This Week in Explainers: Did the Trump-Xi summit sizzle or fizzle?

A summit, an election, and a virus… None of these three things is connected. However, they resulted in the biggest headlines across the globe.

This week, all eyes turned to Beijing as US President Donald Trump met with China’s Xi Jinping for two days, holding talks on important issues such as trade, tech, Taiwan, and the Iran war. This summit between the two world leaders was expected to have ramifications that would be felt across the world.

But what came out of it? Was it a sizzle or a fizzle? Depends on whom you ask. By Trump’s standards, the summit with the Chinese leader was successful. But there were no deals announced after he departed the Chinese capital.

While it remains to be judged if Trump’s China visit was a hit or a miss, one notable thing about it was the US president’s subdued behaviour. Analysts and Trump watchers around the globe noted that the American leader was restrained in his dealings with Xi.

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This week, the UK was once again plunged into political uncertainty, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer teetering on the precipice.

So, as we sit back this Sunday and enjoy our day of rest, we analyse all of the big developments from across the world.

1) After deferring his visit to China in March, US President Donald Trump made his way to Beijing this week for the much-talked-about summit with Xi Jinping. He was accompanied by a huge delegation of business leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook, as well as Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

On Day 1 of his visit, Trump was accorded a grand welcome. The two leaders then sat down for talks, which went on for two hours. This was followed up with a grand state banquet dinner. The next day, Xi and Trump visited the Zhongnanhai compound, which is considered the Asian country’s power centre.

After a walk and a working lunch, Trump departed from China, exclaiming that the visit had been successful. The US leader said “a lot of good” has come out of the visit. “We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” said Trump, adding that on the topic of the war in Iran, Xi had effectively assured him that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.

But is it as Trump claims? Was the visit truly a success? Despite the choreography, there was no major trade deal or structural agreement. We analyse.

US President Donald Trump speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping while leaving after a visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China. Reuters

2) On the topic of Trump’s China visit, one couldn’t help but notice how restrained the American leader. He was effusive in his praise of Xi, calling him a “good friend” and a “great leader”. Unlike past foreign visits, where the US president has been known to have made bombastic statements, Trump was reserved in his words, refusing to say anything on Taiwan.

But why did we see a toned-down Trump in China? Was it fear or because the ‘world’s greatest dealmaker’ knew that he was weakened by the Iran war? We have the answers for you.

3) The other big headline came from the UK this week. The UK PM Keir Starmer is facing a leadership crisis after his party, the Labour, received a historic drubbing in local and regional elections.

While he insisted that he would prove his “doubters” wrong, vowing that his ruling Labour party would be “better” and bolder, he is also quelling a groundswell of calls from some of Labour's approximately 400 MPs to step down or face a leadership challenge.

On Thursday, the crisis escalated when Britain’s health minister Wes Streeting resigned while Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham unveiled a bid to return to parliament, as political manoeuvring increased to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

But Streeting and Burnham aren’t the only contenders in the race. Here’s who else could replace Starmer.

Test tubes labelled "Hantavirus positive" are held in this illustration. Reuters

4) After the big pandemic scare last week following the hantavirus outbreak on board the Dutch cruise MV Hondius, this week the attention shifted to vaccines and treatments for the rodent-borne infection.

As of today, there are no targeted treatments for hantaviruses, which are typically carried by rodents, and no widely available vaccines. So when passengers began falling ill in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, doctors and public health experts were limited in what they could offer. But this outbreak has resulted in teams across the world to get cracking on treatments.

How far are we before we receive a working vaccine for hantavirus?

5) This week also revived interest in the MKUltra files in the US after reports emerged that the CIA had seized sensitive files related to the John F Kennedy assassination and the controversial MKUltra programme from the office of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

The matter gained further traction after Representative Anna Paulina Luna warned the CIA of legal action if the documents were not returned within 24 hours.

However, the whole thing turned out to be nothing but a dud when a spokesperson for the DNI said that the news was “false” and that the “CIA did not raid the DNI’s office”.

Nevertheless, it generated interest in the top-secret programme called MKUltra during the Cold War.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez has refuted claims of Trump taking control of the country and making it the 51st state of the US. File image/AP

6) Earlier in the week, US President Donald Trump also revived his dreams of a 51st US state. After wanting to make Canada and Greenland a part of the US, this week, the US president turned his attention to Venezuela.

On his way to China, Trump shared a Truth Social post suggesting Venezuela as the 51st state of the United States, posting a map of the Latin American country with an inset American flag.

Earlier, too, Trump told Fox News that he was considering making Venezuela a new state of the US.

Reacting to this, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez told journalists that Venezuela had no plans to become the 51st US state. “We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” Rodríguez said. Venezuela, she added, is “not a colony, but a free country.”

But can Trump actually make Venezuela the next American state? What does the law say?

7) While Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro languishes in jail in America on charges of narco-terrorism, here comes the story of Anmol, aka Pinky, the ‘cocaine queen of Karachi’.

On Wednesday, a video emerged of the drug queen receiving VIP treatment, sparking a debate in Pakistan. In the viral video, Pinky is walking through a court corridor without restraints while police officers escort her.

But who exactly is Pinky, and how did she become Karachi’s cocaine queen? Our explainer has it all.

8) But it hasn’t been all sad and morose this week. Here’s a story that is guaranteed to make you smile. Anil Kochhar, an Indian-American, gave graduates of Wilson College of Textiles a lot more than just words of wisdom when he delivered their keynote commencement address recently.

The Indian American entrepreneur also announced that he would pay off any student loans taken out by the college’s graduating pupils during their senior year. “I hope that all of you leave … today not only with a degree but with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives that you’ve worked so hard to achieve,” Kochhar said, prompting loud cheers, applause, and a standing ovation from his audience.

Kochhar’s graduation gift was in honour of his father, Prakash Chand Kochhar. Here’s the tale of the father-son duo and how they became viral this week.

And that’s a wrap from us. Keep reading and enjoying our explainers here.

P.S: PCOS, the condition that affects one in eight women across the globe, was renamed to PMOS. Here’s why.