Urges

• La parlamentare sostiene che il discorso di Keir Starmer sia stato "troppo poco e troppo tardi", ma evita di candidarsi personalmente. • Chi sono le principali minacce alla leadership di Keir Starmer nel Labour? • Catherine West, la deputata del Labour che aveva annunciato una sfida alla leadership di Keir Starmer, ha cambiato rotta e ha dichiarato di voler invece vedere il primo ministro fissare un calendario per le sue dimissioni entro settembre.

• Akamai Technologies ha annunciato un importante contratto di servizi di infrastruttura cloud del valore di 1,8 miliardi di dollari per sette anni con un leading provider di modelli AI di frontiera, identificato da Bloomberg come Anthropic. • Il titolo della società ha registrato la migliore performance settimanale dal aprile 2013, guadagnando il 42% nell'arco della settimana, incluso un balzo del 27% di venerdì che l'ha portata a un massimo storico. • Akamai fornisce servizi di cloud computing, cybersecurity e content delivery fondamentali per accelerare siti web, app e carichi di lavoro AI, in un contesto di domanda crescente di infrastrutture di calcolo.

• Il Singapore's Straits Times Index è cresciuto dello 0,3% il 7 maggio raggiungendo 4.941,96, trainato dal rialzo del 10,9% di Venture Corp a 18,28$, prima di scendere dello 0,4% a 4.921,90 l'8 maggio. • Il movimento riflette una forza selettiva nel settore tecnologico in un contesto di cautela nei mercati asiatici in generale. • I guadagni di Venture evidenziano la fiducia degli investitori nella resilienza della produzione elettronica di Singapore.

• Allison Transmission ha registrato un aumento dei ricavi dell'84% nel Q1 2026, alimentato principalmente da una recente acquisizione in un contesto di incertezza macroeconomica. • L'azienda ha confermato le previsioni per l'intero anno 2026 rilasciate il 23 febbraio, tenendo conto dei risultati del primo trimestre e dei rischi geopolitici. • Questa performance sottolinea la crescita trainata dalle acquisizioni nel settore delle trasmissioni, con implicazioni per i fornitori industriali.

• Il leader del Labour scozzese afferma di voler ritenere l'SNP responsabile dopo che il suo partito è arrivato kedua pari merito con Reform nelle elezioni • Politica del Regno Unito live – ultimi aggiornamenti • Il leader del Labour scozzese, Anas Sarwar, ha avvertito gli altri leader politici scozzesi di non trascorrere la prossima sessione del parlamento di Holyrood "gridando contro Nigel Farage", affermando che il suo compito è garantire l'esistenza di un'opposizione credibile a Holyrood "che costringa l'SNP a rendere conto delle proprie azioni".

L'ex leader del partito Liberal ha rassegnato le dimissioni come membro per Farrer dopo essere stata rimossa dal ruolo di leader dell'opposizione. Segui gli aggiornamenti in diretta

• La Asian Football Confederation (AFC) spera di tenere separate la politica dallo sport in occasione della semifinale di AFC Women's Champions League tra club femminili di Corea del Nord e Corea del Sud, che si terrà il 20 maggio presso lo stadio di Suwon, a 30 km a sud di Seoul. • La partita è fissata per le ore 19:00 ora locale e vedrà le due squadre coreane affrontarsi in un incontro ad alta tensione. • I funzionari dell'AFC hanno sottolineato l'importanza di mantenere l'attenzione sul calcio nonostante le tensioni storiche tra le due nazioni divise.

• Plaid Cymru si appresta a prendere il potere in Galles e l'SNP a mantenerlo in Scozia, ma Reform ha ottenuto grandi guadagni in entrambe le nazioni • Elezioni 2026 live: ultimi aggiornamenti • Risultati completi dall'Inghilterra, Scozia e Galles

• L'indice Nikkei 225 del Giappone è balzato di quasi il 6% dopo il ritorno dalle vacanze, unendosi ai titoli coreani e taiwanesi ai picchi record, spinto dal forte momentum degli utili del settore tecnologico legati all'IA. • Il KOSPI della Corea del Sud è cresciuto del 75% da inizio anno, diventando il mercato azionario principale con le migliori performance al mondo, mentre Samsung è entrata nel club delle aziende da 1 trilione di dollari nel contesto del rally regionale. • Il boom dell'IA sta emergendo in modo sproporzionato in Asia rispetto ai mercati statunitensi, con i titoli taiwanesi in rialzo del 45% e il Nikkei in crescita del 25% per il 2026, superando il guadagno dell'11% del Nasdaq.

Cap of 20mph in towns and cities and 60mph on motorways would cut fuel demand and combat rising prices, IPPR saysBritain should lower speed limits for drivers as part of a package of measures to reduce the impact of the Iran war on consumers, a thinktank has said.Capping legal speeds at 20mph in towns and cities and 60mph on motorways would help reduce fuel demand and combat soaring oil prices triggered by conflict, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Continue reading...

Unions group wants rate returned from 3% to 8% after big four UK lenders reveal £14bn total profit in first quarter An increased windfall tax should be imposed on the UK’s largest banks according to trade union leaders, after the big four lenders reported almost £14bn in first-quarter profits, partly fuelled by market turbulence caused by the Iran war.The Trades Union Congress (TUC) renewed its call for an increase in the current bank surcharge, which was reduced from 8% to 3% of profits above £100m by the Conservative government in 2023, as banks benefit from the high interest rate environment. Continue reading...

Tom Watson, who had role in attempted coup against Tony Blair in 2006, said move would go down extremely badly with votersLabour MPs have been urged to stop plotting to remove Keir Starmer by Tom Watson, who as a junior minister spearheaded the last attempted coup against a Labour prime minister, faced by Tony Blair in 2006.Watson’s warning came as Steve Reed, the housing and communities secretary, and a key Starmer loyalist, said Labour would risk “annihilation” if it decided to try to change leaders. Continue reading...

• U.S. startups in applied enterprise AI secured over $500 million in funding rounds announced May 4, 2026, focusing on workflow automation and analytics. • Key deals include a $120M Series B for an AI platform optimizing supply chains and $80M for defense-oriented machine learning tools. • Surge underscores investor shift toward practical AI deployments, with returns projected at 5x in three years amid 25% market growth.

• Singapore's real estate investment volume jumped 364% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, according to CBRE data released today. • The surge reflects strong investor confidence amid regional economic recovery, with total transactions reaching S$4.2 billion across office, retail, and industrial sectors. • This growth underscores Singapore's role as a safe-haven market in Southeast Asia, potentially attracting more foreign capital amid global uncertainties.

• US equities closed higher with the S&P 500 rising 0.8% and Nasdaq 100 up 0.8% to new records, while the Dow remained flat. • Apple shares gained more than 5% after reporting strong earnings driven by robust iPhone sales and performance in China. • The rally came amid a pullback in oil prices and positive corporate earnings momentum.

• The United States national debt has reached $38,967,833,861,543 as of May 1, 2026, driven by continued spending by the White House and Congress. • The debt is on track to double over the next three decades amid fiscal pressures and ongoing government expenditures. • This trajectory reflects a critical macroeconomic challenge as American taxpayers face increasing obligations tied to the nation's long-term fiscal sustainability.

• Anthropic's valuation skyrocketed from $61B to $900B in approximately 14 months, reflecting unprecedented investor interest in the AI company's capabilities and growth trajectory. • The valuation surge is driven by strong revenue performance and investor confidence in Anthropic's AI models and research, positioning it as a formidable competitor to OpenAI in the generative AI market. • The rapid ascent demonstrates the intensifying capital competition in frontier AI development, with major investors backing multiple AI startups to hedge bets on the technology's transformative potential.

Rusty Hicks concerned that Democrats could crowd each other out in ‘open’ system and hand victory to RepublicansThe chair of the California Democratic party says he wants to get rid of the state’s idiosyncratic “open primary”, calling it a failure that risks pitting a crowded field of Democratic candidates against each other to the point where a Republican can be elected governor of one of the bluest states in the US.“The current system we have does not work,” Rusty Hicks said in an interview. “It needs to be revised or repealed.” Continue reading...

State pension was ‘built for a different era’, says former PM’s organisation amid pressure on government financesLabour has been urged by Tony Blair’s thinktank to scrap the pensions triple lock amid mounting pressure on government finances.With the Iran war threatening to derail public spending plans, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the “unaffordable” manifesto pledge to maintain the triple lock should be torn up as part of a wider overhaul of the state pension. Continue reading...

Syrian officials say a group of Australians are ‘awaiting a solution’ as Albanese government refuses to repatriate themThe Trump administration says it is in “active communication” with countries, urging them to repatriate citizens stranded in Syria, while the Australian government maintains its hardline stance towards Australian women and children detained since the fall of Islamic State.A group of four women, their nine children and grandchildren left al-Roj camp, in Syria’s north-east, last Friday in a bid to return to Australia, with reports on Thursday morning that the Albanese government’s refusal to help them has left them stuck in Damascus. Continue reading...

US senator holds panel with leading Chinese scientists and warns of risks to society unless new technology is regulated The US senator Bernie Sanders espoused the importance of international cooperation in regulating AI at a Wednesday panel on Capitol Hill alongside two leading Chinese scientists.As startups and tech giants, most prominently in Silicon Valley and Beijing, race to advance and scale their artificial intelligence, Sanders has been among the AI skeptics advocating for safeguards. Continue reading...

• Backers introduced over three dozen bills in statehouses to expand raw milk access, despite public health warnings and at least five outbreaks in the past year. • Current E. coli outbreak linked to raw milk cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm has sickened nine people, half children under 5, with one developing lifelong kidney complications. • Public health officials warn unpasteurized milk harbors risky germs, alarming experts as more states legalize sales.

Four years after president’s pledge, his would-be successors are divided on how to tackle rising guerrilla attacksThe landmark 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the largest insurgent army in Latin America succeeded in some ways: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) agreed to lay down their weapons, and the violence that had racked the country was substantially reduced.But the deal alone could not end the decades-long armed conflict for good. Subsequent administrations slow-walked the implementation of the settlement, which was rejected by Farc dissidents and other rebel factions. Continue reading...

Remarks marking 250th anniversary of American independence tell US lawmakers: ‘The actions of this great nation matter’King Charles has extolled the importance of Britain’s “special relationship” with the United States in a speech to US Congress that made pointed reference to the importance of Nato, the defence of Ukraine and the climate crisis.In a speech that will be read as a veiled plea to Donald Trump to return to the United States’ traditional European alliances and restore his country’s role as a defender of liberal values, Charles said: “America’s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more.” Continue reading...

Eight EU members continue to include force or violence in their definitions in national criminal codesThe European parliament has called on the EU to draw up a standardised consent-based definition of rape, in what legislators described as a crucial step towards addressing the patchwork of laws, some of them insufficient, that currently exist across the bloc.On Tuesday, 447 of the parliament’s 720 MEPs voted to approve a report calling for a common definition of rape, centred on “only yes means yes,” prompting a loud round of applause in the chamber in Strasbourg. Continue reading...

• Delta Air Lines reported first-quarter net income of $1.8 billion, up 22% year-over-year, benefiting from strong leisure and business travel demand with average fares rising 8% despite lower capacity growth across the industry. • CEO Ed Bastian stated that forward bookings through summer 2026 indicate "resilient demand," with premium cabin bookings up 15%, offsetting concerns about potential economic slowdown and suggesting corporate travel spending remains solid. • The strong results bolstered airline sector sentiment, lifting Southwest Airlines and United Airlines stocks by 2.4% and 1.9% respectively on optimism about sustained pricing power and margin expansion through peak summer travel season.

French musician’s comments are in stark contrast to fears expressed by artists such as Elton John and Dua LipaJean-Michel Jarre has attacked the conservatism of the music and film industries over AI and urged them to embrace the technology instead of being fearful and “very anti-AI”.Jarre, one of the pioneers of electronic music in the 1970s, said while the existing creative industries were “freaking out” over the technology, artists would use AI “to create the cinema of tomorrow, the hip-hop of tomorrow, the techno of tomorrow, the rock’n’roll of tomorrow”. Continue reading...

• U.S. stock futures fell 0.46% Monday morning as Iran declined to engage in peace talks with the Trump administration, escalating geopolitical tensions. • Oil prices climbed to $95 per barrel, up from $86 three days prior, reflecting market concerns over potential supply disruptions from the Iran conflict. • Despite the geopolitical headwinds, markets have shown resilience with strong corporate earnings growth at 17% annually offsetting valuation pressures.