Key headlines from global financial media overnight and this morning include:
1. Trump Says He Delayed "Planned Tuesday Attack on Iran" at Request of Middle Eastern Leaders 2. US Establishes $1.7 Billion "Legal Battle" Fund in Exchange for Trump Dropping $10 Billion IRS Lawsuit 3. US Jury Dismisses Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI; Musk Vows Appeal 4. Apple Reportedly Plans to Showcase New Operating System in June, Featuring AI Writing Assistant and Other Functions 5. UK Prime Minister Frontrunner Burnham: Would Not Alter Fiscal Rules if Entering Downing Street 6. Japan's Finance Minister Hints Government Will Consider Bond Market Factors When Compiling Supplementary Budget
Trump Says He Delayed "Planned Tuesday Attack on Iran" at Request of Middle Eastern Leaders US President Donald Trump stated on Monday that he called off a planned attack on Iran scheduled for Tuesday, following requests from leaders of three major regional powers in the Middle East to "hold off." In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that, at the urging of the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, he had notified US military leaders that "we will not be carrying out the planned strike on Iran tomorrow." Prior to Trump's post, there were no clear indications that the US was preparing to strike Iran on Tuesday, which would have formally torn up the already fragile ceasefire agreement with Iran. In an interview with the New York Post earlier on Monday, Trump had stated that Iran knows "something is coming soon," but declined to provide details. According to Axios, following Tehran's latest response to ongoing negotiations for an end-of-war agreement—a response deemed insufficient—Trump had considered resuming active military operations.
US Establishes $1.7 Billion "Legal Battle" Fund in Exchange for Trump Dropping $10 Billion IRS Lawsuit A filing in a US federal court in Miami shows that Donald Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization withdrew a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Monday, in exchange for the Justice Department establishing a $1.776 billion fund to settle claims from individuals who identify as victims of the so-called "legal battle." The withdrawal filing submitted by Trump's lawyers suggests this move effectively prevents a judge from reviewing the legal validity of the president's civil lawsuit or dismissing it if found invalid. This withdrawal follows reports that the Justice Department was negotiating a settlement with Trump, conditional on establishing a fund to compensate Trump allies who claim they were improperly treated by the Biden administration.
US Jury Dismisses Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI; Musk Vows Appeal After less than two hours of deliberation, a jury on Monday dismissed Elon Musk's claims in a lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, marking a dramatic chapter in the long-standing feud between the two tech billionaires, once close friends. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers upheld the advisory jury's determination that Altman and OpenAI were not liable and that Musk's "claims for breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment were time-barred." The jury found that Musk's claims exceeded the statute of limitations, ruling he had three years to file the lawsuit but failed to do so in time. Musk posted on his social network X that the ruling was a "technicality on the calendar" and insisted the judge and jury did not rule on the merits of the case. He wrote: "Anyone who has followed this case in detail knows without a doubt that Altman and Brockman did indeed enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is when they did it!"
Apple Reportedly Plans to Showcase New Operating System in June, Featuring AI Writing Assistant and Other Functions Apple Inc. is preparing a series of artificial intelligence features for the next generation of iPhone and iPad operating systems, including a grammar checker and new shortcut options, in a move to narrow the gap with competitors' devices on AI capabilities. According to informed sources, these features are planned for release in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. The new additions include a new AI-assisted writing tool, the ability to create system-level shortcuts using natural language, and a custom wallpaper generation feature. Apple plans to introduce these new operating systems at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, with a public release following in September. Facing a lead by Samsung Electronics and Alphabet's Google in consumer AI features, the iPhone maker is accelerating its catch-up efforts.
UK Prime Minister Frontrunner Burnham: Would Not Alter Fiscal Rules if Entering Downing Street Andy Burnham, seen as the most likely successor to Keir Starmer as UK Prime Minister, stated that if he were to take office, he would not change the government's self-imposed borrowing limits. A spokesperson for the Mayor of Greater Manchester said on Monday that if Burnham were to enter 10 Downing Street following a potential leadership contest later this year, he would not make any adjustments to the fiscal rules set by current Chancellor of the Exchequer. The spokesperson ruled out exempting defense spending from these limits. Following the statement, the pound rose 0.7% against the US dollar to $1.3415, recovering some of last week's losses. Sterling had recorded its largest weekly decline since 2024 last week. UK government bonds also rebounded, with the yield on the 30-year gilt—most sensitive to fiscal policy changes—falling 7 basis points to 5.78%.
Japan's Finance Minister Hints Government Will Consider Bond Market Factors When Compiling Supplementary Budget Japan's Finance Minister, Shunichi Suzuki, indicated that the government will take bond market conditions into account when considering how to fund increased spending to counter the adverse economic impacts of the Middle East conflict. "Given the situation in the Middle East, we must be fully prepared from the perspective of minimizing risks," Suzuki told reporters in Paris on Monday after attending a G7 finance ministers' meeting. "Minimizing risks also involves the markets. The entire financial market itself is one of the risks."
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