Business

The US Federal Reserve has decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 5.25 to 5.50 percent. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said while inflation has eased significantly over the past year, it's still too high, and that while wage growth has slowed down, the labour market remains tight. The US central bank will slow down the pace of quantitative tightening from next month, reducing the cap on Treasury bonds it allows to run off each month to $25 billion from the current $60 billion.

To mark International Workers' Day, anti-poverty NGO Oxfam has released analysis showing that between 2020 and 2023, shareholders saw their dividend payments increase by 45 percent while workers saw their wages increase by just 3 percent. The figures highlight the growing global divide between rich and poor. Also in this edition, the company behind ChatGPT is the target of a complaint in Austria over incorrect information shared by the AI chatbot.

A court in Seattle has sentenced Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, to four months in jail for violating US money laundering laws. The billionaire told the court that he had failed and was sorry. The sentencing comes after the defendant pleaded guilty last November and paid $50 million in fines. Plus, Zimbabweans line up at banks to withdraw cash as the new currency ZiG, the sixth since the 2009 collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar, goes into circulation.

US Entertainment giant Paramount Global announced on Monday that CEO Bob Bakish was stepping down. In this edition, we take a closer look at how the company's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, may have been behind this move and why the firm's value has plummeted 80 percent in the past eight years. Meanwhile in Argentina, President Javier Milei's second attempt at getting his economic overhaul package through parliament is facing fierce opposition.

Tesla's shares surged after the EV maker won tentative approval to deploy its Full Self-Driving system in China, this as CEO Elon Musk met high-ranking officials on a surprise visit to Beijing. Plus, the French state has offered to buy key assets from troubled IT giant Atos in order to protect national interests.

A growing protest movement on US college campuses wants universities to sell off assets related to Israel's war in Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank. We take a closer look. Also, the French government offers to buy the data security operations of struggling IT firm Atos, and Elon Musk makes progress in his bid for the rollout of Tesla's Full Self-Driving service in China.

Meta announced a 27 percent jump in Q1 revenues but still saw shares tank after hours, amid fears over the social media giant's increased capital expenditure on AI infrastructure. Also in this edition: British mining giant BHP makes a $39 billion bid for its rival Anglo American, and Boeing's losses deepen.

Under intense pressure since part of the fuselage on its 737 MAX plane blew out mid-flight back in January, Boeing has reported its first-quarter results, with revenue falling to $16.5 billion and a cash burn of nearly $4 billion. Yet the figures were still better than feared. The planemaker's board has yet to name a successor to CEO Dave Calhoun, who announced his resignation last month. Plus, the EU launches a probe into China's medical device market, drawing a sharp response from Beijing.

On Tuesday, the US Senate approved a measure that would force the owner of social media app TikTok to either sell the US unit of the company or face a ban. The Chinese-owned group stands to lose a lot if it leaves the US market and is already planning to fight the bill in the courts, arguing it goes against users' free speech rights. Also in this edition, FRANCE 24's Bryan Quinn looks at Tesla's falling revenues and profits amid competition from cheaper rivals.

A war of words is escalating between the Australian government and the owner of X, with PM Anthony Albanese calling Elon Musk an "arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law" in response to Musk's social media comments accusing the Australian government of censorship. The spat stems from X's reluctance to comply with an order from the country's internet regulator to take down footage of last week's alleged terrorist attack in Sydney at a church. We take a closer look.