AI

Who killed Trump's AI order? Musk says it wasn't him

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
  • Speculation swirled Friday over the last-minute collapse of President Donald Trump's planned executive order on powerful AI models, with fingers pointing at the president's allies in Silicon Valley who oppose government oversight of the technology.
  • Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
Speculation swirled Friday over the last-minute collapse of President Donald Trump's planned executive order on powerful AI models, with fingers pointing at the president's allies in Silicon Valley who oppose government oversight of the technology.
A draft of the shelved order leaked to US media shows the White House had prepared new AI cybersecurity measures before Trump pulled the plug Thursday. His former AI czar had reportedly called Trump directly to raise objections.
The collapse is the latest sign that Washington remains unable to agree on even modest guardrails for the technology -- leaving the United States well behind Europe and Asia and far short of what many safety advocates say is needed.
If enacted, the dropped executive order would have given the federal government up to 90 days of access to the most powerful AI models before their public release, and it would have established a coordinated response to AI-enabled threats to banks, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.
Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
Officials believed Sacks supported the order, but the night before the planned signing he began raising concerns that the voluntary review process could one day be made mandatory.
The Washington Post reported a broader account: Last-minute calls from Sacks, Elon Musk -- CEO of SpaceX and Tesla -- and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, convinced the president not to sign.
Musk denied the claim on his social media platform X.
"This is false. I still don’t know what was in that executive order and the President only spoke to me after declining to sign," he wrote.
Meta also disputed the report, saying Zuckerberg had spoken to Trump only after the order was rescinded.

Fear of Mythos

To assuage concerns of government overreach, the draft explicitly stated that nothing in the order should be read as creating a mandatory licensing or approval requirement for AI models.
According to The Information and other media, tech companies also pushed to cut the pre-release access window from 90 days to just 14.
The order was triggered in part by concerns over Anthropic's Mythos model, which the AI startup has refused to release publicly over safety fears.
The collapse of Thursday's effort leaves the administration with no formal plan for managing the security risks posed by the most powerful AI systems -- and no timeline for producing one.
Trump scrapped an AI oversight order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden on his first day back in the White House. 
Biden's 2023 order required AI companies to share safety test results with the government and leaned heavily on voluntary commitments -- already a light-touch approach that fell well short of what many experts had called for.
By contrast, the European Union's AI Act -- which entered into force in 2024 -- sets binding rules for high-risk AI systems, including mandatory transparency requirements and, for the most powerful models, obligations around safety testing and incident reporting.
arp/pnb

trade

EU seeks to rebalance trade relationship with China

  • EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels Friday trod a fine line, stressing that the EU-China relationship was important, but more balance was needed.
  • The EU must rebalance its trade relationship with China, the bloc's industry chief said Friday, as Brussels renews its focus on commerce ties with Beijing.
  • EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels Friday trod a fine line, stressing that the EU-China relationship was important, but more balance was needed.
The EU must rebalance its trade relationship with China, the bloc's industry chief said Friday, as Brussels renews its focus on commerce ties with Beijing.
The European Union's goods trade deficit with China hit some 360 billion euros ($418 billion) last year, and calls are growing to address the imbalance.
"Openness to trade, which is in Europe's DNA, remains a priority for us," vice president Stephane Sejourne said, but there needs to be "a rebalancing of trade, given that we currently have a deficit of over 360 billion euros with China".
The EU executive team including Sejourne will hold a special debate next Friday on how the 27-nation bloc should approach China to level the playing field.
A visit by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao to Brussels late next month is also under discussion, an EU official said.
Following the debate by the European Commission, European leaders will discuss the EU's trade ties with China during a summit in Brussels on June 18 and 19.
EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels Friday trod a fine line, stressing that the EU-China relationship was important, but more balance was needed.
China is "an important trading partner. But what I think we need to ensure is that there is a greater balance when it comes to that overall relationship", Irish trade minister Helen McEntee told reporters.
She said the EU needed to address "some of the risks, not least when we talk about rare earth minerals and the recent challenges that we've seen in the implications for our overall economy".
"It's a bit of a race, because our dependencies are there and our ability, our tools to build our sovereignty, independence in this area are increasing as well," Poland's Michal Baranowski said.
There have been trade frictions between China and the EU for months. 
Tensions heightened especially after Beijing imposed export curbs on rare earths last year. The restrictions highlighted Europe's heavy dependence on rare earths from China, which is the world's top producer of the elements.
Brussels has also taken several steps to protect its market from what it describes as unfair Chinese competition, including slapping extra levies on small parcels from China.
fpo-raz/pdw

SpaceX

SpaceX to retry Starship test launch Friday

  • The thwarted attempt at the south Texas launchpad on Thursday came after SpaceX filed with US financial regulators to go public, likely in June, in what is expected to become a record IPO. The launch, when it eventually happens, will offer a live-streamed look at SpaceX's progress in developing its enormous Starship rocket, a key component of its own ambitious plans as well as US space agency NASA's program to return to the Moon.
  • Elon Musk's SpaceX will attempt another launch of its mammoth Starship rocket Friday, after the previous evening's try was called off over technical issues.
  • The thwarted attempt at the south Texas launchpad on Thursday came after SpaceX filed with US financial regulators to go public, likely in June, in what is expected to become a record IPO. The launch, when it eventually happens, will offer a live-streamed look at SpaceX's progress in developing its enormous Starship rocket, a key component of its own ambitious plans as well as US space agency NASA's program to return to the Moon.
Elon Musk's SpaceX will attempt another launch of its mammoth Starship rocket Friday, after the previous evening's try was called off over technical issues.
"Counting down to our second launch attempt," the company posted on X, adding that weather was 85 percent favorable for flight during the 90-minute test window that kicks off at 5:30 pm local time (2230 GMT).
The highly anticipated launch will see the debut of SpaceX's third generation model of Starship, and it falls amid high stakes for the space company eyeing a buzzy initial public offering as soon as next month.
Thursday's aborted trial featured several rounds of stopping and starting the countdown clock.
After it was determined the last-minute glitches could not be addressed in time, Musk quickly posted on X that "the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract."
The thwarted attempt at the south Texas launchpad on Thursday came after SpaceX filed with US financial regulators to go public, likely in June, in what is expected to become a record IPO.
The launch, when it eventually happens, will offer a live-streamed look at SpaceX's progress in developing its enormous Starship rocket, a key component of its own ambitious plans as well as US space agency NASA's program to return to the Moon.
It will be the 12th Starship flight overall, but the first in seven months.
The latest design is bigger than its predecessor, standing at just over 407 feet (124 meters) when fully stacked.
The company, which aims to make Starship a fully reusable system, says the mission's primary goal is to demonstrate its redesigns in flight.
There's a lot riding on their progress: SpaceX is under contract with NASA to produce a modified version of Starship to serve as a lunar landing system.
The US space agency's Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon, as China forges ahead with a rival effort that's targeting 2030 for its first crewed mission.
And given private sector delays, anxiety is rising within President Donald Trump's administration that the United States might not get there first.
The most recent Starship missions have gone down as successful.
But previous tests have ended in spectacular explosions, including twice over the Caribbean and once after reaching space. Last June, the upper stage blew up in a ground test.
mdo/des

Global Edition

Stocks gain, oil higher as investors weigh Mideast peace prospects

  • Wall Street moved broadly higher after the Dow Jones reached an all-time high Thursday, despite concerns that soaring energy prices will stoke inflation and lead central banks to hike interest rates.
  • Stocks pushed higher Friday while oil prices rose as traders tracked headlines on the chances for peace in the Middle East, against a backdrop of corporate earnings optimism and AI enthusiasm that have pushed indexes to record highs.
  • Wall Street moved broadly higher after the Dow Jones reached an all-time high Thursday, despite concerns that soaring energy prices will stoke inflation and lead central banks to hike interest rates.
Stocks pushed higher Friday while oil prices rose as traders tracked headlines on the chances for peace in the Middle East, against a backdrop of corporate earnings optimism and AI enthusiasm that have pushed indexes to record highs.
Wall Street moved broadly higher after the Dow Jones reached an all-time high Thursday, despite concerns that soaring energy prices will stoke inflation and lead central banks to hike interest rates.
US Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller added his voice to a growing bloc of policymakers calling for the US central bank to indicate that its next move could be an interest rate hike.
Fears about inflation and higher interest rates earlier this week sent the yield on the 30-year Treasury to its highest level since 2007, with long-term debt yields in Britain and Japan hitting rates not seen since last century.
The rise in debt costs could force governments to cut back spending, just as economic activity is slowing due to higher energy costs.  
European markets also posted gains after Asia closed out the week with a rally, with sentiment boosted by AI chip giant Nvidia's latest earnings report that blew past analyst forecasts.
"Nobody really knows where these (US-Iran) negotiations are heading, but for now, markets are doing what they often do when a potential geopolitical off-ramp appears -- tentatively moving as if the good news could be around the corner," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The US and Iran have a "50-50" chance of reaching an agreement that would free up the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior UAE official.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile said talks to end the war could progress, with help from Pakistani mediators to help strike an agreement.
President Donald Trump warned this week that negotiations were on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.
A key sticking point remains the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed to around one-fifth of global energy supplies.
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, warned Friday that oil markets risk entering a "red zone" by July or August if there is no progress on ending the war and getting Gulf oil shipments back flowing.
"The market continues to think that a deal between the US and Iran is likely, even if we have had mixed messages from both sides," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group.
In Europe, German business morale unexpectedly increased in May, a survey showed Friday, raising hopes that Europe's biggest economy is weathering the Iran war energy shock better than feared. 
The Ifo institute's confidence barometer rose to 84.9 points from 84.5 in April, the first time it has gone up since the start of the Mideast conflict, and confounding analyst expectations for a slight decrease. 
Financial markets will be closed on Monday in London and the United States for holidays, while continental Europe markets will be open.

Key figures at around 1530 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $104.15 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $97.67 a barrel
New York - DOW: UP 0.8 percent at 50,710.40 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 7,495.54
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.7 percent at 26,473.25
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,466.26 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,115.75 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.2 percent at 24,888.56 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.7 percent at 63,339.07 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 25,606.03 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 4,112.90 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.1603 from $1.1622 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UNCHANGED at $1.3439
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.13 from 158.91 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.35 from 86.48 pence
burs-bcp/rl/pdw

US

Mexico, EU to lower tariffs in bid to grow non-US trade

BY ARTURO ILIZALITURRI

  • Earlier this week, the European Union moved to end a trade standoff with Trump by agreeing to implement a deal signed last year with the United States, which sets tariffs on most European goods at 15 percent. 
  • The European Union and Mexico will on Friday sign a deal reducing tariffs on each other's goods as both seek to lessen their dependence on trade with the United States.
  • Earlier this week, the European Union moved to end a trade standoff with Trump by agreeing to implement a deal signed last year with the United States, which sets tariffs on most European goods at 15 percent. 
The European Union and Mexico will on Friday sign a deal reducing tariffs on each other's goods as both seek to lessen their dependence on trade with the United States.
The expansion of an accord dating to 2000 comes as Mexico fights hard to preserve a three-way free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, which is crucial to all three economies.
The EU is Mexico's third-largest trading partner, lagging far behind the United States and China.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stressed the importance of "opening other horizons" at a time when both Mexico and the European Union are grappling with US President Donald Trump's tariff offensive.
The updated agreement to be signed by Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the eighth EU-Mexico Summit removes most remaining barriers to trade and investment.
It facilitates trade in auto parts, a sector particularly affected by Trump's tariffs.
"Mexico wants to reduce its dependence on its northern neighbor, but also on Asian, or rather, Chinese, supply chains, and in Europe we are pursuing the same objectives," an EU official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
On a visit Thursday to Mexico City, the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, said the deal would create new opportunities for "both economies to compete globally" and build on the momentum of the past decade, which has seen a 75-percent leap in EU-Mexican trade.
Earlier this week, the European Union moved to end a trade standoff with Trump by agreeing to implement a deal signed last year with the United States, which sets tariffs on most European goods at 15 percent. 
Average US tariffs on Mexican goods are a quarter of that -- with many avoiding levies altogether under the USMCA (United States, Mexico, Canada) agreement.
The lower tariffs enjoyed by Mexico will benefit the European Union, according to Sergio Contreras, president of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade.
Mexico will be "the point of convergence, the platform for the European Union and North America to come together," he said.
ai/jt/cb/md

agriculture

Slow Food's 'visionary' founder Carlo Petrini dies aged 76

  • "He was among the first to promote the concept of food sovereignty and defend the right to quality food for everyone, enhancing the link between identity, territory and traditions," she said. 
  • Carlo Petrini, whose worldwide Slow Food movement has spent 40 years promoting quality traditional cooking and sustainable farming, has died at the age of 76, his organisation announced Friday.
  • "He was among the first to promote the concept of food sovereignty and defend the right to quality food for everyone, enhancing the link between identity, territory and traditions," she said. 
Carlo Petrini, whose worldwide Slow Food movement has spent 40 years promoting quality traditional cooking and sustainable farming, has died at the age of 76, his organisation announced Friday.
The Italian journalist and writer from Piedmont founded Slow Food in 1986, in protest against the opening of the first fast food restaurants in the country.
Since then, the movement has ballooned, spreading to 160 countries in its mission to promote good taste, defend biodiversity and promote a healthy food model that respects the environment and local cultures.
"The most important work Slow Food has done is to restore the concept of gastronomy to its holistic, multidisciplinary form. The idea of gastronomy as merely recipes and Michelin stars is a very limited one," Petrini told AFP in a 2016 interview.
According to the movement, Petrini died on Thursday evening at his home in the town of Bra in his native Piedmont. 
Hailing him as a "visionary", Slow Food said Petrini "brought to life a global movement rooted in the values of good, clean and fair food for all, connecting communities, farmers, food artisans, cooks, activists and young people across the world".
"'Those who sow utopia reap reality' -- a phrase Carlo Petrini loved to say -- encapsulates his life. He firmly believed that dreams and visions, when they are just, capable of inspiring collective participation, and pursued with conviction, are not impossible to achieve." 
In a statement, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Petrini was "ahead of his time".
"He was among the first to promote the concept of food sovereignty and defend the right to quality food for everyone, enhancing the link between identity, territory and traditions," she said. 
Besides his work with Slow Food, Petrini founded the international Terra Madre network for sustainable agriculture and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. 
For Slow Food, "he combined the ability to dream with a deep sense of joy and collective purpose, paving concrete paths toward social change".
tsz/ams/jxb

science

France announces billion-euro boost for quantum computing

BY FRANCESCO FONTEMAGGI

  • France had already committed 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of funding for quantum research since 2021, including in its heavyweight defence industry.
  • France will pump one billion euros of new funding into quantum computing, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, warning that the country and the wider European Union must invest to keep up with American and Chinese advances.
  • France had already committed 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of funding for quantum research since 2021, including in its heavyweight defence industry.
France will pump one billion euros of new funding into quantum computing, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, warning that the country and the wider European Union must invest to keep up with American and Chinese advances.
Several governments are racing to master quantum computing, a nascent technology that promises to solve some types of mathematical problems many times faster than "classical" machines.
Its potential applications range from enabling breakthroughs in drug development and materials science, to cracking encryption techniques widely used in computer security.
"The speed of our competitors requires that we shift into a higher gear" and "change the scale" of investment, Macron said during a visit to a supercomputing centre in Bruyeres-le-Chatel, south of Paris.
He pointed especially to developments in the United States, where companies have boosted quantum investments.
The Commerce Department in Washington on Friday announced injections of public cash totalling over $2.0 billion into private quantum firms.
France had already committed 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of funding for quantum research since 2021, including in its heavyweight defence industry.
Macron also announced a further 550 million euros in state funding for semiconductors as part of a European programme, on top of existing commitments of 5.5 billion since 2022.
"In all of these questions, there's a battle over sovereignty that is being fought and must absolutely be won... technological dependencies will more and more become industrial and strategic dependencies," Macron said.
Separately, American chip giant Nvidia announced Friday an investment into the French quantum computing start-up Alice and Bob.
Macron underscored the importance of European states working together on next-generation computing technologies, calling for the bloc to build a quantum ecosystem "designed, built and operated by European companies, free from any legislation with extra-territorial reach".

'EU that invests massively more'

The remark comes as European capitals scramble to find cloud computing and artificial intelligence providers without exposure to the United States, as tensions remain high with Donald Trump's White House.
Macron argued that building up such domestic capacities in Europe required changes to both competition policy -- which he said needed to be "adapted and modernised to allow champions to emerge" -- and the bloc's single market.
"What is the strength of the Americans? They have an integrated market. They have actors at continental scale who make massive investments. We create regulations for the banks and insurers... preventing them from financing innovation," he said.
As well as greater freedoms for private investment, "everything we're talking about today requires a European Union that invests massively more", Macron added.
He is gearing up to fight for an expanded EU budget for 2028-34, proposals likely to meet resistence from countries like Germany that are averse to taking on common debt.
The French leader is also an outspoken proponent of "buy European" rules for public procurement.
Hobbled by a divided parliament at home and with just a year left in his second five-year term, after which he cannot stand for re-election, Macron has made a hobby horse of European sovereignty in fields from defence to research and the economy.
He will welcome prospective foreign investors to the opulent Palace of Versailles outside Paris on June 1 for the annual Choose France business conference.
And with France this year hosting meetings of the G7 club of leading industrial nations, ministers responsible for digital affairs will gather in Paris on May 29.
G7 heads of state will meet in Evian in the French Alps in mid-June.
fff-tgb/js

indicator

German business morale rises for first time since Iran war

  • The survey had slumped in the months following the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran at the end of February.
  • German business morale unexpectedly increased in May, a survey showed Friday, raising hopes Europe's biggest economy is weathering the Iran war energy shock better than feared. 
  • The survey had slumped in the months following the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran at the end of February.
German business morale unexpectedly increased in May, a survey showed Friday, raising hopes Europe's biggest economy is weathering the Iran war energy shock better than feared. 
The Ifo institute confidence barometer rose to 84.9 points from 84.5 in April, the first time it has gone up since the start of the conflict. 
Analysts had expected a slight decrease.
"The German economy is stabilising for the time being, although situation remains fragile," said Clemens Fuest, Ifo's president.
The survey had slumped in the months following the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran at the end of February.
The energy shock triggered by the near total closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a heavy blow for Germany's power-hungry manufacturers, and dimmed hopes of a strong recovery this year for the long-struggling economy.
But a massive ramp-up in defence and infrastructure spending may be offsetting the conflict's impact and helping to bolster business morale, analysts said.
The latest Ifo survey, based on responses from around 9,000 businesses, showed that companies were more optimistic about both their current situation and future prospects.
Morale among companies in the manufacturing, services and trade sectors improved. But it fell slightly among construction companies.
Despite the slight increase, the survey remains at its lowest level since late 2024.
LBBW bank analyst Jens-Oliver Niklasch said Friday's survey was a "small positive surprise".
Companies had a lot of orders on their books, he noted, adding this would "be a good basis for a recovery if, for example, energy prices were to fall or the general mood were to improve".
In other positive news, consumer sentiment improved modestly heading into May, according to another survey.
The forward-looking indicator, published by pollsters GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), rose 3.3 points to minus 29.8 -- although it remains at low levels overall.
Meanwhile the statistics agency said the economy expanded 0.3 percent in the first quarter, confirming previously released data, on the back of strong exports.
sr/bst/jxb

technology

Samsung union to start vote on tentative wage deal

  • The company and the union's lawyer both told AFP the vote -- initially scheduled to begin on Saturday -- will instead start on Friday afternoon.
  • Samsung labour union members will begin voting Friday on a tentative wage deal that could deliver hefty bonuses to chip workers and helped avert a major strike at the South Korean tech giant this week.
  • The company and the union's lawyer both told AFP the vote -- initially scheduled to begin on Saturday -- will instead start on Friday afternoon.
Samsung labour union members will begin voting Friday on a tentative wage deal that could deliver hefty bonuses to chip workers and helped avert a major strike at the South Korean tech giant this week.
The company and its union reached the provisional agreement late Wednesday after government-mediated talks, avoiding a planned 18-day strike due to start Thursday.
The dispute unfolded against the backdrop of a global artificial intelligence boom that has turbocharged Samsung's memory chip business while lifting South Korea's economic growth and stock market.
The company and the union's lawyer both told AFP the vote -- initially scheduled to begin on Saturday -- will instead start on Friday afternoon.
A separate union document seen by AFP said the vote will run through May 27 and be conducted online.
Around 70,000 members are expected to be eligible, with the agreement "automatically ratified" if more than half cast ballots and a majority of those voting approve it, according to the union's lawyer.
Local reports say the agreement is likely to pass, as most union members come from the chip division.
The tentative deal creates a new bonus pool for semiconductor employees worth 10.5 percent of operating profit, to be paid in stock.
Semiconductor employees are expected to get around 509 million won ($337,000), a company official confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
The figure is a rough calculation based on an estimated 331 trillion won in operating profit -- in line with market consensus reported by Yonhap News Agency -- and roughly 78,000 chip employees.
Samsung's union had argued workers lagged behind rivals such as SK hynix, where bonuses last year were more than three times higher.
The union's lawyer said Samsung has seen a talent drain to its rival and a rise in union membership due to what workers describe as a "lack of transparency" in the bonus system.
Both Samsung and its rival SK hynix posted record profits in the first quarter, driven by global demand for AI chips.
Analysts say hefty bonuses could help retain South Korea's talent, as overseas firms including Tesla push deeper into semiconductors.
"South Korea accounts for around 80 percent of the global memory chip market," Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University, told AFP.
"But rising bonus demands could come at the expense of future investment, as money that might otherwise go into research and development or shareholder returns is redirected toward compensation," he added.
The development has also fuelled similar demands across industries including biotech, IT and shipbuilding, with unions at firms such as Samsung Biologics and Hyundai Motor Group reportedly seeking a greater share of profits.

Legal action

While workers are expected to benefit from the deal, some shareholders voiced opposition, vowing to pursue legal action against the tentative agreement.
On Thursday, a shareholders' group staged a rally near the residence of Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, arguing that operating profit-linked bonuses had not been approved through a shareholder resolution and therefore lacked legal validity under the current commercial law.
Workers outside the core chip divisions are expected to receive lower payouts, with local reports suggesting around 6 million won for those in smartphone and home appliance units.
Loss-making non-memory chip operations could also see reduced bonuses.
Samsung memory chips are used in products ranging from consumer electronics to computer processors, while its next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips are key components for scaling up AI data centres.
The tech giant said in April that its first-quarter operating profit jumped roughly 750 percent from a year earlier, while its market capitalisation topped $1 trillion for the first time this month.
The prospect of a strike had raised concerns over the potential impact on South Korea's economy, with semiconductors accounting for around 35 percent of the country's exports.
cdl/abs

Global Edition

Japan inflation slows more than expected in April

  • Crude oil imports from the region in April dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, while other energy and related products from the Middle East also plunged, according to government data released Thursday.
  • Japan's inflation slowed more than expected in April, government data showed Friday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi considers further measures to drive down costs linked to the Middle East war.
  • Crude oil imports from the region in April dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, while other energy and related products from the Middle East also plunged, according to government data released Thursday.
Japan's inflation slowed more than expected in April, government data showed Friday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi considers further measures to drive down costs linked to the Middle East war.
The year-on-year rise in "core" consumer prices, which excludes volatile fresh food, eased to 1.4 percent from 1.8 percent in March.
The figure was lower than market expectations of 1.7 percent, but analysts warn inflation will likely pick up in the coming months.
April consumer prices slowed partly thanks to expanded subsidies for high school tuition and a slowdown in price rises of some foods such as rice, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Gasoline prices also fell in April after the government began an emergency subsidy programme the previous month, the ministry said.
"Although inflationary pressures eased in April, they will pick up again before long," said Abhijit Surya of Capital Economics.
Shannon Nicoll of Moody's Analytics also warned that the "outlook is for higher inflation". 
"Energy price inflation will face renewed pressure in the coming months owing to higher fuel prices. The timing and severity of that pressure will depend on international developments," he said.
Japan relies on imported oil, much of it from the Middle East, to power the economy.
Takaichi is considering drafting an extra budget to deal with rising prices stemming from the Middle East conflict that has squeezed flows of oil from the region.
The budget could be worth around three trillion yen ($19 billion), Kyodo News said, citing an unnamed source.
The conservative leader has so far refrained from discussing its expected size, only saying that she was considering taking steps before the rising price pressure spins out of control.
"I would like to consider a supplementary budget bill designed primarily to address the current situation in the Middle East and related issues, in case we are unable to respond (effectively)," Takaichi told the legislature on Wednesday.
Crude oil imports from the region in April dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, while other energy and related products from the Middle East also plunged, according to government data released Thursday.
Takaichi is expected to approve a plan next week to spend 500 billion yen ($3.1 billion) from the reserve fund in the form of subsidies to offset rising electricity and gas bills, local media said.
The latest data came below the Bank of Japan's target of achieving stable two-percent inflation, but economists believe that the general trend of higher prices could press the central bank to hike rates.
The government said this week that the Japanese economy grew 0.5 percent during the first quarter, exceeding the market's expectations.
hih-aph/abs

bank

Kevin Warsh returns to Federal Reserve with 'regime change' agenda

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • "I am honored the president nominated me for the position and I'll be an independent actor if confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve," he said.
  • Kevin Warsh, the incoming chair of the US Federal Reserve, returns to the central bank with an ambitious reform agenda and the looming threat of intimidation by the man who nominated him: US President Donald Trump.
  • "I am honored the president nominated me for the position and I'll be an independent actor if confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve," he said.
Kevin Warsh, the incoming chair of the US Federal Reserve, returns to the central bank with an ambitious reform agenda and the looming threat of intimidation by the man who nominated him: US President Donald Trump.
Warsh was confirmed to a four-year term as the central bank's chief by the Senate last week, and will take his oath of office at the White House on Friday.
The 56-year-old native of upstate New York left his first term on the board prematurely in 2011, griping over policy differences.
Now, he returns to lead the Fed -- tasked with, among other things, managing US inflation and ensuring maximum employment -- with an agenda that includes changing how it makes decisions, communicates those moves and implements policy shifts.
He does so at a time of unprecedented political pressure on the Fed's independence, with Trump demanding lower interest rates to spur activity in the world's largest economy. 
Trump frequently criticized and insulted Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, over a lack of rate cuts. His administration targeted Powell in a criminal probe and is still attempting to remove another Fed governor, Lisa Cook. 
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate banking committee, Warsh vowed to preserve the Fed's independence, saying he would "absolutely not" be the president's puppet.
"I am honored the president nominated me for the position and I'll be an independent actor if confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve," he said.

Fed criticism

Born in New York's state capital Albany, Warsh graduated from high school in that area before obtaining degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.
He is married to Jane Lauder, a granddaughter of cosmetics legend Estee Lauder. Her billionaire father Ronald Lauder is one of Trump's longtime associates.
Warsh started his career at investment giant Morgan Stanley, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. 
He later joined then-US president George W. Bush's administration, serving as a White House economic policy advisor from 2002 to 2006 before being nominated to the Fed's Board of Governors.
Warsh served on the board during the global financial crisis, and eventually left in 2011 over differences on how the central bank should tackle it. He has since worked on Wall Street and on the boards of various companies, including UPS.
"I saw the Fed and its people at their very best, but I also witnessed an institution that was tempted to play a larger role in the economy and society," Warsh said at his confirmation hearing.
That language echoes Trump, whose administration has called for the Federal Reserve to stay in its lane and has questioned its credibility.
In his first tenure at the Fed, Warsh was considered a "hawk" -- a policymaker who favors addressing the inflation side of the mandate, usually by raising interest rates.
In recent years, he has changed his tune, aligning with Trump's demands for lower interest rates despite the US economy facing stubbornly high inflation since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Warsh blames high inflation on "policy errors" by the Fed in 2021 and 2022.
He has called for "regime change" in policymaking, including changing the data the Fed bases its decisions on, removing forward guidance from its communications and encouraging more of a "good family fight" at meetings.
He also wants to shrink the Fed's balance sheet, preferring to use interest rates as the central bank's primary tool on both sides of its mandate.
He has argued that the Fed has strayed into politics, again echoing a key Trump talking point.

'Very smooth'

David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Warsh has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, but one should "watch what he does, not what he has said."
He added that Warsh will not simply be able to impose his will on the central bank, and will have to work with his fellow policymakers.
"He is very smooth, and generally good with the people, and that will serve him well in this endeavor as long as he doesn't move too fast or too radically," Wessel told AFP.
Kathryn Judge, a law professor at Columbia University, said existing divisions at the Fed will pose a "significant challenge" to Warsh.
"I think we really just have to wait and see," Judge said.
"It's been a long time since we've had a chair coming in who is seeking to chart a new course, rather than to build on the success of his predecessors."
aha/mjf

politics

With Fed under intense Trump pressure, new chief to be sworn in at White House

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • "Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel.
  • Incoming Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh will be sworn in at the White House on Friday, taking the reins of the US central bank as it faces unprecedented pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
  • "Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel.
Incoming Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh will be sworn in at the White House on Friday, taking the reins of the US central bank as it faces unprecedented pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
Warsh, who Trump nominated for the role, has backed rate cuts in the past, even as the world's largest economy faces inflation at a three-year high.
Trump frequently criticized and insulted Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, even pursuing a criminal probe that the outgoing chair said was meant to pressure the Fed over monetary policy decision-making.
The White House has separately sought to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a Biden Administration appointee, over mortgage fraud allegations. That case is pending before the Supreme Court.
It is unusual for the chief of the Fed -- an independent non-partisan body that sets monetary policy according to a dual mandate on inflation and employment -- to be sworn in at the White House.
The last central bank chief to do so was Alan Greenspan in 1987 under then-president Ronald Reagan. 
Trump will host the ceremony on Friday, the White House told AFP this week. 
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Warsh insisted that he would "absolutely not" be a puppet for the president.
"Mr. Warsh insists that he will defend the Fed's independence in monetary policy," said David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 
"I hope he is true to his word. The risks are higher than ever."

Balancing mandates

Warsh will take over a divided Fed facing high inflation -- fueled by the energy price surge that resulted from Trump's war on Iran -- and a labor market showing signs of weakness.
The US central bank has a dual mandate to keep inflation to its long-term target of two percent while also maintaining maximum employment.
US consumer inflation in April came in at 3.8 percent, a three-year high, with American households battered by years of above-expected price increases since the pandemic.
At a Fed meeting last month, a majority of policymakers indicated that rate hikes may be necessary if inflation continues to remain above the Fed's long-term target.
Warsh has argued that productivity gains from artificial intelligence-led innovation will allow the US economy to grow rapidly without adding to inflation. 
The US unemployment rate has remained relatively stable around 4.3 percent for the last year. But job growth -- often used as a proxy for economic activity -- has see-sawed wildly between expansion and contraction from month to month.
That situation -- high inflation and inconsistent job growth -- has left the Fed in a potentially sticky situation of having to choose between its mandates.
"Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel. "At some point, the president may grow impatient and will begin attacking Mr. Warsh as he did Jerome Powell."
Warsh takes over at "a time of disruption and rebalancing in the overall authority of the president," said Columbia Law professor Kathryn Judge, whose research focuses on central banking.
Fed chiefs have traditionally had a large influence on the rate-setting committee, but with policymakers currently divided on the path forward, the idea of the so-called "chairman-led Fed" will be "meaningfully tested" in the months to come, she said.
aha/mjf

Global Edition

Windfall settlement, stock trades: Trump accused of 'brazen' corruption

BY AURéLIA END

  • Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
  • Critics of US President Donald Trump are pointing to a series of recent windfalls for the 79-year-old billionaire and his family as evidence of "brazen," historic corruption.
  • Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
Critics of US President Donald Trump are pointing to a series of recent windfalls for the 79-year-old billionaire and his family as evidence of "brazen," historic corruption.
Accusations of personal enrichment, influence peddling, and cronyism have dogged Trump since his first term in office, before which he famously stated: "A president can't have a conflict of interest."
But outrage reached a fever pitch this week after the president settled a legal case against his own government -- on exceptionally generous terms -- shortly after disclosing thousands of stock trades in recent months.
The settlement, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche -- who is Trump's former personal attorney -- could shield him from a potential $100 million fine.
It could also see taxpayer funds doled out to the president's supporters who were convicted of violently attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 while seeking to prevent certification of former president Joe Biden's election victory.
The money would come from a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, intended to compensate people who claim, like Trump, they were maliciously targeted under the Biden administration.
"The most brazen act of presidential corruption this century," is how the left-leaning New York Times editorial board described the settlement, while joining many Democrats in describing the new pool of money as a "taxpayer-funded slush fund."
"Donald Trump sued his own government. Trump's DOJ (Department of Justice) settled with Trump. And now Trump gets a nearly $2 billion slush fund to reward his own allies, loyalists, and insurrectionists," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.
On his first day back in office, Trump issued a blanket pardon of some 1,500 January 6 rioters.
Two police officers on duty during the violent protests have sued seeking to block the creation of the fund, whose board is to be handpicked by Blanche.

'No legal precedent'

Even some Republican lawmakers have balked at the move.
"People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability," said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his re-election bid after Trump backed his primary opponent.
Noah Rosenblum, a law professor at New York University, told AFP that the fund's creation was "interesting because it contributes to a different project of Trump's, not just his personal enrichment while in the Oval Office."
"But also his attempt to use his time as president to rewrite history and to punish his enemies."
The settlement announcement came just days after Trump prompted uproar by disclosing thousands of stock trades of individual companies in the first quarter, worth potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
Judd Legum, a Democratic-aligned independent journalist who analyzed the disclosure, told AFP that his "most striking findings" were that Trump "purchased stock in several cases either on the same day or just before making public statements that were promoting the companies."
Trump's family has dismissed any allegation of wrongdoing, arguing they -- along with the president -- are fully removed from stock trading decisions.
Vice President JD Vance put it bluntly at a recent press briefing: "The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer...buying and selling stocks. That's absurd."

'Personal brand'

As the first president who is also a convicted felon, Trump has so far weathered the mounting accusations.
"We've kind of numbed ourselves to these issues of conflict of interest and potentially corruption and that's not a healthy place to be as a democracy," said Legum.
Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
Many Americans "might look at this and see obvious corruption and self-dealing," he said.
"I think he knows that, and I think he sees that as a feature, not a bug, because it further endears him to his true supporters."
aue/ev/des/sla

Global Edition

FIFA's huge World Cup to generate unprecedented cash and CO2

BY CORALIE FEBVRE

  • It will generate unprecedented revenue but, Unil's research shows, "produce the largest carbon footprint in the history of international sport".
  • The biggest and most lucrative ever World Cup this summer will also set a record for the most-polluting sporting event in history, environmental experts say.
  • It will generate unprecedented revenue but, Unil's research shows, "produce the largest carbon footprint in the history of international sport".
The biggest and most lucrative ever World Cup this summer will also set a record for the most-polluting sporting event in history, environmental experts say.
"Unlike the case of the Olympic Games, where the carbon footprints have been reducing over the last several editions, this is totally opposite in the case of FIFA men's World Cup," David Gogishvili, a geographer at the University of Lausanne (Unil), told AFP.
The summer's World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams for the first time. It will be played in three countries -- Mexico, Canada and the United States -- also for the first time.
It will generate unprecedented revenue but, Unil's research shows, "produce the largest carbon footprint in the history of international sport".
Unil's calculations for CO2-generated emissions range from five to nine million tonnes compared to "around 1.75 million tonnes" for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gogishvili continued.
That figure far surpasses the estimated 2.17 million tonnes of CO2 generated by Russia in 2018, in a far-flung World Cup that involved 40 fewer matches, and the 3.17m tonnes from Qatar in 2022, in a highly compact event criticised for its hastily constructed, oversized and air-conditioned stadiums. 
All 16 venues for this summer, from the "smallest" in Toronto with 45,000 seats, to the largest in Arlington, Texas, which holds 94,000 seats, already existed when the Games were awarded, a point highlighted in 2018 by the "United 2026" bid. 
The main issue is the vast span between stadiums.
The distance between Miami and Vancouver is more than 4,500 kilometres. That will increase the biggest source of CO2 emissions for international events: air travel for teams, officials, media, and especially the "more than five million fans" targeted by FIFA. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, will travel 5,040 kilometres to play group games in Toronto, Los Angeles and finally Seattle.

'FIFA's environmental denial'

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who proclaimed his "determination" to combat climate change at COP26 in Glasgow, has pledged to "measure, reduce and offset" emissions related to its World Cups. 
But, reprimanded in June 2023 by the Swiss Fairness Commission (CSL) for misleadingly promoting the "climate neutrality" of the 2022 World Cup, FIFA has refrained from any guarantees on 2026.
Environmental analysts agree that the best way to reduce the impact of mega-competitions is to limit their scale, as the International Olympic Committee has done with its quota of 10,500 athletes for the Summer Games, said Gogishvili. 
By increasing its flagship tournament from 32 to 48 teams, a year after increasing its World Club Cup from seven to 32 teams, FIFA is doing the exact opposite.
The climate cost of any international match, is "26 to 42 times greater than an elite match" at the national level, said a 2025 report published by the New Weather Institute think-tank. 
"A single match during the final stages of the men's World Cup is responsible for 44,000 to 72,000 tonnes of CO2," said the report's writers from the British-based Scientists for Global Responsibility. That, they calculated, was the equivalent to the emissions of 31,500 to 51,500 British cars over an entire year. 
FIFA's "insatiable appetite for growth", said Gogishvili, leads to more matches and, inevitably, "more athletes, more fans, more hotel infrastructure, more flights, it's kind of a never-ending cycle."
The 2030 World Cup will be spread across six countries and three continents. It kicks off with a trio of matches in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay before switching to hosts Morocco, Spain and Portugal for the remaining 101 matches.
The 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, in a climate comparable to that of Qatar but with 40 more matches in a much larger country. Saudi giant Aramco, the world's largest oil company, became a major sponsor of FIFA in 2024.
"It would seem that FIFA's environmental denial will continue," Gilles Pache, a professor at Aix-Marseille University, wrote in the Journal of Management Research in 2024. 
cfe-pb/bc

automobile

Stellantis unveils 60 bn euro push to revive profitability

  • - Targeting North America - North America represents "the biggest opportunity for our growth and our profitability," Filosa said, adding, "we are not betting on an acceleration (in the US market)." 
  • Jeep and Fiat owner Stellantis said Thursday that it would invest 60 billion euros in a five-year push to restore profitability by emphasizing growth in North America and reducing capacity in Europe.
  • - Targeting North America - North America represents "the biggest opportunity for our growth and our profitability," Filosa said, adding, "we are not betting on an acceleration (in the US market)." 
Jeep and Fiat owner Stellantis said Thursday that it would invest 60 billion euros in a five-year push to restore profitability by emphasizing growth in North America and reducing capacity in Europe.
The strategic blueprint presented at the group's North American headquarters in Michigan comes after a series of announcements by CEO Antonio Filosa, brought in last year to get the world's fourth-largest automaker on stronger financial ground.
"We are uniquely positioned to offer delight, functionality and affordability," Filosa said in a statement, as the Italian-French-American auto giant seeks to pivot from deep losses in 2025.
Stellantis will trim its annual costs by 6 billion euros in 2028 compared with 2025. It is targeting annual sales of 190 billion euros in 2030 from 154 billion euros in 2025.
Investors appeared unconvinced, with shares falling more than 7 percent at one point before finishing up 0.4 percent in New York.
The company said it would focus in particular on four of its 14 brands -- Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat -- where it would concentrate 70 percent of its planned investments, viewing these names "with their multi-regional presence, as natural first launchers for all new global assets."
In one key decision, Stellantis plans to trim European production capacity by 20 percent.
The Europe capacity cuts will result in a reduction of 800,000 vehicles per year.
This would be achieved by "repurposing plants," such as in Poissy outside Paris, and "leveraging partnerships" such as in Madrid and Zaragoza in Spain, as well as Rennes in western France, it said.
Filosa said there would be no plant closures.
The joint venture between Stellantis and Dongfeng would see the Chinese firm's Voyah EVs built at a Stellantis plant in Rennes for the European market, the companies said Wednesday.
But the CFDT union said Thursday that it fears a "new wave of job losses" as it called for workers to gather on June 16 outside Stellantis headquarters at Poissy.
Filosa said at a press conference that none of the vehicles at the joint venture sites with Chinese partners compete directly with Stellantis vehicles.

Targeting North America

North America represents "the biggest opportunity for our growth and our profitability," Filosa said, adding, "we are not betting on an acceleration (in the US market)." 
The company is eyeing a 35 percent rise in volumes for the US market alone, where it plans seven new products priced below $40,000 and two at less than $30,000.
The plan includes adding a retail presence in US markets where Stellantis hasn't been active and introducing vehicles in categories where it is under-represented. 
By 2030, Stellantis plans more than 60 new vehicle launches, 50 "significant" refreshes, across all brands and powertrains, including 39 internal combustion engine or "mild" hybrid electric vehicles, according to a press release. 
Filosa said the "very mature European market will serve as a laboratory" for the US market.
Apart from the four global brands, the company's plan designates five other brands -- Chrysler, Dodge, Citroen, Opel and Alfa Romeo -- as "regional" brands, while DS Automobiles and Lancia will be managed by Citroen and Fiat respectively.
Stellantis also said this month that it was considering strengthening its alliance with Leapmotor so the Chinese group can produce its own cars at two of the European auto manufacturer's Spanish plants.
With Dongfeng, Stellantis will produce in China Peugeot and Jeep models for the Chinese market and internationally. Stellantis also plans a European joint venture with Dongfeng that will begin with a collaboration in Rennes, France.
The deal aims to boost Stellantis brands while also letting Dongfeng build locally at a plant in western France, allowing it to avoid hefty EU tariffs on Chinese EV imports. 
leb-elm-jmb/mjf

AI

California governor orders a plan to cope with AI job upheaval

  • "California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us –- and we won't start now," he said.
  • California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered officials to start work on a plan to mitigate the job-destroying impact of artificial intelligence, the first US state to do so.
  • "California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us –- and we won't start now," he said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered officials to start work on a plan to mitigate the job-destroying impact of artificial intelligence, the first US state to do so.
Newsom's demand comes as fears grow worldwide that AI could render everyone from truck drivers to lawyers unemployed as machines learn to perform tasks that have previously required a human.
The executive order will mobilize state agencies, experts, universities and industry leaders to develop policies around severance standards, employment insurance, worker training and better tracking of hiring and layoffs in an effort to avoid nasty surprises and sudden workforce cuts.
"Businesses are going to make a fortune, and that's why you cannot continue to have a payroll tax system that taxes jobs and then subsidizes automation," the governor said in a statement.
Newsom -- who is widely expected to be a leading Democratic Party candidate in the 2028 presidential election -- said lightning fast developments in AI meant the entire employment system needed to be reimagined.
"California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us –- and we won't start now," he said.
The move comes as figures revealed the US technology sector -- which is headquartered in California's Silicon Valley -- slashed more than 52,000 jobs in the first three months of the year, according to the firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
On Wednesday, Facebook parent Meta began laying off 8,000 people -- around 10 percent of its workforce.
Advances in AI, which have allowed for the automation of increasingly complex tasks, are often cited by companies as the reason for reducing headcounts.
But some industry watchers say firms are using the technology as a pretext for other cost-cutting.
Changes in how we work are reverberating around the world, sparking debate from Asia to Europe to the United States.
Some tech leaders -- including those at the forefront of AI, like Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman -- have suggested that the technology will leave so many people without a job that humans will effectively become creatures of leisure who need to be given some kind of basic universal income to survive.
bl-hg/mlm

Global Edition

US stocks end volatile session higher as oil prices retreat

  • They initially edged higher but finished down 1.8 percent.
  • Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher Thursday following a choppy session as markets tried to parse the prospects for a Middle East peace deal while digesting earnings from Nvidia and Walmart.
  • They initially edged higher but finished down 1.8 percent.
Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher Thursday following a choppy session as markets tried to parse the prospects for a Middle East peace deal while digesting earnings from Nvidia and Walmart.
After oil prices ascended for the first part of the day, benchmark futures contracts reversed course and finished down about two percent.
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned that the world may be entering "the red zone" on oil supplies, but markets continue to welcome signs -- even if vague or faint -- that a deal between Washington and Iran could be forthcoming.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan's army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks.
"I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that'll advance this further," Rubio told reporters on Thursday.
Major US indices finished modestly higher after starting in the red, with the broad-based S&P 500 ending up 0.2 percent.
"The market still shows its muscles here. It's very resilient," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities. "And, of course, is betting on the fact that the war is about to end."
There were earlier big gains for technology stocks in Asia after chip giant Nvidia posted record quarterly revenue of $81.6 billion, blowing past analyst forecasts on the voracious demand for artificial intelligence hardware.
Sentiment was also boosted by Elon Musk's filing for a public sale of SpaceX shares, which could be the largest initial public offering in history as the rocket and satellite company seeks to raise up to $75 billion.
"This could be a blockbuster summer for IPOs with OpenAI also expected to list in the coming weeks," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
"How the market absorbs these new listings will be crucial for the future of the AI trade, as both companies are at the heart of the AI revolution," she said.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index surged 8.4 percent, helped by Samsung Electronics shares after unions paused an 18-day strike.
Japan's Nikkei index ended with a gain of 3.1 percent.
But the positive sentiment dissipated in European trading, where stocks ended mostly lower. 
Despite Nvidia's profit growth, the company's shares failed to get a boost as they have in previous quarters. They initially edged higher but finished down 1.8 percent.
Also lower was Walmart, which tumbled 7.3 percent as traders fretted over the company's cautious forecast and the company's commentary on consumers.
"The high income customer is spending with confidence into many categories while the lower income consumer is more budget conscious and perhaps navigating financial distress," said Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey.

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.3 percent at $102.58 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 percent at $96.35 a barrel
New York - DOW: UP 0.6 percent at 50,285.66 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 7,445.72
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP .01 percent at 26,293.10 
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,443.47 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,086.00 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.5 percent at 24,606.77 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.1 percent at 61,684.14 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,386.52 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 4,077.28 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1622 from $1.1624
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3439 from $1.3435 on Wednesday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.91 yen from 158.92
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.48 pence from 86.52 pence
burs-jmb/sla

automobile

Beloved Citroen 2CV revived as electric car

  • Stellantis announced this week a campaign around "e-cars," small electric vehicles costing at most 15,000 euros under different brands to be produced in Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy.
  • The 2CV, the iconic French car popular for much of the last century, is to be reincarnated as an electric vehicle 36 years after production ceased, Citroen announced Thursday.
  • Stellantis announced this week a campaign around "e-cars," small electric vehicles costing at most 15,000 euros under different brands to be produced in Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy.
The 2CV, the iconic French car popular for much of the last century, is to be reincarnated as an electric vehicle 36 years after production ceased, Citroen announced Thursday.
"The 2CV is back!" said CEO Xavier Chardon said. "Citroen is back. Back to the future."
The announcement came at an investor day in Michigan by parent company Stellantis, which also owns Jeep, Ram and Fiat, among other brands.
A version of the vehicle is expected at the Paris auto show in October.
At Thursday's event, journalists and analysts could see an exterior of the revamped 2CV that retains the original contours, with signature features such as a domed and ribbed front hood and protruding headlights. 
However, modern road standards may necessitate adjustments once the vehicle enters production.
"It's a very important moment, because in 1948 the 2CV gave freedom of mobility to millions, and 80 years later, the new 2CV will democratize electric mobility," Chardon said. 
Chardon vowed that the reboot will be "100 percent electric," entirely produced in Europe and priced at below 15,000 euros ($17,400).
"The true people's car designed for real life," he said. "For me, the future of mobility will not be won by the most complex cars, but by the simplest and the most intuitive ones."
Citroen officials plan to mainly market the vehicle in Europe, anticipating it will hit retail showrooms in about two years. 
Stellantis announced this week a campaign around "e-cars," small electric vehicles costing at most 15,000 euros under different brands to be produced in Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy.
The Citroen 2CV, or "two horses" was first unveiled with fanfare on October 7, 1948 at the Paris auto salon.
Originally fabricated in a single color -- gray -- the vehicle, nicknamed "la deudeuche," found quick success with consumers, leading to delivery delays in the 1950s.
While keeping the same basic silhouette, subsequent models had greater power and came in a variety of colors.
There were also limited editions such as the Charleston, the Dolly and a "007" version to coincide with the 1981 James Bond Movie "For Your Eyes Only" that featured a yellow 2CV.
Production ended on July 27, 1990 at a factory in Portugal, precipitated by tightening emission standards in Europe.
elm-jmb/bgs

aviation

Air France, Airbus convicted of manslaughter in 2009 Rio-Paris crash

BY ALEXANDRE MARCHAND

  • On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight AF447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was cruising over the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to plunge into the ocean.
  • A French appeals court Thursday convicted Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight that killed 228 people, the worst disaster in France's aviation history.
  • On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight AF447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was cruising over the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to plunge into the ocean.
A French appeals court Thursday convicted Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight that killed 228 people, the worst disaster in France's aviation history.
The Paris Court of Appeal ruling was a dramatic reversal of a lower court decision.
The appeal court said that the French flag carrier and Europe's leading aerospace manufacturer were "solely and entirely responsible for the crash of flight AF447", ordering each to pay 225,000 euros ($261,000) -- the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter.
While the penalties are symbolic, the ruling is seen as significant reputational damage for both companies.
Air France and Airbus have consistently denied any criminal liability, blaming pilot error.
The lower court ruling acquitted them in 2023, finding that the companies had made mistakes but could not be proven to have caused the crash.
But on Thursday the presiding judge said the lower court had not taken into account "the existence of the causal chain within which the pilots' actions occurred, and which led to the deaths of all the passengers.
"The AF447 crash was a disaster waiting to happen -- and one that could have been avoided if each of the companies involved had fully grasped the seriousness of the failure," said Sylvie Madec.
Both companies announced they would appeal the ruling.

'Self-satisfaction and pride'

Alain Jakubowicz, a lawyer for the civil parties, said he expected the ruling to set a legal precedent following a 17-year legal battle. 
"No fight is unwinnable," he added.
Air France, announcing its appeal, said it was "aware that this appeal prolongs what has already been a lengthy process, particularly for the families". But it pointed out that Air France's criminal liability had previously been ruled out twice.
"The legal battle will continue," said Simon Ndiaye, a lawyer for Airbus.
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight AF447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was cruising over the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to plunge into the ocean.
There were no survivors among the 216 passengers and 12 crew on board the Airbus-built A330 aircraft, the dead including 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians.
In Paris, the families of those killed in the crash praised the ruling.
Daniele Lamy, the head of an association of families of the victims, said the justice system had finally taken into account "the pain of the families."
"These prestigious firms will no longer be able to hide behind their self-satisfaction and technological pride," she addded.
But the mood was darker in Rio de Janeiro.
Nelson Faria Marinho, who lost his 40-year-old son in the crash, said the ruling brought him no comfort.
"I feel as if my son had died today," said the head of an association of families of the victims in Brazil, adding he was outraged because no executive had been held accountable.
Although prosecutors in 2023 had asked for the charges to be dropped, they had subsequently lodged the appeal. 
The eight-week appeal trial ran between September and December last year.

'Pilots tried everything'

Lawyers for the families have argued that both companies were aware of the problem with the pitot tubes, used to measure flight speed, but the pilots were not trained to deal with such a high-altitude emergency.
The court heard how a malfunction with the tubes, which became blocked with ice crystals during a mid-Atlantic storm, caused alarms to sound in the plane's cockpit and the autopilot system to switch off.
Experts highlighted how, after the instrument failed, the pilots put the plane into a climb that caused the aircraft to stall and then crash into the ocean.
The appeal court held Airbus responsible for several faults, including underestimating the seriousness of problems with sensors and failing to properly inform the crews of operating airlines.
Air France was found guilty of having failed to provide pilot training and to adequately inform flight crews.
Without ruling out that "pilot errors" might have been made during the 4 minutes and 30 seconds between the icing of the sensors and the impact with the ocean, the court nevertheless considered that the crew had not been sufficiently prepared to deal with the "extremely complex failure".
"The pilots of AF447 truly tried everything to get out of this absolutely dreadful situation," the presiding judge said. 
"They went as far as their abilities allowed, and nothing can be held against them."
amd-as/jj

labour

Top UN court says right to strike protected in key labour treaty

BY RICHARD CARTER

  • The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
  • The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that the right to strike was protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a decision that could have profound implications for global labour relations.
  • The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that the right to strike was protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a decision that could have profound implications for global labour relations.
The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the court was "of the opinion that the right to strike of workers and their organisations is protected" under that convention.
However, judges said their opinion, which is not binding, should not be understood as laying out any other ground rules for strike action.
The conclusion "does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right", said Iwasawa.
ILO Convention 87 is an agreement between unions and employers including the right "in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities".

Heated legal battle

Unions at the ILO had argued that this by extension enshrined the right to industrial action, but employers disagreed, so they took the fight to the ICJ.
Behind the dry legal interpretation of a decades-old treaty lay a heated battle between unions and employer groups at the ILO, which played out in hearings in October 2025.
"This case is about more than legal abstractions," Harold Koh, representing the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), told the judges. 
"It will affect the real rights of tens of millions of working people around the world," he added.
Koh warned that if the ICJ ruled the right to strike was not inherent in the Convention, companies and governments could start to unpick labour deals around the world.
"National employer groups would contest the right to strike country by country, focusing first on nations with compliant courts, weak civil societies and ineffective media," said Koh.

'Inflammatory and alarmist'

On the other side of the argument, Roberto Suarez Santos, from the International Organisation of Employers, said the 1948 convention "neither explicitly nor implicitly covers the right to strike."
Santos noted that the rules surrounding industrial action varied widely from country to country -- whether emergency services were excluded, for example.
These differences "cannot be resolved by simply reading an abstract right to strike into Convention No.87 and trying to impose it on employers, workers and governments", said Santos.
Rita Yip, also representing the employers' groups, dismissed the union arguments as "inflammatory and alarmist".
The right to strike is still protected in national laws, argued Yip, and does not need to be enshrined in "boilerplate norms, imposed at the highest level".
Urging the court to answer "no" to the question before it, Yip said the case "goes to the credibility of the entire international labour system".
Both sides at least agreed on the importance of the case for labour relations.
"At first blush, this case may not seem momentous," said Koh from the trade union confederation.
"But your decision here will affect every worker in the world," he told the judges.
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