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US retail sales slip more than expected after rush to beat tariffs
US retail sales slip more than expected after rush to beat tariffs
by  AFP

US retail sales declined more than expected in May, government data showed Tuesday, dragged by a slowdown in auto sales as consumers pulled back after hurrying to get ahead of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Economists expect it will take a few months for the effects of new tariffs to show up in consumer costs -- and all eyes are on economic data during the summer.

Global oil demand to dip in 2030, first drop since Covid: IEA
Global oil demand to dip in 2030, first drop since Covid: IEA
by  AFP

Global oil demand will fall slightly in 2030, its first drop since the 2020 Covid pandemic, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Oil demand dropped dramatically in 2020, when countries locked down and shut their borders during the Covid pandemic, falling to 91.7 million bpd before steadily growing again in the following years.

Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates
Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates
by  AFP

People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a respected media report published Tuesday found. The biggest-name chatbot -- OpenAI's ChatGPT -- is the most widely used, followed by Google's Gemini and Meta's Llama.

Why stablecoins are gaining popularity
Why stablecoins are gaining popularity
by  AFP

Stablecoins -- a form of cryptocurrency backed by traditional assets -- are gaining traction, with the US Senate set to vote Tuesday on a bill to regulate such digital tokens. Another possibility is that a loss of trust in the stablecoin may ripple beyond the crypto world, hitting the assets that back these tokens.

Taiwan tests sea drones as China keeps up military pressure
Taiwan tests sea drones as China keeps up military pressure
by  AFP

A Taiwanese-made sea drone capable of carrying bombs skimmed across waters off the island Tuesday in a display of uncrewed surface vehicles that could boost its military firepower against China. High manufacturing costs from using non-China components made it "difficult for Taiwanese products to compete with Chinese-made products in the commercial market," DSET analysts said.