Flagship

Trump says Iran nuclear deal close

President Donald Trump said Thursday the US and Iran were nearing a nuclear deal. His remarks in Qatar during his Gulf tour came days after US negotiators reportedly pitched a proposal to their Iranian counterparts for the first time, during the fourth round of nuclear talks. Iran is yet to comment, but the momentum in negotiations reflects Tehran’s “stunning” pivot from defiance to diplomacy, Foreign Policy wrote, amid sanctions and the threat of war. Trump’s optimism that he can stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon offers a window into his “sometimes contradictory foreign policy doctrine,” The Washington Post wrote: He is trying to end various global conflicts “while still vowing not to withdraw from the world entirely.”

The China question in Trump AI deals

Washington’s flurry of artificial intelligence deals with Gulf nations is raising concerns among some US officials that China could end up benefiting. The US and United Arab Emirates on Thursday signed an agreement to give Abu Dhabi access to US-made advanced artificial intelligence chips; Saudi Arabia is similarly set to buy tens of thousands of semiconductors. But some US officials are trying to slow the deals, arguing there aren’t enough guardrails to stop China, which has deep Gulf ties, from accessing the chips, Bloomberg reported. US President Donald Trump’s easing of protectionist chip policies means the UAE can deepen its tech partnership with Washington, an expert said, without abandoning China, its largest trading partner.

US bond yields rise over GOP bill

US bond investors’ anxiety over President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill raised fears that Washington could face its own “Liz Truss moment.” Treasury bond yields climbed this week to levels last reached in the wake of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, when the bond market revolt caused the president to back off. Republicans’ so-called “big, beautiful bill” would cut taxes far more than spending: That drew comparisons to the former UK prime minister, who was bounced from office in 2022 after her proposed budget sowed fears that the government would have to borrow heavily to close the gap, Semafor wrote. A “repeat” of the UK crisis may be necessary, one expert told Bloomberg, to “force everyone” to get serious about fiscal discipline.

Congressional Republicans are beginning to wrestle with the possibility of their “big, beautiful bill” collapsing under its own weight, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller, Burgess Everett, and Shelby Talcott reported.

“I’m hopeful we can get there… but if not, I’d be really seriously concerned on what the actual Plan B is,” said Rep. Cory Mills. Almost a year and a half into Rep. Mike Johnson’s speakership, members are watching closely to see if he can pull it off without the president’s intervention: “It’s the speaker’s job to get this done,” Rep. Pete Sessions told Semafor.

US producer prices tumble

US producer prices dropped in April by the biggest margin in five years, new data showed, indicating that some firms have absorbed early costs brought on by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But economists warned that higher consumer prices are coming: Walmart on Thursday said its prices are expected to rise soon as its pre-tariff supplies diminish. Americans are feeling increasingly jittery about the economy; retail and home sales last month slowed sharply. While markets have rebounded on news of US trade talks and the lowering of tariffs on China, recent polling suggests most people remain concerned about a recession — an outcome JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Thursday remains a possibility.

Trump criticizes Apple over India plans

US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Apple over its plan to manufacture more iPhones in India, his latest jab at the tech giant. Speaking in Qatar, Trump said he had a “little problem with Tim Cook,” Apple’s CEO. The company has looked to diversify its supply chain away from China by ramping up production in India; after Trump’s comments, Apple assured New Delhi that its investment plans in the country are intact, according to Indian news reports. The dig over India came days after Trump called out Cook for not attending a business forum in Saudi Arabia. The president’s push for a “Made in America” iPhone is unlikely to materialize, experts say, because of a lack of labor, suppliers, and facilities.

Tariffs push carmakers to expand in US

Several major automakers are moving production to the US in response to tariffs, but it may not be all upside for American consumers. Mercedes, Nissan, and Subaru all announced plans to expand their US factories, but, Axios noted, while these are “signs that President Trump’s strategy to boost American manufacturing might start to bear fruit,” it may not mean lower prices: Parts that can’t or won’t be sourced domestically will still be subject to duties. And industry experts told Bloomberg that instead of increasing prices of cars most hit by tariffs — such as electric vehicles — carmakers are more likely to put the extra cost onto “machines that drivers are willing to pay a premium for,” likely popular gas-burning models.

First custom gene-editor treats baby

In a medical first, doctors treated a baby with a rare genetic condition using a personalized gene-editing therapy. The treatment, detailed in a report published Thursday, marks “a landmark in the 50-year quest to read and repair the code of life,” Stat News wrote: More than 30 million people in the US alone have various rare diseases due to DNA misspellings, and the baby, named KJ, was the first patient of any age to have a correction tailored just for them. Some genetic conditions are so rare that companies aren’t willing to spend years developing a treatment, The New York Times wrote, but the procedure in Philadelphia could chart a new path forward in the field, experts said.

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China tech startups no longer hide origin

Chinese startups are no longer downplaying their origin, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence venture DeepSeek. Increased scrutiny of tech with Chinese ties — as evidenced by the US’ TikTok ban legislation — led many founders to engage in “China shedding”: Obscuring their roots to attract investors. But after DeepSeek’s global success sparked renewed interest in Chinese tech firms, local startups are “promoting the competitive advantages of being Chinese,” like lower production costs, Rest of World reported. Some founders are embracing “pride and pragmatism,” one analyst said, by hiring foreign staff and complying with local regulations to avoid scrutiny faced by larger companies like TikTok and BYD.

Using AI to spot next soccer star

Soccer scouts in Brazil are using artificial intelligence to search for their next superstar. Two apps allow hopefuls to upload skills videos, which are then filtered by AI before being shown to human analysts. Brazil is huge, both geographically and population-wise, and much of it is very poor: “Street” players outside the professional teams are hard to pick up in the traditional scouting system, the Financial Times reported. The hope is AI-facilitated scouting could make discovering promising youngsters easier, especially in deprived or distant areas that lack the attention of talent spotters. A firm behind one app recently sent five teenagers to train with an elite Italian side, having narrowed the applicants down from a field of 2,000.

Reptiles originated earlier than thought

Fossil footprints in Australia suggested that reptiles originated about 35 million years earlier than thought. The group that contains reptiles — and birds, and mammals — is called the “amniotes” because their eggs have an amniotic sac that survives on land, unlike amphibians that lay eggs in water. It was believed that the last common ancestor of amniotes and amphibians lived around 319 million years ago, but the new tracks are 355 million years old, and researchers think the groups must have diverged earlier still. It also suggests that reptiles’ ancestors evolved in the Southern Hemisphere: If confirmed, it would significantly rewrite the evolutionary history of most terrestrial vertebrates, including humans.

May 16:

• Germany releases its first-quarter labor market figures.
• Japan publishes a preliminary first-quarter GDP estimate.
• The FENIX Museum of Migration, which explores migration through art, opens in Rotterdam.

A Magna Carta sold to Harvard for $27, thought for 80 years to be an unofficial copy, was discovered to be an original. Using spectral imaging and ultraviolet light, a British medievalist was able to identify continuities of penmanship — including an unusual capital ‘d,’ in “Edwardus” — also found in six other surviving documents issued by King Edward I in 1300. Originating in 1215, the Magna Carta was the first to put into writing that even a monarch, thought to rule by divine right, was subject to law. “He can’t just say: ‘Into prison, off with your head,’” the medievalist told The Guardian. “It’s the foundation stone of the western tradition of law and democracy.”