Edge

Hugh Marks confirms ABC secretly engaged recruitment firm and signals sweeping changes at national broadcasterFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastABC managing director Hugh Marks has confirmed he secretly engaged a recruitment company to look for a replacement for news director Justin Stevens after the two disagreed over the direction of ABC News.Marks said Stevens “did not know” he had begun an international search for a new head of news but it was a necessary move because they “couldn’t get agreement on the way forward”. Continue reading...

Progressive challenger to face incumbent mayor in November as former reality star Pratt trails behindNithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city council member, has advanced to the November runoff for LA mayor.She will face incumbent mayor Karen Bass, who is seeking a second term to lead America’s second largest city. Continue reading...

Support for prime minister Anthony Albanese slumps; King’s Birthday honours awardedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastProf Richard Scolyer, the world-renowned cancer researcher and former Australian of the year, has died at the age of 59.Scolyer’s family shared a statement the eminent pathologist and melanoma expert penned before his final stages of illness. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor’s proposals amount to a notable criticism of Keir Starmer’s policy in the areaUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has proposed a 20% cut to business rates for pubs with many smaller, family-run enterprises taken out of paying the levy altogether, in his first major policy initiative during the Makerfield byelection.Burnham’s plans amount to a notable criticism of Keir Starmer’s policy in the area, with the Greater Manchester mayor saying: “Labour have got it wrong on small businesses.” Continue reading...

• Global markets saw mixed reactions as the S&P 500 hit a new record high of 7,599.96, while spot gold dropped 1.16% to $4,483.29 per ounce. • Market volatility was driven by escalating tensions between the US and Iran after Iran shot down a US MQ-1 drone over international waters. • The US responded with retaliatory military strikes targeting Iranian drone and radar facilities, sparking immediate diplomatic and financial ripples.

• Asia-Pacific stock markets mostly declined on Tuesday as investors reacted to renewed uncertainty surrounding peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. • Significant losses were seen in Japan, where the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.32% and the Topix fell 1.14%, while South Korea's Kospi plummeted 1.92% and the Kosdaq sank 3.13%. • Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also retreated by 0.71%, though Hong Kong's Hang Seng and mainland China's CSI 300 managed marginal gains of 0.13% and 0.1%, respectively.

• SoftBank has pledged an investment of up to €75 billion ($87.5 billion) to develop AI data center capacity in France. • The project aims to establish 5 gigawatts of capacity by 2031, marking the largest AI infrastructure commitment in European history. • This massive investment underscores the growing demand for specialized computing power to support the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

• SoftBank Group has pledged an initial 3.1GW of data center capacity in France's northern Hauts-de-France region, with sites planned for Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain. • CEO Masayoshi Son stated that France's industrial capabilities and talent base make it an ideal hub for European AI infrastructure, with goals to eventually reach 5GW of total capacity. • The announcement was timed to coincide with the annual Choose France summit, following similar infrastructure investment trends seen with the UAE fund MGX.

• SoftBank has pledged €75 billion to construct Europe's largest artificial intelligence facility in France. • The investment is led by CEO Masayoshi Son, who aims to position France as the central hub for his global AI expansion strategy. • This massive project underscores the growing competition to secure AI infrastructure and highlights France's emergence as a key European tech destination.

• The Euro (EUR) is trading sideways against the British Pound (GBP) on Thursday, failing to maintain a sustained move above 0.8660 despite a 0.4% rise over the previous two days. • US stock indexes climbed, with the S&P 500 reaching a record close and erasing its 2014 losses following a global growth forecast upgrade from the World Bank. • Financial shares rallied significantly, driven specifically by strong profit reports from Bank of America Corp.

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producerJamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024. Continue reading...

• A new arXiv paper introduces a multi-persona agent pod platform designed to support investment research using knowledge-graph memory and LLM-driven analysis. • The authors say the system separates deterministic skills from agent skills so data ingestion and KPI extraction remain reproducible while memo writing and thematic exploration use language models. • The work matters because it reflects a broader U.S. trend toward AI systems that are traceable, task-specific, and useful in high-stakes professional workflows.

• India has pledged to purchase $500 billion worth of U.S. goods over the next five years, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. • The agreement focuses on critical sectors including energy, technology, and agriculture to strengthen bilateral trade. • This strategic move aims to reduce the U.S. trade deficit while providing India with the essential infrastructure and tech needed to fuel economic growth.

• Global hedge funds significantly increased their investments in AI-related stocks during the second quarter of 2026. • According to a report from Goldman Sachs, chipmakers including Intel and Lam Research have emerged as top holdings for these funds. • This trend highlights a growing institutional confidence in the long-term scalability and profitability of AI hardware infrastructure.

• India is struggling to maintain its global market edge as artificial intelligence becomes the primary driver of economic growth, surpassing traditional factors like oil prices. • The country faces critical shortcomings in AI infrastructure and specialized talent, which threatens its long-term competitiveness in the global tech landscape. • This gap is significant because India's economy relies heavily on IT services, a sector currently being disrupted by AI-driven automation and efficiency gains.

Billionaire philanthropist’s Open Society Foundations has worked to advance justice and human rights around worldFor decades, the Open Society Foundations have worked to advance justice and human rights in Africa, the Middle East and trouble spots around the world. But the OSF’s latest major investment is aimed at a crisis closer to home.On Tuesday, the organisation, founded by the billionaire philanthropist George Soros and headquartered in New York, announced a $300m spend aimed at boosting economic security and defending civil liberties in the US. Continue reading...

Shares in Spire Healthcare jump after approach from Toscafund, founded by City figure known as ‘the Rottweiler’Business live – latest updatesThe board of Britain’s largest private hospital operator has backed a buyout proposal worth £1bn from its second-biggest shareholder, a hedge fund manager known as “the Rottweiler”, sending its shares soaring by nearly 50%.Spire Healthcare, which owns the Claremont hospital in Sheffield and St Anthony’s hospital in south London, said it had received a non-binding proposal worth 250p a share from funds advised by the activist investor Toscafund Asset Management. Continue reading...

• Global hedge funds ramped up investments in Asia, with weekly buying of South Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese stocks reaching a 10-year high for the week ending May 7, according to a Morgan Stanley report. • The surge, the heaviest in over a decade in notional terms, was driven by clients across all regions and strategies targeting Asia's technology sector amid the AI boom. • Hedge funds' net exposure to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan has risen to its highest since 2010, now at about 19% of global positioning, focusing on semiconductors and hardware in the AI supply chain.

• Buriram United defeated Johor Darul Ta'zim 3-1 in the first leg of the ASEAN Club Championship semifinals last week. • The Thai club heads into the second leg on Wednesday with a two-goal advantage, leveraging their recent mental dominance in head-to-head matchups. • This matchup highlights the intense rivalry in Southeast Asian club football, with Buriram aiming to advance to the final.

• Chiba Jets defeated Gunma Credit CT 72-68 in a tight Japanese basketball league game. • The Jets showcased exceptional free-throw accuracy, converting 19-of-22 attempts for an 86.4% success rate. • American forward performance was pivotal in securing the narrow victory for Chiba.

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson says his objective is to ‘defeat’ changes to capital gains and negative gearing. Follow today’s news liveSee all our Australia budget 2026 coverageGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Coalition said last night it would repeal changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing if elected as it tried to hit back at Labor’s budget measures.The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, told Sky News the prime minister promised not to touch the incentives during last year’s election campaign and that therefore Labor did not have a mandate for the reforms.We’ll repeal these measures if necessary, but our objective is to defeat them and to make sure that they’re never legislated. Because this government doesn’t have licence from the Australian community support these changes. Continue reading...

• On May 7, 2026, NEC Corporation unveiled its first quantum‑inspired AI accelerator chip, the “Q‑Neuron B1,” designed for edge‑computing devices such as industrial robots, drones, and smart‑city sensors. • The chip reportedly delivers a 3.2x improvement in inference latency over prior NEC ASICs while consuming 38% less power, enabling real‑time video analytics at up to 7680×4320 resolution on low‑bandwidth edge nodes. • NEC aims to ship the first commercial batches to Japanese manufacturers and municipal networks by Q3 2026, with plans to license the architecture to South Korean and Taiwanese partners.

• Péter Magyar's Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza) won a two-thirds supermajority with 141 of 199 seats last month, ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year Fidesz rule. • Reforms focus on restoring judicial independence, media freedom, eliminating political influence in state institutions and companies. • The government plans to join the European Public Prosecutor's Office to tackle EU budget fraud, corruption, and fund misuse, amid increased scrutiny of Orbán-era exposures.

Promises to cut emissions and use more fuel-efficient planes fail to stop rise, with Ryanair’s carbon footprint 50% up on 2019Emissions from flying in Europe have now passed pre-pandemic levels, with Ryanair’s carbon footprint 50% higher than in 2019, research has shown.Total aviation emissions continue to increase despite industry pledges to decarbonise and the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes, driven by the massive expansion of low-cost carriers. Continue reading...

• Pinecone launched a new cloud region in Singapore to serve the Asia-Pacific market, expanding its AI knowledge infrastructure capabilities across the region. • The Singapore region deployment positions Pinecone as a key provider for enterprise AI applications requiring low-latency data access and localized infrastructure in Southeast Asia. • This expansion reflects growing demand from regional organizations for specialized AI infrastructure and vector database services supporting advanced analytics and machine learning workloads.

Letter from House Democrats to secretary of state calls for end to ambiguity over Israel’s nuclear weapons programsHouse Democrats have asked secretary of state Marco Rubio to publicly announce that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, arguing that Washington must end decades of ambiguity over the issue amid the conflict with Iran.In a letter sent on Monday, 30 Democrats wrote that it was unsustainable for Donald Trump to collaborate with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a military campaign against Iran – with the stated goal of preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon – without publicly acknowledging the US ally’s possession of the bomb. Continue reading...

• Finance leaders from China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN nations convened in Samarkand to address regional economic stability. • They committed to closely monitor and act against excessive volatility in financial markets amid global uncertainties. • The pledge underscores coordinated efforts to mitigate risks from geopolitical tensions and market fluctuations impacting Asia.

• Indian men's team fought back to narrowly defeat Slovakia in a key match at the World Table Tennis Team Championships. • The event continues with more matches featuring Indian players. • This win boosts India's standing in the ongoing international competition.