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A day of confusion and chaos as Russia and Ukraine agree to first direct talks in 3 years

After five days of confusion over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for direct talks with Ukraine, the day they were supposed to begin initially brought only more of the same: a seven-hour stakeout on the banks of the Bosphorus, an unruly scrum at the Russian consulate, and finally a decision from Ukraine’s president that may open a new chapter in this intractable conflict.

Russia’s dogged defense of its position is a key reason the Russian president unexpectedly proposed these talks five days ago. Faced with an ultimatum from Kyiv and its allies to sign on to a 30-day ceasefire or face major new sanctions, Putin chose a third path.

“We are proposing to the Kyiv authorities to renew the negotiations, that they cut off” in 2022, he told journalists in a briefing early Sunday. And so, to reinforce that point, he picked the same city that hosted some of those early peace talks – Istanbul – and, he revealed late Wednesday, the same lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister and chairman of Russia’s Military-Historical Society.

“The delegation is committed to a constructive approach,” Medinsky said in a brief appearance Thursday afternoon at the Russian consulate, in which he took no questions. The media scrum was so intense that consular officials could be overheard threatening to cancel the briefing if journalists didn’t calm down.

Medinsky claimed the direct talks were to “establish long-term peace, eliminating the root causes of the conflict.” The use of the phrase “root causes,” which for Russia run the gamut from Ukraine’s NATO ambitions all the way to its existence as a sovereign state, was a reminder of just how distant a deal could be.

And yet, to complicate things further, Russia and Ukraine are now balancing their own interests with their relationship with Donald Trump. The US president once again Thursday dangled the prospect of his own attendance at the talks, saying “if something happened” he would consider going on Friday. White House envoys Keith Kellogg and Steve Witkoff are already slated to be in Istanbul on Friday.

And Zelensky made no attempt to hide Trump was a key part of his eventual decision to engage with Russia. Emerging from his meeting with Erdogan in late afternoon, he said he would not only send a delegation to Istanbul, but it would be led by a higher-ranking official than the Russian side – Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, “out of respect for President Trump.”

Russia is also watching closely for Trump’s next move, still holding out hope for that promised reset in relations. And Trump may have raised those hopes Thursday, telling reporters as he arrived in Abu Dhabi, “nothing’s gonna happen until Putin and I get together.”

Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev, who left his post in Geneva in 2022, said he believes a meeting with Trump would be a major win for Putin, while he remains uninterested in meeting with Zelensky.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Editor's pick

Trump and Abu Dhabi ink partnership to build massive AI data center complex in UAE

The United States and United Arab Emirates will partner to build a massive data center complex in Abu Dhabi to advance artificial intelligence capabilities with 5-gigawatts of capacity — enough to power a major city.

The agreement, announced Thursday during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the UAE, will mark the largest data center deployment outside of the United States, according to the Commerce Department. It will begin with a 1-gigawatt AI data center, but will eventually span 10 square miles.

The project is also expected to expand the footprint of American AI and cloud companies in the Middle East, allowing them to better serve the global south.

No companies were named in the Commerce Department’s announcement, although Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was spotted at one of Trump’s UAE meetings. Nvidia declined to comment.

Trump has been working to push AI investment, as the success of US tech companies are seen as key to retaining the US’s position as a global superpower.

“By extending the world’s leading American tech stack to an important strategic partner in the region, this agreement is a major milestone in achieving President Trump’s vision for US AI dominance,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement.

The UAE has also said it wants to become a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2031.

Ahead of Trump’s visit, UAE Minister of Education Sarah Al Amiri said the country is looking to diversify its economy, especially in the areas of AI and technology. Investments in AI infrastructure are seen as crucial to securing the region’s post-oil future.

The White House also announced on Thursday an agreement under which the UAE has committed to build or finance data centers in the United States that are “at least as large and as powerful” as those in the UAE.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Editor's pick

Construction tycoon among 17 wanted in Thailand over deadly tower collapse

A Thai court has issued arrest warrants for 17 people including a high-profile construction tycoon, police said on Thursday, over their alleged involvement in the building of a skyscraper that collapsed and killed scores of workers during a powerful March earthquake.

Search teams recovered 89 bodies in a six-week operation in the rubble of the partially constructed 30-story State Audit Office tower in the capital Bangkok, which was the only skyscraper to collapse during tremors caused by a massive 7.7 magnitude quake in neighboring Myanmar.

The charges included building code violations that caused deaths, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, said deputy Bangkok police chief, Police Major General Somkuan Puengsap.

Thai authorities are investigating the cause of the building collapse and have yet to release findings. It was one of the deadliest accidents of its kind in Thailand and seven people are still missing.

An anti-corruption watchdog has said it had flagged to authorities irregularities in the construction of the skyscraper before it collapsed, while industry officials said initial tests of materials at the site indicated the presence of substandard steel.

Those charged include executives and engineers from seven companies involved in the design, construction and building supervision of the collapsed tower, police said, without providing more details.

Police named only one of the 17 wanted individuals, Premchai Karnasuta, a former president of Thailand’s largest construction company Italian Thai Development Pcl ITD.BK.

Italian Thai Development has held meetings with investors and has said it was cooperating with the probe.

Premchai could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

He was convicted and sentenced to more than three years in jail in 2021 for poaching protected species after he was caught by rangers at a jungle campsite in a wildlife sanctuary with carcasses of protected animals, including a black Indochinese leopard.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Editor's pick

American basketball player arrested in Indonesia for alleged drug smuggling, could face death penalty

An American basketball player for the Indonesian league was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs to the country, police said Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad.

Jarred Dwayne Shaw, 34, from Dallas, Texas, was arrested May 7, after police raided his apartment in Tangerang regency, just outside the capital, Jakarta, and seized 132 pieces of cannabis candies, said Ronald Sipayung, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport police chief.

The arrest followed a tip from the airport’s customs that reported Shaw had received a suspicious airway package from Thailand, Sipayung said. Cannabis has been decriminalized in Thailand since November 2024. Under Indonesia’s anti-drug laws, Shaw faces up to life sentence or death penalty if found guilty, Sipayung said.

A video circulating on social media purportedly showed Shaw, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, resisting as he’s being pushed away by police and shouting “Help … help!” when he was about to be arrested.

Shaw has played for several clubs in the Indonesian Basketball League since 2022, and signed a contract with Tangerang Hawk last year. He told police during interrogation that he wanted to share the cannabis candy with fellow basketball players, according to Sipayung.

He said the candy contained a total gross weight of 869 grams (30.6 ounces) of illegal cannabinoid inside a package.

“We are still running the investigation to uncover the international drugs network behind this case and to stop its distribution,” Sipayung said.

Shaw did not make any statement when he was presented by the authorities at a news conference Wednesday wearing a detainee orange T-shirt and a mask with his hands tied.

Tangerang Hawks’ manager, Tikky Suwantikno, told reporters on Thursday that they regretted what had been done by Shaw and the club had immediately fired him as he has breached the contract.

The Indonesian Basketball League banned Shaw from playing for life, said its chair, Budisatrio Djiwandono.

“We don’t tolerate players, administrators or anyone in the field involved in drugs. There is no room for drug users in the basketball world,” Djiwandono said.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.

About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections’ data showed. Indonesia’s last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Editor's pick

Thai man arrested for alleged smuggling of two baby orangutans

Police in Thailand have arrested a man on suspicion of wildlife trafficking after he was found with two baby orangutans in a basket at a gas station in the Thai capital.

The 47-year-old suspect was apprehended Wednesday as he was about to deliver the two primates to a customer, Thai police said in a statement on Thursday.

Officers discovered the orangutans – one about 1-year-old and the other 1 month-old – in plastic baskets, police said.

Images released by authorities showed one of the orangutans in a plastic basket, wearing a diaper and hugging a soft toy alongside feeding bottles.

The man was arrested on charges of “illegally possessing protected wildlife” under Thai law and could face up to four years in prison, police said.

One of the rescued baby orangutans feeds from a milk bottle.
Crime Suppression Bureau of the Royal Thai Police

The man had admitted he was delivering the animals, “but he didn’t say where he got the babies from,” Kasidach said.

Police said they had uncovered an illegal wildlife trade network and were working to find out whether the orangutans had been bred in Thailand or abroad, he added.

The operation was carried out in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Justice Commission in the Netherlands, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the police statement said.

The department said that Stefan, the 1-month-old, is in an incubator because of weak health and Christopher, the 1-year-old, has been relocated to a sanctuary run by the agency.

Authorities said the orangutans are believed to have been sold for around 300,000 Thai baht ($9,050).

Orangutans are native to Sumatra and Borneo, two Southeast Asian islands that are home to some of the world’s most diverse rainforests, and have come under threat as a result of deforestation, habitat destruction and poaching.

They are listed as “critically endangered” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses extinction risks.

The gentle apes, once found in greater numbers across Southeast Asia, have experienced sharp population declines, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Thailand has long been a hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

Its border area with Myanmar, Laos, and China – known as the Golden Triangle – is a hotspot of cross-border trafficking, illegal wildlife trade and consumption, according to WWF.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Stocks

The S&P 500 Snapped Back Hard: Now What?

The S&P 500 ($SPX) just staged one of the sharpest rebounds we’ve seen in years. After tumbling into deeply oversold territory earlier this year, the index has completely flipped the script—short-term, medium-term, and even long-term indicators are now pointing in a new direction.

One longer-term indicator that hit an extreme low in early April was the 14-week relative strength index (RSI), which dropped to 27. That’s among the lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

The obvious takeaway: it was a great time to buy, even in cases where the low RSI didn’t mark the low. Everyone who pounded the table a few weeks ago has been proven right, even if the rebound was faster and stronger than most could’ve predicted. So, what happens next?

Don’t Expect a Straight Line Up

The long-term picture looks promising, but markets rarely move in a straight line. Even though the market was higher months and years after these deeply oversold readings, the path wasn’t a straight shot to new highs (even if long-term log charts sometimes make it look that way).

The chart below shows the lowest weekly RSI readings in the S&P 500 since 2008.

FIGURE 1. THE LOWEST WEEKLY RSI READING SIN THE S&P 500 SINCE 2008.

Almost every time, there was a pause, often more than one. Some were sharp, others more prolonged. The first real test typically came when RSI bounced back to the 50-zone (the mid-point of its range). Each of these moments is highlighted in yellow in the chart below.

FIGURE 2. AFTER DEEPLY OVERSOLD RSI READINGS, THERE WAS OFTEN A PAUSE IN THE INDEX.

As shown, this often marked the initial digestion phase after the face-ripping rally off the lows. Eventually, the SPX climbed back to a weekly overbought condition, but not right away. This pattern was clearest in 2011, 2015–16, and 2022. The depressed weekly RSI showed that things were getting washed out, but volatility persisted before a lasting uptrend took hold.

Indeed, the current snapback is one of the quickest and most powerful turnarounds in decades, but this pace is also unsustainable. A slowdown is inevitable.

So how does the market handle the next round of profit-taking? By continuing to make higher lows – and converting those into additional bullish patterns.

XLK Makes A Comeback

The market comeback has been led by large-cap growth; that much is clear. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) has roared back nearly 30% in just six weeks. That’s a massive move in a short period, and far larger than any failed bear market rally seen in 2022. The best six-week rally back then came in the summer and topped out at 17%.

The last time we saw a six-week gain of 20%+ was the period following the COVID-19 low in spring 2020. As we know, that snapback continued, with XLK overtaking its pre-crash highs and ultimately rallying 160% into the early 2022 peak.

This isn’t a prediction, but we shouldn’t ignore it either. Why? Because before 2020, the last such move happened in April 2009, right after the ultimate low of the 2008 financial crisis.

FIGURE 3. WEEKLY CHART OF XLK.

Industrials are Building Strength Too

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) and XLK are the first sector ETFs to register overbought 14-day RSI readings. While that suggests a short-term pause could be near, it wouldn’t be a negative. As the weekly chart shows, a pullback could help complete a large bullish formation.

Once again, bouts of intense volatility eventually can lead to the biggest bullish chart formations. Let’s keep XLI on our radar screens.

FIGURE 4. WEEKLY CHART OF XLI.

Even Solar Stocks Are Waking Up

The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN), which has been stuck in a brutal downtrend for years, just rocketed higher by 40%, using intra-day highs and lows. That rally has produced the first overbought reading since late May 2024, which, notably, lasted only a day before momentum faded.

Yesterday, TAN tagged its 200-day moving average, prompting a round of profit-taking. This sets up a critical test for TAN, which has consistently failed at resistance or after short-term pops. Selling strength in TAN has been a highly effective strategy for quite some time.

FIGURE 5: DAILY CHART OF TAN.

The weekly chart clearly shows this pattern playing out since TAN topped in early 2021. Like anything else, TAN could eventually turn the corner—but to do so, it would need to form a legitimate higher low from here.

For now, the downtrend deserves respect. Chasing this move is not advised. Selling strength remains the recommended approach—until proven otherwise.

FIGURE 6. WEEKLY CHART OF TAN.

The Bottom Line

Yes, the market’s comeback has been fast and fierce. But fast moves don’t necessarily mean a straight path higher. Expect slowdowns and pullbacks, watch for bullish setups, and don’t chase runaway rallies. There’s opportunity out there, but it’s all about timing and discipline.

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Stocks

What Sector Rotation Says About the Market Cycle Right Now

Where are we in the market cycle? In this video, Julius reviews the sector rotation and asset class performance from the past 2-3 weeks to provide an objective take on where we stand in the current market cycle. Using his signature Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG), he uncovers shifts in momentum and leadership across sectors and asset classes.

This video was originally published on May 15, 2025. Click on the icon above to view on our dedicated page for Julius.

Past videos from Julius can be found here.

#StayAlert, -Julius

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Business

5 new Uber features you should know — including a way to avoid surge pricing

Uber is giving commuters new ways to travel and cut costs on frequent rides.

The ride-hailing company on Wednesday announced a route share feature on its platform, prepaid ride passes and special deals week for Uber One members at its annual Go-Get showcase.

Uber’s new features come as the company accelerates its leadership position in the ride-sharing market and seeks to offer more affordable alternatives for users. It also follows last week’s first-quarter earnings as Uber swung to a profit but fell short of revenue estimates.

“The goal for us as we build our products is to put people at the center of everything, and right now for us, it means making things a little easier, a little more predictable, and above all, just a little more — or a lot more — affordable,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the event.

Here are some of the big announcements from the annual product event.

Users looking to save money on regular routes and willing to walk a short distance can select a shared ride with up to two other passengers through the new route-share feature.

The prepopulated routes run every 20 minutes along busy areas between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. The initial program is slated to kick off in seven cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.

Uber said its new route-share fares will cost up to 50% less than an UberX option, and that it is working to partner with employers on qualifying the feature for commuter benefits. Users can book a seat from 7 days to 10 minutes before a pickup departure.

Riders on Uber can now prepurchase two different types of ride passes to hold fares on frequented routes during a one-hour period every day. For $2.99 a month, riders can buy a price lock pass that holds a price between two locations for one hour every day. The pass expires after 30 days or a savings total of $50.

The feature gives riders a way to avoid surge pricing.

Ride Passes roll out in 10 cities on Wednesday, including Dallas, Orlando and San Francisco, and can be purchased for up to 10 routes a month. Uber will charge users a lower price if the fare is cheaper than the pass at departure time.

The company also debuted a prepaid pass option, allowing users to pay in advance and stock up on regular monthly trips. Uber’s pass option comes in bundles of 5, 10, 15 and 20-ride increments, with corresponding discounts between 5% and 20%.

Both pass options will be available on teen accounts in the fall, Uber said. The route share and ride passes will be available in a new commuter hub feature on the app coming later this year.

Uber is also expanding its autonomous vehicle partnership with Volkswagen.

The company will start testing shared AV rides later this year and is aiming for a launch in Los Angeles in 2026.

Uber rolled out autonomous rides in Austin, Texas, in March through its agreement with Alphabet-owned Waymo and is preparing for an Atlanta launch this summer. The company announced the partnership in May 2023. Autonomous Waymo rides are also currently offered through the Uber app in Phoenix, but the company does not directly manage that fleet.

Khosrowshahi called AVs “the single greatest opportunity ahead for Uber” during the company’s earnings call last week and said the Austin debut “exceeded” expectations. The company previously had an AV unit that it sold in 2020 as it faced high costs and a series of safety challenges, including a fatal accident.

Along with Volkswagen and Waymo, Uber has joined forces with Avride, May Mobility and self-driving trucking company Aurora for autonomous ride-sharing and freight services in the U.S. The company has partnerships with WeRide, Pony.AI and Momenta internationally.

Uber is taking a page out of Amazon’s book by offering its own variation of the e-commerce giant’s beloved Prime Day, with special offers between May 16 and 23 for Uber One members.

Some of those deals include 50% off shared rides and 20% off Uber Black. The platform is also adding a new benefit of 10% back in Uber credits for users that use Uber Rent or book Lime rides.

UberEats also announced a partnership with OpenTable to allow users to book reservations and rides.

The new feature, powered by OpenTable, launches in six countries including the U.S. and Australia.

Through the partnership, users can book restaurant reservations and get a discount on rides. OpenTable members will also be able to transfer points to Uber and UberEats. The company is also offering OpenTable VIPs a six-month free trial of Uber One.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Business

YouTube will stream NFL Week 1 game in Brazil for free

YouTube will stream the National Football League’s Week 1 game on Sept. 5 for free, the first time the dominant streaming platform has ever broadcast a live NFL game in its entirety.

The game, which Front Office Sports first reported will be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Last year, people spent over 350 million hours watching official NFL content on YouTube, so it’s both fitting and thrilling to continue to build our relationship with our partners at the NFL,” YouTube Chief Business Officer Mary Ellen Coe said in a statement. “Streaming the Friday night game to fans for free around the world will mark YouTube’s first time as a live NFL broadcaster — and we’ll do it in a way that only YouTube can, with an interactive viewing experience and creators right at the center of the experience.”

The game will be available to all YouTube and YouTube TV users globally, except in Canada and certain other countries, and locally on broadcast television in the media markets of the participating teams, YouTube said in a statement.

YouTube is the most-watched streaming platform in the U.S., consisting of 12% of all viewership for March, according to Nielsen.

The NFL has an existing deal with YouTube TV for Sunday Ticket, the league’s out-of-market package of games. Those games require a subscription — either $480 per year without YouTube TV or $378 per year for YouTube TV subscribers. YouTube TV is a collection of linear TV networks that approximates a standard cable bundle.

The full 2025 NFL schedule will be released Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Business

Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy struggling Foot Locker for $2.4 billion

Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Dick’s said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands, which include Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and Japanese sneaker brand atmos.

“Sports and sports culture continue to be incredibly powerful, and with this acquisition, we’ll create a new global platform that serves those ever evolving needs through iconic concepts consumers know and love, enhanced store designs and omnichannel experiences, as well as a product mix that appeals to our different customer bases,” Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement.

Both companies are led by women. Hobart became CEO at Dick’s in 2021, while Mary Dillon has served as CEO of Foot Locker since 2022.

Foot Locker announced a turnaround plan in 2023 in part to help improve its relationship with big brands. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Retail Round Up Conference last month, Dillon said that Foot Locker is working closely with Nike, specifically in categories including basketball, sneaker culture and kids.

Earlier this month, Skechers announced that it was being taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital in a transaction worth more than $9 billion.

A Foot Locker store in San Diego.Kevin Carter / Getty Images file

The retail industry has been growing increasingly concerned over Trump’s trade war with other countries, particularly China. Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia.

Shares of sporting goods and athletic shoe companies have been under pressure all year. Foot Locker’s stock has plunged 41% this year. It is also facing pressure elsewhere, with major athletic companies like Nike and Adidas shifting their sales strategies.

Skechers had fallen almost 8% this year.

About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Using factories overseas has kept labor costs down for U.S. companies, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs.

Foot Locker, based in New York City, offers Dick’s a lot of potential, namely its huge real estate footprint, and would give the Pittsburgh company its first foothold overseas.

Foot Locker has about 2,400 retail stores across 20 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It also has a licensed store presence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company had global sales of $8 billion last year.

Jefferies analyst Jonathan Matuszewski said that about 33% of Foot Locker’s sales come from outside the United States. He anticipates that the combined company would generate approximately 12% of sales internationally on a pro forma basis.

The deal also broadens Dick’s customer base, with sneaker collectors anxiously anticipating new drops from Foot Locker.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in an emailed statement that Foot Locker, which has a 4.3% share of the sporting goods market, would give an immediate boost to Dick’s.

“It would also give Dick’s substantially more bargaining power with national brands, especially in the sneaker space,” he added.

Foot Locker shareholders can choose to receive either $24 in cash or 0.1168 shares of Dick’s common stock for each Foot Locker share that they own.

Dick’s said that it anticipates closing on the Foot Locker deal in the second half of the year. The transaction still needs approval from Foot Locker shareholders.

Dick’s stock dropped more than 10% before the market open, while shares of Foot Locker surged more than 82%.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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