President Donald Trump announced a new peace pact between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he linked to US access to critical minerals. At a meeting in Washington, Trump claimed his administration had "succeeded where many others have failed," calling this the eighth war he has ended in less than a year. However, the reality on the ground is far more complicated, as fighting in eastern Congo continues despite the signing of the previous peace agreement. The agreement is not just about a ceasefire; it also concerns the mineral trade. The agreement grants US companies access...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like crypto. Concerns that AI-based stocks are overvalued and that massive infrastructure spending hasn't kept pace with revenues have further fueled market jitters. Meanwhile, market fear indicators such as the volatility index (VIX) surged above levels that typically alert traders, while Bitcoin fell below its lowest level since April. As risk appetite weakened, US government bonds strengthened and...
President Donald Trump's tariff increases on imports from foreign countries will reduce U.S. deficits by $3 trillion if they are maintained through 2035, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Thursday, instead of the $4 trillion the agency projected in August. The CBO based its latest estimate on tariffs imposed by Trump between January 6 and November 15. It said that primary deficits would be reduced by $2.5 trillion over 11 years, with government borrowing costs falling by around $500 billion as a result. The August estimate was $3.3 trillion and $700 billion,...
US job growth accelerated in September and the unemployment rate rose slightly, suggesting the labor market was showing signs of stabilization before the government shutdown. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 after declining the previous month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Hourly earnings rose 0.2% from the previous month. The September jobs report, originally scheduled for October 3, was the first important data point missed during the government shutdown. However, because the BLS had completed data collection by...
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive order that would seek to preempt state laws on artificial intelligence through lawsuits and by withholding federal funding, according to a draft of the order seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The move, which is likely to face pushback from states, shows how far Trump is willing to go to help AI companies overcome a patchwork of laws they say stifle innovation. A White House official told Reuters that until officially announced, discussion of potential executive orders was speculation. The order would task Attorney General Pam Bondi with...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a single federal framework to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that differing state-level rules could impede investment and allow China to gain an edge. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said AI investment was helping make the U.S. economy the "hottest" in the world, but argued that state regulations risked weakening the sector. He criticised efforts by some states to embed diversity and inclusion standards into AI systems, claiming they would produce what he called "woke AI." "We MUST have one Federal Standard instead...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
President Donald Trump announced a new peace pact between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he linked to US access to critical minerals. At a meeting in Washington, Trump claimed...