Overshadow

• The U.S. military has concluded its 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, marking a significant escalation in regional hostilities. • These military actions have largely overshadowed diplomatic attempts to revive a collapsed interim ceasefire deal. • In a bid to revamp diplomacy, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni recently visited Pakistan, which serves as a key mediator in the conflict.

• Asian stock markets declined as investor concerns over artificial intelligence valuations outweighed Samsung's strong earnings report. • Major indices saw losses, including the Shanghai Composite falling 1.2% and the CSI 300 dropping 1%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4%. • Regional economic data showed Thailand's June inflation slowed to 2.4% from 2.8%, primarily driven by lower energy costs.

• Wall Street saw mixed results on Thursday as declines in chip stocks and AI-related winners offset gains made by the majority of other stocks. • The S&P 500 remained largely unchanged despite more than two-thirds of stocks posting gains, highlighting a narrow market divergence. • Economic data showed U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs last month, falling significantly short of the 100,000 jobs economists had projected.

• Nvidia released stellar quarterly earnings on May 9, 2026, but results were clouded by ongoing US export controls restricting advanced chip sales to China. • The company agreed to a 15% revenue-sharing deal with the US government on China sales to overturn the controls, allowing resumed exports of certain AI chips. • This arrangement highlights escalating US-China tech tensions, impacting Nvidia's growth in its largest overseas market amid broader semiconductor restrictions.

The Venice Biennale, Eurovision and Cannes are framed as artists representing their nations. But in a fractured world, national identity seems increasingly futile• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereAre the arts being drowned out by politics? A few days before the biggest week of the year in Europe’s cultural calendar, that impression may be hard to avoid. The Venice Biennale opens its doors to the public on Saturday, but talk in the run-up to the world’s largest contemporary event has focused little on the works that will go on display inside the national pavilions, and a lot on which pavilions are going to open their doors, or shouldn’t.The building housing the Russian national representation was open for press previews on Tuesday, pumping out techno, for the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It’s a decision the biennale president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, seems to have made against the wishes of the Italian government that appointed him, and could cost the festival €2m in EU funds for a breach of its ethical standards. Russia has not participated in the past two editions due to its war in Ukraine. Its pavilion’s doors will be closed to the public when the biennale opens fully on 9 May, which a Ukrainian official told the Guardian was a “meaningful step”, after the biennale’s jury resigned en masse in April, in objection to entries from countries whose leaders are subject to international arrest warrants. Continue reading...