Semafor - An intelligent, transparent global news platform for breaking stories, analysis and video

Trump and Thune’s dynamic turns the Senate ‘very chaotic’

The increasing strain between the two Republican leaders is becoming a distraction and a frustration.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Chris Murphy vs. the cults

The Connecticut senator thinks Democrats need to pick bigger fights.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) looks on during an interview with Reuters on Capitol Hill, in Washington, US.

Democrats start forging a post-Trump and post-Biden foreign policy

National security Democrats are eyeing a new future for the party’s foreign policy — and new personnel to run it.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, and Bridget Brink.

Read the Iran deal, as told by the US

A senior US official read aloud to reporters the memorandum of understanding agreed to by the Trump administration and Iran to extend the ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz.

AI CEOs pitch G7 leaders on global standards forum for advanced models

OpenAI’s Altman floated a forum to develop international guardrails over an hours-long lunch.

Trump cancels hearing for replacement intel chief Clayton

The abrupt move is sure to rankle Senate Republicans.

Republicans more likely to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, poll finds

Eighty-eight percent of Republican voters said they plan to celebrate, according to new Gallup polling.

Trump advisers weigh structure of AI stakes

Two Cabinet members preferred different ideas ahead of the government’s latest Anthropic clash, people familiar with the talks told Semafor.

Vance fronts the Iran deal as Rubio stays quiet

The vice president has become the main face selling the Trump administration’s US-Iran deal.

Gaming industry, unions push for prediction market rules in crypto bill

“Congress should not wait while this nationwide expansion of gambling continues.”

Republicans and Democrats unite: Trump’s Iran nuclear deal needs a vote in Congress

The only point of disagreement: whether the administration would heed the law that requires Hill review.

US Fed holds rates steady

The decision was an early test for new chair Kevin Warsh, who faces pressure from Trump to ease borrowing costs.

The US Federal Reserve building.

Global EV sales surge during Iran war

Global EV sales are expected to hit 23 million this year, an 11% jump from 2025, as the Iran war drives demand for cheaper electric mileage.

France’s spy agency drops Palantir

Europe’s tech sovereignty concerns have risen after the US government blocked foreign nationals’ access to Anthropic’s frontier models.

EU removes tariffs from US goods

The European Parliament approved its trade deal with the US, agreeing to reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods.

DeepSeek fundraises $7.4 billion

The AI upstart upended Silicon Valley with its cost-effective open-source model last year, and is seen as leading Beijing’s race against the US.

Research pulls back curtain on Claude

“Only about 1.6% of Claude Code’s codebase constitutes AI decision logic, with the remaining 98.4% being operational infrastructure,” a research paper from April explains.

Meta pursues muddled AI strategy

With massive borrowing to build data centers and without and enterprise business like Anthropic’s or OpenAI’s, the company’s AI strategy still doesn’t seem to make sense.

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Anthropic takes the path of most resistance

The company has miscalculated how it’s communicated with the Trump administration — and the general public — about its business.

The tech behind agentic commerce

CHEQ’s platform can figure out whether a website visitor is a bot or agent and identify what their intent is.

SpaceX wins big with Cursor

It’s likely xAI will want to develop Cursor into a full-blown harness that competes with Codex, Claude Cowork, and Google’s Antigravity.

France’s spy agency drops Palantir

Europe’s tech sovereignty concerns have risen after the US government blocked foreign nationals’ access to Anthropic’s frontier models.

Hormuz will never really be open again

The global energy trade will never be the same.

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam.

Oil prices hit three-month low over US-Iran truce

Several major banks cut their oil price forecasts.

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam.

US-Iran deal relieves energy markets

Trump insisted the Strait of Hormuz will reopen toll-free on Friday, but many stakeholders remain cautious.

Oman-UAE trade gets wartime boost

Trade between the two countries jumped to nearly $3.8 billion in the first quarter, as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed commerce onto land routes through the sultanate.

The Al Mirani Fort and traditional houses are surrounded by mountains, in Muscat.

Dubai free zone looks to expand with focus on food security

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre has developed new hubs for traders in cacao, meat and protein, honey, and saffron, in a push beyond its historical dominance in gold and diamonds.

Abu Dhabi targets private infrastructure funds

The city launched a drive to bring 55 billion dirhams ($15 billion) of private capital into its infrastructure build-out.

Trump wants Iran in ‘rearview mirror’

Details of the ceasefire deal are still a mystery and Israel’s presence in Lebanon remains a thorny issue.

Saudi nationals head south for mountain summer escape

This month, the region, Aseer, launched its summer season, aiming to draw more than 3 million visitors with 122 events across its highland villages.

Chinese retail sales fall while industrial output rises

While tech-driven exports soar, domestic retail sales remain paltry.

People walk in a square in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

How the US wins against China

To win its superpower competition with China, Washington’s push for superiority in space may be its best bet.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off carrying a NASA spacecraft to investigate the Psyche asteroid from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida,

China gig economy fears grow as AI threatens jobs

More than 200 million people are flexibly employed in China, but AI has made many of those jobs precarious.

People line up at career guidance booths during a job fair in Beijing.

The distant shocks squeezing African economies

When the US Federal Reserve announces the central bank’s decision on interest rate, the impact will reverberate across African capitals.

The Charging Bull or Wall Street Bull is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City.

Nigeria’s Dangote secures $600M for fertilizer arm

Dangote’s Lagos’ plant produces 3 million metric tonnes of fertilizer annually, a key supplier as the continent seeks to wean itself off imports in the wake of the Iran war.

Dangote fertilizer plant.

Africa renewables projects stalled over credit rating rules

A financial rule known as the “sovereign ceiling” is curbing efforts to fund much-needed renewable energy projects on the continent.

Senegal’s Ousmane Sonko open to IMF debt talks

The comments appear suggest the former premier has eased his hardline stance as the country faces a debt crisis.

Kenya plan to sell citizens’ data draws criticism

Critics say the government is looking to make fast cash, and have raised privacy concerns. Nairobi says the plan will help modernize the economy.

Flutterwave aims to become Africa’s go-to fintech firm

The company was recently valued at $3.3 billion, and despite public interest in an IPO the CEO said a listing is not imminent.

US’ Mythos restrictions heighten EU tech fears

The US government’s move to suspend foreign access to Anthropic’s powerful AI models injected fresh urgency into Europe’s plans for tech sovereignty.

EU flags

Trump announces peace deal with Iran

President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that the US and Iran had finalized a deal to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran

Japan deepens defense ties with Europe

Japan and Europe are deepening defense ties amid growing unease over Washington’s security commitments, Russian aggression, and China’s surging power.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Netflix wades into the M&A game

The streamer lost out on Roku, but has its eye on Lionsgate.

Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo/Reuters

New York Times’ Kristof quoted former campaign donors in columns

The paper had promised that Nick Kristof would disclose when someone he reported on was a donor to his Oregon gubernatorial campaign.

Progressive site Zeteo plans UK expansion

Zeteo UK is a standalone site that will begin publishing this week, with a hard launch date in September.

Politico folds E&E News ahead of broader energy push

In September, Politico plans to launch a series of energy-focused newsletters.

Former Gourmet magazine owner sues new Gourmet newsletter

Condé Nast filed a lawsuit against Goulash Unlimited, the LLC set up by the owners of a revived Gourmet site.

Honeywell’s CEO on ‘the brutal truth’ about breaking up an industrial giant

Vimal Kapur says delegation and momentum are the keys to splitting a conglomerate.

Vimal Kapur

Deepak Nath applies pressure at Smith and Nephew

The medtech CEO is standing by his company’s portfolio strategy despite calls to break it up.

Deepak Nath

How Cisco’s Chuck Robbins gets his team to ‘disagree and commit’

The longstanding CEO says a bad decision that you reverse is better than a delay.

Chuck Robbins

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