Global Pulse

分类： business

  • Samsung workers rally in South Korea, demanding higher pay and threatening to strike

    Samsung workers rally in South Korea, demanding higher pay and threatening to strike

    In the heart of Samsung Electronics’ flagship Pyeongtaek chip manufacturing complex in South Korea, tens of thousands of unionized workers gathered in a mass public rally on Thursday, throwing their weight behind demands for transparent compensation and higher performance bonuses amid an unprecedented AI-driven surge in global memory chip profits. Organizers said around 40,000 union members participated in the demonstration, where attendees carried hand-painted signs and unfurled large banners, chanting calls for the removal of arbitrary bonus caps while a large contingent of local police monitored the gathering to maintain order. Official crowd estimates from law enforcement were not released immediately after the event.

    The demonstration came just hours after Samsung’s cross-country competitor SK Hynix announced jaw-dropping quarterly financial results, posting all-time record highs for both revenue and operating profit in the first three months of the year. SK Hynix leadership directly attributed the explosive growth to soaring global demand for high-end memory chips, fueled by widespread investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, including data centers that power large language models and generative AI services.

    Together, Samsung and SK Hynix control roughly two-thirds of the entire global memory chip market, placing the two South Korean firms at the center of the AI boom reshaping the global technology economy. Earlier this month, Samsung forecast its own first-quarter operating profit would hit a record 57.2 trillion South Korean won, equal to roughly $38.6 billion, outstripping the 37.6 trillion won ($25.4 billion) that SK Hynix reported Thursday. Samsung’s larger profit forecast also reflects its more diversified business portfolio, which includes leading market positions in consumer smartphones and home electronics beyond its semiconductor division.

    The Samsung Electronics union, which represents 74,000 workers across the company’s operations, has argued that frontline employees have been shut out of the massive windfall generated by the AI boom. Union leaders have rejected management’s current compensation proposal, which includes restricted stock as part of bonus packages, and are pushing hard to eliminate the formal cap the company places on performance-based bonus payouts.

    If negotiations between the union and Samsung management fail to resolve the dispute by mid-May, the union has threatened to launch an unprecedented 18-day full strike starting May 21. Union officials estimate that a sustained work stoppage would cost the company more than 1 trillion won, or roughly $676 million, in lost revenue every single day the strike continues. Speaking to the crowd from an elevated platform mounted on a crane, union leader Choi Seung-ho reaffirmed the group’s commitment to its demands, telling attendees, “We won’t stop this fight until our fair demands are met.”

    While the AI boom has delivered unprecedented profits to the world’s leading memory chip manufacturers, industry leaders still face growing uncertainty in the months ahead. Ongoing conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains for critical chipmaking inputs, most notably helium, and has pushed up global energy costs, casting a shadow over the strong short-term growth outlook for the sector.

  • Asian stocks retreat and oil tops $100 despite fresh records on Wall St

    Asian stocks retreat and oil tops $100 despite fresh records on Wall St

    Asian financial markets pulled back into negative territory on Thursday, erasing early session gains that had pushed Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 across the historic 60,000 threshold for the first time in trading history. The retreat came as growing uncertainty over the future of peace negotiations to end the ongoing Iran war drove up global crude oil prices, creating a cautious mood across international trading floors.

    The downturn in Asian markets followed a record-setting rally on Wall Street a day earlier, where strong quarterly corporate earnings lifted all three major U.S. indexes to new all-time highs. Early momentum across Northeast Asian markets had been fueled by broad buying activity in technology stocks, which pushed both Japanese and South Korean benchmarks to fleeting record peaks before selling pressure pulled them lower.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 climbed as high as 60,013.90 in early trading to claim its first ever close above the 60,000 psychological mark, but ended the session down 1.5% at 58,707.60. In South Korea, the Kospi index also gave up early gains that had pushed it briefly above 6,500, closing 0.1% lower at 6,414.57. The South Korean government released upbeat first-quarter gross domestic product data Thursday morning, reporting a 1.7% year-over-year growth rate that outperformed analyst expectations, powered by strong exports driven largely by demand for semiconductors for the global artificial intelligence boom.

    Other major regional indexes also closed in negative territory: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1% to 25,865.88, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.8% to 4,073.71. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8% to 8,770.70, Taiwan’s Taiex sank 1.6%, and India’s benchmark Sensex lost 0.6%. U.S. stock futures also moved lower in early Thursday trading, following the previous day’s record close on Wall Street.

    The fading prospects for a peaceful resolution to the eight-week-long Iran war have emerged as a key headwind for global investor sentiment, even after former U.S. President Donald Trump extended a temporary ceasefire. There remains no clear timeline for a new round of peace talks between parties to the conflict, and recent escalations in the Strait of Hormuz have further darkened outlooks.

    On Wednesday, Iran fired on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one week after the U.S. implemented a sea blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard went on to seize two of the three attacked vessels, dimming already low hopes that critical global energy shipping lanes through the strait could reopen soon. Before the war began, roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply passed through the key chokepoint, but traffic has remained largely frozen since the conflict escalated.

    The ongoing supply disruption from the Iran war has sent global energy prices soaring, and crude benchmarks added further gains on Thursday. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, rose 1.5% to $103.39 per barrel, up from roughly $70 per barrel before the war began in late February. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 1.8% to $94.66 per barrel.

    “As hopes for a resolution between the U.S. and Iran fade and peace talks stall, the oil market is having to reprice expectations,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a client research note Thursday. “As hopes fade, the reality of the supply disruption will set in, leaving further upside for prices. If no progress is made, the market will become increasingly numb to the noise and headlines that have dictated price action recently.”

    The prior day on Wall Street, strong corporate earnings results and temporary optimism over the extended Iran ceasefire pushed major indexes to new records. The broad S&P 500 jumped 1% to 7,137.90, beating its previous all-time high set the prior Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7% to 49,490.03, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 1.6% to 24,657.57, also notching a new record high.

    Several major U.S. companies posted outsized gains after releasing better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova jumped 13.7% after the firm reported stronger-than-forecast profits, noting that it is also benefiting from the global AI boom via robust order growth for equipment destined for new data centers. Boeing added 5.5% and tobacco giant Philip Morris International rose 7% following their own positive earnings reports.

    In other commodity trading early Thursday, precious metals prices moved lower: spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,722.70 per ounce, while silver dropped 2.3% to $76.17 per ounce. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar edged slightly higher to 159.53 Japanese yen, up from 159.48 yen late Wednesday. The euro dipped slightly to $1.1696, down from $1.1705 in the prior session.

    AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed reporting to this article.

  • Westpac hikes fixed rates twice in 3 weeks, 6.29 per cent starting point

    Westpac hikes fixed rates twice in 3 weeks, 6.29 per cent starting point

    One of Australia’s four largest domestic banks has taken the unusual step of raising fixed mortgage interest rates for a second time in just three weeks, piling additional financial pressure on home loan borrowers just days ahead of a highly anticipated monetary policy meeting from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

    On Thursday, Westpac Banking Corporation confirmed it would lift its fixed interest rates across all loan terms spanning one to five years by 0.15 percentage points, marking its second upward adjustment in 21 days. Following the change, the bank’s lowest available fixed rate now sits at 6.29% for a two-year fixed home loan. Cumulatively, Westpac has increased its fixed mortgage rates by a total of 45 basis points over the three-week period. Even after the consecutive hikes, analysis from financial comparison platform Canstar confirms Westpac still offers the most competitive fixed rate pricing among Australia’s big four banking institutions.

    Industry analysts note this move is far from an isolated adjustment, pointing to a widespread trend of repricing across the Australian lending sector driven by growing expectations of persistently high inflation and additional RBA rate increases. Sally Tindall, Canstar’s director of data insights, explained that most major and minor lenders have been revising their pricing upward repeatedly in recent weeks as concerns mount over a resurgence in Australia’s annual inflation rate. “Our analysis shows more than 90 per cent of lenders have adjusted fixed rates higher since the RBA’s last policy decision, including all four of the major banks. Westpac and the National Australia Bank have both implemented two separate hikes in this window,” Tindall noted.

    The scale of the repricing shift is stark: just 19 Australian lenders currently offer at least one fixed home loan product with a rate below 6%, down from 83 lenders offering sub-6% fixed rates at the same time last year. For home borrowers already struggling with soaring borrowing costs, this rapid round of adjustments sends a clear message: the window for locking in a relatively competitive fixed rate is rapidly closing, Tindall added.

    Westpac’s rate hikes come as the bank’s economic team forecasts three more official RBA cash rate increases in 2026, starting with a hike at the central bank’s upcoming May policy meeting. Luci Ellis, Westpac’s chief economist, linked the expected monetary policy tightening to ongoing geopolitical instability in the Middle East, specifically the conflict that has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic waterway that carries roughly 20% of global oil trade. Since the outbreak of hostilities in late February 2026, global crude oil prices have nearly doubled, climbing from roughly US$56 per barrel to around US$100 per barrel. For Australian motorists, this translates to an extra 10 cents per litre of fuel for every US$10 per barrel increase in crude prices.

    Ellis explained that Westpac’s updated forecast accounts for extended fuel supply disruptions, as the Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively closed for eight weeks, with shipping only gradually returning to normal volumes. She added that the pass-through of higher fuel and energy costs to broader consumer prices in Australia has happened far faster than many economists previously projected. “We believe the RBA will respond to this accelerated pricing behavior by tightening monetary policy more aggressively than it would have if these cost increases had not filtered into broader inflation so quickly,” Ellis said.

  • Albanese warns of Iran war ‘tail’ as fuel reserves reach 46 days

    Albanese warns of Iran war ‘tail’ as fuel reserves reach 46 days

    In the wake of the recent ceasefire between Iran, Israel and the United States, Australia’s top political leaders gathered for the first post-ceasefire national cabinet meeting on Thursday, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a stark warning: the nation will face a long-drawn economic “tail” from the ongoing Middle East conflict, even with domestic fuel reserves now sitting higher than they were before hostilities erupted.

    Albanese told reporters following the meeting that while Australia’s near-term fuel supply outlook remains secure, the federal government is actively developing contingency plans to counter potential future disruptions to both fuel and fertilizer imports. He credited voluntary behavior changes from Australian motorists and consumers for the steady growth in national petrol reserves, which now stand at 46 days of coverage. While this is still only 51% of the 90-day minimum reserve requirement set by the International Energy Agency, it marks a notable improvement from the 36-day reserve level recorded when the conflict first began in late February.

    Even a complete, immediate end to hostilities and a full reopening of the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz would not erase the lingering economic impacts, Albanese explained. There is an inevitable time lag before global supply chains reset after two months of disrupted trade: clearing the waterway to restore safe passage, repositioning dozens of diverted or stuck cargo vessels from the Persian Gulf, unloading shipments, and returning vessels to their collection points to restart the regular supply cycle will take weeks of coordination. “So, there will be a long economic tail here,” the prime minister emphasized.

    Currently, six fuel cargo vessels are en route to Australia carrying more than 300,000 litres of diesel, and the federal government is exploring options to secure additional cargoes through the global spot market. Albanese also highlighted that the government has made significant progress in diversifying Australia’s import sources to reduce reliance on traditional Middle Eastern suppliers: the U.S., which has historically not been a major fuel provider to Australia, now accounts for roughly 18% of the nation’s fuel imports, while Argentina – once a negligible supplier – now contributes double-digit percentages of imports, and Algeria has also joined the list of active fuel exporters to Australia.

    Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen echoed the prime minister’s caution, noting that Australia still faces strong international headwinds, ongoing risks, and persistent market uncertainty over the medium term, but added that the government is leaving no stone unturned to position the nation to withstand any future shocks.

    Amid the broader economic concerns, there are small signs of relief for Australian motorists heading into the upcoming Anzac Day long weekend. Wholesale fuel prices have been falling steadily for several weeks, and these declines are now being passed on to consumers at the pump, according to Peter Khoury, a spokesperson for the NRMA motoring association. Over the past three weeks, wholesale diesel prices have dropped by one Australian dollar per litre, while wholesale unleaded petrol has fallen by 70 cents per litre.

    “Some good news finally for motorists,” Khoury said Thursday from Sydney. NRMA price tracking shows the majority of Australian retailers are now in the lower half of the national price range, with half of all Sydney service stations selling unleaded petrol for less than $1.90 per litre. “It is very clear that we’re in a better position than we were a couple of weeks ago, and that should continue into the long weekend, although looking at what is going on over the Middle East who knows how long that will last,” he added, urging motorists to compare prices using dedicated fuel price apps to lock in the lowest possible rates.

    Even with recent price declines, however, industry analysts warn that the threat of sky-high fuel prices has not passed. New modelling from Primera Research shows that Australian diesel prices were on track to hit $3.90 per litre earlier this month, a crisis that was only averted by two temporary interventions. First, the federal government implemented a temporary cut to fuel excise and paused 32 cent-per-litre heavy vehicle road user charges for three months. Second, fuel retailers voluntarily absorbed massive losses to keep prices from spiking, collapsing their average profit margins to just 1.7% – far below the standard 9.8% margin.

    “The $3.90 moment passed. But the costs that prevented it didn’t disappear; they were deferred,” said Robert Beerworth, managing director of Primera Research. The temporary federal excise cut is set to expire on July 1, which will trigger an overnight 32-cent-per-litre price increase that will ripple through the entire national economy. “Diesel moves every truck and every delivery in the country. When its price goes up, so does everything on the shelf,” Beerworth explained. Already, retailer profit margins are starting to recover to pre-crisis levels, pushing already absorbed costs back onto pump prices gradually – and the July excise cut expiry will bring all deferred costs to consumers at once. “The threat of $3.90-per-litre diesel had not evaporated,” he added.

  • Australian private sector cost inflation hits highest point since August 2022

    Australian private sector cost inflation hits highest point since August 2022

    Freshly released purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data from S&P Global has painted a mixed but largely concerning picture of Australia’s private sector economy, revealing stubborn and faster-than-expected inflationary pressures fueled by ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The April survey, which polls 400 manufacturers and 400 service providers across the country, shows that business activity stabilized this month following a contraction in March, but cost and consumer price inflation have both surged to 3.5-year highs, far outpacing economist forecasts.

    Supply chain disruptions stemming from the Iran-centered war that broke out in late February have been the primary driver of rising costs, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz cutting off roughly 20% of global oil supplies and choking off shipments of key raw materials from the Persian Gulf, including fertilizer and medical-grade helium for MRI machines. S&P Global economist Eleanor Dennison explained that Middle East conflict has put intense strain on manufacturing supply chains, pushing supplier lead times out to their longest since mid-2022. “Greater outlays on fuel and freight also pushed cost inflation to its highest in just under four years,” she added.

    The data confirms that rising input costs are not being absorbed by businesses, but are instead being passed directly to end consumers, pushing “charge inflation” – the rate at which businesses increase prices for customers – to its highest level since late 2020. While the overall manufacturing benchmark edged back into growth territory in April after contracting in March, both manufacturing output and service sector activity registered sub-50 readings (the threshold that separates growth from contraction), with manufacturing output falling from 49.4 to 48.2. The service sector, meanwhile, bounced back from March’s sharp decline to stabilize near neutral, driven by modest job creation even as demand remains soft.

    The biggest takeaway from the data, according to Judo Bank senior economist Matt De Pasquale, is that inflation is becoming more broad-based across the Australian economy than most analysts predicted. That outcome significantly increases the likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia will implement additional interest rate hikes to curb price growth, he argued. “What the data suggests is that inflation could be picking up broadly and more than was initially anticipated given that growth is holding up. That would support the RBA focusing on inflation, getting ahead of it with further interest rate rises,” De Pasquale told NewsWire.

    There are limited bright spots in the latest snapshot: the overarching composite PMI, which measures combined private sector activity, bounced back into neutral territory after contracting in March, when the outbreak of war first sent shockwaves through global markets. New business orders did decline for the second consecutive month in April, as widespread economic uncertainty dented domestic sales, but export orders to key markets including North America, Asia, and New Zealand saw a small uptick.

    Dennison warned against overstating the modest growth in the headline manufacturing index, noting that underlying indicators remain weak. “To understand how manufacturers are faring, we must look beneath the positive headline index print, as output, new orders, employment and stocks all fell at modest rates,” she said. “Despite growing price pressures and persistent weakness in domestic demand, latest data saw output stabilise following March’s decline.”

    The conflict-driven supply shock is also rippling through regional trade networks, affecting Japan – Australia’s third-largest import supplier, which shipped $23 billion worth of goods to Australia in 2025, according to UN trade data. Japanese manufacturing output surged from 52.1 to 55.4 in April, hitting its fastest pace of growth in 12 years, as manufacturers rushed to produce goods ahead of expected further supply chain disruptions. That surge has however amplified input cost competition and extended delivery times, pushing Japanese business inflation to its highest in nearly four years. S&P economist Annabel Fiddes noted that “there were reports that some manufacturing firms boosted output due to concerns and uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and the potential for further supply chain disruptions. The latter contributed to not only a much sharper rise in costs but the most pronounced increase in average delivery times for manufacturers’ inputs for nearly four years.”

  • How a pivot to hair accessories led to business success

    How a pivot to hair accessories led to business success

    Against the backdrop of post-pandemic small business turbulence and shifting consumer fashion trends, San Francisco-based artist and entrepreneur Jenny Lennick has built a thriving retail brand around one surprisingly specific niche: food-themed hair accessories. What began as a pivot away from a struggling brick-and-mortar clothing business has evolved into Jenny Lemons, a profitable accessories label that posted $2 million in revenue in 2025 and earned a cult customer following across the United States and beyond.

  • Linyi strengthens global trade links through RCEP expo

    Linyi strengthens global trade links through RCEP expo

    The city of Linyi, located in China’s eastern Shandong province, is cementing its role as a key global trade nexus after successfully hosting the fifth RCEP (Shandong) Import Expo from April 20 to 22, 2026. The three-day trade event drew hundreds of international suppliers and thousands of business leaders from across the world, creating new pathways for cross-border commerce and strengthening economic ties under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership framework.

    A China Daily US-based contributor, Douglas Dueno, was among the attendees who explored the expo’s vast exhibition halls, where vendors displayed a diverse array of goods from across the globe and pitched collaborative opportunities to visiting investors and buyers. Unlike regional trade events limited to single industry sectors, this expo welcomed participants from a wide range of product categories, spanning consumer goods to industrial materials, reflecting the broad scope of RCEP’s trade integration goals.

    Organizers confirmed that the event gathered exhibitors not only from all 15 RCEP member states but also from non-member economies seeking access to China’s massive domestic market and regional trade routes. In total, more than 400 international suppliers set up booths at the expo, while over 5,300 domestic Chinese and overseas buyers traveled to Linyi to source products, negotiate supply agreements, and build long-term business partnerships.

    What sets Linyi apart as a host for large-scale international trade events is its established position as one of China’s top logistics and wholesale trade hubs. For decades, the city has built out a robust infrastructure ecosystem that includes streamlined customs clearance, far-reaching domestic and international distribution networks, and cost-effective logistics solutions that cut down on transit time and operational costs for cross-border traders. These advantages have created a natural backbone for events like the RCEP Import Expo, enabling exhibitors and attendees to move goods faster across borders and reach new consumer markets across the Asia-Pacific and beyond.

    The successful holding of this year’s expo builds on Linyi’s growing reputation as a strategic gateway for regional trade, highlighting how RCEP’s tariff reduction and trade facilitation policies are unlocking new opportunities for businesses of all sizes across member and non-member economies alike.

  • Gansu-Hunan power line delivers 10 billion kWh in Q1

    Gansu-Hunan power line delivers 10 billion kWh in Q1

    China’s flagship West-to-East power transmission infrastructure has notched a major milestone in the first quarter of 2026, with the ±800 kilovolt Gansu-to-Hunan ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission line delivering more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, operator State Grid Gansu Electric Power Company has announced. To put this output in context, the volume is enough to meet the full annual electricity demand of roughly 2.95 million average three-member households across China.

    A core component of China’s national West-to-East power transmission strategy, the 2,383-kilometer transmission corridor stretches from the Qilian converter station in northwestern China’s Gansu province, across Shaanxi, Chongqing and Hubei, all the way to its final terminal at the Shaoshan converter station in central southern Hunan. Since the project entered commercial operation in June 2017, it has cumulatively transmitted more than 200 billion kWh of electricity across regional boundaries, marking it as one of the country’s most productive cross-regional energy arteries.

    What sets this 2026 milestone apart is the growing share of low-carbon energy in the transmission mix: more than 40 percent of the electricity moved via the line so far this year comes from renewable sources. The infrastructure has been instrumental in unlocking large-scale development of Gansu’s abundant wind and solar energy resources, enabling bundled transmission of wind, solar and thermal power from the resource-rich northwest to high power-demand regions in central China. Beyond supporting economic growth in Hunan and surrounding regions, the optimized cross-regional energy allocation brought by the UHV project directly advances China’s national carbon peaking and neutrality goals by increasing the share of renewables in the national energy mix.

    To maintain reliable output amid growing demand, the line has sustained extended high-load operation through the first three months of 2026, with daily transmission volume exceeding 100 million kWh on 41 days this year. As the operating entity responsible for the project, State Grid Gansu Ultra-High Voltage Company has made power supply security its top organizational priority, rolling out a series of enhanced monitoring and maintenance measures to avoid service disruptions.

    The company has upgraded its full-lifecycle safety management framework and integrated a suite of advanced inspection technologies into its operations, including automated routine inspections, drone-based remote monitoring, and infrared and ultraviolet defect detection. These tools have enabled the construction of an all-weather, multi-dimensional monitoring system covering every segment of the line and all core converter station equipment, boosting overall equipment reliability and guaranteeing consistent, stable delivery of clean energy across regions.

  • Airline company Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights as war squeezes fuel prices and supplies

    Airline company Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights as war squeezes fuel prices and supplies

    LAS VEGAS — A growing energy crisis triggered by the ongoing conflict around Iran has pushed one of Europe’s largest airline groups to slash thousands of scheduled flights, as carriers across the globe scramble to cope with skyrocketing jet fuel costs and looming supply shortages. Lufthansa Group, the parent company of Lufthansa Airlines and five other major European carriers, announced Tuesday that it will cut 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule through the end of October, a move designed to conserve fuel and reduce exposure to volatile energy markets.

    The bulk of the canceled routes are low-profit short-haul services centered on the group’s two main hub airports in Germany, Frankfurt and Munich. The company estimates the flight cuts will save roughly 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, a critical buffer as supplies tighten across the continent. The cuts are just the latest cost-cutting measure from the group: just last week, it shut down regional subsidiary CityLine to reduce operational overhead. The ongoing consolidation of the group’s European network will impact all of its operating carriers, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and ITA Airways, as well as secondary hubs across Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.

    The root of the crisis traces back to the outbreak of hostilities between the U.S.-Israel coalition and Iran in late February. Conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic Gulf waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply transits, has roiled global energy markets and sent jet fuel prices soaring. In some regional markets, jet fuel prices have more than doubled since early March. For airlines, which count fuel as one of their largest single operating expenses, this sudden price shock has created immediate financial pressure.

    That pressure is already being passed on to consumers ahead of the peak summer travel season. Travelers are facing fewer available route options, alongside broad increases in fares, fuel surcharges and checked baggage fees across most major carriers.

    Warnings over looming jet fuel shortages in Europe have been growing more urgent in recent weeks. On April 16, the head of the International Energy Agency estimated that the continent only has roughly six weeks of jet fuel stockpiles remaining, and warned that carriers would be forced to cut schedules if additional supplies were not secured quickly. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen reinforced that warning Wednesday, noting that the energy crisis sparked by the conflict could keep prices elevated for months, or even years.

    “This is not a short-term, small increase in prices,” Jørgensen told reporters in Brussels. The conflict is currently costing the European Union roughly 500 million euros ($600 million) every single day, he added. “Even in a best-case scenario, it’s still bad.” Jørgensen confirmed that EU national governments are deeply concerned about the risk of widespread jet fuel shortages, and while the European Commission is taking all available action to mitigate the crisis, the bloc is currently operating in a defensive posture focused on avoiding major disruptions.

    For its part, Lufthansa has stated that it has secured enough fuel to meet its operational needs for the coming weeks, and is pursuing a range of long-term measures to stabilize supply ahead of the busy summer travel period, including targeted bulk procurement of jet fuel.

    Lufthansa is far from alone in cutting back its flight schedule. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that 19 of the world’s 20 largest airlines have already canceled scheduled May flights across every major global region. Major carriers joining the cuts include U.S. giants Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines, as well as Air Canada, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air China, British Airways and Air France-KLM.

    Other smaller and mid-sized carriers have already announced deep, targeted cuts to their summer schedules. Last week, Swiss-based leisure carrier Edelweiss Air said it would drop all planned summer service to Denver and Seattle, and reduce frequency on its Las Vegas route through early autumn. New Zealand’s flag carrier Air New Zealand is consolidating approximately 4% of its scheduled services across May and June, with management noting that local jet fuel prices are currently double the normal seasonal average.

    Global market data underscores the severity of the price shock: benchmark jet fuel prices jumped from roughly $99 per barrel at the end of February to a peak of $209 per barrel in early April. Beyond canceling existing flights, many carriers are also rolling back plans for capacity growth this year to keep costs contained. Delta Air Lines, which opened U.S. airline first-quarter earnings season in early April, said it was scrapping planned capacity increases for June, leaving 3.5% fewer seats available for the month than it had initially projected.

    As U.S. carriers continue to release first-quarter earnings results, the uncertainty around future fuel prices has already hit corporate financial outlooks. Multiple major U.S. carriers have cut their full-year profit forecasts or declined to update projections amid the ongoing market volatility. On Wednesday, Southwest Airlines said it expects second-quarter earnings to come in well below Wall Street analyst estimates, citing persistent high fuel prices, and held its 2026 long-term outlook steady. A day earlier, United Airlines revised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast down to $7 to $11 per share, from an earlier projection of $12 to $14.

  • Trump family’s crypto firm sued over alleged ‘extortion’

    Trump family’s crypto firm sued over alleged ‘extortion’

    A high-stakes legal dispute has erupted in the cryptocurrency space, as crypto billionaire Justin Sun has filed a federal lawsuit against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto venture co-founded by U.S. President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump. Sun, one of the project’s largest early backers and a long-time public supporter of Trump’s crypto-friendly policies, accuses the venture of running an illegal scheme to improperly seize his stake in the company.

    In his complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco federal court, Sun details a series of damaging actions WLFI leadership has taken against his holdings. The crypto entrepreneur, founder of the multi-billion dollar TRON blockchain project, alleges that unnamed individuals tied to the company – including co-founder Chase Herro – have frozen all of his WLFI tokens, revoked his governance voting rights, and threatened to permanently destroy his holdings by “burning” them, all without any formal justification. Sun claims this action is inconsistent with the pro-crypto values Donald Trump has publicly promoted, framing the current leadership’s actions as an exploitative fraud leveraging the Trump family name for private gain.

    Sun’s initial investment in World Liberty dates back to the project’s early days, when he poured $45 million into the venture. At its peak, his holdings of WLFI tokens were valued at more than $1 billion. He also demonstrated his broader support for Trump-aligned crypto projects by purchasing $100 million worth of Trump-branded meme coins in July 2025. Like many crypto assets, WLFI has seen a steep market decline since last September: its per-token price has plummeted from 31 cents to less than 8 cents, eroding billions in total market value and leaving many smaller investors concerned about the project’s trajectory.

    In his legal filing, Sun also pushes back on the project’s original promises to investors. He argues that initial commitments to allow all token holders to trade their assets on public markets were deliberately false and misleading. While most WLFI tokens were unlocked for public trading earlier this year, Sun says the company has specifically blocked him from selling even a single one of his tokens, leaving his nine-figure investment effectively worthless.

    World Liberty has swiftly rejected all of Sun’s allegations, pushing back against his claims by accusing him of manufacturing a victim narrative to distract from his own alleged misconduct. The company has not yet released further details about what misconduct it claims Sun engaged in.

    Beyond the immediate legal fight, the dispute has also sparked broader political and regulatory questions. Just weeks before the lawsuit was filed, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it was dropping a years-long investigation into Sun. The entrepreneur had previously faced allegations that he paid high-profile social media influencers to promote his crypto projects without disclosing these paid partnerships, a violation of U.S. securities disclosure rules. Top Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has publicly questioned whether the SEC’s decision to close the investigation was tied to Sun’s massive investments in Trump-linked crypto ventures, raising new ethics concerns about regulatory independence.

    The BBC has reached out to both Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial for additional comment on the lawsuit, but has not yet received a response as of press time. Investors are also growing increasingly wary of World Liberty’s financial practices, particularly the company’s strategy of taking out large loans secured by the value of its own tokens, a move that many analysts say carries significant downsize risk if token prices continue to slide.