasonable accusations,” its commerce ministry said in a statement.US President Donald Trump said last week that China had “totally violated” the deal, without providing details.Beijing’s commerce ministry said it “has been firm in safeguarding its rights and interests, and sincere in implementing the consensus”.It fired back that Washington “has successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against China” since the Geneva talks.The ministry cited export controls on artificial intelligence chips, curbs on the sale of chip design software and the revocation of Chinese student visas in the United States.”We urge the US to meet China halfway, immediately correct its wrongful actions, and jointly uphold the consensus from the Geneva trade talks,” the ministry said.If not, “China will continue to resolutely take strong measures to uphold its legitimate rights and interests,” it added.- Trump-Xi talks? -US officials have said they are frustrated by what they see as Chinese foot-dragging on approving export licences for rare earths and other elements needed to make cars and chips.But Washington’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent looked to ease the pressure on Sunday, saying the two sides could arrange a call between their respective heads of state to resolve their differences.”I’m confident… this will be ironed out” in a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Bessent said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”.He added, however, that China was “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release”, including rare earths.On when a Trump-Xi call could take place, Bessent said: “I believe we will see something very soon.”China has been less forthcoming, and the commerce ministry’s statement on Monday did not mention any planned conversations between the two leaders.The Geneva deal was “an important consensus reached by the two sides on the principle of mutual respect and equality, and its results were hard-won”, the ministry said.It warned Washington against “going its own way and continuing to harm China’s interests”.Global stocks finished mixed on Friday after Trump made his social media post accusing Beijing.The Hong Kong stock exchange was down around 2 percent shortly after opening on Monday.

They’ve lost count of how many times they’ve been arrested, but even with a combined age of 180 years, American couple Joseph and Joyce Ellwanger are far from hanging up their activist boots.The pair, who joined the US civil rights rallies in the 1960s, hope protesting will again pay off against Donald Trump, whose right-wing agenda has pushed the limits of presidential power.”Inaction and silence do not bring about change,” 92-year-old Joseph, who uses a walker, told AFP at a rally near Milwaukee in late April.He was among a few hundred people protesting the FBI’s arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, who is accused of helping an undocumented man in her court evade migration authorities. By his side — as always — was Joyce, 88, carrying a sign reading “Hands Off Hannah.”They are certain that protesting does make a difference, despite some Americans feeling despondent about opposing Trump in his second term. “The struggle for justice has always had so much pushback and difficulty that it almost always appeared as though we’ll never win,” Joseph said.”How did slavery end? How did Jim Crow end? How did women get the right to vote? It was the resilience and determination of people who would not give up,” he added.”Change does happen.”The couple, who have been married for more than 60 years, can certainly speak from experience when it comes to protesting. Joseph took part in strategy meetings with Martin Luther King Jr — the only white religious leader to do so — after he became pastor of an all-Black church in Alabama at the age of 25. He also joined King in the five-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, which historians consider a pivotal moment in the US civil rights movement.Joyce, meanwhile, was jailed for 50 days after she rallied against the US military training of soldiers from El Salvador in the 1980s. Other causes taken up by the couple included opposing the Iraq war in the early 2000s.”You do what you have to do. You don’t let them stop you just because they put up a blockade. You go around it,” Joyce told AFP.- ‘We’ll do our part’ -Joseph admitted he would like to slow down, noting the only time he and his wife unplug is on Sunday evening when they do a Zoom call with their three adult children. But Trump has kept them active with his sweeping executive actions — including crackdowns on undocumented migrants and on foreign students protesting at US universities.The threats to younger protesters are particularly concerning for Joyce, who compared those demonstrating today to the students on the streets during the 1960s. “They’ve been very non-violent, and to me, that’s the most important part,” she said.Joyce also acknowledged the couple likely won’t live to see every fight to the end, but insisted they still had a role to play.”We’re standing on the shoulders of people who have built the justice movement and who have brought things forward. So, we’ll do our part,” she said.Joyce added that she and Joseph would be protesting again on June 14 as part of the national “No Kings” rally against Trump.”More people are taking to the streets, we will also be in the street,” she said.

Disney’s family-friendly “Lilo & Stitch,” a live-action remake of the 2002 animated film, won the North American box office for a second week in a row, taking in another $63 million, industry estimates showed Sunday. So far, its worldwide take is at a whopping $610 million, Exhibitor Relations said.Maia Kealoha (as Lilo), Hannah Waddingham, Courtney B. Vance and Zach Galifianakis star, while Chris Sanders again provides the voice of the chaos-creating blue alien Stitch.”Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” — the latest, and ostensibly last, in the hugely successful Tom Cruise spy thriller series based on a 1960s TV show — took second place with $27.3 million in the United States and Canada.The Paramount film has made another $231 million overseas, which should help offset its massive production budget, reportedly at $400 million.Debuting in a disappointing third place was Sony’s “Karate Kid: Legends,” a sequel featuring Ralph Macchio — the star of the original 1984 classic — and action flick icon Jackie Chan, along with Ben Wang in the title role. It made $21 million at the domestic box office and another $26 million overseas.”‘Legends’ is trying to invigorate the story with a new Kid — again — but business is not strong,” said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. In fourth place was Warner Bros. and New Line’s horror film “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” at $10.8 million.And another horror film, “Bring Her Back,” debuted in fifth place with $7.1 million.”This is a very good opening for an original horror movie that cost only $4.5 million to make,” said Gross.Rounding out the top 10 were:”Sinners” ($5.2 million)”Thunderbolts” ($4.8 million)”Friendship” ($2.6 million)”The Last Rodeo” ($2.1 million)”J-Hope Hope on the Stage” – live tour broadcast ($940,000)

Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the 2024 campaign trail.The New York Times reported Friday that the billionaire adviser to President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems.The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January.In a post Saturday on X, Musk said: “To be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off.”He added: “I tried ‘prescription’ ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”Musk first dodged a question about his drug use at a bizarre farewell appearance Friday with Trump in the Oval Office in which the Tesla and SpaceX boss sported a noticeable black eye as he formally ended his role as Trump’s main cost-cutter at DOGE, which fired tens of thousands of civil servants.News of the injury drew substantial attention as it came right after the Times report on his alleged drug use. The daily recalled erratic behavior such as Musk giving an enthusiastic Nazi-style salute in January of this year at a rally celebrating Trump’s inauguration.Musk said he got the injury while horsing around with his young son, named X, when he told the child to hit him in the face.”And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually is…” he added, before tailing off.Later Friday, when a reporter asked Trump if he was aware of Musk’s “regular drug use,” Trump responded: “I wasn’t.” “I think Elon is a fantastic guy,” he added. Musk has previously admitted to taking ketamine, saying he was prescribed it to treat a “negative frame of mind” and suggesting his use of drugs benefited his work.

In a Los Angeles theater, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer’s head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere.This new immersive experience is designed to be a red pill moment that will get film fans off their couches at a time when the movie industry is desperate to bring back audiences. Cosm, which has venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, is launching its dome-style screen and 3D sets in June with a “shared reality” version of “The Matrix,” the cult 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves as a man who suddenly learns his world is a fiction.”We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential,” said Cosm president Jeb Terry at a recent preview screening.”It’s trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats.”Cinema audiences were already dwindling when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, shuttering theaters at a time when streaming was exploding.With ever bigger and better TVs available for the home, the challenge for theater owners is to offer something that movie buffs cannot get in their living room.Prestige projects like Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” or Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” increasingly opt for the huge screens and superior film quality of IMAX.But Cosm and other projects like it want to go one step further, collaborating with designers who have worked with Cirque du Soleil to create an environment in which the viewer feels like they are inside the film.For filmmakers, it’s all about how you place the cameras and where you capture the sound, said Jay Rinsky, founder of Little Cinema, a creative studio specializing in immersive experiences.”We create sets like the Parisian opera, let the movie be the singer, follow the tone, highlight the emotions… through light, through production design, through 3D environments,” he said.The approach, he said, felt particularly well suited to “The Matrix,” which he called “a masterpiece of cinema, but done as a rectangle.”For the uninitiated: Reeves’s Neo is a computer hacker who starts poking around in a life that doesn’t quite seem to fit.A mysterious Laurence Fishburne offers him a blue pill that will leave him where he is, or a red pill that will show him he is a slave whose body is being farmed by AI machines while his conscious lives in a computer simulation.There follows much gunfire, lots of martial arts and some mysticism, along with a romance between Neo and Trinity, played by the leather-clad Carrie-Anne Moss.”The Matrix” in shared reality kicks off with a choice of cocktails — blue or red, of course — which are consumed as the audience sits surrounded by high-definition screens.Shifting perspectives place the viewer inside Neo’s office cubicle, or seemingly in peril.”They’re sometimes inside the character’s head,” said Rinsky. “The world changes as you look up and down for trucks coming at you.”The result impressed those who were at the preview screening.”It just did feel like an experience,” influencer Vince Rossi told AFP. “It felt like you’re at a theme park for a movie almost.”

For Silicon Valley venture capitalists, the world has split into two camps: those with deep enough pockets to invest in artificial intelligence behemoths, and everyone else waiting to see where the AI revolution leads.The generative AI frenzy unleashed by ChatGPT in 2022 has propelled a handful of venture-backed companies to eye-watering valuations. Leading the pack is OpenAI, which raised $40 billion in its latest funding round at a $300 billion valuation — unprecedented largesse in Silicon Valley’s history.Other AI giants are following suit. Anthropic now commands a $61.5 billion valuation, while Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly in talks to raise $20 billion at a $120 billion price tag.The stakes have grown so high that even major venture capital firms — the same ones that helped birth the internet revolution — can no longer compete. Mostly, only the deepest pockets remain in the game: big tech companies, Japan’s SoftBank, and Middle Eastern investment funds betting big on a post-fossil fuel future.”There’s a really clear split between the haves and the have-nots,” says Emily Zheng, senior analyst at PitchBook, told AFP at the Web Summit in Vancouver. “Even though the top-line figures are very high, it’s not necessarily representative of venture overall, because there’s just a few elite startups and a lot of them happen to be AI.”Given Silicon Valley’s confidence that AI represents an era-defining shift, venture capitalists face a crucial challenge: finding viable opportunities in an excruciatingly expensive market that is rife with disruption.Simon Wu of Cathay Innovation sees clear customer demand for AI improvements, even if most spending flows to the biggest players. “AI across the board, if you’re selling a product that makes you more efficient, that’s flying off the shelves,” Wu explained. “People will find money to spend on OpenAI” and the big players.The real challenge, according to Andy McLoughlin, managing partner at San Francisco-based Uncork Capital, is determining “where the opportunities are against the mega platforms.” “If you’re OpenAI or Anthropic, the amount that you can do is huge. So where are the places that those companies cannot play?”Finding that answer isn’t easy. In an industry where large language models behind ChatGPT, Claude and Google’s Gemini seem to have limitless potential, everything moves at breakneck speed.AI giants including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are releasing tools and products at a furious pace. ChatGPT and its rivals now handle search, translation, and coding all within one chatbot — raising doubts among investors about what new ideas could possibly survive the competition.Generative AI has also democratized software development, allowing non-professionals to code new applications from simple prompts. This completely disrupts traditional startup organization models.”Every day I think, what am I going to wake up to today in terms of something that has changed or (was) announced geopolitically or within our world as tech investors,” reflected Christine Tsai, founding partner and CEO at 500 Global.- The ‘moat’ problem -In Silicon Valley parlance, companies are struggling to find a “moat” — that unique feature or breakthrough like Microsoft Windows in the 1990s or Google Search in the 2000s that’s so successful it takes competitors years to catch up, if ever.When it comes to business software, AI is “shaking up the topology of what makes sense and what’s investable,” noted Brett Gibson, managing partner at Initialized Capital.The risks seem particularly acute given that generative AI’s economics remain unproven. Even the biggest players see a very uncertain path to profitability given the massive sums involved.The huge valuations for OpenAI and others are causing “a lot of squinting of the eyes, with people wondering ‘is this really going to replace labor costs'” at the levels needed to justify the investments, Wu observed. Despite AI’s importance, “I think everyone’s starting to see how this might fall short of the magical” even if its early days, he added.Still, only the rare contrarians believe generative AI isn’t here to stay.In five years, “we won’t be talking about AI the same way we’re talking about it now, the same way we don’t talk about mobile or cloud,” predicted McLoughlin. “It’ll become a fabric of how everything gets built.”But who will be building remains an open question.

Google said Saturday it will appeal a ruling against it for anti-competitive practices in online search, a day after urging a US judge to reject the suggestion it spin off its Chrome browser.”We will wait for the Court’s opinion. And we still strongly believe the Court’s original decision was wrong, and look forward to our eventual appeal,” the tech giant wrote on X.Google was found guilty in the summer of 2024 of illegal practices to establish and maintain its monopoly in online search by a federal judge in Washington.The Justice Department is now demanding remedies that could transform the digital landscape: Google’s divestiture from its Chrome browser and a ban on entering exclusivity agreements with smartphone manufacturers to install the search engine by default.It is also asking that the California-based company be forced to share the data used to produce search results on Chrome.The department’s proposal “reserves the right for the government to decide who gets Google users’ data. Not the Court,” Google said Saturday.”While we heard a lot about how the remedies would help various well-funded competitors (w/ repeated references to Bing), we heard very little about how all this helps consumers,” Google added, referring to the Microsoft-owned search engine.The firm has proposed much more limited measures, including giving phone manufacturers the possibility to pre-install its Google Play app store but not Chrome or the search engine.The Friday hearing devoted to arguments marked the end of the trial to determine Google’s penalty. The judge’s decision is expected by August. 

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday warned that China was “credibly preparing” to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia — remarks that earned a sharp rebuke from Beijing.The Pentagon chief was speaking at an annual security forum in Singapore, as the administration of US President Donald Trump spars with Beijing on trade, technology, and influence over strategic corners of the globe.China’s foreign ministry blasted the speech, saying it had “lodged solemn representations with the US side” over Hegseth’s comments and taking particular exception to his remarks about Taiwan.Trump has launched a trade war with China since taking office in January, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies such as the Philippines, which is engaged in escalating territorial disputes with Beijing.”The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, attended by defence officials from around the world.Beijing is “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”, he said.Hegseth warned that the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and “rehearsing for the real deal”.China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held large-scale exercises around the self-governed democratic island that are often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion.The United States was “reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China”, Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defences in the face of mounting threats.In Beijing, the foreign ministry said: “The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and must not play with fire.”- ‘Stirring up trouble’ –Hegseth described China’s conduct as a “wake-up call”, accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyber attacks, harassing its neighbours, and “illegally seizing and militarising lands” in the disputed South China Sea.Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.It has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines in the strategic waters in recent months, with the flashpoint set to dominate discussions at the Singapore forum, according to US officials.As Hegseth spoke in Singapore, China’s military announced that its navy and air force were carrying out routine “combat readiness patrols” around the Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks Beijing disputes with the Philippines.Beijing did not send any top defence ministry officials to the summit, dispatching instead a delegation from the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University led by Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng.Without referring to Hegseth by name, Hu said of his speech that “these actions are essentially about stirring up trouble, creating division, inciting confrontation, and destabilising the Asia-Pacific”.Hegseth’s comments came after Trump stoked new trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had “violated” a deal to de-escalate tariffs as the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.The world’s two biggest economies had agreed to temporarily lower eye-watering tariffs they had imposed on each other, pausing them for 90 days.- ‘Cannot dominate’ -Reassuring US allies on Saturday, Hegseth said the Asia-Pacific region was “America’s priority theatre”, pledging to ensure “China cannot dominate us — or our allies and partners”.He said the United States had stepped up cooperation with allies including the Philippines and Japan, and reiterated Trump’s vow that “China will not invade (Taiwan) on his watch”.However, he called on US partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries and “quickly upgrade their own defences”.”Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,” Hegseth said, citing pledges by NATO members including Germany to move towards Trump’s defence spending target of five percent of GDP.”Deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap.”

US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would double steel and aluminum import tariffs to 50 percent from next week drew ire from the European Union Saturday in the latest salvo in his trade wars aimed at protecting domestic industries.The EU warned it was “prepared” to retaliate against the latest tariffs, adding the sudden move “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution” between the bloc and the United States. “We’re going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America,” Trump said Friday while addressing workers at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania.”Nobody’s going to get around that,” he added in the speech before blue-collar workers in the battleground state that helped deliver his election victory last year.Shortly after, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the elevated rate would also apply to aluminum, with the new tariffs “effective Wednesday, June 4th.”Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike in moves that have rocked the world trade order and roiled financial markets.The tariffs had seen a brief legal setback earlier this week when a court ruled Trump had overstepped his authority, but an appellate court on Thursday said the tariffs could continue while the litigation moves forward.Trump has also issued sector-specific levies that affect goods such as automobiles.On Friday, he defended his trade policies, arguing that tariffs helped protect US industry. He added that the steel facility he was speaking in would not exist if he had not also imposed duties on metals imports during his first administration.- ‘Devil in the details’ -On Friday, Trump touted a planned partnership between US Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel, but offered few new details on a deal that earlier faced bipartisan opposition.He stressed that despite a recently announced planned partnership between the American steelmaker and Nippon Steel, “US Steel will continue to be controlled by the USA.”He added that there would be no layoffs or outsourcing of jobs by the company.Upon returning to Washington late Friday, Trump told reporters he had yet to approve the deal.”I have to approve the final deal with Nippon, and we haven’t seen that final deal yet, but they’ve made a very big commitment,” Trump said.Last week, Trump said that US Steel would remain in America with its headquarters to stay in Pittsburgh, adding that the arrangement with Nippon would create at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 billion to the US economy.Trump in Pennsylvania said that as part of its commitment, Nippon would invest $2.2 billion to boost steel production in the Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant where he was speaking.Another $7 billion would go towards modernizing steel mills, expanding ore mining and building facilities in places including Indiana and Minnesota.A proposed $14.9 billion sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel had previously drawn political opposition from both sides of the aisle. Former president Joe Biden blocked the deal on national security grounds shortly before leaving office.There remain lingering concerns over the new partnership.The United Steelworkers union (USW) which represents thousands of hourly workers at US Steel facilities said after Trump’s speech that it had not participated in discussions involving Nippon Steel and the Trump administration, “nor were we consulted.””We cannot speculate about the meaning of the ‘planned partnership,'” said USW International President David McCall in a statement.”Whatever the deal structure, our primary concern remains with the impact that this merger of US Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members and the communities where we live and work,” McCall said.”The devil is always in the details,” he added.Trump had opposed Nippon Steel’s takeover plan while on the election campaign trail. But since returning to the presidency, he signaled that he would be open to some form of investment after all.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday that China was “credibly preparing” to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, vowing the United States was “here to stay” in the Indo-Pacific region.The Pentagon chief made the remarks at an annual security forum in Singapore as the administration of US President Donald Trump spars with Beijing on trade, technology, and influence over strategic corners of the globe.Since taking office in January, Trump has launched a trade war with China, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies such as the Philippines, which is engaged in escalating territorial disputes with Beijing.”The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue attended by defence officials from around the world.Beijing is “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”, he added.Hegseth warned the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and “rehearsing for the real deal”.Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion.The United States was “reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China”, Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defences in the face of mounting threats.- ‘Wake-up call’ –Hegseth described China’s conduct as a “wake-up call”, accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyber attacks, harassing its neighbours, and “illegally seizing and militarising lands” in the South China Sea.Beijing claims almost the entire disputed waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.It has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines in the strategic waters in recent months, with the flashpoint set to dominate discussions at the Singapore defence forum, according to US officials.As Hegseth spoke in Singapore, China’s military announced that its navy and air force were carrying out routine “combat readiness patrols” around the Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks Beijing disputes with the Philippines.”China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea has only increased in recent years,” Casey Mace, charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Singapore, told journalists ahead of the meeting.”I think that this type of forum is exactly the type of forum where we need to have an exchange on that.”Beijing has not sent any top defence ministry officials to the summit, dispatching a delegation from the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University instead.Hegseth’s hard-hitting address drew a critical reaction from Chinese analysts at the conference.Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told reporters the speech was “very unfriendly” and “very confrontational”, accusing Washington of double standards in demanding Beijing respect its neighbours while bullying its own — including Canada and Greenland.Former Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, from the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told AFP that training drills did not mean China would invade Taiwan, saying the government wanted “peaceful reunification”.Hegseth’s comments came after Trump stoked new trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had “violated” a deal to de-escalate tariffs as the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.The world’s two biggest economies had agreed to temporarily lower eye-watering tariffs they had imposed on each other, pausing them for 90 days.- ‘Priority theatre’ -Reassuring US allies on Saturday, Hegseth said the Indo-Pacific was “America’s priority theatre”, pledging to ensure “China cannot dominate us — or our allies and partners”.He said the United States had stepped up cooperation with allies including the Philippines and Japan, and reiterated Trump’s vow that “China will not invade (Taiwan) on his watch”.But he called on US partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries and “quickly upgrade their own defences”.”Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,” Hegseth said, citing pledges by NATO members including Germany to move toward Trump’s spending target of five percent of GDP.”Deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap.”EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, also in Singapore, said the Trump adminstration’s “tough love” had helped push the continent to beef up its defences.”It’s love nonetheless, so it’s better than no love,” Kallas quipped when asked about Hegseth’s speech.