Rise

• Film biopik 'Michael' tayang perdana di bioskop-bioskop AS selama akhir pekan pembukaan, mengisahkan kehidupan awal Michael Jackson dan kenaikan kariernya sebagai King of Pop. • Prince Jackson menjabat sebagai produser eksekutif, dengan jumlah streaming musik Jackson melonjak 95% di AS setelah perilisan film tersebut. • Film ini mengeksplorasi dampak dan warisan abadi Jackson, sebagaimana dibahas oleh kontributor Justin Tinsley di tengah minat box office yang kuat.

• HAYI telah mengambil tanggung jawab atas serangkaian insiden yang menargetkan situs-situs Yahudi, namun penyelidik mengatakan klaim terbaru mungkin bersifat oportunistik daripada didukung negara. • Polisi menangani penikaman dua pria di Golders Green sebagai tindakan terorisme. • Hanya butuh waktu satu jam lebih setelah serangan pisau mengerikan terhadap dua orang Yahudi Inggris di Golders Green, London utara, bagi kelompok teroris yang terkait Iran, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), untuk mengklaim tanggung jawab melalui saluran Telegram.

Firma insolvensi menyoroti kenaikan pajak, biaya staf, dan kepercayaan konsumen yang goyah setelah jumlahnya meningkat menjadi 62.193

• Produsen obat tersebut sempat menghentikan proyek skala besar di Inggris, namun kini telah berkomitmen untuk berinvestasi di dua lokasi, yang diumumkan oleh Keir Starmer. • AstraZeneca, produsen obat terbesar di Inggris, menyatakan akan menginvestasikan £300 juta di Inggris dalam perubahan haluan yang mengejutkan setelah menghentikan proyek skala besar tahun lalu. • Produsen obat tersebut sempat menarik proyek-proyek di Inggris setelah merasa kecewa dengan lingkungan bisnis, termasuk ketersediaan obat-obatan baru di NHS dan penetapan harga obat.

• Bank memperkirakan kasus dasar pertumbuhan PDB akan berada di angka 0,5% tahun ini, lebih rendah dari prediksi IMF sebesar 0,8% untuk Inggris. • Business live – pembaruan terbaru. • Lloyds telah memperingatkan bahwa dampak ekonomi dari konflik Timur Tengah dapat merugikannya sebesar £151 juta di tengah meningkatnya pengangguran dan inflasi serta perlambatan pasar perumahan.

Badge holders and carers report being harassed, filmed and threatened by strangers who think they are faking disabilityDisabled people who use blue badges to go about their daily lives have said they are being harassed, questioned and even assaulted, as anti-benefits rhetoric becomes more mainstream in the UK.About 3 million people in the UK now have a blue badge, including 1 in 15 adults in England. The number of people who qualify for the scheme – which allows drivers to park in more accessible spaces – has caused some to warn of misuse and fraud. Continue reading...

• Cognizant announced the launch of its Innovation Network on April 28, 2026, a corporate investment arm targeting early to mid-stage enterprise software startups in the US. • The AI Lab validates promising innovations, while the network supports startups in turning them into products for Global 2000 clients like those in logistics and recruitment. • This initiative accelerates integration of breakthrough technologies into Cognizant's solutions, enhancing enterprise value amid rising AI adoption.

• NTT launched Scale Academy as part of its enterprise AI and security initiatives during the two-week period beginning April 13, 2026. • The academy program targets organizations seeking to develop internal capabilities around artificial intelligence adoption and implementation. • The initiative reflects growing enterprise demand for structured training programs to build AI competency across workforce and organizational functions.

• JPMorgan Chase reported first-quarter net income of $13.2 billion, up 15% compared to Q1 2025, driven by higher net interest income and a 12% increase in investment banking revenues. • CEO Jamie Dimon stated that the bank is "well-positioned" despite macro uncertainties, with the firm raising its dividend by 5% to $1.16 per share and repurchasing $11 billion in stock during the quarter. • The bank's strong results contrasted with broader financial sector concerns about rising loan losses and credit quality, though JPMorgan's net charge-offs remained stable at 0.31% of loans.

• Google's AI agent platform is taking the lead as enterprises transition from question-answering and content generation AI to systems that execute tasks and actions autonomously. • The platform enables practical AI applications in business workflows, accelerating adoption. • This positions Google dominantly in the US enterprise AI market, driving productivity gains and influencing competitive developments.

Trade union criticises airline’s plan to halve passenger numbers to the city as ‘purely profit-oriented’ Ryanair is to shut its Berlin operating base and cut its winter schedule to the German capital in half, blaming its decision on soaring aviation taxes in the country.The Irish budget carrier said its relocation of seven aircraft to other centres would reduce its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year, with flights in and out of the city served from October by planes based at other airports. Continue reading...

• A military confrontation along the Kashmir border escalated Friday when Pakistani forces fired on Indian positions near Uri, killing 12 Indian soldiers and wounding 18 others in the deadliest incident in two years, Pakistani military sources confirmed. • India's military responded with retaliatory strikes, with New Delhi claiming to have neutralized three Pakistani military positions; Pakistan denied casualties on its side but acknowledged defensive operations. • Regional analysts expressed alarm that the incident could spiral into broader conflict, warning both nations possess nuclear arsenals and recent diplomatic tensions have left few de-escalation channels open.

• The U.S. daily COVID-19 case average increased by 13.3% over the past week, though hospitalizations continue to decline according to federal data. • About 48,000 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, representing a decrease of nearly 104,000 patients over the past eight weeks, with hospital admissions down 11.7% weekly. • Alaska has the highest infection rate in the nation, followed by Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, while Puerto Rico, Florida, and Hawaii report the lowest rates.

• The U.S. market advanced 1.7% over the past seven days, continuing its strong performance with a 34% gain over the past year. • Earnings are projected to grow by 16% annually, reflecting broad-based economic expansion across sectors. • The sustained market strength indicates investor confidence in corporate profitability and economic fundamentals heading into late April.

ONS says sales up by 0.7% in March, spurred by big rise in fuel purchases and sunny weather helping retailersBusiness live – latest updatesRetail sales in Great Britain rose last month due to motorists stocking up on fuel as they watched prices at the pump escalate rapidly because of the Iran war.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the volume of retail sales rose 0.7% last month, well above analysts’ forecasts of just 0.1%, as the quantity of fuel bought hit the highest level since 2021. Continue reading...

Consumer confidence hit its lowest level since October 2023 this month, with surveys showing the cost pressures companies are facingConfidence in the UK economy has fallen sharply amid the mounting economic fallout from the Iran war, surveys show, as businesses prepare to raise their prices and consumers brace for a fresh cost of living shock.Highlighting the knock-on impact of the Middle East crisis in Britain, several closely-watched surveys of business activity and consumer confidence blamed the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran for a marked deterioration in the outlook in April. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour MP calls on DVLA to take action, saying ‘speeding, hit and runs and worse’ are going unpunishedMore than 18,000 vehicles are being used in the UK without proper records of where their owners live, it has emerged, part of what a Labour MP has called an increasing problem of “ghost owners” who cannot be held accountable for their driving.According to a freedom of information request to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, 18,260 vehicles were listed in its records as being registered to the DVLA’s own address, meaning the owner’s location was not known. Continue reading...

• United States stock market climbed 1.3% over the last 7 days, building on a 35% increase over the past year with forecasted 16% annual earnings growth. • Strong fundamentals highlight undiscovered gems like Winchester Bancorp with 3283.33% earnings growth and 49.13% revenue growth at 121.44% debt-to-equity. • Top penny stocks include Village Farms International at $2.87 share price with $344.16M market cap, signaling opportunities in resilient sectors.

• The average 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage rate in the US reached 6.218%, up 3 basis points from the prior day amid fluctuating bond yields. • 15-year fixed-rate averaged 5.450%, down 4 basis points, while jumbo 30-year hit 6.538%; week-over-week, 30-year conventional fell 6 basis points to 6.218% from 6.279%. • Rates reflect Optimal Blue data for loans locked as of April 20, signaling modest stabilization despite economic pressures from high energy prices.

Survey by global economic forum shows ‘tax wedge’ in Britain increased to 32.4% of income in 2025Business live – latest updatesTaxes on workers in Britain rose at the fastest rate among the world’s richest economies last year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.With Labour under pressure on the economy amid the Iran war, the OECD said a key measure of the total tax paid by workers and their employers rose by the most in the 38-member club of rich nations in 2025. Continue reading...

Annual March rate adds to pressure on household finances and follows warnings of slowdown to UK economyUK inflation rose by 3.3% in March amid the surge in fuel prices for motorists triggered by the Iran war.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the consumer prices index increased last month from 3% in February, adding to pressure on household finances already battered by a cost of living crisis. The rise matched City economists’s forecast of an increase to 3.3%. Continue reading...

Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as the NHS The world’s top condom producer, Malaysia’s Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain disruptions drag on due to the Iran war, its chief executive has said.Karex is also seeing a surge in condom demand as rising freight costs and shipping delays have left many of its customers with lower stockpiles than usual, CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Continue reading...

ONS data for three months to February is not expected to alter Bank of England’s decision on interest ratesUnemployment in the UK unexpectedly fell in the three months to February, according to official figures – but the fallout from the conflict in the Middle East is expected to cause a rise in job cuts.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the rate of unemployment was 4.9% in the three months to February. This compares with 5.2% in the three months to January, a rate that economists had expected to also see in February. Continue reading...

• CrowdStrike disclosed on April 20, 2026, a sophisticated supply chain attack affecting 1,200 US clients, including Fortune 500 firms, via compromised third-party software. • Attackers deployed ransomware, encrypting critical systems and demanding $50 million in Bitcoin; no data exfiltration confirmed yet. • The incident highlights rising risks in software supply chains, echoing SolarWinds breach, with FBI joining investigation.

FTSE 100 slides and UK gas prices up amid fears strait of Hormuz will be closed for extended periodBusiness live – latest updatesOil prices rose sharply and European stock markets fell on Monday, after the US seizure of an Iranian vessel hit hopes for a peace deal.Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by as much as 5% on Monday to $95.50 (£70.75) a barrel. Continue reading...

• Anthropic released Claude API with native fine-tuning capabilities on April 19, allowing enterprises to customize the model on proprietary datasets without requiring base model retraining. • The fine-tuning service supports context windows up to 200,000 tokens and is priced at $8 per million input tokens and $24 per million output tokens, competitive with OpenAI's pricing structure. • This release directly challenges OpenAI's GPT-5 announcement and positions Anthropic as an alternative for organizations seeking customizable AI solutions with enhanced safety guardrails.

• Factory, a three-year-old startup, raised $150 million led by Khosla Ventures, achieving a $1.5 billion valuation on April 17, 2026. • The funding targets AI coding tools that automate software development for enterprises, freeing developers for complex tasks. • This round reflects booming investor interest in AI automation amid US tech sector's push for efficiency.

• PepsiCo reported better-than-expected quarterly results on April 16, 2026, with shares rising 2.3% as customers bought more snacks. • Price cuts on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, and Tostitos chips announced in February helped regain demand from price-sensitive consumers. • The earnings contribute to broader corporate profit growth exceeding analyst forecasts amid market optimism.