The World at a Glance
Updated 4:23pm EDT
1
The White House is studying whether to fire Jerome Powell, a top adviser said, as Donald Trump’s attacks on the Fed chair escalate.
2The head of the IRS is being ousted over a clash between Elon Musk and the Treasury secretary, The New York Times reported.
3US Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened to walk away from Russia-Ukraine peace talks if no progress is made soon.
4As the US and China remain mired in a trade war, their economic decoupling is hurting businesses and consumers alike.
5Hamas rejected Israel’s offer of a 45-day ceasefire deal, pushing instead for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.
6A US senator met with a man wrongly deported to El Salvador, in a case that has become a political flashpoint.
Gulf leaders begin diplomatic push ahead of Trump visit
Qatar’s emir met with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, while Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Tehran for talks with Iran’s supreme leader.
Russia’s president and Qatar’s emir. Alexander Nemenov/ReutersHamas rejects ceasefire deal as more Israelis oppose the war
Israeli opposition to the war in Gaza has grown, but Benjamin Netanyahu’s government appears set on expanding Israel’s buffer zones.
Ramadan Abed/File Photo/Reuters Trump’s showdown with the courts escalates as he blames a judge for creating tensions
The White House accused a federal judge of escalating tensions, heightening a showdown between Trump and the courts.
Kevin Lamarque/ReutersUS, European officials meet to revive stalled ceasefire efforts
The talks, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, centered on the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Ludovic Marin/Pool via ReutersAD
Abu Dhabi firm G42 to use locals’ DNA for medical AI
The company is looking to leverage more than 800,000 DNA samples to build an AI model for developing new drugs and offering precision medicine.
LinkedIn/G42Nigerian fintech bets on UK diaspora with remittance push
Moniepoint launched a money transfer for Nigerians in Britain this week.
Moniepoint payment devices. Courtesy of Moniepoint.Trump’s cuts and crackdowns endanger American innovation, experts warn
Trump’s crackdowns on higher education could come at the cost of the US losing some of its academic and scientific dominance, especially to China, analysts said.
Ryan Murphy/ReuterspoliticsKevin Lamarque/Reuters 
Heather Mull/ZUMA Press Wire
US Institute of Peace/Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
Trump’s showdown with the courts escalates as he blames a judge for creating tensions
The White House accused a federal judge of escalating tensions, heightening a showdown between Trump and the courts.
Kevin Lamarque/ReutersConor Lamb: CECOT is a ‘gulag’
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who is not running for anything, talks about marshalling resistance to the Trump administration.
Heather Mull/ZUMA Press WireThe GOP’s Harvard alumni side with Trump
Meanwhile, a Democratic alumnus says the president’s escalations against Harvard are unlawful.
US Institute of Peace/Flickr/ CC BY 2.0Bernie-backed El-Sayed runs for Senate in Michigan
The physician and progressive activist is jumping into Democrats’ first seriously contested primary in the state in a generation.
Trump advisers ‘bullish’ on a TikTok solution — even as China trade war heats up
The administration’s professed optimism came as the White House pushed Beijing harder.
Trump signs order removing limits on the locations of federal agencies
The new directive comes one day after an administration deadline for submission of potential plans to move offices outside the Washington, DC area.
Health and Human Services layoffs spark child care cost worries
Advocates, Democrats and some Republicans have questions about downsizing at the agency in charge of children and families.
Democrats ask watchdog to probe mortgage giant overhaul
Ten senators asked the Federal Housing Finance Agency inspector general to look at the new director’s overhaul of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac boards.
Trump tries to slash State’s funding
An internal memo making the rounds at State calls for about a 50% reduction in the department’s budget in the next fiscal year.
Labor secretary skips over culinary union
Lori Chavez-DeRemer is touring the US and set to speak at a Teamsters conference.
Ramaswamy’s lead in Ohio primary grows
He’s benefited from an endorsement from President Donald Trump, polling shows.
business
Brendan McDermid/File Photo/Reuters
Activist seeks CEO change at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
The $20 billion server-maker has struggled to gain investor approval and market share under CEO Antonio Neri.
Brendan McDermid/File Photo/ReutersActivist Robby Starbuck plans lobbying arm to make the anti-DEI revolution stick
Corporate America’s most potent adversary is planning a lobbying group for “long-term corporate oversight” of companies’ diversity policies “to ensure that this never happens again.”
White House plans to target university investments
White House officials plan to examine university endowment efforts as part of a multi-front pressure campaign on elite colleges.
Trump says tariffs will boost US manufacturers, but many are not so sure
Businesses with large production footprints in the US are increasingly warning of budget cuts and layoffs.
Watch: Semafor’s World Economy Summit Spring 2025
Welcome to the virtual broadcast of the World Economy Summit 2025 — twelve sessions over three days dedicated to advancing dialogues that catalyze global growth and fortify resilience in an uncertain, shifting global economy.
technology
Annegret Hilse/Reuters
Courtsy of Badge Inc.
Google operates illegal monopoly in online ad business, judge rules
The decision marks the second time in a year that the tech giant has been found to have acted illegally to maintain its dominance.
Annegret Hilse/Reuters‘Fuzzy logic’ encryption offers a path to safer, easier authentication
The legendary technologist known as “Darpa Dan” joined Badge, which is developing biometric authentication software accessible from anywhere, without storing user data.
Courtsy of Badge Inc.Tech carveout adds to global uncertainty over Trump tariffs
The new exemption signaled a possible softening of the president’s aggressive trade agenda, but the reprieve may be brief.
Analysis: Trump’s tariffs won’t tank the tech industry, but AI plans seem in limbo
The Trump administration’s biggest impact on the tech industry is in government-funded research and development, which will determine whether the US stays ahead.
Data center in UK becomes proving ground for new carbon capture technology
Orbital Materials, founded by an ex-DeepMind researcher, is piloting a technology to capture carbon from the hot air emitted by data centers.
An AI startup says its new tool will help investors make smarter deals, faster
Brightwave launched a new tool that’s meant to free up investors to build relationships and review more deals, the startup exclusively told Semafor.
net zero
Nick Oxford/File Photo/Reuters
Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Reuters
Costfoto/NurPhoto/Reuters
Clean energy companies paring back climate talk
Downplaying climate in corporate messaging may be a smart political move but risks putting companies out of touch with their customers, analysts warned.
Nick Oxford/File Photo/ReutersHow a trade war with China helps (some) US clean tech companies
Battery companies have been preparing for a rift with Chinese suppliers for years.
Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/ReutersChina can win an energy trade war with the US
Losing access to the US market could be great for China’s clean tech companies.
Costfoto/NurPhoto/Reutersgulf
Saudi Press Agency
Saudi ‘Crazy Speed’ sculpture moved away from F1 track
The Jeddah Corniche Formula One circuit is widely recognized as the fastest in the world.
Saudi Press AgencySmaller Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund sees growth
ADQ’s total assets are worth $251 billion, up 11% from a fund-tracker’s estimate in June, a spokesperson told Semafor.
Abu Dhabi firm G42 to use locals’ DNA for medical AI
The company is looking to leverage more than 800,000 DNA samples to build an AI model for developing new drugs and offering precision medicine.
Gulf leaders begin diplomatic push ahead of Trump visit
Qatar’s emir met with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, while Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Tehran for talks with Iran’s supreme leader.
Saudi Arabia sets world record for largest construction safety lesson
Nearly 3,000 workers gathered outside Riyadh for the session, which signals a greater focus on employee welfare as the kingdom faces scrutiny by rights activists.
africa
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Côte d’Ivoire presidential candidate Tidjane Thiam. Sia Kambou/File Photo/AFP via Getty Images.
South Africa’s new US envoy targets ‘misinformation’
Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy finance minister, was appointed this week amid mounting tensions between Pretoria and Washington.
Siphiwe Sibeko/ReutersFormer Credit Suisse CEO runs for Côte d’Ivoire presidency
The country’s main opposition party overwhelmingly endorsed the 62-year-old, who previously served as a planning and development minister.
Côte d’Ivoire presidential candidate Tidjane Thiam. Sia Kambou/File Photo/AFP via Getty Images.Nigerian fintech bets on UK diaspora with remittance push
Moniepoint launched a money transfer for Nigerians in Britain this week.
African investors led venture capital fundraising in 2024
Nearly a third of investors came from the continent last year, up from a fifth a decade earlier.
Cameroonian migrants fear for their safety after Trump ends US protected status
The US Department of Homeland Security said it was ending the Temporary Protected Status program for an estimated 7,900 Cameroonians from June.
Ghana’s gold regulator orders foreign players to leave market
The West African country is looking to curb smuggling and streamline gold trading by small-scale miners.
media
Mixed Signals: Zeitgeist genius Tina Brown on Meghan Markle, Vanity Fair, and whether we still need editors
Plus, why she doesn’t buy magazines anymore.
After NBC, Todd buys in to local news
He’s looking to spend as much as $2 billion on local news, without buying a major publisher.
New York City’s attempt to boost local media faces recriminations
A city law requiring ad dollars go to local media isn’t distributing the cash equally.
With ‘shadow hearings,’ Democrats counterprogram the right — and find an audience
They’re essentially press conferences taped at the Capitol and staged to look like committee hearings. But they’re getting views.
How Bloomberg — and ‘Bloomberg’ — drove markets and headlines
The finance data and media company has tried fruitlessly to find the owner of the “Walter Bloomberg” account, which coasts off Bloomberg’s name for clicks. But in 2025, someone like “Walter” can shake Wall Street.
security
Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters
Flickr Creative Commons Photo/NNSA
Stringer/File Photo/Reuters
US scales back Greenland visit after criticism
US President Donald Trump’s expansionist overtures are creating a ‘permissive space’ for other world leaders bent on territorial acquisition, analysts argued.
Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via ReutersDOGE reviews nuclear contractors
A review of National Nuclear Security Administration contractors has sparked concern within the agency that it could lose manpower at a critical time.
Flickr Creative Commons Photo/NNSAUK clamps down on Russian espionage, as Moscow ramps up pressure on Europe
Russia is increasingly reliant on private intelligence operatives and criminals to carry out espionage missions, UK security experts said.
Stringer/File Photo/ReutersAD