U.S. fertilizer buyers are redirecting shipments out of the country, as higher overseas prices give them an incentive to divert critical supplies, a fertilizer analyst said.

Barges of imported urea nitrogen fertilizer were purchased this week at the Port of New Orleans for export overseas, said Josh Linville, vice president for fertilizer at financial services firm StoneX.

"We saw a lot of physical barges that were being traded. They were linked to exports," Linville said, adding, "It is feasible to buy barges on the Mississippi River, reload them on a vessel, and ship them out."

Since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran on February 28, nitrogen fertilizer prices have soared, with more than 30% of global exports caught in Iran's near closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. and Israel said on Friday the waterway had fully reopened after Israel’s ceasefire with Lebanon, sending oil prices sharply down.

Australia extended an easing on fuel-quality standards until September, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Saturday, as the nation grapples with the impact of the Iran war on its fuel supply.

"I've decided to extend the period of higher sulphur for petrol in Australia," Bowen said in televised remarks.

The relaxation, announced in March, increases the amount of sulphur permitted in fuel to 50 parts per million from the usual 10 parts.

Australia, which imports most of its fuel, has experienced localised shortages as the war, which entered its eighth week on Saturday, has disrupted supply chains.

The European Union has started examining the proposal to expand the scope of carbon tax and bring 180 new steel and aluminium products under it from January 2028.

The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety has recommended to EU parliament for expanding the scope of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to account for indirect carbon emissions and rejecting use of international carbon credits for compliance.

In a draft report issued on 10 April other measures that have been proposed are tightening carbon accounting rules for scrap-based production by including emissions from pre-consumer scrap, examining indirect emissions from electricity use across more sectors and introducing stricter anti-circumvention, reporting and verification requirements for suspected misuse.

Spirit Airlines on Friday asked the Trump administration for hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funding to offset rising fuel prices and stave off a possible liquidation, Air Current reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

• Executives from several low-cost carriers are expected to meet with the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy early next week, according to the report.

• The Department of Transportation requested the meeting to review the financial health of the nation's smaller airlines, it added.

• Spirit Airlines did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Schroders shareholders on Thursday approved a 9.9 billion pound ($13.4 billion) sale of the British asset manager to U.S. rival Nuveen, confirming the end of independence for one of London's historic fund houses.

Investors in the 222-year-old firm backed the deal with 99.9% of votes cast at a general meeting in London, exceeding the 75% approval threshold.

Nuveen and Schroders announced the deal in February to create a combined group with $2.5 trillion of assets under management.

April 16 - OpenAI on Thursday introduced an artificial intelligence model touting increased biology knowledge and scientific research capabilities, as the startup deepens its push into the life sciences field.

The GPT-Rosalind, named after 20th-century British scientist Rosalind Franklin, is designed to support research across biochemistry, drug discovery and translational medicine.

Demand for AI-powered tools to accelerate drug discovery and research has risen across pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions and biotech firms.

U.S. utility NiSource said on Thursday it had signed a long-term energy supply agreement with a unit of Alphabet to support a large data center in northern Indiana.

The company also said it had expanded an agreement with Amazon to speed up power delivery to its sites and bring forward bill credits for households.

• Big Tech firms have been scouring for new, reliable and cleaner energy sources to power their rapidly expanding data centers, which are being driven by the increasing use of artificial-intelligence applications.

The Japanese government will provide subsidies of up to 60 billion yen ($380 million) to Sony for an image sensor plant in the western Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said on Friday.

Image sensors will be "indispensable for autonomous driving and physical AI" and "we hope a stable supply of image sensors... will be secured," Akazawa said at a press conference.

Sony is a leading manufacturer of image sensors used in smartphones in addition to its strengths in entertainment, spanning games, movies, music and anime.

Private equity firm EQT is restarting the sale process for the mainland Chinese business of contact lens maker Ginko International, targeting a valuation of at least $1 billion, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

EQT agreed to sell the business last year to U.S.-based buyout firm Advent International, but the buyer eventually decided to pay a breakup fee and drop the deal for undisclosed reasons, said two of the people and two other sources with knowledge of the matter.

At the time, Bloomberg reported that Ginko would have been valued at more than $1.1 billion in the sale to Advent.

EQT's advisers, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, are sounding out potential buyers for the business, which include peer companies and financial sponsors, one of the sources said. All sources declined to be named as the information was confidential.

The deadline for first-round bids wasn't immediately clear, two of the people said.

Stockholm-based EQT and the two banks declined to comment. Advent and Ginko did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Founded originally in Taiwan, Ginko's main products include conventional contact lenses, disposable contact lenses and lens care products; mainland China is its main market for sales, according to its website.

Aerospace parts maker Arxis said on Wednesday it raised $1.13 billion in its U.S. initial public offering after pricing shares at $28 each.

The Bloomfield, Connecticut-based company sold 40.5 million shares in the upsized offering at the top-end of its indicated price range of between $25 and $28 apiece.

The listing comes as aerospace suppliers tap equity markets to fund expansion and meet rising demand from commercial aviation and defense customers, with investor appetite for industrial listings remaining strong.

Meanwhile, heightened geopolitical tensions, including conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, have reshaped demand for aerospace and defense equipment, as countries boost military spending and investors turn to defensible industrial names that can better withstand the effects of the conflicts.

Arxis makes electronic and mechanical components such as seals, gaskets and metallized fabrics for aerospace and defense, medical technology and specialized industrial markets.

Under buyout firm Arcline's ownership, Arxis has expanded through over 30 acquisitions since 2019, including the $1.8 billion purchase of rival Kaman in 2024.

The stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, under the ticker symbol "ARXS".

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a 58% jump in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating market forecasts and hitting a record, as it benefits from huge appetite globally for its artificial intelligence processors.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, whose customers include Nvidia and Apple, saw January-March net profit rise to T$572.5 billion ($18.2 billion).

The profit handily beat a T$543.3 billion LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

China's largest trade fair, held twice a year, opened on Wednesday in the southern city of Guangzhou, where more than 32,000 exhibitors are showcasing products over an area larger than 200 football fields.

Virgin Australia on Wednesday forecast higher fuel costs and said it has adjusted airfares and capacity for the second half, citing recent price volatility linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

The airline expects fuel costs, a major expense, to rise by about A$30 million to A$40 million ($21.38 million to $28.51 million) in the second half of fiscal 2026.

The revised forecast comes a day after the country's flag carrier Qantas Airways sharply raised its fuel cost outlook, citing higher and volatile jet fuel prices.

Goldman Sachs posted a rise in first-quarter profit on Monday, as the Wall Street bank benefited from strength in dealmaking and equities trading. Global markets have been roiled by the Iran war as rising crude oil prices fan inflation fears and exacerbate worries about a recession.

The heightened volatility across asset classes has pushed up the need for clients to reassess portfolios and hedge downside risks, a practice that typically buoys trading desks at large banks. “The geopolitical landscape remains very complex – so disciplined risk management must remain core to how we operate,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a statement.

Goldman’s revenue from equity trading intermediation and financing rose 27% to a record $5.33 billion, while that from fixed income, currencies and commodities fell 10% to $4.01 billion. Profit applicable to common shareholders jumped to $5.4 billion, or $17.55 per share, compared with $4.58 billion, or $14.12 per share, a year earlier.

Meta will work with chip designer Broadcom to produce several generations of custom artificial intelligence processors under an expanded deal as the social media giant races to build out the computing capacity needed to power AI features across its apps.

Tuesday's announcement extends the tie-up until 2029 and includes an initial commitment of over one gigawatt of computing capacity, enough to power roughly 750,000 U.S. homes on average.

As part of the deal, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan would leave Meta's board and move to an advisory role on its custom chip strategy, the companies said in a joint statement.

Uber has committed more than $10 billion to buying thousands of autonomous vehicles and taking stakes in their developers, breaking from its asset-light "gig economy" business model to avoid disruption from robotaxis, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Uber did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Uber is positioning itself as a marketplace for multiple robotaxi operators, and has partnered across much of the autonomous vehicle industry, including with, Baidu, Rivian and Lucid, and has outlined plans to launch robotaxi services in at least 28 cities by 2028.

Goldman Sachs posted a rise in first-quarter profit on Monday, as the Wall Street bank benefited from strength in dealmaking and equities trading. Global markets have been roiled by the Iran war as rising crude oil prices fan inflation fears and exacerbate worries about a recession.

The heightened volatility across asset classes has pushed up the need for clients to reassess portfolios and hedge downside risks, a practice that typically buoys trading desks at large banks. “The geopolitical landscape remains very complex – so disciplined risk management must remain core to how we operate,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a statement.

Goldman’s revenue from equity trading intermediation and financing rose 27% to a record $5.33 billion, while that from fixed income, currencies and commodities fell 10% to $4.01 billion. Profit applicable to common shareholders jumped to $5.4 billion, or $17.55 per share, compared with $4.58 billion, or $14.12 per share, a year earlier.

Amazon is in advanced talks to acquire satellite telecom group Globalstar, a deal that would bolster the tech major's push to build its own satellite operation, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

A transaction could be announced as soon as Tuesday, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) today announced that John Dietrich will step down as executive vice president and chief financial officer on June 1 upon successful completion of the spin-off of FedEx Freight into a new publicly traded company. He will remain with the company until July 31. Claude Russ, FedEx enterprise vice president, Finance will serve as interim CFO, effective June 1, as the company conducts a comprehensive internal and external search for a successor. Additionally, FedEx affirms the FY26 outlook shared on its last earnings call, along with the 2029 targets shared at its Investor Day in February.

“I want to thank John for his many contributions to the FedEx leadership team over the last several years as we successfully navigated a significant company transformation and delivered on the upcoming spin of our Freight business,” said Raj Subramaniam, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation. “As we begin the search for John’s successor, I am confident that Claude’s wealth of experience will ensure seamless continuity and commitment to advancing our strategy.”

In Russ’ current role, he leads the FedEx Global Financial Planning and Analysis team as well as the finance initiatives within the company’s DRIVE transformation. With 24 years of experience at FedEx, he has served in a variety of leadership positions including COO of FedEx Dataworks, senior vice president of Revenue Management at FedEx Services, and CFO of FedEx Freight. The FedEx Finance team is further supported by a bench of highly experienced and capable leaders.

The co-founder of Dolce & Gabbana, Stefano Gabbana, has stepped down as chair of the company he set up with Domenico Dolce in 1985.

The fashion house is grappling with a debt pile of around €450m (£391m/$528m) and a downturn in the luxury retail sector, with a slowdown in spending, particularly in China.

Gabbana will hold onto his creative role with the company, shaping collections alongside Dolce and continuing the decades-long partnership between the pair.