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Sony hikes PlayStation 5 console prices for Europe, UK and Australia

Sony said it will raise prices starting Monday for some PlayStation 5 video game consoles in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, citing global economic turmoil.

The company unveiled the price hikes of at least 10%, saying it was a "tough decision" amid the "backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates."

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China's Xi says there are 'no winners' in tariff war as he visits Southeast Asia

China's leader Xi Jinping started a week of diplomacy in Southeast Asia with a visit to Vietnam on Monday, signaling China's commitment to global trade, just after U.S. President Donald Trump upended the global economy with his latest tariffs moves.

Although Trump has paused some tariffs, China was the outlier, as he has kept in place 145% tariffs on the world's second-largest economy.

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Lebanon adopts draft banking law

Lebanon has adopted a draft law on restructuring its banking sector, a condition for unlocking international aid to help it emerge from an economic crisis it has suffered since 2019.

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Israel-Hezbollah war cost Lebanon agriculture $700 million

The conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah caused more than $700 million in agricultural damage and losses, a report from the United Nations and Lebanese authorities said.

"The agriculture sector in Lebanon has incurred an estimated $118 million in damages and $586 million in losses," said the assessment by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization with Lebanon's agriculture ministry and the National Council for Scientific Research.

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US wholesale inflation fell last month but trade war threatens to reverse trend

U.S. wholesale prices fell last month in another sign that inflationary pressures are easing. But President Donald Trump's trade wars cloud the outlook as new, punishing tariffs are launched by Beijing and Washington.

The producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — fell 0.4% from February, first drop since October 2023, the Labor Department said Friday. Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.7%, down from a 3.2% year-over-year gain in February and much lower than the 3.3% economists had forecast. Gasoline prices fell 11.1% from February and egg prices, which had skyrocketed because of bird flu, plummeted 21.3%.

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US stocks shaky as fall of US dollar and bonds indicate more fear

U.S. stocks are shaky Friday as Wall Street's monstrous week veers toward its close, while the rising price of gold, falling value of the U.S. dollar and moves in other financial markets indicate more fear as President Donald Trump's trade war with China escalates even further.

The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in morning trading after swinging between small gains and losses. It's coming off a sharp slide that gave back a big chunk of its historic gains from the middle of the week, which came after Trump paused tariffs on many countries outside of China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 123 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.

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China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as "economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

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Trump's 'buy' tip on social media made money for investors who listened

When Donald Trump offered some financial advice Wednesday morning, stocks were wavering between gains and losses.

But that was about to change.

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Apple has few incentives to start making iPhones in U.S., despite Trump's trade war

President Donald Trump's administration has been predicting its barrage of tariffs targeting China will push Apple into manufacturing the iPhone in the United States for the first time.

But that's an unlikely scenario even with U.S tariffs now standing at 145% on products made in China — the country where Apple has manufactured most of its iPhones since the first model hit the market 18 years ago.

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Another U-Turn: Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown

President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he'd imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America's trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.

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