Author: ALJAZEERA

United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday in a bid to try and end Russia’s three-year assault on Ukraine.In the run-up to the meeting, Trump said that he believes Putin is ready to agree to a ceasefire. But his suggestion that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could “divvy things up” has alarmed observers in Kyiv.For their part, remarks from top Russian officials suggest that Moscow has tried to water down discussions about the war by linking them with other bilateral issues, particularly restoring economic ties with the…

Talks for an undisclosed stake come days after President Donald Trump called for Intel’s CEO to resign.The administration of United States President Donald Trump is in talks with Intel to have the US government potentially take a stake in the chipmaker.Intel’s shares surged more than 7 percent in regular trading and then another 2.6 percent after the bell on Thursday, following Bloomberg News’ initial report of the potential deal, which cited people familiar with the plan.It is unclear what size stake the federal government will take, but Bloomberg reports that the deal will help “shore up” a planned factory in…

When OpenAI unveiled the latest upgrade to its groundbreaking artificial intelligence model ChatGPT last week, Jane felt like she had lost a loved one.Jane, who asked to be referred to by an alias, is among a small but growing group of women who say they have an AI “boyfriend”.After spending the past five months getting to know GPT-4o, the previous AI model behind OpenAI’s signature chatbot, GPT-5 seemed so cold and unemotive in comparison that she found her digital companion unrecognisable.“As someone highly attuned to language and tone, I register changes others might overlook. The alterations in stylistic format and…

Asian stock markets see big gains amid growing expectations of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.Japan’s benchmark stock market index has topped its all-time high for a second straight day amid expectations of an interest rate cut in the United States and easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.The Nikkei 225 rose above 43,421 points on Wednesday after better-than-expected US inflation data bolstered the case for a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its next committee meeting in September.The milestone came after the Nikkei on Tuesday breached the 42,999-point mark for the first time.In the…

US president’s nomination comes after firing of agency head raised concerns about integrity of US government statistics.United States President Donald Trump has tapped an economist from a conservative think tank to lead a key statistics agency after firing its previous head over her role in the release of weak employment figures.Trump said on Monday that he had nominated EJ Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE. I know E.J. Antoni will do an incredible job in…

Trade experts express concern about reported deal linking exports controls to monetary payments.Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the United States government a share of revenues from chip sales in China as part of a deal to secure export licences for their products, US media have reported.Under the agreement reached with US President Donald Trump’s administration, Nvidia will share 15 percent of revenues from sales of its H20 AI chip, while AMD will pay the same percentage of MI308 chip revenues, multiple outlets reported on Sunday.The unorthodox agreement, which has no known precedent, comes after the Trump administration last month agreed…

Bao, widely regarded as one of China’s best-connected bankers, went missing in 2023 with little explanation.Bao Fan, star dealmaker and founder of boutique investment bank China Renaissance Holdings, has been released more than two years after being detained by Chinese authorities, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.Bao, widely regarded as one of China’s best-connected bankers, was released from detention earlier this week, the person said on Friday, declining to be identified because the information was not public.China Renaissance sent shockwaves through the country’s financial sector in 2023 when it announced it was unable to…

Miran, who currently sits on the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, has advocated for a far-reaching overhaul of Fed governance.United States President Donald Trump has said he will nominate Stephen Miran, a top economic adviser to the US Federal Reserve’s board of governors, for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment.The president announced his decision on Thursday.Miran, the chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, would fill a seat vacated by Governor Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday. Kugler is returning to her tenured professorship at…

The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has petitioned the World Trade Organization for consultations to help alleviate the steep tariffs imposed on Brazil by the United States.Sources within the Brazilian government confirmed the petition on Wednesday to news outlets like AFP and The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity.The aim is to seek relief from the 50 percent tariff that US President Donald Trump slapped on Brazilian exports in response to the country’s prosecution of a former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.That tariff — the highest Trump has imposed on any country in August — took effect on…

US president says the Treasury secretary wishes to stay in his current role.United States President Donald Trump has ruled out Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent as his pick to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Powell for not moving faster to lower interest rates, said on Tuesday that Bessent wished to continue in his current role.“I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC, adding that Bessent was doing a “great job” and had told him as recently as Monday that he did not want the…