
Trump will extend TikTok sale deadline for third time, White House says
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will extend a June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of short video app TikTok by 90 days despite a law that had mandated a sale or a shutdown absent significant progress, the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump has already twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
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Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Amazon announces brutal jobs cuts as silent bloodbath tears through America
Amazon's CEO has announced brutal workforce cuts as the company increases its use of Artificial Intelligence. Amazon boss Andy Jassy said he plans to reduce the company's corporate workforce over the next few years as AI will make certain roles redundant. Jassy told employees in a note seen by the Wall Street Journal that AI was a once-in-a-lifetime technological advancement and it has already transformed how Amazon operates. 'As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,' he wrote in the memo. It is not yet clear how many workers will lose their jobs and when the cuts will come. 'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce,' Jassy explained. Those close to the matter told the Journal that a large chunk of the decrease in headcount would hopefully occur via attrition. This means as employees move on their roles will not be filled. However, this will not cover all of the reductions and layoffs are still expected to occur at some point. Amazon is the second largest employer in the country and is seen as a bellwether for employment stability. The company has already slowed hiring, suggesting AI is already influencing the company's staffing needs. It is also clear the company is betting big on the new technology, after it revealed plans to splash $100 billion on data centers that AI depends on. It has pumped further billions into the AI startup Anthropic, the CEO of which recently warned AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs. Amazon has already begun rolling out AI features on Alexa personal assistant and advertising. Jassy said he is confident that more generative AI agents will push the company forward. 'Agents will allow us to start almost everything from a more advanced starting point,' he wrote. 'We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,' he added. The Amazon boss said AI has already changed how the company interacts with consumers Amazon inflicted a wave of painful job cuts in 2022 and 2023, eliminating some 27,000 roles. The layoffs hit teams at Amazon Web Services as well as the company's retail and entertainment branches. It comes as Americans grow increasingly concerned about the impact of AI on the jobs market. AI is continuing to upend the jobs market with white collar entry-level jobs disappearing fastest and layoffs in tech, finance and consulting gathering pace. Earlier this month Procter & Gamble, which makes diapers, laundry detergent, and other household items, announced it would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 15 percent of non-manufacturing roles. As well as cutting jobs, P&G said it will divest a number of its businesses and restructure the organization, chief financial officer Andre Schulten said at a conference earlier this month. Part of this reorganization will involve more automation and digitization, as well as cutting down management teams, he said. Microsoft last month also announced a cull of 6,000 staff — about 3 percent of its workforce — targeting managerial flab, after a smaller round of performance-related cuts in January.


Reuters
34 minutes ago
- Reuters
Nervy markets await Fed as Mideast conflict rages on
SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) - Concerns over escalating hostilities in the Middle East stayed front and centre in markets on Wednesday, sending oil prices higher and investors rushing for the safety of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar while dumping stocks. Investors have grown increasingly nervous over the possibility of a more direct U.S. military involvement as the Israel-Iran air war entered a sixth day, with President Donald Trump calling for Iran's unconditional surrender and warning U.S. patience was wearing thin. "Clearly the Middle East issues have not been solved, and comments by President Trump just mean that things could get more dangerous in that part of the world," said Joseph Capurso, head of international and sustainable economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). "The markets are trying to figure out that risk of a big U.S. military intervention. It's hard to say exactly what the market is thinking, but judging by the oil price and currencies, they're certainly pricing in at least some risk that something goes very bad there." Oil prices extended their climb on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures up 0.33% to $76.70 per barrel while U.S. crude rose 0.45% to $75.18 a barrel. Both had jumped more than 4% in the previous session. The broad risk-off moves across markets also continued to gather pace. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab fell 0.26% as did EUROSTOXX 50 futures , which declined 0.4%. U.S. stock futures were little changed after the cash session on Wall Street ended in the red overnight. In currencies, the dollar firmed at a one-week high of 145.445 yen and held to most of its gains against other peers. The euro struggled to recover from its 0.7% fall on Tuesday, and last bought $1.1487. Sterling edged slightly higher to $1.3435, having slid 1.1% in the previous session. The spike in oil prices is a negative for the yen and euro at the margin as both Japan and the EU are major importers of energy, while the United States is an exporter. "The war has demonstrated that the U.S. dollar still retains a bit of haven status in certain situations, such as when the war is seen to raise the risk of disrupting global oil supply, and when the war diverts traders' attention away from those risks that are U.S.-centric," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. The conflict in the Middle East, combined with prolonged uncertainty over Trump's tariffs and signs of fragility in the U.S. economy, make for a challenging backdrop ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision later on Wednesday. U.S. retail sales fell by a more-than-expected 0.9% in May, data showed on Tuesday, marking the biggest drop in four months. Expectations are for the Fed to stand pat on rates, though focus will also be on the central bank's updated projections for the economy and the benchmark interest rate. "We do not anticipate much novelty from the Fed," said Erik Weisman, chief economist at MFS Investment Management. "The only area of interest may come from the new set of forecasts under the Summary of Economic Projections, which may point to slightly slower growth, combined with slightly higher inflation." U.S. Treasury yields were steady in Asia after falling on Tuesday, as investors scooped up the safe-haven bonds in the wake of latest developments in the Israel-Iran conflict. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The benchmark 10-year yield was last at 4.4027%, having fallen roughly 6 basis points in the previous session. The two-year yield stood at 3.9581%. Elsewhere, spot gold eased 0.12% to $3,384.73 an ounce.

Leader Live
34 minutes ago
- Leader Live
UK economic growth downgraded due to tariffs and cost hikes
Rising costs are set to cause 'weak' business investment and weigh on the Government's ambitions to accelerate growth in the UK economy, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said. The influential trade body's latest economic forecast indicated that the UK economy is on track to grow by 1.2% this year. It had previously predicted a rise of 1.6%. It also downgraded its growth forecast for 2026 from 1.5% to 1% for the year. The CBI highlighted that the UK has seen strong growth over the start of the year, rising by 0.7% in the first three months of 2025. But it suggested underlying activity 'remains sluggish' due to persistently weak demand and gloomy sentiment among businesses. It added that higher employment costs linked to the autumn budget, including rises to national insurance contributions and the increased national minimum wage, have impacted firms. It said this has fed into higher pricing and reduced capital expenditure and hiring among many firms. Meanwhile, higher US tariffs from President Trump's administration have also created headwinds for exports to the US and hindered investment from multinational companies in the UK. It comes after Donald Trump and the Prime Minister finalised a US-UK deal intended to slash trade barriers on goods from both countries while at the G7 summit in Canada earlier this week. Louise Hellem, chief economist at the CBI, said: 'Our latest economic forecast underlines the challenges facing businesses and the wider economy as they're buffeted by domestic and global headwinds. 'The unpredictable global outlook combined with rising employment costs, gloomy business sentiment, and subdued investment intentions means it's more important than ever that government pulls all the levers it can to set the UK on a path to sustainable growth. 'With GDP (gross domestic product) set to remain modest in 2026, there is an important opportunity for the government to fire up the growth agenda in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy. 'With the cumulative burden of increased costs being felt by firms across the economy, it is vital the Industrial Strategy helps drive a thriving environment for all businesses.'