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• China is intensifying a low-cost AI price war, highlighted by Z.ai's launch of GLM-5.2, which offers performance comparable to Anthropic's systems at roughly 25% of the cost per token. • Analysts from Bernstein and Jefferies suggest this "DeepSeek moment" underscores a shift where the AI race is defined by both technological innovation and strategic autonomy. • The trend exposes India's vulnerability and heavy reliance on foreign AI models, signaling a critical need for India to develop its own indigenous, cost-effective AI infrastructure.

• Despite record selling of Indian equities by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) so far in 2026, companies linked to AI infrastructure have delivered robust shareholder returns. • Strong growth is seen in firms supplying hardware, cables, wiring, and grid systems for data centers and chipmakers, with Acutaas Chemicals and CG Power rising 93% and 45% respectively. • This trend highlights a strategic shift where AI-driven industrial demand is offsetting a broader bearish sentiment in the Indian stock market.

• An Iranian state newspaper has inadvertently highlighted the strategic weaknesses and internal pressures—political, military, and economic—forcing Tehran to return to diplomatic negotiations. • These vulnerabilities coincide with a reported trilateral agreement between the United States, Israel, and Lebanon aimed at stabilizing the region. • A key component of this diplomatic effort involves reducing the military and political dominance of Hezbollah within Lebanon.

• The Euro has weakened against the US dollar following a hawkish "dot plot" released by the Federal Reserve last week. • The Federal Reserve's updated projections reinforced a tightening bias, leading markets to aggressively reprice interest rate expectations. • This shift has strengthened the US dollar, putting downward pressure on the EUR/USD currency pair.

• Global and Indian stock markets weakened on Tuesday following a massive 10% plunge in South Korea’s Kospi index, which briefly triggered a circuit breaker. • The sell-off in AI-heavy Korean markets led domestic investors in India to book profits, causing the Nifty 50 to drop 278.80 points (1.16%) to 23,824.10. • The BSE Sensex mirrored this decline, shedding 893.39 points to settle at 76,200.68 as cautious sentiment spread through Mumbai.

Climate Change Committee chair Nigel Topping says U-turns damage investor confidence and disrupt businessesWeakening the UK’s net zero policy would disrupt business and damage the economy, the UK’s chief climate adviser has warned.Nigel Topping, chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said: “The U-turns are really damaging to inward investor confidence. If we really want to grow the economy, then investing and getting good at building stuff is essential.” Continue reading...

Prime minister was forced to row back on some policies despite strong support among voters for climate actionKeir Starmer has faced a problem no Labour government has needed to deal with before. His energy and climate policies – core to solving the cost of living crisis – have come under attack from opposition parties, which have made dismantling the agenda one of their top priorities, second only to immigration, in their pitch to voters.This is new in British politics, where a cross-party consensus on the climate and environment has held at least since the days of Margaret Thatcher. She warned the UN of the climate crisis in 1988; David Cameron in 2006 urged voters to “vote blue, go green”; Theresa May enshrined in law the requirement to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Boris Johnson championed the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021; even Rishi Sunak only tried a partial rollback of green policies as a last desperate throw before calling an election. Continue reading...

• US markets rose driven by optimism surrounding a potential peace deal with Iran, though gains were tempered by weakness in the IT sector. • Accenture shares plummeted 18%, the company's steepest single-day drop, after reporting weak earnings and lowering its full-year revenue guidance to 3–4%. • Asian markets reacted positively, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi hitting record highs with gains of 3% and 0.6% respectively.

• FactSet stock price dropped 3.07% to reach $221.29 during the most recent trading session. • The decline is attributed to a broad-based market sell-off and a weak technical outlook for the company. • This price movement reflects current investor sentiment and technical pressure affecting the stock's short-term performance.

• The Sensex and Nifty are expected to open with a sharp gap-down on Friday after the GIFT Nifty dropped 200 points. • This downward trend follows a strong five-session market rally, suggesting that investors are engaging in profit booking despite positive cues from US and Asian markets. • Market sentiment remains cautious as domestic traders focus on Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) flows to determine the next direction.

Do the concessions undermine the original objective of helping young Australians buy their own home? NoGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe noise, negative headlines and internet memes that have surrounded Labor’s capital gains tax changes since their budget night unveiling made a backdown feel like an inevitability.It wasn’t a question of if concessions would be offered but rather when and, most importantly, how much they might undermine the original purpose. Continue reading...

• Europe has published a new strategic plan aimed at achieving "tech sovereignty" to reduce its heavy reliance on foreign technology providers. • The initiative faces significant practical hurdles, including high costs for switching systems, a lack of competitive local alternatives, and critical shortages in cybersecurity and technical skills. • National discrepancies are hindering a unified approach, as seen in Sweden's cautious cloud computing strategy which balances dependency reduction with practical limitations.

Charging industry and electric vehicle manufacturers say measure could cost jobs and harm UK automotive sectorThe UK government’s plans to further weaken electric car targets have provoked a furious backlash from the charging industry and the electric car brand Polestar, which would lose out from the changes.The Labour government is expected to dilute rules known as the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. Government sources have said it will reduce a target for pure electric cars from 80% of all sales by 2030 to 50%. Continue reading...

• On June 9, major US stock indices weakened during the early trading session, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.79% to 25,724.55 and the S&P 500 falling 0.32% to 7,382.36. • The Dow Jones Industrial Average showed slight resilience, edging up 0.08% to 50,828.49, while other indices reversed their earlier gains. • This volatility follows a consensus warning from four major investment banks highlighting significant risks currently facing the stock market.

• GIFT Nifty declined on Tuesday, signaling a likely weak opening for India's benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices. • Market sentiment has been dampened by escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, which have contributed to rising global oil prices. • Investors are maintaining a cautious approach as geopolitical instability in the Middle East creates volatility across Asian markets.

• President Barrow inaugurated the National Food and Drug Quality Control Laboratory in Brusubi to strengthen the country's health infrastructure. • During the ceremony, the President addressed a previous Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) outbreak, describing it as one of the darkest chapters in the nation's recent health history. • The event highlighted how the AKI tragedy exposed critical weaknesses in the health system, emphasizing that access to safe medicines is a fundamental necessity.

British vehicles will emit extra 17m tonnes of CO2 by 2030 due to loophole allowing sale of more PHEVs, data suggestsCampaigners have urged the government to resist calls to further water down electric car sale rules, as an analysis reveals that vehicles on UK roads will emit an extra 17m tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030 mostly because of changes last year.Parts of the car industry have urged ministers to review for a second time the rules that force manufacturers to sell increasing numbers of electric cars each year. Continue reading...

• Several U.S. jurisdictions have reduced the legal authority of public health officials following backlash over COVID-19 mandates, including lockdowns, school closures, and vaccine requirements. • These legislative changes limit the ability of state and local health departments to implement restrictive measures during future health crises. • Experts warn that weakened powers increase the risk of uncontrolled outbreaks as concerns grow over diseases such as hantavirus and Ebola.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador says Washington is using investigations into governors and propaganda to boost rivalsMexico’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has accused US officials of trying to weaken the governing party to strengthen the opposition, amid rising tensions between the two countries over Washington’s investigations into several Mexican governors.“Some US officials are plotting to weaken Morena and strengthen the rightwing opposition in Mexico with the aim of restoring a subservient, corrupt, mafia-like, and cruel government,” López Obrador wrote in a lengthy letter posted on X on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Republican-led states growing renewable capabilities at faster rate as Texas emerges as clean-energy leaderDemocratic-led states are eroding their climate policies, as red states are scaling up their clean energy deployment.California on Friday scaled back its cap-and-invest program, offering more than $3bn in free pollution allowances to polluting companies. Earlier the same week, New York weakened its groundbreaking climate law, delaying a plan to regulate carbon from 2024 until 2028 and reducing emissions-slashing targets. Rhode Island’s governor, meanwhile, is attempting to roll back aggressive clean-energy programs. Continue reading...

• The BSE Sensex rose over 300 points and the Nifty50 crossed 23,450 on Tuesday, recovering from an initial opening in the red. • Global markets showed volatility, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index slipping 0.5%, South Korean equities falling 2%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 0.7%. • Market instability is attributed to conflicting signals regarding Middle East negotiations between Iran and the United States, specifically contradictory statements from President Donald Trump.

• New research highlighted by Banking Dive says bank mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. may reduce innovation in the industry. • The study, from North Dakota State University, examined how consolidation affects patenting and research incentives among banks. • The issue matters because regulators continue to weigh whether larger bank combinations create efficiency gains or long-term competition and innovation risks.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised 2026-27 budget, released May 14, projects weaker near-term economic growth for both California and the U.S. amid higher global energy prices. • The revision also lays out several business tax changes, including a permanent limit on business tax credits and a proposal to apply sales tax to software purchased online or by download. • The budget note matters beyond California because the outlook reflects broader U.S. growth concerns and could influence expectations for corporate tax policy in a large state economy.

Council of Europe members plan to change interpretation of rights laws to make it easier to deport peopleKeir Starmer’s government has been accused of trying to water down legal protections for torture victims as ministers from 46 countries including the UK prepare to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers and foreign criminals.Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is expected to agree a “political declaration” on Friday with other members of the Council of Europe, which oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR). Continue reading...

Burnham’s backers understood to be lobbying Labour’s NEC who warn against Wes Streeting ‘coronation’UK politics live – latest updatesThe rules governing Labour party leadership contests should “not be tweaked” to allow Andy Burnham to run, a member of the party’s National Executive Committee has said.With the health secretary preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer on Thursday, if he can secure the support of enough MPs to trigger a contest, allies of Burnham have warned against a “coronation” for Wes Streeting as the next prime minister. Continue reading...

• Many telecom operators and businesses in emerging markets remain vulnerable to persistent AI-enabled cyber attacks despite increased 5G era cybersecurity vigilance and standard defensive measures. • Recent high-profile incidents including CloudFlare breaches demonstrate that even major infrastructure providers struggle against the evolving threat landscape as AI enables cyber threats to mutate beyond established legacy defenses. • The convergence of limited cybersecurity maturity in emerging markets, critical infrastructure dependencies on digital networks, and rapidly advancing AI attack capabilities creates a compounding vulnerability exposure.

Homebuyers more cautious due to possible mortgage rate rises and higher inflation as sellers sit on propertiesFears of higher mortgage rates and rising inflation as a result of the Middle East conflict are leading to a subdued and downbeat housing market, according to estate agents.Demand from potential homebuyers across England and Wales has shown a “noticeable softening” recently, according to a monthly survey of estate agents by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Continue reading...

• Government considers steps to attract dollar inflows amid rupee depreciation pressures. • Policy moves aim to stabilise currency and support economic indicators. • Initiative critical for managing trade deficits and foreign reserves.