Month: August 2025
The UK government won’t admit it, but tax rises are coming — and there are no good options
People walk near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, near the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, central London on April 18, 2017. JUSTIN TALLIS | AFP | Getty Images The U.K. government is loathe to admit it, but economists say it’s highly likely that the Treasury will have to hike taxes in […]
Read More
Israel says it will retake Gaza City, escalating war with Hamas
Israel says it will take over Gaza City, escalating its war with Hamas even as it faces growing international calls to end the 22-month conflict. The plan, announced early Friday local time after a Cabinet meeting that ran late into the night, stops short of the full occupation of the Gaza Strip that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
Read More
Japan says U.S. promises to fix double tariff oversight
The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo’s trade negotiator said, after talks in Washington to fix what he called a “regrettable” oversight. In those discussions, Ryosei Akazawa urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that a 15% […]
Read More
China’s SMIC says Trump tariffs did not cause expected ‘hard landing’
China’s top foundry SMIC‘s co-CEO said on Friday that U.S. tariff policy had not resulted in the “hard landing” that the company was initially worried about and that strong domestic demand will keep its production capacity tight until October. Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, told a post-earnings call that the company is not consulting […]
Read More
SoftBank Group shares surge 13% to a record high after quarterly profit beat estimates
The logo of SoftBank is displayed at a company shop in Tokyo, Japan January 28, 2025. Issei Kato | Reuters Shares of SoftBank Group surged 13% Friday to hit a fresh record, following the company’s higher-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profit. This marks the Japanese investment firm’s fourth straight session of gains, and comes after it closed […]
Read More
Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as two key Wall Street benchmarks fall
Asia-Pacific markets start the day mixed Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Friday. As of 8:12 a.m. Singapore time (8:12 p.m. ET Thursday), Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark rose 1.18% while the broader Topix index added 0.87%. In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 0.13% while the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.65%. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was down […]
Read More
Instagram’s map feature spurs user backlash over geolocation privacy concerns
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images The launch of an Instagram feature that details users’ geolocation data illicited backlash from social media users on Thursday. Meta debuted the Instagram Map tool on Wednesday, pitching the feature as way to “stay up-to-date with friends” by letting users share their “last active location.” The tool is akin […]
Read More
Tesla exec leading development of chip tech and Dojo supercomputer is leaving company
Tesla’s vice president of hardware design engineering, Pete Bannon, is leaving the company after first joining in 2016 from Apple, CNBC has confirmed. Bannon was leading the development of Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer and reported directly to Musk. Bloomberg first reported on Bannon’s departure, and added that Musk ordered his team to shut down, with engineers […]
Read More
Private equity investors want their money back — but it’s tied up in ‘zombie funds’
Private equity firms are struggling to sell the companies they own — and that’s locking investors’ money in aging funds with no clear exit in sight. After years of booming deal activity following the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, the PE industry is now in a holding pattern. Managers are sitting on a growing number […]
Read More
Trump signs memo requiring universities to disclose admissions data on race
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks, as he makes an announcement on the economy, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 7, 2025. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum that requires universities to collect admissions data to prove they are not engaged in […]
Read More