16/05/2026

SATURDAY | MAY 16, 2026 9 CIA head visits Cuba as island runs out of oil HAVANA: The head of the CIA visited Cuba on Thursday, an extraordinary step-up in contact between Washington and Havana as the communist-run island reels from US pressure, declaring that it is out of oil. The visit comes during a deepening crisis in US-Cuba relations, with the island enduring constant power outages prompted by US President Donald Trump’s fuel blockade. Trump has repeatedly signalled that he wants to topple the communist government in Cuba. According to a report on CBS News, citing unidentified US officials, the Trump administration is seeking to indict Raul Castro, the 94-year-old brother of the late Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro. However, Cuba framed CIA director John Ratcliffe’s visit as a chance to calm tensions. The meeting with Ratcliffe took place “in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations“, a government statement read. The exchanges “made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to US national security“, it added. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has renewed an offer of $100 million (RM394 million) in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government. He blamed Cuba for the island’s current suffering. “The Cuban people should know there is $100 million of food and medicine available for them right now. It is in our national interest to have a prosperous Cuba, not to have a failed state 90 miles (144km) from our shores.” Eastern Cuba was on Thursday plunged into the latest outage affecting the whole country, with power returning to some areas later in the day. The crisis prompted protests on the island. – AFP FIVE DIE IN MALDIVES SCUBA DIVING EXCURSION HYDERABAD: Five Italian tourists died during a scuba diving excursion in the Maldives on Thursday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. “The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50m. The reconstruction of the incident is underway by Maldivian authorities.“ The mishap took place at the Vaavu Atoll, about 65km from the capital, Male. The Maldives coast guard sent divers to recover the bodies. “The coast guard and all relevant authorities are actively engaged in the search and recovery operation,“ saidi Maldives Tourism Minister Mohamed Ameen. One body was found inside a cave at a depth of about 60m and the remaining four are believed to be in the same area, the Maldives National Defence Force said. – Bernama ‘MOST WANTED’ UK COCAINE SMUGGLER HELD IN SPAIN LONDON: A “most wanted” British man who imported large amounts of cocaine was arrested in Spain on Thursday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed, Anadolu Ajansi reported. Simon Dutton, 49, who was wanted by Greater Manchester Police over cocaine importation, money laundering, false passport offences and breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order, was held near the city of Benidorm. According to the NCA, Dutton is one of the 12 most wanted fugitives and organised the importation of cocaine from Spain to the United Kingdom, with one police interception uncovering 10.5kg with a street value of £1.5 million (RM7.9 million). Proceeds from his crimes were used to fund his and his associates’ lifestyles, according to the agency. – Bernama-Anadolu

Fantastic trade deals with China, says Trump

Delegation of business leaders accompanying Trump

BEIJING: US President Donald Trump said he has made “fantastic trade deals” with China’s Xi Jinping, as the pair met yesterday during final talks of a superpower summit. Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors that include agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas, not least the Middle East war. Trump’s overtures to Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend”, have been met with more muted tones by Xi. But Trump said “a lot of good” has come out of the visit. “We have made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi among the rosebushes in the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City. “We have settled a lot of different problems that other people would not have been able to solve,” he added, without providing details. Xi said it was a “milestone visit” and the two sides have established “a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability”. They also agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional issues, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday. They held an “in-depth exchange of views” on major issues concerning both countries and the world, and reached a series of “new common understandings”, a ministry spokesperson said, as Trump made the first visit by a US president to China since 2017. Xi had held a welcome ceremony and banquet for Trump, and the two held talks and visited the Temple of Heaven on Thursday. They agreed on a “new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability to provide strategic guidance for China-US relations over the next three years and beyond, promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations, and bring more peace, prosperity and progress to the world”, the spokesperson said. The ministry said Xi stressed that the United States and China should be “partners, not rivals”. He emphasised that economic ties between the nations are “mutually beneficial and win-win in nature”. Trump and Xi also reached “important common understandings on handling their mutual concerns in a proper manner”, the spokesperson added. Interactions between the presidents have strengthened “mutual understanding, deepened mutual trust, advanced practical cooperation, increased benefits for the people of both countries, and injected much-needed stability and certainty into the world.” Trump is accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth along with executives from o Leaders reach vital common understandings on handling mutual concerns in proper manner: Chinese ministry

Donald Trump US President

Elon Musk Tesla and SpaceX

Tim Cook Apple

Stephen Schwarzman Blackstone

Jensen Huang Nvidia

Larry Fink Blackrock

Kelly Ortberg Boeing

Brian Sikes Cargill

Jane Fraser Citigroup

Larry Culp GE Aerospace

David Solomon Goldman Sachs

Jim Anderson Coherent

Dina Powell McCormick Meta

Jacob Thaysen Illumina

Michael Miebach Mastercard

Sanjay Mehrotra Micron

Cristiano Amon Qualcomm

Ryan McInerney Visa

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Trump would say more “in the coming days”. Rubio told NBC on Thursday that “US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of the meeting”. He said Beijing had raised the topic but “we always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics”. Taipei responded yesterday, thanking Washington “for repeatedly expressing its support”. Trump did not spell out yesterday the trade agreements that he said had been sealed with China. However, in the Fox interview, Trump said one big business deal struck involved Xi agreeing to purchase “200 big” Boeing jets. Shares of the US aviation giant fell after Trump’s comments, in a sign that the market had expected a more robust purchase from China. Trump also said Beijing has voiced interest in buying US oil and soybeans. China, which is the key foreign customer of Iranian oil, bought small amounts of US oil before Trump imposed tariffs last year. It has sharply slowed down purchases of US soybeans, turning instead to Brazil. Meanwhile, Bessent said Trump and Xi were talking about setting up “guardrails” for the use of AI. He said the world’s “two AI superpowers are going to start talking”, although US export controls on the advanced technology to China remain a sore point in relations. – AFP

major US companies, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock CEOs Larry Fink and Stephen Schwarzman, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. In an interview with Fox News after the first day of the summit wrapped, Trump said Xi had agreed to several US wishlist points. On the topic of the war in Iran, Trump said Xi had effectively assured him that China is not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz. “He said he is not going to give military equipment. He said that strongly. “He would like to see the Hormuz Strait open and said: ‘If I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help’,” said Trump. Asked whether they had discussed Iran, the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday released a statement calling for “a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire”. “Shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible in response to the calls of the international community.” The Fox News interview did not mention Taiwan and Trump did not comment to reporters when asked about the matter on Thursday.

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