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North American Edition
15th April 2026
 
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THE HOT STORY

Cyber is the risk 'that never goes away,' BoE's Bailey says

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey ​has said the implications of Anthropic's new AI model must be quickly understood by central banks and financial regulators. "It would be reasonable to think that the events in the Gulf are the most ‌recent challenge to us in this world, until, I think it was last Friday, you wake up to find that Anthropic may have found a way to crack the whole cyber risk world open," he said at an event at Columbia University in New York. Bailey said cyber risks had in recent years rapidly risen up ​the list of regulators' concerns. "It's the one that never goes away. You have to keep mitigating it, but the threat actors will move on, so we have to deal with it," he observed.
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CYBERSECURITY

OpenAI releases new cybersecurity model

OpenAI has released a model that is designed to autonomously find flaws or bugs in software, alerting cybersecurity professionals to fix the issues before they are exploited by bad actors. The launch of GPT-5.4-Cyber follows rival Anthropic's ‌announcement of frontier AI model Mythos. SiliconANGLE says OpenAI is pitching the release as preparation for more capable models expected later this year, saying that it is “fine-tuning our models specifically to enable defensive cybersecurity use cases, starting today with a variant of GPT-5.4 trained to be cyber-permissive.”
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REGULATION

Dutch regulators approve Tesla's partially automated driving system

RDW, the organization that handles the approval and registration of vehicles in the Netherlands, has approved Tesla’s partially automated driving system, marketed as Full Self-Driving software (FSD). The software doesn’t render vehicles autonomous and needs constant human supervision. Bloomberg notes that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly complained about the regulatory approval processes for FSD in Europe. The Dutch regulator also said it would seek to submit an application for approval throughout the entire EU to the European Commission. 

FDA presses sponsors on trial results

The FDA has said 30% of clinical studies in the U.S. trials database are missing results and has sent more than 2,200 messages urging sponsors to report data from about 3,000 trials. Sponsors are generally required to post results within one year of study completion, and the agency warned that missing disclosures can overstate success, hide failures and distort perceptions of safety and effectiveness for clinicians, patients and researchers. The FDA is initially seeking voluntary compliance but can escalate to formal notices and penalties of up to $10,000.

Paramount’s bid for Warner to face U.K. competition probe

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority is to launch an initial probe into Paramount Skydance’s $111bn deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. “The film and TV industries contribute billions to our economy, so it’s important we assess whether deals between studios may harm competition,” a CMA spokesperson said. 
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LEGAL

Abbott Laboratories must pay at least $53m in cases over infant formula

A Chicago jury has said Abbott Laboratories must pay $53m in compensatory damages to a group of families that had accused the company of failing to warn that its formula for premature infants can cause a potentially deadly bowel disease. The verdict ​is the latest among hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Abbott's ‌cow's milk-based formula products for preterm infants can cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Abbott has denied that the products, which it says ​are essential for premature babies when their mothers cannot produce enough breast milk, cause NEC. The disease is often fatal in babies born prematurely. Four families’ lawsuits were consolidated for trial.

IBM to pay $17m in DEI settlement

IBM has agreed to pay roughly $17m to resolve allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. The DOJ had said the company “knowingly” made “false claims” about its hiring and employment practices in its federal contracts. IBM allegedly identified “diverse” candidates for hiring or promotions, while developing race and sex demographic goals. “IBM is pleased to have resolved this matter,” an IBM spokesperson told CNN. “Our workforce strategy is driven by a single principle: having the right people with the right skills that our clients depend on.”
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ECONOMY

UN: Iran war could plunge 32m into poverty

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warns that over 32m people could fall into poverty due to the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in Iran. The UNDP's report highlights a "triple shock" of rising energy and food costs alongside weakened economic growth. Alexander De Croo, UNDP administrator, said: "A conflict like this is development in reverse." The report calls for targeted cash transfers to support vulnerable households, estimating a cost of $6bn to mitigate the impacts. The poorest nations face the greatest challenges, with aid cuts by wealthier countries exacerbating the situation.
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STRATEGY

Disney begins 1,000 job cuts this week

The Walt Disney Co. has begun a round of layoffs that will see the elimination of 1,000 jobs across various divisions, including television, movie studios, and ESPN. Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro informed staff about the cuts on Tuesday morning. “Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney,” D'Amaro said. “Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow's needs . . . As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company and have begun notifying impacted employees.”
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WORKFORCE

Apple to close first unionized U.S. store amid labor tensions

Apple has announced it will shut its Towson, Maryland store, the first of its U.S. locations to unionize, citing declining conditions at the mall and the departure of other retailers. The move has drawn criticism from the union representing workers, which claims the closure may be an attempt to undermine organized labor and is exploring legal options. The store was a landmark in U.S. labor relations after employees voted to unionize in 2022, and its closure comes as Apple also plans to shut two other locations, with staff offered opportunities to transfer to nearby stores.
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OTHER

Weight-loss drugs set to reshape U.S. clothing demand

The growing use of weight loss and diabetes drugs in the U.S. is expected to create new demand for clothing, as consumers replace wardrobes after losing weight. Early signs of this shift are emerging, with declining sales of larger sizes and retailers reporting more customers citing weight loss as a reason for shopping for new clothes. Increased accessibility of GLP-1 treatments, including new pill formats and falling costs, is driving wider adoption, with usage projected to rise significantly in the coming years. Analysts say this trend could provide a tailwind for apparel spending, although the scale and durability of the impact remain uncertain.
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