Urges

Backbencher stelt dat de toespraak van Keir Starmer 'te weinig en te laat' was, maar stelt zich uiteindelijk niet zelf kandidaat.

• Akamai Technologies heeft een groot contract voor cloudinfrastructuurdiensten ter waarde van 1,8 miljard dollar over zeven jaar aangekondigd met een vooraanstaande frontier AI-modelprovider, door Bloomberg geïdentificeerd als Anthropic. • Het aandeel van het bedrijf boekte zijn beste wekelijkse prestatie sinds april 2013, met een stijging van 42% op weekbasis, inclusief een sprong van 27% op vrijdag, waarmee een recordhoogte werd bereikt. • Akamai biedt cloudcomputing-, cybersecurity- en contentleveringsdiensten die cruciaal zijn voor het versnellen van websites, apps en AI-workloads te midden van de groeiende vraag naar compute-infrastructuur.

• De Straits Times Index van Singapore steeg op 7 mei met 0,3% naar 4.941,96, geleid door een stijging van 10,9% van Venture Corp naar $18,28, al daalde de index op 8 mei met 0,4% naar 4.921,90. • Deze beweging weerspiegelt selectieve kracht in de techsector te midden van bredere voorzichtigheid op de Aziatische markten. • De winst van Venture onderstreept het vertrouwen van beleggers in de veerkracht van de elektronische productie in Singapore.

• Allison Transmission rapporteerde een omzetstijging van 84% in Q1 2026, voornamelijk aangestuurd door een recente overname te midden van macroeconomische onzekerheid. • Het bedrijf bevestigde de richtlijnen voor het volledige jaar 2026 die op 23 februari waren uitgebracht, waarbij rekening is gehouden met de resultaten van Q1 en geopolitieke risico's. • Deze prestatie benadrukt de door overnames gedreven groei in de transmissiesector, met implicaties voor industriële leveranciers.

De leider van Scottish Labour zegt dat hij de SNP ter verantwoording wil roepen nadat zijn partij in de verkiezingen gedeelde tweede plaats behaalde met Reform. UK politics live – laatste updates De leider van Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar, heeft andere Schotse politieke leiders gewaarschuwd om het volgende Holyrood-parlement niet te besteden aan het "schreeuwen over Nigel Farage". Hij stelde dat zijn taak is om ervoor te zorgen dat er een geloofwaardige oppositie is in Holyrood "die de SNP scherp houdt". Terwijl de Scottish National Party een vijfde opeenvolgende overwinning in Holyrood behaalde en uitkwam op 58 MSP's, behaalde Labour zijn slechtste resultaat sinds de devolution in 1999, waarbij ze gedeelde tweede plaats behaalden met Reform UK, aangezien beide partijen 17 MSP's veiligstelden. Lees verder...

De voormalige leider van de Liberale Partij trad terug als lid voor Farrer nadat ze was afgezet als oppositieleider. Volg de updates live

• De Asian Football Confederation (AFC) hoopt politiek gescheiden te houden van sport wanneer vrouwenclubs uit Noord- en Zuid-Korea elkaar op 20 mei treffen in de halve finale van de AFC Women's Champions League in het Suwon Stadium, 30 km ten zuiden van Seoul. • De wedstrijd staat gepland voor 19:00 uur lokale tijd, waarbij de twee Koreaanse teams tegenover elkaar staan in een ontmoeting met hoge inzet. • AFC-functionarissen benadrukten het behouden van de focus op voetbal te midden van historische spanningen tussen de verdeelde naties.

• Plaid Cymru staat op het punt de macht in Wales over te nemen en de SNP behoudt die in Schotland, maar Reform boekte grote winst in beide landen • Verkiezingen 2026 live: laatste nieuwsupdates • Volledige resultaten uit Engeland, Schotland en Wales

• De Japanse Nikkei 225 Index steeg met bijna 6% na de vakantie, en sloot zich aan bij de Zuid-Koreaanse en Taiwanese aandelen op recordhoogtes, gedreven door een sterk momentum in tech-earnings door AI. • Zuid-Korea's KOSPI steeg dit jaar al met 75%, waarmee het de best presterende grote aandelenmarkt ter wereld is, terwijl Samsung tijdens de regionale rally toegelaten werd tot de club van bedrijven met een waarde van $1 biljoen. • De AI-boom is in Azië onevenredig sterker aanwezig dan op de Amerikaanse markten; Taiwanese aandelen stegen met 45% en de Nikkei met 25% voor 2026, waarmee ze de winst van 11% van de Nasdaq overtroffen.

• Een maximumsnelheid van 20 mph in steden en 60 mph op snelwegen zou de brandstofvraag verlagen en stijgende prijzen bestrijden, aldus IPPR. • Groot-Brittannië zou de snelheidslimieten voor bestuurders moeten verlagen als onderdeel van een pakket maatregelen om de impact van de oorlog in Iran op consumenten te verminderen, heeft een denktank verklaard. • Het beperken van de wettelijke snelheden tot 20 mph in steden en 60 mph op snelwegen zou helpen de brandstofvraag te verminderen en de explosief stijgende olieprijzen, veroorzaakt door het conflict, te bestrijden, volgens het Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

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.