Economy
The US central bank's favored measure of inflation accelerated last month, according to government data published Friday, pushing back the chances of an interest rate cut this summer. The data published Friday also show that personal income accelerated last month, rising by 0.5 percent in March from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said.
The European Union on Friday added Chinese-founded online retailer Shein to its list of digital companies that are large enough to come under stricter safety curbs. The company joins Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube in a list of 23 "very large online platforms", which have more than 45 million monthly active users in the European Union.
Markets were mixed on Friday after forecast-topping earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet helped soothe worries that a tech-fuelled rally may have been overdone, while the yen hit a fresh 34-year low after the Bank of Japan stood pat on interest rates.
BHP's multi-billion-dollar bid to buy rival Anglo American promises to be the largest mining merger deal in decades, and one driven by the race for cleaner energy and green metals. Analysts say the rationale behind BHP's near US$40 billion bid can be summed up in one word: copper.
British mining giant Anglo American on Friday rejected a blockbuster $38.8-billion takeover bid from Australian rival BHP, slamming it as "highly unattractive" and "opportunistic". "The proposed structure is also highly unattractive, creating substantial uncertainty and execution risk borne almost entirely by Anglo American, its shareholders and its other stakeholders."
The Bank of Japan was widely expected to keep its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday but analysts say the tumbling yen is putting pressure on officials to act. The central bank ditched its negative interest rate policy in March as it announced its first hike in 17 years, giving a brief lift to the yen.
The first jeepneys rolled onto the streets of the Philippines just after World War II -- noisy, smoke-belching vehicles initially made from leftover US Jeeps that became a national symbol. - 'Spirit of the jeepney' - Teodoro Caparino, who has been driving a jeepney for 35 years, hopes the government will decide to fix existing jeepneys rather than replace them with "Chinese-made vehicles".
Corruption in Venezuela's oil industry is a many-headed monster that has devoured billions of dollars in taxpayers' money in the past 20 years, experts say. To date, oil-related graft has cost the country tens of billions of dollars, with "very little chance of getting it back," she said.
They can't bring back their children, siblings or partners, but five years on, the families of the 2019 Boeing crash victims want to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again. Ike Riffel, who lost his two children in the crash, said he is hopeful that the group of family members can get justice for the victims.
Economy
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