While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 6, 2025
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The US trade gap with China shrank by a third to $12 billion, its narrowest since 2004.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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US trade deficit hits nearly 2-year low
The US trade deficit narrowed in June on a sharp drop in consumer goods imports, and the trade gap with China shrank to its lowest in more than 21 years, the latest evidence of the imprint on global commerce President Donald Trump is making with sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
Mr Trump’s tariffs are leaving their mark on the US economy beyond trade, as a measure of activity in the vast services sector hit stall-speed in July, with businesses saying the swarm of new import taxes is driving up costs and making business planning more difficult.
The overall trade gap narrowed 16.0 per cent in June to US$60.2 billion (S$78 billion), the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Aug 5.
Days after reporting that the goods trade deficit tumbled 10.8 per cent to its lowest since September 2023, the government said the full deficit including services also was its narrowest since then.
Zelensky says he had ‘productive’ call with Trump ahead of ceasefire deadline
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug 5 that he had had a “productive” conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump on ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a US-Ukraine drone deal.
“President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks.
Mr Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions.
Netanyahu meets security officials as Israel considers full Gaza takeover
PHOTO: AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior security officials to finalise a new strategy for the 22-month war in Gaza, his office said on Aug 5, with media reporting he favoured a complete military takeover of the Strip.
Despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave, efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have collapsed.
Local health authorities said at least 20 people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they waited for UN aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip.
Two Chinese nationals in California accused of illegally shipping Nvidia AI chips to China
AFP
Two Chinese nationals were arrested in California and charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars’ worth of AI chips to China, including Nvidia H100s, the US Justice Department said on Aug 5.
Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte, exported the advanced Nvidia chips and other technology to China from October 2022 through July 2025 without obtaining the required licenses from the US Commerce Department, a criminal complaint says.
According to the complaint, Geng and Yang’s El Monte-based company, ALX Solutions Inc, was founded in 2022, shortly after the US imposed sweeping export controls on technology to China and began to require licenses for the chips.
US House panel subpoenas Clintons in Epstein probe
PHOTO: AFP
US lawmakers on Aug 5 subpoenaed former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for testimony on Jeffrey Epstein, in a major escalation of the controversy surrounding the investigation into the notorious sex offender.
The Clintons were among multiple former Democratic and Republican government officials – as well as the Justice Department – targeted by investigators reviewing the handling of the disgraced financier’s case after he died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent after the Justice Department angered Trump supporters – many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up – when it confirmed in July that he had died by suicide in his prison cell and that his case was effectively closed.
