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Putin vows response to Ukraine attack

Moscow is planning to retaliate after Ukraine’s surprise drone strike over the weekend, US President Donald Trump said after speaking to Russia’s leader Wednesday. Vladimir Putin insisted “very strongly” that Moscow must respond to the attack on Russian airfields, Trump said, setting up a further escalation in the conflict even as the US pushes for a ceasefire. Trump said his conversation with Putin was not one “that will lead to immediate peace”: He is growing frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine, The New York Times reported. Trump’s policy toward the Kremlin is “at a dead end,” international relations scholar Edward Fishman wrote in Foreign Affairs, arguing the White House should work with Congress to pursue tough, targeted oil sanctions on Russia.

Trump blasts Fed after weak jobs data

US President Donald Trump renewed his clash with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after new jobs data suggested hiring is slowing. The private sector added just 37,000 jobs last month, down from 60,000 in April and well below the 110,000 expected by economists, according to ADP. Trump lashed out at “‘Too Late’ Powell” — despite inflation risks, the president has repeatedly urged the Fed to proactively cut rates, suggesting that he’d likely blame Powell for any coming slowdown, Axios wrote. The labor market won’t provide the same buffer for the economy that it did in 2022 and 2023, economist Claudia Sahm warned, noting that job openings have dropped and workers aren’t moving between roles as frequently.

Trade tensions imperil US-China tech deals

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are jeopardizing US-China tech deals. Chinese regulators are stalling Apple’s rollout of its artificial intelligence systems in the country, a partnership with Alibaba, the Financial Times reported. Washington, meanwhile, recently ordered American firms to stop selling chip-designing software to China, while Nvidia forecast revenue losses as a result of US chip export curbs. US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “extremely hard to make a deal with,” a sign that the private-sector pain could persist as geopolitical friction escalates. Trump is reportedly fixated on holding a call with Xi directly, but China has given no indication it is open to one.

First test for new SK president

Trade talks with the US pose an immediate and defining test for South Korea’s new president. Left-leaning former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung took office immediately after winning Tuesday’s election, giving him little time for negotiations before Washington’s three-month tariff reprieve is set to end next month. Experts say Lee will likely try to buy time, avoid moving first to strike a deal, and see how other countries operate, The Korea Herald reported. One economist predicted Lee will pledge increased spending on US military bases in Korea and investment in American industries, while a Seoul-based professor said he may attempt to bond with Trump on a personal level: Both came from outside the political establishment, and both have survived assassination attempts.

COVID-19 wave hits Asia

COVID-19 is flaring up in parts of Asia. Thailand and China have each seen more than 150,000 cases this year, leading more people to mask up again in public; infections are also rising in Singapore and India. Experts pointed to a new variant that is more resistant to immunity, though no economic disruptions have been reported, and the World Health Organization considers the global public health risk low. The surge comes as the US has distanced itself from the WHO and adopted a skeptical stance toward COVID-19 vaccines; health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has advised against pregnant women and healthy children getting them. Those changes could make it harder to fight future pandemics, expert warned.

Conflicts add to pain facing airlines

A surge in global conflict is hurting commercial airlines, which have to factor missile and drone threats into their flight plans. Airspace closures around Russia and Ukraine, much of the Middle East, between India and Pakistan, and parts of Africa are forcing expensive rerouting, more cancellations, and higher data and security planning costs, Reuters reported. “The airline industry thrives on predictability, and the absence of this will always drive greater cost,” an aviation security executive said. Safety concerns are also top of mind, especially after Russian air defenses mistakenly shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in December. The concerns come as airlines also face economic uncertainty wrought by the global trade war.

Japan births fall to record low

Fewer than 700,000 babies were born in Japan in 2024, the lowest total since records began in 1899. Only 686,000 babies were born, down 5.7% from the previous year. The slump is outpacing predictions, The Asahi Shimbun reported: Japan’s demographics body did not forecast births to reach this level until 2039. The average woman now has just 1.15 children. Birth rates are down almost everywhere, but Asia has seen the most dramatic change. Vietnam revoked its two-child policy this week to reverse falling birth rates: When it was imposed in 1988, the average Vietnamese woman had more than four children. Now, that figure is 1.91.

The global workforce is at an inflection point. New tech continues to impact how we work, and managers are struggling as organizations undergo major changes.

Join Semafor for newsmaking conversations in partnership with Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report. Explore new data on how employees and managers are navigating ongoing uncertainty in the global labor market. Experts will discuss key findings on productivity, resilience, and well-being, and examine how leaders and policymakers are responding to shifting workplace expectations.

June 12, 2025 | Washington, DC | RSVP

Vibe coding shifts power in tech industry

The rise of programming powered by artificial intelligence is shifting the balance of power in Silicon Valley. Known as “vibe coding,” the practice involves using AI to develop software, instead of writing the code manually; it is “sweeping the upper echelons of the startup ecosystem,” Semafor’s Rachyl Jones reported. Coding talent was once the tech industry’s most coveted resource. But the swift improvement of AI models opens the door to “anyone who has a great idea,” even if they have zero training. The chief technology officer of one startup said his full-time job is telling AI what to build. Some are alarmed by the potential for AI to eliminate entry-level white-collar jobs, though; experts have also raised security and legal questions.

AI’s role in US youth unemployment

Youth unemployment in the US is up, and artificial intelligence may be a factor. Overall, 4.2% of Americans are out of work, but among 20- to 24-year-olds, that number is 8.2%, and higher still among men: Even one young Jeopardy winner with a master’s degree and $60,000 in quiz-show winnings is a “stay-at-home son,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Part of the problem may be that entry-level jobs are increasingly being replaced by AI. Basic coding tasks that would be done by a junior programmer are now automated, The New York Times noted, and a startup said one data scientist could now do what until recently required a team of 75, leaving few spots for recent graduates.

WWII bombs found in Cologne

More than 20,000 people were evacuated from the center of Cologne, Germany, after three unexploded World War II bombs were discovered. Cologne was bombed heavily by the Allies, and much of its medieval old town was destroyed. Eighty years on, the world wars are not ancient history in Europe: Thousands of bombs are uncovered each year in Germany alone, while Belgian farmers talk of the “Iron Harvest” of military hardware that their ploughs uncover. Luftwaffe bombs are regularly found in London and other cities hit by the Blitz, with 15,000 items of ordnance discovered on UK construction sites alone between 2006 and 2009: The industry has issued a guide for contractors on how to deal with them.

June 5:

• The UN’s World Environment Day is observed in host nation South Korea.
• The European Central Bank issues an interest rate announcement.
• Nintendo launches its long-anticipated Switch 2 console.

US researchers successfully recreated a 5,000-year-old pigment that first appeared in ancient Egypt. Considered the oldest manufactured pigment, Egyptian Blue was cheaper than turquoise or lapis lazuli, and used to decorate stone and wooden objects used in funerary rituals, ARTnews wrote. To arrive at a “chemically exact” compound, researchers developed 12 different recipes involving various chemicals and minerals which were then heated to 1,000 degrees Celsius for up to 11 hours to mimic ancient conditions, while the results were cross-referenced with Egyptian artifacts. Among other surprises, researchers found that the resulting pigment also activated under infrared light techniques used in forensics.

Senate Republicans have a new headache as they wrangle President Donald Trump’s megabill toward a final vote: panic on Wall Street over its proposed new retaliatory tax on certain foreign investments in the US, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Eleanor Mueller reported.

“In terms of implementation, I’m going to have to get more comfortable with it,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who serves on the tax-writing Finance Committee, told Semafor. “Going into it in its current form, I’m not comfortable,” Tillis added, citing the possible chill on foreign companies’ investment in the US.