Today is Monday, April 28, 2025.
It is the 118th day of the year.
247 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: A minimalist truck EV hits the market.
Updates on SHANNON SHARPE and SEAN COMBS’ legal woes in SHOWBIZ.
“Star Wars” fans now know why Yoda speaks the way he does. Details in CASTING CALL.
PRINCESS ANNE suffers another medical malady in ROYALS.
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TARIFF TALK
– Treasury Secretary SCOTT BESSENT told ABC News on Sunday that he met with his Chinese counterpart in Washington last week and that he has established a path toward a tariff agreement with China. The news followed conflicting reports over the extent to which the nations have begun discussions on a new agreement.
– Publicly, China has implemented sweeping 125% countertariffs on American imports, but reporting from Reuters and Financial Times says the Chinese Communist Party has exempted multiple sectors from the tax. Exempt industries include aircraft components, industrial chemicals, and some semiconductors. The quiet policy shift is likely an attempt to save face and not give the impression that China is being at all affected by the Trump administration’s new global trade scheme.
– In a Sunday Truth Social post, Trump said that if his trade scheme goals are realized, the revenue could be enough to offset income taxes for earners making less than $200,000 a year. “It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA!!!” he writes, adding, “THE EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS HAPPENING!!!”
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A Michigan-based EV company, backed with investment money from JEFF BEZOS, has opened pre-orders for a minimalist electric truck expected to be delivered next year.
Slate Auto announced its Slate Truck for just $20,000 after federal tax rebates – but don’t expect any flashy tech. The truck is intentionally bare bones; it doesn’t even have a stereo system. Instead, Slate encourages drivers to bring in their own portable bluetooth speaker (there is heating and A/C, though).
While the base model was designed and engineered for affordability at scale, the company does offer more comprehensive customizations and add-ons, though for a fee. Instead of paint, buyers can have their truck wrapped. There’s also an accessory kit to transform the truck bed into covered seating for an SUV-style experience. [via Slate Auto]
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A LendingTree survey shows about half of adult Americans have used Buy Now, Pay Later services to finance everyday purchases – and of those, about 25% have used the option to pay for groceries.
The stat shows a significant uptick from last year, where just 14% said the same.
IT GETS WORSE: More than 4 in 10 say they’re late on making those payments, a 7-point increase year over year. [via CNBC]
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SAM BANKMAN-FRIED has moved prisons again, just two weeks after being transported coast-to-coast from New York to California.
He’s now an inmate at FCI Terminal Island in Los Angeles, about 100 miles from his last stop at Victorville, a lockup with a gritty reputation for particularly violent inmates.
The Terminal Island facility is a lower security prison and tends to house those convicted of federal financial crimes, fitting for SBF. It’s likely he’ll remain at this facility for some time now. He’s over a year into his 25 year sentence, which could be whittled down to just over a decade with good behavior and empathetic judges. [via Coin Telegraph]
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OFF TO THE RACES: More than $1.5 million was raised Friday in the world’s first-ever sperm race.
Held in Los Angeles, the competition pitted two USC students against two from UCLA. The event featured all the normal battle sideshows, including weigh-ins, interviews, statistics, betting opportunities, live commentary, and trash talking.
Sperm samples were collected from the competitors prior to the race, and presented by a lab assistant using a microscope on the stage. Once at their starting gates, the race began.
The winning sperm came from one of the USC students -- a Trojan, no less.
The event, created by the Sperm Racing startup, aimed to raise awareness about the worldwide decline in male fertility. [via The Telegraph]
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