President Trump said Sunday night any country "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS" will be charged "an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff" and there'll be "no exceptions to this policy."

Why it matters: While Trump didn't elaborate further, BRICS issued a statement hours earlier saying the 11 nations-strong bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India and China had "serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade," which it said was "inconsistent with" World Trade Organization rules.

• The BRICS bloc that now also includes South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran represents over one third of the world's economic growth, "based on purchasing power parity," DW notes.

Zoom out: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier Sunday that countries that don't make trade deals with the U.S. by August 1 can expect tariff rates to return to the levels announced in April,

Flashback: Trump threatens 100% tariffs on BRICS if they move away from the dollar

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

While the story of the Texas flooding tragedy and what went wrong is still unspooling, scientists said it provides another reminder that climate change can make extreme rainfall events even worse.

What they're saying: "[T]his kind of record-shattering rain (caused by slow-moving torrential thunderstorms) event is *precisely* that which is increasing the fastest in warming climate," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a longer social media thread.

Threat level: Andrew Dessler, director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather at Texas A&M, says the floods are "exactly what the future is going to hold."

• Dessler added that Kerr County was unprepared and local governments should be ready for "more, bigger, extreme events."
• And UC-Davis earth and planetary sciences professor Nicholas Pinter said that in general, climate change "can and is shifting those probabilities — sometimes bringing us floods that are more severe and more frequent than in the past."

Friction point: The fatal flooding is prompting questions about whether vacant positions at the National Weather Service "made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose," the NYT reports.

What we're watching: Whether the tragedy will alter Trump administration efforts to downsize NOAA — and Congress' willingness to go along.

• CNN reports the proposed cuts would hinder R&D into new forecasting technologies — including flash flood forecasting.
• "The NOAA research cuts would come just as human-caused climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense downpours like the ones that led to this tragedy in Texas," it reports.

President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a "client list" or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.

• The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and "enhanced" versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
• The video supports a medical examiner's finding that Epstein committed suicide, the two-page memo claims.

Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump's administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein's activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI's top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.

• As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI's director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
• Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein committed suicide. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein's crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
• The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)

Zoom in: According to the memo, investigators closely examined footage of Epstein's Manhattan prison cell between around 10:40 pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30 am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.

• The footage, which was reviewed by Axios but couldn't be verified independently, showed no one entering the area, the administration said.
• "The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability," the memo says.
• Investigators found "no incriminating 'client list' " of Epstein's, "no credible evidence ... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals," and no "evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," the memo adds.

Zoom out: As MAGA influencers, Patel and Bongino had been among the loudest voices touting Epstein conspiracy theories.

• Since joining the government as Trump appointees they've been more measured in talking about the Epstein investigation, and thrown cold water on the notion he was murdered.
• "He killed himself," Bongino said on Fox News in May. "I've seen the whole file."

MAGA's media universe and some of its voices on Capitol Hill have expressed frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case since February, when DOJ released a tranche of Epstein-related files that were already publicly available.

Conservative figures panned the disclosure, saying it lacked new information.

• "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted then. "GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!"

The intrigue: When Elon Musk had a falling out with Trump last month, Musk accused the president of being "in the Epstein files."

• Trump posted on Truth Social a statement from former Epstein lawyer David Schoen, saying Trump wasn't implicated in any crime. Schoen had also represented Trump in his first impeachment trial.

Musk later deleted his accusation and other posts on X, saying he "went too far."

• Still, the questions about whether Trump's name is in the government's Epstein files have persisted because they had been acquaintances who attended the same parties in the 1990s.
• In a 2017 interview with author Michael Wolff, Epstein even claimed that at one point he was "Donald Trump's closest friend."
• Trump, however, said in 2019 that he was "not a fan of Epstein" and hadn't "spoken to him for 15 years." He also said he had barred Epstein from his golf resorts in the early 2000s.
• Democrats, meanwhile, have demanded to know more about the Epstein-Trump relationship.

What's next: The DOJ and FBI say in the memo that no "further disclosure" of Epstein-related material "would be appropriate or warranted."

• The memo says much of the material relates to child sexual abuse, details of Epstein's victims, and information that would expose innocent individuals to "allegations of wrongdoing."
• "Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography," the memo says.

• Lily Wu, now 31, was born in the US to Chinese parents and grew up in Boston.
• Her response to the question "Where are you from?" has evolved over time.
• She moved to Hong Kong in her early 20s and now says, "I grew up in the US, but I'm ethnically Chinese."

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lily Wu, a 31-year-old Chinese American compliance professional who moved to Hong Kong in her early 20s. Her words have been edited for length and clarity.

If you'd asked me where I was from 10 years ago — before I moved to Asia — my answer would've been very different.

"Where are you from?" has become the poster question for how Asian Americans are often treated as foreigners in their own country. I used to reply, "Boston," very matter-of-factly. I grew up there. I'm American. I speak English. It was a defensive answer, like: "Don't challenge me."

Now, I just say, "I grew up in the US, but I'm ethnically Chinese." It's honest, efficient, and I'm less defensive about it than I used to be.

American, born and raised

I was born in Ohio but spent my early years in China while my parents studied in the US as part of the first wave of Chinese students to leave under Deng Xiaoping's 1980s reforms.

We eventually settled in Boston, my hometown. I grew up surrounded by other Chinese or Chinese-American kids, and it felt like a little cultural cocoon.

Later, when I started middle school at Boston Latin School, I met kids from around the world — including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Mexico. A lot of kids at my school were local to Boston, but most non-white students, like me, were children of immigrants.

That shift gave me my first understanding of how wide the world was.

I grew up in a Chinese enclave and went to a diverse, progressive school where overt racism wasn't socially acceptable, at least not in my circles.

Cantonese was my first language — my mom's family is from southern China — but over time, I stopped using it. One day, I started answering my parents in English, and they let it stick.

Eventually, we became an English-speaking household.

Looking back, I wish I spoke better Cantonese and Mandarin. Like many Asian Americans, I wanted to fit in — and while maybe my parents could've pushed harder, my brother and I were probably just stubborn.

As a kid, I didn't think much of it, but now I feel a growing pull to reconnect with my roots. I was still surrounded by Chinese culture: I went to Chinese school, played the yangqin (a Chinese instrument), and watched "My Fair Princess," a TV drama, with my mom.

Now, there's so much I still want to learn — not just the language, but everything that comes with it.

Next stop: Hong Kong

I studied international relations and economics at Tufts University, then joined a rotational finance program working across departments. My first role was in asset management in Boston.

For my final rotation, I asked to be placed in Hong Kong, and the company made it happen. I'd spent most of my life in Boston, with a study abroad year and an internship in London, so moving to Hong Kong — a city I'd only visited once as a kid — felt like the right kind of adventure. I was 23 and ready to see more of the world.

The transition was surprisingly smooth. Hong Kong is easy for foreigners to navigate — English is widely spoken, and the infrastructure is world-class.

But being Asian American here is complicated. You blend in until you open your mouth — then people switch to English. It's efficient, but also a reminder that you're not quite "one of them."

Culturally, I'm a "gwei mui" — Cantonese slang for a Westernized girl. I used to feel embarrassed by that, but now I've learned to accept it.

Still, I see the value in understanding Hong Kong more deeply through its language and customs. It's ironic: I spent my childhood trying to be fully American, and now I find myself wanting to be more Chinese.

Asia shifted my perspective

When I visit the US now, I feel a kind of reverse culture shock — the streets are wide and quiet, and hardly anyone walks.

Growing up in the States, I was constantly told how amazing it was, but I was rarely told how great other cities around the world were, too.

That's starting to change, thanks to social media showing things like food delivery robots in China, high-tech toilets in Japan, and Hong Kong trains that run every few minutes. You'd never see that in Boston — I don't miss waiting 30 minutes for the subway in the freezing cold.

Things just run more efficiently here. Still, I love going back to the US to see my parents and friends. I appreciate the space and calm.

But these days, landing in Hong Kong feels more like coming home.

Got a personal essay about moving to Asia that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: [email protected].

• At 26, Kevin Choi lost half his vision to glaucoma — a progressive eye disease.
• The diagnosis sparked the start of his healthtech startup, which uses AI to detect critical diseases.
• Choi said AI can speed up and simplify screening, but it's no substitute for a doctor.

At 26, Kevin Choi got a diagnosis that changed his life: glaucoma.

It's a progressive eye disease that damages the optic nerve, often without symptoms until it's too late. By the time doctors caught it, Choi had lost half his vision.

An engineer by training — and a former rifleman in South Korea's Marine Corps — Choi thought he had a solid handle on his health.

"I was really frustrated I didn't notice that," he said.

The 2016 diagnosis still gives him "panic." But it also sparked something big.

That year, Choi teamed up with his doctor, a vitreoretinal surgeon, to cofound Mediwhale, a South Korea-based healthtech startup.

Their mission is to use AI to catch diseases before symptoms show up and cause irreversible harm.

"I'm the person who feels the value of that the most," Choi said.

The tech can screen for cardiovascular, kidney, and eye diseases through non-invasive retinal scans.

Mediwhale's technology is primarily used in South Korea, and hospitals in Dubai, Italy, and Malaysia have also adopted it.

Mediwhale said in September that it had raised $12 million in its Series A2 funding round, led by Korea Development Bank.

AI can help with fast, early screening

Choi believes AI is most powerful in the earliest stage of care: screening.

AI, he said, can help healthcare providers make faster, smarter decisions — the kind that can mean the difference between early intervention and irreversible harm.

In some conditions, "speed is the most important," Choi said. That's true for "silent killers" like heart and kidney disease, and progressive conditions like glaucoma — all of which often show no early symptoms but, unchecked, can lead to permanent damage.

For patients with chronic conditions like diabetes or obesity, the stakes are even higher. Early complications can lead to dementia, liver disease, heart problems, or kidney failure.

The earlier these risks are spotted, the more options doctors — and patients — have.

Choi said Mediwhale's AI makes it easier to triage by flagging who's low-risk, who needs monitoring, and who should see a doctor immediately.

Screening patients at the first point of contact doesn't require "very deep knowledge," Choi said. That kind of quick, low-friction risk assessment is where AI shines.

Mediwhale's tool lets patients bypass traditional procedures — including blood tests, CT scans, and ultrasounds — when screening for cardiovascular and kidney risks.

Choi also said that when patients see their risks visualized through retinal scans, they tend to take it more seriously.

AI won't replace doctors

Despite his belief in AI's power, Choi is clear: It's not a replacement for doctors.

Patients want to hear a human doctor's opinion and reassurance.

Choi also said that medicine is often messier than a clean dataset. While AI is "brilliant at solving defined problems," it lacks the ability to navigate nuance.

"Medicine often requires a different dimension of decision-making," he said.

For example: How will a specific treatment affect someone's life? Will they follow through? How is their emotional state affecting their condition? These are all variables that algorithms still struggle to read, but doctors can pick up. These insights "go beyond simple data points," Choi said.

And when patients push back — say, hesitating to start a new medication — doctors are trained to both understand why and guide them.

They are able to "navigate patients' irrational behaviours while still grounding decisions in quantitative data," he said.

"These are complex decision-making processes that extend far beyond simply processing information."

• At least 69 people are dead after catastrophic flooding hit central Texas.
• Local authorities said personal drones are interfering with search and rescue efforts.
• Consumer drones also disrupted emergency operations in other disasters, like the 2025 LA wildfires.

Search and rescue operations continue in central Texas, where catastrophic flooding has killed at least 69 people. Dozens are still missing.

During a Sunday press conference, after the usual updates, officials made what has become a familiar request during recent natural disasters: Don't fly your personal drones over the disaster area.

"We know that people want to volunteer, but what we are starting to see is personal drones flying," Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice told reporters. "These personal drones flying is a danger to aircraft, which then risks further operations."

The Kerrville Police Department echoed Rice's remarks on Sunday.

"Media-operated drones are interfering with official search and rescue drones. There is a no-fly zone in Kerr County for private drones," the department said on its Facebook page. "We need cooperation in this matter. Let our first responders do their job."

During a press conference hosted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer of the Texas National Guard said the department had launched an MQ-9 Reaper — a remotely-piloted aircraft — to perform assessment operations.

"It's truly an eye in the sky for our search and rescue people," Suelzer said.

Although drones are now commonly used in military and law enforcement operations, they are also popular among civilians, mostly for photography and shooting video, but also for those looking to help search after disasters. During several recent disasters, however, officials say those civilian drone operators have hindered rescue operations.

The Dixie Fire

In 2021, the Dixie Fire spread across northern California. The flames ripped through communities, displacing residents and burning nearly a million acres of land.

That July, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said an unauthorized drone had impeded emergency operations.

"Yesterday, aircraft assigned to the #DixieFire were forced to land due to an unauthorized drone flying over the fire traffic area," the agency said on its official Facebook page. "Drones restrict firefighters' ability to protect lives, property, and natural resources. Remember, if you fly, we can't!"

Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene battered the southeast United States in late 2024.

After making landfall in Florida, it traveled up the coast through Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Heavy rainfall, strong winds, and flooding demolished homes and submerged vehicles.

Amid the search and rescue efforts, the US Department of Transportation shared an X post asking consumer drone operators to stay clear. At the time, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a temporary flight restriction in certain areas.

"Do not fly your drone near or around rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene," the agency said. "Interfering with emergency response operations impacts search and rescue operations on the ground."

The FAADroneZone, the agency's site for drone services, said in a separate X post that "interfering with emergency response efforts may result in fines or criminal prosecution."

At the time, some online users thought volunteer drone operators were being banned from assisting in relief efforts, which sparked a backlash.

The DOT later clarified that the FAA didn't ban consumer drones from providing assistance and relief.

"These restrictions occur at the request of local authorities or law enforcement. FAA does not put these into place without requests," a spokesperson told Fox News.

The agency added that "anyone looking to use a drone or other aircraft to assist in Hurricane Helene disaster relief and recovery efforts should coordinate with first responders and law enforcement on scene to ensure they do not disrupt life-saving operations."

Los Angeles wildfires

In January, a series of wildfires erupted across the Los Angeles region, causing widespread damage and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

In addition to emergency firefighting efforts on the ground, officials deployed two Super Scoopers, which are amphibious aircraft that collect water to drop it on wildfires.

However, an unauthorized civilian drone struck one Super Scooper, forcing it out of service.

"We would like to remind everyone that flying a drone in the midst of firefighting efforts is a federal crime and punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a fine of up to $75,000," a LA Fire Department spokesperson said at the time.

The incident prompted an investigation by the FAA, which said in a statement that "flying a drone near a wildfire is dangerous and can cost lives."

The Department of Justice said the drone operator agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an uncrewed aircraft. The plea agreement included the drone operator paying full restitution to the Government of Quebec, which supplied the aircraft, and completing 150 hours of community service.