- D.C.
- BXL
- Lagos
- Riyadh
- Beijing
- SG
Intelligence for the New World Economy
- D.C.
- BXL
- Lagos
- Riyadh
- Beijing
- SG
Walmart posts weakest sales growth in six years
The retail giant’s worse-than-expected same-store sales growth is the latest sign that consumers are feeling strapped.
Walmart posts weakest sales growth in six years
The retail giant’s worse-than-expected same-store sales growth is the latest sign that consumers are feeling strapped.
View / The software buyout wave is upon us
View / Hormuz ‘isn’t really the problem’
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:36pm EDT
1
Walmart posted its weakest US sales growth in six years, the latest sign that consumers are feeling strapped.
2The Trump administration sought to lower interest rates with rhetoric and repurchases, as US debt hit $40 trillion.
3Ukraine’s leader said the country’s Patriot missiles shortage is costing lives after Russian airstrikes killed 17 in Kyiv.
4The UK, France, Germany, and Italy condemned Israeli settlement expansion plans, as Israel clashes with its once strong Western allies.
5The US’ lead in the AI race with China is narrowing, a Bloomberg analysis found, as Chinese companies deploy advanced models at a faster pace.
6A regulation proposal from Mexico’s government has sparked censorship fears amid an already bleak press freedom landscape.
Ukraine renews pleas for Patriot missiles
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long urged allies to replenish Kyiv’s stock of Patriots.
Israel clashes with allies over West Bank settlement project
Israel sharply criticized the UK after London voiced opposition to the Jewish state’s support for settlements in the occupied West Bank.
US warns ‘long’ road ahead in Ebola response
The epidemic became the deadliest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history earlier this week.
Disentangling UAE-Iran economic ties could prove difficult
The UAE was Iran’s largest source of imports before the war, ahead of China.
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
Trump embraces divisive crypto exchange
President Donald Trump’s on-camera openness to US market access for Hyperliquid won’t thrill its domestic competitors.
Trump digs in amid signs of stalled Iran-Oman talks
The US sees talks between Iran and Oman — which had appeared to be a rare fruitful negotiation path — as stalled in recent days.
AD
Politics
Ukraine renews pleas for Patriot missiles
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long urged allies to replenish Kyiv’s stock of Patriots.
Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters
Israel clashes with allies over West Bank settlement project
Israel sharply criticized the UK after London voiced opposition to the Jewish state’s support for settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Mohammed Torokman/Reuters
Bessent teases Iran economic pressure plan
He suggested that the administration’s new efforts could affect China, saying that “it would do them a big service to get with the program.”
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
FBI steps up scrutiny of ex-congressman Swalwell
The bureau seized his electronics at San Francisco’s airport on Saturday night and executed search warrants on his DC home.
North Korea denies talks with Washington
Kim Jong Un’s sister said North Korea was “uninterested” in Trump’s scale down of military drills with South Korea.
US debt tops $40 trillion threshold
The Trump administration has sought to lower interest rates with rhetoric and repurchases.
US threatens to expand economic pressure on Iran
President Donald Trump warned countries that traded with Tehran of severe consequences.
US warns ‘long’ road ahead in Ebola response
The epidemic became the deadliest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history earlier this week.
Trump embraces divisive crypto exchange
President Donald Trump’s on-camera openness to US market access for Hyperliquid won’t thrill its domestic competitors.
Trump digs in amid signs of stalled Iran-Oman talks
The US sees talks between Iran and Oman — which had appeared to be a rare fruitful negotiation path — as stalled in recent days.
Israel to launch criminal investigations into Gaza killings
Washington had urged Israel to investigate 5-year-old Hind Rajab’s death, which was the subject of an Oscar-nominated film.
Business
Tempus AI’s biotech deal attracts investor attention
The deal would have passed by without much notice, but Personalis’ technology is crucial to building the revolutionary personalized cancer therapies announced earlier this week by Merck and Moderna.
Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Walmart posts weakest sales growth in six years
The retail giant’s worse-than-expected same-store sales growth is the latest sign that consumers are feeling strapped.
The software buyout wave is upon us
The SaaSpocalypse presents a perfect moment for PE and buyout shops.
US debt tops $40 trillion threshold
The Trump administration has sought to lower interest rates with rhetoric and repurchases.
‘Washington is the center of it all’: Carlyle embraces its roots
The private-equity firm is courting defense deals and nurturing relationships with policymakers and global officials under CEO Harvey Schwartz.
Technology
China closes the gap in AI race with US
A new Bloomberg analysis quantified the US’ narrowing lead over China in the AI race.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Moderna’s skin cancer vaccine shows promise in trial
The vaccine is built on the mRNA platform that allowed Moderna to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines five years ago.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
SK Hynix to buy back $28.6 billion in shares
The world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker acted to boost investor confidence after weeks of turmoil in its share price.
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
AI startup produces fully AI-generated feature-length film
Higgsfield AI produced ‘The Cully Hill Boys’ with a $2 million budget, half of which went to AI tokens.
Gen AI outputs are unattributable, study finds
Researchers discovered a phenomenon they call “attribution decay,” where the more data a generative model is trained on, the harder it becomes to trace a generated image to a single image from the training data.
Energy
US oil companies lock in Venezuela deals
After months of slow progress and noncommittal MOUs, international oil companies are making tangible headway in Venezuela.
Issac Urrutia/Reuters
Hormuz ‘isn’t really the problem’
A number of other factors are conspiring to drive down the volume of crude tankers faster over the past two weeks than any point during the war.
Social media via Reuters
More oil leaving the Gulf than previously thought
The US military has helped ferry crude through the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported.
Vladimir Tonic/Reuters
Gulf
Saudi intensifies $13.3 billion buildout of indoor entertainment centers
The kingdom is starting with its underserved second-tier cities, which are often in areas that attract year-round tourism because of their cooler climate.
Courtesy of Saudi Press Agency
HUMAIN teases new laptop developed with Qualcomm
The device represents a big bet by HUMAIN to broaden its AI efforts, and pits it against some large players.
Disentangling UAE-Iran economic ties could prove difficult
The UAE was Iran’s largest source of imports before the war, ahead of China.
More oil leaving the Gulf than previously thought
The US military has helped ferry crude through the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported.
US threatens to expand economic pressure on Iran
President Donald Trump warned countries that traded with Tehran of severe consequences.
China
China closes the gap in AI race with US
A new Bloomberg analysis quantified the US’ narrowing lead over China in the AI race.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
DFC funds rare earth projects in Africa
Private investors remain reluctant to finance the sector, a key battleground in Washington’s competition with China.
Steve Marcus/Reuters
China blocks EU anti-subsidies probe of JD.com
China ordered entities not to comply with an EU probe of the e-commerce giant’s acquisition of a German electronics retailer.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Africa
DFC funds rare earth projects in Africa
Private investors remain reluctant to finance the sector, a key battleground in Washington’s competition with China.
Steve Marcus/Reuters
US warns ‘long’ road ahead in Ebola response
The epidemic became the deadliest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history earlier this week.
Passengers who disembarked from a boat intercepted by health authorities wait to be tested for Ebola in Kinasha. Benoit Nyemba/Reuters
Africa Finance Corporation raises $430 million digital bond
The deal is the first by an African institution to be listed, traded, and settled on a regulated digital exchange.
Namibia’s oil boom draws global energy giant Equinor
Norway’s Equinor was bought into Chevron’s deepwater block off the coast of Namibia.
Dangote Refinery secures $1 billion underwriting ahead of IPO
The underwriting program comes from two firms, and forms part of a push towards an initial public offering this year.
Zambia’s pro-business president wins second term in controversial election
Hichilema has overseen a massive influx in foreign direct investment since taking office in 2021.
Security
Ukraine renews pleas for Patriot missiles
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long urged allies to replenish Kyiv’s stock of Patriots.
Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters
Israel clashes with allies over West Bank settlement project
Israel sharply criticized the UK after London voiced opposition to the Jewish state’s support for settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Mohammed Torokman/Reuters
Israel to launch criminal investigations into Gaza killings
Washington had urged Israel to investigate 5-year-old Hind Rajab’s death, which was the subject of an Oscar-nominated film.
Mussa Qawasma/Reuters
Media
Mexico regulation proposal sparks censorship fears
Under the plan, officials would be able to determine whether news coverage was sufficiently true or balanced, with breaches potentially costing companies as much as 1% of their annual revenue.
Raquel Cunha/Reuters
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
Tennis’ greatest battles — on the court and off
‘The Cruelest Game,’ by Matthew Futterman, details the unique psychological toll that professional tennis can take — particularly on its greatest stars.
MS NOW to launch membership program for ‘super fans’
The cable news network will roll out the program next month in an effort to grow its digital business and reach new audiences.
‘The Daily Show’ faces uncertain future under Paramount
Jon Stewart’s deal is up at the end of the year, and while there is strong interest from Paramount to renew, the two sides have yet to ink an extension.
CEO Signal
‘It’s an unbundling’: ADP’s Maria Black on how AI is changing the workforce
The payroll processor sees technology disrupting low-value tasks but making human judgment more valuable.
Courtesy of ADP/Graph Massara/Semafor
Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the coming ‘creative destruction’
The streaming pioneer says we’re underestimating how AI will change competition.
Why Max Levchin wants Affirm to act like your smarter older sister
The fintech founder sees AI threatening traditional lenders by alerting consumers to their hidden fees.
AD