The world in a glance.

US businesses urge Trump to intervene over new EU consumer rules

American companies fear an update to Brussels’ ‘Product Liability Directive’ will make it easier for consumers to sue

The jury is still out on AI in finance

Recruiting digital natives with critical thinking skills is going to be crucial

Anthropic weighs deal for near $1tn valuation as revenue surges

Start-up behind Claude tool is fielding inbound investment offers that could lead to it surpassing rival OpenAI in value

Big Tech’s $725bn AI spending spree sends free cash flow to a decade low

Silicon Valley giants have transformed from asset-light cash machines to huge infrastructure investors

Billionaire James Packer among backers lined up for OnlyFans deal

Australian media mogul’s funds to invest in Architect Capital SPV taking a minority stake in platform

Macquarie’s commodities boss paid more than CEO as profits soar

Simon Wright awarded A$35mn annual pay as energy markets drive bumper returns at ‘millionaires’ factory’

Trump says ceasefire still in effect after US and Iran clash

UAE intercepts Iranian drones and missiles as tensions escalate

Koreans flock to pay with their faces

Fintech company aims to ‘eliminate physical credit cards’ in South Korea in three years

Oil futures rise after U.S., Iran trade fire; stock futures quiet after court rejects Trump’s tariffs

Oil futures moved higher late Thursday while stock-index futures were little changed after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Persian Gulf, and after a federal court struck…

Cloudflare to cut 20% of staff in a big bet on AI. Investors aren’t sold.

The company’s stock falls as co-founders say the layoffs are “not a cost-cutting exercise.”

SoundHound’s stock falls as acquisitions weigh on earnings results

The company said revenue would’ve grown more not counting its recent acquisitions, but analysts say they put SoundHound in a strong position.

Airbnb is seeing some of its fastest growth from this surprising segment

The travel app has seen some demand disruptions from the Iran war, but is showing early success with its recent pivot into offering hotel bookings

AI is coming for your job after all. These new announcements prove it.

The tech sector is leading a rush of mass layoffs. Cloudflare, Upwork, Bill outlined big cuts on Thursday, following Coinbase’s announcement earlier in the week.

Oil futures rise after U.S., Iran trade fire; stock futures quiet after court rejects Trump’s tariffs

Oil futures moved higher late Thursday while stock-index futures were little changed after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Persian Gulf, and after a federal court struck…

Trump’s 10% global tariff ruled illegal by US court

US Court of International Trade says levies applied under Section 122 of trade act are ‘unauthorized by law’

CoreWeave shares plunge. Revenue doubles but AI costs are rising.

Shares of CoreWeave fell 9% in after-hours trading as investors considered shrinking margins and lower-than-expected revenue guidance

There’s a new worry keeping Treasury yields and borrowing costs higher

Oil, the Iran war and inflation risks are putting a new floor under longer-duration Treasury yields

US and Iran clash in Hormuz as ceasefire comes under strain

Washington says it launched strikes after Tehran attacked American destroyers

Kevin Warsh will be the richest Fed chair ever. Just how rich, he isn’t saying.

The Fed chair nominee has filed 69 pages about his finances that mostly tell you what he won’t tell you. The Senate is ready to confirm him anyway.

Block earnings show a growth pickup, in a potential validation of the massive AI push

100% of Block employees now use AI at work, three months after the company’s eye-popping mass-layoff announcement.

The year’s best tech trade is hiding in plain sight — and no, it’s not the Nasdaq

While Wall Street fixates on the “Magnificent Seven,” South Korea’s KOSPI has quietly delivered a staggering 75% gain since January.

Middle managers are on the chopping block thanks to AI in the workplace. Here’s how to save your job.

AI has taken the corporate quest for efficiency to a new level — and it’s middle managers who seem to be getting left behind.

Time is running out to avoid a power crunch in America: ‘The current situation is not tenable’

Nonprofit grid operator PJM has called for reforms, but the ’devil is in the details’ as it seeks to avoid a worst-case scenario.

What’s the secret to the staying power of ‘Saturday Night Live’? It was made for social media all along.

The show’s U.K. spinoff was just renewed for a second season, and the sketch-comedy stalwart continues to be relevant with younger audiences as its clips go viral online.

Trump halted ‘Project Freedom’ after Saudi Arabia withheld support

Riyadh has now lifted suspension after call between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US president on Wednesday

While many international brands retreat, McDonald’s is supersizing its China business

McDonald's plans to have 10,000 locations in China by the end of 2028, and the country is its second largest market.

EU prepares for ‘potential’ talks with Putin, says official

European Council president António Costa says bloc has Kyiv’s support for seeking to negotiate with Russian president

Used car prices fall for the first time this year and EV interest rises as gas prices spike

Cox Automotive reports affordability remains a key concern for buyers and that's driving increased demand for older vehicles as well as all-electric vehicles.

The ‘SpaceX mafia’ is here. Elon Musk’s big IPO could launch a constellation of new companies.

SpaceX employees and alumni have an ‘insane network’ and will soon be able to tap a lot of cash, expanding the mini-SpaceXs orbiting the upcoming IPO

Citi disappoints investors with modest profit targets

Wall Street bank seeks to persuade investors that the hard part of a years-long turnaround is done

Ageism is just corporate self-sabotage—America’s ‘brain drain’ is costing shareholders billions

Discarding experienced workers isn’t a strategy — it’s short-sighted thinking that AI won’t fix.

Tesla’s stock rises as investors get a fresh sign that high gas prices are driving EV sales

Tesla and its Chinese rivals saw record unit sales in the region last month.

McDonald’s warns of price pressures from rising beef and energy costs

Fast food group beats expectations but executives say rising expenses are constricting cash flows for franchisees

Datadog’s stock is soaring. Here’s how the company became such a crucial AI player.

AI is adding complexity to corporate systems, boosting demand for software that helps monitor security and outages.

The number of people getting unemployment checks just fell to a 2½-year low. Here’s why.

Is it getting easier to find a job? Maybe. A sluggish U.S. labor market appears to be coming out of its torpor.

McDonald's CEO says consumer spending could be 'getting a little bit worse'

Shares of McDonald's have fallen 10% over the last year, hurt by concerns about the broader economy.

Wall Street rebound driven by smallest number of stocks on record

Soaring S&P propelled by Big Tech equities prompts warnings about ‘fragility’ of rally

Family office deal-making rebounds in April with healthcare bets

Healthcare startups made up nearly a third of April's investments by family offices.

Ageism is still an acceptable bias among employers — and it’s costing shareholders billions

Discarding experienced workers isn’t a strategy — it’s corporate self-sabotage that AI won’t fix.

Middle managers are on the chopping block in the AI workplace. Here’s how to save your job.

AI has taken the corporate quest for efficiency to a new level — and it’s middle managers who seem to be getting left behind.

Kevin Warsh’s undisclosed wealth leaves a $100 million mystery atop the Federal Reserve

The Fed chair nominee has filed 69 pages about his finances that mostly tell you what he won’t tell you. The Senate is about to confirm him anyway.

Traders point to suspicious activity in the oil market on Wednesday

Oil contracts worth $1.7 billion changed hands in the hour before an Axios report sent oil prices lower Wednesday. Some experts are calling the spike in activity suspicious.

‘Americans are not great at managing money’: Social Security and Medicare saved my father from financial ruin. Am I wrong?

“There’s no way my dad and my mom paid enough into Medicare to cover my dad’s six months in long-term critical care.”

UK and US launch disease control measures over hantavirus

Some passengers had already left cruise ship struck with rodent-borne illness before alarm was raised

I am 56, single, and renewing my $400,000 10-year term life policy. Am I making a huge mistake?

“The agent said he could not add my brother because he does not depend on my income, so has no insurable interest.”

The myth of the petrodollar

America’s currency supremacy runs deeper than oil

DeepSeek and Alibaba rescue China’s office landlords

Technology firms are reviving (a few) Chinese commercial-property markets

UniCredit’s lowball bid for Commerzbank causes consternation

A bad-tempered battle for a big German bank

Donald Trump’s foreign policy gets a muscular finance arm

The Development Finance Corporation’s loan book may soon rival the World Bank’s

Shell’s profits jump as Iran war delivers windfall

Energy major warns of lower gas production after damage to its facilities in the Gulf