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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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View / France pushes for Africa strategy reset
View / Riyadh’s uneasy calm masks a shaken confidence
The World at a Glance
Updated 1:12pm EDT
1
The White House invited the CEOs of Tesla, Apple, Meta, and others for Donald Trump’s China trip, though Nvidia’s Jensen Huang is absent from the list.
2A further prolonging of the Strait of Hormuz closure risks a historic energy shock, analysts warned.
3The Iran war will likely overshadow a litany of bilateral disputes during talks between Trump and Xi this week.
4The Iran war is hitting Asia’s economies hard, with fertilizer and oil shortages impacting food prices.
5China last month exported more EVs and plug-in hybrids than gasoline and diesel cars combined for the first time.
6The response to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has been criticized, as two former passengers tested positive.
Young Americans pessimistic about job market, survey finds
Last year, 43% of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 said it was a good time to find a job where they live, according to Gallup, a 12-point decline.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Groups sound alarm over possible Trump housing cut
Housing lenders and state agencies are raising concerns that administration officials could soon wind down an affordable housing program.
Kevin Lamarque/ReutersAramco profit jump proves wisdom of decades-old pipeline investment
The state oil producer lifted its dividend to the kingdom as higher crude prices offset lower export volumes.
Danielle Villasana/ReutersIran war, ballroom funding debates hang over GOP agenda
Republicans are returning to a two-week sprint to finalize their $70 billion immigration enforcement bill.
Annabelle Gordon/ReutersTrump trip to China to focus on Iran, AI, and trade
US officials are tempering expectations ahead of the president’s meeting with Xi Jinping.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters Reckitt’s Kris Licht on moving at ‘China speed’
The CEO behind Lysol and Durex ‘pivoted hard’ for a new era of TikTok-driven commerce.
Reckitt Benckiser/Handout via Reuters Democratic redistricting confidence sinks as Virginia maps thrown out
The 4-3 state Supreme Court decision on Friday sets the party back considerably in the battle to redraw House seats.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty ImagesAD
Politics
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Carlos Osorio/ReutersShannon Stapleton/Reuters
Trump invites CEOs of Tesla, Goldman, Apple, and others to China
More than a dozen CEOs, including top tech and finance leaders, will join US President Donald Trump on his visit to China this week, according to a White House official.
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersLess climate talk, more growth: US progressives take a lesson from Canada
Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Pete Buttigieg were among the American Democrats who traveled north to learn from Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carlos Osorio/ReutersYoung Americans pessimistic about job market, survey finds
Last year, 43% of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 said it was a good time to find a job where they live, according to Gallup, a 12-point decline.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Groups sound alarm over possible Trump housing cut
Housing lenders and state agencies are raising concerns that administration officials could soon wind down an affordable housing program.
Iran war, ballroom funding debates hang over GOP agenda
Republicans are returning to a two-week sprint to finalize their $70 billion immigration enforcement bill.
Trump and the CEOs go to China
In Washington, a carefully constructed decade of political consensus on China policy lies in ruins.
Starmer fights on after poor election showing
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday pledged to hang on after his party suffered the worst local election losses for a governing faction in decades.
Misunderstandings test US-China ties
The US and China are both heading into a landmark summit in Beijing this week with fundamental misunderstandings of the other, analysts said.
Trump rejects Iran’s latest peace offer
Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to Washington’s latest peace proposal, prolonging the countries’ uneasy stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump trip to China to focus on Iran, AI, and trade
US officials are tempering expectations ahead of the president’s meeting with Xi Jinping.
Democratic redistricting confidence sinks as Virginia maps thrown out
The 4-3 state Supreme Court decision on Friday sets the party back considerably in the battle to redraw House seats.
BusinessEvelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Trump invites CEOs of Tesla, Goldman, Apple, and others to China
More than a dozen CEOs, including top tech and finance leaders, will join US President Donald Trump on his visit to China this week, according to a White House official.
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersUS hiring beats expectations despite Iran war
The US added 115,000 jobs in April.
Reckitt’s Kris Licht on moving at ‘China speed’
The CEO behind Lysol and Durex ‘pivoted hard’ for a new era of TikTok-driven commerce.
Activists target massive SpaceX IPO
Documents show SpaceX is looking to limit investors’ ability to challenge company management.
Businesses warn of lran war denting consumer sentiment
Major companies on Thursday warned that consumers globally will start pulling back on purchases, challenging the narrative of resilient spending despite the Iran war.
Technology
Project Colossus in Memphis in 2024. Karen Pulfer Focht/File Photo/Reuters.
Courtesy of Anthropic
Anthropic-SpaceX compute deal shows how tokens are taking over the economy
The deal is a monumental example of the new form of commercialism that has taken over the AI era.
Project Colossus in Memphis in 2024. Karen Pulfer Focht/File Photo/Reuters.Developers worry about job loss at Anthropic’s conference
The recent spate of tech layoffs tied to AI improvements instilled more fear than enthusiasm in attendees.
Courtesy of AnthropicThese tomatoes thrive on crypto and Claude
“Claude is completely in charge of a living organism,” Martin DeVido said on the sidelines of an Anthropic event in San Francisco.
Activists target massive SpaceX IPO
Documents show SpaceX is looking to limit investors’ ability to challenge company management.
Anthropic’s tie up with Elon Musk paves way for space data centers
The partnership hands a big win to OpenAI’s biggest competitor at the peak of Musk’s public feud with OpenAI.
iRobot founder faces Chinese market again
Colin Angle says he’s learned his lessons in competing with China.
Energy
Andrew Wong ASW/TW/Reuters
Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters
Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA/Reuters
Trees counter half of the world’s urban heating, study finds
The cooling effect of trees, however, is concentrated precisely where it’s less needed.
Andrew Wong ASW/TW/ReutersRare Earth Americas bets on Trump-backed mining boom
Rare Earth Americas listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the first rare earths mining venture to go public in the US since 2010 via a traditional listing.
Chalinee Thirasupa/ReutersOil drops on renewed hopes for US-Iran talks
US gasoline prices continued to rise, however, with Donald Trump running out of moves to lower them.
Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA/ReutersGulf
Andrea Bocelli meets President Donald Trump in October 2025. whitehouse.gov.
Trump’s favorite tenor secures another Saudi-backed gig
Andrea Bocelli appeared alongside the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir at the Temple of Venus and Roma in the Italian capital.
Andrea Bocelli meets President Donald Trump in October 2025. whitehouse.gov.Kuwait targets gold and property fraud
Out of 930 violations recorded last year, 544 were by jewelry companies and the rest by real estate brokers.
PepsiCo eyes local production boost in Abu Dhabi
PepsiCo franchisee Abu Dhabi Refreshment Company is spending $82 million on a new production facility in the UAE capital.
Riyadh’s uneasy calm masks a shaken confidence
Without a resolution to the war, security concerns and lower spending will hinder Riyadh’s goal to become a top global city.
Aramco profit jump proves wisdom of decades-old pipeline investment
The state oil producer lifted its dividend to the kingdom as higher crude prices offset lower export volumes.
China
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Tingshu Wang/File Photo/Reuters
Greg Baker/Pool via Reuters.
China’s exports rebound ahead of Trump-Xi summit
China’s exports rebounded in April as overseas buyers rushed to stockpile goods in the second month of the Iran war.
Go Nakamura/ReutersMisunderstandings test US-China ties
The US and China are both heading into a landmark summit in Beijing this week with fundamental misunderstandings of the other, analysts said.
Tingshu Wang/File Photo/ReutersChina sentences two former defense ministers in major corruption purge
The pair are among around 100 top officers to be dismissed or disappeared, according to a recent assessment.
Greg Baker/Pool via Reuters. Africa
Kenyan President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron /Monicah Mwangi/Reuters
Esa Alexander/Reuters
Why Macron is pushing France for an Africa strategy reset
French President Emmanuel Macron and tens of other heads of state are gathering for the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya.
Kenyan President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron /Monicah Mwangi/ReutersClinical trials are neglecting Africa, study finds
Only 3.9% of clinical trials are conducted exclusively in Africa, according to a study of five major medical journals.
Esa Alexander/ReutersKenya leads calls for rethinking how to price risk in Africa
African policymakers have long argued that global credit rating agencies overstate the continent’s risk.
South African firm scoops equity assets worth $120 million
Africa’s secondaries market is gradually taking off.
Major opposition split sparks Nigerian election scramble
President Bola Tinubu is now seen as a favorite for January’s elections.
Africa’s latest ‘first super app’ is about narrative, not strategy
A 19-year old Thiel fellow has raised millions from US investors to back a Lagos delivery startup, exposing tensions in African tech over credibility versus execution.
Security
Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters
Stringer/Reuters
Amr Alfiky/Reuters
Putin says Ukraine war is ‘coming to an end’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believes the Ukraine war is “coming to an end,” hours after vowing victory over Kyiv at a pared-down Victory Day parade devoid of its usual military hardware display.
Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via ReutersTrump rejects Iran’s latest peace offer
Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to Washington’s latest peace proposal, prolonging the countries’ uneasy stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz.
Stringer/ReutersUS awaits Iran response to truce plan as tensions flare in Hormuz
The US and Iran are getting closer to an agreement to temporarily end hostilities, according to Pakistani officials, even as tensions flared in the Strait of Hormuz.
Amr Alfiky/ReutersMedia
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Weiss deputy says CBS owners are ‘independent of the news operation’
“The convention in American journalism is that the owners are independent of the news operation, and that’s the case at CBS,” Charles Forelle told Semafor.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters Behind the Pulitzer Board’s Epstein reporting plaudits
The Miami Herald episode shows how the prize is struggling to keep up with both public sentiment and shifting media consumption.
With ‘Morning Joe’ and ‘Squawk Box,’ Versant looks to market its influential audience at the upfronts
Versant’s decision to pair the two shows for advertisers suggests that its most valuable properties don’t have to be the ones with the largest reach.
Old news: Why a former New York Times editor blocked Epstein Pulitzer
“Not the best entry,” Joe Sexton told Semafor, referencing Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie Brown’s 2018 series that effectively reopened the Epstein investigation.
Dispatch exec departs amid uncertainty
Mike Rothman’s exit comes as The Dispatch has explored a potential sale.
CEO SignalReckitt Benckiser/Handout via Reuters 
Courtesy of Government of Dubai/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
Reckitt’s Kris Licht on moving at ‘China speed’
The CEO behind Lysol and Durex ‘pivoted hard’ for a new era of TikTok-driven commerce.
Reckitt Benckiser/Handout via Reuters Dan Schulman’s plan to get Verizon back in the fight
“If somebody’s going to punch me, I’m going to punch back,” Verizon CEO Dan Schulman says in this episode of The CEO Signal.
How Dubai’s Hadi Badri builds confidence in a crisis
The Dubai Economic Development Corp. CEO says data, proactive engagement, and long-term goals can turn the Iran conflict into a “speed bump.”
Courtesy of Government of Dubai/Joey Pfeifer/SemaforAD