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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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View / Africa’s latest ‘first super app’ is about narrative, not strategy
View / Trump and the CEOs go to China
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:58am EDT
1
A further prolonging of the Strait of Hormuz closure risks a historic energy shock, analysts warned.
2The Iran war will likely overshadow a litany of bilateral disputes during talks between Trump and Xi this week.
3The Iran war is hitting Asia’s economies hard, with fertilizer and oil shortages impacting food prices.
4China last month exported more EVs and plug-in hybrids than gasoline and diesel cars combined for the first time.
5The response to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has been criticized, as two former passengers tested positive.
6Mexico will close schools early ahead of the men’s World Cup, risking the education of millions already affected by the pandemic.
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 ImagesSouth Africa’s top court revives Ramaphosa impeachment probe
The constitutional court said parliament had acted unlawfully by blocking the process in 2022.
Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images
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Politics
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
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/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 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.
Irregular trades ahead of White House announcements spark major graft concerns
The “highly unusual” trades have added to calls for regulators to step up their scrutiny of senior US government officials, including President Donald Trump.
Debatable: Trump’s impact on NATO
Europe is worried that Trump may be “quiet quitting” the alliance.
Business
Brian Snyder/Reuters
US hiring beats expectations despite Iran war
The US added 115,000 jobs in April.
Brian Snyder/ReutersReckitt’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.
Brown-Forman, Pernod deal collapsed over family pride, not price
Heirs of the Kentucky whiskey empire, the smaller of the two companies, wanted more control over the combined company, people familiar with the matter said.
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/ReutersGulfDanielle Villasana/Reuters
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.
Danielle Villasana/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.
Emirates posts record profits for third consecutive year
The airline is the world’s most profitable carrier, despite the Iran war effectively shutting down its home airport at the end of the reporting period.
Abu Dhabi chemicals platform plans $10B investment
The announcement is one of the first big moves made since the government launched a campaign to expand domestic production of critical goods.
ADNOC Drilling taps AI to slash oil rig costs
The UAE national oil company subsidiary expects to invest approximately $1 billion in AI and technology in the coming year.
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
Wikus de Wet/AFP via Getty Images
Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images, Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images, and Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images.
South African firm scoops equity assets worth $120 million
Africa’s secondaries market is gradually taking off.
Wikus de Wet/AFP via Getty ImagesMajor opposition split sparks Nigerian election scramble
President Bola Tinubu is now seen as a favorite for January’s elections.
Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images, Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images, and Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images.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.
DR Congo president eyes third term
Tshisekedi is being emboldened by White House support to extend his time in office, say critics.
Dangote Cement plans London Stock Exchange listing
UK regulators are pursuing more initial public offerings by African companies.
Energy crisis pushes South Africa into classic policy trap
The government last month slashed the fuel tax levy, a temporary measure meant to ease the pain caused by rising fuel prices.
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