Category: Semafor

US consumer inflation rose mildly, increasing 0.1% in July, in line with economists’ expectations. The results, which put the annual rate at 3.4%, ease pressures on the Federal Reserve as it weighs an interest rate hike in September. The inflation data, along with a weak July jobs report, bolster the ...

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, a leading architect of the country’s economic rise, has died aged 97. Zhu’s signal accomplishment was steering China into the World Trade Organization in 2001, after laying the groundwork with a host of reforms: overhauling the tax system, commercializing state banks, and smashing the “iron ...

Former Disney chief Bob Iger and investor Josh Kushner are buying the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers for a record-setting $12.5 billion, just 14 months after the team sold for $10 billion. Valuations for professional sports franchises have soared to eye-popping levels, as billionaires search for a dwindling number of trophy ...

Germany’s cabinet approved new rules for its spies Wednesday to lift World War II-era restrictions on offensive cyber operations, sabotage, and espionage. The changes augur a “revolution” in Berlin’s intelligence infrastructure, the German interior minister said, fueled by a growing perception across Europe that the threat of Russian sabotage and ...

Cloud provider CoreWeave’s stock surged 19% Wednesday, as it joined a parade of firms providing critical AI infrastructure for hyperscalers reporting record demand. Taiwanese electronics maker Foxconn also beat forecasts, with cloud and networking services accounting for more than half of its revenue for the first time. The race to ...

A new African sovereign bond exchange-traded fund has launched with up to $250 million in commitments. Its backers are betting it can help unlock a much bigger market for African sovereign debt and help reduce borrowing costs. Managed by Legal & General, the ETF tracks an African sovereign bond index ...

David’s view Over the last few days, as Francesca Hong’s Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign came undone over a tweet condemning the colonialist origins of Thanksgiving, I flashed back to September and a debate between two Democratic strategists. On one side of the Persuasion 2025 stage was Sarah Longwell, a former Republican ...

Nigeria is rolling out tax incentives to attract as much as $50 billion in oil and gas investment as it seeks to rekindle international interest in offshore projects. Africa’s largest oil and gas producer is pushing to revive hydrocarbon exploration in deepwater reserves at a time when global oil companies ...

The Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 2,000 people began three months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said, raising the likelihood that its true scale is far larger than previously thought. The outbreak, centered in eastern DR Congo, is caused by the rare ...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act, the US-Africa trade preference pact, is on the path for a two-year renewal after the Senate passed a government funding bill over the weekend that included an extension for the program. But there’s no guarantee that the bill will pass the House of Representatives, ...