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Agricultural giant Bayer is preparing to place its U.S. subsidiary Monsanto in bankruptcy if a settlement to resolve lawsuits linking the popular weedkiller Roundup to cancer fails. The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology group has paid about $10bn to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on the herbicide glyphosate, causes cancer. About 67,000 further cases are pending for which the group has set aside $5.9bn in legal provisions. Rodrigo Santos, head of Bayer’s agriculture business, said the company is committed to resolving litigation in the next 12 to 18 months. “It’s a massive plan that has different front lines,” he said of Bayer’s legal strategy.

 

Wall Street Journal

Democratic lawmakers have criticized the CEOs of major financial firms, including BlackRock and JPMorgan, for withdrawing from climate-focused coalitions, urging them to reaffirm their commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In a letter, they expressed disappointment, saying that these executives "actively decided to cede leadership on combating climate change" and requesting details on their communications with the Trump administration regarding environmental policies. The lawmakers emphasized the importance of maintaining previously set emissions-reduction goals and asked for clarification on how these companies plan to achieve them moving forward.

 

Reuters

Meta is delaying the release of its “Behemoth” AI model amid concerns about its capabilities. Internal questions about its public release have been raised as Meta engineers struggle to improve the large-language model. Meta is said to be weighing management changes to its AI product group due to the performance of the Llama 4 team, which is being blamed for the failure to make progress on Behemoth. The Wall Street Journal says Meta’s recent challenges mirror difficulties at other top AI companies that are trying to release their next big state-of-the-art models.

 

Wall Street Journal

President Donald Trump said he’s asked Apple chief executive Tim Cook to stop building plants in India to make devices for the U.S., pushing the iPhone maker to add domestic production as it pivots away from China. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said of their meeting in Qatar as part of a tour of the Middle East. “He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.” As a result of their discussion, Trump said Apple will be “upping their production in the United States.” His comments follow Apple’s decision to shift production of iPhones sold in the U.S. from China to India so Apple can avoid paying higher tariffs. The company said that tariffs could add $900m to its costs this quarter.

 

CNN

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Wall Street Journal

In a trend dubbed 'Dexit,' several large companies are considering leaving Delaware as their state of incorporation amid concerns over the unpredictability of its courts, particularly following a ruling that invalidated Elon Musk's $56bn pay package from Tesla. Five companies have already relocated, and nine more, including Simon Property Group and Roblox, are set to vote on similar proposals, citing a desire for greater legal predictability in states like Texas and Nevada. Delaware, which relies heavily on corporate fees for revenue, has enacted new legislation to address these concerns, but experts warn that its strict corporate laws may still deter businesses from remaining in the state.

 

Reuters

Coinbase has expressed its strong opposition to the ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the accuracy of its past disclosures about monthly transacting users. The company's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said that the investigation is a "hold-over" from the previous administration and pertains to a metric that Coinbase stopped reporting over two years ago. Grewal said that the issue was fully disclosed to the public and the investigation should not continue.

 

Reuters

UnitedHealth Group is under a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for potential Medicare fraud related to its Medicare Advantage business, although the company claims it has not been informed of any such probe. Following the report, UnitedHealth's stock dropped 8% in after-hours trading, compounding recent losses after CEO Andrew Witty's unexpected resignation and the suspension of the company's 2025 financial forecast due to rising medical costs. The investigation adds to ongoing scrutiny of the Medicare Advantage program, which has seen increased regulatory attention amid allegations of improper billing practices by major health insurers.

 

Reuters

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to relax limits on certain types of so-called forever chemicals, or PFAS, in drinking water. This decision comes after the Biden administration had previously established federal limits due to health risks associated with PFAS, including cardiovascular disease and low birth weight in infants. While the EPA will maintain strict standards for two common PFAS types, PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion, it will scrap limits on three other PFAS types, including GenX substances. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said: "We are on a path to uphold the agency's nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water." Environmental groups have condemned the move, with Erik Olson from the Natural Resources Defense Council saying it undermines clean water promises.

 

The Baltimore Sun

German audit regulator Apas says Republican plans to overhaul scrutiny of accounting firms by scrapping the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board puts co-operation between the two countries at risk.

 

Financial Times

Microsoft is likely to avoid a significant antitrust fine from EU regulators by offering changes to its Office and Teams products, following complaints from competitors including Salesforce's Slack. The company unbundled Teams from Office in 2023, adjusting pricing to address concerns about unfair advantages in the market. The European Commission will gather feedback from rivals and customers before making a final decision on the proposal, which includes improved interoperability terms to enhance competition.

 

Reuters

Goldman Sachs will pay a $1.45m fine to settle claims by FINRA over inaccurate trade reporting. Coding and tech errors led to incorrect data for billions of trades and supervisory failures. The issues affected order memoranda, trade reports, and confirmations. Goldman Sachs neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in the settlement, which relates to reporting to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).

 

Reuters

New Jersey Transit train engineers walked off the job early today after 11th-hour contract talks stalled ahead of a midnight strike deadline set for meeting union wage demands. It is the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years. “We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock,” said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said the situation was a “pause in the conversations,” adding “I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible . . . If they’re willing to meet tonight, I’ll meet them again tonight. If they want to meet tomorrow morning, I’ll do it again. Because I think this is an imminently workable problem. The question is, do they have the willingness to come to a solution.”

 

AP News

Reuters

Spain has found no indication of a cyberattack on its grid operator REE during the massive power blackout that hit the country and also Portugal on April 28, Energy Minister Sara Aagesen has said. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had on April 29 said that his administration wasn't ruling out the possibility of a cyberattack as a cause of the outage.

 

U.S. News

Indian authorities have issued notices to several e-commerce platforms, including Amazon India and Etsy, for selling Pakistani flags and merchandise amid rising tensions between the nations. Consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi stated that such “insensitivity” will not be tolerated, directing platforms to remove the items immediately. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) raised concerns, with president BC Bhartia emphasising that selling items from a “hostile nation” during critical military operations is unacceptable. He warned that the situation poses a potential threat to national unity and security. CAIT has also called for an investigation into how these products were listed for sale and demanded a ban on items that could compromise national security.

 

The Independent UK